“Ol’Bai is strong.” Jing Mingfeng stated. “He used a technique to reach the power of a Peak Late-stage Soul King when I left, and he was even managing to beat back patriarch Qin…the patriarch was already tired enough after fighting you, great-grandfather, I believe Ol’Bai will definitely beat him.”
“A Peak Late-stage Soul King…he had a technique like that?” Jing Wuying sighed in amazement. “It’s a rarity to find a man who would so boldly step forward into danger in this cruel world. Mingfeng…it was fortunate that you made a friend like him.”
“Yes…” Jing Mingfeng agreed. He too felt fortunate about his fate with Bai Yunfei.
“It wasn’t within my predictions that Bai Yunfei would help us. Our plan to slowly kill off the Qin is unnecessary it seems. The Qin is finished, and we only need to wait until their crimes are made known to the world. The Qin will truly be extinct then, and a part of our debt will finally be paid…”
The misfortune of the Qin was pleasing for Jing Wuying, but the fires of hatred had yet to die out from Jing Wuying’s eyes.
“The Qin was not our biggest enemy, however. It is…the Soul Refining School! They saw fit to join with the Qin to target us for our techniques! The Soul Refining School…will die a painful death!!”
Every word he spoke boomed with more emotion than the last. He never thought that the true perpetrator behind the extinction of the Jing would be the Soul Refining School.
“Great-grandfather, please calm yourself! You’re injured!” Jing Mingfeng cried. “The Soul Refining School are enemies to everyone! We can wait until you’re healed, great-grandfather, we can find them then!”
“The Heavens must be blind,” Jing Wuying sighed, “to have allowed such calamity to befall my Jing. It is fortunate they saw fit to leave behind you as our final hope…as long as you live, Mingfeng, our Jing will never die! Hak…hak…”
This time, the pa.s.sionate emotions Jing Wuying felt about the subject matter caused the man to start coughing violently.
Leaping to his feet, Jing Mingfeng rushed to his great-grandfather’s side at once. “Great-grandfather, please calm yourself! Heal your wounds first!”
For some reason, his great-grandfather wouldn’t stop talking. He kept speaking in a way that gave Jing Mingfeng a very uneasy feeling…
Jing Wuying shook his hand. “It’s…fine, Mingfeng. The Qin is dead, but the Soul Refining School lives on. The Soul Refining School will not be as easy to fight. You are far too weak as you are now. Now is not the time. Grow strong and hone your strength. Wait until you are at least a Late-stage Soul King before you take action. If possible…become a Soul Emperor. With your talent, all you need is time. It is possible for you to become one where I did not.”
Something definitely felt off now. A premonition of fear began to well up within Jing Mingfeng as he listened. “I will do as you say, great-grandfather. We can find a place to hide and train when you get better. I’ll follow your orders and become as strong as I can. Wait until I am strong enough, and then we can take our revenge!”
Jing Wuying forced a smile. He placed a hand first onto himself. He could feel a bit of strength had returned to him. “Come here, Mingfeng.” He beckoned for Jing Mingfeng to come closer.
Confused, Jing Mingfeng drew closer and kneeled down in front of Jing Wuying. “What is it, great-grandfather?”
He watched as his great-grandfather smiled at him with a doting eye. Jing Wuying’s right hand dropped onto his head to pet him fondly. “I am ashamed, Mingfeng. I failed the Jing in their times of trouble. I failed to share in their fate as my duty. And now I will fail to see you grow up…This is my final gift to you, from great-grandfather to great-grandson. You will need to rely on yourself from now on…Live on, Mingfeng. Carry our name and live on…”
Jing Mingfeng was so nervous now that he was shaking. “Great…great-grandfather, what do you mean by th—ah!! Great-grandfather, what are you doing?!”
The hand on his head clenched tightly before Jing Mingfeng could even finish his sentence, eliciting a yelp of pain when it did. There was a second source of pain when he felt an endless amount of power flow like water from his great-grandfather’s arm into his head!
“Ah!! Ahhhh!!!”
Jing Mingfeng screamed. It was the only thing he could do! The pain was so painful, so unbearable! It felt like every part of his body was being pulled in a different direction!
The energy going into his body was cutting away at his person like the edge of a sharp sword. It was slicing open his soul itself to be poured into it!
“Rumble…rumble…”
Jing Mingfeng felt like his body had been turned into a s.h.i.+p in stormy waters. The waves of energy had already poured into the interior of his s.h.i.+p and battering from the inside with such vigor that he was afraid he’d be blown apart!
The wails of pain erupting from Jing Mingfeng felt like they were stabbing into Jing Wuying’s heart as well. A flicker of hesitation crossed his eyes for a moment, but it was quickly overshadowed by grim determination. Power was filling his enfeebled body, but Jing Wuying could see that there was something even more drastic happening to his person!
His face, which was already thin and harrow, was rapidly withering up to become as weak as a mummy. His hair, which was already gray due to age, was starting to whiten and even falling out from his scalp by the roots!
It wasn’t just power that was leaking from his person, the scent of death was starting to emanate from him as well!
……
An eternity went by before Jing Mingfeng’s scream came to a stop, ushering the cave he was in into an eerie silence. The black and green light that had previously illuminated the cave was nowhere to be seen either.
“Ugh…”
A groan escaped Jing Mingfeng’s lips as he stirred, his eyes blinking rapidly.
He struggled to his feet. Staggering two steps back, Jing Mingfeng held his aching head with his hands as he tried to make sense of what had just happened to him.
His head snapped up a second later to look at his great-grandfather. But the sight of the man immediately caused Jing Mingfeng to turn deathly white in fright!
“Great-grandfather!!”
Jing Mingfeng buckled at the knees to fall to the ground. His trembling hands touched at the face-down Jing Wuying and sent a pulse of soulforce through them.
But…
Jing Wuying remained still from where he lied on the ground. His body was withered and his head was as bald as the day he was born. His eyes were closed shut, and his body…had no signs of life!
Jing Wuying was dead!!
“N-no…no! No no no no! This can’t be happening, this can’t be real!! Great-grandfather…great-grandfather!!”
Jing Mingfeng howled in despair. His hands gripped at his great-grandfather as if to jostle him awake.
“Ahhh!!!! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!”
Tears were streaming down from his face now. His screams of utter anguish echoed in the caves while the black light from his body exploded forth!
“Boomm!!!”
The silent world exploded into a cacophony of noise as the earth shook. The cave and mountain Jing Mingfeng had been in erupted with black light and dust before…it collapsed!