The spiritual blacksmith, panicking, punched Cha Ming’s chest. The blow didn’t harm Cha Ming much, but allowed Tian Zhi to push off toward the vault’s door. “Who are you? Why did you come here?”
“I’m afraid traitors like you don’t need to know,” Cha Ming said. His voice was laced with anger, half at the man, but half at himself for repaying kindness with violence.
“Ah,” Tian Zhi said. “I see the Alabaster Group finally succeeded in planting a mole. It’s too bad you’ll never leave the city alive. I’ve already messaged the prince.”
“I’m afraid you haven’t,” Cha Ming said, shaking his head. “Spatial lock.”
Tian Zhi frowned as he took out his core-transmission jade and checked. During their exchange, he’d somehow found time to send a message. It hadn’t gone through.
“Any last words?”
Tian Zhi laughed bitterly. “Who would’ve thought that we’d be caught so close to the end. You toyed with us, lured us into a false sense of security. But tell me, what does it matter? The Breaker prototype still exists. Pan Su, He Yin, Shao Qiang still live. Don’t tell me you’re so cold-blooded as to kill them too?”
“Without me, the Breaker is just a legend, something that people only wish they had the skill to build,” Cha Ming said. “The prototypes are gone, the information destroyed. With your death, and your possessions gone, I doubt there’ll be any records left on how to make it.”
“The crown prince has moles,” Tian Zhi said. “I know it, because he told me. For insurance.” His eyes narrowed. “Unless…”
“I am the mole,” Cha Ming said.
Tian Zhi laughed heartily, then held out his arms. “Fine, I admit defeat. Just give me a painless death. I can’t do anything to you anyhow.”
“Any last wishes?” Cha Ming said. “You treated me well. You trusted me, and I betrayed you.”
“No,” Tian Zhi said. “All the family I have is dead. Killed by time and tragedy.”
He closed his eyes, and destruction devoured the man as Cha Ming struck down with Crushing Chaos. The destruction qi ravaged the man’s body, eating away at his vitality until finally, there was nothing left. Cha Ming took his possessions and crushed his core-transmission jade. He also took Wang Yong and Wang Bo’s possessions, then destroyed the remainder of their bodies.
Only the scratches on the floor remained.
“Why in the Sea God’s name did we have to come here?” Gong Xuandi complained as they walked through the city streets, their bodies and faces covered in black cloaks. “It gives me the creeps.” Their disguise wasn’t an uncommon one in the Southern City, where trust only ran so far as a contract dictated. Right now, they resembled acolytes of the Spirit Temple, who wore black robes as a religious prop.
“We’re here for opportunity,” Feng Ming said, pushing through the busy but orderly streets. Many passersby glared at him. Pushing through lines wasn’t something someone did, especially if they had to walk. Anyone with a high-enough station to push would be flying, after all.
“There’re so many powerful cultivators here it’s not even funny,” Gong Xuandi said. “Even I might die if we’re discovered.”
“Then it’s fortunate that they’re all distracted by the massive Taotie that’s about to knock on their front door,” Feng Ming said. “I don’t know what they’re thinking, waiting till the last moment.”
“I heard that it’s that gnat Zhou Li,” Gong Xuandi said. “He’s taking as much time as possible to recover and coming at the last minute. They’re all too scared to act without him.”
“Selfish bastards,” Feng Ming said. “We fought that beast for months. Months!”
“And I’m really strong, and you’re lucky as all hell,” Gong Xuandi said. “Besides. It’s stronger now.”
The man did have a point. The creature never stopped eating, and it didn’t help that the South’s first attempt to halt the beast had failed miserably. Now it was difficult to slow it down as it homed in on the largest reserve of vitality and heaven and earth energy in the area, Bastion City, and the Shattered Lands beyond it.
“I’m sure the royals will help fight it too,” Feng Ming said. “When they leave, it’ll be our time to shine. We’ll swoop in and take their entire treasury.”
“You’re making it sound like you can actually store all those things,” Gong Xuandi said. “Rare treasures are often heavy, their energies too potent. At most, you’ll be able to store a few things in a peak-core-grade ring. For anything else, you’ll need…” His voice trailed off as Feng Ming pulled out a violet ring from his bag of holding. “You lucky bastard.”
“You’re right,” Feng Ming said. “To think that one of those blood masters had been carrying it, thinking it was a core-grade ring. He’d shake in his grave if he knew it was a transcendent-grade treasure.”
Gong Xuandi shook his head in disgust. “I’ve had it with your luck. It’s unnatural. Now tell me, what are we supposed to do while we wait?”
“Hmm…” Feng Ming thought aloud, tapping his fingers on his lips. “I’ve got it!” Gong Xuandi looked at him expectantly. “Noodles!”
“Sorry?” Gong Xuandi asked.
Feng Ming didn’t answer. Instead, he led the man to a high-end restaurant just beside the palace. He rented a room on the top floor facing the open courtyard. A few minutes later, two steaming-hot bowls of noodles arrived. Gong Xuandi grunted but didn’t complain as he sipped on a coffee he’d obtained on the main floor. It tasted strikingly similar to the blend they had back in Haijing, with all the same effects. Somehow, he suspected the differently named company was a secret subsidiary of the mighty coffee empire that had started in Gong Xuandi’s home city of all places.
Feng Ming hummed in pleasure as he slurped on the broth. “If we’re going to wait,
