Chapter 521 - 518: Mo Qi’s Trump Card
Xiao Zhang’s appearance gave those who still felt a shred of guilt an excuse to move against Mo Qi.
They desperately wanted ownership of the Desperate Mountain Range, but it was a fact that Mo Qi had saved their lives.
Morally, they couldn’t repay his kindness with malice.
But in their hearts, they desperately hoped to claim the bounty.
And so, many of them hesitated.
When selfishness and greed clashed with shame and morality, they chose to look away, lowering their heads, unable to meet Mo Qi’s gaze.
In truth, once selfishness and greed took root in a person’s heart, any pretense of shame and morality was nothing but a flimsy fig leaf for self-deception.
Everyone could see that Mo Qi and Xiao Zhang didn’t know each other well.
They also knew that Mo Qi was not a follower of the Demon Dao.
But what did that matter?
No one cared about the truth.
All they had to do was seize upon this point. It allowed them to stand on the moral high ground, judge Mo Qi, and attack him with a clear conscience.
They could tell themselves and others, ’I’m not attacking Mo Qi out of greed or selfishness. This isn’t repaying kindness with malice. This is for justice!’
"Hahaha," Xiao Zhang suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"You lot from the North District are under the Immortal Realm Holy Land Divine Master Valley. You love to proclaim yourselves righteous and orthodox, looking down on our Demon Sect and claiming we’re wicked beyond redemption, that we all deserve to die."
"Well, I’ve really learned something today. So hypocrisy and repaying kindness with malice is what you call ’justice’? And greed and slaughtering the innocent is what you call ’orthodoxy’? Hahaha... Divine Master Valley? Ptooey!"
The faces of the Immortals turned grim.
Xiao Zhang’s words had ripped away their fig leaf in public, exposing their ugly, sinful nature for all to see.
They wished they could kill Xiao Zhang on the spot, but the Demon Sect was too numerous and powerful. They could only swallow their anger and remain silent.
Mo Qi had long been prepared for this. He sneered, "Why the hesitation? If you don’t make your move now, you won’t get another chance."
"Hmph! You ignorant whelp! Pay for my son’s life!"
He Jincheng could no longer hold back. Not only was there the feud over his son’s murder, but the Void Spirit Flame was also at stake.
He would never allow Mo Qi to die by anyone else’s hand.
Seeing He Jincheng be the first to charge Mo Qi, the others cast aside their inhibitions and attacked as well.
"Everyone, listen up! If my master is in danger, protect him at all costs!" From a distance, Xiao Zhang immediately gave the order to all the members of the Demon Sect.
’There’s no point in keeping faith with these hypocrites. Master Mo Qi’s safety is all that matters.’
"Qin Hai, Gu Weitian, how about our three families cooperate?" He Jincheng sent a Divine Sense message to Qin Hai and Gu Weitian as he charged at Mo Qi.
"How?"
"You two hold off the others while I kill this brat. Don’t worry, I can swear an oath to renounce my claim on the Desperate Mountain Range afterward. Your two families can split it. But I want the boy’s corpse to offer up to my son’s departed spirit!"
Without waiting for Qin Hai and Gu Weitian to agree, He Jincheng went ahead and swore the oath.
"I, He Jincheng, swear to the heavens! So long as Qin Hai and Gu Weitian help me kill Mo Qi, I will relinquish all rights to the Desperate Mountain Range, leaving it for them to divide equally. If I break this vow, may the heavens smite me and the earth swallow me whole!"
Qin Hai and Gu Weitian were stunned. They never imagined He Jincheng would actually swear an oath to give up the Desperate Mountain Range.
’Could it be this old bastard really is just here to avenge his son?’
Qin Hai and Gu Weitian didn’t believe it, but they couldn’t figure out what trick He Jincheng was trying to pull.
"There’s no time to think! Yes or no, give me a straight answer!" He Jincheng urged.
"Fine, we agree!" With no time to think it over, Qin Hai and Gu Weitian nodded their agreement.
"Good. Just hold back the others. I won’t need more than one strike to kill this brat!"
’At this point, getting everything is impossible,’ He Jincheng thought.
After weighing his options, He Jincheng decided to forsake the Desperate Mountain Range and take only the Void Spirit Flame.
The entire exchange seemed complex, but it all happened in the instant of a Divine Sense communication.
And so, all the experts from the Qin, Gu, and He Families unleashed their Grotto Heavens and released their Cultivation, blocking the others from advancing.
"Qin Hai! Gu Weitian! What are you doing? Don’t you want the bounty anymore?"
Everyone’s attention was fixed on Mo Qi; they never expected anyone would turn on them like this.
Blocked for that crucial moment by the Qin, Gu, and He Families, He Jincheng shot past everyone else.
Qin Hai and Gu Weitian offered no explanation, simply moving to the side with their family members.
They had achieved their objective; there was no need to fight the others to the death.
By this time, He Jincheng had reached Mo Qi.
To guarantee a one-hit kill, He Jincheng unleashed the full might of his Peak Void Realm Cultivation, holding nothing back.
He even clenched his jaw, forgoing any taunts.
Seeing this, Mo Qi merely smiled, raised his hand, and with a soft "SNAP," snapped his fingers.
After the snap, He Jincheng—who had been certain of Mo Qi’s death—felt his vision blur. Mo Qi vanished instantly, and the world around him changed completely.
The clamoring crowd was gone. The towering forest was gone. In their place was a desolate, silent desert.
BOOM!
He Jincheng’s attack landed in the desert, kicking up a massive cloud of sand.
"What... What’s happening?" He Jincheng was dumbfounded.
’Is this an illusion?’
He Jincheng unleashed his Divine Sense, trying to break through the illusion, but he discovered it was a real, tangible desert. It wasn’t an illusion at all.
"Impossible!" He Jincheng’s brows furrowed. "It has to be that brat’s doing!"
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
Just then, a cacophony of scraping and skittering sounds reached his ears. The desert floor began to tremble slightly, the vibrations growing stronger with each passing moment.
It was as if a massive horde of creatures was approaching!
"What is that?" A sense of foreboding crept into He Jincheng’s heart.
ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!
As if to confirm his premonition, Abyssal Demons began bursting from the yellow sand, charging at him in a frenzy.
With no time to think, He Jincheng was plunged into a desperate battle.
In fact, it wasn’t just He Jincheng. Everyone who had tried to attack Mo Qi was now trapped in a different environment.
Some were on cliffsides, others on plains. Some were in frozen wastelands, others amidst volcanic magma.
But one thing was the same for all of them: they were surrounded by Abyssal Demons.
All of them were now inexplicably locked in battle with countless Abyssal Demons.
In the eyes of the Demon Sect, however, Mo Qi had merely snapped his fingers. At that moment, everyone who had been hell-bent on killing him—be they Immortals or members of the younger generation—froze in place as if possessed.
Then, they began to fight empty air, as if battling countless invisible enemies.
"This is... an Array! An Illusion Array!" one of the Demon Sect experts realized.
That was right. It was an Illusion Array!
This was the trump card Mo Qi had prepared!