Shamelessness has its levels.

Some forms of shamelessness are only skin-deep. These people like to bully the weak but turn into cowards at the first sign of real trouble.

Other forms are skin-and-flesh deep—these people are thick-skinned and have no integrity, easily getting on everyone’s nerves.

Then there are those who are shameless to the bone. The kind of person you want to punch on sight, who can choke you with a single sentence. This is also the type most adept at courting disaster.

But Qian Duoduo was different. He had surpassed this third category, integrating shamelessness into the very depths of his soul. He and his shamelessness were one, utterly inseparable.

His shamelessness had reached a divine level. He could read any situation and would often unleash a most devastating "shamelessness attack" at the perfect moment.

Though he constantly teetered on the edge of courting death, he somehow never fell off. In fact, he seemed to thrive on it.

For example, right now, Qian Duoduo had calculated that Huangfu Yu wouldn’t actually attack him. That’s why he was being so provocative, so bold, so brazenly flaunting his unique brand of shamelessness.

He was gleefully prodding Huangfu Yu’s most sensitive nerves.

The goal was to drive him mad, to leave him simmering with frustration.

Liu Hui and the others turned away and covered their faces, pretending they didn’t know this guy, Qian Duoduo.

’It was satisfying, but damn, it was embarrassing!’

"Get lost!" Huangfu Yu bellowed. A powerful aura erupted from him, blasting Qian Duoduo a thousand zhang away.

"If you dare come within a hundred zhang of me again, I’ll kill you!" Huangfu Yu warned furiously.

He couldn’t take it anymore. If Qian Duoduo kept talking, he felt the man would drive him insane. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Qian Duoduo wasn’t injured. He struggled to his feet and dusted himself off.

"Fun, exciting, what a rush!"

Having had his fun, Qian Duoduo didn’t press his luck with Huangfu Yu. He grinned, scanned his surroundings, and prepared to find a new target.

While this little interlude didn’t cause a major commotion, it did attract the attention of many experts from the various Sub-Palaces.

The aura Huangfu Yu had unleashed, in particular, startled many onlookers.

After all, among the younger generation, those who had reached the Void Realm were exceedingly rare.

Each one was a talent seen only once in a century, or even a millennium.

It was precisely because of this farce that Mo Qi’s identity was revealed.

And so, while Mo Qi was still discussing conspiracy theories with the Pig Emperor, a large crowd of young prodigies began to surround them from all directions.

"Kid Mo, have you offended so many people you can’t even remember them all?" the Pig Emperor teased.

Mo Qi shot it a look. "You’ve been with me ever since I formally set foot on the Martial Dao. Wouldn’t you know who I’ve offended?"

The Pig Emperor grinned. "Who’s to say you didn’t do something atrocious behind my back? After all, I was asleep for a while."

Mo Qi ignored the Pig Emperor’s joke and sank into thought. ’That can’t be right,’ he mused, then said aloud, "Almost everyone who held a grudge against me in the Mountain and Sea Empire is dead. Even if a few slipped through the net, they wouldn’t have the resources to pull something of this scale."

"As for the Huangfu Family and the Xiao Family, they wouldn’t escalate things to the other Sub-Palaces."

"So, who is it that’s plotting against me from the shadows?"

As Mo Qi was racking his brain, he suddenly sensed that the atmosphere had shifted.

He looked up and was startled by the sight.

He and his companions were completely surrounded by people from the other Sub-Palaces, and most of their eyes were fixed on him.

Their gazes were filled with suspicion, surprise, and intensity, but most of all... greed!

Mo Qi had seen such looks many times before. He could tell at a glance that these people were after something from him.

’I just don’t know what they’re after, or what they know!’

"You must be Mo Qi. I hear you’re pretty tough. Let’s have a fight. How about the loser submits to the winner’s will?"

A burly, bearded man who stood over a zhang tall pointed a finger as thick as a carrot at Mo Qi’s nose and boomed, his voice low and rumbling.

He was bare-chested, revealing a fierce tiger tattoo.

Mo Qi frowned. No one likes having a finger pointed in their face while being spoken to.

However, before Mo Qi could respond, the other Sub-Palaces began to argue amongst themselves.

"Get lost! Ever hear of ’first come, first served’? If anyone’s going to fight Mo Qi, it’s us!" The speaker was a young man with a full head of fiery red hair. A scorching aura radiated from him in waves of heat, making him seem like a walking furnace.

"We don’t care about ’first come, first served.’ We only believe that might makes right!" a group of figures in dark green cloaks, their faces and bodies hidden, declared.

"There’s nothing wrong with that sentiment, but I doubt your fists are big enough!"

"Whether they’re big enough isn’t something you decide with your mouth!"

"So there’s nothing left to discuss? Why don’t we have a little warm-up first!"

"Bring it on! You think I’m scared?"

Just as the youths from the various Sub-Palaces were about to descend into a chaotic brawl, the senior experts stepped in.

"Mind the rules of the exchange! Fights are one-on-one. No one is to interfere until a battle is concluded. Violators will be put to death!"

The elders from the Sub-Palaces wouldn’t interfere in these exchanges themselves; their only role was to maintain order.

This was also why no one from the Huangfu Family had intervened when Qian Duoduo was harassing Huangfu Yu.

The rules for these exchanges were simple. Anyone could challenge a target of their choosing, and the challenged party had the right to refuse.

The fights were one-on-one and typically ended in either surrender or death.

After the warning from the senior experts, the agitated crowd finally calmed down, their attention refocusing on Mo Qi.

"Coward, you don’t dare accept my challenge?" the bearded man taunted, once again pointing his finger condescendingly toward Mo Qi’s forehead.

The gesture was flippant, dripping with provocation and contempt.

"Hmph. Get lost, you big oaf. Let me go first!" The red-haired youth stepped forward, and the ambient temperature instantly skyrocketed. Within a hundred-zhang radius, the dead leaves and grass underfoot incinerated into ash.

"Mo Qi is mine! Don’t any of you try to take him!"

Just as a second round of chaos was about to erupt, Mo Qi shouted, "Enough!"

He scanned the crowd with a cold gaze and, to everyone’s astonishment, took out a slip of paper covered in tiny, cramped script.

"You want to challenge me? Fine. But I have conditions."

"First, if you want a fight with me, you’ll have to beat my brothers here."

"Second, if we lose, you can do with us as you will. But if you lose, you must answer a few of my questions. How does that sound?"

The crowd exchanged glances, their eyes filled with mutual disdain for Mo Qi.

They never expected Mo Qi to use his own people as shields.

’Some ’brother’ he is. Are brothers just meant to take the fall for you?’

Mo Qi, of course, saw the contempt in their eyes, but he wasn’t going to explain himself. There was no need.

’Should he tell them he was doing this to give Liu Hui and the others a chance to perform, so they could then be smoothly poached by the other Sub-Palaces? So they could go and wreak havoc on them instead?’