Zhong Yueâs eyes flashed, his voice was cold and grave, âQimei, these guys? For what reason were they bullying you all?â
Yu Xuanji glanced over at Hu Qimei, taking the hint, she put up a smile and answered, âNothing much, just small matters.â
âWhat small matters?â
Hu Qingqing blurted out rapidly, âThese brats took advantage of your heavy injuries and provoked you. Not only that, your injuries were just made worse before you could even recuperate from them! From the way I see it, they are just trying to take your lives!â
Zhong Yue slightly locked his brows, he continued, âWhatâs going on?â
Yu Xuanji gave a bitter smile, he said, âThis has nothing to do with Brother Long Yue, itâs because Hu Qimei and I have become the candidates for saint city lordâs disciple. This naturally didnât sit well with certain groups of Qi Practitioners, and thatâs why they came looking for trouble. This is the saint city lordâs manor, although these brats are rampant, they do not dare to kill us here. Itâs only that they keep coming, disrupting me from my recovery. Senior Martial Brother Hei tried to stand up for me, but was injured by their Awakening Qi Practitioners.â
Zhong Yue tilted his head and looked at Hu Qimei, âSo itâs is the same with Hu Qimei?â
Hu Qimei nodded and sighed in resignation.
Hei Huâs face turned crimson red in shame and he said, âTheyâre here looking for trouble with Qimei and Xuanjiâs, if we stand up in defense, their Awakening Qi Practitioner will just block us down. Iâm ashamed, our foe has already opened the Wan Xiang Wheel, and we are no match for that. These brats, theyâve come in groups, one after another, an endless cycle of harassment. Xuanji and I didnât even have the time to recoverâ¦â
Hu Qingqing sneered coldly, âTheyâre planning to kill you while you are sick and weak! How is this any form of duel, theyâre just trying to kill Xuanji and Qimei at whatever cost! What other reason was there for all of them to be accompanied by a Wan Xiang Wheel expert, coincidentally just one level higher than us?â
Yu Xuanji hesitated for awhile and he said, âThey should be doing all of this under the behest of Heavenly Monster Li Junâs instructions. Directing the fire upon us so to force Brother Long Yue to step out, all so that he can kill him.â
Zhong Yue pondered for a moment and whispered to them, âSenior Martial Brother Hei, Senior Martial Sister Qing, can you two rush back to your sects and convey this matter to your teachers?â
âSuch small matters, this shouldnât be worth our teachersâ time and energy?â
Hei Hu and Hu Qing Qing gazed at each other, they said, âMy teacher is the Keep Master of the Qing Long Keep and Senior Martial Sisterâs teacher is the City Lord of Luo Ying City. They both hold high posts and great prestige. This is just merely a power struggle between the disciples, troubling them will be like making a fuss over nothing.â
âThis is not a fuss.â
Zhong Yue shook his head and responded, âThis is the saint city lordâs manor, who dares to just intrude and simply have their way with the disciple candidates for the saint city lord? Who gave them the guts to do so? Although Heavenly Monster Li Junâs guts are big and he has a wide circle of acquaintances, those Qi Practitioners arenât idiots either â if they were to enrage the saint city lord, they would die for sure. And yet, they still dare to find trouble with you, what could all of this mean?â
Hu Qingqing was baffled, âYou are saying that?â
âThe great saint city lord, had agreed tacitly to all of this.â
Zhong Yueâs face turned solemn, âThe ãMonster God Ming King Artã can only be cultivated by the members of the saint city lord, and yet, Brother Xuanji and Qimei have learned it. If you two were to be allowed to live, the ãMonster God Ming King Artã would no longer remain the exclusive secret technique of the saint city lord. Even more so, itâs impossible for the two of you to be the saint city lordâs closed door disciple. Hence, so as to prevent the ãMonster God Ming King Artã from disseminating out, the two of you must die.â
A frosty chill was sent down their spines. Meanwhile, Zhong Yue continued calmly, âWithout the saint city lordâs tacit agreement, even if Heavenly Monster Li Jun were to be given a thousand guts, he still wouldnât even dare to look for trouble with the two of you. But with the lordâs agreement, he wouldnât hesitate to seize the chance and eliminate the two of you, thereby also forcing me to step out at the same time so that he can have the opportunity to kill me once and for all! Senior Martial Brother Hei and Senior Martial Sister Qing, I would advise the two of you to leave the saint city for now and convey this matter to your teachers. This may be your only avenue for survival!â
Hei Hu struggled to get up and said, âThereâs a Qing Long Keep totem godly pillar in the saint city, it can transmit messages, Iâll connect to my teacher now!â
Hu Qingqing also stood up, âSo will I!â
And with that, the two of them left.
Suddenly, a loud laughter entered their ears, âYu Xuanji, Hu Qimei, so the two of you are here. Good, good, then I donât have to take the trouble to go and visit you two one at a time!â
Zhong Yue followed the sound and cast his gaze over to it â there were two Qi Practitioners walking side by side. Their bodies were covered with furs, their heads were adorned with leather hats and their long furry tails were wagging on the ground. One was in the level of Rebirth while the other was in the Awakening stage.
The Rebirth Qi Practitioner smirked and said, âAs soon as I came to learn that Brother Xuanji and Qimei had become the candidates for the saint city lordâs disciple, my heart was filled with admiration and I was simply driven here to ask for your guidance, and to see what the difference between the saint city lordâs candidate disciples and us commoners is! Qimei, Xuanji, which one of you shall come forward to teach me a thing or two?â
Yu Xuanji was furious, he bellowed out in anger, âMeng Xiang, my injuries still havenât recovered. Would you even dare to fight me after Iâve fully recovered? Taking advantage of my injuries and asking for a battle, what kind of ability is this?â
The two Qi Practitioners had originally cultivated to monster Practitioners from mongooses - their names were Meng Xiang and Meng She, ferocious beasts that hunted and fed on snakes.
âYou are the Long Yue from East Ocean? I hear that you are also one of the candidates of the saint city lordâs disciple, you must be stronger than the common riffraff? Are you interested in a duel?â
Meng Xiang measuredly gazed at Zhong Yue and guffawed in disdain, âYou canât possibly be like the useless Yu Xuanji right? In order to become the closed door disciple of the saint city lord, how can you not possess prowess strong enough to convince others? Brother Long Yue, Iâm not fond of you, do you care to have a duel with me?â
Yu Xuanji quickly shook his head and said lowly, âBrother Long Yue, donât fall for it!â
Zhong Yue sneered and he said with nonchalant contempt, âYouâre not worth my time, just go back and tell Heavenly Monster Li Jun that Iâll battle with him tomorrow on the city wall! He no longer needs to continue with this pathetic farceâ
Meng Xiang and Meng She gazed at each other and saw the sinister smiles in their eyes before turning to leave. Their voices were indifferent, âChallenging the Heavenly Monster? Good ⦠we will grant you your death wish!â
Hu Qimei was worried, âBrother Long Yue, the Heavenly Monster is very strongâ¦â
âQimei need not say much, if I donât answer his call for battle, you would all be pushed to your deaths before your teachers could arrive.â
Zhong Yue lifted his hand and said, âBut if I accept his wish for battle, then there wouldnât be any reason for the monsters to continue to stir trouble with you before his death. The saint city lord will only act again once you leave the saint city. When your teachers arrive, the tense situation now would ease up at least somewhat.â
Yu Xuanji said diffidently, âBut the Heavenly Monster Li Jun is strong, reallyâ¦â
Zhong Yue responded nonchalantly, âJust a little bug, Iâll kill him tomorrow on the city wall.â
Hu Qimei and Yu Xuanji looked at one another, their eyes became filled with worry.
In the garden backyard of the saint city lordâs manor, Heaven Monster Li Jun was smiling warmly. He gently sniffed on the fresh flowers and said, âLong Yue is challenging me? Good ⦠very good, you have all done well. So now, even if I killed Long Yue publicly, not a single Qi Practitioner would be able to say anything at all. They will realize that only I can be the saint city lordâs closed door disciple. Theyâll never say that I was acting out of jealousy and have no room in my heart for other talented ones.â
Meng She smiled and said, âLi Jun, why did you have to trouble yourself to kill him? I couldâve just kill that Long Yue brat myself!â
Heaven Monster Li Jun shook his head, he turned around and his lips blossomed into a smile that overshadowed all the flowers in the garden, âI need the name as the closed door disciple, and my reputation must be unmarred by any unsavory specks of dirt. Which is why I want to do it in publicly front of every monster, killing Long Yue fair and square. Also, this is not only my wish, it is also my masterâs.â
âThe master?â
Meng She and Meng Xiangâs hearts shuddered in shock, they exclaimed out involuntarily, âThe saint city lordâ¦â
âLong Yue is of the dragon race of the East Ocean. And if the master was to take a dragon in as his disciple, wouldnât it mean that he has tacitly agreed to allow the dragon race in planting their forces into the East Barren? The optics of such a scenario wouldnât look very good, would it?â
Heaven Monster Li Jun walked forward and said inconsistently, âThe East Barren exists beside the East Ocean, and master has already put up his vigilance against the dragon race, so how could he possibly let a dragon be his disciple and inherit his arts? Thatâs why he has allowed me to instruct you all to raise a ruckus in the lordâs manor. He is more than willing to let me kill him. Not only does Long Yue have to die, but so do Yu Xuanji and Hu Qimei. As long as they are alive, there will always be a possibility that the ãMonster God Ming King Artã will leak out. After Iâve killed Long Yue, itâd then be their turn to die.â
Meng She and Meng Xiang followed behind him, he raised his hand and said smilingly, âThe two of you may leave now, gather the other Qi Practitioners and spread the word of Long Yue challenging me to a battle, let the whole city know. And tomorrow, Iâll let all of the monster race witness how I will crush the dragon to death under my palms! This is my battle of slaughtering a dragon, the world will come to know my name through this battle!â
He said leisurely, âHowever, he is after all a dragon race, a foe who is deserving of my respect. Thus, I will clean and wash myself, cleanse off the dirt, and grant him a sensational death.â
Meng She and Meng Xiang left, they went for Heavenly Monster Li Junâs friends to spread the words out.
Heavenly Monster Li Jun had a wide circle of acquaintances, and soon, the word had already spread throughout the entire saint city like an epidemic. The words were all the same, Long Yue of the East Ocean dragon race had challenged the Heavenly Monster Li Jun into a duel for the position of the saint city lordâs closed door disciple. It soon became the hottest topic in all of the discussions, gossips and even arguments.
The Heavenly Monster Li Jun was the publicly acknowledged as the most handsome male publicly throughout the whole East Barren, with the consensus also being that he was the strongest expert in the level of Rebirth. While this Long Yue was from the East Ocean dragon race, the dragon race didnât belong to the monster race; it was a godly saint race that ruled the East Ocean. The fact that a dragon was challenging the Heavenly Monster Li Jun gave rise to exasperations among the monster especially the female monsters, inciting them to unreservedly show their spite towards Long Yue and to adopt him as their greatest foe!
Many female monsters walked the streets, inquiring the identity of this Long Yue and his location, with the strong urge to battle him in place of Heaven Monster Li Jun!
Xian Kong Saint City - in a private on the topmost floor of the Tian Fu Restaurant, Lang Qingyunâs countenance changed slightly. Abruptly, he turned to a man with lofty and steep horns beside him, and asked smilingly, âBrother Ao, who knew we would be met with such an interesting event just right when youâve arrived at Xian Kong City. Has Brother Ao heard of this Long Yue?â
âLong Yue? Nope.â
The horned Qi Practitioner gently shook his head and responded, âThe dragons in our East Ocean adopt âAoâ as our surname; while the other species with surnames of âJiaoâ, âChiâ, âYuâ, and âPoâ, are dragons of a lower level. As for taking âLongâ as a surname ⦠that is very rare. This Long Yue has run over to the East Barren, and is trying to be the monster saint city lordâs closed door disciple, challenging the Heavenly Monster Li Jun â he has piqued my interestâ¦:â
Lang Qingyunâs eyes flashed and said smilingly, âIn that case, I shall bring Brother Ao together with me to the duel tomorrow. A battle between a dragon and a monster, it truly is an interesting event. Furthermore, I have some suspicions about this Long Yue who seemingly emerged out of nowhere, I beseech Brother Aoâs assistance in identifying his origins.â
The horned Qi Practitioner smiled and said, âAlright, sure, Iâm also very eager to meet this dragon of the East Ocean who has managed to forge out a section of the sky for himself in this East Barren!â