Chapter 580: Prelude to the war (part-2)
Eventually, the beast reached its limit and collapsed on the field, midway, and Meng Tao immediately took out the taming scroll and placed it on the ground, pushing his palms on it.
"Activate"
As his ether energy flew into the scroll, the runes drawn on it activated and released magenta-colored energy chains, which shot out toward their target like a bullet and tightly grabbed the beast.
The beast resisted a bit but eventually, it let the spell reach its soul, binding it with his former enemy.
Once the chains disappeared, the two-headed beast, with great difficulty, rose to its feet and looked at Meng Tao, and bowed, letting out a whimper of submission.
As Meng Tao raised one of the guns and stretched above his head with a smile on his face, the crowd erupted in cheers.
"Kuai Qiang" "Kuai Qiang" "Kuai Qiang" "Kuai Qiang" "Kuai Qiang"
In the sky above the arena, Mark, who was observing the battle was more baffled by the cheers. He couldn\'t help but mumble, "Kuai Qiang? When did this guy change his name?"
Eol, who was standing beside him, said, "Kuai Qiang (Fast shooter) is quite a befitting title for this fellow, Chancellor Lu."
"Oh, I thought that it was something else…" Mark looked away in slight embarrassment and replied, "*Ahem* Well, I too never expected him to draw out its power and use it in firearms. I guess whether it is the sword or a gun, they are nothing more than a tool to bring out one\'s ether energy and add transformation."
"You mean the Qilin?" Eol raised his eyebrow. His tone changed slightly.
Mark looked at him and said, "You don\'t need to hate the thing that doesn\'t concern you, Eol."
Eol was taken aback, but then shook his head with a sigh, "I\'m sorry, can\'t help it. I have these memories stored in my head." After a brief pause, he added, "No matter how I think, the incident was quite suspicious. The Qilin was supposed to be an auspicious and benevolent beast. How could it cause unnecessary destruction?"
Mark nodded, "Yeah, I know. There is indeed someone behind the scenes. But, then again, there\'s no use in pondering on the matter that ended long ago. Not to mention, Meng Tao\'s Qilin doesn\'t remember anything. Or, it\'s what it claims."
"Uhh… Lu Zhen…" Xie Mei joined in the conversation after mild hesitation, "Is it that same Qilin that I think it is?"
Mark glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, "Yeah, so?"
Xie Mei averted her gaze and slowly said, "Nothing. It\'s just that I never thought that someone like Meng Tao had such power. I mean it is a beast emperor, you know."
"Isn\'t a beast Emperor a puny mortal in the end? What\'s so special about them?" A scoff escaped from behind her, giving chills to her for a second.
"Brother Qing, choose your words carefully."
"I beg to differ, Brother Qing. Apart from the fact that we live for eternity, there is not much of difference in our strength."
"Hmpf, Brother Xuan, you think that way because your abilities lie in the water. Once you are out of your habitat, you have to depend on your shield and precognition. But, I\'m different. I can easily tear apart those puny beast emperors with these claws of mine."
"Ha… it\'s useless to talk with a half-wit, Sister Xuan."
"It\'s not true, Sister Zhu. As the wise, we have the duty to help the ignorants."
"Ugh… these noisy individuals. Let me sleep in peace for a while. *Roar*"
"Half-wit? You… You dare… I challenge you to a battle, Brother Xuan"
"I refuse…"
"That\'s good. Wait… what… You coward. *Graaa*"
"Oh, shut up all of you…" Mark couldn\'t hold back himself anymore as his ears rang with vibrations of their rants.
His command returned the silence to the Spidership and Xie Mei stared at him with her beaming eyes, "Wow, my husband is the best."
Meanwhile, in the field, after the barrier was removed by the mages, a couple of healers rushed toward the beast on the orders of their King, healing its wounds and bringing it back to its peak state once again.
Once they were done with their treatment, Meng Tao took a leap and landed on its back, addressing the audience or more specifically at one person, "Since there is still time for my master\'s arrival, I wonder if Venerable Song would grace us with his presence and have a spar with me and let me test how stronger have I gotten." He cupped his fists and bowed as several glances shifted to the VIP sections.
In the VIP section, King Shen Niu frowned at his challenge, "What the hell this brat intends to do right now?"
"He is challenging Venerable Song? Is he out of his mind?"
"Venerable Song? Who is he?" "Fool, you don\'t know who he is? The Supreme realm expert on Emperor Shang\'s side."
"A mere 3-circle wants to challenge Song Tai? He will die in a second even with Orthrus beast on his side." "Not necessarily, brother. Shen She is \'His\' servant and Song Tai is loyal to Emperor Shang Fu, who is \'His\' father. He might play along."
Various whispers and murmurs filled the entire arena but there was no reaction from the man in question. He quietly stared at the young man while stroking his beard as if he was pondering on how to deal with him.
It was then a man flew from the stands and landed in the arena. Everyone saw the man in white robes and hood erect a hexagonal barrier through the smoke he breathed out of the smoking pipe, covering a wide area with the power of the Exalt realm (7-circle).
The knights and the mages deployed there were ready to act but they didn\'t make a move as the stranger lowered down his hood, revealing to be a familiar figure.
As he walked toward Meng Tao, he calmly spoke, "Venerable Song is a royal guest of the kingdom. Asking him to spar with you is like you are insulting him. We don\'t want people to think that our Lunaris is inhospitable, right?"
Meng Tao developed a frown on his face as he looked at the person, "It seems like you want to spar with me, Your Highness."
"Please, I\'m no longer attached to the royal palace. You don\'t need to call me that," replied the white-robed old man. He piped out a puff of smoke and added, "Moreover, we are acquaintances, aren\'t we? You can just address me as Old Mister as you always had."
Meng Tao\'s frown deepened, "Regardless of your detachment to the affairs of the kingdom, Your Highness is still the beloved elder uncle of His Majesty. Touching you is the same as offending the throne. That is why I have never implicated you when you tried to kill my friend. The hatred I have for you is deep enough to kill you if we spar, which will displease my master too. So, I don\'t think this spar is a wise decision. Please return, Your Highness, before I regret it."
The entire arena went silent, listening to their conversation. Naturally, it brought mostly negative reactions from the people, against the royal family. Most of the citizens thought that the royals didn\'t change and did as they wished, without any regard for the lives of commoners.
The elite individuals, on the other hand, thought differently.
Some of them wondered whether this old man was tired of living by hurting a servant of the one who is rumored to be the strongest man in the world.
Others opinioned that the strong takes what they want. This is the basic rule of the world and the weak cannot do anything about it but complain.
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Piping up another puff of smoke, Shen Li let out a chuckle, "Let me correct your allegation a bit. I didn\'t try to kill your friend. I merely absorbed his life force to feed my weapon. Look, he is doing well right now, and I also compensated him with the money. So, your hatred is unwarranted."
After a brief pause, he continued, "Anyways, let bygones be bygones. No use in arguing about it. The reason I\'m here is to scout you. I have been gathering individuals like you, who weren\'t blessed with potential in cultivation but incredibly talented in using firearms, to create a sect. How about it? If you join me, I will give you the position of an elder. With me backing the sect financially, there is no need to worry about the weapons."
In the Spidership floating in the sky in an invisible state, Mark heard them and he furrowed his brows in displeasure, "This man not only tried to kill Chang Bo and now even daring to steal Meng Tao? It looks like even weaklings think I have gone soft…"