Chapter 277: Chapter 274: Who is Qin Daye (Part 1)

Zhongli was furious that he had failed to kill Zhang Shao in a single blow.

He spread his Divine Sense, blanketing the land for a hundred miles in every direction, but he couldn’t find any trace of Zhang Shao.

Zhongli frowned. He had failed to carry out the very first order Mo Qi had given him. ’Now what am I supposed to do?’

"Damn it!"

Cursing under his breath, Zhongli leaped into the sky and slammed a palm down toward the ground below.

’Since I failed at the first task, I have to execute the second one perfectly!’

’Destroy the Wolf Fang Sect!’

RUMBLE!

A colossal Hand Seal descended from the sky. The crushing pressure of its Spiritual Energy was like a mountain, and its violent Energy threatened to annihilate everything in existence.

The remaining members of the Wolf Fang Sect were aghast. They wanted to flee, but Zhongli had already mobilized his Grotto Heaven Power to seal off the entire area.

Jin Quan and the others also had looks of terror on their faces.

’It’s over!’

Just as they thought they were about to die, the power of the great Hand Seal passed right through them, completely ignoring them as it crashed down on the members of the Wolf Fang Sect.

BOOM!

With a deafening roar, the earth began to tremble violently.

Jin Quan felt like a small boat tossed on a stormy sea, rising and falling with the shockwaves. He was dizzy, and a constant ringing filled his ears.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but when he came to his senses, Zhongli was gone. His eyes fell upon the utter annihilation of the Wolf Fang Sect.

Bodies littered the ground. People he knew, people he didn’t, familiar faces and strangers—all of them were dead.

A giant handprint was seared into the earth before him. It was as if the Wolf Fang Sect he remembered had been wiped off the map with a single strike.

Jin Quan, utterly devastated, collapsed onto the ground.

His ultimate goal in rushing back from the Imperial City had been to overthrow the Wolf Fang Sect.

Yet now that the Wolf Fang Sect had truly been annihilated before his very eyes, he couldn’t feel an ounce of happiness.

’Is this really what I wanted?’

Scenes from his past struggles within the Wolf Fang Sect flashed through his mind.

It all felt so unreal.

"Brother... Brother Jin, this..."

The men who had come with him were all unharmed, but they too were terrified by the scene before them.

"Brother Jin, why didn’t that man kill us?"

Jin Quan didn’t answer. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He was now absolutely certain that the Wolf Fang Sect’s fate was tied to Mo Qi.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Zhongli to have spared him.

Opening his eyes again, Jin Quan slowly stood up and dusted himself off. He gave the ruins of the Wolf Fang Sect one final look, then turned and walked away.

"Brother Jin, where are you going?"

"The Imperial City!"

"What for?"

"To repay a debt."

...

A long, orderly line had formed outside the Fighting Cultivation Room at the Imperial Academy in the Imperial City.

The line stretched from the Cultivation Room all the way to the main gate of the Imperial Academy, and from there it snaked out of the city, spanning a full three streets.

The line was composed entirely of young men, and a rough estimate put their number at over ten thousand.

As time went on, the line only grew longer as more and more young men joined it.

"Friend, what’s this line for?" a middle-aged man asked, stopping a young man who was about to join.

The young man was stunned, clearly not expecting anyone to ask such a stupid question.

"Mister, the whole Empire knows about this, and you don’t?" The young man gave him a look one might reserve for an idiot.

The man wasn’t offended. He smiled and said, "I was in seclusion for my Cultivation for a hundred years. I just came out, so I really have no idea what’s been going on."

Realization dawned on the young man’s face. "Oh, I see. Well, you must have at least heard of Master Liu, the greatest Grandmaster of Arrays, right?"

"I know of him," the man nodded.

"Well, he’s publicly recruiting a husband for his granddaughter! Anyone who can defeat a man at the Imperial Academy named Qin Daye will have a chance to marry Miss Liu."

The man was stunned. ’Recruiting a husband? Liu Hong? For Liu Ruyan?’

’Is this for real?!’

"So you’re all lining up to defeat this Qin Daye?"

"That’s right."

"But I see a lot of them are carrying gift boxes, and they don’t look nervous at all. They look less like they’re going to a challenge and more like they’re visiting with presents," the man said with a puzzled look, pointing at some of the people in the line.

"Shh!" The young man gestured for him to be quiet and lowered his voice. "That’s the secret! Rumor has it that this Qin Daye is actually Miss Liu’s older brother, and he’s here to vet the candidates for her."

"He even set a rule: if you want to challenge him, you have to offer up a Spiritual Object that catches his interest. Otherwise, no deal. Think about it—if you can get on his good side, how could you possibly fail his test?"

The man’s expression grew strange. He couldn’t help but ask, "But even if you get past Qin Daye, it’s still just a chance. Is it really worth all of you flocking here like this?"

The young man looked him up and down and sneered, "Mister, sounds like a case of sour grapes, doesn’t it? Isn’t a chance good enough for you? The odds might be low, but what if? If you’re the one chosen, you’d go from zero to hero in an instant, becoming a man above all others!"

"Anyway, I can’t talk anymore, I have to get in line. The future ’brother-in-law’ said that anyone who dares to cut in line and break the rules will be disqualified immediately!"

With that, the young man ignored the man and went to take his place at the very end of the line.

The smile vanished from the man’s face. He used a Secret Technique to activate his Divine Sense and contacted a certain individual.

"Reporting to the Young Master, the person you are looking for is indeed in the Mountain and Sea Empire."

"Excellent!" an excited young man’s voice came from the other end.

Mixed with his voice were the lustful gasps of women—more than one!

"However..." the man began, then hesitated.

"However what?" The voice on the other end grew cold. "You know I don’t like to think when I’m in the middle of... business. If there’s a next time, you can go receive your punishment yourself!"

The man flinched. He knew exactly what "receiving punishment" meant, and a cold sweat broke out on his skin. He quickly said, "Liu Hong is recruiting a husband for Liu Ruyan. Countless young men from across the Mountain and Sea Empire are lining up..."

The man didn’t dare to hide a single detail, relaying everything he had just learned.

As he continued his report, the lustful gasps on the other end of the connection gradually turned into pained moans.

The moans grew weaker and weaker until they faded into silence.

"Useless trash!"

"Guards! Drag this worthless garbage out and burn it!"

"Dammit, they all died before I could even finish. What a fucking waste!"

The Young Master’s furious shouts echoed from the other end.

Even knowing he was hundreds of millions of miles away, the man was still trembling in fear.

After a long silence, the young man’s voice returned. "Alright, I’ve heard what you said. Go investigate this Qin Daye and find out exactly what his relationship is with Liu Ruyan."

"As you command," the man replied.

"Mm. In a few days, my elder brother and the others will be descending with me. You’d better be on your toes. You know my brother... he’s not as easygoing as I am."

With that, the connection was severed.

On a street in the Imperial City of the Mountain and Sea Empire, the man breathed a sigh of relief.

He was covered in a cold sweat without even realizing it. ’How terrifying!’

’The Young Master’s elder brother... To think that even an existence like him would descend to the Mortal Territory. But I suppose it’s understandable, considering Liu Ruyan is here.’

’Qin Daye, you’d better truly be just Liu Ruyan’s brother. Otherwise, you will learn that even death can be a luxury.’