"Just assume I’m at Refining Essence Perfection," Mo Qi said softly.

Refining Essence Perfection?!

Diao Qing shook his head and gave a bitter smile. ’A Refining Essence Cultivator with a Domain? I’d have to be a fool to believe you.’

’If you don’t want to answer, fine, but there’s no need to insult my intelligence.’

"You’re strong. I admit defeat." After speaking, Diao Qing closed his eyes.

Mo Qi was never soft on his enemies, let alone someone who wanted to kill him.

He plunged the sharp blades on his glove’s fingertips into Diao Qing’s heart, and the deadly poison took effect instantly.

Black blood streamed from Diao Qing’s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. He collapsed, lifeless.

He never would have dreamed that he would ultimately die by the very poison he had concocted.

"Now it’s your turn." Mo Qi looked at Qi Tian.

Diao Qing’s death didn’t frighten Qi Tian. On the contrary, it drove him into a frenzy.

"Mo Qi! What goes around, comes around. The Heavenly Dao is a cycle. Look to the skies! Who has Heaven ever spared? You, a Demon who slaughters the innocent—you won’t meet a good end!"

’What is all this nonsense?’ Mo Qi was completely baffled.

’Who slaughtered the innocent? How am I a Demon?!’

’Why does it sound like I’m the villain, and you, the one who came to kill me, are the righteous one?’

’Although I was partly responsible for your brother Qi Yun’s death, he brought it on himself. You can’t blame anyone else.’

"Mo Qi, you’ve committed countless evil deeds! I’m not the only one who wants you dead. There are plenty of people who want to see you suffer. You will live in endless guilt and terror!"

"I know," Mo Qi nodded.

Wang Xinglong of the Void Sect wanted him dead, and the Wolf Fang Sect’s Sect Leader, Zhang Shao, was also scouring the world for revenge.

"No, you don’t!" Qi Tian laughed maniacally. "With those two old geezers, Yang Ming and Yu Liang, backing you up, you’re indeed very safe. But revenge doesn’t necessarily mean coming after you directly."

"Sometimes, a nobody you wouldn’t even spare a glance for can deal you a fatal blow! And you’re still sitting there, smug and self-righteous, hahaha."

Mo Qi frowned. There was a hidden meaning in Qi Tian’s words; he was clearly hinting at something.

For some reason, a bad premonition crept into Mo Qi’s heart.

"What, have you offended so many people you can’t even remember who all your enemies are?" Qi Tian asked with a sneer.

"What are you trying to say?" Mo Qi grabbed Qi Tian by the neck, lifted him up close, and demanded coldly.

Mo Qi’s strength was immense. Qi Tian’s face turned beet red as he was choked, his eyes bulging as blood gushed from his mouth.

But Qi Tian’s smile didn’t waver. He grinned, revealing two rows of blood-stained teeth in a terrifying, grotesque sight.

"There’s no harm in telling you. To be able to savor your pain, powerlessness, and despair before I die would be a delightful sight."

Qi Tian continued with a savage grin, "I wonder if the name Fang Min still rings a bell?"

Mo Qi’s heart sank.

Fang Min. His childhood sweetheart, the woman he’d grown up with, the one who should have been his.

In the end, she had betrayed him for Wang Hao.

Later, in her desperation to kill him, the woman had gone so far as to desecrate Uncle Niu’s remains and use them as a threat.

Mo Qi had been forced to jump into the Wailing Abyss. But after he climbed back out, he had never heard any news of her again.

Mo Qi had always assumed that with Wang Hao dead, Fang Min had lost her backing and was living a quiet life, too afraid to show her face.

Now, it seemed there was more to the story he didn’t know.

"Before your life-and-death battle with Wang Hao, Fang Min had already left the Void Sect. Do you know the last thing she did before she left?" Qi Tian said, watching Mo Qi’s expression closely.

"The last thing she did was go to the Household Affairs Bureau and pull someone’s records. Care to guess whose?"

Hearing this, Mo Qi’s mind reeled as if struck by lightning, and he froze on the spot.

’Oh no!’

’Fang Min must have pulled Uncle Niu’s records!’

’She wanted revenge on me but lacked the power and connections, so she settled for the next best thing: striking at me by retaliating against Uncle Niu.’

’Uncle Niu has been dead for five years, and Fang Min already desecrated his remains.’

’So she could only have had one reason for pulling his records: to find his family in the mortal world!’

With Fang Min’s cultivation, she was at the very bottom of the Martial Arts World.

But she was more than capable of dealing with a few ordinary mortals.

Mo Qi remembered that Uncle Niu had a daughter in the ordinary mortal world named Niu Kexin, who was two years older than him.

Before he died, Uncle Niu had taken Mo Qi with him once on a visit back to his hometown.

Back then, Mo Qi was just a little kid who followed Niu Kexin around all day, begging for candy and calling out "Sister Kexin, Sister Kexin" nonstop.

Later, after Uncle Niu died during the sect’s entrance trial, he had left instructions forbidding Mo Qi from looking for Niu Kexin. He didn’t want his daughter to have any contact with the Martial Dao, much less follow in his footsteps. He only wanted her to live a simple, peaceful life.

So, if Qi Tian hadn’t brought her up, Mo Qi would have almost forgotten about his Sister Kexin.

If Fang Min found Niu Kexin, given her hatred for him, Mo Qi couldn’t bear to imagine what would happen.

’No, I absolutely cannot let anything happen to Sister Kexin!’ Mo Qi thought to himself.

"Oh? Remembered now? You’re furious, aren’t you? But what can you do about it?" Qi Tian said with a loud laugh.

"Fang Min set out over a month ago. Even if she wasn’t familiar with the route, she should have found her target by now. And you? You’re still here in this godforsaken primeval forest. It’ll take you months to get back."

"By the time you get back, I’m afraid someone’s body will be long cold."

Mo Qi’s heart lurched. It was true. There was no way he could make it in time.

Niu Kexin was Uncle Niu’s only flesh and blood. If anything happened to her because of Fang Min, Mo Qi would have failed Uncle Niu, a crime for which even ten thousand deaths would not atone.

’What do I do? What do I do?!’

His heart was heavy with anxiety. Even with a Divine Object like the Chaos Scripture, he was completely helpless right now.

He was filled with regret—regret that he’d let his past feelings for Fang Min stop him from dealing with her.

Otherwise, if he had just paid a little attention, he could have discovered Fang Min’s whereabouts.

None of this would be happening now!

Qi Tian saw all of Mo Qi’s anxiety, regret, and utter despair, and he was greatly satisfied.

"Hahaha, that’s it! Feeling helpless? Desperate? Furious? In pain? The more you suffer, the happier I am." Qi Tian’s laughter was loud and unrestrained.

"Annoying!"

Mo Qi was already seething with anxiety and in no mood to listen to Qi Tian’s nonsense. With a slight exertion of force, he twisted off Qi Tian’s head.

Even in death, a morbid smile was plastered on Qi Tian’s face.

’Whether I can make it in time or not, I have to get back as fast as possible. Death to anyone who stands in my way! Fang Min, if you dare touch a single hair on Sister Kexin’s head, I will make you wish you were dead!’

Mo Qi once again understood a fundamental truth of the Martial Arts World: you had to be clear about who you loved and who you hated. An enemy was an enemy; there was no room for old feelings or soft-heartedness.

Otherwise, sooner or later, someone would pay the price for it.

"You’ve been watching the show long enough. Isn’t it time you came out?"

Mo Qi turned, his cold gaze fixed on the empty space behind him. His External Incarnation was ready, standing by to act at a moment’s notice.

That was right. Diao Qing and Qi Tian weren’t the only ones following Mo Qi. And the others were far more dangerous.

This was also why Mo Qi hadn’t used his External Incarnation yet. He had to keep an ace up his sleeve.