Soaring the Heavens

Luo Ping pointed to the Chamber of Commerce’s backyard in the distance and said, "It should be starting soon. You’ll find out soon enough."

Miao Yi and the others were speechless, wondering why Luo Ping was acting so mysterious. In the end, they could only be patient and wait. After an hour or so, they finally caught sight of the rear gates of the Chamber of Commerce opening. A bunch of people both old and young walked out, and walking unsteadily within the crowd was a downcast young man. This young man was none other than Ren Xuanming. However, he was no longer wearing his Chamber of Commerce uniform.

"So it’s this weasel. He really caused us a great deal of trouble!" Sikong Wuwei snarled, gnashing his teeth in hatred.

Luo Ping was somewhat surprised as he asked, "Don’t tell me you guys knew about this already?"

Miao Yi lightly nodded and recounted the conversation that happened in the prison to Luo Ping, who then finally understood everything. Meanwhile, the ladies were clenching their jaws in hatred when they discovered that this was all just a ploy of some nasty scoundrel.

Zhao Fei asked, "This is what you meant by a nice show?"

Luo Ping laughed and replied, "Of course it is. I think everyone here only knows one side of the story. While Ren Xuanming’s methods are indeed ingenious in a sense, he messed with the wrong people this time and ended up provoking Huyan Shou’s old man, Huyan Kang’an. Everyone knows that the Celestial Nation’s Chamber of Commerce is under the management of Huyan Taibao of the Realm Beyond Heaven; he’d held it firmly in his grasp from the day of its inception. You can say that Huyan Taibao single-handedly founded the Chamber of Commerce. As a result, since these bountiful resources are easily accessible to Huyan Taibao, any familiarity with the local nobility and the prestigious clan members could be easily construed in a suspicious light. That’s precisely why he actively maintains his distance from them. And because of this, the Huyan family doesn’t hold too much influence over the local nobility either. You can see this from the way that Lan Hou dares to offend them without even batting an eye. That said, because of their ancestry, the Huyan family still possesses a significant amount of power over the Chamber of Commerce. Huyan Shou’s old man, Huyan Kang’an, brought his complaints straight to the Director of the Fifth Earthly Branch’s Chamber of Commerce, and after an internal investigation, Ren Xuanming was supposed to be given a death sentence. However, because Vice-Director Long Maosen stuck his neck out to protect him, Ren Xuanming ended up being spared. Long Maosen pleaded for his life by bringing up one of Ren Xuanming’s ancestors, citing his past achievements and the fact that he died in battle for the sake of the Celestial Sage.

"Nonetheless, while death can be avoided, some form of punishment needs to be handed down regardless. Ren Xuanming has already been sacked from the Chamber of Commerce and is now reduced to a mere loose cultivator. What’s more, he is not to be employed by the administration in any way for the next five hundred years."

Sikong Wuwei immediately cursed, "Goddammit! To think this weasel actually managed to escape with his life!"

"Aii! There’s no helping it. Vice-Director Long Maosen used to be a subordinate of Ren Xuanming’s ancestor, and he received much support from the latter when he was still alive. Long Maosen would be disloyal if he didn’t step forward now." Luo Ping sighed, sounding a little rueful. However, he soon smiled and said, "But it might be even better to die than to live at this point!"

Zhao Fei asked, "How so?"

"Simple. By protecting Ren Xuanming, the Vice-Director is already pitting himself directly against Huyan Kang’an’s interests. There’s no way he can continue to ruffle up the latter’s feathers just for Ren Xuanming’s sake. Given how much influence the Huyan family wields within the capital city, Ren Xuanming will inevitably be heavily targeted by the Huyan family should he choose to stay. As such, he will surely think about running as far away as he can from here. However, the Chamber of Commerce has branches all over the entire Celestial Nation, meaning that the Huyan family’s influence extends across the entire nation as well. Thus, Ren Xuanming will not have a place to call home within the whole Celestial Nation. As soon as he leaves the capital city, he will likely have to go on the run. God knows if he’ll be able to escape the Huyan family’s clutches!"

Luo Ping was feeling a little delighted at Ren Xuanming’s misfortune, and as he spoke, he couldn’t help tilting his head towards Qian’Er, who was silently biting her lips. If Qian’Er’s actions hadn’t gone completely beyond Ren Xuanming’s expectations—daring to commit murder in the capital city—which attracted the attention of the Martial Manor’s enforcers, Ren Xuanming might not have ended up in such a miserable state. Perhaps his little scheme would have even succeeded. Ren Xuanming had sorely underestimated his opponents this time, and he was now paying the price. As the saying goes: ’when you play with fire, you will get burned.’

’So that’s why!’ Everyone revealed a look of understanding.

At the Chamber of Commerce’s backyard, the despondent Ren Xuanming mumbled something to the crowd, and after making a deep bow, he proceeded to draw out a dragon steed and leaped onto it. With a pitiful expression, he dashed out of the backyard and headed straight towards the city gates.

"Everyone, shall we send him off?" Luo Ping smiled and asked the crowd.

Miao Yi and the others immediately understood why Luo Ping had them bring along their mounts as well. It seemed he wished to give them the opportunity to pay Ren Xuanming back for what he did.

Miao Yi wasn’t particularly interested, but he told Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei nonetheless, "We’ll go have a look. The rest of you, go back."

The two of them immediately exchanged knowing looks. Then, with Luo Ping tagging along, the four riders swiftly departed.

Within the city, Luo Ping was about to rush straight towards Ren Xuanming, but Miao Yi raised a hand to stop him, asking, "Brother Luo, why must you be so hasty?"

Luo Ping was somewhat confused at first. However, he soon realized that while he had never personally been involved with fighting and killing as a Chamber of Commerce employee, what about the three people before him? Any one of them was a lord in his own right, as well as an overseer of his respective territory. Not to mention, they had come out alive from the Subjugation Crusade, their success paved with the blood of 180,000 participants. It was impossible to put a number on the number of lives these three had already taken. They probably didn’t intend to let Ren Xuanming leave with his life to begin with!

Luo Ping couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. But at the same time, he was a little expectant as well. Ren Xuanming had Vice-Director Long Maosen backing him up, and because of that, Luo Ping was always bossed around. That’s why he wanted Ren Xuanming dead as well. However, he’d never taken part in anything involving murder and plunder before, so he was inevitably a little nervous.

Luo Ping turned to look at the other three and noticed their expressions were completely calm, a stark difference from his own.

The four riders followed behind Ren Xuanming from a distance. They didn’t want to startle the latter, and just quietly followed along, all the way until he exited the city’s boundaries.

After going several kilometers away from the capital city, Miao Yi suddenly waved his hand, and together with Zhao Fei and Sikong Wuwei, they quickly accelerated forward. Utterly flustered by the sudden signal, Luo Ping hurriedly followed behind them.

Soon, Ren Xuanming noticed the sound of movement behind him. When he saw it was Miao Yi and the others, his expression twisted in horror, and he immediately bolted for his life.

Draconic roars soon began to echo as Miao Yi brandished the Inversed-Scales Spear. Underneath him, Charcoal burst forth in a spurt of energy and pulled away from the four-man formation, rapidly drawing closer to Ren Xuanming.

Luo Ping’s heart was beating wildly as he watched this. These people were indeed planning to take Ren Xuanming’s life. As he thought, these lords were all ruthless characters. Not a single one of them should be easily offended, as things could turn to a life-or-death situation at the drop of a hat!

When he saw Miao Yi pulling in close from behind, Ren Xuanming was completely struck by terror. He drew his sword and pricked his mount’s rump repeatedly as he tried to make it run faster. However, Miao Yi continued to shorten the distance between them, not allowing Ren Xuanming to throw him off at all. The latter’s face was already white as a sheet.

After closing the distance to about ten meters apart from Ren Xuanming, Miao Yi tilted his spear at an angle and was about to strike out. Suddenly, a purple streak of light flitted across the skies, rapidly descending and fleeting past Miao Yi’s line of sight as it dragged Ren Xuanming away from his impending peril and up to the skies.

In the blink of an eye, the purple light disappeared into the horizon. Its speed was extremely fast, and not something that Charcoal could catch up to at all. But even if he could, Miao Yi wouldn’t dare give chase to that purple streak of light. After all, that was a Purple Lotus cultivator!

Charcoal slowly stopped by the side of the road. As he held onto his spear, Miao Yi’s face was gloomy as he stared in the direction the purple light had disappeared off to.

Zhao Fei and the others came to a stop behind him, asking, "Who could have saved that bastard?"

Luo Ping pursed his lips and replied solemnly, "It’s probably the Vice-Director. Since we were able to guess that the Huyan family wouldn’t let Ren Xuanming off so easily, the Vice-Director probably had the same idea as well and knew that he would be in danger! That Ren family’s ancestor must have really accumulated some good karma for Vice-Director Long to protect his descendants to this extent. But I wonder where he could have taken Ren Xuanming?"

"He spoiled our fun!" Sikong Wuwei tucked his poleaxe away in dissatisfaction.

They had wanted to take revenge but unexpectedly had to return in disappointment.

Once they returned to the capital city, Miao Yi asked Luo Ping to bring them to Uncle Hua. Regardless of whether or not the other party had been of any help, he did put in the effort for their sakes after all. Now that Miao Yi and the others were free, they naturally needed to go thank him in person. If they didn’t even understand such a basic moral courtesy, they could forget about finding success in life.

The location was at a small mountain near to Jade Capital Peak. This piece of land belonged to the Chamber of Commerce, and almost all its members resided here.

It seemed Uncle Hua had quite a high position within the Chamber of Commerce as he owned a very decent courtyard for his own use. This was pretty good considering the scarcity of land within the capital city.

Miao Yi, Zhao Fei, and Sikong Wuwei wanted to leave Uncle Hua with a good impression, so they handed him a few gifts as a token of their appreciation. Uncle Hua didn’t hold back either and just accepted their gifts light-heartedly. After which, he invited them inside to have a seat and had the servants offer them some tea.

Miao Yi and the others thanked Uncle Hua for the gesture, then brought up the matter of Ren Xuanming’s escape. However, Miao Yi didn’t mention they were hunting him down to kill him, just that they wished to get payback for what he did. He slowly asked, "Does Uncle Hua know where Vice-Director Long might have taken Ren Xuanming?"

At this, Luo Ping secretly cast a sideways glance at the other two and saw that they were listening very intently. From the looks of it, these people still had no intention of letting Ren Xuanming off. Their ruthlessness was not something that cultivators from the Chamber of Commerce, who lived their days in peace and quiet, could compete with. They were the type who would not hesitate to kill as long as they had the chance!

"The forefather chops the wood for his descendants to bear the cold. It is understandable that Long Maosen wishes to ensure Ren Xuanming’s safety. From what I’ve heard, Ren Xuanming’s ancestor saved Long Maosen’s life on multiple occasions and was a tremendous benefactor to him. You can say that Long Maosen wouldn’t be living the peaceful days he has now if not for Ren Xuanming’s ancestor. Long Maosen has survived in the cultivation realm for many years, so it shouldn’t be surprising for him to have a few connections. I’m positive that he sent Ren Xuanming to a safe location. As for its exact whereabouts, that’s no longer something I can pry into."

Uncle Hua seemed to have guessed what Miao Yi and the others were thinking. He didn’t wish to stir up any trouble and immediately changed the subject, pointing right at Miao Yi’s nose as he sighed, "Speaking of that matter a few days ago, kid, you really screwed yourself over on that one. You were originally about to go scot-free, but you just had to mention that sworn big brother of yours, Huo Lingxiao. You practically brought this whole mess onto yourself!"

The trio was shocked by Uncle Hua’s words. Miao Yi immediately cupped his fists and asked, "How so?"

Uncle Hua lifted the wine flask to his lips and took a gulp, swallowing a couple of mouthfuls as he leaned back on his chair. He then explained, "At first, I didn’t quite understand it either. Pu Yigong received your gift, so logically speaking, everything should have been alright. That’s why, after they took the three of you away, I dragged him over for a drink, and while we were drinking, I took the opportunity to ask about you. I then found out that when Pu Yigong sought Lan Hou for a verdict, the latter had already decided to release your handmaidens and imprison Huyan Shou for an entire decade as punishment. However, Pu Yigong spoke a little too much and mentioned that you were Huo Lingxiao’s sworn brother, causing Lan Hou to immediately change his stance on the matter. Not only did he decide not to release your handmaidens anymore, he even slapped you three with the crime of allowing your servants to commit murder, and demanded that Huo Lingxiao come get you himself. Let me ask you this: does your sworn big brother have some kind of personal grievance against Lan Hou?"

Miao Yi, Zhao Fei, and Sikong Wuwei exchanged glances with one another—so that’s why they were imprisoned. If they hadn’t been respectful and visited Uncle Hua to show their gratitude, they probably would have never known about the truth of the matter. This was the power of having connections. At the very least, Miao Yi and the others would know better next time, and wouldn’t suffer from the same mistake again.

Miao Yi was speechless, and he awkwardly replied, "Uncle Hua, I really didn’t know that they had a vendetta against each other. If I did, why would I mention my big brother in the first place? Wouldn’t I just be digging a grave for myself by doing that?"

"I think so too!" Uncle Hua nodded in a carefree manner, then gulped down another mouthful of wine...