Chen Ming stood atop the raised platform, looking down at the Divine Wind Sect disciples who had only just entered the Qi Refining Realm, a trace of worry crossing his face. Establishing a faction was easy, but his own strength had to keep pace.
The biggest problem was Great Qin. It was too small! A mere speck of land, it was not even as large as Jiayuan City. Calling it a kingdom was putting it generously.
The Great Qin Kingdom was small, with few people and scant resources. Establishing a faction in such a tiny place was difficult, unless there were no existing factions there to begin with.
After weighing everything, Chen Ming finally decided to abandon the faction he had established here and chalk it up as a failed attempt.
"All right! I summoned everyone here today because, as sect master, I have decided to disband the Divine Wind Sect."
Chen Ming looked at the disciples below and finally announced his decision. Once he finished, he turned, summoned the Azure Glow Sword, and flew away on it.
The disciples below stood dumbfounded, unable to react. Only when they saw Chen Ming fly away on his sword did they erupt into an uproar!
The disbanding of the Divine Wind Sect left the Great Qin Kingdom's major factions momentarily speechless. They had thought a mighty dragon had crossed the river into their territory, yet barely more than a year later, he had suddenly disbanded the sect just like that!
Flying on his sword, Chen Ming entered a mountain range and spotted an Iron-Tail Dog with two heads. It stood over three meters tall, and unlike other Iron-Tail Dogs, its tail was not pitch-black, but silvery white.
"That's actually a Two-Headed Silver Dog!"
The Two-Headed Silver Dog was a third-rank demonic beast, an evolved form of the Iron-Tail Dog. If it evolved again, it would become a Three-Headed Demon Dog, and a further evolution would turn it into a Hell Demon Dog, on the same level as Deity Transformation.
The Two-Headed Silver Dog already possessed an innate skill, the Wind Blade Technique. A flick of its tail formed a blade of wind-that was its skill.
It was not something Chen Ming could handle. He merely took a curious look before continuing on his way.
He entered the Jiang Kingdom without incident and landed outside a city gate. Suppressing his aura, he mingled with the mortals entering the city, which was called Dongling.
The soldiers guarding the city were merely mortal martial artists and could not tell he was a cultivator. They took him for a martial arts expert, though they made a special note of him.
Chen Ming soon discovered something interesting: eight or nine out of every ten people in the Jiang Kingdom bore the surname Jiang.
Chen Ming entered an inn, sat down, and began asking the waiter about it.
It turned out that when the Jiang Kingdom was founded, the person enfeoffed here had borne the surname Jiang. The common people had previously had no surnames, so after the kingdom's founding, they adopted the ruling family's surname.
Understanding dawned on Chen Ming. He lifted his tea bowl and took a sip, but a strange thought suddenly popped into his mind.
He recalled some miscellaneous books and anecdotes he had read on Earth in his previous life. He remembered a renowned figure in Investiture of the Gods who seemed to be called Jiang Ziya. That old man had emerged from seclusion at seventy-two, helped King Wu overthrow King Zhou, and appointed gods upon the Investiture Terrace-a truly first-rate immortal figure.
"Everyone here is surnamed Jiang. Could there really be a Jiang Ziya hiding in some forgotten nook or cranny? And if he had a spirit root too, that would be fun."
Thinking this, Chen Ming could not help laughing.
Atop an unnamed barren mountain on the Jiang Kingdom's northwestern border, a young man wearing a tattered straw rain cape suddenly sneezed loudly.
The young man rubbed his nose, a trace of puzzlement flashing through his cloudy, aged eyes. "How strange. I haven't sneezed in at least several decades... Is someone talking about me?"
He calculated on his fingers, his brows drawing together slightly before relaxing again. He grinned, revealing the gap left by a missing front tooth. "Interesting, very interesting. It seems the Jiang Kingdom is about to receive an intriguing guest."
With that, the young man leaned on a crooked bamboo staff and tottered down the mountain, swaying three times with every step. Humming an unknown tune, he soon disappeared into the boundless mountain mist.
"Junior Brother Chen, what are you laughing at?"
As Chen Ming suddenly burst into laughter, a young woman had entered the inn without his noticing. Dressed in white, she had a slender, alluring figure but an ordinary face. Seeing Chen Ming laughing, she looked startled at first, then approached for a closer look and spoke delightedly.
"Senior Sister Xu, what brings you here?"
At the sound of her voice, Chen Ming's laughter stopped abruptly, and he froze. A moment later, he recognized the newcomer as Xu Yun of Spirit Beast Mountain and hurriedly asked her in surprise.
"I was about to ask you the same thing! You suddenly disappeared for over a decade. I thought you'd died in the war between the righteous and demonic factions."
Xu Yun sat down opposite Chen Ming and sighed.
"No, I've been wandering all these years."
Chen Ming spoke with a wistful sigh.
"Why didn't you return to the sect?"
Xu Yun asked, puzzled.
"I've been hunted by people from the righteous factions all these years. First I fled to the Wangshui Kingdom, then to the Beiliang Kingdom. After going round and round, I finally ended up here."
Chen Ming answered without a moment's hesitation.
"And what brings you here, Senior Sister Xu Yun?"
Chen Ming hurriedly followed up with another question.
"My circumstances are much like yours."
Xu Yun could not help sighing.
Chen Ming knew she was not telling the truth, but he did not press her. Hadn't he likewise concealed the truth? There was no need to know too much about certain things. So long as she bore him no ill will, he had no reason to dig deeper.
After chatting for a while, the two rose and headed out of the inn!
"Senior Sister Xu, what exactly did you do? Why is someone following you?"
The moment they left the inn, Chen Ming sensed someone watching from a distance-or, more precisely, watching Xu Yun. That person's cultivation was only at middle Foundation Establishment, so Chen Ming detected him easily.
"Where?"
Xu Yun was still only at early Foundation Establishment and could not detect a cultivator stronger than herself. She hurriedly asked in alarm.
Seeing this, Chen Ming asked no further questions. He summoned the Azure Glow Sword into his hand and flicked his right hand lightly, sending a streak of azure light toward a pavilion behind him to the right.
He then employed the Skywalking Technique and followed it. Seeing this, the man hurriedly drew a flying sword to block the approaching azure light.
But after blocking that streak of sword qi, he staggered backward-thud, thud, thud!-three steps before regaining his footing. His expression changed drastically. This is bad! Just as he was about to turn and flee, Chen Ming appeared before him and thrust his sword straight at him.
He could only channel his magical power and hold his sword before him to block, but how could his middle Foundation Establishment cultivation withstand the blow? Chen Ming sent him flying, and he spat out a mouthful of blood in midair. Realizing the danger, he hurriedly used his momentum to flee on his sword.
Seeing the man trying to escape, Chen Ming merely smiled, stepped lightly onto the Azure Glow Sword, and gave chase. At the same time, he took the Ghost-Head Saber from his Storage Bag. The man had barely left the city when Chen Ming caught up with him.
Seeing Chen Ming close in, the man tried to say something, but Chen Ming gave him no chance. A horizontal slash of the Ghost-Head Saber cut his head clean off.
The headless body, still spurting blood, continued flying forward on its flying sword, carried by its remaining magical power.
Passing mortals and the soldiers guarding the city trembled at the sight. Some took just one look before covering their eyes and screaming.
When Xu Yun saw Chen Ming fly away on his sword, she froze for a moment. When did Junior Brother Chen reach Foundation Establishment? Judging by his strength, he isn't at early Foundation Establishment. He's at least at middle Foundation Establishment, perhaps even late Foundation Establishment.
She hurriedly followed on her sword, but before reaching the city gate, she witnessed that scene and was stunned! He's definitely at late Foundation Establishment, to kill a middle Foundation Establishment cultivator so easily.
"Senior Sister Xu, are you all right?"
Chen Ming approached Xu Yun, who was still standing in a daze, and patted her shoulder as he spoke.
"Junior Brother Chen! Oh! No, I should call you Senior Brother Chen! Senior Brother Chen, after all these years apart, I never imagined you'd become so powerful!"
Xu Yun addressed him instinctively at first, then felt it was inappropriate and corrected herself.
"There's no need for that. Just keep calling me Junior Brother Chen, Senior Sister Xu."
Chen Ming waved his hand and spoke casually, unconcerned.