April 30, 2018

A sudden tremor brought the tense atmosphere of the public trial meeting to an abrupt halt.

People no longer cared about the difference between 25% and 5%, nor had time to ponder the real significance of ten billion Spirit Stones. With the tremor of the earth, everyone heard a silent scream as if their very souls were being torn apart.

Most common people with low resistance instinctively covered their ears, crouching down, while the few stronger individuals with higher resistance frowned and looked around. The chaotic square filled with hundreds of thousands of people was on the brink of a stampede, and the silver-armored soldiers responsible for maintaining order stood still like wooden figures, as if frozen by some Immortal Technique.

For those with Immortal Dao Cultivation, the silent scream piercing their ears had an even more terrifying implication.

It was the wail of spacetime being torn apart.

The concept of spacetime is something every legitimate Cultivator encounters in cultural lessons. It is the most stable yet unstable concept in the world. The instability refers to its continuous subtle changes every moment. The warping of spacetime is akin to air for top Cultivators, surrounding every corner. However, these changes are extremely subtle, perceived only by Cultivators with exceptionally sensitive senses and powerful Primordial Spirits. To the vast majority, spacetime is as stable as thousand-year-old Profound Ice.

Therefore, a cataclysm that provokes the wail of spacetime is as ungraspable as a disaster only found in novels.

The silver-armored soldiers, formally trained in Golden Jade City’s elite training, have no contingencies against the calamity of spacetime upheaval and earth-shattering events in their training regimen.

On the scene, only a very few top-tier Great Cultivators realized at the first moment what had transpired.

Zhao Hongwu, in horror and rage, shouted, "Zhao Lingbo?! What are you doing?!"

In the violent fluctuation of spacetime rupture, the unfettered fluctuation of Zhao Lingbo’s True Essence surged forth, proclaiming her as the instigator of the anomaly.

"Tsk, what am I doing? Isn’t it obvious? The backup plan, Broken Moon Sword Array."

As she spoke, the tear around the square intensified, causing several Great Cultivators maintaining the layered space of the square to cry out.

"Zhao Lingbo, stop! The Broken Moon Sword Array will rupture spacetime, and the layered space will be destroyed!"

"There are hundreds of thousands here. If the layered space is destroyed, it’ll squeeze out human paste. What are you doing?!"

Zhao Lingbo sneered coldly, "If Zhao Chenlu is released, the disaster won’t merely be at the level of hundreds of thousands. Being plotted against and suppressed is an unprecedented humiliation for her. With her disposition, do you think she wouldn’t silence all involved?"

"Silence, silence them? Nonsense, attacking hundreds of thousands, even an Evil Cult Demon wouldn’t do that. It would provoke a Heavenly Tribulation, and Saint Sect wouldn’t let her go..."

Zhao Lingbo’s smile grew colder, "You think Zhao Chenlu fears Heavenly Tribulations and the Saint Sect? Is this your first day meeting Zhao Chenlu?"

As she spoke, the space’s tear became more severe, and Zhao Lingbo fully activated the Broken Moon Sword Array, frantically drawing the Earth Vein Spiritual Power of Golden Jade City, shaping it into magic powerful enough to slay Zhao Chenlu. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

However, just when this terrifying force was about to explode, the supply of Spiritual Power from the Earth Vein was suddenly cut.

At that moment, it was naturally the Temporary City Lord Zhao Hongwu who controlled the supply of Earth Vein Spiritual Power in Golden Jade City.

Zhao Lingbo shouted fiercely, "Zhao Hongwu, stop interfering! Even if you defect on the spot, she won’t remember your benefits!"

Zhao Hongwu roared angrily, "Zhao Lingbo, now you’re the one interfering! The backup plan must be approved by all Elders before it can be used, not to mention the innocent civilians here!"

"Ah, Zhao Chenlu simply tired of your wishy-washy attitude, which is why she trampled all your faces... Zhao Hongwu, get off your high and mighty leadership stance. With your so-called Elder Council, your so-called compassionate spirit, you’ll never shake Zhao Chenlu’s rule in a thousand or ten thousand years. I’m the one who will topple her from her pedestal this time!"

The next moment, the previously severed Earth Vein Spiritual Power began to flow again, surging into the backup plan’s Broken Moon Sword Array.

Zhao Hongwu was utterly shocked: "You..."

"From the very beginning, I had obtained the authority to call upon the earth vein. Did you really think I would entrust my life and wealth to this absurd public trial of yours?"

Zhao Hongwu, while exerting every effort to reclaim control over the earth vein, trembled with rage: "This is rebellion!"

Zhao Lingbo laughed heartily: "You said the same thing when I schemed against Zhao Chenlu. You even acted like you were going to jump out and duel with me. It’s only been ten days, have you already forgotten?"

Zhao Hongwu gritted his teeth and despairingly realized that many of his authorities as the Temporary City Lord felt shackled, operating poorly, while Zhao Lingbo was wantonly squandering the precious resources of Golden Jade City to strengthen her Broken Moon Sword Array.

"You... had it planned all along?" Zhao Hongwu ultimately had to abandon his futile attempts.

"Of course, I never counted on you from the start," Zhao Lingbo said, "Before me, you schemed for nearly twenty years with no results, and even your lives and wealth were Zhao Chenlu’s charity to you. People like you, even if someone handed you the key to victory, you wouldn’t have the ability to unlock the door. Yet you dared to covet the City Lord’s throne. Without me, you’d still be eating the leftovers Zhao Chenlu gave to pets, but as soon as things were accomplished, you immediately assumed the title of City Lord, wielding power and influence. Zhao Chenlu is merely suppressed by the Seventeen Linked Rings and could break free at any moment, yet you haven’t even eliminated this hidden danger and have begun comfortably enjoying the wealth and power of the City Lord. How can I rely on the likes of you?"

Hearing these words, many elders on the stage looked embarrassed, and even the ordinary citizens of Golden Jade City, uncomfortable from the temporal screech, showed complex expressions.

Over the years, there were many who harbored dissatisfaction with Zhao Chenlu, from the highest to the lowest ranks, but how many truly took action? How many actions were truly effective?

Most people’s dissatisfaction with Zhao Chenlu stayed at the level of idle complaints over tea or dinner—let alone taking action, they did not even dare to boast openly. And now that Zhao Chenlu was suppressed, they immediately jumped out to join the public trial, wanting to laugh at Zhao Chenlu’s predicament, behaving no differently than Zhao Hongwu and the others.

From beginning to end, the only one who truly harmed Zhao Chenlu and turned the tide was her personal maid, Zhao Lingbo.

And now, just as the public trial was about to become a joke, Zhao Lingbo intervened once more, defying the odds.

During this period, while everyone’s attention was drawn to the public trial and united strength, Zhao Lingbo never let go of her Broken Moon Sword Array. With sufficient energy supply, the sword array presented itself to the crowd in a form surpassing even the blueprint.

Countless brilliant stars appeared over Golden Jade City.

Alongside the stars came deep darkness.

Though it wasn’t yet noon, the sky turned a pitch-black hue, with only billions of stars providing a glimmer of light.

The night sky appearing in broad daylight instantly captured everyone’s attention.

Ordinary people were awed by the stunning beauty of this daytime night, while cultivators marveled at the wondrous and inscrutable true form of the Broken Moon Sword Array.

Each star was a fragmented point in space, through which flowed the solar fire from some unimaginably distant location. Though it utilized such tiny fragmented points in space, the tremendous number aggregated into a form of absolute power.

This power surpassed any individual entity in Xiangzhou today—a grand miracle that required the combined forces of heaven, earth, and humanity.

In terms of absolute power, the Broken Moon Sword Array was not as strong as the united strength of a million people, but the united strength was not something that could be firmly controlled by a single person. The Broken Moon Sword Array, however, was completely under Zhao Lingbo’s control, allowing her to maneuver such immense power alone—the intricacy of the sword array was beyond imagination.

Zhao Lingbo was far more formidable than people imagined her to be.

"That’s right, I’m much more formidable than any of you think. As the eldest miss’s replacement maid, how could I possibly be inferior to trash like you? Use your brain. At the beginning of the coup, you wanted to take the City Lord’s position, and I didn’t compete with you. Did you really think it was because I lacked seniority or True Essence Realm cultivation? I just needed you dimwits to attract certain people’s attention for me. The eldest miss has managed Golden Jade City for twenty years; while she never deliberately sought allies, there are certainly those who support her and genuinely admire her. They would exert all efforts to save her from distress. And relying on my own strength alone might not ensure absolute success, so I needed to push some fools to the forefront to draw their attention. Indeed, you all served very well as bait. The united strength, the public trial—all became targets of criticism, allowing my Broken Moon Sword Array to be launched smoothly without obstruction."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hongwu felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation, but what he felt more than humiliation was fear.

"Aren’t you afraid of Zhao Chenlu’s blood battle when you activate the Broken Moon Sword Array?"

"Hahaha, if I feared that, how could I have been the first to act?"

In the next moment, billions of stars fell from the vast night sky, converging upon the City Lord’s Mansion in Golden Jade City.

And at that moment, as the starlight descended, naturally, no one noticed that the stunning woman who had been arguing with Zhao Hongwu in the square not long ago had vanished without a trace.