Chapter 180: Chapter 177: A Bold Idea
Wang Chen? Not Zhang Shao?
Mo Qi was utterly bewildered. Where had this other person he didn’t know come from?
’Do I just have one of those faces?’
’Everywhere I go, someone wants to kill me!’
’Who the hell is this Wang Chen!’
Seeing Mo Qi’s baffled expression, the middle-aged man chuckled.
"Don’t tell me you don’t know him."
Mo Qi spread his hands in resignation. "Senior, I honestly don’t know the man."
"My surname is Wu. Everyone calls me Wu the Old Ghost, and you can, too. Don’t keep calling me ’Senior.’ It makes us sound like strangers."
"If you don’t know Wang Chen, then that’s strange. Why would he want to kill you?"
’You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?’
’I’d like to know, too!’
"I know him!"
Just then, Zhu Fan, having finished treating his wounds, walked over.
"Wang Chen is a Tributor at the Imperial Academy with a Mid-stage Void Realm Cultivation. His strength and talent are average, but his wife’s identity is somewhat special. Her name is Zhao Yuqi, and she’s from the Zhao Family, the one of the two generals."
Mo Qi was still completely lost. How had the Zhao Family gotten dragged into this?
"I remember now!" Zhao Zijun slapped his forehead. "I have a distant aunt named Zhao Yuqi. Over twenty years ago, she married a Tributor from the Imperial Academy. Because of that, she had a falling out with some of the family elders and has rarely returned to the Zhao Family since."
"Can you get to the point?" Qian Duoduo grew impatient. They’d been talking for ages, and he still hadn’t explained what any of this had to do with someone trying to kill Mo Qi.
Zhu Fan looked at Mo Qi and continued, "Brother Mo, you’re from the Void Sect, correct?"
Mo Qi nodded.
"Wang Chen is also from the Void Sect!"
What?!
This was the last thing Mo Qi expected. ’Given how much the Void Sect values me, how could they possibly send someone to kill me!’
"Brother, don’t you worry," Qian Duoduo said, his face full of killing intent. "Once the annual selection is over, I’ll personally lead a team to raze the Void Sect!"
"Don’t do anything reckless!" Mo Qi was exasperated. ’We don’t even know what’s going on yet, what’s the rush?’
"Zhu Fan, just spit out everything you know!" Qian Duoduo urged.
Zhu Fan replied, "The Empire has an accord with the Four Great Sects, and our Zhu Family’s intelligence network is forbidden from deep infiltration. So, I don’t know why Wang Chen wants to kill Brother Mo, either."
"However... I can provide some of his personal information. I hope it will be helpful."
"I remember Wang Chen had a very powerful father in the Void Sect. Later, he entered the Imperial Academy, won Zhao Yuqi’s heart, and they had a son. But because the son’s talent was limited, he couldn’t join the Imperial Academy and was sent back to the Void Sect."
"Oh, and his father’s name is Wang Xinglong, and his son is Wang Hao."
At these words, it all clicked for Mo Qi.
’So that’s what this is all about!’
After Fang Min fell and Wang Xinglong fled in a panic, Mo Qi had thought the whole affair with Wang Hao was over.
He’d never expected that guy to have such an accomplished father, let alone that his mother was from the Imperial City’s Zhao Family.
A flicker of irritation rose in Mo Qi’s heart.
’Will this ever end?’
Wang Hao died, and Wang Xinglong pursued him relentlessly.
He had finally escaped the threat of Wang Xinglong, only for Wang Chen and Zhao Yuqi to appear.
If he managed to deal with the two of them, would some other motley crew of freaks and monsters pop up next?
Like the Zhao Family, for instance?
"Little Brother Mo, no need to be annoyed. That Wang Chen is bound to come looking for me eventually. When he does, I’ll twist his neck off for you!" Wu the Old Ghost declared with swagger.
Mo Qi shook his head with a wry smile. Through the incidents with Wang Hao’s family and Zhang Shao, he had come to understand one thing.
Once a grudge was formed, there were only two ways to prevent future trouble: either eradicate the problem root and stem, or possess such absolute power that the other party wouldn’t dare to even think of revenge.
It was definitely not a problem that could be solved by simply killing one or two people.
Eradicating the problem root and stem was easier said than done.
Who knew if you might accidentally leave a loose end? And when it came to friends and relatives, you could never be sure.
In that moment, Mo Qi’s mind raced.
He replayed everything he had experienced since first setting foot on the path of the Martial Dao.
He realized how naive his previous thinking had been.
He couldn’t walk the path of the Martial Dao to its end alone. He couldn’t protect his loved ones all by himself. And he certainly couldn’t kill all his enemies by himself.
He needed allies!
A tiny seed of an idea began to take root in Mo Qi’s heart.
He had a bold idea!
"Brother Wu." Out of respect, Mo Qi didn’t actually call the middle-aged man Wu the Old Ghost.
"How many experts like you are imprisoned Within the Pass? And of those, how many are truly heinous villains?"
Just as Wu the Old Ghost was about to answer, the sound of immense footsteps echoed from the distance, and the ground began to tremble.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
A deafening roar echoed throughout the area Within the Pass.
Soon, a colossal figure, the size of a small hill, came charging from the distance.
It was an Earth Dragon, over ten meters tall, its back covered with silver spikes. With every fall of its powerful limbs, the ground cracked and splintered.
"A Silver-backed Earth Dragon!"
With the exception of Wu the Old Ghost, everyone’s expression turned grave.
Upon seeing Mo Qi, a brutal, almost human-like killing intent appeared on the Silver-backed Earth Dragon’s face. Its eyes turned blood-red as it charged straight for him.
"Damn it! Someone’s controlled this Earth Dragon’s mind! It’s coming for me! Duoduo, all of you, get back!" Mo Qi cried out in alarm.
Just as he was about to merge with his External Incarnation, a large hand fell on his shoulder and pulled him back.
"It’s just a beast. Leave it to me!"
With that, Wu the Old Ghost leaped into the air, meeting the Silver-backed Earth Dragon head-on.
One was an Emptiness Realm expert whose cultivation was ninety percent sealed; the other, a Void Realm Demon Beast that possessed the bloodline of the Dragon Race.
The battle erupted in an instant!
"Brother, can he beat the Silver-backed Earth Dragon?" Qian Duoduo asked, worried.
Mo Qi frowned. "Brother Wu can only use ten percent of his strength, but he still has the foundation of an Emptiness Realm expert. I don’t know exactly how strong that is. However, that Silver-backed Earth Dragon is no slouch, either. It’s at the Peak of the Void Realm, and with the boost from its Dragon Blood, it’s hard to say who will win."
However, no sooner had the words left his mouth than Wu the Old Ghost shattered the Silver-backed Earth Dragon’s head with a single punch. It collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated, without an ounce of resistance.
Gah?!
Mo Qi was petrified on the spot.
’What in the world just happened?’
Qian Duoduo and the others had been listening with admiration as Mo Qi laid out his analysis. It all sounded so logical that they couldn’t help but nod along in agreement.
But what happened a second later made them all turn to stare at Mo Qi with the strangest looks.
’Didn’t you just say it was hard to tell who would win?’
’He ended it in a single damn punch! And from the looks of it, Wu the Old Ghost wasn’t even warmed up.’
"Ahem."
Mo Qi gave a dry cough to hide his embarrassment. ’He was always the one dishing out the face-slaps, but today, he was on the receiving end.’
’It’s not that payback never comes; it’s just a matter of when.’
Mo Qi knew, then, that he had still underestimated the gap between the Void Realm and the Emptiness Realm.
Even with ninety percent of its power sealed, the Emptiness Realm was on a completely different level than the Void Realm, even a Silver-backed Earth Dragon at its Peak.
P.S. Some readers were asking about the realm divisions, so let me clarify. For now, the progression from low to high is: Refining Essence, Qi Refining, Refining Divine Being, Purity, Vajra, Void Realm, Emptiness Realm.
