"I think that's an excellent suggestion," Wang Xinglong said with a smile.
"I agree as well," Xu He added, lifting his eyelids slightly.
"Bullshit!" the Inspector Elder cursed. "Wang Xinglong, have you no shame? Your grandson has been cultivating under you since he was a child. Not only are his Cultivation Technique and Martial Techniques top-tier, but he's already at the Qi Refining Ninth Heaven."
"Mo Qi is just a servant who practices the most basic introductory Cultivation Technique, with no one to guide him. Do you really think a fight between them would be fair?"
Wang Hao laughed. "Isn't this the perfect way to demonstrate Mo Qi's talent? Otherwise, on what grounds should he be ranked as a Core Disciple?"
Listening to them argue, Mo Qi felt like a complete outsider.
He was the subject of the debate, yet he had no right to speak. He could only watch from the sidelines, passively accepting the decisions and arrangements made by others.
This feeling of his fate not being in his own hands was incredibly suffocating for Mo Qi.
'If I had enough power—if I were strong enough to suppress the entire Void Sect on my own—none of this would be happening.'
Whether for survival or for his future path to becoming a Kitchen God, Mo Qi knew that from the day he set foot on the Martial Dao, he had to strive for power.
"Enough bickering!" Yun Xuzi stopped the fruitless argument. He had already made a decision.
"It is a fact that Mo Qi has passed the test. I will permit him to become an Official Disciple. However, his talent is yet to be determined, so let him start as an Outer Sect Disciple. As for the duel with Wang Hao, you may discuss it amongst yourselves. This is my decision!"
With that said, Yun Xuzi didn't linger. In a flash, his figure vanished from the spot.
The beautiful Fifth Elder, Ruan Mengwu, gave Mo Qi a deep look before she, too, departed.
Although the Inspector Elder and Wang Hao's group were dissatisfied, there was nothing they could do.
Yun Xuzi might seem easygoing on a normal day, but once he made a decision, no one could change it.
"Trash, do you dare to fight me?" Wang Hao looked at Mo Qi provocatively.
The events of the day had brought him immense shame. As long as Mo Qi was alive, Wang Hao wouldn't know a moment's peace. He especially couldn't forget wetting his pants in public; for that, he wished he could tear Mo Qi to pieces.
A cold glint flashed in Mo Qi's eyes. He wanted nothing more than to accept immediately, but he knew he was no match for Wang Hao.
'No matter how powerful the Creation Golden Body Technique is, I've only cultivated it for two days. The fact that Wang Hao still dares to challenge me after I displayed my superior physique means he must be completely confident he can defeat, or even kill, me.'
Mo Qi was proud, but he was no fool.
'Even if I'm going to fight him, I should at least wait until I'm more familiar with the basic rules of the Martial Arts World.'
Seeing Mo Qi's silence, Wang Hao assumed he was scared and sneered, "What, chickening out already? Should I give you three or five years to train?"
Mo Qi frowned. Wang Hao's repeated provocations were becoming unbearable.
The ancients spoke of four irreconcilable hatreds: the destruction of one's country, the annihilation of one's family, the theft of one's wife, and the murder of one's father.
Although Fang Min wasn't technically his wife, having his girlfriend stolen was still an outrageous offense, not to mention how it was subsequently used to humiliate him time and again.
Mo Qi held up one finger. "One month. Not three or five years. In one month, do you dare to face me in a life-and-death battle?"
"Mo Qi, don't be rash!" the Inspector Elder cried out in alarm. Though they had only known each other for a short time, he greatly admired Mo Qi and didn't want to see him die at Wang Hao's hands.
Mo Qi shook his head and gave the Inspector Elder a reassuring look. "I'm not being rash."
"You..." The Inspector Elder sighed. He had done all he could. Since Mo Qi insisted, there was nothing more he could do.
"Good! You've got guts! I accept!" Wang Hao laughed aloud. 'The idiot really fell for my goading.' "I'll give you one month. I hope you don't get cold feet and fail to show up."
"Let's go!" In high spirits, Wang Hao wrapped an arm around Fang Min and left with his group of followers.
Before leaving, Fang Min shot Mo Qi a look filled with both venomous hatred and smug satisfaction.
'In one month, I'll personally watch you get killed. Hmph, you clueless piece of trash.'
Wang Xinglong and Xu He exchanged a glance. The two old foxes shared a sinister smile that only they understood before disappearing from sight.
The other disciples in the crowd also lost interest. In their eyes, Mo Qi only had one month left to live. He stood no chance against Wang Hao.
"The show's over. Let's go, let's go." On the second floor of the hall, Liu Hong stretched lazily and pulled a reluctant Liu Ruyan away.
Mo Qi scratched his head and looked at the Inspector Elder. "Elder, is there anything I need to do?"
The Inspector Elder sighed. "Since you are now an Outer Sect Disciple, you are qualified to go to the Martial Hall and select one Cultivation Technique and one Martial Technique."
"Ordinary disciples don't have the right to be taken as an apprentice. You have to perform exceptionally well during the annual Sect competition and be noticed by a powerful expert who then takes you in as a disciple."
"What you can do is go to the Task Hall to accept missions and earn contribution points. These points can be exchanged within the Sect for higher-level Cultivation Techniques, Martial Techniques, Elixirs, and so on, to continuously improve yourself."
"But for now, you should probably focus on how you're going to deal with Wang Hao in a month."
"Thank you, Elder." Mo Qi bowed deeply to the Inspector Elder in sincere gratitude.
The Inspector Elder waved his hand, said nothing more, and left with a grim expression.
Mo Qi walked out of the hall and let out a long breath. The tension and pressure, feelings he hadn't experienced in a long time, filled him with motivation.
Faced with Wang Hao's threat, he wasn't the least bit afraid. On the contrary, he was thrilled.
'Perhaps this is the life that's truly suited for me. Wang Hao, in one month, I'll show you the meaning of despair.'
Of course, he hadn't agreed to the one-month duel on a whim. What he lacked now was merely combat skill and experience, as well as some common knowledge about cultivating the Martial Dao.
He believed that one month was enough time for him to accomplish a great deal.
For example, the third transformation of the Nine Transformations into Spirit: Expulsion.
This Expulsion wasn't Qi Absorption in the traditional sense. Instead, it was about expelling the Acquired waste gases from his body, purifying his physical form until it was flawless. At that point, his Spiritual Energy Affinity would become one hundred percent.
Mo Qi didn't immediately go to the Martial Hall to choose a Cultivation Technique. He returned to the Servant Area. There were some things he had to take with him.
Along the way, every servant who saw him looked as if they had seen a ghost. There was admiration, doubt, but mostly pity in their eyes.
No one came up to greet him, no one spoke to him. In fact, everyone steered clear of him, keeping their distance.
Mo Qi knew the news of his life-and-death battle with Wang Hao in one month had already spread.
In their eyes, he was already a corpse—a corpse that had offended Wang Hao.
Mo Qi paid no mind to their attitudes. He walked straight to his former residence, now a pile of rubble, and pulled a small, jet-black wooden box from within.
Opening the box revealed a rust-spotted ring. Calling it a ring was a stretch; it was really just an iron band. It had no ornamentation, no pattern. If you didn't say it was a ring, no one would ever recognize it as one.
Uncle Niu had told Mo Qi that this ring was hanging around his neck on a thin string when they first met.
But Mo Qi had no memory of the ring. Uncle Niu said he had probably forgotten due to a high fever. He added that the ring was the only token of Mo Qi's identity and might help him find his lost family.
At first, Mo Qi thought that made sense and wore the ring every day. But as time went on and the ring began to rust, he grew disillusioned. It was just an ordinary iron band.
From then on, he had locked the ring away, and it had remained locked up for more than six years.
Perhaps still clinging to a final shred of hope, he decided to take the ring with him.
He re-threaded it onto a thin string, hung it around his neck so it rested against his skin, and then dug Uncle Niu's memorial tablet out of the rubble.
"Uncle Niu, what you couldn't achieve back then, I've done it for you. This is only the beginning. Don't worry, the title of Kitchen God will be yours too."
"Well, well, if it isn't the new-generation prodigy Mo Qi, the great genius?" A familiar voice rang out as Fang Hua approached with several young men dressed in the attire of Official Disciples.
Mo Qi frowned slightly, having no desire to engage with this petty man who had risen in status by relying on his daughter.
But Fang Hua was relentless. Logically, now that Mo Qi was an Outer Sect Disciple, Fang Hua shouldn't dare to act this way. But who could blame him, when he had latched onto a great backer like Wang Hao?
The few disciples with him had been sent by Wang Hao, and their actions had his tacit approval.
"You delusional piece of trash, so what if you passed the entrance test? Eighty percent completion? HAHAHA, that's hilarious! I heard you can't even condense True Essence. I wonder if that's true."
Fang Hua sneered maliciously. The moment Fang Min chose to be with Wang Hao, Fang Hua had wanted to kill Mo Qi.
As long as Mo Qi was alive, Fang Min would forever be labeled as "Mo Qi's ex-girlfriend."
This was something Fang Hua could not tolerate. He worried it would affect Fang Min's standing in Wang Hao's eyes.
He seemed to have forgotten who had worked so hard to support Fang Min when she failed her test, scrambling to provide her with Cultivation Resources.
He had also forgotten how he became the Chief Steward of Miscellaneous Affairs. If Mo Qi's culinary skills hadn't won over the stomachs of many high-ranking members, and if Mo Qi hadn't put in a good word for him, how could such a cushy job have ever fallen to him?
Mo Qi shook his head and prepared to leave with the memorial tablet. In his eyes, Fang Hua was nothing but a complete clown, and it was pointless to waste words on him.
However, Fang Hua stepped forward and crushed Uncle Niu's memorial tablet under his foot, freezing Mo Qi's outstretched hand in place.
"Oops? My apologies, I seem to have stepped on the tablet of that fellow named Niu. But I did it on purpose. What can you do about it? HAHAHA. He was trash, just like you. His death was so tragic, wasn't it? Torn to shreds by a Demon Beast, I believe. Just like this tablet, smashed to pie—"
Before he could finish his sentence, Mo Qi exploded into action. A single slap shattered Fang Hua's face, sending him flying. Most of his pearly white teeth were knocked out, and half of his jaw was dislocated, left dangling by a sliver of flesh and skin.
Not only had Fang Hua not expected Mo Qi's sudden attack, but the few disciples who had come with him also failed to react in time.
They were Inner Sect Disciples with Qi Refining Cultivation, but they were all only at the Qi Refining First Heaven. Wang Hao had sent them to teach Mo Qi a lesson and to probe his true strength.