The drawing of lots continued. After the draw, during the break, Zhong Gui walked over with a beaming smile, "Vice Sect Leader Mo, how have you been?"
Mo Qi knew why he was here. Upon hearing this, he replied indifferently, "I am very well."
"I just heard Sect Master Lai shouting for his disciples to consume some elixirs, after which his disciples all displayed great prowess. Vice Sect Leader Mo, you can't show favoritism!" Zhong Gui continued with a forced smile.
With the conversation reaching this point, Mo Qi felt he had no choice but to comply. After all, the Divine Pill Sect had yielded a spot to the Lingxiao Gate, and the Divine Mist Sect had also yielded one.
Mo Qi glanced at his storage bag. There were six pills left. He roughly calculated that he would need two pills for his own advancement, and for the subsequent ranking matches, he estimated another two. Thus, he needed four more pills in total.
Mo Qi handed over two "Ying Ji Dan" (応激丹), "You're late, there are only these left."
Zhong Gui was overjoyed, "Better than nothing. Thank you, Vice Sect Leader Mo."
After Zhong Gui left, Mo Qi sighed to the heavens, "Who knows how much I've silently contributed to the sect? Old man Wu Fan, did you see it all?"
Just then, Xue Nü quietly approached. Without a word, she paced back and forth beside him, occasionally casting a wistful glance at Mo Qi. Mo Qi immediately recognized this as a honey trap!
In truth, every beautiful woman employed honey traps. Some were subtle and silent, while others were overt and blatant. Xue Nü clearly belonged to the former category.
Knowing it was a honey trap, Mo Qi still fell for it. He placed a pill in his hand. As Xue Nü walked by, in the blink of an eye, the pill in his hand vanished.
Mo Qi shook his head and gave a wry smile, "Am I truly that lustful?"
When the competition began, in the spectator area, Mo Qi noticed another young woman from the opposing faction looking at him. However, her gaze was filled with venom, as if she wished to tear him to shreds.
It was Pei Ru Xue! Mo Qi recognized her instantly.
How could he have almost forgotten her? She was a cultivator from the senior generation, rumored to be at the late stage of Core Formation. His previous victory against her was purely due to her carelessness and his deliberate provocation, leading to a successful surprise attack. If she had fought seriously, he would have had no chance of winning.
He couldn't help but consume another handful of pills.
"Did you… did you see that girl looking at me?" Mo Qi asked Xue Nü beside him.
"Come on, you're just imagining things…" Xue Nü said dismissively, glancing towards the Divine Escape Sect's formation. Her expression immediately changed, "There really is a woman looking at you, but she's not a girl, is she? She's an auntie!"
Unexpectedly, she recognized Pei Ru Xue.
"How do you know her?" Xue Nü's tone was clearly displeased.
Mo Qi sighed, "How would I dare to know her? Didn't you see her eyes, like she wants to devour me alive?"
Xue Nü glanced over again, surprisingly with a hint of delight, "She really does! It looks like she wants to kill you."
Mo Qi looked at her in shock, "She wants to kill me, and you seem happy about it?"
Xue Nü blinked, "No, no, I've always had a poker face."
Soon, it was Mo Qi's turn to enter the arena. His opponent was Zong Zhang from the Divine Escape Sect. Before stepping onto the stage, Mo Qi saw Pei Ru Xue whispering something into Zong Zhang's ear. Mo Qi, by observing her lip movements, roughly guessed she was saying, "You must guard against his surprise attacks!"
Many female cultivators and male cultivators cheered for Zong Zhang. A few female cultivators were cheering for Mo Qi, which brought him a sliver of comfort.
However, more people favored Zong Zhang, as he was considered outstanding within the Divine Pill Sect.
Mo Qi was also outstanding in the Nine Divine Realms, but only in alchemy!
Many people from the Divine Pill Sect had stopped paying attention to Mo Qi, but Bu Xiao Man was still meticulously observing him.
He was filled with grief and hatred, desperately hoping Mo Qi would lose his match smoothly.
He had won by luck in the previous round; surely he would lose this one!
"May all the gods and Buddhas aid Zong Zhang and destroy Mo Qi."
"May curse techniques descend and destroy Mo Qi!"
Lai Yao Shi's mood was complex. Having come this far, he still hoped Mo Qi would continue to win. However, if Mo Qi won, it would somewhat dampen the spirits of his own disciples.
But perhaps, alongside the discouragement, there might also be a little bit of motivation.
Zong Zhang began by using lightning-based magic. As he formed a hand seal, mist swirled around his right hand. The mist grew with the wind, instantly covering an area as wide as several houses and continuing to expand, rapidly surging towards Mo Qi.
"Lightning!" Mo Qi formed a hand seal and pointed to the sky. Dark clouds churned and surged, forming a massive vortex. The vortex spun rapidly, creating streaks of lightning in the center that sliced the dark clouds into irregular shapes, also forming solid lightning clusters. These lightning clusters descended from the sky in irregular patterns, whistling downwards. From a distance, one could feel their destructive power, skin being torn and burned.
The mass of mist that had been rushing towards Mo Qi also suddenly flashed with electrical light, as if tearing apart, pulling from left to right and then from right to left.
The tearing seemed to cleave the celestial seal, and a thunderous explosion erupted. Lightning and fire followed one after another, advancing rapidly, exploding as they went, kicking up sand and stones, and filling the air with dust.
From a distance, the shockwaves of the explosions had already arrived, instantly leaving Mo Qi covered in wounds, his protective divine light showing signs of dissipating. The mass of mist continued to advance and expand, lunging towards Mo Qi like a beast with bared fangs and claws. If it were to engulf him, the lightning explosions within would surely scatter his soul.
Meanwhile, the lightning descending from the sky landed on the ground one by one, with continuous rumbling sounds. Each descending lightning cluster collided with the lightning and fire on the ground, causing light and energy to flash and vanish repeatedly. It was like countless ferocious beasts tearing at each other, biting until their heads bled, scattering blood. However, the blood was white, bright, and dazzling. Finally, under the clash of the two forces, a larger explosion occurred. The arena was instantly blown apart, and after turning to dust and smoke, a deep pit formed in the ground.
Mo Qi was thrown up by the recoil, then fell, landing on the edge of the pit. He looked around. If the arena were still there, he should still be on it.
As the smoke cleared, Zong Zhang had disappeared!
Had he been reduced to dust and smoke? Impossible. The two were essentially evenly matched. He was still alive, so it was impossible for the opponent to be completely annihilated. Then there was only one possibility: the opponent was using an evasion technique.
Earth Evasion? Sky Evasion?
He tried crushing his last "Xian Shen Dan" (现身丹) and scattering it around. Last time, he had given the formula to Wu Fan, who had then given it to the Divine Escape Sect. He wondered if they had developed a countermeasure, but he could only try.
At the same time, he didn't dare to be careless. He quietly expanded his spiritual sense, like tentacles, reaching out in all directions. In an instant, in a certain direction, he sensed a flow of spiritual energy. He focused his gaze and saw a drop of water floating in the air. How could there be a water droplet after that barrage of lightning and fire? It wasn't raining.
It was Water Evasion! Mo Qi suddenly realized.
Zong Zhang seemed to sense the opponent's spiritual energy fluctuations and immediately unleashed a flying sword from the water droplet, aiming at Mo Qi. Mo Qi dodged with a flash, then swiftly closed the distance. At this moment, Zong Zhang had revealed himself, and Mo Qi's right hand had already locked onto his throat. Zong Zhang surrendered, saving another pill.
Bu Xiao Man's face turned ashen, contemplating death.
Due to the excessive use of pills in the first round, Lai Yao Shi only had two pills left for this round, and he was deliberating on who to give them to. Seeing two disciples consecutively defeated, he could no longer hold back. He gave these two pills to two other disciples who were about to compete, and at the same time, Xue Nü also entered the arena. He knew Xue Nü didn't need his care, and he was powerless to care for anyone else at this point.
These three victories brought a smile to Lai Yao Shi's face.
Finally, the Divine Pill Sect had seven winners, and the Divine Escape Sect had five. On the other side, the Divine Sword Sect had seven winners, and the Divine Mist Sect had five.
The next round would be a free-for-all among the four major sects. All qualified participants would draw lots for duels. The winners would be eligible for the Northern Territory trials. However, all the top twelve final winners would still have to fight a few more ranking matches to accumulate contribution points for entering the Northern Territory.
After two rounds of competition today, the sky had grown very late.
Therefore, the final list of those entering the Northern Territory could only be revealed tomorrow.
As night fell, the Peony Peak of the Divine Sword Sect gradually became tranquil.
With the lanterns lit, men and women walked side-by-side along the roads. This was an unprecedented sight. The major sects had never explicitly prohibited male-female interactions, but perhaps due to being busy with cultivation or due to increased competition, there was always an invisible barrier between male and female cultivators, leading to little interaction. However, between sects, there were always those who admired each other, developed feelings, and then used these sect exchange opportunities to hold hands and talk.
Among the many couples, there was one pair walking along a small path in a grove of trees. The man was tall and imposing, with a dignified appearance. The woman had hair as white as snow and skin like ice and jade, resembling an ice and snow sprite. In the dim light, she appeared particularly radiant, shimmering as they walked.
This attracted the attention of passersby, who whispered and discussed among themselves.
"That's Mo Qi."
"That's Xue Nü! A beautiful flower adorning cow dung."
"Ah? Are these two for real? I heard Mo Qi is lustful. Back at Asura Mountain, he killed all those who pursued him, but spared Xue Nü, precisely because he fancied her. I didn't expect these two to actually get together."
Listening to these discussions, Mo Qi's brows were furrowed like a tangled rope. Sometimes, people's words were truly terrifying! Was he really that lustful? He hadn't even found a single companion yet. His lustfulness was so incompetent.
Xue Nü, however, seemed unfazed. She suddenly asked, "Back then, why didn't you kill me?"
"Because I'm lustful. Didn't you hear them? They all say so, and now I believe it," Mo Qi said with a smile.
Xue Nü shook her head, "But I don't believe it. I want to hear the truth from you."
"Because I saw you crying, and that tear made me see the kindness deep within your heart. A person might lie, but tears never do," Mo Qi said slowly. "Actually, if you had wanted to kill me back then, you would have had the chance."
Xue Nü nodded repeatedly, a sigh escaping her. It was mutual pity that had forged their friendship today…
Mo Qi's tone suddenly shifted, "But you let me go back then. If we're talking about lust, then you're the one who's lustful!"
Xue Nü gave him a roll of her eyes. "..."
Yue Lin Song happened to pass by as well. Seeing the two of them chatting and laughing, a hint of hatred flashed in his eyes.
Just then, a group of female cultivators surrounded Mo Qi, asking him for "Mei Fu Dan" (美肤丹), and saying they were willing to pay any price.
Mo Qi thought for a moment, then took out the last three Mei Fu Dan from his storage bag and said, "Let's auction them on the spot. All three together, highest bidder wins. We'll start the bidding at ten taels of silver."
"I bid twenty taels," someone in the crowd immediately shouted.
"Thirty taels."
"One hundred taels."
"One thousand taels."
...
"Ten thousand taels."
"Ten thousand taels for the first time, ten thousand taels for the second time, ten thousand taels for the third time. Sold."
The three pills sold for ten thousand taels of silver. Mo Qi was very satisfied. Xue Nü, on the other hand, found it incredible. Three pills sold for ten thousand taels of silver. If he didn't cultivate and focused solely on alchemy, wouldn't it be a simple matter for him to become the richest person in the land?