Chapter 202: Chapter 199: The Dignity of the Strong
"Submit? Hahaha, ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous!"
Hu the Eighth, the Old Tomb Digger, the unknown powerhouse, and the vast majority of the Void Realm prisoners all threw their heads back and laughed as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
"You may have subdued the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, and we admit, you’ve got more guts than us. You’re a badass. Our lives are completely in your hands. But you want us to submit? Impossible!"
"That’s right! We’d rather die than submit!"
This took Mo Qi completely by surprise. ’Wasn’t it said that ringing the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell would greatly increase the chances of subduing the prisoners?’
’It seems completely useless now!’
He looked at Wu the Old Ghost in confusion. Wu the Old Ghost smiled wryly. "You’ve severely underestimated their pride."
"Little Brother Mo, you should know that in the Mountain and Sea Empire, every single Void Realm Cultivator is incredibly precious. There are only so many of them, especially at the level of the Void Realm."
"Why do you think the Mountain and Sea Empire only imprisons them instead of executing them? It’s simply because they hope to win them over. If these people were willing to submit to someone, they could have left this place long ago. They could have even become honored guests of the Mountain and Sea Empire, enjoying endless glory and wealth."
"But they didn’t submit. They would rather be locked up here, suffering, because their dignity as powerhouses won’t allow it."
"Even the Mountain and Sea Empire can only place them under house arrest, hoping time will wear down their sharp edges, never resorting to extreme measures. But you? You come right out of the gate with two harsh choices: submit or die. Where are they supposed to put their dignity as powerhouses?"
"This..." Mo Qi truly hadn’t expected this twist.
"That’s why when you asked me last time how many of the prisoners here were truly great villains and evildoers, I told you almost none. The Mountain and Sea Empire wouldn’t deign to imprison that kind of person here."
’Something’s not right!’
Mo Qi suddenly thought of something. The prisoners he had encountered during the Annual Selection Tournament didn’t seem to possess the hearts of powerhouses.
As if reading Mo Qi’s mind, Wu the Old Ghost added, "I’m referring to the prisoners who are qualified to be held on the Dark Plain, not those scum from the five-hundred-mile periphery."
Mo Qi understood. So that was it.
"Alas, you missed the best opportunity. Trying to subdue them now is almost impossible," Wu the Old Ghost said with a sigh.
"Not necessarily." Mo Qi gave a mysterious smile. He hadn’t expected to succeed on his first try anyway.
There was more than one way to make others submit.
If Mo Qi had been indifferent about it at first, he was now genuinely tempted by this group of prisoners who possessed the dignity of powerhouses.
’No matter what, this group of people will be mine!’
"Need my help?"
With the crisis averted, the Pig Emperor wiggled its butt and squirmed out from Mo Qi’s robes.
It showed no awareness or shame for having fled the battle earlier.
Looking at the "deserter" Pig Emperor, Mo Qi pursed his lips. "What can you do? Still want to fight ten of them?"
"If we don’t talk about that, we can still be good friends," the Pig Emperor said earnestly, flapping its ears.
"Alright, tell me your idea."
"I believe that no matter how firm their dignity as powerhouses is, it can’t withstand these divine eyes of mine!"
Mo Qi was speechless.
’You’re not thinking of making them all pregnant, are you?’
’That’s a "great" idea, indeed. Goodbye, and don’t let the door hit you on the way out!’
Seeing Mo Qi ignore it, the Pig Emperor grew anxious.
"Don’t you disbelieve me! Even if they can endure one round of pregnancy, can they endure a second? A third? As long as they don’t agree, I’ll just keep them pregnant. We’ll see who outlasts whom!"
After speaking, the Pig Emperor excitedly waddled toward the prisoners.
With lightning speed, Mo Qi snatched it back.
"Don’t mess around!"
Never mind that the Pig Emperor’s proposal might not even work; even if it did, Mo Qi wouldn’t adopt it.
’Using pregnancy as a threat? I can’t even imagine what kind of attitude these powerhouses would have if they submitted to me after that.’
By that point, their dignity as powerhouses would probably be all but gone.
Followers like that would have their value cut by ninety-nine percent, which was not what Mo Qi wanted to see.
With its ear held by Mo Qi, the Pig Emperor still refused to give up. "I have a second plan! I guarantee it’ll work. It’s a new ability I just got. Just let me try it!"
"Don’t!" Mo Qi shoved it back into his robes, not daring to let it try.
’Are you kidding me? Its first ability is to get people pregnant by staring at them. Heaven knows what kind of bizarre ability the second one is.’
Each of these prisoners was a treasure. He couldn’t let the Pig Emperor ruin them.
"Mo the kid, you dare to not believe in me?" the Pig Emperor demanded, planting its two hooves on its hips as if to call him to account.
Mo Qi smiled faintly. "It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just that I can handle a small matter like this myself. Why would I need an esteemed elder like you to step in? How about this: if I can’t handle it, then you can make your move. How does that sound?"
Flattered by Mo Qi’s words, the Pig Emperor was instantly overjoyed. "Fine, fine, fine! You have a point. With my status, it’s only fitting that I make the grand finale appearance."
’Alright, as long as you’re happy.’
Perhaps intimidated by the Dragon Vein Imperial Bell, none of the prisoners left, even though they had all flatly refused to submit.
Mo Qi approached the Old Tomb Digger first.
"Jie jie jie, give up on that idea. No one will submit to you," the Old Tomb Digger cackled strangely. Combined with his skin-and-bones appearance, it was a hair-raising sight.
"Is that so?" Mo Qi chuckled. "If I’m not mistaken, the reason you’re so thin isn’t due to an Innate condition. It’s because you’ve been afflicted with corpse poison."
The Old Tomb Digger’s expression shifted slightly, but his face still wore a cold sneer. "That’s hardly a big secret. Many people know. After all, I work in that line of business. My name says it all."
"Don’t be so hasty. Let me finish," Mo Qi said, his smile unwavering.
"The corpse poison you have isn’t any ordinary kind. It’s a combination of three potent toxins. Old Tomb Digger, you’ve got some nerve. You robbed the Imperial Mausoleum, didn’t you?"
"The three potent toxins are the Dragon Plague, Bone-Eating Worms, and the pollen of the Soul-Scattering Flower. Let’s not dwell on the Dragon Plague; it’s a specialty of the Empire and is lethal on its own. The fact you didn’t die on the spot means you made some preparations before raiding the Imperial Mausoleum. Your preparations just weren’t quite enough, and you still got contaminated."
"Bone-Eating Worms. They’re minuscule, reproduce at an incredible rate, and love to slowly devour flesh and blood, eventually reaching the bone marrow. The stronger your Cultivation, the more days of agony you have to endure. Unless the one who raised the worms personally intervenes, there’s almost no other way to get rid of them completely."
"Your current venerable appearance is all thanks to them. You’re suffering the torment of ten thousand worms devouring your body at every moment. It doesn’t feel good, does it?"
"And then there’s the Soul-Scattering Flower. Once a day, you feel the pain of your soul scattering, as if it’s being sliced by knives. It’s a fate worse than death. It isn’t lethal; it just purely tortures you."
At this, the Old Tomb Digger could no longer remain calm. "How do you know all this?" he asked in disbelief.
Plenty of people knew he was afflicted with corpse poison, but Mo Qi was the first person who could name the specific poisons and describe their effects.
Even he himself had only been able to identify the Dragon Plague. He had never even heard the names Bone-Eating Worm or Soul-Scattering Flower.
But he knew Mo Qi wasn’t just making things up, because the symptoms of his torment were exactly as Mo Qi had described!
