Chapter 201: Chapter 198: Here, I Am the Sovereign
"On what grounds?"
Hu the Eighth and Old Tomb Digger asked in unison.
Wu the Old Ghost had held them back for a full hour, and they were simmering with pent-up frustration.
Although the three of them had some history, they weren’t close enough to just take a punch and laugh it off.
The other Void Realm expert had been surveying the area ever since he arrived. It was completely unremarkable, with nothing worth noting, and he couldn’t sense the aura of any Treasure.
Little did he know, not only was there no aura of a Treasure, but there wasn’t even any Spiritual Energy within a thousand-zhang radius. Mo Qi had devoured it all in a single gulp.
"You all want to know on what grounds? Then I’ll tell you. It’s on the grounds that he was the one who rang the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell!"
"It’s on the grounds that the seals and Slave Seals inside your bodies vanished because of him!"
"It’s on the grounds that you now have the chance to stand here, looking down your noses and asking ’on what grounds,’ instead of being shackled in the Dark Plain, suffering endless torment!"
"Is all that enough for you?"
Wu the Old Ghost’s words stunned the three of them. Not only that, but the dozens of Void Realm Cultivators behind them also turned to stare at Mo Qi in shock.
’He’s the one who rang the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell and freed us?’
"Hah! A mere Qi Refining Junior Cultivator like him could ring the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell?" Hu the Eighth stroked his mustache, his face filled with suspicion and disdain.
"I don’t believe it either." Old Tomb Digger shook his withered head, his thin neck looking as if it might snap at any moment. "Don’t forget, even we could only linger on the fringes of the Dragon Vein, unable to go deeper. Although we were restricted by the seal, there’s no way a Qi Refining Realm Cultivator could have broken in!"
The unfamiliar Void Realm expert also shook his head in disbelief.
"He was a participant in the annual selection tournament. He’s the only one who wasn’t teleported out. He appeared in this core area before any of us. Isn’t that enough to explain everything?" Wu the Old Ghost retorted.
"Not enough!"
The three of them shook their heads in unison.
"Not unless he can prove it himself."
’Prove it?’
’How am I supposed to prove it? By ringing the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell again?’
’But then again, where is the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell? Why can’t we see it?’
"You’re asking the impossible! You..." Wu the Old Ghost wanted to say more, but Mo Qi stopped him.
"Brother Wu, like I said, step aside and rest. Leave this to me."
Wu the Old Ghost froze. ’Leave it to you?’
’But all three of them are Void Realm experts!’
"Trust me, it’s no problem." Mo Qi saw Wu the Old Ghost’s worry and smiled. "If we were anywhere else, I might not be able to handle them. But here... I am the Sovereign!"
"What arrogance!"
The three Void Realm experts all sneered at Mo Qi.
"Listening to you, it sounds like you don’t think much of us, do you?" Old Tomb Digger said with a sinister cackle.
The corners of Mo Qi’s mouth lifted into a smirk.
"You’re right. I really don’t think much of you at all."
He raised a hand and swatted at Old Tomb Digger as if shooing away a fly.
BOOM!
With a deafening crash, before anyone could react, a gigantic palm print had been slammed half a zhang deep into the ground. Old Tomb Digger was sprawled in the center of the print, his body covered in countless complex inscriptions. An immense Sealing Power rendered him completely immobile.
Even the Grotto Heaven behind his head vanished in an instant.
"Is this the kind of proof you were looking for?"
Mo Qi chuckled, looking at Hu the Eighth and the unfamiliar expert with a harmless expression as he asked.
GULP!
The two of them swallowed hard and retreated several steps, a cold sweat breaking out all over their bodies. All traces of their earlier ease and disdain were gone.
He had suppressed Old Tomb Digger from a distance with a single hand, yet they hadn’t even seen how he’d done it. What level of power was this?
’Is his Qi Refining Realm just a disguise?’
’Is he actually a supreme expert from the Mountain and Sea Empire?’
Although Wu the Old Ghost was just as shocked, he wasn’t entirely surprised. After all, he had personally witnessed the other "Mo Qi" suppress the Dragon Soul.
What he didn’t know was that this Mo Qi and that "Mo Qi" were not the same person.
"What did you do to me? The seal was clearly gone, why is it back?" Old Tomb Digger, still in the center of the palm print, demanded in a harsh voice.
The power that had sealed him for over a thousand years had reappeared, and it was even stronger than before.
Before, he could at least perform basic movements. Now, he could only lie there, struggling even to breathe.
What?!
Hu the Eighth and the unfamiliar expert turned pale with fright. ’The seal is back?!’
They had originally planned to just flee if things went south, but if the seal returned, they wouldn’t even have a chance to escape.
Mo Qi extended his right index finger. A miniature Bronze Bell, the size of a fingernail, floated above his fingertip, emitting rays of rosy light.
"Recognize this?" Mo Qi asked.
"Is that... the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell?!"
"Correct. You have some sense, after all." Mo Qi flicked his finger, and the miniature Bronze Bell rapidly expanded as it flew into the air.
Rays of golden light descended. With the exception of Wu the Old Ghost, the faces of all the prisoners changed drastically. The seal they thought had vanished reappeared, and they were all uncontrollably forced to the ground, suffering the same fate as Old Tomb Digger.
Hu the Eighth and the unfamiliar expert were no exception.
"I said I am the Sovereign of this place. Do you have any more questions?" Mo Qi asked.
Everyone: "..."
Everyone knew that the Imperial Bell was the core of the Dragon Vein, and the power that sealed them originated from that same Dragon Vein.
’You’ve f*cking tamed the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, what the hell can we say?’
’Forget Sovereign, even if you declared yourself a Divine Being, we wouldn’t be able to object.’
"I’m only going to say this once. You have two choices. I’ll give you three days to think it over. After all, I’m a very reasonable person."
"One: submit to me. Two: die!"
Everyone’s inner thoughts: ’Heh heh.’
’Submit or die, and he calls that being reasonable?’
’When you’re *not* being reasonable, what do you do? Ascend to the heavens?’
Mo Qi beckoned, and the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell returned to him. The Sealing Power on everyone vanished at the same time, and they were free once more.
"A word of warning: don’t even think about running or hiding. As long as you are Within the Pass, I can find you anytime, anywhere."
No one except Mo Qi himself noticed that the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, upon returning to his side, had transformed into a ring hanging from his neck.
In truth, what had just appeared wasn’t the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, but what should be called the Heart of the Dragon Vein.
The original Dragon Vein Imperial Bell was actually a vessel for the Heart of the Dragon Vein, but it had been smashed to smithereens by the other "Mo Qi." Having lost its container, the Heart of the Dragon Vein should have disintegrated, detonating the entire Dragon Vein in the process.
At the critical moment, the ring his mother left him had activated, absorbing the Heart of the Dragon Vein and sealing its power away.
This was why the prisoners Within the Pass felt that their seals had been removed; in reality, the seal had been there all along.
Therefore, when Mo Qi activated the power of the Heart of the Dragon Vein through the ring, the Dragon Vein once again exerted its might, and the prisoners were returned to their original state.
In other words, as long as he was in the location of the Dragon Vein, and as long as the Dragon Vein’s Energy was not depleted, Mo Qi, who possessed the Heart of the Dragon Vein, was invincible.
To call him the Sovereign of those Within the Pass was no exaggeration at all.
