In the faint moonlight, Ming Qi caught a glimpse of an unfamiliar face.
He had never seen this person before.
Not from the Biyou Sect, nor from Yu Quanzhen, the Lord of Killing Star City.
Perhaps from another mercenary group within Killing Star City, Ming Qi finally came to a rather vague conclusion.
Clearly, this person was also heading for Mount Osho, as the direction he was heading made clear. However, daring to come alone to such a foggy Mount Osho was truly audacious.
The man in black didn't pause, not even slowing his pace. Like a black cloud, he swiftly passed by Ming Qi and Mo Changli and vanished.
"More and more powerful individuals are heading for Mount Osho. I imagine there will be a huge chaos."
Watching the man in black disappear in the direction he was heading, Ming Qi whispered.
Mo Changli nodded. This trip to Mount Osho had become even more confusing. Although they were now not far from the mountain, there was no sign of what the outcome would be, and it was impossible to predict or speculate.
"Let's go back and get some rest. It might be very tiring ahead."
Ming Qi turned and headed towards the resting area, with Mo Changli following.
After taking a few steps, Ming Qi suddenly stopped. A gust of wind suddenly rose in front of him, quickly sweeping towards Ming Qi and the others.
Boom boom boom!
Faced with the strange oncoming wind, Ming Qi waved his hand without hesitation, unleashing several finger-tip fire bombs. Dazzling flames quickly pierced the darkness, illuminating the surrounding area.
Using this fleeting light, Ming Qi could see that after the wind dissipated, a short-haired young man in black clothes was standing there steadily.
It was the man in black who had previously left, and he had returned.
Ming Qi narrowed his eyes, staring intently at the black-clad figure before him.
It must be said that this man's movements were quite uncanny. Ming Qi could sense a hint of his presence when he'd passed by earlier, but this time, when he'd returned, he couldn't detect him anymore. It wasn't until he was incredibly close that he could make out his presence.
"What a remarkable hiding technique," Ming Qi said calmly.
"Not bad, huh?"
The black-clad young man's face showed little expression, only answering confidently.
"You'd already gone past, why did you turn back?"
Ming Qi asked.
"I wanted to see who was hiding behind me, watching me."
The two men concealed their presence, and after a few breaths, they saw a dark figure scurry by, ghostlike and swift as the wind.
The black-clad young man was also frank. It seemed that by the time Ming Qi had sensed his presence and taken Mo Changli into hiding, he'd already sensed someone, but he couldn't pinpoint their location.
This seemed like a perfectly reasonable explanation.
However, Ming Qi clearly didn't believe it.
"You dare to venture into Mount Osho alone? Aren't you afraid of death?"
Ming Qi's words grew sharper. A person venturing into Mount Osho alone would have essentially no chance of survival.
"Of course I fear death. I only have one life. But you, with such low cultivation, dare to come here. I'm afraid you wouldn't even be able to pass the protective formation at the foot of Mount Osho. I advise you to abandon your pursuit of the treasure before it's too late, lest you lose your life."
The young man in black wasn't to be outdone, and immediately launched a tit-for-tat counterattack.
Ming Qi was now, after all, a cultivator of the fifth level of the Xiantian Heavenly Man realm. As for Mo Changli, he had also reached the Artifact Control Realm. With such strength, even in ordinary immortal sects, they would be considered figures of status and prestige. But in the eyes of this young man in black, they seemed unworthy of mention.
"You're not that great, and yet you're still criticizing others."
Mo Changli muttered. Although he couldn't quite tell the black-clad young man's true strength, he thought he was only at the sixth or seventh level of the Innate Realm at best.
"You're mercenaries from Killing Star City, right?"
The black-clad young man saw that there was no point in dwelling on this question and immediately changed the subject.
"Yes."
Ming Qi didn't intend to hide his mercenary identity.
"Excellent!"
The black-clad young man's eyes grew sharp. "I heard a large number of mercenaries have been pouring into the Imperial Mountains recently, reportedly searching for the whereabouts of Dragon Thief Ye Qizong. Is that true?"
"Dragon Thief Ye Qizong, hehe."
Ming Qi couldn't deny it. He had analyzed the matter thoroughly. The so-called Dragon Thief Ye Qizong was nothing more than bait; in reality, no such person existed.
"What are you laughing at?"
The black-clad young man stared at Ming Qi, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
"Nothing. I just think, since Ye Qizon is known as the Dragon Thief, there are still people naively trying to target him. Isn't that a joke?"
Ming Qi naturally wouldn't share his own analysis, so he improvised an excuse to evade it.
"Are you well aware of the Dragon Thief's power?"
The young man in black asked.
"I really don't know, but from what I understand, anyone associated with dragons is a natural freak, a being very close to higher-level life forms. They must be geniuses, beyond the reach of ordinary cultivators."
Ming Qi began to make a fuss about the word "dragon."
This time, the young man in black fell silent, as if lost in thought.
After a moment, he suddenly opened his mouth, smiled slightly, and whispered, "Actually, I am the Dragon Thief Ye Qizon."
...
After these words, Ming Qi and Mo Changli exchanged a glance, and a momentary silence fell.
Is there really such a person as the Dragon Thief Ye Qizon? If this were true, wouldn't all previous assumptions be completely shattered?
Do we have to start all over again?
Or should we act now and capture this man claiming to be the Dragon Thief Ye Qizon and claim the reward?
For a moment, Ming Qi felt like countless ants were frantically scurrying around in his mind.
A long pause.
"Are you Ye Qizon? Are you kidding? This is no joke. I'm telling you, you're very expensive. I don't even know how many mercenary groups are searching for you. You'd better run!"
Ming Qi said, feeling both amused and embarrassed.
He had originally wanted to say, "If you're Ye Qizon, then I'm still the head of the Divine Realm."
But then he thought, this matter was truly unbelievable.
"Very expensive!"
The black-clad young man muttered to himself, then turned to Ming Qi, "I truly am Ye Qizon, and I'm not afraid of their pursuit. Since you're so kind as to tell me this, I'll share some of the secrets I know about Mount Osho."
Upon hearing the secrets of Mount Osho, Ming Qi perked up.
It didn't matter if he was the Dragon Thief Ye Qizon or not; as long as he could understand the secrets of Mount Osho, it would be enough.
"You know about the Divine Weapon Sect from the end of ancient times? Here on Mount Osho lies their treasure trove."
Divine Weapon Sect?
Ming Qi was stunned at first, then his heart pounded. Wasn't the Divine Weapon Sect the same sect Meng Ling belonged to?
"The Divine Weapon Sect was once at its peak, but during the chaos of the ancient world, it fell into the demonic realm. Just as the Divine Weapon Sect's former leader died in battle, Young Master Wushuang took over. Sadly, Young Master Wushuang couldn't resist the temptations of the demonic realm and ultimately led the Divine Weapon Sect to hell."
The black-clothed youth seemed to have strayed off topic, so he shifted the subject and continued, "Rumor has it that Young Master Wushuang, at the time of the Divine Weapon Sect's demise, dispersed the sect's treasures, hiding them in different locations and setting up killing arrays to prevent outsiders from taking them. Then, Young Master Wushuang, using the secret technique of life and death, vanished from the world, and no one knows his whereabouts."
"In other words, the treasure on Mount Osho was left behind by the Divine Weapon Sect during the ancient times, and a massive killing array has been set up around it."
Ming Qi directly summarized the key points of the black-clothed youth's remarks.
"Yes."
"The Divine Weapon Sect is an ancient sect, amassed countless rare treasures, and later descended into demonic ways, using every possible means. Its wealth is unimaginably rich. Imagine if someone were to obtain the Divine Weapon Sect's remains, they would instantly become renowned, perhaps even instantly becoming a deity."
The black-clothed youth's words practically revealed his boundless desire for the Divine Weapon Sect's treasures on Mount Oshou.
Indeed, any cultivator who had any inkling of the Divine Weapon Sect's power in ancient times would immediately and without hesitation rush to Mount Oshou.
"Another point: many masters and powerful individuals have gathered around Mount Oshou, and there's also an unknown force present."
After the black-clothed youth finished speaking, he turned away, ignoring Ming Qi.
"Why did he tell us all this?"
Mo Changli asked Ming Qi after the black-clothed youth had completely vanished.
This man claiming to be Ye Qizong had revealed the secrets of Mount Osho for no apparent reason. Why?
Is he truly kindhearted?
Ming Qi disagreed. He looked like a man of deep scheming. How could he have so easily revealed the secrets of Mount Osho?
"Do you believe he's Ye Qizong?"
Ming Qi asked Mo Changli in return.
Ming Qi had always believed that the name "Dragon Thief Ye Qizong" was a fabrication, a person who never existed. But now, unexpectedly, someone had actually emerged claiming to be Ye Qizong.
"I don't know,"
Mo Changli answered honestly. She truly couldn't judge. After all, no one had ever seen Ye Qizong in person.
"Let's go back and rest. I'll think this over."
Back at his resting place, Ming Qi sat on the ground and thought quietly. He wanted to examine all the events that had occurred, one by one, to see if there were truly any irregularities among them.
...
The next day, Ming Qi and his group continued their journey toward Mount Osho, though according to Ming Qi, they weren't moving very fast.
Perhaps because they were already close to Mount Osho, they hadn't gone far when they encountered members of another mercenary group from Kill Star City, the Killing God Domain.
Seeing that they couldn't avoid each other, they had no choice but to confront each other.