Liu Yazi spotted Wang Ting, who had fallen behind, and gritted his teeth in hatred at his frenzied state. He formed a hand seal and, with a peculiar movement, suddenly appeared before Wang Ting, charging at him. Moving at great speed, his body transformed from a sphere into a cone of lightning, piercing forward. By the time Wang Ting reacted, it was too late. He managed to dodge slightly, but was still impaled, a hole torn through his body.
Liu Yazi stood straight on the ground, looking back at Wang Ting’s lifeless body, and snorted, "You brought this upon yourself."
Seeing their sect leader dead, the disciples of the Divine Turtle Sect lost their fighting spirit. They had been fighting and retreating, but now they abandoned all resistance, fleeing in disarray, wishing they had been born with faster legs. The disciples of the Divine Escape Sect, emboldened by the kill, were unwilling to stop and pursued them relentlessly.
Mo Qi, beaten and bruised at the bottom of the deep pit, had no intact skin left. After getting a moment's respite, he quickly took a few healing pills. After a brief period of adjustment, his body rapidly recovered. Although the medicinal effects had faded, his body's recovery and resilience had undergone a qualitative leap. He believed that with a few more such experiences, his body could achieve true indestructibility.
By then, he had a basic understanding of what had happened outside. Seeing Liu Yazi craning his neck to look into the pit, Mo Qi leaped up, landing before Liu Yazi. He bowed respectfully, saying calmly, "Greetings, Sect Leader Liu."
Liu Yazi recognized him and, after appraising him, marveled inwardly. To have survived such a high-density assault was truly unfathomable. Even he himself would likely have perished. Various thoughts raced through his mind: Kill him? Win him over? Buy him off?
After a moment, he sighed and asked, feigning ignorance, "Are you the only one left?" He assumed Pei Ruxue and the others had vanished into thin air, but he couldn't help asking.
Mo Qi suddenly remembered that Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun were still trapped in his pagoda.
"Uh, no, there are two others." As he spoke, Mo Qi took out the Five-Colored Pagoda from his storage bag and released both Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun.
Seeing Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun alive and well, Liu Yazi was overwhelmed with shock. So, Mo Qi had saved his two disciples single-handedly.
Pei Ruxue and Ba Dun kept their heads bowed, feeling ashamed.
They were naturally grateful for Mo Qi's life-saving grace, but at that moment, Liu Yazi, his retinue, and several elders were all staring at them, making them feel awkward. Their gazes seemed to say, "So you only survived by hiding like cowards."
Pei Ruxue suddenly glared at Mo Qi and angrily said, "This is all your doing." Then, to Mo Qi's surprise, she ran off.
Liu Yazi suddenly recalled a rumor that Mo Qi was lecherous. His eyes flickered, and he said, "Young brother, don't take it to heart. Girls just need a bit of coaxing."
Mo Qi didn't catch on immediately and, with a hint of teasing, asked, "Is she still a girl?"
Liu Yazi glared, "She is a girl, a genuine girl, I guarantee it with my honor."
Seeing his earnestness, Mo Qi felt he might have gone too far. Besides, who cared if she was a girl or not?
At that moment, figures flashed in the air, and another large contingent arrived. The leader was Wu Fan, followed by several Grand Elders, Han Yang, Geng Xu, and many familiar faces: Chen Zui, Pi Shi, Bai Cheng... It seemed the Lingxiao Sect had mobilized almost its entire force. Mo Qi was overjoyed and flew towards Wu Fan, exclaiming, "Old man, why are you only arriving now? I was almost beaten to death."
Wu Fan, rarely showing a smile, replied, "I knew you wouldn't die."
Mo Qi smiled and, unable to greet everyone individually, swept his gaze across the crowd behind Wu Fan, smiling and nodding.
Then, Mo Qi was surprised to see the Skeleton Daoist among them, bound by an iron chain artifact, his head hanging low. His previous arrogance and disdain were completely gone. It seemed the Lingxiao Sect's late arrival had its reasons.
Mo Qi frowned, "Where is the Blazing Daoist? Did he escape?"
Wu Fan snorted, "He resisted stubbornly and was killed by us." He then glanced at the Skeleton Daoist, "This is a gift for you. You can take him to the Northern Territory to complete a task."
Mo Qi thought that sending him to the Northern Territory was letting him off easy, considering how he had almost taken his life.
His expression remained unchanged as he turned and said, "Speaking of tasks, I think exposing the Divine Turtle Sect's true colors is a great merit, wouldn't you say?"
"Adding flowers to the embroidery, there's never too much merit," Han Yang said from behind Wu Fan.
Mo Qi smiled and replied, "Yes, Master speaks wisely." He then glanced at the Skeleton Daoist again, "Have you found out who he is?"
Han Yang nodded, "We have. He is a disciple of the Dinghai Sect, a demonic sect from the Southern Sea of the Primordial Realm."
Mo Qi had never heard of the Dinghai Sect. He nodded vaguely and then ran forward, taking one end of the chain binding the Skeleton Daoist from Geng Xu, ready to drag him away.
Wu Fan and Liu Yazi exchanged a look and clasped their hands in greeting.
At this point, a messenger from the Divine Escape Sect reported that the Divine Turtle Sect's mountain gate was sealed, and its disciples were defending it with a barrier, making it difficult to breach.
Liu Yazi said to Wu Fan, "Sect Leader Wu Fan, shall we go and take a look together?"
At some point, the Four Great Sects had begun to seek the opinion of the Lingxiao Sect. Wu Fan felt somewhat flattered and repeatedly said, "Sect Leader Liu, please, please!"
Thus, the group majestically headed towards the Divine Turtle Sect. The disciples of the Divine Escape Sect had already surrounded the Divine Turtle Sect tightly from the perimeter, unleashing all their magical artifacts and divine abilities towards the Divine Turtle Sect in the center. As they struck the barrier, light and energy flowed, sparks flying. The barrier rippled like waves, then returned to calm.
As Liu Yazi and Wu Fan neared the mountain gate, a group of people brought two individuals, stating they were captured deserters from the Divine Turtle Sect, to be dealt with by Liu Yazi.
Mo Qi recognized them as Wu Siqi and Liu Sha.
Liu Yazi, not in the mood to interrogate, simply waved his hand, "You handle it."
The group was considering how to deal with them: behead them with a sword, blast them with divine abilities, or poison them.
Mo Qi rushed forward, "Sect Leader Liu, wait. I know these two. One is a disciple of the Divine Pill Sect, sent on a mission. The other is a disciple of the Divine Turtle Sect, but we have persuaded him to surrender."
"Oh, is that so?" Liu Yazi waved his hand, "Release them." It was that casual.
The disciples of the Divine Escape Sect acknowledged this and released the two.
Wu Siqi immediately felt a sense of having escaped death and ran to Mo Qi. He hugged Mo Qi's shoulder like a spoiled child and cried, "Martial Grand-Uncle!"
Mo Qi patted his head, "It's alright, it's alright."
Liu Yazi and Wu Fan stood side by side. Liu Yazi said to Wu Fan, "Let's join forces and see if we can break this barrier." Wu Fan nodded, "We can try, but it will likely be difficult."
At this moment, a figure appeared on the summit of the Divine Turtle Sect's mountain. It was a dark-skinned middle-aged man with a square face and wide ears. He surveyed the surrounding disciples of the Divine Escape Sect and the Lingxiao Sect and said, "Everyone, I am Xiao Bai, the Deputy Sect Leader of the Divine Turtle Sect. For what reason are you attacking my Divine Turtle Sect?"
Wasn't that obvious? Feigning ignorance.
"Your Divine Turtle Sect colluded with overseas immortal sects. Don't tell me you don't know?" Liu Yazi said.
Xiao Bai shook his head, "I truly don't know. Regardless of who colludes with foreign powers, all the people within the mountain gate are innocent now." He paused, then stated decisively, "If you insist on attacking, then we can only fight to the death and perish with our mountain gate."
Liu Yazi sneered, "Regardless, the Divine Turtle Sect cannot clear its name. You can't expect us to distinguish between the loyal and the treacherous, can you? We cannot distinguish, nor do we have the inclination to."
Xiao Bai's expression changed slightly, "Then what do you want?"
Liu Yazi's voice boomed, "You have only two options: first, disband on the spot and disperse, and the Divine Turtle Sect will cease to exist; second, the Divine Turtle Sect will be merged into my Divine Escape Sect, and the Divine Turtle Sect will also cease to exist. Which one do you choose?"
Neither option allowed the Divine Turtle Sect to exist. Xiao Bai felt a surge of anger and was about to respond when a voice echoed from the sky, "The Divine Turtle Sect is to be abolished, but why must it submit to your Divine Escape Sect?"
Following the voice, a dense crowd arrived. It was Master Zhang of the Divine Sword Sect and his disciples. Before the words had even fallen, figures flickered in the air, and another dense crowd arrived – it was Master Lai of the Divine Pill Sect and his followers.
Master Lai said, "I disagree."
A moment later, the Divine Mist Sect's contingent also arrived, and Zhong Gui also disagreed with his statement.
Wu Fan remained expressionless, appearing indifferent.
Mo Qi detested his self-righteous demeanor the most. This was about the division of power, something he had risked his life for.
He immediately said to Liu Yazi, "Sect Leader Liu, where were you when I fought against the demonic sect and the great experts of the Divine Turtle Sect? Now that the fight is over, you come to claim a share, but you completely erase the merits of my Lingxiao Sect. Are you blind or heartless?"
These blunt words, spoken in front of the sect leaders of the other four sects and all their disciples, made Liu Yazi lose face. His complexion turned from red to pale, and after a long while, he took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
Xiao Bai inwardly lamented, it seemed the Divine Turtle Sect was doomed today.
What a lively scene, yet everyone could sense the underlying tension. Liu Yazi quickly analyzed the current situation in his mind. Reasoning was useless. If they insisted, they might end up in the same predicament as the Divine Turtle Sect. He merely smiled and said, "Heh heh, if everyone disagrees, we can discuss it further."
Mo Qi felt he had done his best. The remaining matters depended on whether Wu Fan would fight for them. If he remained aloof, as if "passing through a field of flowers without a single petal sticking to him," then Mo Qi could do nothing. At this moment, he flashed over to Master Lai and eagerly asked, "Little Lai, have you seen the Snow Maiden?"
Master Lai looked somewhat surprised, "Isn't the Snow Maiden with you?"
Mo Qi replied noncommittally, "It's nothing. You continue with your business. Sorry for the interruption." He then turned to leave. At this moment, he saw the Skeleton Daoist weaving through the crowd, seemingly trying to escape. He had been so eager to help Wu Siqi resolve his predicament that he had forgotten about the prisoner. The Skeleton Daoist was still bound by the iron chain artifact. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention to him, he cautiously moved through the crowd. If not for the chain, he would have long since vanished without a trace.
Mo Qi could have taken him into the Five-Colored Pagoda, but he harbored such deep hatred for this villain that he felt even placing him in the Five-Colored Pagoda would taint his artifact. So, he decided to finish him off.
With this thought, a red light erupted from within Mo Qi. The tip was barbed, and before the Skeleton Daoist could react, it pierced into his body and was then yanked out, dragging a phantom figure from within him. As the red light contracted, the phantom rapidly entered Mo Qi's body. The Skeleton Daoist's body collapsed, rapidly withered, and turned into a pile of dry firewood.
Wasn't this the Soul Seizing Art of the demonic sect? Could there be a devilish cultivator among them? Everyone around him became wary, looking at Mo Qi in unison. Upon seeing it was Mo Qi, they all displayed expressions of disbelief.
Many people from the Lingxiao Sect saw it, and Wu Fan also saw it. He simply stared at Mo Qi.
The air seemed to freeze, even the wind stopped. Silence fell.
Han Yang quietly walked to Mo Qi's side and whispered, "Quickly apologize to the Sect Leader and say you won't do it again."
Mo Qi glanced at Wu Fan, "I merely absorbed the soul of a demon, and that's not allowed?"
"Not allowed is not allowed, I told you it's not allowed." Wu Fan was furious. He waved his sleeve, as if stirring up a gust of wind. He surged forward but then gradually reined in, striking Mo Qi abruptly. Although surrounded by people, Mo Qi was unharmed, except that his body was sent flying backward and then crashed heavily to the ground.
This level of attack caused no damage to Mo Qi, whose physique had been strengthened. The insult was immense, especially in front of the sect leaders of the Four Great Sects and most of the disciples of the Lingxiao Sect.
He felt extreme anger and grievance. He immediately popped five emergency pills into his mouth, flipped over, and got up. A majestic aura erupted from within him, spreading outwards, instantly making those around him gasp for breath. "Old man, I've tolerated you for a long time. Are you going to fight? Don't think I'm afraid of you. Come on, fight me."
The oppressive aura emanating from him made even Wu Fan inwardly tremble. The child's cultivation had grown so rapidly, it was truly rare, but he must not go astray!
Han Yang quickly stepped forward and gently patted his shoulder, "Calm down, child. Don't let anger control your soul."
Master Lai also stepped forward to persuade him, "Martial Uncle, please calm your anger. Don't bother with him. He's just that stubborn."
Wu Fan made no further moves, and Mo Qi's anger subsided slightly. He then reached out, and a small box that had fallen from the Skeleton Daoist's clothes came into his hand. Mo Qi leaped up, soaring into the air, leaving a white streak. As he departed, he flung back a sentence, "From now on, the Lingxiao Sect is the Lingxiao Sect, and I am me. The Lingxiao Sect has nothing to do with me."
Master Lai shouted towards Mo Qi's disappearing direction, "Alright, then from now on, you belong only to us, the Divine Pill Sect."
The scene quickly returned to its previous clamor. Everyone focused their attention on dealing with the Divine Turtle Sect, soon forgetting the minor interlude.
Only Wu Fan, with his hands clasped behind his back for a long time, gazed in the direction Mo Qi had disappeared, a sense of loss in his heart.
Mo Qi wept as he flew, "What's so great about you? The Lingxiao Sect's current glory is all thanks to me. What right do you have to lecture me?"