Chapter 64: Zhao Tianping’s Joy Turns to Sorrow
Chapter 64: Zhao Tianping’s Joy Turns to Sorrow
The forces to which the four Golden Body Peak experts belonged, probably also feeling ashamed, sent people overnight. They paid the money and took away the bodies.
And just as Ling Yi and the others had guessed before, after this battle, their group had truly and completely gained a solid foothold in the Chaos Zone.
Four Golden Body Peak experts, four Dao-Entering Experts, including a great power like Old Chu who had reached the fifth level of Dao Enlightenment, yet they had returned in defeat.
All four Golden Body Peak masters had fallen there!
This kind of deterrence was many times greater than Ling Yi’s battle on the long street before.
No matter how many people at the Pressure Point Strike or Meridian Unlocking level died in the Chaos Zone, it could not compare to the impact caused by the deaths of four Golden Body Peak experts.
That was how the Chaos Zone was. When you showed a capability strong enough to protect yourself, those who had been eyeing you would naturally choose to back down.
Of course, if another opportunity arose later, they would still make a comeback.
Where there were benefits, there would always be people willing to take risks.
However, for a short time, the various villains in the Chaos Zone had little chance of making a comeback.
Because early the next morning, the people inside the manor left Mei City without missing a single person!
They left openly and proudly.
This time, countless people only dared to watch secretly from the shadows; no one dared to step forward to their deaths anymore.
The news that Qin Hao had a mysterious master by his side also spread quickly.
How else could the deaths of those four Golden Body Peak experts be explained?
With just the eight Golden Body experts by Qin Hao’s side… it definitely could not have been done!
In short, in this short span of less than a month, Ling Yi and his group had left their own mark in the Chaos Zone.
Now that they were gone, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
Old Chu Yuhua, the Sect Master of the Solid Earth Sect who had fled back to Zhucheng, lay between two young, beautiful girls. Squinting his eyes, he muttered, “Mysterious master… Wang Tingjian… Qin Hao… I will not let you off!”
In Lancheng, Meng Lanlan was soaking in a bathtub filled with rose petals. Her two long, beautiful legs gently stirred the crimson water’s surface. Picking up a glass of red wine beside her, she swirled it, took a sip, and murmured with a somewhat dazed look in her eyes, “This time, the losses were a bit too big. Should I find a chance to go have some fun in the capital of Great Qin?”
Jucheng.
The middle-aged man who was the Sect Master of the Wan Huo Sect returned and, without a word, entered a secret chamber to begin cultivation, attempting to use a secret method to regenerate his severed arm.
His losses this time were the greatest!
Not only did he gain nothing, but he also lost an arm.
Whether the secret method could actually regrow the severed arm, and even if it could, whether it would retain its former strength, were all unknowns.
This put him in an extremely foul mood.
Thinking back to how he had been fiercely debating the distribution of benefits with Old Chu and the others earlier now seemed like a joke!
His heart was now filled with hatred.
Qian Luoying’s face was also firmly etched in his memory.
“I will repay today’s grievance many times over!”
Among the four Dao Enlightenment Masters, the calmest was probably only that old dog.
The old dog demon returned to its own clan, ate and drank as usual, and did not take the matter to heart at all.
As for hatred… why should there be hatred?
This was just a transaction. The failure could only be blamed on their own side’s lack of strength and misjudgment of the enemy’s power.
If one really spoke of hatred, the entire human camp was its enemy.
If all humans were wiped out, the Demi-Human Race could become the masters of this land!
But was that possible?
What couldn’t be done over a hundred years ago was even less likely today.
Therefore, if an opportunity arose in the future, it would not even mind cooperating with Qin Hao and his group.
For the Demi-Human Race, there was nothing more delightful than taking human money to help humans kill other humans.
…
Capital of Great Qin.
In the headmaster’s office at Zongwu Academy.
Zhao Tianping sat on a soft, comfortable sofa, drinking top-grade whisky imported from overseas islands and smoking a cigar.
He felt as happy as an immortal.
This was the life a great man should have.
He was in the prime of his life, and his cultivation level was at Golden Body Peak.
For him, matters like Dao Enlightenment were not urgent.
The Dao required enlightenment; it couldn’t be rushed.
For a person to achieve enlightenment, being constantly depressed and annoyed was certainly not helpful. One had to maintain a calm and joyful mood to have a chance of sudden enlightenment.
The various negative news about him on the internet had almost completely disappeared.
It had to be said, the Ministry of Truth’s intervention showed immediate effect.
At the same time, Zongwu Academy also issued a stern statement, saying that someone had used hacking methods to frame Headmaster Zhao Tianping. Anyone who continued to slander him would bear all legal consequences.
Under Great Qin’s laws, the punishment for malicious framing and false accusation was severe.
The Cabinet’s social media account also reposted this statement, expressing their stance.
Many netizens who had previously reposted related articles also received warnings of varying severity, and some who had used particularly strong language were even invited for some tea…
Thus, the internet quickly became calm and orderly once more.
Zhao Tianping, having restored his “innocence,” also did not receive any punishment from the high levels of Great Qin.
According to his teacher, Sun Qingbo, those who had previously criticized him had now fallen silent and were busy pushing forward the matter of the new monarch’s ascension to the throne!
After all, that was the top priority!
At the academy, he presided over a school-wide assembly. At the meeting, he hypocritically wished blessings upon those students who had left to join the military, while subtly warning those remaining on campus, making them understand that peace was the eternal theme, successfully instilling a sense of deterrence.
These were all minor matters. The most crucial point was… Qin Hao, Ling Yi, and that group had fled into the Chaos Zone like a few wretched dogs!
They would never have a chance to return!
Now the Second Prince had begun participating in governance. Teacher Sun Qingbo was almost fully in charge of the Cabinet’s work. The Military, having been intimidated, all behaved obediently and did not dare to act recklessly.
As long as Qin Hao died over in the Chaos Zone eventually, then everything would be settled!
To ensure Ling Yi also died completely in the Chaos Zone, he had even issued a high-priced bounty specifically targeting Ling Yi!
Eighty million!
To buy the life of a mere, crippled former Second Stage Acupoint Activation martial artist… it was more than enough!
So, Zhao Tianping had been living especially happily these days.
He even vaguely felt that his opportunity for achieving Dao Enlightenment was about to arrive!
If he could achieve Dao Enlightenment before the new monarch’s ascension, then Zhao Tianping was almost certain that his status and position… would rise even higher!
With his teacher’s help in the future, he might even have a chance to enter Great Qin’s Council of Elders, becoming one of the few dozen most powerful people in all of Great Qin… it wasn’t impossible!
Just thinking about it made him feel very pleased. He planned to go see that little lover of his later.
With all these matters keeping him busy recently, he had neglected her for too long. If he didn’t go see her soon, she might just put a green hat on his head…
But upon second thought… a faint smile appeared on Zhao Tianping’s face.
She didn’t dare to.
Just then, the office door was knocked open. His newly appointed secretary—a young, pretty, long-legged girl—rushed in nervously. She looked at Zhao Tianping and said, “Boss… something bad has happened! There’s news about you online again!”
Zhao Tianping held a cigar in his mouth. He frowned slightly as he glanced at this girl whom he hadn’t made a move on yet but was certain could not escape him. He said indifferently, “What news?”
The secretary held a tablet computer and walked up to Zhao Tianping, preparing to open the news link.
Zhao Tianping reached out, pulled the girl into his arms, and with one hand, skillfully reached inside her clothes. He said carelessly, “How big of a deal could it be?”
The girl was startled and instantly blushed, but she didn’t dare to resist. From the day she became Zhao Tianping’s secretary, she had already prepared herself for this and was even willing to give herself to this promising, powerful man.
But now, she couldn’t help saying, “Boss, please look at the news first…”
Zhao Tianping threw his half-smoked cigar into the ashtray. “Let’s look at you first…”
A minute later, Zhao Tianping calmly picked up the tablet and started reading.
It was a post published on the largest social media platform in Great Qin. There was a long paragraph of text, followed by several videos.
Zhao Tianping couldn’t help but freeze slightly when he saw the background in the videos—it was exactly one of the houses he used to hide his mistresses.
There was no sea in today’s Great Qin, but there was a river in the suburbs of the Capital City. By the river, there was an area of high-end apartments. He owned a top-floor luxury suite there, over a thousand square meters.
The young mistress he planned to visit today was currently living there.
Zhao Tianping had a hobby—he loved photography.
In his free time, he often pulled out his past photography works to admire.
He recognized the videos in this post almost immediately—they were all his own work!
But the problem was, those videos were all stored on a computer without any internet connection!
How could someone else have gotten them?
Looking at the text above, as expected, it directly accused Zhao Tianping of having a dissolute life and a vile, despicable character…
After glancing at it a few times, Zhao Tianping threw the tablet aside and snorted coldly, “They want to use this against me? How naive.”
As he said this, he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
“Someone is deliberately vilifying me online again, using AI technology to superimpose my face onto other people’s bodies. I think we cannot tolerate this kind of behavior that deliberately slanders high-ranking officials of Great Qin. This time, we must catch the person who keeps smearing me! We must handle it strictly! We must not let them off lightly!”
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Tianping looked at his secretary’s flushed face and immediately felt the urge again…
But this time, before he could take any action, the office door was knocked again.
Zhao Tianping was instantly annoyed. He had repeatedly warned his subordinates not to disturb him when he was busy!
With a dark expression, he allowed the person to enter.
The visitor was Deputy Director Wei from the Discipline Inspection Department… now Director Wei!
As soon as Director Wei rushed into the room, he sensed something was off. The air carried a smell he was very familiar with.
Seeing the girl sitting on the sofa with a red face, Director Wei inwardly cursed himself for coming at a bad time.
But what he had just seen was too shocking. He didn’t want anyone else to get ahead of him. He felt he had to be the first to report the news to his superior, but he ended up walking into this scene.
Director Wei regretted it deeply. Had he known, he would have come later.
“Director Wei, what brings you here?” Although Zhao Tianping was inwardly furious, he still had enough self-control to put on a slight smile as he looked at Director Wei.
“Sir, someone is slandering you…”
Zhao Tianping waved his hand dismissively and said, “I already know about this matter.”
“…colluding with the Chu People…” Director Wei hadn’t expected Zhao Tianping to cut him off and blurted it out in one breath.
After saying it, he immediately realized. “You already know? Then…”
“Wait a moment.” Zhao Tianping frowned. “Where did you see this? What message? Show me.”
“I saw it on the foreign internet… on the Great Chu side. The news is spreading all over Great Chu now. It’s a recording…” Director Wei said as he took out his phone and played the recording from it.
“He studied abroad in Great Chu back then. We were in the same class. Our relationship… I’d say it was pretty good, but not that great either. You understand the reason.”
“Many years later, he secretly contacted us, wanting to get rid of Principal Shen…”
“But he helped us with several matters. Once those matters were exposed, they would be enough to ruin him completely in Qin State. Finally, he gained our trust.”
“A while ago, he suddenly contacted us, saying the opportunity had come…”
“You probably know the rest. Principal Shen is your Adoptive Father, right? He’s truly a master! An upright and respectable man!”
The recording was long and played clearly in the suddenly quiet office. Later, it also included the Golden Body Expert cursing Zhao Tianping with vicious words and wishing ill upon Zhao Tianping’s entire family.
“What I hate the most is that bastard Zhao Tianping…”
The recording stopped abruptly at this point.
The office fell into a dead silence.
Zhao Tianping’s young secretary turned pale with fear. The only thought in her mind at this moment was—Would he kill me to silence me?
Director Wei added, “The post also said there’s the original video of this recording… and also, there’s… there’s…”
Zhao Tianping looked up at Director Wei. “There’s what?”
Director Wei said with a pale face, “There’s another recording… from the Graduation Ceremony…”
Smack!
Zhao Tianping casually slapped the hard solid wood coffee table, smashing it to pieces.
Everything on it scattered and fell to the floor.
The girl on the sofa nearly burst into tears.
Director Wei was too scared to speak.
“Slander!”
“It’s all slander!”
“These damned creatures!”
“Immediately invite the media! I’m going to hold a press conference! I’m going to denounce this shameless behavior!”
“It’s downright despicable, with no bottom line at all!”
“Shameless!”
“Despicable!”