Chapter 155: Chapter 152: The Consequence of Losing the Token
In a chaotic stretch of ruins Within the Pass.
With a single palm strike, Qian Duoduo heavily injured the figure who had tried to ambush him.
The figure was a young man of about twenty. His name was Hang Xian, a genius disciple from a mid-sized Sect within the Mountain and Sea Empire, with a cultivation at the Refining God Ninth Heaven.
He had come to participate in the Empire’s annual selection with great ambition.
He wanted to stand out from the crowd, join the Imperial Academy, and build a formidable reputation.
However, all he received was a Copper-level Token.
This left him deeply dissatisfied.
He believed his talent was no worse than the few at the Golden Level, so he was determined to snatch a Gold-level Token to prove himself.
As fate would have it, he ran into Qian Duoduo.
And who was Qian Duoduo?
One of the three great magnates of the Empire, the Young Master of the Qian Family.
Though he was usually carefree and didn’t take his cultivation seriously, he was just so ridiculously rich. Thanks to a constant barrage of resources and treasures, combined with his own not-insignificant innate talent, he had somehow reached the Half-Step Purity Realm before the age of twenty.
The one he possessed was a Gold-level Token.
That was why Hang Xian had attacked Qian Duoduo with barely a second thought.
But how could a mere Refining God Ninth Heaven possibly be a match for someone at the Half-Step Purity Realm? The Pseudo Domain of a Half-Step Purity Realm cultivator alone was more than he could handle.
"A puny Refining God Ninth Heaven dares to ambush me?"
Qian Duoduo’s face was cold, his eyes filled with killing intent. He stomped down, shattering Hang Xian’s knee.
His ruthless expression and clean, decisive attack were a complete departure from the goofy clown he had been when facing Mo Qi and the others.
As the Young Master of the Qian Family, one of the Empire’s Six Great Clans, how could he possibly be a simple character?
The reason he had acted like a clown in front of Mo Qi’s group was partly because he couldn’t beat them. More importantly, however, Mo Qi and his companions had shown no killing intent from start to finish.
But Hang Xian was different. From the moment he struck, all his attacks had aimed for vital points and weaknesses.
Qian Duoduo wasn’t so generous as to joke around with someone who was trying to take his life.
With both legs crippled, Hang Xian’s face contorted in pain, but he grit his teeth and made no sound.
He knew that if he didn’t find a way to placate Qian Duoduo, he was a dead man.
"Wait!"
Just as Qian Duoduo was about to deliver the killing blow, Hang Xian hurriedly cried out.
"You must be from one of the Six Great Clans of the Imperial City, right? I have some information that might interest you. If you spare my life, I can tell you."
A mocking expression appeared on Qian Duoduo’s face. "You’re in no position to bargain with me. Say it or don’t, I’m not interested."
As he spoke, he thrust his palm toward Hang Xian’s head.
Hang Xian’s face paled in terror. He hastily shouted, "It’s about the Dark Horse-level Token!"
Qian Duoduo’s hand stopped an inch from Hang Xian’s forehead.
"A Dark Horse-level Token?" Qian Duoduo frowned slightly, his expression growing solemn. "Is there really someone of that level this year?"
The scions of the Six Great Clans of the Imperial City didn’t need to have their talent tested and could enter the pass directly, so Qian Duoduo was unaware of the test results.
The Dark Horse Level held a very special status in the Imperial Academy, coming with benefits that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine. Even he was tempted.
Hang Xian breathed a sigh of relief, covered in a cold sweat. "Yes. His name is Mo Qi, and he only has a Qi Refining Cultivation. With your strength, sir, obtaining his token should be as easy as reaching into your pocket."
Qian Duoduo froze for a moment, then became incredibly agitated. He grabbed Hang Xian by the collar and hauled him closer.
"What did you say? What’s his name?"
Though Hang Xian didn’t know why Qian Duoduo was reacting this way, he repeated himself. "His name is Mo Qi. He’s a Cultivator with only a Qi Refining Cultivation."
"Hahaha! Mo Qi! So it was you! Now things are getting interesting!" Qian Duoduo grinned broadly, laughing, absolutely delighted.
After all, wasn’t Mo Qi the very reason he had come?
Seeing this, Hang Xian asked weakly, "Sir, do you think you could spare my life?"
"I can," Qian Duoduo said with a smile. "Hand over your token, and I won’t kill you."
"My token? Fine, I’ll give it to you!" Overjoyed, Hang Xian quickly took out his own token and handed it to Qian Duoduo.
Before setting out, the elder had repeatedly stressed that the tokens could not be lost, or the consequences would be severe.
But Hang Xian thought, ’No matter how severe, could the consequences be worse than death? At worst, I’ll just heal up and go snatch someone else’s.’
What he failed to notice, however, was that Qian Duoduo’s gaze was filled with pity.
"Get lost!"
Qian Duoduo tossed Hang Xian aside.
"Yes, yes, yes."
Although his legs were broken, having reached the Refining God Realm meant he could already fly. He hurriedly flew out of the ruins.
Just as he was congratulating himself on his narrow escape, a dozen powerful auras descended from the sky, surrounding him completely. Greed and excitement filled every one of their eyes.
"You..."
Looking at the dozen or so raggedly dressed experts, Hang Xian was horrified. He knew these people were prisoners.
"I didn’t attack you! You can’t make a move against me!"
"Jye jye jye... True, we can’t attack you first. But it seems you’re missing something, which means that restriction no longer applies to us."
’Missing something? What am I missing?’
Hang Xian was confused, but before he could figure it out, the dozen-plus experts swarmed him.
"He’s mine! I want freedom!"
"No, he’s mine!"
"Mine!"
...
Mo Qi stared speechlessly at the two prisoners in front of him.
Earlier, these two had disguised themselves as Refining Essence Cultivators to try and bait him into attacking, but he had ignored them.
He hadn’t expected them to be so persistent, brazenly showing up at his doorstep.
Mo Qi had no time to get entangled with them. He still needed to discuss with the Pig Emperor how to find the so-called Dragon Vein Imperial Bell.
"Kid, you got the guts to fight us?"
"Yeah, we know you have a token and need to kill at least one person a day. The two of us have served ourselves up on a platter for you. Aren’t you tempted?"
Due to the Empire’s rules, as long as Mo Qi didn’t attack first, the two of them couldn’t make a move.
The reason they were so desperate to bait Mo Qi into attacking was that their cultivation levels were only at the Third Level of Divine Refining and the Fourth Heaven, respectively.
Among all the prisoners, they were basically cannon fodder.
After all, among the cultivators participating in the annual selection, aside from the oddball Mo Qi, the minimum standard was the Refining God Ninth Heaven.
Naturally, these two prisoners weren’t about to let him go.
Mo Qi was exasperated. ’I haven’t even come looking for you, you should be counting your lucky stars.’
’And yet here you are, eagerly running to your deaths. With this level of intelligence, being a prisoner is about all you’re suited for.’
"Fine. If you want a fight, then let’s fight."
The two were overjoyed to hear this. They thought they would have to waste more breath, but they never expected the foolish kid to agree so readily.
’Young people will be young people, after all. So susceptible to temptation and provocation.’
’Freedom!’
It was as if they could see freedom waving at them. As long as they killed Mo Qi, the Mountain and Sea Empire would let them go.
The two exchanged a look.
"Whoever gets the final kill, it’s every man for himself!"
"Deal!"
Mo Qi raised a hand. Obsidian surged forth, and his External Incarnation took form.
POW! POW!
Two punches flew. The two prisoners, still lost in their beautiful dreams of the future, had their heads smashed before they could even react.
The External Incarnation—a product of the Chaos Scripture, forged from Obsidian, indestructible and possessing infinite strength. At present, its combat power was equivalent to the Peak of Purity Realm.
