I Only Stomp on Weaklings

A voice came from inside, "Let them in."

It was not Su Zhining.

"Please come in, gentlemen."

The person pushed open the door and made a gesture of invitation.

Chen Ming and Deng Wei walked in. Inside was an exquisite garden, full of various flowers and plants. Although they were not particularly precious species, they had their own elegance.

Three people were sitting inside, a man, a woman, and Su Zhining, who almost simultaneously looked up at them.

The unfamiliar woman glanced at Chen Ming and suddenly her eyes lit up, "Gu Xianyu? It’s really you."

Chen Ming looked at her with confusion, "How do I address you, young lady? How do you know me?"

The woman clapped her hands, her face filled with delight, "It’s truly you. Your name has spread throughout Xiazhou City. With such a brilliant talent, I’ve long wanted to meet you. My name is Wu Xiaolan, a disciple of the Qingyi Sect. This is my senior brother, Zhou Wentao."

Zhou Wentao?

Chen Ming’s heart was slightly startled, it was this person who wounded Xia Mudan. Unexpectedly, he really met him here.

He kept his composure, "So it’s the esteemed disciples of Qingyi Sect, I’ve long heard of your great names."

The two of them were not very old, around thirty. Wu Xiaolan was taller than the average man but with well-proportioned features, if reduced by twenty percent, she would definitely be a great beauty.

Zhou Wentao was very handsome, with a cultured and refined temperament, sporting two mustaches, and seemed approachable. One wouldn’t guess he was a Second Grade expert.

Since entering, this Zhou Wentao had been staring at him.

At this moment, Su Zhining spoke, "They came to find me."

Wu Xiaolan, understanding the hint, said, "Then we won’t disturb you. We’ll come back in the afternoon." Then she pulled her senior brother away.

...

After leaving, Wu Xiaolan asked her senior brother Zhou Wentao, "Senior brother, why were you staring at Gu Xianyu just now? Jealous of him winning the beauty’s heart?"

Zhou Wentao didn’t smile, frowning, "Odd, why does this person have the aura of the Heartless Sword?"

"Huh?" Wu Xiaolan was somewhat surprised, "How could that be? Senior brother, haven’t you not used the Heartless Sword recently?"

"I used it once not long ago. To think, that person knows Gu Xianyu, and their relationship is surely not simple."

Wu Xiaolan was shocked as only his closest friends could make her senior brother use the "Heartless Sword." She feared...

"What are you planning to do, senior brother?"

Zhou Wentao just shook his head, not intending to tell her.

...

In the garden, Su Zhining looked at Gu Xianyu and Deng Wei, her tone cold, "Ruan Caixiong sent you over, what’s the matter?"

Chen Ming looked at this woman who once fought side by side with him and was willing to risk her life for him, feeling a surge of emotion. He lowered his head, "Miss Su, I’m here uninvited on a matter of great importance which must not be disclosed, especially not to let the Eight Righteous Sect know. So, we need to speak in another private place."

Su Zhining stared at him for a while and said, "Very well."

Then, Su Zhining led them out from the back door and got into a carriage.

Shortly after, the carriage stopped, and the three entered a secluded courtyard.

Su Zhining said, "You can speak now."

Chen Ming said, "I have information on the Nine Nether Sect."

Su Zhining’s gaze, originally cold, suddenly sharpened, her expression turning serious, "Speak!"

He turned to his subordinate, "Deng Wei, tell Miss Su everything you know in detail."

So, Deng Wei recounted everything from beginning to end.

Su Zhining listened attentively, asked a few more questions, and then fell into contemplation.

After a moment, she asked seriously, "Who else knows about this?"

Chen Ming replied, "Only the three of us."

"Why not inform the Six Gates?"

He did not answer but said to Deng Wei, "Deng Wei, you go back first. I’ll discuss a few things with Miss Su."

After Deng Wei left, he said, "Currently, Lord Zhong is in seclusion, and the other two governors are absent, leaving only Hong Yuze and Ruan Caixiong. I worry there might be spies around them, so I dared not tell them. After careful consideration, I came to find you, Miss Su."

Su Zhining pondered for a moment before saying slowly, "These disciples of the Nine Nether Sect daring to covet the Demon Sword, their strength is bound to be formidable, beyond what I can handle alone."

He asked in surprise, "Are you here alone in Xiazhou, young lady?"

"Not at all. There’s also an elder uncle accompanying me, only, I don’t know where he is at the moment. In the short term, it might be hard to reach him."

"Then what should we do? Right now is a golden opportunity for them to fall into the trap, allowing us to catch all these demonic cultists in one sweep. If we miss this chance, it will be like searching for a needle in a haystack trying to find them again when they’re in hiding."

Su Zhining decisively said, "Let’s go, we’ll first look for Hong Yuze."

Chen Ming asked, "What about Lord Ruan?"

"Ruan Caixiong is likely no longer reliable."

Her thoughts were evidently the same as Chen Ming’s.

Chen Ming suggested, "Let’s act separately to avoid arousing suspicion."

"Alright."

Su Zhining watched his departing figure, her cold eyes suddenly showing a trace of doubt. For some reason, she felt as though this Gu Xianyu, whom she had met once before, had undergone a massive transformation.

Compared to the last time, it was as though he had become a different person.

Moreover, she felt a strange sense of familiarity with him, especially when he spoke, as if...

Soon, she shook her head, dismissing the thought. The matter at hand was more pressing.

...

Chen Ming did not tell Su Zhining about Zhou Yilan because he had no way to explain why Zhou Yilan would mistake him as the Saint Heir of the Nine Nether Sect.

Such a thing, even with a hundred mouths, he could not clarify. After all, it was the Nine Nether Sect’s disciple who personally verified him as the Saint Heir, how could it be false?

When the time comes, the policy would naturally be to err on the side of caution.

He had no desire to test the hearts of people.

As for being forthright about his identity with Su Zhining, that brought no benefits whatsoever. Ultimately, there would be only two outcomes.

One is Su Zhining exercising righteousness over personal ties, slaying him by her own hand as someone possessed by the Immortal Demon Venerable.

The other is Su Zhining abandoning her righteous path, her dao heart shattered, causing her cultivation to stagnate, much like that Mudan girl from Celestial Fragrance Pavilion in Jiangzhou City.

Even if he told her, that he wasn’t possessed by the Immortal Demon Venerable, she wouldn’t believe him.

This sort of thing couldn’t be proven, even if he showcased the Demon Venerable’s Primordial Spirit within the Mingfeng Sword, it wouldn’t change anything.

Back then so many eyes witnessed the Immortal Demon Venerable entering his body.

That was a monster dominating the world, one that even Celestial Human Realm experts couldn’t kill. Just a glare from it could implant a restriction, turning one into the Demon Venerable’s puppet, let alone having it enter one’s body.

The most terrifying aspect of the Immortal Demon Venerable was that after possessing someone, it retained all their memories, making it impossible for even the closest of kin to notice.

In those days, when the Immortal Demon Venerable wreaked havoc across the world, even the powerhouses of the Celestial Dao Alliance were helpless against it.

In the end, they had to contact all the major sects and employ the most ruthless strategies. That was, killing everyone who had any contact with the Immortal Demon Venerable, forcing it into a corner and ultimately sealing it away.

Countless lives were lost in that battle.

Chen Ming specifically examined the Six Gates’ archives about that battle, though the records were brief, each word represented an unknown number of lives.

When the Celestial Dao Alliance decided to act, their ruthlessness was unrivaled.

In terms of the number of kills, even the entire Longevity Sect combined might not match the Celestial Dao Alliance.

...

Chen Ming returned to the Six Gates and learned that Ruan Caixiong didn’t come today, so he went directly to the prison to "spar" with Third Grade prisoners, collecting experience points.

He discovered that Deng Wei was absent and curiously asked, "Where is Deng Wei?"

Lei Chun said, "His family came for him earlier, saying something urgent required his attention."

Chen Ming felt something was off, wondering if the Nine Nether Sect had detected something.

He nodded, asking no more questions, and led several subordinates into the prison.

Among these subordinates, it was uncertain whether there were any Nine Nether Sect spies. Therefore, he couldn’t behave too differently and decided to contact Deng Wei later.

By routine, Chen Ming reached the torture chamber, where Third Grade prisoners were brought to him one by one.

Upon reaching the fifth prisoner, Deng Wei finally arrived, signaling frantically with his eyes.

Chen Ming understood and asked Lei Chun, who came in with him, to step outside.

In the torture chamber, only Chen Ming, Deng Wei, and the Third Grade prisoner remained.

Deng Wei, not caring about other matters now, anxiously said, "Sir, it’s not good, they’ve decided to act today."

Today?

This soon?

Chen Ming was taken aback since Zhou Yilan hadn’t sent him any message.

PS: Requesting monthly votes.