Chapter 216 Terrain
A few hours had passed by, and Jiang Ming was close to dozing off.
'What is wrong with them? How could they keep speaking nonsense for an hour and not get bored by it?' Jiang Ming was thoroughly impressed this time by the era of these people.
They could come up with so much nonsense to waste time and not get bored at all. They are obviously all gathered here to scheme some coup de grace, but none of them seemed to be in a rush to discuss things.
"Jiang Ming, stop dozing off." Yuan Chunhua's sudden voice brought him back to reality. "They are about to go into the main discussion now."
"Oh? How are you still able to keep this up and not get tired?" Jiang Ming enquired. He was truly amazed by Yuan Chunhua, being able to remain focused after all this time.
Meanwhile, Yuan Chunhua held a grin as she shrugged her shoulders. "It's simple really… I just didn't bother to listen to their conversation until now."
Right as she finished her sentences, Jiang Ming almost stumbled from the tree branch he was sitting in. His jaws were wide open as well and wondered if he was being a fool in the past hour.
With a stuttering voice, he asked, "D-Did you know that they were going to spend an hour of useless talking beforehand?"
Yuan Chunhua didn't respond but her expression had told him the truth already. She had long known there wasn't any important information in their conversation until now but didn't bother to tell him about it. As a professional agent, she had her fair share of knowledge when it comes to spying on people.
It was an experience that one could only nurture practically and could not be learned theoretically.
Jiang Ming felt aggrieved at her prank on him. "Why didn't you just say so beforehand? I was listening to their conversation and didn't dare to miss a single word."
"Hmph, who told you to pretend to be all serious and that? Since you want to pretend to impress me, then why would I snatch that away from you." Yuan Chunhua sneered coldly. Though inwardly, she was laughing in joy as she saw his depressed expression.
'Serve you right for groping me so tightly back at my own office. If I happen to be seen by others, then I'll have to crawl into a corner in shame when they see a dignified instructor being treated like that.' She thought.
Being toyed with like that, Jiang Ming was on the verge of collapsing. Luckily, the discussion between Chen Yanmu and the 6 powerful clans had finally begun.
"Anyway, the elders and I have discussed sending in reinforcement by the time you guys start advancing into the capital city. We will also be responsible for the blockage of any news from the inside to be sent outside." Chen Yanmu said coldly.
And she continued, "As for that despicable Jiang Ming, I will personally deal with him for killing my father in public. The amount of shame I received in the sect was sufferable and I must make him pay."
"Haha, with the assistance of the Tian Shuai Sect, our coup de grace would be more concrete. As promised, when one of us overthrows the royal family and ascends to the throne, we will send over 45 percent of our resources to you." Di Tianluo was the first one to respond in joy.
However, his joy was cut short since one of the elders that had accompanied Chen Yanmu suddenly stepped in and shook her head.
It was an elderly woman, but no one dared to take her casually given her cultivation base.
"I'm afraid the percentage of resources we get has to be increased from its original 45 percent to 65 percent, Elder Di Tianluo." She said respectfully, but everyone knew it was just a farce.
She was stronger than Di Tianluo and despite her respectful tone, her demands were practically a threat. She was exuding a powerful pressure upon them, indicating that if they were to refuse it then things won't be polite anymore.
Di Tianluo endured the pressure as he cupped his fist and said stutteringly, "M-May I ask why you want to suddenly increase the amount of resources you get, Elder Feiling? I thought that we had already discussed things properly beforehand and agreed on 45 percent."
"That was in the past, but now it's the present." The elder woman, referred to as Feiling, responded in a cool manner.
"I don't know how the intel of our meeting was leaked, but the other sects have been trying to make things difficult for us. Hence, the agreement of our assistance price must be increased. Normally, we would have asked for at least 80 percent, but considering disciple Chen Yanmu's origin and circumstances, we decreased it to 65 percent."
Di Tianluo gnashed his teeth in anger but dared not to curse her outright. What Elder Feiling did was none other than robbing them once they had stepped into the muddy water already.
Even if he wanted to refuse, Di Tianluo and the other elders from their respectful clans knew they could not refuse no matter how outrageous their price was.
Without the assistance of the Tian Shuai Sect, their foolproof plan might go astray and risk failing the coup de grace. Failing it was no different than having their entire clan annihilated without mercy.
While the rest of the elders from the 6 powerful clans held a gloomy expression, Chen Yanmu could care less.
Her only goal was to redeem her lost reputation and get revenge. 'That Jiang Ming is really a treacherous person. If you wanted to kill that useless father of mine, then why couldn't he do it discreetly. Now I've been dragged to this muddy water without an option.'
Seeing how the conversation was going nowhere, she decided to intervene after receiving the signal from Elder Feiling.
Cupping her fist, Chen Yanmu smiled lightly at Di Tianluo, "Elder Tianluo, please understand our sect's circumstances as well. By collaborating with you, we are risking offending the other sects who have equal power as us. If two or more sects decided to go against us because of our intervention to help you out, then we would be in a dilemma."
As she said, Di Tianluo's face turned green, almost like he had swallowed a bunch of flies into his mouth. He no longer held an amicable expression toward Chen Yanmu now that she had revealed her true intention.
"Hmph, so be it. 65 percent it is, but you better guarantee that not a single reinforcement could be sent from the inside and that we would also receive your disciples to assist us." Di Tianluo spoke on behalf of the rest of the elders.
With the agreement being set, they continued to discuss their arrangement and what they would do on that day.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ming was laughing loudly, not bothering to keep his volume down. After all, the formation set by Yuan Chunhua might seem simple, but it was actually extremely profound and indetectable.
Not to mention, he had also secretly utilized his Gamer's Cube to strengthen the formation, adding another layer of security.
Of course, the usage of his Gamer's Cube was kept hidden by Jiang Ming.
Therefore, Yuan Chunhua slapped on the back of his head as she scolded harshly, "What are you laughing so wildly for? If the formation were to lose its function and release an energy fluctuation, then I will butcher you."
"How can the formation set by you be so superficial? I believe in your formation, so that's why I'm laughing wildly?" Jiang Ming rubbed his head and explained his reasoning.
His explanation was meant to bootlick her and ease her anger. Alas, his bootlicking was done to the wrong person since Yuan Chunhua smacked him once again.
"Hmph, save your flattery words to those innocent women around you. Did you think I would believe in your blasphemy?" She snorted coldly.
Just when she believed Jiang Ming was going to retort again, she realized his expression changed drastically. His sudden change shocked her and before she could comprehend the change, Jiang Ming held her waist.
"Something's wrong with the terrain." Jiang Ming warned and prompted her to stop struggling.
"W-What do you mean? What's wrong with the terrain?"
Jiang Ming didn't have time to answer when the terrain experienced an earthquake.
A loud rumbling sound echoed and Chen Yanmu was equally dumbfounded by the change in the environment.
"Elder Feiling, what is happening?" She turned toward the most experienced elder and asked.
Elder Feiling held a grim expression as she knew it was too late for them to retreat. "A powerful energy source seemed to have occurred beneath the terrain. We are probably being forced to another dimension now. Such things had only happened in the records of the books in our sect library."
BOOOM!
Right as she finished that, everyone within the vicinity had been forcefully dragged downward without being able to escape.