Chapter 197: Chapter 194: The Layout
Jin Sanpang and Liu Hui stopped in their tracks, overjoyed.
"Brother Mo, you’re awake? You... Where are you?"
Jin Sanpang was asking about Mo Qi’s real body.
The External Incarnation said in a deep voice, "I don’t have much time while I’m lucid, so I’ll make this quick."
"I’m fine for now, and I’m safe. Take this incarnation of mine out with you. Don’t use my real name; use the name ’Qin Daye’ instead."
"Qian Duoduo, you help sort out the identity."
"No problem, my brother," Qian Duoduo said, patting his chest.
The External Incarnation turned its head to Wu the Old Ghost. "Brother Wu, rest assured, I won’t go back on my promise to you. In a little while, I need you to guard the Dragon Vein Core region. Don’t let anyone near it for one hour."
Wu the Old Ghost, his seal now broken, nodded and agreed without the slightest hesitation.
His attitude toward Mo Qi was no longer that of an elder looking at a junior. After witnessing "Mo Qi" suppress the Dragon Soul with a single hand, he was filled with awe.
He knew that the secrets Mo Qi held were far beyond his imagination.
’Following Mo Qi can’t be wrong.’
"San Pang, Liu Hui, once you’re at the Imperial Academy, this incarnation of mine might not be able to look out for you much. You’ll have to work hard and make a name for yourselves while you wait for my real body to return, understand?"
Jin Sanpang and Liu Hui nodded repeatedly. Mo Qi had no idea what kind of commotion his admonition to "make a name for themselves" would cause those two to stir up at the Imperial Academy.
"And Qian Duoduo, don’t worry about your Soul-Draining Mother Spider. I’ll help you take care of it."
After saying all this, the External Incarnation’s head tilted to one side, and it lost consciousness.
At that moment, the commotion from the Tokens reached its peak. The teleportation was about to begin.
Liu Hui thought for a moment, then tucked the golden Token he had taken from Su Yu into the External Incarnation’s clothes. Then, he quietly waited for the teleportation to start.
Qian Duoduo gave Zhu Fan and Zhao Zijun a meaningful look.
"Qian Duoduo, don’t look at me like that. Mo Qi helped me too. I swear I won’t breathe a word about him after we get out," Zhao Zijun promised.
"Me neither," Zhu Fan added, raising a hand.
Only then did Qian Duoduo relax, his expression softening considerably.
’Since Mo Qi doesn’t want his External Incarnation’s real name to be exposed, he must have his reasons.’
Qian Duoduo had been most worried about these two friends. If they betrayed Mo Qi, he really wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
Fortunately, they were loyal.
Beams of light emanated from the Tokens, enveloping everyone before they vanished from the spot.
In that instant, only Wu the Old Ghost remained.
He stretched his limbs, tossing aside the shackles that had tormented him for centuries. He focused on absorbing the surrounding Spiritual Energy, trying to get back to peak condition as quickly as possible.
Mo Qi had told him to guard the Dragon Vein Core region for one hour, which meant a battle was imminent.
He didn’t think for a second that Mo Qi was joking.
The shattering of the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell had caused a chain reaction, the most direct consequence being that all the prisoners’ seals were broken, their Cultivation fully restored.
For a time, rumors of a heaven-defying treasure appearing at the Dragon Vein spread rapidly Within the Pass.
After discovering they still couldn’t leave this place, all the prisoners who heard the news rushed toward the Dragon Vein’s location.
Meanwhile, back with Mo Qi’s real body...
He only remembered ramming his head into the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell. He had no idea what happened after that.
When he regained a sliver of consciousness, he discovered that his injuries had miraculously, almost completely healed.
Looking around, he saw that he was surrounded by golden currents formed from condensed Dragon Energy. He was lying at the bottom, unable to move.
He didn’t know why the Chaos Scripture wasn’t absorbing the Dragon Energy, but his overwhelming mental fatigue told him this moment of clarity wouldn’t last long.
So, he immediately established contact with his External Incarnation, made a series of arrangements, and then gloriously passed out again.
...
「Mountain and Sea Empire Imperial City」
Liu Hong and his party arrived at the pass entrance, led by Li Shimu.
They had intended to enter Within the Pass to investigate the state of the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, but were surprised to find the passage sealed by a powerful force. No matter how they tried to activate the entry Spell, they couldn’t get in.
They wanted to force their way in, but the power sealing the passage was too strong. Even several old ancestors attacking at once couldn’t budge it an inch.
This put Li Shimu in a very awkward position. ’Did I bring Master Liu all the way out here just to admire how beautiful the gate to the passage is?’
Just then, beams of light shot out from behind the passage gate. With each flash, a young person appeared.
It was the geniuses, teleported out by their Tokens. Jin Sanpang and the others were among them.
Including Qian Duoduo and the few others who had entered through unofficial channels, the number of surviving participants was close to eighty!
What a terrifying survival rate!
Eighty people! That was a survival rate of nearly eighty percent!
In previous years, it was considered quite good if even twenty people made it out alive.
This was all thanks to Jin Sanpang and Liu Hui—the "fat-and-thin duo" who would rob anyone and anything they came across.
The survivors who had been "victimized" by them really didn’t know whether to hate them or thank them.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
Qian Duoduo and the others who recognized Li Shimu quickly knelt and paid their respects.
The others saw this and followed suit. Only Liu Hui, Jin Sanpang, and Mo Qi’s External Incarnation remained standing.
Liu Hui and Jin Sanpang refused to kneel, while the External Incarnation was unconscious.
Far from taking offense, Li Shimu and the other members of the Royal Family stared at the External Incarnation with fiery gazes.
As members of the Royal Li Family, they were exceptionally sensitive to the aura of the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell.
They could tell with a single glance that the External Incarnation had been in close contact with the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell and was even marked with the brand of the Dragon Soul.
Although it still needed to be verified, Li Shimu and the others were almost certain that the External Incarnation was the one who had rung the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell.
According to the prophecy left by the Li Family’s founding ancestor, whoever could ring the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell would be the Li Family’s Blessed One!
"Excellent, excellent! Wonderful! Ancestral Uncle, Headmaster, I’ll have to trouble you two to personally escort the Blessed One to the Imperial Academy. Arrange the best courtyard for him to rest and recuperate."
In Li Shimu’s eyes, the External Incarnation’s unconscious state was further proof that he was the one who had rung the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell.
If the person who rang the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell was completely fine afterward, *that* would be abnormal.
Li Linbin and Mu Kongfu nodded in unison and quickly took the External Incarnation away from the scene.
Jin Sanpang was immediately unhappy about this, but Liu Hui held him back firmly. This was not a place where they could act recklessly.
"Master Liu, please excuse the scene," Li Shimu said, quickly apologizing to Liu Hong.
Liu Hong, however, ignored him. He was frowning at the departing External Incarnation.
He didn’t know that it was Mo Qi’s External Incarnation, and wondered inwardly: ’Why wasn’t it that brat Mo Qi who rang it? Wait! Where is he?’
His gaze swept through the crowd, but he couldn’t find any trace of Mo Qi.
’Impossible. With that kid’s abilities, how could a simple annual selection tournament possibly stop him?’
