Chapter 230: Chapter 129: Dao Seed · Morning Star · Candlelight Dragon (Sword) (50%)

Zhong Ming, who came from a minor sect, had killed Lin Kong, a True Disciple from a major sect, in a single glance. The shock of this event was immense. By nightfall, its impact had not subsided but had instead spread even further.

In taverns and teahouses, whenever Cultivators gathered for food and drink, they would inevitably bring up the incident, marveling at what had happened.

Over fine wine, they either marveled at Zhong Ming’s power or speculated on the outcome of his battle with the Void Moon Sect in three days’ time.

Initially, the discussions revolved around their respective strengths and the likely outcome of the battle.

But after a few rounds of drinks and several courses of food, nudged along by certain individuals with ulterior motives, the topic of conversation veered in a bizarre direction.

"Zhong Ming ignored the other Commandery Princes he could have served, choosing instead to support Princess Ji Qingyue. He must have ulterior motives."

The statement was immediately met with a chorus of agreement. However, neither the person who said it nor those who heard it seemed particularly offended by the notion.

Although Zhong Ming’s origins were humble, his strength was undeniable. Such a classic tale of a gifted man winning a fair lady’s heart was plausible enough.

But just then, a Cultivator in gray robes gave a sly laugh and lowered his voice.

"Your information is outdated. The one having an affair with Zhong Ming is someone from Qianqiu Valley. You probably didn’t know this, but Qianqiu Valley was the first to support Princess Qingyue. When Zhong Ming came to pledge his allegiance, his domineering nature drove Qianqiu Valley away."

"With such a grudge, do you think Qianqiu Valley would just tolerate it, given the temperament of disciples from a major sect?"

"Anyway, I don’t think they could stand for it. It’s said that Qianqiu Valley’s True Disciple, Su Wanqiu, once sought out Zhong Ming for a private duel. The final outcome... well, I’m sure you can all guess what happened."

"Su Wanqiu lost?" someone asked eagerly.

"Hehe, it’s not as simple as just losing." As he said this, the gray-robed Cultivator’s smile grew even more lewd, and his expression more mysterious. "With Zhong Ming’s flamboyant personality, if Qianqiu Valley lost, how could he resist boasting about it everywhere? The way I see it, Su Wanqiu didn’t just lose; she was beaten into submission by Zhong Ming. So, the one having an affair with Zhong Ming is Su Wanqiu, not Princess Qingyue."

"..."

These words were too shocking. At first, most people didn’t believe them, but the gray-robed Cultivator spoke with such conviction.

More importantly, there were many people spreading rumors in the city. As the saying goes, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. After hearing it enough times, some people started to believe it.

"It might actually be true. I was there when Zhong Ming first entered Princess Qingyue’s Mansion. I saw him get into a huge argument with Lin Qingqing from Qianqiu Valley with my own eyes. At the time, I thought the young man was too arrogant and would surely face retaliation..."

"But so much time has passed, and there hasn’t been any news... There’s definitely something fishy going on!"

"I think I’ve heard about this too..."

"My junior brother started following Princess Qingyue some time ago, and he mentioned this to me. I remember it clearly because he was complaining to us back then that Zhong Ming’s arrogance was lawless..."

With this "real" witness testimony, the absurd rumor gradually began to gain some credibility.

And of course, such a rumor didn’t appear out of thin air. It was being spread with all his might by Zhu Junfeng of the Void Moon Sect.

To make the rumor more effective, he even got the Third Prince, Ji Qinghui, and the First Prince, Ji Chengping, to help out.

His reason for doing so was very simple: to divert everyone’s attention away from the Void Moon Sect, and ideally, to provoke Su Wanqiu of Qianqiu Valley, who wouldn’t be able to bear the humiliation, into fighting Zhong Ming.

If she lost, there would be two major sects that had lost to Zhong Ming. In Zhu Junfeng’s eyes, losing to Zhong Ming wasn’t that shameful; only his sect losing *alone* would be a blow to their pride. Therefore, he desperately wanted to drag someone else down to share his misery.

As for why Ji Chengping and Ji Qinghui were willing to help, they wanted to use Qianqiu Valley to suppress Zhong Ming’s arrogance and halt Ji Qingyue’s rise.

With three factions working together, including two local powers, and fueled by the male tendency to enjoy tales of corrupting the virtuous and redeeming the fallen, the rumor spread far and wide.

However, something unexpected happened. By the dead of night, the subjects of the rumor were no longer just Zhong Ming and Su Wanqiu, but a trio: Zhong Ming, Su Wanqiu, and Miaoyun.

"Su Wanqiu? The version I heard was that Miaoyun of the Celestial Sound Sect was so afraid of Zhong Ming that she fed the demon with her body."

"That can’t be right. The Celestial Sound Sect doesn’t have much to do with Zhong Ming. Even if he were to issue a challenge, he wouldn’t target them first..."

"That’s where you’re wrong! A man as lecherous as Zhong Ming would never pass up someone as beautiful as Fairy Miaoyun! In my opinion, he’ll conquer both Su Wanqiu and Miaoyun..."

"..."

The group fell silent for several breaths. Then, someone spoke up, "Given Zhong Ming’s arrogant and domineering personality... it’s actually—possible, isn’t it?"

...

The broken windows theory was at play. People are hesitant to vandalize an intact building, but once a single window is broken, they no longer hold back.

The same was true for Zhong Ming. The rumors spread with full force by Zhu Junfeng and the two Commandery Princes were the first broken window, leading many to accept the idea of Zhong Ming as a lecherous demon.

His personality was already known to be arrogant. Having accepted his nature as a lecherous demon, people no longer believed he would stop at just one woman.

’So, I’m not the only one taking advantage of this chaos to stir things up.’ 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

While spreading the rumors, Zhu Junfeng had been keeping a close watch on the news from the outside world. Thus, he quickly learned of the shift in public opinion.

He even knew that in the dead of night, some people were spreading other claims, such as ’The Void Moon Sect doesn’t dare to accept the challenge,’ ’The True Disciple of the Yin Mountain Sect is inferior to Zhong Ming,’ and ’Zhong Ming said the Spirit Illusion Sect’s Magic Techniques are just minor tricks.’

It was just that, compared to the juicy drama of love, hate, and grudges between Zhong Ming and the fairy-like prodigies of the major sects, these discussions of combat prowess didn’t attract nearly as much attention.

But his keen Spiritual Sense still allowed Zhu Junfeng to realize that other sects were stirring up trouble.

’These sects are all using various schemes to make others confront Zhong Ming... Despicable! Shameless!’

After an angry curse, Zhu Junfeng—went right back to spreading rumors. He didn’t stop Nangong Die of the Spirit Illusion Sect; in fact, he fanned the flames. All he wanted was for someone else to fight Zhong Ming and draw the attention of the many sects in Qinghe Prefecture City away from his own. He couldn’t care less whether it was Qianqiu Valley or the Celestial Sound Sect that took the fall.

Nangong Die of the Spirit Illusion Sect also noticed the shift in public opinion. Returning the favor, she began to spread rumors about Qianqiu Valley’s Su Wanqiu.

Aside from those two sects, four other sects noticed what was happening and joined in.

That’s right, not the remaining two, but four—the Celestial Sound Sect and Qianqiu Valley had also joined the vortex of public opinion.

Of course, these last two sects weren’t spreading rumors about themselves.

In Qianqiu Valley, their Eldest Senior Sister was in closed-door cultivation for a breakthrough. This was why they hadn’t caused any trouble for Zhong Ming during this period.

The one currently in charge of Qianqiu Valley’s affairs was Lin Qingqing, who had previously confronted Zhong Ming.

She was so furious upon hearing the public slanders against her senior sister that her face turned pale.

"Senior Sister has never even left her seclusion! How could she possibly be involved with Zhong Ming... How can you all be so wicked!"

As she spoke, she sent people to clarify the rumors while simultaneously spreading rumors about the Celestial Sound Sect in retaliation.

She also knew that it only took one mouth to start a rumor, but an army couldn’t stop one. Unwilling to see her senior sister’s reputation sullied, she decided to divert the disaster by pinning all the blame on Miaoyun of the Celestial Sound Sect.

Unfortunately, the latter thought the same way. What’s more, knowing who was targeting her, she grit her teeth and dragged Nangong Die down with her!

’You think you can get away with this!’

...

The war of public opinion raged outside, but Zhong Ming... was completely oblivious.

He had once again consumed the essence of the Demon Star Tai Sui to temper his bone marrow and fascia.

And as his physical body grew stronger, the progress of his Dao Seed unimpededly surpassed fifty percent.

At this point, Zhong Ming’s path to Foundation Establishment was halfway complete. At the same time, as the Dao Seed: Morning Star - Candlelight Dragon (Sword) solidified, a new characteristic began to develop within his body.