Chapter 343: Miaomiao, the Diplomat
Spectators from the ground gazed at the four successful candidates in envy and astonishment.
Miaomiao and other's performance was simple, but their physique and their resilience against the unknown arrays and traps astounded the crowd.
With such a result, the all-knowing-critics began to exchange their intelligent comments as if they had expected this, even though they were as shocked as the others.
"I knew it. Those people are 4th-stage cultivators. Only exceptional youngsters can pass this test."
"The guy that got up there first was cunning. He had been hiding his cultivation base after all this time!"
"I've never heard of someone from the Zhou or the Cao Family before. Where are they from?"
"That woman with pink hair, who is she? She's so pretty!"
"The girls that came along with the pink girl are so beautiful! Who are they!?"
Many local cultivators were curious about Zhu Qiao, Zhou Gongjin, and Miaomiao's identity. As for Gan Ning, he blended into the background as he wasn't as charismatic as the trio.
Zhou Gongjin looked dirty at glance, but he was a natural good-looking guy with a feminine handsome face. Zhu Qiao was already prettier than 99% of local women, so she had no trouble getting admirers.
As for Miaomiao, he was flashy, ass-kicking, and flame-blazing dazzling throughout the trial. Nobody would have believed that he could stroll through the exploding booby-trap stairs unharmed, but it happened right in front of their eyes.
Still, many people were dissatisfied with what Miaomiao had done. Their children were humiliated because they were stepped on and they wanted to pay back.
"Give up, guys. That brat is now an inner disciple of the Jiangdong White Tiger Sect. You can't touch him anymore."
Unfortunately for them, as Miaomiao had passed the exam, his social status changed - He was now untouchable.
Many people still glared at Miaomiao from afar in resentment. They swallowed their hatred and moved on, adapting to the rules of society.
Strength and status were everything in this world. Without it, they could only curse at these evildoers in secret.
Also, because of this event, many people learned the name of Miaomiao's alias – Cao Mao.
The crowd dispersed as today's test had ended. The next assessment trials for outer disciples began tomorrow.
…
Midnight
After the crowd had gone, the white tiger hologram disappeared as it had finished its duty. Yet, three young men and one succubus had been waiting for someone to tell them what to do next.
Huang Gongfu and three elders from the sect flew to the mountain entrance, where the four successful candidates had been waiting. Everyone landed in front of the group and looked at the youngsters.
A middle-aged woman in gold robes and a crimson cloak with a white tiger's face embroidery walked toward Zhu Qiao. The elder had the traditional Chinese hairstyle with a gold headdress on top, making her appearance similar to an empress.
Despite appearing to be in her late 30s, her facial outline showed that she used to be a peerless beauty, which could compete with Zhu Qiao or Miaomiao's wives. Also, her chest size was even bigger than Xu Xiuying.
The woman was Wu Guotai, the wife of Sun Wentai and the mother of Sun Bofu. She also reigned as the first elder of the Jiangdong White Tiger Sect despite being a 6th-stage cultivator.
"Aren't you from the Zhu Clan?" Wu Guotai smiled at Zhu Qiao, "Zhu Huifang already called me and told me everything. Have you finally decided to marry my son?"
Zhu Qiao shook her head and cupped her fist, "I'm sorry, senior. I'm here by my mother's instruction to join the sect and broaden my horizon, not getting married with you son."
"Why not? You're a succubus and you need a male partner to get stronger. Our Bofu is a talented boy with a bright future ahead of him. If you marry him, our sect's resources will also be primarily allocated to you since you will become the mistress of our sect master's successor. I don't see why you're postponing our offer?"
Wu Guotai and Zhu Huifang had a secret agreement.
As the Zhu family members and their servants were mostly mutated humans or demons that couldn't rely on Wei Huang, Zhu Huifang turned to Jiangdong White Tiger Sect. The former had planned to wed her daughter with Sun Bofu to form an alliance and a connection with the Sun Clan.
Without the alliance, the Zhu Clan might perish in this endless war between demons and humans.
Wu Guotai agreed as her son might reap some benefits by dual-cultivating with a virgin succubus. The virgin yin energy of Zhu Qiao could increase Sun Bofu's dantian size and solidify his cultivation base by several levels.
As both mothers came to a term, Zhu Huifang had tricked Zhu Qiao to travel here. Now, it was a matter of time before Wu Guotai could coax Zhu Qiao into marrying her son.
That was what the adults had planned.
However, Zhu Qiao had another idea. She glanced at Miaomiao and grinned, after which she politely apologized to Wu Guotai.
"I'm so sorry, senior. I'm already seeing someone."
As soon as she finished her sentence, she rushed to Miaomiao's side and hugged his left arm.
"This is my dao partner. You see, we've agreed to get married, so I can't possibly marry your son."
"…"
Wu Guotai, Huang Gongfu, and the two other elders solemnly stared at the girl. All of them had been observing their actions and listening to their conversation during the daytime. When Zhu Qiao and Miaomiao had fought, they also saw and heard everything.
Obviously, they knew that Zhu Qiao was lying.
The three elders glanced at Wu Guotai, waiting for her to make a move.
Wu Guotai turned to Miaomiao and studied him from head to toes. Then, she grinned.
"It's understandable that you want to be with him since he's as good as my son. HOWEVER, girl, you overlooked one fact."
Wu Guotai's face darkened as she walked closer to Zhu Qiao, but she peered at Miaomiao, "This man is a spy from Siren City, and the elder council has agreed to apprehend him for the time being. Associating with a spy is not a good idea, little girl. I suggest you stop acting and do what your mother told you to do… If you're worried about your family back home."
"My family?" Zhu Qiao's face paled.
"Currently, the Zhu Clan is isolated. Wei Huang and the Xu Clan want Zhu Huifang dead, and men are eager to enslave every woman of your clan. Do you know how much bounty they put for a young demoness from your clan? The highest offer so far is 20,000 essence cores, and the lowest is 5,000! I could have captured you and sold you as a sex slave. Well, if you choose not to cooperate, that is…"
An illusion of a silver lioness appeared behind Wu Guotai. She also unsheathed her broadsword and coated it with earth element Qi.
This core pillar cultivator intentionally released her killing intent and focused on Miaomiao and Zhu Qiao, demonstrating her seriousness. Had Zhu Qiao continued to be uncooperative, every elder here would imprison her.
…
Miaomiao glanced at the arms and the face of Zhu Qiao. Despite being threatened, she seemed calm… too calm!
As Miaomiao had seen how Zhu Qiao repelled Ma Ping's nascent soul attacks and his domain power, he knew how strong this weird heroine was. Dealing with a half-ass 6th-stage cultivator without a heaven-grade artifact would be a piece of cake.
'Ah, if this is a dating sim game, a charming prince on a white horse should be making an appearance now.'
Miaomiao giggled as he daydreamed, ignoring this entire event as if it was none of his business.
As if Miaomiao were Nostradamus, someone stepped up and stopped Wu Guotai.
It was the handsome guy that had been hiding his cultivation base.
"Aunty Wu, please calm down. We shouldn't provoke the Zhu Clan and the Cao Clan now, or our clan will face a series of calamitous wars against the Yuan Clan and the demon armies in the future."
Zhou Gongjin fearlessly walked up to Wu Guotai and asked her to stop His solemn expression and determined eyes faced the angry woman even though the latter was ready to unleash her wrath at any moment.
Huang Gongfu and two other elders recognized the young man. They rushed to Wu Guotai's side and appeased her.
"Sister Wu, calm down. Let's not decide our actions without listening to the lord first. We also need to bring Cao Mao to him. Maybe, there is something about this war that we don't know."
"That's right! Sister-in-law, this call-to-arms nonsense and alliance talk from Yuan Shaoqing is fishy. They have enough power, resources, and armies to take down a city, but they are ordering everyone as if they're the emperor! We need to listen to the story from the Siren City's side to figure out the truth."
Huang Gongfu glanced at Miaomiao for a moment. He also cupped his fist and bowed, "Sister-in-law, we must not provoke this young man and this demoness. They likely have a life brand, and their parents can learn what transpires here. Rather than taking action by your emotion, it is advised to consult with the lord, other elders, and our honor guests from the Great Zhang Clan."
"…"
Surprisingly, the elders went along with Zhou Gongjin's advice as if he was someone important from the Sun Clan.
Miaomiao turned to Zhou Gongjin. Now that the charming prince was here and everybody respected him, the former got curious about the latter's identity.
Wu Guotai squinted her brows and glared at Zhou Gongjin. Then, she seized Miaomiao's neck, who didn't pay attention to her.
Wu Guotai ignored Zhou Gongjin's warning!
"Talk! Why is a spy from Siren City here!? Where is Sun Yun!?"
The woman attempted to squeeze Miaomiao's neck and break his bone.
At that moment, she sensed odd feedback – She couldn't squeeze Miaomiao's neck.
The skin was too hard! It felt as if she had been holding a thick metal pipe, and she couldn't even put a dent on it.
Despite being choked by the lady, Miaomiao heaved a sigh of relief. Judging from Wu Guotai's words, Sun Yun seemed to have contacted her parents or the Sun Clan, and this woman had learned about it.
Around Miaomiao's neck, his skin had partially transformed into a fire dragon skin, increasing the sturdiness and the toughness around the area. As such, Wu Guotai's physical force couldn't harm him.
In a relaxed manner, Miaomiao smiled as he grabbed Wu Guotai's wrist, injecting several strands of dragon fire Qi into Wu Guotai's arm, "Is that the right tone to talk to a foreign diplomat?"
Sensing the advanced element Qi strands in her arm, Wu Guotai kicked the ground and leaped backward. She circulated her earth element Qi and water element Qi to drive out the foreign energy in her arm, but she couldn't move them.
Basic element Qi couldn't possibly contest against a cheating power of a protagonist. Now, Miaomiao had displayed some of Xie Tian's overwhelming power.
"You!!"
Wu Guotai merged with her dao avatar and transformed into a demi-lioness. Her head transformed into a female lion's head, and her physique got denser. However, her human hands, feet, arms, and legs remained the same.
With the enhanced physique, Wu Guotai added her earth and water element Qi into her sword.
Then, she swung it, sending a crescent wave of sharp water blade at Miaomiao.
"Woman, if you value your life, withdraw your power. Don't you know that you're already dead?"
Miaomiao sidestepped and dodged the oncoming water blade.
"Brat, you're the one who's already dead!"
Wu Guotai hadn't given up. Her left hand formed a hand incantation, and the water blade suddenly scattered, flowing backward and coming for Miaomiao again. They transformed into water bullets.
Sensing the basic water element Qi attack, Miaomiao didn't bother dodging. His back faced the bullets as he turned his skin under his clothes into fire dragon scales.
The water bullets showered Miaomiao. Some of them even hit the back of his head and rocked him.
Then, the shattered water bullets condensed and devoured Miaomiao whole as if they had transformed into a man-eating slime king, after which, the blue water blackened and hardened.
From water, it changed into a dark boulder, sealing Miaomiao inside.
"Hahahaha! Take that, brat! True, you might be a genius, but an essence gathering trash can't possibly be a match against a core pillar realm cultivator! Oh, you can't hear me? Of course! You're already dead! Hahahaha!!"
Wu Guotai burst into laughter as she was proud of her Qi manipulation skill. The water-earth combo had been her deadliest technique that earned respect from other elders. Upon use, no one under the 6th-stage could survive.
That only applied to ordinary cultivators.
BOOM
Suddenly, the boulder got incinerated and turned into dust.
"Huh?"
While Wu Guotai was confused, Miaomiao reappeared behind her and cold steel entered her body from the back. The tip of the blade exited from her middle abdomen.
"This is a warning stab. Since I'm a diplomat, I don't want trouble. I made sure to avoid critical organs."
Miaomiao pulled out Killer Queen. Blood gushed out of her chest and her back, wetting her gold robes.
Before Wu Guotai collapsed, Miaomiao whispered, "I could have detonated your right arm, but that will ruin our relationship in the long run. But since you tried to kill me, I'll leave those little bombs in your arm a bit longer. Now, stay down and wait for help obediently. You see, I've come in peace, and I hate fighting. Everything was self-defense."
"…"
The three elders, who had chosen not to protect Miaomiao at the critical time, were shocked. By the time that they came back to their senses, Miaomiao's katana had already pierced through Wu Guotai's torso.
"Sister-in-law!!"
"SISTER WU!!"
Huang Gongfu and two elders rushed at Miaomiao. Meanwhile, the latter fully transformed into a dragonewt, aka the lizardman form.
Three swords of elders smacked his face, chest, and neck, but they failed to dig into his skin.
"A word of advice, physical attacks from 3rd-rated core pillar realm cultivators can't possibly harm me. Rather than attacking me, you should take her to a medic. She will die from blood loss if you don't tend her wound now."
"…"
The elders gulped and looked at their sky-grade swords, which had slight cracks on them. Although they hadn't put all their strength and element Qi into the attacks, the strikes just now carried enough power to cleave 6th-stage physique cultivators into two.
Yet, Miaomiao was fine!
"You, what are you?" Huang Gongfu was astonished.
Miaomiao brightly smiled, "As I said, I'm a diplomat."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺