"Don’t think you can order us around just because you’re the disciples’ captain. We know better than you whether there’s danger ahead!" Ye Lei rebuked coldly.

He had no goodwill toward Mo Qi, nor did he care how a disciple with only Refining Essence Cultivation could become a captain.

In his eyes, only those with strength had the right to speak.

Someone like Mo Qi, with his low Cultivation, who wasn’t even participating in the competition and was no help in the fight for the Spiritual Ore quotas, should just stay put and not hold everyone back.

If it hadn’t been for the Sect’s arrangements, the two brothers, Ye Lei and Ye Dian, would never have brought Mo Qi along.

"As expected of a Core Disciple. So many of us couldn’t spot any enemy activity, but you managed to. Even the two Elders were kept in the dark. How impressive!" Qi Tian said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

The other disciples also snickered, thinking Mo Qi was just stirring up trouble to make his presence known.

Mo Qi was speechless. His well-intentioned warning had been treated as malicious.

"Everyone, you can insist on doing things your way, but I’m afraid I won’t be joining you." Mo Qi cupped his hands and prepared to leave with Liu Hui.

Knowing there was danger ahead, he was unwilling to pay the price for this group’s ignorance.

"Insolent!" Ye Lei roared. With a wave of his hand, an immense force descended from the sky.

Before Mo Qi could react, he was suppressed against the Gray Eagle’s back.

A Late-stage Vajra Realm expert was far too powerful for him; they weren’t even on the same level.

Even though he had already broken through the Sixth Transformation of the Nine Transformations into Spirit and reached the Seventh Turn Foundation Establishment, he had no room to resist before Ye Lei.

Liu Hui awoke from his Cultivation. Seeing this, his eyes erupted with a dazzling golden light.

"Release my Lord!"

Liu Hui instantly transformed, a tyrannical aura erupting from his body.

The treasures prepared for him by those old monsters in the Secret Realm weren’t just for concealing his Dragon Energy. They also included a full set of High Tier of Profound-Level Battle Armor.

Once he wore it, Liu Hui’s combat power instantly doubled, and his defense was unmatched among those at the same level.

"Hmph!" Ye Lei snorted and, with a backhanded slap, suppressed Liu Hui as well.

Between the Refining Essence and Vajra Realms lay the entire Purity Realm. Such a massive gap could not be bridged by a single set of Battle Armor.

No matter how much Liu Hui struggled, he couldn’t break free.

"Do you think this competition with the Wolf Fang Sect is a child’s game? Leaving the team whenever you please! This is the first time, so I’m only giving you a warning. If there’s a next time, don’t blame me for being merciless!" Ye Lei said angrily.

"Stay there and reflect on what you’ve done!"

"Continue forward!" Ye Dian patted the Gray Eagle’s head, signaling it to press on.

Mo Qi lay prone on the ground, a weight like a great mountain pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.

Watching the Gray Eagle set off again and quickly enter the area where the Pig Emperor had mentioned abnormal energy fluctuations, Mo Qi sighed. ’You two stubborn, self-righteous idiots. It’s one thing if you want to get yourselves killed, but what’s the big idea, dragging us along with you?’

"My Lord, what do we do?" Liu Hui asked.

"What else can we do? We wait," Mo Qi instructed. "Stick close to me in a bit. Don’t wander off."

"Yes, My Lord."

The Gray Eagle flew onward at high speed. A quarter of an hour passed, but nothing happened.

"Captain Mo, it’s really dangerous here, isn’t it?" Qi Tian said with a sneer, gesturing at the surrounding clouds.

"Yeah, so dangerous. I’m scared to death."

The other disciples also chimed in with taunts. They didn’t know Mo Qi well and held no grudge against him; they just plain didn’t like him.

A good-for-nothing who couldn’t even condense True Essence—on what grounds could he become a Core Disciple? And on what grounds could he be the captain?

Diao Qing, however, remained silent. But deep within his gentle, spring-breeze-like smile, a trace of gravity was hidden.

He was different from the others. After accepting the task of dealing with Mo Qi from Wang Xinglong, he had investigated Mo Qi thoroughly.

He knew Mo Qi wasn’t someone who liked to show off, and he certainly wasn’t weak.

His rise had been incredibly fast, almost legendary.

Every time others completely underestimated him or looked down on him, they would end up eating their own words.

This was true for his duel with Wang Hao and for the time he opened his tavern.

Therefore, Diao Qing didn’t believe Mo Qi’s talk of danger was baseless.

Facing Qi Tian’s mockery, Mo Qi looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "Have you not noticed that the clouds around us are different from before?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Qi Tian paused. ’Different? They don’t seem different. If I had to say what’s different, it’s just that they’re much thicker than before.’

’So what? We’re flying at high altitude. It’s perfectly normal for clouds to be swirling around, sometimes thin, sometimes thick.’

"Stop putting on a mysterious act. Don’t tell me you really think your senses are sharper than the two Elders’?" Qi Tian said dismissively.

"Idiot!" Mo Qi couldn’t help but curse out loud.

"What did you say?!" Qi Tian was furious. In his eyes, Mo Qi was just a fish on the chopping block, his to slaughter once the competition was over. And now he actually dared to curse him.

"Have you not noticed that it’s gotten unnaturally quiet around here?" Mo Qi didn’t want to say any more. The unusual atmosphere was already so obvious, yet this moron still hadn’t realized it.

Just as Qi Tian was about to retort, he noticed that Ye Lei’s and Ye Dian’s expressions were off.

"Stop! Now!" Ye Lei shouted, ordering the Gray Eagle to halt.

Ye Lei and Ye Dian released their Divine Sense, continuously scanning their surroundings, but they still found nothing.

But just as Mo Qi had said, it was unnaturally quiet.

Not only had the chirping of insects and roars of beasts from the forest below vanished, but even the sound of the wind at this high altitude was gone. The only things they could hear were their own breathing and the beating of the Gray Eagle’s wings.

"What on earth is going on?" Ye Lei and Ye Dian exchanged a look, each seeing the confusion in the other’s eyes.

"Why don’t we keep moving forward and see if we can fly out of this," Ye Dian suggested.

"No!" Mo Qi objected.

For a moment, everyone’s gaze fell back on Mo Qi.

"I suggest we land. The situation is unclear; it’s best not to rush around blindly."

But Qi Tian immediately contradicted him. "I agree with the Elder’s plan. Maybe this is just an area with a unique environment, and we’ll be able to fly out of it soon. Besides, what if we land and run into real danger?"

"Heh, having your feet on solid ground is surely safer than facing danger in mid-air," Mo Qi sneered.

With a wave of his hand, Ye Lei withdrew the force suppressing Mo Qi and Liu Hui.

"What else do you know? Tell us everything."

Although he was reluctant, and even felt he had lost face, Ye Lei swallowed his pride for the sake of the bigger picture and asked the question.

Mo Qi rubbed his sore limbs and shook his head. "I can’t tell anything for certain at the moment."

"So you don’t know anything after all! Then what were you doing giving out random orders?" Qi Tian was like a mad dog, never passing up an opportunity to oppose Mo Qi. The moment he found a weakness, he would bite down and not let go.

"Leash your dog. If he keeps barking, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from slaughtering him," Mo Qi said, looking at Diao Qing. Even with his good temper, he could no longer tolerate Qi Tian.

Diao Qing waved his hands repeatedly and chuckled. "Don’t misunderstand, he’s not my dog. If you want to slaughter him, I’d support it with both hands and feet."

"Mo Qi, who are you calling a dog!" Qi Tian was incandescent with rage. He took a step forward, his aura as a Refining God Ninth Heaven expert pressing down.

Before Mo Qi could make a move, Liu Hui flashed between the two. Without another word, he transformed and threw a punch.

Possessing the Dragon Transformation Divine Technique and a full set of Mystic-level Battle Armor, even though he was only at the Refining God Fifth Heaven, his punch shattered Qi Tian’s aura and sent him stumbling backward.

"Mo Qi, if you have any guts, fight me yourself! What kind of skill is hiding behind someone else?" Qi Tian raged.

He had long known that Mo Qi had a powerful subordinate, but he never expected him to be *this* strong.

A Refining God Fifth Heaven forcing back a Refining God Ninth Heaven—it was simply unbelievable.

"You can’t even beat me. You’re not worthy of having My Lord take action," Liu Hui said, raising his fist again and closing the distance to continue the fight.

"Have you two caused enough trouble?!" Ye Lei bellowed, his powerful aura forcing Liu Hui and Qi Tian apart.

Just then, a great black cloud drifted in from the distant horizon. It was a dense, dark mass, and a cacophony of flapping sounds grew louder as it approached, reaching everyone’s ears.

The Gray Eagle beneath them grew restless and agitated.

What was going on? Where was that sound coming from?

"You idiot, Mo Qi, that’s not a black cloud! It’s an army of countless flying Demon Beasts! That sound is their wings beating! Land now, or we’re finished!" the Pig Emperor cried, poking its head out and urging him frantically.

Ye Lei and Ye Dian also realized the truth, and their faces changed drastically.

"Land! Quickly!"

Ye Lei took a deep look at Mo Qi. From the warning about the danger to the suggestion to land, facts had proven that Mo Qi had been right all along.

The Gray Eagle swiftly descended. The group scrambled to find suitable cover and hid in the dense forest, watching in terror as the sky-blotting swarm of flying Demon Beasts swept past, not daring to make a sound.

A full incense stick’s worth of time passed before the swarm of flying Demon Beasts had finally passed and flown far into the distance.

Mo Qi frowned. ’Did we just happen to run into a Demon Beast migration?’

"Mo Qi, we have to run!" the Pig Emperor urged, its voice on the verge of tears. "Demon Beasts aren’t like wild animals! They don’t migrate on a large scale under normal circumstances, especially not flying ones. Unless... unless they’ve encountered an undefeatable enemy!"

"An undefeatable enemy?" Mo Qi felt a chill run down his spine just thinking back on that dense, dark mass.

Although most of those flying Demon Beasts were only First-level Demon Beasts, their strength was in their sheer numbers.

You could tell from Ye Lei and Ye Dian’s reactions that even they wouldn’t dare to face such a massive number of flying Demon Beasts.

So the question was, what kind of terrifying enemy could make this swarm of flying Demon Beasts flee so desperately?

"Ever heard of a Beast Tide?" the Pig Emperor asked.

Mo Qi was shocked. Of course he had heard of a Beast Tide.

It was a veritable army of Demon Beasts, a tide that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, killing and trampling indiscriminately, leaving nothing but devastation in its wake.

Among all natural disasters, the destructive power of a Beast Tide ranked in the top five.

"You’re not trying to say a Beast Tide is about to happen here, are you?" Mo Qi swallowed hard. Even he couldn’t remain calm.

If a Beast Tide really did occur, forget about their small group of twenty-odd people; even if the Mountain and Sea Empire dispatched a grand army, they might not be able to withstand it.

"I can already feel the auras of countless Demon Beasts! They’re very close!" The Pig Emperor burrowed into Mo Qi’s robes, nudging his chest insistently. "Let’s go! Find a place to hide! With the Netherworld Flame as cover, we might have a chance to survive."