You Do the Fifteenth, I'll Do the Thirtieth

The fake Ruyi Jingu Bang had been specially treated by Class 1223's alchemists and filled with a large quantity of explosives. It would detonate once subjected to a sufficiently heavy blow. In Victor's original plan, the Jade Warlord would receive the fake Ruyi Jingu Bang, fly into a rage from humiliation, and hurl it away in fury, triggering the explosion. But through a twist of fate, the lord of Northern Garden Manor had used the As-You-Will Staff to smash the fake Sun Wukong stone statue, setting it off instead.

The fake Ruyi Jingu Bang smashed the fake Sun Wukong statue, then blew up the fake Ruyi Jingu Bang itself. That really was...

The Jade Temple's structure was not particularly sturdy. It prioritized grandeur and extravagance. Ordinary attacks would not harm it much, but a violent explosion from within caused truly substantial damage. More than half of a side hall had been blown apart, with raging flames and billowing smoke blanketing the palace.

It was like poking an anthill. Dense masses of black-armored knights poured out of the Jade Temple, staring helplessly at the top of the hall.

Suddenly, a violent turbulent current surged from within the hall, sweeping up the flames, smoke, broken beams, and shattered tiles before flinging them into the distance. The fire was extinguished just like that. However, the top of the Jade Temple now looked as though some giant beast had taken a bite out of it.

A figure appeared atop that gap.

"Clatter!"

The black-armored soldiers dropped to their knees in perfect unison.

The Jade Warlord rested a hand on a pitch-black, charred railing. His sleep-deprived face revealed neither joy nor anger, yet it was terrifyingly grim. Squinting, chin slightly raised, the Jade Warlord said evenly, "Gather fifty thousand troops and raze Northern Garden Manor.