Chapter 192: Return to Jiangcheng! The Tianming Sect's Revenge Plan!

Xu Jingming's parents had both perished in a beast tide when he was eleven years old.

They left behind only a single property and one million in compensation.

One million sounds like a lot, but he was only eleven back then — just growing up safely to eighteen would already cost several hundred thousand.

Especially since "poor scholars, rich martial artists" — for Xu Jingming, who was set on taking the Wu Ke exam.

Training his body, his abilities, even buying combat arts and weapons — all of it required money.

And for all of that, one million alone simply wasn't enough.

The fact that Xu Jingming was ultimately able to learn a combat art, purchase a Black Glimmer Spear, and sit the Wu Ke Gaokao smoothly was inseparable from the help of his little aunt's family.

Before the Wu Ke Gaokao, Xu Jingming had nothing at all.

Now that he was a little better off, he naturally wanted to give back to his family.

"These... are all spatial rings?" Tang Qi's eyes went wide.

"Mm, but none of them are very big — only one cubic meter each." Xu Jingming nodded.

Among the spoils there were even smaller spatial rings, but he'd sold them all to the Modu University's equipment department in exchange for cash.

"One cubic meter? And that's still not big enough?"

"Good heavens! That capacity is bigger than our mentor's spatial ring!"

Tang Qi was completely dumbfounded.

She felt that Xu Jingming's worldview and her own seemed to be a little different......

After several deep breaths, older cousin Tang Qi finally managed to calm herself down.

In the end, she picked out a silver-white ladies' spatial ring and slipped it onto her own hand.

Then she took the suitcase back from Xu Jingming, storing and retrieving it with her own spatial ring, playing with it to her heart's content.

Before long, Zhou Mingyang and Meng Di arrived as well.

Just like Tang Qi, the two of them were naturally stunned to discover Xu Jingming's aura had broken through once again.

Zhou Mingyang — once a dazzlingly brilliant prodigy in Jiangcheng — was even more thoroughly won over by Xu Jingming, full of admiration.

On the way to the Modu high-speed rail station, he called out "Brother Ming" at every turn, the address rolling off his tongue with practiced ease.

And so, the four of them arrived at the Modu high-speed rail station on time and boarded the high-speed train to Jiangcheng.

"Brother Ming, see you."

"Qiqi, then let's part ways here."

"......"

Three hours later, Xu Jingming and his group arrived in Jiangcheng without a hitch.

Zhou Mingyang and Meng Di split off on their own, while Xu Jingming went back to Jinghu Residential Compound together with Tang Qi.

The moment they reached the compound's entrance, Xu Jingming noticed the security at Jinghu Compound was considerably tighter than before.

The compound walls had been raised and thickened, and an alarm had been installed every meter along the top.

There were even armed ex-servicemen patrolling back and forth around the perimeter.

"My mom said the compound was renovated a month ago and the defenses were beefed up — she doesn't know why either."

Tang Qi said with a smile.

Looks like this must be the Modu University family-member protection plan.

Xu Jingming gave a small nod, planning to explain it to them once they got back.

"Xiao Qi's back?"

"Hello, Uncle Li."

"Xiao Qi, are you guys on winter break?"

"Yeah, it started yesterday."

"......"

After verifying their identities at the compound gate, the two of them were finally allowed into Jinghu Compound.

The moment they stepped inside, some of the neighbors and homeowners who knew Tang Qi warmly called out greetings.

As for Xu Jingming beside Tang Qi — thanks to the once-omnipresent publicity around the provincial top-scholar in Jiangcheng — they naturally recognized him too.

But Xu Jingming had only moved in for a few days before leaving, so these neighbors didn't quite feel comfortable greeting him.

They could only offer Xu Jingming friendly smiles.

"Mom, we're back!"

The moment they reached the front door, Tang Qi called out.

Yet Xu Jingming vaguely noticed that near his little aunt's house, there seemed to be several auras hidden in the shadows.

'One, two, three — three people in total.'

Relying on his powerful spiritual force, Xu Jingming quickly picked out the three ability-users disguised as passersby nearby.

They carried no ill intent, merely patrolling back and forth in silence.

'One fourth-tier lower, two third-tier peak — the school really did go to some trouble.' Xu Jingming gave a small inward nod.

Jiangcheng wasn't without third- and fourth-tier ability-users, but those people were almost all high-ranking and powerful — how could any of them possibly come to protect ordinary folk?

These ability-users must have been specially hired by Modu University from elsewhere.

The tight security monitoring outside the compound, plus these three ability-users.

Even if someone from the Tianming Sect really did come for revenge, they'd be able to escape in time.

"Xiao Qi, Xiao Ming."

Just then, accompanied by a familiar, lovely voice.

Little aunt Xu Qingwan walked out of the villa, followed by her husband Tang Daolin.

"Auntie, Uncle." Xu Jingming smiled and called out.

"Good, haven't seen you in half a year—you've grown taller."

"And your body's gotten stronger too. Looks like Mo Da's dining hall is treating you well."

Looking at Xu Jingming, who stood a full head taller than him, Uncle Tang Daolin nodded in satisfaction.

"You've been sitting on the high-speed train for so long—you must be starving. Come on, let's go eat."

Excited, Auntie Xu Qingwan grabbed Xu Jingming's hand and pulled him inside.

"After staying at Mo Da so long, I've actually missed your cooking, Auntie."

"Then eat plenty this time—I went to the market first thing this morning and bought only the freshest ingredients."

"Yeah, I just helped out in the kitchen for a bit too."

"......"

The group entered the villa, laughing and chatting, and for the first time in a long while, Xu Jingming fully relaxed, sharing lunch with his aunt's family.

Just as Xu Jingming returned to Jiangcheng and reunited with his aunt's family,

in the suburbs of Mudu, at a remote abandoned factory,

"By heavenly mandate, the Heavenly God endures!"

A group of Tianming Sect followers knelt before the blood-moon banner hanging on the factory wall, praying earnestly.

After a long while, the prayer ended, and the Tianming Sect's Budezhu Sect leader slowly spoke:

"Comrades, under the joint crackdown by Mo Da and the Public Security Bureau, our Tianming Sect has suffered heavy losses."

"But we are not soft targets. If you wish to exterminate us, be prepared to face the wrath of the Tianming Sect!"

The leader's eyes blazed with fury.

He was the Budezhu Sect leader of the Tianming Sect's Mudu branch.

Yet, just recently, his entire branch base had been annihilated by a seventh-rank Master dispatched by Mo Da!

At this moment, he had only one thought.

Revenge!

He must seek revenge!

"The Public Security Bureau is just minor harassment—ignore them for now. The real threat is Mo Da."

"To exterminate us, they've even set up special missions!"

"They reward students based on the number of tasks completed—this is an utter humiliation!"

The leader's eyes were bloodshot; in his unstable emotional state, his body twisted into monstrous, beast-like features!

"The hands of Mo Da's Xu Jingming, Kong Shi, and Yao Fang are caked with our comrades' blood!"

The leader let out a bestial, furious roar:

"Especially Mo Da's Xu Jingming—he destroyed our branch in Jin Ning City!"

"Here in Mudu, he has inflicted massive damage upon us!"

"I've already petitioned headquarters to have him utterly killed!"

"Our Mudu branch is shattered—we can no longer hope to kill Xu Jingming ourselves."

"But killing his family in Jiangcheng will make him feel the same pain!"

The leader smiled cruelly—he had clearly researched Xu Jingming's background in advance.

Yet, someone below spoke up:

"Mo Da has special protections in place for students' families. We once tried targeting Kong Shi's relatives."

"We were detected by guardian psychics the moment we infiltrated the neighborhood and had to retreat."

"Among those guardians are fourth-rank psychics. To swiftly kill them, we'd need at least a fourth-rank peak."

"Fourth-rank peak? That's too much trouble?" The leader frowned.

A fourth-rank peak psychic was essentially the strongest combatant in an ordinary Tianming Sect branch.

Our Mudu branch had many high-level fighters—fifth-rank, even sixth-rank.

But recently, nearly all of them were hunted down and killed by Mo Da's seventh-rank Masters. Only I was lucky enough to escape.

And among everyone present here—including myself—

only six meet the requirement of fourth-rank peak or higher combat strength.

But these six must remain in Mudu to rebuild our branch.

Moreover, all their identification documents are on the Public Security Bureau's blacklist.

Traveling from Mudu to Jiangcheng, Xu Jingming's hometown, would make us easy targets—we couldn't possibly get there.

"Then forget it. Don't target Xu Jingming's family for now. Focus on nearby targets in Mudu."

Though furious, the leader had no choice but to temporarily abandon the plan.

At that moment, a man suddenly stepped forward from the crowd and spoke:

"Leader, can I handle Xu Jingming?"

"I remember you—you were rescued just yesterday. You're Leng Chang, the former Budezhu Sect leader of the Jin Ning City branch. What's your plan?"

The leader's face brightened with approval, gesturing for him to continue.

"We can't touch Xu Jingming's family—then go after his high school classmates."

Compared to his neatly dressed self a month ago, Leng Chang was now utterly disheveled.

His hair was a tangled nest, his beard like wild grass, yet his eyes burned with deep malice.

"High school classmates? That won't do much harm."

The leader frowned slightly—killing classmates caused far less pain than killing family.

"An ordinary high school classmate is naturally useless, but the target I choose to act against has a rather unusual relationship with Xu Jingming."

Leng Chang said with a cold laugh.

Ordinary people might not know, but he remembered clearly—one month ago.

When Xu Jingming captured him, the girl beside him called 'Class Monitor' had a deep connection with him.

"Fine, then I'll leave this matter to you. I'll give you four peak third-tier fighters.

Once the matter is handled, you lot will go into hiding over in Jiangcheng and develop a branch force there."

Before this, Jiangcheng, located in the barren north of Jiangnan Province, was naturally not a development target for Tianming Sect.

But now, the suppression of Tianming Sect by the various factions is simply too great. Places they once looked down on must now be tried for development as well.

"Also, don't come into direct conflict with Xu Jingming—you lot can't beat him."

After a pause, the bishop added another line.

"Don't worry, leave it to me. He'll never expect me to make a move against his classmate."

A cruel and bloodthirsty smile spread across Leng Chang's face.

Xu Jingming, you destroyed my Tianming Sect branch.

Then I'll make you taste the pain of innocent people dying because of you!