Chapter 280: Chapter 145: Zhong Ming: I Am the Demon Lord! Immortal and Indestructible

Sweeping away the threat at his side, Zhong Ming looked up and scanned his surroundings.

He then realized that even though his warning had been swift, Qin Zhou, Wei Zhong Mountain, Ruan Shi, and the others had been quick to react as well.

But ultimately, the crowd only realized something was amiss after Ji Qingyue and her group appeared. The enemy, however, had long since blended in with the ordinary disciples, biding their time.

SQUELCH...

"Kill!"

"You bastard, who the hell are you?!"

"Stop! I said, stop..."

The instant Ji Qingyue and her group appeared, chaos and slaughter erupted among the ordinary cultivators.

Caught completely off guard by sneak attacks from those standing right beside them, the cultivators from the minor sects suffered disastrous casualties.

In just a few moments, nearly a hundred cultivators had been brutally killed, their blood staining the ground red.

Zhong Ming’s expression hardened. As his gaze swept the area, he picked off several more attackers with just a look.

He didn’t continue the slaughter, however.

Though he was loath to admit it, the truth of this world was that not all lives held the same value.

Be it in terms of affection or importance, a hundred ordinary cultivators could not hold a candle to Ji Qingyue’s place in Zhong Ming’s heart.

So, after picking off a few more Cultists, he transformed into a brilliant streak of Sword Light, taking Yi Yunya, Han Yu, Yan Chen, Su Lingya, and the others with him as he shot toward Ji Qingyue.

Meanwhile, Qin Zhou, Wei Zhong Mountain, Ruan Shi, and the others made the same choice.

Their conflict with Prince Qinghe was over the distribution of resources, not a feud to the death. They couldn’t possibly stand by and watch his children be killed.

Besides, each of them had their own calculations:

’If we save his children, Prince Qinghe will surely remember this favor. He’ll have to repay it, which means he’ll have to tilt the resource allocation in our sects’ favor!’

With this in mind, the determination of Qin Zhou and his group to rescue Ji Qinghui and Ji Qingkang was even stronger than Zhong Ming’s.

"Don’t panic! Activate your Protective Treasures!"

As Zhong Ming and his group rushed over, cultivators who had been lurking near Ji Qingyue, Ji Qingkang, and the others also charged forward to kill.

"Die!"

The sudden attack caused the expressions of Ji Qinglian and Ji Chengping to change drastically.

But the others—Ji Qinghui, Ji Qingkang, and Ji Qingyue—showed no fear.

Having been cultivated with the immense resources of the Commandery Prince’s Mansion, they were already quite powerful. Moreover, each of them wore numerous precious life-saving treasures.

Thick, powerful shields enveloped them, protecting them all. Even the panic-stricken Ji Chengping was completely unharmed.

Once their shields were up, the Prince’s children didn’t engage with their attackers. Instead, they rushed toward Zhong Ming, Qin Zhou, and the others.

"Don’t get tangled up with these fanatics! We need to link up with the prodigies from the six Major Sects!"

Adhering to the principle of not standing in obvious danger, Ji Qinghui, Ji Qingyue, and the others all sought to return to the side of supremely powerful cultivators like Zhong Ming and Qin Zhou for protection.

However, the Commandery Princesses and Princes were divided on who to seek out.

Ji Qingyue, of course, headed for Zhong Ming without hesitation. Beside her, Ji Qinglian clenched her jaw and followed suit.

Ji Qinghui and Ji Qingkang, however, glanced back and forth between Zhong Ming and the six Major Sects. After weighing their options, they concluded that the Major Sects’ combined strength was more formidable and would offer better protection. And so, both of them headed toward the six Major Sects.

Partway there, Ji Qinghui shouted to his sister, "Qinglian! Get over here! There’s a Daoist with them! Zhong Ming isn’t the strongest one anymore! Besides, he’s just one person. The six Major Sects have plenty of experts; they can protect us better!"

His words made Qinglian falter, a flicker of hesitation in her eyes.

As the top Major Sects in the Prefecture City, the Void Moon Sect, Celestial Sound Sect, and Qianqiu Valley were revered by ordinary cultivators for a reason. Their reputation was no empty boast.

The current situation was the best proof of that.

Although the battle inside the Star Secret Vault was chaotic, most of the dead were disciples from small and medium-sized sects. The situation for the six Major Sects was infinitely better.

What was especially shocking to Ji Qinglian, as well as to the onlookers outside the Secret Vault, was that the cultivators from the six Major Sects who performed the best against the ambushing Cultists weren’t the True Inheritance disciples, but a few obscure, ordinary ones.

With a BOOM, the moment they sensed trouble, the aura of the Foundation Establishment Stage erupted from these disciples!

And it wasn’t just one of them.

"BOOM!" "BOOM!" "BOOM!"

A breakthrough! Another breakthrough! And yet another!

In the blink of an eye, a full seven disciples successfully broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, their immense power sweeping across the battlefield.

This scene left those who had sided with the six Major Sects dumbfounded. But after a moment of shock, they erupted into deafening cheers, their morale soaring.

For a time, they actually managed to turn the tables and overwhelm the Cultists.

...

This development caused some of the cultivators inside the Star Secret Vault, as well as the crowd watching from outside, to adopt peculiar expressions.

Anyone with half a brain could instantly figure it out: these people breaking through mid-battle were undoubtedly a trump card the six Major Sects had prepared specifically to deal with Zhong Ming.

"Seven Foundation Establishment cultivators... The six Major Sects really take Zhong Ming seriously."

"What’s more shocking to me is the sheer depth of the six Major Sects. In my sect, if someone breaks through to Foundation Establishment, it’s a monumental event that calls for a huge celebration. But the six Major Sects can just pull out seven people and have them break through on the spot when needed. Sigh... the gap between a Major Sect and an ordinary one is truly an impassable chasm."