Chapter 403: Chapter 400: A Plot Against Mo Qi

Mo Qi had made a three-point agreement with Feng Zhang, with the final point being that Feng Zhang would do a few things for him.

Gathering intelligence was one of those things.

Mo Qi relaxed his mind and spread out his Divine Sense, scanning the information within the numerous Jade Slips all at once.

There were only six days left until the inter-branch exchange between the various Sub-Palaces of the Hall of Envoys.

Mo Qi had to help Liu Hui, San Pang, and the others select a suitable Sub-Palace before then, ensuring their development over the coming year wouldn’t be hindered.

He wouldn’t have known if he hadn’t looked. When Mo Qi finished browsing all the Jade Slips, he was surprised to find they actually mentioned the distribution of power in the Immortal Realm.

Although the descriptions were brief, they were enough for Mo Qi.

At the very least, he now knew who he would have to face first when he set foot in the Immortal Realm in the near future.

The Immortal Realm had Five Great Holy Lands: the Demon Sea, the Five Elements Sect, the Puppet Sect, the Divine Master Valley, and the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain.

The Mortal District, including the Hall of Envoys, was also broadly divided into five regions: East, West, South, North, and Central.

Each of the Five Great Holy Lands governed one of these regions.

The Hall of Envoys in each region was composed of one hundred Sub-Palaces.

The Hall of Envoys Mo Qi was currently in was under the jurisdiction of the Five Elements Sect in the West District.

In other words, the ones gathering at the Demon Spirit Battlefield to temper themselves wouldn’t just be the one hundred Sub-Palaces from the West District, but a grand total of five hundred Sub-Palaces from all five regions!

If each Sub-Palace sent ten thousand people, that meant five million people would ultimately enter the Demon Spirit Battlefield!

What a terrifying number that was!

What brutal competition and carnage would unfold!

Heaven only knew how many people would survive after fifty years.

And that wasn’t all. Mo Qi also noticed an even more terrifying detail.

The Demon Spirit Battlefield was so named because it not only housed collections of Spiritual Treasures, but also powerful Demon Beasts.

It was a wondrous place where danger and opportunity coexisted!

And they didn’t call it a "battlefield" for nothing. It was, in the truest sense of the word, a battlefield—one between Demon Beasts and humans!

This wasn’t to say that the Human and Demon Races were at war, locked in an irreconcilable conflict.

Rather, this place had once been a venue for the Human and Demon Races to settle their disputes, and countless experts had fallen there.

Later, for reasons unknown, the Demon Spirit Battlefield gradually evolved into a proving ground where both sides tempered their younger generations.

Thus, whenever the Demon Spirit Battlefield opened, the Demon Race would also send in their most promising disciples, using the humans as whetstones to sharpen their skills.

Inside the Demon Spirit Battlefield, both Humans and Demons abided by a tacit, iron-clad rule: they were permitted to hunt one another. Killing an opponent from the other race would earn corresponding "glory points." The more glory points one amassed, the richer the final rewards.

Therefore, within the Demon Spirit Battlefield, one had to guard against not only enemies from the Human Race, but also the even more frightening Demon Beasts!

’How exciting! A huge wave of Demon Beasts, all of them top-quality ingredients!’

Mo Qi licked his lips. Far from being nervous, he felt a surge of excitement and anticipation.

’No, I can’t let this go. Before I leave, I need to make a list of must-eat ingredients! The Demon Spirit Battlefield is a gourmet paradise that cannot be missed!’

"Wha-wha-what? Did I hear someone say there’s good food?!" The Pig Emperor, who had been dozing in Mo Qi’s arms, sensed something and jolted awake.

It leaped onto Mo Qi’s shoulder, wagging its little tail.

Mo Qi rolled his eyes, speechless. ’This glutton gets all worked up the moment food is mentioned!’

"Hmm... I’m just considering the hundred different ways to cook pork. Care to learn about them?" Mo Qi said, pretending to be deep in thought, which scared the Pig Emperor half to death.

"Mo the kid, you... you’re joking, right?" The Pig Emperor’s eyes widened in alarm. In a flash, it zipped far away from Mo Qi.

"What do you think?" Mo Qi gave the Pig Emperor a look one reserves for an idiot.

The Pig Emperor finally snapped out of its post-nap grogginess and realized Mo Qi was just teasing it.

"Mo the kid, you’ll lose me if you keep this up!" the Pig Emperor grumbled discontentedly, returning to Mo Qi’s shoulder.

Mo Qi was speechless.

...

There was still a year until the opening of the Demon Spirit Battlefield.

During this period, the Halls of Envoys in each of the five regions would first hold their own inter-branch exchanges, followed by a year-long series of elimination trials.

Only the top ten thousand people selected from each Sub-Palace would ultimately qualify to enter the Demon Spirit Battlefield.

This day was the day of the exchange for the Sub-Palaces of the West District, where Mo Qi was located.

One hundred Sub-Palaces, with their countless experts and young prodigies, all gathered in one place.

This so-called "exchange" was, in reality, an opportunity for each Sub-Palace to probe the others’ strengths, poach their talent, and generally show off.

Typically, these exchanges proceeded without major incidents or disruptions.

This was because every Sub-Palace prioritized the protection of its own geniuses.

While poaching was common, no one ever managed to steal away another’s truly core disciples.

Thus, the exchange would inevitably devolve into a thinly veiled contest of strength—a battle for prestige among the higher-ups.

But this time was different. Mo Qi’s Sub-Palace had become a public target.

Of the one hundred Sub-Palaces in the West District, over half of them were calling out Mo Qi by name, demanding to challenge him.

The upper echelons of their Sub-Palace, led by the Feng, Huangfu, Liu, and Xiao Families, were completely baffled.

They admitted Mo Qi was famous within their own Sub-Palace; after all, he had defeated Huangfu Yu and raised hell at the Liu Family’s estate.

What they couldn’t understand was why other Sub-Palaces, worlds away, would also know of a person named Mo Qi!

It made absolutely no sense!

Mo Qi, who had been in the middle of explaining the Demon Spirit Battlefield and the Immortal Realm’s power structure to Liu Hui, San Pang, and the others, fell silent upon hearing the news.

"Mo the kid, something isn’t right here," the Pig Emperor reminded him via voice transmission.

"You’re right, it’s very wrong. I didn’t think much of it at first, but now I’m certain. Someone has been secretly targeting me ever since we set foot in the Hall of Envoys!"

Mo Qi hadn’t given it much thought when the Xiao Family insisted that he was the one who had killed Xiao Zhize.

But now, he realized there was something very fishy about the whole situation.

’First of all, before I met Xiao Zhize, I had absolutely no connection to the Xiao Family whatsoever.’

’When Xiao Zhize descended to the Mortal District, he had no idea that Ruyan and I were together.’

’So the Xiao Family would have had no way of knowing a person named Mo Qi even existed in the Mortal District.’

’So on what grounds did the Xiao Family decide that I, Mo Qi, was responsible for Xiao Zhize’s death?’

’Do they even know who I am? Do they know anything about me? Did they even investigate?’

Mo Qi doubted they had.

’So who fed the Xiao Family this false information?’

’And why did they believe it so readily?’

’And now, so many people from the other Sub-Palaces of the Hall of Envoys want to challenge me.’

’Why?’

Mo Qi couldn’t figure it out.

But he could sense that this was all a conspiracy—one aimed directly at him.

And behind this conspiracy, there had to be a mastermind with incredible power and reach.

"Then do you know who’s targeting you?" the Pig Emperor asked.

Mo Qi shook his head. "That’s the most terrifying part. I have no idea who it could be."