The man was the third-in-command of the Seven Fiends Alliance.
It turned out that while searching for the immortal artifact, the third-in-command had encountered Ji Mo by chance and had been secretly tailing him.
Then, he discovered that Ji Mo was acting very strangely. The places Ji Mo passed through were all the nodes where he had tampered with the underground array formations.
The third-in-command had initially thought that Ji Mo must have discovered something, and that the matter was about to be exposed.
Thus, with malice arising in his heart, he decided to kill Ji Mo on the spot to silence him.
However, Ji Mo was oblivious. Although he knew that the guardian array had been altered, he didn't investigate further and returned to the Fu Lai Inn.
"Fortunately, it was just a false alarm. I knew it, how could the alteration of the underground array formations be detected from the surface? Unless his array mastery had reached the divine level."
The third-in-command was smug, secretly thinking he was being overly cautious. He no longer paid attention to Ji Mo, as the latter wouldn't live for many more days anyway.
As long as the array he had set up took shape, everyone in the entire Chizhang City would die.
Upon returning to the Fu Lai Inn, Ji Mo presented the three spatial rings he had purchased from the Dragon Tiger Auction House to his three students and encouraged them.
The three students beamed, their faces radiant.
"It must be because the goji berry tea I brewed has taken effect, which is why Master is in a good mood and bought such valuable spatial rings as a reward for me," Xuan Yang thought.
"It's probably because the strength-enhancing pill I gave him has helped Mr. Ji regain his vigor, which is why he's rewarding us. I heard there's a potent medicine called 'Nine Flavor Rehmannia Pill' that is very good for kidney tonification. I must find a way to get it for Master in the future."
Wang Wanjian held the spatial rings in his hands, sincerely making a resolution.
Lin Mengmeng, on the other hand, had fewer complicated thoughts. She took the spatial ring and happily slipped it onto the ring finger of her left hand.
Ji Mo's scalp tingled. "My dear Mengmeng, you can't just put rings on that finger casually."
Song Wei Qian felt incredibly jealous. All three of them received spatial rings except for her, and she felt a pang of bitterness, staring at Ji Mo with a mournful gaze.
It wasn't that Ji Mo was stingy, but rather that rings couldn't be given to women indiscriminately, which was why he hadn't bought one for Song Wei Qian.
Unable to bear Song Wei Qian's intense stare, he ended up transcribing the body cultivation technique of the Wu clan and handed it to her.
Song Wei Qian received it as if it were a treasure. She realized it was an incredibly valuable body cultivation technique that could increase physical strength by several times, its value immeasurable.
After all, compared to other异族 (yi zu - alien races/other races), humans had excessively weak physiques, and this Wu clan body technique was precisely what could compensate for this shortcoming.
Furthermore, with Lin Mengmeng and the other two only needing to grasp the basics, their strength would see a significant improvement, greatly increasing their chances of winning the upcoming championship.
Without delay, Song Wei Qian immediately pulled the three of them along and began cultivating this body technique together.
...
Western Regions.
Floating Cloud Mountain.
An enraged roar shot up to the heavens, and boundless killing intent scattered a large expanse of clouds.
"The Southern Regions! Someone actually dared to harm our sect's Holy Son! If no explanation is given, I will wash Chizhang City with blood."
Half a day later, a large contingent from Floating Cloud Mountain, filled with killing intent, set off mightily towards Chizhang City.
Eastern Regions.
Sun Zhi received the good news from the third-in-command, stating that the modification of the guardian array of Chizhang City was nearing completion and the plan was proceeding exceptionally smoothly.
He decided to escort the "Demon Cube" to Chizhang City along with several other leaders of the Seven Fiends Alliance who had already defected to the demon race.
The Demon Cube contained a spatial magic artifact capable of reopening the gate to the demon realm.
However, it required the blood and flesh of countless living beings as a sacrifice to fully activate its power.
And the millions of inhabitants within the entire Chizhang City were to be the sacrifices.
"Alliance Leader, you and the brothers can go about your business with peace of mind. I will find a way to expose Lu Wukai and tear him to shreds."
The sixth-in-command did not accompany Sun Zhi to Chizhang City, choosing to stay behind.
After Sun Zhi left, the sixth-in-command secretly went to meet someone.
If Sun Zhi were to see this, he would surely curse the sixth-in-command as a traitor.
This was because the person the sixth-in-command met was none other than Lu Wukai, whom Sun Zhi dreamed of killing.
Sun Zhi had always been fond of betraying his brothers, but he didn't realize that karma has a way of coming around. This time, it was his turn to be betrayed by his brother.
However, the sixth-in-command had a clear conscience because, through his investigations, he had learned that Sun Zhi was indeed colluding with the demon race and intended to open the gate to the demon realm.
And this trip to Chizhang City harbored an unspeakable purpose.
The two of them, after a discussion, infiltrated Sun Zhi's residence and began searching for evidence of Sun Zhi's allegiance to the demon race.
Lu Wukai utilized his specialty as an old rogue and turned Sun Zhi's lair upside down, even uncovering many hidden compartments and secret rooms.
However, while they did find quite a few good things, there was no evidence of collusion with the demon race.
"Damn it, I didn't expect this old fox to be so cautious, leaving no trace behind," the sixth-in-command cursed.
Without evidence, there was no way to deal with Sun Zhi.
"This scoundrel has always been insidious and cunning. Even if he had evidence, he would carry it with him. It will be difficult to catch him red-handed."
Lu Wukai clearly understood Sun Zhi, analyzing it this way.
"Is there really no way to deal with him?"
The sixth-in-command was extremely unwilling.
Lu Wukai thought for a moment and said, "Didn't you say that Sun Zhi's mount, Meng Qi, has fallen into the hands of Langya Academy? If Meng Qi hasn't been killed yet, then it might be a breakthrough."
Meng Qi had followed Sun Zhi for many years and knew all of Sun Zhi's secrets. Everything could be pried from its mouth.
The sixth-in-command found this reasonable. The two of them, after a quick discussion, immediately rushed to Langya Academy.
The Southern Regions were in turmoil, and a terrifying storm was brewing.
In the following days, Song Wei Qian cultivated the Wu clan body technique with Lin Mengmeng and the other two, while Ji Mo went to teach Yue'er to play the zither.
It had to be said that Yue'er was indeed very talented, which made Ji Mo very satisfied.
If it weren't for his fear of the Lingxu Sword Sect accusing him of poaching, Ji Mo would have wanted to take Yue'er as his fourth student.
Unfortunately, he was too thin-skinned to dare to ask.
However, in Yue'er's heart, Ji Mo's position was as important as that of her parents.
Within Chizhang City.
The fervor for finding the immortal artifact lasted for three days before finally cooling down.
Tang Qian had been unable to eat or sleep properly for the past few days. He hadn't found the immortal artifact, and there were no clues about the murderer of Tan Yun Ao.
Tang Heng did propose his suspicion, saying that the murderer was very likely Ji Mo.
This was because at the Dragon Tiger Auction House, Tan Yun Ao and Ji Mo had completely fallen out. And given Tan Yun Ao's vengeful nature, he would certainly not let it go.
It was possible that he was killed in retaliation while trying to cause trouble for Ji Mo.
It had to be said that Tang Heng's mind was sharp, and he had guessed the truth in one go.
"Foolish. How could that Ji fellow be a match for Tan Yun Ao?"
Tang Qian directly denied this speculation.
After all, judging by the state of Tan Yun Ao's death, he was clearly tortured and killed by the enemy. Someone with such ability would at least be a strong cultivator at the Mortal Immortal Realm first level or above.
Did Ji Mo look like a Mortal Immortal Realm super expert?
Tang Heng pouted, feeling very unconvinced. Although theoretically it was impossible for it to be Ji Mo, he had a gut feeling that the murderer was Ji Mo.
Meanwhile, Zeng Qi Yan, who had been desperately trying to curry favor with Tan Yun Ao, had completely withdrawn into himself these past few days.
His "sugar daddy," Tan Yun Ao, had been killed on the street.
Thinking about how he had been obsequious and subservient to Tan Yun Ao these past few days, only to end up with nothing, he felt incredibly wronged.
Similarly, Zeng Qi Yan also believed that the murderer was Ji Mo, without a doubt.
At that time, Tan Yun Ao had clearly gone to find Ji Mo for revenge, but ended up dead.
Because he had been too close to Tan Yun Ao recently, the Shenglin Academy had also developed a very strong opinion of Zeng Qi Yan.
Zhao Yan Yun, the dean of Shenglin Academy, had made it clear that if Zeng Qi Yan couldn't lead Shenglin Academy to win first place in the current championship, then his time at Shenglin Academy would be over.
It truly was a case of one wrong step leading to a cascade of errors.
Zeng Qi Yan felt that ever since he had made the bet with Ji Mo, he had been plagued by bad luck, and everything had gone awry.
He refused to believe in fate and decided to defeat Ji Mo's Langya team by any means necessary and win the academy ranking championship.