Chapter 162: Chapter 159: Encountering Danger
A Cultivator who appeared to be only in the Qi Cultivation Realm walking Within the Pass was like a shining beacon in the dead of night.
Dazzling and distinct.
Prisoner after prisoner arrived, forming a tight circle around Mo Qi.
They were all prisoners with Cultivation below the Purity Realm who believed they had little hope of ever winning their freedom.
But Mo Qi’s appearance gave them a glimmer of hope.
However, the Empire’s rules stipulated that unless a Cultivator participating in the annual selection attacked first, the prisoners were not authorized to make a move.
So, to force his hand, they formed a human wall, trapping him inside and preventing him from moving.
If Mo Qi lost his patience and made a move, the tight space would ensure a single action affected everyone. Then, far more than just one or two of them would be freed from the rules’ restrictions.
Little did they know, as they targeted Mo Qi as their prey, he was targeting them as his.
"Pig Emperor, this should be enough people, right?"
"If the Energy within the prisoners’ bodies is what’s triggering the Token, then this is more than enough. We can spring the trap!"
The man and the pig conversed privately.
Previously, his Dark Horse-level Token had reacted strangely, allowing the Pig Emperor to briefly sense a Dragon Vein.
Unfortunately, the moment was too fleeting to pinpoint the Dragon Vein’s exact location.
He had just killed two prisoners at the time, so he speculated that the reaction was related to the Energy within their bodies.
But afterward, when he killed several more prisoners in a row and absorbed their Energy, the Token merely darkened in color without any other strange reactions.
Nor did it allow the Pig Emperor to sense the Dragon Vein again.
And so, the man and the pig came up with a new theory: perhaps there simply wasn’t enough Energy.
This led to the current scene.
"Make your move, kid, or you’re not going anywhere!"
"That’s right. According to the rules, you so-called geniuses have to kill at least one person a day. If you keep stalling, more and more people will surround you. You might as well take your chances with us."
"Come and fight, you coward! You think a wimp like you can pass the trial and enter the Imperial Academy? You’re delusional!"
Seeing that Mo Qi still had no intention of acting, the prisoners’ taunts grew increasingly vile.
"You filthy mutt, what are you looking at? Yeah, I’m talking to you! If you’ve got the balls, come and kill me!"
"I used to be a Flower Thief, and I preyed on women and children. I’ve had at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, women. I wonder if your mother was one of them. You aren’t my bastard son, are you? HAHAHA! Otherwise, why haven’t you come to kill me?"
As he spoke, the prisoner stripped off his clothes and began making obscene gestures at Mo Qi.
Mo Qi’s brow furrowed.
"Trying to provoke me? Congratulations. You’ve succeeded."
With a single thought, his External Incarnation appeared.
It wielded the Obsidian Kitchen Knife. To avoid unnecessary trouble, Mo Qi had altered the External Incarnation’s appearance.
"Kill!"
Before the External Incarnation, which wielded the power of the Peak of Purity Realm, 202 of the 203 prisoners—all with Cultivation below the Purity Realm—were decapitated in an instant.
In their final moments, their expressions were still frozen in the joy of having successfully provoked Mo Qi.
Bodies fell in swathes, and a river of blood flowed.
Only the prisoner who called himself a Flower Thief remained alive.
His obscene gesture froze mid-action. He stared at the External Incarnation, his face a mask of terror.
’Where did this person come from? There was no warning!’
’And he’s absurdly powerful!’
The External Incarnation walked up to the prisoner and raised its kitchen knife.
"You will be the third person to suffer this torture."
Its voice was ice-cold and filled with rage.
"You..."
With a THUD, the prisoner dropped to his knees, kowtowing relentlessly toward Mo Qi and begging for mercy.
"I was wrong! I was just spouting nonsense! I’m not a Flower Thief! Please, be the bigger person and spare me!"
The sight of the decapitated bodies all around him frayed his nerves. He knew, without a doubt, that the "torture" the External Incarnation spoke of would be far more brutal.
’If I’d known Mo Qi had such a ruthless ally, I never would have joined the crowd, let alone said and done those things.’
’Trying to be the nail that sticks out when you don’t have the strength... there’s always a price to pay!’
Mo Qi ignored his pleas. He controlled the External Incarnation to meticulously strip every last shred of muscle and flesh from the prisoner’s body, leaving only bones and viscera. The man’s fate was identical to that of the old woman who had once tortured Niu Kexin.
The prisoner shrieked in agony for a long time. Finally, unable to bear the torment, he had no choice but to detonate his Dantian.
The Token absorbed 203 streams of Energy. A flash of purple light appeared on the originally black Token, and it seemed on the verge of upgrading.
"Anything? Did you sense anything?" Mo Qi asked urgently, ignoring the change in his Token.
The Pig Emperor shook its head. "Nothing. It seems our theory was wrong. It isn’t the Energy from the prisoners’ bodies."
"Then what is it?"
The man and the pig were at a loss.
Just then, a dozen powerful auras descended from the sky, landing before Mo Qi.
As if they didn’t see the field of corpses, one of them raised a hand, and their True Essence coalesced into an image of Mo Qi.
"That’s him! We’ve found Mo Qi! Inform the Master, quickly!"
Overjoyed, they all released their Domains, blocking Mo Qi’s escape from every direction.
Mo Qi’s expression grew grim.
’From their attire, I can tell they’re all prisoners, and all of them are in the Purity Realm. Two have even reached the Late-stage Purity Realm.’
’They know my name and even have my image. They’re clearly hunting for me with a specific, premeditated plan.’
’And the fact that they could attack me on sight means they were ’activated’ by someone beforehand.’
’It’s not hard to guess that the ’Master’ they mentioned is the one behind all this.’
’But who on earth would want to kill me?’
’And who has so much power that they’d dare to cause trouble Within the Pass of the Mountain and Sea Empire?’
Mo Qi couldn’t figure it out.
"Kill him! Only then will the Master grant us our freedom! Otherwise, we all die!"
"All together!"
"Kill!"
Before Mo Qi had much time to think, the prisoners swarmed him.
The External Incarnation moved to intercept them. The light of its blade flashed like a rainbow in a series of sweeping slashes. In a single exchange, three men fell dead.
"Damn it, he has a powerful guardian!"
The prisoners were stunned and halted in their tracks.
’That’s... that’s practically the Vajra Realm!’ they thought, staring at the External Incarnation in bewildered fear.
"What do we do?"
"If we wait for the Master, we’ll get some credit, but not as much as if we kill Mo Qi ourselves. Let’s split up. One group will tie down this expert, and the other will go for Mo Qi!"
"Deal!"
The dozen or so experts quickly split into two teams. One team engaged the External Incarnation, while the other—a group of three—charged toward Mo Qi.
Although the External Incarnation was powerful, the prisoners refused to fight it head-on. Instead, they employed hit-and-run tactics, preventing it from getting near Mo Qi’s real body.
The External Incarnation was immensely frustrated, its power rendered useless.
It wouldn’t be able to help its main body any time soon.
Seeing the three Purity Realm prisoners charging at him, Mo Qi sighed softly.
He stomped his foot lightly. Hundreds of Array Flags flew from his Storage Space, embedding themselves in the air around him as his hands rapidly formed a series of seals.
A Defense Array enveloped him.
