Chapter 412: Arrangement

However, while the Celestial Thunder Pearl was powerful, its range was small.

The spot he had struck was empty, so not many people paid it any mind. Instead, they were rather puzzled. What was he doing?

But in the next moment, an earth-shattering explosion, completely different from that of a Celestial Thunder Pearl, boomed out.

The sound was immense. An entire patch of ground was blasted into the air, and blazing flames shot toward the sky, engulfing several clueless members of the martial world who were standing there.

They died without a sound!

The entire Sunset Plateau swayed from the massive explosion, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Divine punishment? Could it be that these fiends from Heterodox Manor can use Demon Techniques?”

“Bullshit! That’s clearly gunpowder… They… they hid a massive amount of it beneath Sunset Plateau?!”

“Are they trying to blow the entire Sunset Plateau sky-high?”

“Those fiends from Heterodox Manor… how could they be so vicious?”

Jiang Ran’s gaze instantly hardened. He looked at the massive crater blown into Sunset Plateau, then slowly turned his angry eyes to the Young Master of Heterodox Manor.

“So there really was something wrong with that shipment you entrusted to the Celestial Yang Escort Agency.

“Cheng Tianyang said it was all porcelain.

“Now it seems the porcelain was filled with gunpowder, wasn’t it?”

“Young Hero Jiang is as clever as they say.”

The Young Master let out a soft breath.

“It wasn’t easy to pull off. The Celestial Yang Escort Agency truly lives up to its reputation as the Golden Cicada First Escort Agency.

“Bribing their men to swap out the goods for us was no simple task.

“Fortunately, not everyone in this world is upright and fearless. More importantly, not everyone gets to live a life free of disaster and hardship.

“All people have weaknesses. As long as you know how to exploit them, it’s not hard to achieve your goals.

“In that shipment, it wasn’t just the porcelain that was filled with gunpowder. The crates had false bottoms, also filled with things that could end your lives today.”

Jiang Ran silently closed his eyes.

‘In this day and age, gunpowder has already been invented.’

‘But firearms haven’t been developed yet…’

‘And even the power of gunpowder is nowhere near as potent as it will be in later generations.’

‘Even so, the Court’s control over it is still extremely strict, not daring to be the least bit lax.’

‘But these Jianghu People, especially those from the heterodox path, still have their ways of obtaining it.’

‘Even if it’s a little weaker, with a large enough quantity, it’s not hard to kill a group of people with gunpowder…’

The Young Master watched as the members of the Path of Chivalry—who just moments ago were filled with righteous indignation, eager to use their superior numbers to crush the few and make a name for themselves—had now all fallen silent, their faces betraying their horror.

A faint smile touched the corners of his mouth.

“Everyone, Heterodox Manor has always been on friendly terms with others.

“We do not kill needlessly.

“Today, I could have taken all of your lives, but in the end, my heart is still benevolent and righteous.

“I ask for nothing else, only the Jiaowei.

“But Young Hero Jiang simply won’t agree… could you perhaps help me persuade him?”

His words were pleasant—something about being on friendly terms and not killing needlessly.

‘Since he himself is here today, the gunpowder is clearly just a deterrent.’

‘It’s probably not enough to kill everyone.’

‘Otherwise, he wouldn’t have needed to show himself at all. He could have just blown them all to bits with the gunpowder and then casually strolled over to take the Jiaowei.’

‘The problem is, even if it’s not enough to kill everyone, it will still kill a lot of them.’

‘Who will be the ones to die in a moment? Could it be… me?’

‘If we really anger him and the Young Master flies into a rage, wouldn’t we die on the spot in an instant?’

Some even recalled the earlier fight with the men from Thunderbolt Hall.

Thankfully, several top masters had struck at once, pinning down Thunderbolt Hall before they could use any of their tricks. Otherwise, if they had been allowed to freely throw their Celestial Thunder Pearls, it was uncertain how many people on Sunset Plateau would have been left alive today.

For a moment, they were all overcome with lingering fear.

One person spoke up timidly,

“Why don’t you… just give him the Jiaowei, Young Hero Jiang?”

As soon as he said this, the people around him glared at him angrily.

But not a single person spoke up to refute him.

Ruan Yuqing couldn’t help but roar with anger,

“Nonsense! You’re even more despicable than the people from Heterodox Manor!!”

The man’s face flushed red, then turned pale. Finally, he shouted back in fury,

“So what? Fame and fortune are worthless compared to your own life! If we’re all blown to bits by this gunpowder, what good is a legendary reputation then?”

His words actually drew murmurs of agreement from many in the crowd.

But then Jiang Ran let out a laugh.

“The Young Master truly lives up to his title. Impressive, very impressive!

“Unfortunately for you, for every clever scheme, there’s a countermeasure.

“Surely the Young Master didn’t think I was truly unaware that you had already planted gunpowder all under Sunset Plateau?”

“How could you possibly know?”

The Young Master’s brow furrowed slightly.

“Chief Cheng told me, of course.”

Jiang Ran continued, “Do you remember the night the four Evil Sects lured me into the Soul Shattering Array? Chief Cheng was breaking the array from the outside. After you all fled, the matter of the gunpowder could no longer be kept a secret.

“To be honest, your arrangements were completely cleared out long before this assembly began.

“That last explosion was probably just a spot that was missed.

“If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try again. See if you can get a second spot to explode.”

The Young Master’s expression changed, and he was about to subconsciously give the order. But before the words left his lips, his brow furrowed.

‘If I give this order, there are only two possible outcomes.’

‘The first is that Jiang Ran is bluffing, in which case everything will go according to my plan.’

‘The second is that Jiang Ran is telling the truth. If I give the command then… it would only serve to reassure this so-called Righteous Path of the Martial World.’

Thinking of this, he hesitated.

He couldn’t help but let his gaze wander, as if searching for something.

And just then, a section of the ground suddenly bulged upward. With a BANG, a figure shot into the air.

Covered in dirt, he flipped over in mid-air and tumbled to the ground.

He landed unsteadily, nearly falling on his behind. Shaking his head, he finally looked at Jiang Ran.

“Young Hero Jiang, I’m here.”

Everyone looked closely and saw that this man, whose head and face were caked with dirt, was none other than Cheng Tianyang of the Celestial Yang Escort Agency!