Subjugation

"Damn it, how did he catch up to us?!"

Seeing that Xiao Ming had actually followed them, the leading man in black cursed furiously.

Black Demon Stockade usually kept a very low profile, but they had never expected this brat to trail them all the way here.

This desolate mountain range was normally never visited by anyone, which was precisely why Black Demon Stockade had chosen it as their hideout.

But since Xiao Ming had dared to follow them to Black Demon Stockade, once the stockade chief made a move, he would surely be able to take Xiao Ming down with ease.

With that thought, the leading man in black took a communication jade slip from his robes. After gathering battle qi at his fingertip, he began writing on it.

"Reporting to the stockade chief: we have discovered someone following us. Please come provide support at once!"

Not long after the message jade slip left, a disturbance arose from the mountain forest nearby.

Moments later, a black-robed man radiating a sinister aura descended upon the area, wantonly releasing his imposing presence.

"Black Fiend, I sent you down the mountain to collect a few things. How could you fail at even such a trivial task?!"

After arriving and seeing the bedraggled group, the black-robed man looked at the men in black who had sent the message, a chill flashing through his eyes.

Upon hearing the black-robed man's reprimand, Black Fiend hurriedly dropped to his knees.

He then hastily recounted what had happened earlier to the black-robed man, embellishing the story as he spoke.

Hearing this, the black-robed man immediately cast an unfriendly gaze at Xiao Ming, who stood several hundred paces away, and asked coldly, "Brat, you dared lay hands on the people of my Black Demon Stockade. Are you tired of living?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the black-robed man suddenly charged at Xiao Ming.

With a flick of his wrist, a sharp dagger slid from his sleeve, slicing through the air with a piercing whistle.

Whoosh!

Seeing that the other party had no intention of talking things out, Xiao Ming's gaze sharpened. He turned his wrist, and a burst of dazzling light flashed as the entirely silver-white Eternal Spear appeared in his hand.

As the silver-white spear appeared, the battle qi within Xiao Ming immediately surged forth and gathered at the spearhead. Under Xiao Ming's control, the spear transformed into a streak of silver lightning and stabbed toward the black-robed man.

Seeing how ferocious Xiao Ming's attack was, the black-robed man's pupils contracted. He hurriedly dodged to the left, but how could Xiao Ming's charged strike end so easily? After the spear thrust missed, Xiao Ming pulled it back with the momentum of the motion. In the instant the black-robed man evaded, he thrust the spear at his throat.

In the blink of an eye, a stream of blood sprayed from the black-robed man's neck. The man was then struck by Xiao Ming's spear and sent flying backward like a cannonball, crashing heavily several meters away.

Pfft!

After landing, the black-robed man spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Stockade Chief!" Seeing this, the men in black at the side hurriedly tried to make a move.

But in the next instant, Xiao Ming's killing intent-filled gaze frightened them into standing frozen where they were.

Seeing this, Xiao Ming raised the black-robed stockade chief from the ground with the Eternal Spear in his hand.

"Who exactly are you?" the black-robed stockade chief asked, blood filling his mouth.

"Hmph. You don't need to know who I am."

As he spoke, Xiao Ming threw the black-robed stockade chief, who had already lost all ability to fight, aside.

He then flicked his hand and stored the spear in his storage ring.

Turning back, he looked at the men in black and gave a cold smile. "You don't need to worry either. Since you wanted to kill me, I'll wipe you out first."

With that, Xiao Ming moved his feet. Silver light flickered in his hand as he gripped the spear and slowly walked toward the men in black.

Feeling the soaring aura emanating from Xiao Ming, the men in black all revealed terrified expressions.

Most of them had only joined Black Demon Stockade halfway through life out of desperation. Though their cultivation had reached the Fighter level, they were still far inferior to truly powerful experts and were no match for Xiao Ming.

As Xiao Ming drew closer, someone soon dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Spare us! We were only following orders! Please let us go. We'll never dare do it again!" the kneeling man in black pleaded, repeatedly kowtowing.

"Yes! If you are willing to spare us, then from now on, we'll be your subordinates. We will never betray you!"

Seeing this, the other men in black also fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

Only now did they realize that they had encountered someone even more troublesome than the black-robed stockade chief. If Xiao Ming wished it, they would likely all perish here today.

"Heh, you're quite good at following the wind. But I have no interest at all in scum like you who rob and plunder," Xiao Ming said with a cold laugh, a flash of icy light passing through his eyes.

Seeing that Xiao Ming seemed ready to act, the men in black immediately panicked.

"No, don't kill us! We were wrong! We shouldn't have done this! Please spare us! We'll definitely change in the future!"

Seeing Xiao Ming's indifferent expression, the men in black continued to wail.

After seeing that his purpose had been achieved, Xiao Ming looked at the men in black on the ground with a malicious smile. "I can spare you, but you must agree to two conditions."

"What conditions?"

The men in black were stunned. They did not know why Xiao Ming would say this, but they could no longer care about such things. As long as Xiao Ming was willing to spare them, they would agree to any conditions.

"First, from now on, you are not to harass the people living nearby. Second, you are not to do evil again. Otherwise, even if you flee to the ends of the earth, I will still kill you."

As soon as Xiao Ming finished speaking, the men in black immediately nodded again and again, promising, "We will do exactly as you say. We absolutely will not offend again."

Looking at the men in black before him, Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. He put away the spear in his hand, then turned and walked toward the stockade.

Seeing Xiao Ming's actions, the men in black exchanged looks.

"Hey, why aren't you following? Are you trying to rebel?"

Upon hearing Xiao Ming's voice, the men in black immediately rose from the ground and hurried after him.

Not long afterward, Xiao Ming arrived at the gates of Black Demon Stockade in grand fashion, surrounded before and behind by the former members of Black Demon Stockade.