The elixir formula was not originally for treating the Immortal Severance disease, but Mo Qi believed it could achieve that effect after some adjustments.
Thus, he began refining the elixir.
During the elixir refining process, Zi Luo requested an audience.
He found it quite unexpected. This woman dared to seek him out proactively. What important matter could it be?
Mo Qi let her in. As Zi Luo entered, the room was filled with steaming mist and a strong medicinal aroma. She couldn't help but frown, "Are you refining elixirs to cure my illness?"
Mo Qi was startled. He had to admit, her intuition was remarkably accurate.
"Don't be so conceited. I'm just refining Spiritual Power Elixirs and Explosive Elixirs. With a great enemy at our doorstep, I need a large quantity of these elixirs," Mo Qi said.
Zi Luo sat down herself. "You said you would cure my illness. Why aren't you putting your heart and soul into it?"
Oh, my temper!
She had the audacity to reprimand me? What right did she have?
"As a man, how can you go back on your word? You swore that if I followed you, you would find a way to cure me. But now that I've come home with you, you've completely forgotten your promise. Don't tell me you're trying to capture me by using my looks?" Zi Luo continued speaking slowly.
Mo Qi squatted by the furnace, not daring to turn around. "You are too full of yourself. If I wanted to capture everyone who was beautiful, why would I have rejected Er Zhu Lin?"
"Who knows what you're thinking? Perhaps you find her displeasing?" Zi Luo pouted.
Mo Qi was speechless.
Reaching the peak of his anger, he decided to just let go. "Yes, you're right. I want to capture you. Then why don't you leave? What are you still lingering here for?"
"I won't," Zi Luo said stubbornly. "You will eventually have to deal with my father. I want to stay by your side and seize an opportunity to kill you."
So blatant?
Mo Qi's eyes darted. "You want to confirm my attitude towards your father, don't you?"
Zi Luo fell silent, implicitly agreeing.
Mo Qi, while controlling the furnace fire, said, "There is no room for negotiation. Your father must die, and so must your other family members."
"Then I'll kill you now." Zi Luo's icy voice sounded from behind him, followed by a booming sound as the entire furnace exploded.
The telekinetic force, silent and unseen, grazed the edge of Mo Qi's clothes and shattered the alchemical furnace.
The loud noise attracted the attention of the anxious people. Sun Qian, Wan Yan Ting, and Er Zhu Lin rushed over and pushed open the door. "What's wrong?"
Seeing the mess and the two people on the verge of a fight, Sun Qian immediately realized something. She stepped forward, took Zi Luo's hand, and pulled her outside. "Princess, please calm down, don't get agitated." She then looked at Mo Qi and said, "You should calm down too," before leading Zi Luo away.
Er Zhu Lin said meaningfully, "Hesitation leads to disaster, my king." She then left with Wan Yan Ting.
Meanwhile, Xiao Yi and Qing Qing were cultivating together. These two "children," sharing the same status, had much in common and quickly became inseparable, playing together.
Xiao Yi felt a sense of destiny with Qing Qing, as if they had met before, but the specific time and place were blank in her mind.
After Ye Qing Qing heard Xiao Yi's background from Sun Qian, she understood that they had indeed met and even interacted before.
However, she didn't expose it. When Xiao Yi asked, Ye Qing Qing said, "Perhaps it's memories from a past life. I can't quite recall either. In any case, we should know each other."
Later, Mo Qi continued his cultivation and research into elixirs and formulas. Finally, he devised a formula that, in theory, should be able to cure Zi Luo, although one ingredient was quite rare, called the Reverse Rhombus Flower.
After extensive inquiries, some tribesmen mentioned that he could try his luck at Ling Ding Mountain in the State of Wei, as someone had seen it there.
He planned to search for it while attacking the State of Wei.
One day, as Mo Qi was refining elixirs, a tribesman reported that an envoy from the Red Leaf Kingdom had arrived and requested to see the tribal chief.
What did the envoy from the Red Leaf Kingdom want? It was likely to provoke them.
Let's hear what they have to say first.
Mo Qi said, "Send them to the reception hall. I'll be there shortly."
The tribesman acknowledged the order and left.
A moment later, Mo Qi finished refining the elixir and headed to the reception hall.
As soon as he entered, he was met with a barrage of insults: "What kind of airs does your tribal chief put on? We want to see him, but we can't? He simply refuses to meet us? He always sends some insignificant subordinates to deal with us, what a disgrace!"
"I am the tribal chief," Mo Qi stated simply.
Only then did he clearly see that they were two young men wearing identical soldier uniforms.
Damn it, they sent only two soldiers and expected us to greet them with the tribal chief? What kind of arrogance is this?
Upon hearing Mo Qi identify himself as the tribal chief, the two envoys were clearly surprised. One of them casually remarked, "Is the tribal chief so young?"
"Tens of thousands of years old, just looks young," Mo Qi replied casually.
"Oh," the two envoys nodded, believing Mo Qi's lie.
Mo Qi had expected these two to stand up and greet him politely. However, they remained unmoved, exuding an air of condescension.
Mo Qi, too, sat down grandly in the honored seat. Now *that* was condescension!
Envoy A glanced at Mo Qi dismissively and got straight to the point. "We have two purposes for our visit. Firstly, to receive the personnel you are to send to the White Eagle Mountain mine. According to regulations, you are to select fifty people annually, but there has been no movement this year. Secondly, to remind you that it is time to pay tribute, one hundred million Meteorite Coins."
Although the Red Leaf Kingdom failed to conquer the Flowing Cloud Tribe, the Flowing Cloud Tribe eventually agreed to pay tribute and submit as vassals, handing over one hundred million Meteorite Coins annually in exchange for long-term peace.
However, one hundred million Meteorite Coins was a crippling blow to the Flowing Cloud Tribe.
"Go back and tell your superiors that from now on, the Flowing Cloud Tribe will not provide you with any laborers, nor will we pay any Meteorite Coins," Mo Qi stated calmly.
Envoy A stood up and roared, "What? This is utter treason! Do you intend to rebel?"
Mo Qi replied very calmly, "Yes, we are rebelling."
At this moment, Gong Gong himself was rebelling. He had no time to manage the affairs below. Therefore, it was best to be audacious now.
Envoy A was furious. "You dare to rebel? Have you even considered your own capabilities?"
Envoy B immediately tugged at Envoy A, signaling him not to be so agitated, as they were still on the other party's territory.
However, Envoy A completely missed the signal. He subconsciously believed that the Flowing Cloud Tribe lacked the strength and courage, and they simply didn't want to pay tribute.
But they had to pay tribute regardless.
Who were they?
They were imperial envoys, here to complete an important mission. Whether they could complete it was a significant test of their abilities.
If they returned empty-handed, they would not only be ridiculed but also gain nothing.
Therefore, he was very eager to complete the mission.