Chapter 406: Chapter 403: The Way Prey Should Be

Getting rich quietly had always been Mo Qi’s guiding principle.

He couldn’t care less if people misunderstood him.

Tell me, would a lion care what a flock of sheep waiting to be slaughtered thinks of it?

Of course not!

Face?

What’s face worth?

"How about it?" Mo Qi asked, looking at the crowd.

"I have no problem. It just means killing a few more people." The burly, bearded man’s gaze swept over Liu Hui, San Pang, and the others, his disdain plain to see.

"Then hurry up and come at me! All of you can attack at once!" the red-haired youth said, beckoning impatiently with his finger. His temper seemed explosive.

"A fight’s a fight. You can run, but you can’t hide. I’d like to see just how many brothers you have to throw away!"

"Come on, come on! Enough talk, let’s fight!"

"Who’s first?"

"Me, of course!"

"Bullshit, I’m first!"

"Wanna fight over it?"

Watching the crowd in front of him about to start brawling again, Mo Qi was left speechless.

’Weren’t they all supposed to be geniuses chosen by the various Sub-Palaces?’

’With this kind of temperament? Geniuses?’

’What a joke!’

What he didn’t know was that there were two reasons this group was acting so impetuously.

First, according to the intelligence they’d received, Mo Qi possessed something that drove them mad with desire. Although none of them had spoken of it, it was obvious that each one of them wanted to claim it for themselves, which was why they were so concerned with the order of the challenges.

Second, just as Mo Qi had thought, who among those able to participate in the Sub-Palace exchange wasn’t a genius? Who didn’t have a bit of a temper? And who would be willing to take a back seat to others?

It was precisely because none of them would yield to another that the slightest disagreement led to a fight.

"Alright, stop your bickering. I have a list of all your Sub-Palaces here. I’ll call out a Sub-Palace, and someone from that Sub-Palace will come out to fight. Also, this decision is not up for debate, and no one is cutting in line. Anyone else who spouts nonsense will be disqualified immediately."

Mo Qi shook the slip of paper covered in writing and said with a perfectly straight face.

A stunned silence fell over the crowd.

’Hey, hey, hey! What’s with that tone, acting like you’re the referee?’

’And what the hell is with a list of Sub-Palaces?’

’What kind of normal person would prepare something like that?’

The people from the various Sub-Palaces all felt that something was off, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it.

But since Mo Qi had laid down the law, they could only hold their noses and agree.

After all, the challenged party had the right to refuse a challenge. If they pissed off Mo Qi and he refused them all, then the whole affair would be for nothing. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Instantly, the entire bickering crowd fell silent.

Mo Qi nodded in satisfaction. Prey should act like prey.

If the people from the various Sub-Palaces knew that in Mo Qi’s eyes they were merely prey waiting to be slaughtered, one could only wonder what they would think.

"Long Yang Sub-Palace!" Mo Qi said, staring at the slip of paper and finding a name among the dense, tiny script.

In the six days since his return from the Liu Family, Mo Qi had sorted through the information provided by Feng Zhang and compiled a general overview of the one hundred Sub-Palaces in the West District.

This included the wealth of their territories, their relative strength, their unique Martial Dao characteristics, their internal power structures, and so on. From this data, he had carefully selected the most suitable Sub-Palaces for Liu Hui, San Pang, and the others to develop in.

"Liu Hui, you’re up for this one!"

"Yes, my Lord!"

Liu Hui took a step forward, his expression cold as he looked toward the members of the various Sub-Palaces, waiting for his opponent to appear.

However, as the seconds and minutes ticked by, no one from the Long Yang Sub-Palace appeared.

"Hm? Where are they?" Mo Qi frowned slightly.

It was said that the Long Yang Sub-Palace revered a member of the Dragon Race with an exceptionally pure bloodline. It was the only Sub-Palace with any connection to dragons, making it the absolute best fit for Liu Hui.

’No way. Don’t tell me the conspirator targeting me from the shadows couldn’t extend their reach to the Long Yang Sub-Palace?’

’Then how is Liu Hui supposed to show off? How is he supposed to get into the Long Yang Sub-Palace?’

’If you’re going to target me, could you at least be a little more professional, a little more responsible, a little more thorough?!’

"Long Yang Sub-Palace, where are you people?" the burly, bearded man demanded, holding back his impatience.

As soon as he finished speaking, a few people in the crowd of onlookers raised their hands.

"Don’t get the wrong idea. We have no interest in Mo Qi. We’re just here to watch the show. Please, carry on."

Although it seemed like Mo Qi and his group were surrounded by enemies, not everyone from every Sub-Palace was there to target him.

It was just that with more than half of the Sub-Palaces having surrounded Mo Qi’s group, the scene was so spectacular that it had aroused the curiosity of the uninformed, who had then gathered to get a better look.

"Um... how about you get interested now? I have a ton of good stuff on me. I’m sure there’s something you’d want!" Mo Qi said to the few from the Long Yang Sub-Palace, a broad smile on his face.

The members of the Long Yang Sub-Palace were speechless.

’That smile is just dripping with conspiracy!’

"Heh heh, no, no, we’re not interested."

The members of the Long Yang Sub-Palace waved their hands repeatedly. They weren’t about to wade into these muddy waters until they had a clear understanding of the situation.

"Sigh... Alright, then." Mo Qi sighed, his tone filled with regret.

"Then, Liu Hui, you can go and ask them for a few pointers later."

"Yes, my Lord!"

The other Sub-Palaces, especially those who had come specifically to target Mo Qi, were all completely dumbfounded.

’He’s short one opponent, shouldn’t he be happy? Why does he look like he’s the one who lost out?’

’And proactively provoking them like that is just too damn audacious!’

Mo Qi once again unfolded his slip of paper and found a name. "Mad Beast Sub-Palace!"

The Mad Beast Sub-Palace specialized in a Cultivation Technique that involved integrating bloodlines into the body. They were fanatical about transplanting the bloodlines of Demon Beasts into their bodies to achieve Human-Beast Unity, thereby gaining immense combat strength.

This was somewhat similar to the former Wolf Fang Sect, but it was countless times more advanced and powerful.

Since the people from the Long Yang Sub-Palace were unwilling to fight, he would have to settle for the next best thing and let Liu Hui "play" with someone from the Mad Beast Sub-Palace first.

"The Mad Beast Sub-Palace? Me?! It’s me!"

The burly, bearded man with the fierce tiger tattoo was stunned for a moment, then became ecstatic.

"HAHAHA!" he roared, laughing at the sky.

"See? I told you I’d be first! You lot have lost your chance!"

"Get out of the way, all of you! Make some room! Don’t blame me if you get caught in the crossfire."

Saying this, the burly, bearded man pushed through the crowd. He looked down at Liu Hui, who was a full head shorter than him, and habitually jabbed a thick finger toward Liu Hui’s nose, a grim smile spreading across his face. "Sticking up for someone else? Come on, little guy. I’ll show you the meaning of despair!"

A ripple disturbed the cold calm in Liu Hui’s eyes. He gave the burly, bearded man a fleeting glance, his killing intent as cold as ice.

’This man was the first to insult my Lord. He is courting death and cannot be forgiven. A death sentence!’

"Oh? That’s quite a vicious look you’ve got there. You want to kill someone? Go on then, kill m—"

Before he could finish, Liu Hui struck like lightning, grabbing the burly, bearded man’s finger and viciously yanking it backward.

CRACK!

The sound of a dislocating bone rang out. The burly, bearded man’s index finger was now bent back against his hand at a grotesque angle.

"IT HURTS, IT HURTS, IT HURTS!" The burly, bearded man’s face contorted.