CHAPTER 71: OCEAN PALACE

Of the 50 participants on Bai Island, at least 21 failed in the first round. Li Shen turned his head and saw that Mo Ni had made it through with his two friends.

They stared at Li Shen with arrogant faces, as if to tell him that they could also pass easily even though their lives were at stake.

Mo Ni took the initiative to step out of the line and stood directly in front of Li Shen. The man smiled smugly, standing with his back to his two friends.

"It seems I don’t need to worry about that soul essence anymore. Elder Mo will take care of it for me," Mo Ni replied arrogantly.

Li Shen did not feel pressured. Instead, he found it ridiculous to see Mo Ni acting as if he had been freed from Li Shen’s threat.

Elder Mo Ni was indeed a talented cultivator, one of the elders of the Ming Yuan Sect, with a cultivation level of Perfect Nascent Soul.

Even so, Li Shen was not afraid. Power was what set him apart from all of them. The man was hiding his cultivation, but that did not mean his power was restrained.

He could unleash his true power, which could destroy a sect or a city. But that was not what he wanted.

His target was Ming Yue, Ming Gong’s daughter. That way, it would be easy for Li Shen to intimidate Ming Gong.

"I have already told Elder Mo everything. If you don’t want this matter to drag on, you’d better hand over the Soul Essence and that fat man to us!" Mo Ni threatened.

Bai Zhang refused to show fear, shaking his head continuously. He didn’t want Li Shen to do that. Bai Zhang didn’t want to continue being bullied by them. The young man wanted to be free.

"It looks like I’ll be keeping this Soul Essence much longer than I thought, especially if Elder Mo tries to intimidate me," replied Li Shen.

"You?! Are you courting death?!" snapped Mo Ni.

Mo Ni’s anger attracted the attention of many other cultivators. Mo Ni’s two friends felt uncomfortable under the stares of the others. He asked Mo Ni to leave.

Li Shen also left, accompanied by Bai Zhang. Their argument was over, but unbeknownst to them, Elder Mo had been watching them from afar.

’He can destroy the Mo Family’s heirloom spear with ease. His cultivation base must be formidable. I must be careful,’ explained Elder Mo.

It was possible that Li Shen had hidden his cultivation base in order to participate in the tournament.

There were no rules against that because all abilities were measured based on the cultivator’s soul power. Soul power was not the same as cultivation strength.

"We must go report the results of the first round to the Committee Chairman, Elder Mo," explained one of the Core Formation disciples.

Elder Mo nodded. He would take care of this matter after he reported the first round on Bai Island to the main hall of the Ming Yuan Sect, where all the elders were gathered together with the sect leader, Ming Gong, and Ming Yue.

He and the other sect disciples flew away from Bai Island. The guards on the island told the participants to rest. They all had three days to rest before the next round began.

Elsewhere, Elder Mo and the sect disciples assigned to Bai Island arrived at the Ocean Palace, the most central and important place in the entire Ming Yuan Sect.

The palace doors opened, and out of the five elders assigned to each participant island, only three people came, one of whom was Elder Mo.

He stepped inside with his head bowed, paying his respects to the Ming Yuan Sect Leader and Ming Gong. Elder Mo was also seen coming with a female disciple carrying 29 third-grade element pills.

"Welcome, Elder Mo," greeted the Ming Yuan Sect Leader, Yun Zhi.

"You seem to be carrying many pills in your hands. It appears that the participants from Bai Island show great potential, Elder Mo," remarked Yun Zhi.

"Greetings, Sect Leader. The participants from Bai Island are high-level cultivators; it is only natural that they could pass this test with ease," replied Elder Mo.

The female cultivator stepped aside and handed the pills to the palace staff. Elder Mo sat among the elders at a wooden table with a cup of hot tea on it. The place had been fully prepared for him.

"What determined their success was their soul power, not their cultivation level," replied Ming Gong.

Ming Gong sat in the center of the podium, with Yun Zhi on his right and Ming Yue on his left. From Elder Mo’s eyes, the three of them were at different cultivation levels.

Ming Gong was at the Soul Ascension level, Yun Zhi was at the Soul Formation level, and Ming Yue was at the Perfect Nascent Soul level.

The combined cultivation strength of the three was far stronger than that of all the elders of the Ming Yuan Sect.

"I heard that your nephew caused trouble on Bai Island. Can you explain this to us?" asked Ming Gong, focusing his attention on Elder Mo.

Elder Mo clenched his fists. He had expected that the news would reach the Ocean Palace, and even Ming Gong. He certainly did not want the Mo Family’s only hope in this tournament to be lost.

He stood up and stepped forward, then quickly knelt down and banged his head on the floor three times.

It was a deep apology for his nephew’s foolish behavior.

"It was pure stupidity on my nephew’s part. He challenged one of the Yuan Sect disciples and seriously injured her. Fortunately, I arrived just in time before he could go any further," said Elder Mo.

"Hurting a disciple of the Ming Yuan Sect is the same as hurting an entire sect. Do you know the consequences of your nephew’s actions?" asked Ming Gong, further pressuring Elder Mo.

"Junior is well aware of the consequences, Ancestor Ming," replied Elder Mo.

Seeing the notoriously stubborn Elder Mo kneel like that made Yun Zhi quite satisfied.

However, he did not want Elder Mo to continue to be humiliated. He turned his head and spoke to Ming Gong.

"I think Mo Ni has gotten what he deserves for his attitude," said Yun Zhi.

He waved his hand forward and brought up a plate containing a recording of the entire incident in the Ming Yuan Sect’s Treasure Dimension. The video projection was clearly visible to everyone, including Ming Gong.

From the projection screen, Li Shen clearly saw that Mo Ni and his two friends were injured in the battle against the cultivator in the Azure Dragon-patterned blue robe. Ming Gong felt familiar with that robe.

"From the events at that place, it can be confirmed that Mo Ni couldn’t act further because his life was in danger. He was forced to hand over his soul essence to that man," replied Yun Zhi.

"Who is he?" Ming Gong asked curiously.

Yun Zhi turned forward, Elder Mo explained who the man was. He was Shen Li, a wandering cultivator who did not represent any sect or family. That made Ming Gong laugh loudly.

"HAHA! A young master of the Mo Family, who is respected throughout the Ming Zhao Kingdom, was humiliated by this wandering cultivator? How far has your family fallen?" Ming Gong sneered.

"Shen Li! I will not forgive you!" groaned Elder Mo.

"Even Yue’er wouldn’t want to be paired with a trash family like the Mo family," Ming Gong scolded. The Mo Elder fell silent, but his heart continued to burn with anger and hatred.

Ming Gong turned his head and looked at Ming Yue to ask his daughter’s opinion about Shen Li. Ming Yue began to give her opinion.

"He’s handsome, but strength is everything. If he manages to reach the main stage of the tournament, I’ll pay more attention to him," Ming Yue replied.

"HAHA! Of course, let’s wait and see how he does."

"There’s one more thing I want to say, Ming Ancestor," Elder Mo said, plucking up his courage.

"What?"

"I suspect that Shen Li is a cultivator who is hiding his cultivation base," replied Elder Mo, making Ming Gong gasp.

"You mean he’s not a Nascent Soul cultivator?"

Yun Zhi caught this conversation. He played another recording that showed Shen Li’s battle against two cultivators from the Chong family and the Yun Zhao Sect.

The Yun Zhao Sect disciple died at Shen Li’s hands, but the other cultivator managed to escape after Chong Wei stopped Shen Li.

Even more shocking was the moment when Shen Li made Chong Wei, a Soul Formation stage cultivator, kneel in submission with just the pressure of his qi energy.

"Hmm... this is indeed suspicious," Ming Gong replied.

"Should we send an investigation team there to ask him to reveal his cultivation base?" asked Yun Zhi. Ming Gong remained silent.

"Ming Yue and I will go meet him. If he can defeat Chong Wei, then we will need a cultivator with higher cultivation to make him talk, "replied Ming Gong, rising from his seat.

"Allow me to accompany you, Ancestor Ming," replied Yun Zhi. Ming Gong cleared his throat in consent.

After everything was ready, the three of them left the Ocean Palace and headed to Bai Island to meet Shen Li, the mysterious wandering cultivator.

"Your life is over, Shen Li. You cannot escape the cultivation gaze of Ancestor Ming Gong!"