"You’re the one who injured Junior Sister Shengqing?" a young man asked as he stared at Xu Zimo.
"And if I am?" Xu Zimo replied calmly.
"Then we’ll take you down and bring you back to apologize in person," Wang Ruhuai said coolly. "And wait for our Junior Sister’s judgment."
…
Meanwhile, in a distant city near the Dragon Ridge Mountains, two elderly men sat under a huge banyan tree playing chess.
The one on the left wore blue robes, his hair and beard completely white. His face was thin, and he had a wise and ethereal aura.
The one on the right wore red robes, bald-headed with a shiny face, looking like a fat monk who loved good food and wine. A big string of prayer beads hung around his neck.
"Enlightened Sage, what brings you down the mountain this time?" the man in blue asked while placing a piece on the board.
"Daoist Yue Shan, no need to pretend," Enlightened Sage chuckled. "The periods between the emergence of the Chosen Ones are getting shorter. Our temple, Bitter Lotus, must also search for a person of destiny. Only then can we rise again in these chaotic times."
"I’d say, since your Bitter Lotus Temple has been sealed off for so long, this world’s karma no longer belongs to you," Yue Shan replied with a smirk.
"Orders from the master are hard to disobey," Enlightened Sage said with a sigh.
"Then perhaps consider our Grand River God Sect. This generation’s Saintess isn’t bad," Yue Shan offered.
"I heard your Saintess nearly died a few days ago?" Enlightened Sage said with a laugh.
"The details are still unclear. I’ve already sent a disciple to arrest the person responsible," Yue Shan replied with a slightly displeased look.
"Your Saintess was defeated, and you really think your disciple will succeed?" Enlightened Sage asked.
"In my heart, Ruhuai is the strongest disciple of this generation," Yue Shan said. "He cultivates the Book of Myriad Insects, and no bug in the world is beyond his control. It’s a pity he’s too soft-hearted to compete with Shengqing for the Holy Son position. He gave it up in the end."
"One can give up the title, but not the position of emperor," Enlightened Sage said with a smile and shake of the head.
He didn’t say it directly, but the meaning was clear: he had no faith in Grand River God Sect’s Saintess and wouldn’t bet on her.
The emperor’s path is merciless and paved with corpses and blood. You don’t just give it away.
Yue Shan didn’t respond. He placed another chess piece on the board and suddenly looked into the distance, toward the Dragon Ridge Mountains.
"There he is," he said.
…
Xu Zimo looked at the disciples from Grand River God Sect and shook his head.
"I really don’t know where you all get this confidence from."
"Then let’s test it," Wang Ruhuai said flatly.
Power surged around him, the aura of the Imperial Meridian Realm. Wisps of spiritforce wrapped around him, glowing a thick green.
Strangely, his spiritforce wasn’t gaseous, but sticky and viscous, almost like liquid.
As soon as the liquid energy appeared, Xu Zimo heard rustling all around.
Countless insects began to crawl out from every corner, some flying, some crawling, covering the forest floor.
There were so many insects that they seemed to fill the entire forest.
"Senior Brother Ruhuai’s bug technique has improved again. Looks like we won’t even need to act," one disciple said with a grin.
Wang Ruhuai waved his right hand, sending the liquid spiritforce to surround Xu Zimo.
Suddenly, the swarming insects went berserk and surged toward him like a tide.
Xu Zimo frowned slightly. The insects weren’t particularly strong, but they were annoying due to sheer numbers.
He raised his hand, and the space in front of him tore open. A massive beast walked out.
It was one of the ancient God Beasts Xu Zimo had revived, the gluttonous Taotie.
The beast was huge, with red-purple fur, thick and bristly like quills around its neck.
Its horns were enormous, maybe over ten meters long, and its eyes glowed a deep, murderous red.
Its mouth was massive, nearly a meter wide, lined with two large fangs on both the top and bottom. Inside were several tightly packed rows of sharp teeth.
"Taotie, your meal is here," Xu Zimo said calmly.
Legend says dragons had nine sons, and Taotie was one of them. Though the legend isn’t verified, Taotie was undoubtedly a glutton with the power to devour anything.
As soon as the beast appeared, the disciples of Grand River God Sect all looked uneasy.
"What is that thing?" one asked in shock.
"A God Beast," Wang Ruhuai said seriously.
Though Taotie had lost all its past cultivation from before death, under Xu Zimo’s care, it had now reached the Empyrean Meridian Realm, regaining some of its former might.
With a roar, Taotie opened its mouth, it looked like a bottomless abyss.
A powerful force of devouring burst out from within it. Space around it twisted and warped.
Dust flew, trees bent, and all the insects were sucked into its mouth.
Not only insects, even nearby trees and rocks were being swallowed.
"This is bad! Run!" Wang Ruhuai’s face changed, and he shouted in panic.
But it was too late. The devouring force had already engulfed the entire area.
"Master, save me!" Wang Ruhuai cried out.
A chess piece suddenly tore through space, shooting toward Taotie’s mouth.
With a loud boom, it exploded in front of the beast and knocked it to the side.
Taotie stood up and roared angrily into the sky.
Back in the distant city, the rain fell even harder, nearly crushing the massive banyan tree.
"Isn’t it inappropriate for you to interfere in a junior’s fight, Brother Yue Shan?" Enlightened Sage asked with a smile.
"What am I supposed to do, let my disciple get killed?" Yue Shan replied.
"Then I’ll accompany you. I haven’t left the temple in thousands of years, I’d like to see how today’s prodigies measure up," Enlightened Sage said.
The two of them tore open space and stepped in.
In moments, they appeared at the edge of the forest in the Dragon Ridge Mountains.
Xu Zimo looked at the two newcomers, knowing the real fight was about to begin.
"Greetings, young man," Enlightened Sage said with a friendly smile, putting his palms together.