Chapter 193 - 190: You Deceived Us

CLANG!

BANG!

Sword, spear, and palms clashed simultaneously. The Spirit Body was blasted away.

Mu Chen’s palms were completely unharmed. He remained suspended in the void, standing exactly where he had been.

Mo Qianqian, however, was sent flying backward by the force of the sword, coughing up a mouthful of blood as his body plummeted into the distance.

"Mu Chen won?"

"Is he really that powerful?"

"A Blood Demon Body! Mu Chen must possess the Ancient Blood Demon Body. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to be this strong!"

"If it truly is a Blood Demon Body, then it makes perfect sense for him to defeat Mo Qianqian. I never expected Mu Chen, the head of the Four Great Prodigies, to possess such overwhelming strength. He’s leaps and bounds ahead of the other three!"

"No wonder the Imperial Alliance was so confident. They knew Mu Chen had this kind of power!"

"Truly worthy of being the head of the Four Great Prodigies! He’s only at the Quasi-Space Spirit Realm right now. If he steps into the Void Spirit Realm, just how terrifying will his combat prowess be?"

Gasps of astonishment rippled through the crowd.

Seeing Mo Qianqian blasted near the walls of Black Dragon City, Mu Chen—who had pursued him and now hovered a short distance away—made no move to press the attack. Instead, he stared coldly at Mo Qianqian and declared, "Mo Qianqian, you lose!"

Mo Qianqian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes locked on Mu Chen.

The crowd’s attention also shifted to Mo Qianqian. Every gaze was pinned on him, and the experts from the various major factions immediately went on high alert. If Mo Qianqian didn’t have a more powerful trump card up his sleeve, he would have absolutely no chance of turning the tables.

"Admit defeat. You are a genius—surely you wouldn’t deny a fair loss, right?" Mu Chen added.

Mo Qianqian feigned absolute fury, his eyes practically splitting at the seams. He gripped his spear tightly with one hand and clenched his other into a fist. He acted as though he was consumed by unparalleled reluctance and endless rage.

"This isn’t even my strongest trump card, so you can’t beat me," Mu Chen continued. "If we keep fighting, you will only end up severely injured. Keep in mind, you just killed two Void Spirit Realm experts. Even inside Black Dragon City, you are not safe. It would be much wiser to simply hand over the item."

Mo Qianqian trembled with apparent reluctance and spat out coldly, "This item... I, Mo Qianqian, will definitely take it back sooner or later!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the dark silhouette of a coffin abruptly surfaced on Mo Qianqian’s glabella. Beside the dark coffin, a faint, ethereal projection of Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin could also be seen. Mo Qianqian’s entire body began to turn pitch-black.

"Is that the Ninefold Coffin? He actually absorbed it into his body?"

In that instant, everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats.

Wu Zonghai, the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader, and others had already begun circulating formidable power within their bodies. However, none of them dared to make a move just yet. They were all terrified that if anyone attacked, Mo Qianqian would refuse to hand over the item. They would wait until he surrendered it before taking action.

WHOOSH!

At that very moment, everyone watched as a coffin materialized out of thin air right in front of Mo Qianqian. The coffin, shrouded in a swirling mass of black mist, hurled itself directly at Mu Chen. Once it was thrown, Mo Qianqian stopped channeling the Nine Dragon Coffin, and the dark silhouette on his forehead vanished almost simultaneously.

SWISH!

Mu Chen sprang into action. Already in close proximity to Mo Qianqian, he darted toward the coffin in a flash and clamped both his hands onto it.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

The Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader and his group, the members of the Imperial Alliance, the other experts from the Realm of Chaos, and even the crowd on the side of Black Dragon City—everyone moved. They surged madly toward the coffin.

The muscles in Mo Qianqian’s face twitched as he hastily retreated.

As expected, in the face of such a priceless treasure, no faction cared about martial virtues. Cyan Cloud Mountain and Black Dragon City would absolutely never allow that item to fall into the hands of the Imperial Alliance! Furthermore, the speed of Wu Zonghai, the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader, and Black Dragon was terrifyingly fast. Black Dragon, in particular, was the closest and was practically right in front of Mu Chen.

WHOOSH!

But in that split second, just as Mu Chen embraced the black coffin, he crushed an unknown object in his hand. A sphere of light instantly enveloped both him and the coffin, propelling them straight toward the distant horizon. Like a bolt of lightning, he shot off into the distance in the blink of an eye.

"Mu Chen, you deceived us!" Wu Zonghai roared in fury. His aura erupted completely as he chased after Mu Chen in the direction he had fled.

The crowd was dumbfounded, finally coming to their senses. Did Mu Chen fight on behalf of the Imperial Alliance? Was he going to hand the prize over to them?

Absolutely not! Mu Chen fought for himself. The moment he got his hands on the item, he made a run for it. There was no way he was going to give it to the Imperial Alliance! He had simply played along and scammed them entirely!

At this point, Black Dragon, the Cyan Cloud Mountain Sect Leader, and a massive number of experts present all charged forward.

Mu Chen might have used a treasure to escape, but its effects definitely had a time limit. He would inevitably have to stop somewhere. As long as they caught up to him, they still had a chance to seize the treasure.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Swarms of experts bolted in pursuit, though Mu Chen’s silhouette had long since vanished beyond the horizon.

Seeing that almost all the Void Spirit Realm experts gathered outside Black Dragon City had left, Mo Qianqian finally breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t just the various factions outside the city. Even from Black Dragon City’s side, four Generals had rushed off, leaving only Jiang Wanzhong behind. Several unnamed Void Spirit Realm experts from within the city had also joined the chase.

At this moment, Mo Qianqian felt significantly safer.

"Mo Qianqian, are you certain the item you threw was the real deal?"

Right then, a cold shout rang out. Patriarch Feng stepped forward and interrogated Mo Qianqian. These words instantly sparked suspicion among many in the crowd. After all, the vast majority of those left behind were not at the Void Spirit Realm; they simply lacked the strength to pursue Mu Chen.

"Do you think everyone here is blind?" Mo Qianqian’s expression darkened, and killing intent instantly emanated from his body. "Do you think that just because I’m heavily injured, I can’t deal with your Feng Family?"

The Feng Family was trying to condemn him utterly! Even though he had done it deliberately and others might not assume it was a fake, the Feng Family was absolutely damn right—the item he had thrown was indeed a fake. It was just a scabbard shaped like a coffin, completely empty inside and utterly useless. However, he couldn’t afford to show weakness. If his momentum faltered, it really might arouse further suspicion.

Hearing Mo Qianqian’s words, Patriarch Feng’s expression turned grim. Inwardly, however, he was conflicted. Since the Feng Family no longer had any Void Spirit Realm experts, this moment—when Mo Qianqian was severely injured—might be the perfect opportunity to strike. Yet, Mo Qianqian still possessed formidable combat prowess, and he feared the Feng Family wouldn’t be able to take him down.

"Patriarch Feng, Mo Qianqian was brought here by my disciple," Jiang Wanzhong interjected. "Do not forget, he is now a resident of Black Dragon City as well."

Patriarch Feng replied, "Mo Qianqian still murdered a Void Spirit Realm expert from the Imperial Alliance, and even killed two Void Spirit Realm cultivators from within Black Dragon City. He is no saint. Even if the Ninefold Coffin has been handed over, the Imperial Alliance will definitely not let him go. General Jiang, I advise you to act with caution."

"Hmph, the ones who should act with caution is your Feng Family," Jiang Wanzhong retorted. "You currently don’t have a single Void Spirit Realm expert. Do you really think Mo Qianqian lacks the strength to wipe out your entire clan right now?

"He just doesn’t want to destroy the Feng Family and leave himself vulnerable to others in the process."

Patriarch Feng’s heart shuddered. Jiang Wanzhong was right. The fact that Mo Qianqian hadn’t attacked didn’t necessarily mean he was too injured to do so. It meant he didn’t want to deplete his energy and invite attacks from anyone else. And the Feng Family had no Void Spirit Realm expert holding down the fort!

Right now, the ones in true danger were the Feng Family.

"Mo Qianqian, return to the Merit Mansion!" Jiang Wanzhong instructed. As he spoke, he swept his gaze across the surroundings and added, "If anyone dares to take advantage of this situation to violate the rules of Black Dragon City, you can wait for the Black Dragon Army to make an example out of you!"

Everyone’s hearts trembled.

Make an example out of them! Indeed, someone had provoked Black Dragon City and the Black Dragon Army today. No matter how one looked at it, the army’s prestige had taken a hit. Once Black Dragon and the Generals returned, they might not be able to wipe out the Imperial Alliance or Cyan Cloud Mountain, but annihilating any other faction would be as easy as flipping their hands. If anyone tried to stick their neck out now, they would be the ones slaughtered as a warning to the rest.

Jiang Wanzhong’s words carried immense deterrent force. No one at the scene dared to cause any more trouble for Mo Qianqian.

Following Jiang Wanzhong, Mo Qianqian flew directly into Black Dragon City.