The muscles on Xu Mu's arm bulged, and the terrifying blood energy surging from them washed over Qi Lan like a torrential beast. He couldn't help but swallow nervously.
He, a formidable figure ranked four hundred in the previous round and a genius of the Qi family, had been defeated by a single punch in the very first ambush of the second round. And now, the opponent was demanding compensation—for mental distress?
"You're outright robbing me!" Qi Lan sputtered, swallowing again and glaring at Xu Mu. "I warn you, my name is Qi Lan, a genius of the Qi family. Qi Ye is also my cousin."
"If you dare lay a hand on me, beware of my brother catching you. You'll have no good days ahead of you!"
"That's a strange thing to say, isn't it? You're allowed to rob others, but others aren't allowed to rob you?" Xu Mu's expression turned peculiar. He then looked at Qi Lan earnestly and replied, "As for your cousin Qi Ye, I've already met him. It was in the first round."
"Uh." Qi Lan's face froze slightly, then he clicked his tongue with a hint of comfort. "Then your luck was truly terrible, losing a victory for no reason."
"Yes, he lost a victory for no reason." Xu Mu walked slowly to the riverbank, a mere three to five meters from Qi Lan, and smiled. "Qi Ye didn't defeat me. He conceded."
"???"
Hearing this, the water element gathered above Qi Lan's head, forming three large question marks.
"Are you joking? How could he possibly lose?!" Qi Lan asked incredulously.
"What? Didn't you check the rankings last round? He is indeed very strong and won many matches consecutively, but he had one loss." Xu Mu looked at him.
Qi Lan stared at Xu Mu, his eye sockets deeply sunken. He continuously rubbed the wound on his right hand, then scratched his hair, seemingly unable to comprehend how Qi Ye could have lost.
How could he have lost!
"I understand. Qi Ye was conserving his energy, afraid it would affect his fight with Jiang Taixu." After a long pause, Qi Lan finally seemed to grasp something, saying with sudden enlightenment.
Following this, his gaze towards Xu Mu became even more complex. Because even if Xu Mu couldn't truly defeat Qi Ye, he was still someone who could make Qi Ye feel troubled enough to concede automatically without expending effort.
Moreover, their recent exchange had confirmed the opponent's strength. He was absolutely no match for him.
"I don't need your points, but I have a condition." Xu Mu looked at Qi Lan and said calmly.
"What condition?" Qi Lan raised an eyebrow and asked cautiously.
"Tell me why Qi Ye came here, what's going on with that Jiang Taixu and Ye Gong, and why they would give up their qualification for the Ten Thousand Races Assembly," Xu Mu asked calmly.
"Which family are you from? Why are you asking this?" Qi Lan narrowed his eyes. Xu Mu was willing to forgo his points just to ask these questions. What was his objective?
"My name is Mu Xu. I'm here representing the Jiang family," Xu Mu replied truthfully.
"The Jiang family, I see." Qi Lan nodded as if suddenly enlightened. "That explains your curiosity."
"So, can you tell me now?" Xu Mu smiled slightly, releasing his aura and smiling gently.
"This matter… it all started with the Ye family…"
Qi Lan's expression turned solemn. He stepped into the water and began to recount to Xu Mu the series of changes that befell the Ye family, starting from Black Horn City. It was only when he reached the part where Jiang Taixu was going to intercept Ye Gong, and Qi Ye was going to intercept Jiang Taixu, that Xu Mu suddenly realized everything had originated because of him.
"Can that Ye Gong really break through to the third stage?" Xu Mu asked with some curiosity.
"According to rumors, Ye Gong can already skillfully use third-stage abilities, and he's only a little away from breaking through. It's just a matter of time."
"If he's allowed to develop, he'll likely break through after this preliminary selection," Qi Lan said, a hint of deep apprehension hidden in his eyes.
"Then this Ye Gong is indeed quite formidable, much stronger than that Ye Que." Xu Mu's face also showed a trace of surprise. That Ye Gong was around his own age and was already about to break through to the third stage.
He had to remember that he himself had relied on heavenly fortuitous encounters and insights from his gray-white eyes to reach this point so smoothly. Ye Gong's strength and talent were likely not to be underestimated.
"That's not right. Since you know I'm from the Jiang family, why are you willing to tell me all this?" Xu Mu asked, looking at Qi Lan with suspicion. "Aren't you afraid I'll gather forces and thwart your Qi family's scheme?"
"It would be best if you did stop us." Qi Lan was silent for a moment, then stepped out of the water and onto the bank, looking at Xu Mu sincerely. "Actually, my relationship with Qi Ye isn't good, it's even quite bad, because I'm from a collateral branch of the Qi family."
"The Qi family is almost an ally to the Ye family, but in reality, as a collateral branch, I've been constantly restricted by the Ye family and suffered a lot. So I don't have any good feelings towards them."
"If you can save Jiang Taixu, or do something more, it would actually be helping me. Because in this preliminary selection, apart from Qi Ye, no one from the Qi family is as strong as me." Qi Lan said plainly, a hint of gloom on his smiling face. His status in the Qi family was not high, and he was often suppressed. To get ahead, he had to find other ways.
Xu Mu gazed at Qi Lan with a calm, unmoving expression, like an ancient bell. He hadn't expected Qi Lan to tell him all this, and even ask for his help in doing other things.
This was tantamount to colluding with the enemy and betraying his family.
Qi Lan sensed Xu Mu's gaze and looked up to meet it. Staring into those deep, calm eyes, he felt immense nervousness. He was well aware that if his current actions were leaked, his family would impose the harshest punishment.
It was even possible he could be executed directly!
So, would Xu Mu help him?
Qi Lan, under immense mental pressure, met Xu Mu's gaze in silence.
After a long while, Xu Mu chuckled softly and then looked away.
"Actually, I'm not very interested in the affairs of the Jiang family and the Qi family, but I am interested in that Ye Gong." Xu Mu said, leaping into the air and casually breaking off a tree branch. He then began to draw a map of the area in the sand by the river.
"The map of this area is roughly like this. Where do you think Ye Gong will appear?" Xu Mu pointed to the simple map he had just drawn and asked.
"What do you mean, you're going to find Ye Gong?" Qi Lan squatted down, looking at Xu Mu with surprise.
He didn't understand. Since Xu Mu wasn't concerned about Jiang Taixu's safety, why was he targeting Ye Gong?
"You don't need to worry about that. I have some personal grudges with their Ye family. Just tell me where he is," Xu Mu said.
"Well, the teleportation points are random, so I don't know for sure. However, I guess Ye Gong will definitely head deeper in." Qi Lan pondered for a moment, then circled a large area on the map. "Roughly in this region."
Xu Mu looked at the large circle, his eyebrows slightly raised, because this area was almost entirely populated by third-stage demonic beasts and spirits, and there were also many pollution sources.
"Ye Gong is different from Ye Que. Although they are brothers, Ye Gong is far superior to Ye Que in both talent and strength. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him the strongest of the Ye family's current generation."
"I checked his rankings earlier. His points increase almost in increments of five hundred, so he must be in this area," Qi Lan said to Xu Mu earnestly.
"Alright, I understand." Xu Mu nodded, casually tossed the branch aside, and then began walking in the direction of the circle Qi Lan had drawn, without the slightest hesitation.
The latter watched his retreating back, his expression stunned.
Did this person from the Jiang family really let him go?
Was he really going to find Ye Gong?
"Wait a minute!" Seeing Xu Mu's figure about to disappear into the dense forest, Qi Lan gritted his teeth and shouted, then quickly caught up to Xu Mu.
"What, you're not convinced?" Xu Mu turned around and asked.
"If you're going to find Ye Gong, can you take me with you?" Qi Lan shook his head and then asked earnestly.
Xu Mu was surprised by this.
"Have you thought it through?"
"I have," Qi Lan nodded seriously. "If I want to change my awkward position in the Qi family, I must take risks. That Ye Gong is also Qi Ye's helper. Without him, Qi Ye might not be able to defeat Jiang Taixu!"
"Since you've made up your mind, then let's go." Xu Mu nodded, not refusing, and turned to continue on his way.
He did need a helper. Since Qiongqi couldn't enter this Void Purifying Secret Realm, in the second round of the competition, many people would surely form alliances. The number of allies wouldn't be fixed.
For a genius like Ye Gong, who was powerful and had a strong background, there would be at least a hundred or two hundred, even a thousand or more, willing to join his alliance.
If he went alone, although he wouldn't die, he would be outnumbered and outmatched. It would be difficult to succeed in stopping them.
"Okay," Qi Lan nodded excitedly and then fell into step beside Xu Mu. The two proceeded together.
Three hours passed, and the sky began to darken towards evening. Xu Mu and Qi Lan had officially reached the edge of the area marked on the map.
...
"We've encountered quite a few second-stage great demons along the way, and each one is stronger than the last. We should encounter third-stage ones soon. Should we rest?"
Qi Lan said, his face looking a little pale. For these three hours, he and Xu Mu hadn't rested for even a second. Furthermore, Xu Mu's speed was incredibly fast, and he had to use his abilities to barely keep up.
By now, his consumption was considerable. If he didn't rest soon, he worried he might encounter danger, and even if he met Ye Gong, he would just be a burden.
"Go ahead another three miles. There's a water pool ahead. There seem to be many spirit fruits near the pool. Let's rest there and fill our stomachs too," Xu Mu looked back at Qi Lan and said.
"Mm." Qi Lan had no objections, so the two of them hurried towards the water pool.
Halfway there, they heard a sky-shattering roar from ahead.
"Roar!"
The roar shook the mountains and forests. It sounded like a bear demon that had attained sentience. Its charge made the very ground tremble.
Qi Lan's expression turned serious. Looking up, he could see trees hundreds of meters away toppling over, one after another.
And the direction they were falling was towards them.
That terrifying bear demon was running towards them!
"If we want to leave, we have to run now," Qi Lan said gravely, looking at Xu Mu.
"Of course, we're not leaving. What if that bear demon is chasing Ye Gong? We'd miss it," Xu Mu said. He then pulled Qi Lan into an inconspicuous thicket, crouching low to the ground and concealing all his aura.
"Let's wait here and see who it is before deciding whether to act," Xu Mu said, squinting through a gap in the bushes.
Qi Lan followed suit, concealing his aura and lying low like a patient hunter, his gaze sharp.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of the giant bear demon's charge grew closer, and the ground tremors became more pronounced. Groups of trees were violently pushed aside, and about seven or eight figures flew out from among them, supporting each other, all injured.
And behind them was a massive gray bear demon, as sturdy as a small mountain. Deep brown demonic energy swirled around it. Its paws were as wide as ten ancient trees embraced together, its fangs were sharp, and its demonic eyes were chaotic and terrifying.
"What a terrifying demon. Unfortunately, those people aren't Ye Gong!" Qi Lan's heart trembled at the bear demon's might. If he were to fight it alone, even with his full power, he wouldn't stand a chance. He could only flee. This was because demonic beasts had a natural advantage in size, making it difficult for humans to compete.
Just like those seven contestants. Judging by the aura they exuded, they were almost all peak second-stage cultivators. Yet, they were still being chased throughout the mountains, with no power to fight back!
"Since it's not Ye Gong, shouldn't we mind our own business? Besides, we might not be able to defeat it even if we intervene," Qi Lan said, turning to look at Xu Mu.
But Xu Mu was no longer beside him.
Qi Lan was startled. Before he could even process what was happening, a figure flashed before his eyes. When he focused, he realized it was Xu Mu.
He had charged out of the bushes, his blood energy surging, and then threw a punch at the terrifying third-stage bear demon!