97: Minglou, Wei Qianming

Jiang Ye pointed at that Elder and shouted, "This Elder of yours, because he failed to recruit me before, I almost cut him down. Now he's kidnapped my people to threaten me into joining. Ask him if that's true!"

"Hmm?" Chi Tianya looked at the Elder. "Elder Huang, is this true or not?"

"No! Absolutely not! My Red Dragon Manor would never do such a thing."

Chi Tianya said, "Little brother, there must be a misunderstanding. Perhaps it's a scheme by others to frame our Red Dragon Manor."

"Frame you?" Jiang Ye raised his blade again, pointing at the Disciple who had come to deliver the news earlier. "Then why did you send him to tell me the people were in your hands and that I should join Red Dragon Manor?"

"Wow! Is this a self-confession?" Discussions broke out again in the crowd as everyone looked toward Red Dragon Manor; they were likely going to lose face today.

Chi Tianya shouted at the Disciple, "Speak! What is going on?"

Seeing Chi Tianya's fury, the Disciple panicked and blurted it out, "Elder Huang made me do it! It has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me!"

"You... what absolute nonsense! You aren't a Disciple of Red Dragon Manor at all. Who sent you here to frame us?" Elder Huang roared in anger.

Jiang Ye raised his blade, his Profound Qi erupting as he bellowed, "Red Dragon Manor!"

Suddenly, the space tore apart—rip! Four or five people walked out; they were the missing members of the Lin and Bai families. Leading them was a middle-aged man. "Little brother, I've brought the people back for you. The other side worked very cleanly; there's no direct evidence to prove who did it."

Jiang Ye cupped his hands in a respectful salute. "Thank you for your help, Senior. May I know your great name?"

"Underworld Tower Vice Tower Master, Wei Qianming! By the way, the Underworld Tower's other Vice Tower Master, Nether Blade, is an ultimate bladesman. Because he is currently busy and cannot get away, he asked me to tell you that he greatly admires your blade."

"Thank you for telling me!"

"Hahaha! It was just a small effort. Let's not waste everyone's time anymore—let the competition begin!"

Jiang Ye looked at the people from Red Dragon Manor, flashed a sinister smile, and then left. Everyone from Red Dragon Manor knew that smile was full of meaning; their Disciples would likely not have peace in the future.

Chi Tianya was fuming inwardly. He really wanted to kill Elder Huang with a single palm strike. Not only did the man fail to recruit anyone, but he had also directly made an enemy for them.

Among the contestants,

Jiang Ye and the others gathered once more. "Do you know who kidnapped you?"

"It was a group of people in black. Vice Tower Master Wei said those people were assassins from the Hidden Pavilion, but their mission was only to capture, not to kill."

Jiang Ye said, "Assassins from the Hidden Pavilion? It seems we'll have to be even more careful in the future. This place is very complicated."

Bai Yunfei said, "Little Cousin, which power are you planning to join?"

"Previously, the three of us were planning to join the Hidden Blade Sect, but now we owe the Underworld Tower such a huge favor. They also mentioned they have a Vice Tower Master who is incredibly strong with a blade. I'm afraid we'll have to go to the Underworld Tower."

Shi Bao said, "It doesn't matter where we go, as long as there's an expert to teach us how to practice the blade."

Shi Feng suddenly spoke up, "Ye Zai, did you feel it just now? That Underworld Tower Vice Tower Master had a very strong Evil Qi on him."

"Yes! I was just about to say that. The Underworld Tower might have a place for cultivating Evil Qi, which aligns quite well with the Cultivation Technique Uncle Yan gave us."

Shi Bao said, "Holy crap! Why didn't I think of that? If that's the case, then the Underworld Tower is the most suitable place for the three of us."

Jiang Ye nodded and said, "Yeah! It really was a strange twist of fate. This will definitely be a great help for my cultivation of the Nishitu Shen Jue Third Level."