"I am Xiang Lan," the woman said with a smile. Her voice was the same, yet it seemed much gentler than before.
It was then that Mo Qi and the others realized this was indeed Xiang Lan. Although she had transformed from her bloated state to her current slender figure, faint traces of her previous appearance could still be discerned in the general outline of her features.
Because her previous clothes were now too large for her current body, she had temporarily donned a Snow Maiden's outfit. The Snow Maiden had been generous, gifting it to her directly.
However, Du Gu Sheng recognized her at a glance. This was exactly how she looked when they first met!
Du Gu Sheng's eyes welled up with tears, overcome with emotion. "How, how is this possible?"
Mo Qi also looked relieved, seeing that the pill had indeed been effective.
Xiang Lan gazed at Mo Qi, her eyes filled with boundless admiration and gratitude. "Brother Mo is truly exceptional. I was blind before and was very rude… I think Brother Mo and Miss Xue are a perfect match, truly made for each other. Miss Xue has excellent taste."
Du Gu Sheng kept his eyes fixed on Xiang Lan, his gaze burning with desire. It had been ten years since he had touched her, and now he felt an overwhelming urge to do so again.
He couldn't wait another moment.
He cupped his fists towards Chao Jing and bid farewell. "Sect Leader Chao, I have an urgent matter to attend to. I must take my leave. Goodbye."
Then, he stepped forward, took Xiang Lan's hand, and walked out. Xiang Lan naturally understood his intentions. She lowered her head shyly, cooperating fully as she followed him.
After a few steps, Du Gu Sheng suddenly turned back and said to Chao Jing, "Sect Leader Chao, I also believe that Brother Mo is more suitable than Murong Jing. You must not be mistaken."
Chao Jing immediately nodded. "Yes, yes, I understand."
Du Gu Sheng glanced at Mo Qi again, giving him an encouraging look, and then left with Xiang Lan in a hurry.
As soon as Du Gu Sheng left, the other guests also began to take their leave.
In an instant, the once lively courtyard returned to its usual tranquility.
Mo Qi also felt that staying any longer would be awkward, so he decided to depart.
However, Xue Nü suddenly took his hand. This was the first time Xue Nü had held his hand, and it sent a flutter of excitement through his heart.
Xue Nü led him to Chao Jing and said, "Father, this is Mo Xin, whose real name is Mo Qi."
Mo Qi bowed, remaining silent. He found Chao Jing's character rather despicable.
Chao Jing's expression turned somewhat grim. "I've seen him before."
He made no mention of Mo Qi having saved his life.
Mo Qi, however, felt emboldened. "Sect Leader Chao must be working tirelessly and living in fear every day, right? In fact, you should reflect… Ah… The root cause of all this is yourself… Hmm… It's your greed… Ah… If you hadn't killed Yuwen Changsha back then, and Grandpa hadn't ambushed Yuwen Yan, then the Yuwen and Chao families would still be powerful and could contend with the Du Gu, Nangong, and Murong families. Now, although the Chao family still holds the Heavenly Capital Sect, under the immense pressure from the other three families, you probably haven't had a single peaceful day, have you?"
The interjections of "ah" and "hmm" were because Xue Nü was nudging him with her elbow, telling him not to speak carelessly, but he still managed to finish everything he wanted to say.
Chao Jing said angrily, "Are you lecturing me?"
Mo Qi chuckled lightly. "I wouldn't dare. Let's summarize together. One must constantly learn from their gains and losses to remain undefeated."
"Hmph, undefeated? Is that even possible?"
Just then, a man and a woman walked out. The man was handsome and tall, and upon closer inspection, his features bore a resemblance to Xue Nü.
The woman was also stunning, linking arms with the man, appearing incredibly sweet and affectionate.
Xue Nü called out, "Brother, Sister-in-law."
The two responded. Chao Xi Yun looked at Chao Jing and said, "Father, I'm leaving."
Chao Jing nodded. As Chao Xi Yun turned to leave, he happened to glimpse Mo Qi and saw the two of them holding hands tightly. He immediately smiled. "This must be Mo Xin, right?"
Mo Qi nodded and bowed. "Greetings, Brother!"
Chao Xi Yun waved his hand and smiled. "You're certainly not one to stand on ceremony. Your name has been mentioned frequently in my ears lately. They say you're a prodigy in alchemy, a hero in the Heavenly Rank Academy's competition, a genius who learned the Sun Chasing Star Grasping Art, killed Wan Beifeng, crippled Murong Huo, and disfigured Nangong Yun. You've practically bullied everyone in our Seven Tiers."
As he spoke, he stepped forward and patted Mo Qi's shoulder. "You're quite something, young man. Most impressively, you've even conquered my little sister…"
Xue Nü stomped her foot. "Brother!"
Sister-in-law Qi Shan also smiled and said, "My sister's taste is indeed excellent. I tried his pills just now, and they're simply miraculous! They work instantly, curing everything. I think the two of you could live comfortably just selling pills without doing anything else."
Xue Nü blushed and said shyly, "Sister-in-law, don't talk nonsense."
Chao Jing watched them chat as if no one else were present, his face twitching.
If external pressures were disregarded, Mo Qi would indeed be an excellent candidate. But the problem was, without the alliance of one of the four great families, the Heavenly Capital Sect could truly collapse at any moment.
However, Du Gu Sheng seemed to favor Mo Qi earlier.
But the issue was, if he truly clashed with the Nangong or Murong families, Du Gu Sheng would likely remain on the sidelines.
Chao Jing coughed dryly and said meaningfully, "Good, very good." Then he turned and left.
Chao Xi Yun smiled and left with Qi Shan.
Afterward, Mo Qi, feeling somewhat dazed, was led by Xue Nü to pay respects to his grandaunt's husband, third uncle, second maternal uncle, and so on. By the time they emerged, he hadn't remembered a single one.
Finally having met everyone, and feeling uncomfortable standing there, he bid farewell to Xue Nü. Xue Nü said she would be home for a day, so he returned to the academy on his own.
Mo Qi was now a prominent figure in the academy. As he walked through its grounds, he was surrounded by an aura of admiration, drawing countless worshipful gazes and screams.
However, occasionally, other voices could be heard.
Like at this moment, Mo Qi's path was blocked by two people.
Mo Qi looked at them. They seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen them before.
"I am Feng Shen!"
"I am Zhong Hua!"
Two disciples of the Tai He Sect. One of them had been defeated by Mo Qi before.
Mo Qi finally remembered. They were old acquaintances.
He felt a pang of fear, realizing that if they had been studying at the academy during his indiscriminate attacks…
Therefore, he decided he needed to curb his temper in the future and not resort to annihilation so readily. It was too terrifying.
"What do you want?" Mo Qi asked, sweeping a dismissive glance at them.
Both of them were currently in the late stage of the Soul Splitting realm. Mo Qi didn't take them seriously, and they themselves knew they were no match for him.
Feng Shen said indignantly, "Was it you who annihilated our Tai He Sect?"
"Yes, it was me," Mo Qi replied calmly.
"Good, you remember this," Feng Shen said with furious eyes.
With that, he turned and left.
Zhong Hua, who had been glaring with anger a moment before, was startled when he realized Feng Shen was no longer beside him. He immediately turned to chase after him. "Wait for me! If you're leaving, at least notify me!"
Mo Qi shrugged. Was that all?
At the Ling Xiao Sect, Wu Fan, feeling a sudden premonition, wandered aimlessly until he found himself at Youngster Peak.
Han Yang saw him from afar and immediately stepped forward, bowing respectfully. "Sect Master!"
Wu Fan waved his hand. "Have you cleaned every room here?"
Han Yang was bewildered. "Clean the rooms?"
Wu Fan coughed dryly and glared at Han Yang. "How can you be a master? Don't you know that our affiliated alchemy shops have suddenly started selling a certain pill? Where do you think this pill came from?"
Han Yang suddenly understood and smiled. "Oh, we've cleaned every room. Especially one particular room, which we clean daily. We haven't skipped a day in years. Even when it's unoccupied, it's spotless. The bedding and pillows are replaced periodically."
Wu Fan glanced inside, sighed, and turned to leave.
Two days later, it was the day of the trial. Mo Qi arrived at the academy entrance and saw many people already waiting to head to the Tong Tian Secret Realm.
He spotted many familiar faces: Xue Nü, Lu Xiaoyue, Du Gu Jun, Zhuang Shaokun, Wei Jianfei, and those who had qualified through internal competitions: Fen Tian, Jing Lei, Le Yu, Ming Yue Ye, Murong Jing, Tong Wu Qi, Chang Yuhuan, Yuwen Dong, and Wang Lu, along with three unfamiliar faces.
What surprised Mo Qi the most was that Tong Wu Qi had returned and had also passed the internal competition.
Just as he was about to step forward to greet him, Lu Xiaoyue intercepted him.
Lu Xiaoyue questioned him, "Where have you been these past few days? Why did you disappear without a word? Are you avoiding me?"
Mo Qi waved his hands repeatedly. "How could I possibly avoid you? I was just handling some matters."
"What matters?" Lu Xiaoyue pressed.
"It was… quite bloody. It's better if you don't hear about it," Mo Qi said with a frown.
Lu Xiaoyue was still intent on getting to the bottom of it.
Fortunately, at that moment, Tong Wu Qi saw Mo Qi and ran over to greet him. "Brother Mo, long time no see."
Mo Qi almost cried with relief and hugged him. "Long time no see, I've missed you terribly."
Tong Wu Qi, mistaking his emotion for genuine affection, patted his shoulder. "I've missed you too."
The people around them shivered. Did two grown men need to be so passionately affectionate?
Du Gu Jun couldn't help but curse, "Disgusting! Shameless!"
Chang Yuhuan tried to strike up a conversation with Xue Nü, but she was indifferent. After a few words, finding it uninteresting, he quietly moved away.
Le Yu, Jing Lei, and the others frequently cast hateful glances at Mo Qi. Each of them carried themselves with arrogance. When Mo Qi wasn't looking at them, they would glare, but the moment Mo Qi looked their way, they would immediately hold their heads high and act aloof and invincible.
At this moment, Manager Yue came out. He scanned the crowd, took an item from his storage bag, and tossed it into the air. It landed on the ground, expanded in the wind, and transformed into a boat as large as a house.
After briefly stating the rules, Manager Yue led everyone onto the flying boat, which then sped towards the Tong Tian Secret Realm.
The Tong Tian Secret Realm was a trial ground jointly managed by the major sects of the Qiong Lu Realm. The Heavenly Rank Academy, after applying, was also permitted to enter for trials.
On the boat, Mo Qi asked Tong Wu Qi about his whereabouts during the past few days. Tong Wu Qi simply said he had accompanied a Fourth Tier officer on a mission and said no more.
Mo Qi knew that missions within the Tiers were mostly classified, so he didn't press further.
Wang Lu hesitated for a long time before slowly walking up to Mo Qi and asking, "I heard people from Caiyun Country say that Miss Zhen Zhen is missing. Do you know where she went?"
"She has been with me all along," Mo Qi replied.
"This…" Wang Lu looked Mo Qi up and down, somewhat bewildered. "Where is she?"
Mo Qi sighed and recounted everything that had happened after Wang Lu's departure. Wang Lu was filled with emotion.
Jing Lei, Fen Tian, Le Yu, Zhuang Shaokun, Wei Jianfei, and others stood together, watching the beauties around them bloom, feeling a pang of longing. They would often cast glances their way.
Just then, a clear whistle echoed from the horizon. A giant eagle flew across the sky.
Jing Lei's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly had an idea. He said to Le Yu beside him, "Do you believe I can shoot down that eagle?"