Mo Qi nodded repeatedly, "You've reminded me, annihilation is a good idea. Let's settle on that. I plan to annihilate the Earthling Fruit King lineage. Does anyone have any objections?"
General Duan and General Feng said in unison, "No objections!"
At the same time, General Duan intensified his offensive. With a pointed finger, the heavy earth energy surged like a tidal wave, knocking the three-section staff to the ground. He then charged forward, bypassing Li Shizi as if flowing water, circling around him and tightly enveloping him.
Li Shizi's entire body was encased in the earth energy, forming a cocoon shape. He was unable to move and fell to the ground.
Unable to move, Li Shizi still tried to speak with his true energy, his voice filled with rage, "Release me immediately! If my father finds out, every one of you will perish without a burial place."
General Duan withdrew his technique, lifted the cocoon, and threw it before Mo Qi, "Please, Master, pass judgment."
Mo Qi glanced at it and said, "Take him to the plaza."
General Duan accepted the order, lifted the cocoon, and headed towards the plaza.
As Mo Qi was about to follow, Han Yang approached, saying with some concern, "Perhaps we should release him. I'm worried that capturing him is easy, but dealing with the entire Earthling tribe might be difficult. If they truly march their army upon us, we might face annihilation."
Mo Qi smiled, "No need to worry. If I weren't confident, I would never dare to easily bring trouble to the Lingxiao Sect."
Seeing his confident demeanor, Han Yang was immediately at ease.
He recalled Mo Qi's appearance when he left in a huff that day. Now, though he had returned as a youth, the aura he exuded was more mature and steady, as if he could precisely control everything.
Looking at him now, Han Yang couldn't help but think of Wu Fan. Perhaps this was the Mo Qi that Wu Fan would have wanted to see.
Subsequently, led by Mo Qi, everyone followed him to the plaza.
In a short while, the plaza was once again surrounded by many people.
After all these years, Mo Qi's popularity remained as strong as ever, with many in the crowd screaming and cheering.
Mo Qi waved to them one by one.
They arrived at the statue of Mo Qi and Wu Fan, where General Duan threw the cocoon onto the ground.
Mo Qi stepped forward, pointed his finger, and unleashed roaring thunder and fire spiritual energy towards the cocoon. With a thunderous boom, the layer of earth shattered, and dust billowed into the air.
Freed from the earth energy's restraint, Li Shizi flipped over, attempting to get up.
Mo Qi pointed his finger again, and a ribbon of spiritual energy shot out, like a spiritual snake, instantly binding Li Shizi tightly.
Li Shizi's upper body was bound, but his lower body could still move. He stood up, intending to flee.
Mo Qi shouted, "Kneel!"
The powerful aura pressed down, causing Li Shizi's knees to buckle violently, and he knelt on the ground. His expression shifted from panic to terror.
He truly wanted to stand up, but with all his might, he couldn't.
He finally realized that the white-haired youth before him was no ordinary person, otherwise, those two Earthlings wouldn't have been so completely subdued by him.
Seeing everyone's gazes fixed on him like poisonous arrows, Li Shizi cowered, his eyes immediately showing a plea for mercy. "Please spare me. At most, I'll go back and beg my father to not pursue your wrongdoings. Let me go, and we'll pretend this never happened."
"Don't release him! He's speaking nicely now, but once he returns to his territory, he'll surely bring up this matter again and seek revenge," shouted a sect member from the crowd.
"Yes, don't release him," others chimed in. "At worst, it's death. We've found a scapegoat. With the Fruit King's son as our scapegoat, even death is worth it!"
He had encountered fearless madmen!
Li Shizi was so terrified he wet himself, his legs trembling uncontrollably, making it difficult to even remain kneeling. "No, if you let me go, I promise I won't pursue this further. Whoever goes back on their word is a dog."
"Who would believe you? You'll say anything and do anything to survive right now."
Mo Qi waved his hand, silencing the clamor, and then looked at Li Shizi, pointing to the inscription beneath his statue. "Do you recognize these characters? Read them aloud for me."
Li Shizi glanced at it. It read: Those who offend my Lingxiao Sect shall be executed!
Li Shizi immediately collapsed to the ground, completely weakened.
"Today, I shall grant you one more day of life. Tomorrow, you will be executed here," Mo Qi commanded.
Li Shizi's body turned to jelly. He was dragged away by the sect members like a dead dog and thrown into the prison.
General Duan asked, "Why wait until tomorrow for the execution?"
"To let the Earthlings come and rescue him. Preferably, the Fruit King himself will come, saving me the trouble of finding them," Mo Qi replied.
After speaking, Mo Qi walked around the sect, setting up a barrier. Once he confirmed its impregnability, he returned to the plaza.
Mo Qi then asked who had been afflicted by Mei's restrictions, stating he could remove them.
The crowd erupted in excitement.
These people had never dreamed that the restrictions could ever be lifted.
In fact, if someone was afflicted by restrictions, it was easy to detect. First, they would faint, and then the restriction would move within their body. Any cultivator could discover it through internal observation.
Initially, no one knew what it was. They asked each other, and people from the Qionglu Realm and other regions told them they had been afflicted by restrictions. Word spread like wildfire, and soon everyone knew.
Mei had not invaded the Nine Divine Realms, as they saw no need. Therefore, these individuals had been afflicted through the restrictions within the Tongtian Talisman Seal.
Afterward, people lined up, and Mo Qi checked them one by one. For anyone afflicted, he would use spirit stones to detoxify them.
Initially, he handled it himself. Later, Jin Dan stepped forward and volunteered to help. Mo Qi agreed, handing him the spirit stones while he himself checked for restrictions, and Jin Dan would help remove them.
Mo Qi found the boy to be quite ambitious and asked, "The world outside is in chaos now, with all sorts of demons and monsters running rampant. Do you have any thoughts on joining me to eliminate demons and uphold the Way?"
Jin Dan readily agreed, "Of course, no problem at all. What else would I learn Daoist magic for, if not to eliminate demons and uphold the Way?"
Mo Qi was very pleased.
The Lingxiao Sect had few disciples. When the Tongtian Talisman Seal fell, not many people vied for it, so the number of people afflicted by restrictions was very small. The restrictions were quickly removed for everyone.
In the short term, the Earthlings would not come. Even if they did, the barrier would block them, and General Duan and General Feng were there to guard. Thus, Mo Qi left with peace of mind.
He still had to go to the Four Great Sects and other sects to remove their restrictions.
There was no other way. Most of the meteorite spirit stones were already occupied, and he only had one spirit stone on hand, forcing him to travel extensively.
He also kept a watchful eye, intending to visit the Divine Pill Sect to see if their mine contained any meteorite spirit stones. Given the Divine Pill Sect's mining conditions, even if there were meteorite spirit stones inside, they wouldn't discover them. Therefore, Xiao Budian would have to be the one to search for one or two.
If he could find even one or two, his burden would be significantly lighter.
Thus, his first destination was the Divine Pill Sect.
Unexpectedly, the Divine Pill Sect also had a powerful figure causing trouble here. You Yu, the Fruit King's brother, was throwing his weight around in the main hall.
Previously, they had demanded that all spirit stones mined by the Divine Pill Sect be handed over to the Earthlings. However, Apothecary Lai, unable to bear it, had secretly sold some of them.
You Yu, visiting for amusement, discovered this issue and flew into a rage, forcing everyone from the peak master level and above to kneel in the hall, demanding to know who had instigated it.
Needless to say, it was Apothecary Lai who had instigated it. But his intention in doing this was merely to see them turn on each other, and then to make an example of them.
However, after questioning for a long time, no one confessed.
You Yu became enraged and declared, "I'll count to ten. If no one steps forward, I'll kill you all."
Then he began to count.
Apothecary Lai knew he couldn't escape today. He gritted his teeth, preparing to step forward, when Ying Yue stepped out, claiming he was the instigator.
You Yu's hand shot out, and a surge of black energy erupted towards Ying Yue.
With his cultivation of the first level of Grand Unity Golden Immortal, dealing with these people was as simple as crushing an ant.
This was the difference between the methods of the Fruit King and the Earth Emperor.
The Fruit King enjoyed toying with weaker opponents and preferred a steady, methodical approach.
The Earth Emperor, however, aimed to get straight to the point and ascend directly.
Facing You Yu's attack, Ying Yue was stunned, standing motionless. Perhaps he was frozen with fear, or perhaps the disparity in strength made it impossible to dodge. He watched as the mass of black energy engulfed him.
The people around him were too slow to intervene, and the thought of intervening hadn't even arisen.
At this moment, a similar black energy struck, lightly sweeping away the black energy You Yu had unleashed, shattering it into dust.
Only then did everyone realize that You Yu had intended to kill, and had been interrupted.
Looking up, a white-haired youth appeared in the hall. Upon closer inspection, he looked somewhat like...
"Uncle-Master Mo!" Apothecary Lai exclaimed.
The others also felt immense joy, especially Ying Yue, who had narrowly escaped death. Seeing an old acquaintance, tears welled up in his eyes.
You Yu was initially astonished. Who could block his full-power strike?
But upon hearing Apothecary Lai call him Uncle-Master, he relaxed. What good could come from someone from this sect?
He probably just got lucky with the angle, a fluke.
He comforted himself this way, and thus, he was no longer afraid.
"Who are you, kid? Do you know who I am?" You Yu glared at Mo Qi and shouted.
Mo Qi looked back at him, his gaze sharp, "Do you know who I am?"
That piercing gaze and soul-snatching aura actually caused You Yu's heart to tremble.
You Yu became even more enraged. What kind of world was this? Did anyone dare to kill with their eyes now?
"Kid, you've completely angered me. How dare you try to stab me with your eyes? You've successfully provoked me. Let me tell you, you won't be leaving this place today," You Yu roared.
"I didn't intend for you to leave this place either," Mo Qi said calmly.
"I don't know where you get your confidence. But soon, you won't even have the chance to argue," You Yu said. As he spoke, he placed his hand on the ground, and a rumbling sound emanated from the earth, as if a herd of beasts were running underground, trying to break through the surface and wreak havoc.
Mo Qi was greatly alarmed and hastily leaped into the air. At that moment, at the spot where he had been standing, the ground suddenly rumbled and caved in, revealing a massive hole in the middle of the hall.