Chapter 276: Deputy Commander   Lu Yin looked back once he had successfully escaped. He had never expected that Han Chong would be able to discover him. This person’s comprehension of his domain was quite high, and even Lu Yin’s Invisible Aura Technique had not been able to completely avoid its detection. Lu Yin felt that he should also try to learn to comprehend a domain, or else he would remain vulnerable to others’ domains in future.

Still, after his interruption, it was not very likely that they would continue with their plans to mount an attack on the Tower of Resonating Light.

Is that one of the nodes for the five sealing planets? Lu Yin wondered to himself.

Back at the now ruined house, Han Chong and the rest each left separately. Grandini had a solemn expression, and she sought out Han Chong afterwards. “That person dissolved your technique, so he should be a Lockbreaker.”

Han Chong nodded and smiled. “There’s no need to think about it any further. I already have a guess as to who he is.”

“Me too. Since he was able to match my strength, is a Lockbreaker, and also has such great speed, it can only be him,” Grandini said with an excited tone.

“Who would have thought that the top four would all gather in Mingdu… This will be interesting,” Han Chong murmured.

Grandini was shocked. “Top four? Starsibyl’s here as well?”

Han Chong nodded. “She should be. Besides us, there are other trialtakers who have come to the capital, and some of them are no weaker than us. There are even those who are more powerful than us. The day of celebration will definitely not be peaceful.”

There were only twenty three days remaining until the celebration. As the days counted down one by one, the Demon Hunters called in large numbers of experts to the capital, though the Ming Constables’ Ming Vanguard’s numbers dwindled. Reportedly, they had been deployed at the last minute to protect important personnel.

Various high ranking officials had gathered from all across the Shenwu Empire. Crown Prince Ming Hao naturally could not let anything happen to them, as the consequences would be severe even in the lightest case. Hence, he had used his authority as the crown prince to mobilize the Ming Vanguard to protect them all.

“Recently, there have been great changes in the List of Tempering. Many experts have emerged, and they could very well be foreigners. The Ming Constables master has ordered us, the Ming Vanguard, to select powerhouses to defeat those who have recently joined the list. Who here is confident in their ability?” stated the Ming Vanguard commander, Bei Zhigui, as he scanned the gathered Ming Constables members.

Lu Yin was a subordinate under Bei Zhigui, who was an Explorer. The commander was not qualified to challenge the members of the List of Tempering even though the list was a method that Crown Prince Ming Hao used to display the empire’s strength. Even if they suspected that these new members were all foreigners, the Ming Vanguard could not capture the people on the list without good reason, or else people would suspect the List of Tempering of being manipulated fair. Hence, they could only kick them off the list before they gained any more influence.

Bei Zhigui spoke simple words, but the List of Tempering was a fair and honest ranking. Any expert who was able to step foot onto the List of Tempering had done so by challenging a previous member, so their strength could not be underestimated. Even though those in the Ming Vanguard had decent strength, they were still not confident in challenging those on the list.

Bei Zhigui felt helpless, as there were very few experts in the entire Ming Constables who could challenge the List of Tempering. The list contained the top 200 Martial Monarch experts of the empire, and when these 200 were dispersed throughout the empire, it meant that there were few left on Ming Island, let alone the Ming Constables. Fortunately, there was still Li Zimo in the Ming Constables, who was ranked second on the List of Tempering.

“Does no one dare to step up to the challenge? The Ming Constables master has given the order that those who enter the top twenty on the List of Tempering will be made into deputy commanders while the top ten will be made commanders,” Bei Zhigui called out again in an attempt to incentivize the soldiers.

Lu Yin felt eager at the offered benefits, but he still did not move, as he felt a trace of unease.

Wu Shang stepped out. “This subordinate is willing to volunteer.”

Bei Zhigui looked at him with a surprised look, but he quickly nodded and said, “Alright, here is the most recent List of Tempering.” He passed one to Wu Shang.

Wu Shang scanned it and then walked out of the Ming Constables.

There were twelve names on the list that had changed recently, and two had even entered the top twenty of the List of Tempering. One was in Mingdu while the other was one city away from Mingdu, in Huaiqi city. Wu Shang headed for the latter.

After leaving the capital, Wu Shang looked at the top of the List of Tempering as his eyes twinkled. His eyes narrowed, and then he quickly moved into the distance.

At that moment, Bei Zhigui appeared in front of Wu Shang, blocking his path. “I’ll go with you.”

Wu Shang respectfully replied, “There’s no need to trouble the commander.”

Bei Zhigui looked at Wu Shang before suddenly making a move. A sword swept out from the commander’s palm while Wu Shang’s eyes turned icy cold and his accumulated martial power suddenly burst forth. In an instant, multiple cracks appeared in the sky as more trialtakers arrived; they were actually coincidentally being dropped off at the capital.

The numerous members of the Ming Vanguard who had accompanied Bei Zhigui were shocked, and they immediately took out their heavenly globes

Lu Yin pitied these newcomers, which unlucky bastards had descended here? This coincidence had simply sent them straight to death’s door!

Five individuals dropped out of five cracks; there were three Limiteers and two Explorers. One Explorer even fell on top of Bei Zhigui’s head. The commander immediately retaliated, shouting, “Alien! It’s time to die!”

“Native,” the fallen Explorer disparagingly shot back. There was a loud rumble as the earth shook.

At the same time, one of the four mountain peaks surrounding the capital lit up with a dazzling radiance as a terrifying martial power swept across the sky, shocking the entire capital.

Ming Zhaoshu raised his head as he muttered, “Martial Sovereign.”

In the Bank of Wuyun, Ah-Lan, who was the disguised Grandini Mavis, raised her head. “So the rumors are true. Every peak has a Martial Sovereign overseeing it.”

Within the academy, Han Chong was in the midst of praying for Ming Zhaotian, and he looked up as well. “Cruiser.”

In the crown prince’s palace, Ming Hao raised his head and disdainfully commented, “Know your place.”

Not far away from the crown prince, the current Tian Ji, Shao Shu, gazed at the sky with an expression as if she were lost in thought.

Just when everyone assumed that the battle was about to end, a sword qi sliced through the area, tearing the void apart. The attack left a shocking spatial crack in its wake that seemed to cause the heavens to collapse. Many were stunned by the sight and felt their hair stand on end.

Crown Prince Ming Hao was the first to stand up, and his expression had changed drastically. “How is this possible?”

Ming Zhaoshu was similarly shocked as he crushed his glass in his hands. “A super powerhouse.”

“So the Sword Sect’s Long Yun was here, hahaha!” A tremendous sound wave engulfed the capital before spreading out into the distance. At the same time, terrifying attacks shot out from the other three peaks towards the east.

“Goodbye, hahahaha.” Another sword qi swept out, causing the simultaneous attack from all four Martial Sovereigns to be stopped and even directly eradicated. Long Yun had not shown himself from the start of the confrontation to the end.

This was a shocking scene, and many were utterly terrified. One foreign alien had held his own against four Martial Sovereigns; this was an absolute powerhouse.

The experts of the Shenwu Continent believed that while the foreigners may be strong, their top powerhouses were nothing much, and that they were even slightly weaker than the strongest powerhouses of their continent. However, Long Yun’s sword had completely shattered those assumptions. It was as if he had torn through a veil and shown those of the Shenwu Continent what reality was.

Crown Prince Ming Hao was also stunned beyond belief; that foreigner was a Martial Emperor like him, but the foreigner had withstood a combined attack from four Martial Sovereigns. How? He could not understand it. Even if he used all of the Shenwu Empire’s resources for his own cultivation, he would never be able to reach this terrifying level of strength.

Ming Zhaoshu had a downcast expression, and a thought that he had long sealed away in his heart now resurfaced; he was going to take the Shenwu Continent out with him. From his view, the Shenwu Continent had never truly stopped the foreigners’ invasion, but had instead simply been placed under supervision. The natives were all to be pitied.

Outside the capital, Lu Yin’s brows jumped up. The Sword Sect, Long Yun? So he was a genius Explorer who was actually able to withstand an attack of four Cruisers. Although the four had not used their full strength, not even a normal Cruiser would have been able to resist that combined attack without suffering injuries, let alone an Explorer. This person was definitely an expert at the very top of the Top Hundred Battle Rankings, and was someone who even surpassed Wendy Yushan.

Lu Yin had specifically checked once before and verified that Wendy Yushan had not yet become a Cruiser and that she was still an Explorer. Despite that, she had still used her own strength to become the captain of the Second Imperial Squadron and had once defeated a Cruiser.

“Long Yun? That’s a familiar name. He’s one of the human powerhouses that has a ‘must kill’ status on the Heaven-Devouring list. It’s disgusting to see that someone like that is here as well!” the Ghost Monkey shouted.

Long Yun’s sword had not only shocked the entire capital, but it had also saved those who had arrived with him.

Besides the two unlucky fellows who had dropped directly into the capital, the rest had escaped, and Wu Shang had run away as well.

This angered Bei Zhigui greatly, as Wu Shang had definitely been a foreigner. Those experts who had suddenly appeared on the List of Tempering out of nowhere were also possibly foreigners, yet only Wu Shang had the confidence to challenge them. He had also only recently joined the Ming Constables. Clearly, he was also a foreigner. What a pity it was that he had slipped away.

The Ming Constables had always strictly examined every member who joined the Ming Vanguard, and even if Lu Yin had a stamp of approval from the previous court master, the Ming Constables would still investigate whatever they could. Lu Yin himself had nearly been discovered as well.

The top ranker of the List of Tempering had never been revealed, but that might just be a strategy devised by Crown Prince Ming Hao to reveal any foreigners who tried to challenge the List of Tempering. The leader would simply challenge whoever was suspect, which meant that they always had some insurance in the form of a peak powerhouse who was so terrifying that few could withstand them at the top of the list.

Since the List of Tempering had been created by the crown prince, he definitely preferred to leave no loopholes than let the Ming Constables take advantage of it. Lu Yin had just realized this logic, but it seemed that Wu Shang had only thought of it after leaving the city. Unfortunately, he had been noticed by Bei Zhigui and would have been in great danger if not for Long Yun.

Ten days quickly passed by, during which Lu Yin made a great contribution. He captured a trialtaker who was from the Innerverse’s Blazing Mist Flowzone on behalf of the Ming Constables. If someone had a good reputation within the Blaze Realm, then they were automatically an enemy of Lu Yin’s. He showed no mercy.

The Ming Constables had established itself with the sole goal of slaughtering trialtakers, but not many were uncovered each year. As time passed, the trialtakers had gradually learned how to conceal and hide themselves better, which meant that the Ming Constables was rarely able to capture trialtakers alive. Thus, Lu Yin’s contribution caused Ming Zhaochen to praise him lavishly. As Lu Yin had already demonstrated sufficient strength, he was directly promoted to a deputy commander under Li Zimo’s command.

Lu Yin simply did not believe that Ming Zhaochen would promote him that easily without ulterior motives—perhaps he wanted to use Li Zimo to silently monitor Lu Yin. Lu Yin was not bothered by this in any case, as he had always been planning on using the Ming Constables to deal with the Daynight clan’s members. Doing so would even gain him contributions from the Ming Constables.

Li Zimo was a naturally cold person who was an expert in the sword. His entire body resembled a sharp, unsheathed blade; he openly revealed his danger and ability, but he never hurt anyone. It was as if he had concealed his aura within a very confined space.

Liu Shaoqiu was very talented with the sword, but he had a subdued aura even though he had mastered a sword technique similar to the Thirteen Swords. This Li Zimo was number two on the List of Tempering, so his strength could not be overlooked. However, his sword technique was unknown.

Lu Yin dared not remain too close to the man, for fear that he might detect Lu Yin’s true strength.

“For now, we’ll head out with three people each to provide security for the Reverent King's Palace,” Li Zimo informed Lu Yin after receiving a mission.

Lu Yin was shocked. “The Reverent King's Palace?”

“The Reverent King's Palace is not far from the imperial palace. Let’s go,” Li Zimo replied indifferently. He then led six people from the Ming Vanguard towards the king’s palace.

Lu Yin never thought that he would return to the Reverent King's household this soon. Fortunately, he had changed his appearance prior to joining the Ming Constables, or else he would be definitely recognized by the Reverent King's household members.

The palace was rather courteous to the Ming Constables members, and they requested them to protect the backdoor. This also meant that the Ming Vanguard members could escort any important members of the household to safety if so needed.

“Your Highness, the crown prince has ordered the Ming Vanguard to protect our Reverent King's Palace. Is he trying to monitor us?” Tang Si asked solemnly.

Ming Zhaoshu shook his head. “He’s not that stupid. He’s only doing this as a show for others. He wants to prove that our uncle-nephew relationship is harmonious. He’s actually rather invested in this, to the point where the Ming Constables even deployed a commander this time.”