Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The torrential rain continued to pour. Fat raindrops fell from the sky, blurring the border between heaven and earth.
In the Mohist City of Traps…
With his axe and shield on his back, the Overlord Xiang Shaoyun stood tall, with rain streaming down his face from the tips of his hair to his brows and subsequently down his jaw.
On the iron chain…
Mo Liuqi’s frail body stood for a long time. The silver scissors hovered near the side of his cheek and spun continuously at great speed, causing rainwater to spray everywhere. The water current gathered to form thin threads at his jaw.
His roar still seemed to reverberate around the cliffs.
“Cultivator…”
The Overlord exhaled slowly.
He raised his hand, using his muscular arm to grab the long axe on his back.
Where a cultivator was concerned, even the Overlord did not dare to slight him in the least.
Following his experience at the Hidden Dragon Ridge, the Overlord came to regard cultivators more significantly than ever. To him, any cultivator was extremely powerful.
“The Mohists have secretly trained cultivators too?” the Overlord questioned with his brows furrowed.
On the iron chain, Mo Liuqi trod warily.
The pair of scissors that was hovering beside him looked just like a sea of stars in the night sky.
The Mo School…
Mo Liuqi had no emotional attachment to the Mo School. The Mo School did not wish for assassins to be too emotional anyway since emotional assassins would inevitably develop loopholes, which could easily jeopardise their tasks.>>>
That explained why the life of an assassin at the Mo School was one of repression.
In fact, the Mohist City of Traps was a place many assassins wanted to escape. Mo Yiheng was one such example; his wish was to complete his final task, leave the City of Traps, and return to his hometown to lead a life of seclusion.
To Mo Liuqi, the cold Mo School was incapable of giving him warmth.
Instead, it was Zhu and Mo Yiheng who had made him feel warm.
On the iron chain…
Waving their swords and knives in the air, the Western Liang warriors charged toward Mo Liuqi, one after another.
The Overlord raised his hand to stop each of the Western Liang warriors in their tracks.
In a battle between cultivators, the Overlord did not wish for anyone else to interfere.
Actually, the Overlord was very excited too. Blood was coursing through his veins. This was his first time going head to head against a cultivator, and that made him feel an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
Mo Liuqi calmed himself down.
The world was quiet in the rain, just like his heart, which was gradually turning cold.
All of a sudden, Mo Liuqi became a little out of sorts.
He detested the coldheartedness of facial paralysis.
But in the present moment, he seemed to have become what he used to hate most.
A distance of dozens of meters was neither near nor far; it was the distance between Mo Liuqi, who was on the iron chain, and the Overlord, who was on the Gate Tower.
Anything within this distance was the range Mo Liuqi was most confident of.
Within this range, he could control his silver scissors and cut wherever he wanted to, making it possible for him to assassinate the Overlord from multiple angles.
Mo Liuqi remained where he was, not moving a single inch. He was as still as a statue. The rain poured down on him, ricocheting off his skin and causing his silhouette to appear hazy.
Suddenly…
A splitting noise sounded in the air.
Like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, the scissors sliced many raindrops into two.
Holding onto his long axe, the Overlord narrowed his eyes.
Surrounded by Demonic Qi, he abruptly swung the axe in his hand.
Clang!
A deafening noise, which resembled the sound of thunder on a stormy night, rang out.
The pair of silver scissors was sent flying. It speedily spun in the air.
Mo Liuqi continued to stare straight ahead, his gaze fixated on the Overlord.
Spirit Qi enveloped him, obscuring parts of his face.
With a wave of his hand, the silver scissors once again flew toward the Overlord at breakneck speed.
Without warning, the Overlord made a swift, cleaving motion with the long axe in his hand.
This sent the silver scissors flying dozens of meters away.
The storm seemed to have become an advantage, concealing the scissors’ movements. The sounds of the torrential rain drowned out every other noise, making it impossible to identify any trace of the scissors.
Mo Liuqi was very much aware of the Overlord’s immense power.
His only chance of winning was the “Cut at will” technique, boosted by Spirit Qi.
This was a battle between a long-range cultivator and a close-combat cultivator.
Mo Liuqi knew that his strength paled in comparison to that of the Overlord’s, but he would not give up.
He recalled the methods used by Nie Changqing and Ning Zhao on Lake Island.
Besides Young Master Lu, those two were the strongest cultivators he had ever seen. Their methods were thus good references for Mo Liuqi to draw lessons from.
Ning Zhao’s creation of Spirit Pressure through gathering Spirit Qi, Nie Changqing’s Knife Control Technique…
They all inspired Mo Liuqi.
Lu Fan had called Mo Liuqi a genius for good reason. When it came to cultivation, Mo Liuqi had a natural gift.
He could come up with the “Cut at will” technique on his own, without help from any Spirit Qi; even Lu Fan could not help but be wowed by this.
The Overlord sensed some pressure. Notwithstanding the Demonic Qi that surrounded his body, those pair of silver scissors that flew at will seemed to be capable of giving him a fatal blow anytime.
“Duh!”
On the iron chain…
Everything started to shake.
Mo Liuqi pressed his palms together and let out a low cry, unleashing his will to the extreme.
In the midst of the rain, this “duh” sound should have been drowned out by the booming noise of the storm. Yet it was as if the sound had crossed time and space to erupt in the Overlord’ eardrums dozens of meters away.
The Overlord promptly whipped out his long axe.
Suddenly…
The rapidly spinning silver scissors split into two, maneuvering around the Overlord’s long axe and going straight for his throat and heart.
The Overlord narrowed his eyes and let out a deafening, thunderlike roar.
He instantly retracted his long axe, defending his chest with it and successfully deflecting the deconstructed silver scissors with it.
“Interesting…”
“You’re not a cultivator trained by the Mo School. The Mo School… could never train a cultivator like you,” the Overlord declared.
But he had finished sounding out whatever he needed to know.
This was a battle between cultivators, and it was about time for it to come to an end.
Mo Liuqi was not bad at all, but… relative to the small surprise he had shown the Overlord, he had given him even more… disappointment.
Compared to Ning Zhao and Nie Changqing, Mo Liuqi was still too weak.
Boom!
The Demonic Qi that surrounded the Overlord rose, causing the torrential rain to stop abruptly before it ricocheted.
Waving his weapons in the air, the Overlord leaned forward like a leopard ready to strike.
With a single step that he took, he sent water splashing everywhere.
Jumping from the Mohist City of Traps onto the iron chain, the Overlord caused the iron chain to sway nonstop, sending lots of rain flying in the process.
Maintaining a grim face, Mo Liuqi controlled the pair of silver scissors and launched continuous attacks on the Overlord.
Time after time, he failed, but nevertheless, he did not give up.
The Overlord moved along the iron chain, his hulking figure resembling a wolf in search of its prey. Swiftly, he galloped toward Mo Liuqi.
The horrifying pressure, coupled with the strong winds, blew Mo Liuqi’s hair into a mess. He felt as though his heart was being squeezed tightly by a huge hand.
The distance between him and the Overlord was gradually decreasing.
The Overlord was very strong indeed.
Perhaps… Young Master Lu was the only one who could deal with him and put him in his place.
Boom!
The Overlord struck, hitting Mo Liuqi squarely in the face with the rainwater that he had summoned.
A piercing pain caused him to shut his eyes as he summoned the Spirit Qi in his entire body to create the crushing… Spirit Pressure!
The Overlord’s long axe was abruptly stopped midswing. It remained suspended in the air, an inch away from Mo Liuqi’s forehead, with rainwater dripping from it.
“Nie Changqing’s Knife Control Technique, Ning Zhao’s Spirit Pressure…”
“You’re from the White Jade City of Beiluo?” the Overlord asked nonchalantly, his voice filled with an unruly, oppressive quality.
The Spirit Pressure that Mo Liuqi had gathered had quite a significant impact on the Overlord. However, Spirit Pressure… was a technique that only cultivators from White Jade City would display.
That explained why the Overlord inferred that Mo Liuqi was related to White Jade City in some way.
If Mo Liuqi were a Mohist assassin, then the Overlord would not think twice before killing him with one swift swing of his axe.
But if Mo Liuqi had originated from the White Jade City of Beiluo, then the Overlord would have to give the matter further consideration.
There was no way to find out exactly how strong Young Master Lu of White Jade City was, for he was an extremely enigmatic cultivator.
For now, the Overlord still did not wish to offend Young Master Lu.
Young Master Lu must be stronger than he imagined, seeing as he could make Nie Changqing his coachman and Ning Zhao his servant.
Mo Liuqi opened his eyes. He did not respond to the Overlord, nor did he deny the Overlord’s claims.
Originally, he had come forth intending to bid Zhu goodbye. After this farewell, he had planned to enter Lake Island to become a disciple of White Jade City.
As such, it was not wrong to say that he came from White Jade City.
It was just that he did not expect that to be his last goodbye to Zhu.
“I know what you’re harboring hatred toward…”
“But this is where the difference lies in a faction. Either party has to die,” the Overlord said emotionlessly.
“Just leave. Take it as a favor I’m doing Young Master Lu.”
The Overlord straightened his body. He, who stood two meters tall, was as strongly built as a demon.
Mo Liuqi lowered his head, with raindrops dripping nonstop from the tips of his hair.
He did not say anything to intimidate the Overlord, nor did he remain firm and unyielding.
He stood up and grabbed his silver scissors.
Turning around silently and feeling the rain falling upon him, he felt his body tremble slightly.
He was too weak.
He wanted to become stronger!
The Overlord watched Mo Liuqi’s gradually diminishing silhouette with an indifferent gaze.
Had he just proverbially released a tiger back to the mountains?
Besides giving Young Master Lu face, the Overlord had another reason for keeping Mo Liuqi alive. That was because… he needed pressure.
With pressure comes motivation, and that was the reason why he deliberately set Mo Liuqi free.
To the Overlord, Mo Liuqi’s appearance and disappearance were merely an interlude.
Raising his long axe in the air, the Overlord let out a resounding roar.
The Western Liang warriors braved the storm and charged into the Mohist City of Traps.
******
On Beiluo Lake Island…
Lu Fan returned to reality.
Mo Liuqi’s failure did not surprise him. In fact, it would have been strange if Mo Liuqi had won.
The Overlord, who had become a demon and attained the Ninth Stage of Demonic Qi, was extremely powerful. Even Ning Zhao would be no match for him.
“This Overlord is quite interesting… Is he keeping Mo Liuqi around to use him as a whetstone?”
Lu Fan swirled his wine cup, causing the aromatic alcohol to whirl in the cup.
He stopped thinking about Mo Liuqi’s matter. Zhu’s death was not something he had expected, but life was no fairytale, and there weren’t that many wholesome and wonderful things in the world.
Lu Fan took a mouthful of green plum wine.
Leaning back and listening to the sounds of the wind, Lu Fan began to ponder a few things.
The first thing he had to consider was the “Dragon Raising Site.”
After that, the next thing he had to consider was how he was going to make White Jade City a Supreme Power.
Following the incident at the Immortal Palace of the Hidden Dragon Ridge, White Jade City had already developed a reputation.
But…
It still fell short of being a Supreme Power.
What Lu Fan had to do was put in more effort to make White Jade City a Supreme Power that outmatched the Hundred Schools of Philosophy.
Just as Lu Fan was deep in thought…
From afar, faint cheering sounds could be heard. The cheering was also interjected by continuous “pfft pfft” farting sounds.
Lu Fan turned his head to look at where Ni Yu and Jing Yue were.
That was when he saw the black pot that was in front of them.
In the pot were countless jellybean-like, round elixir pills that were giving off steam.