Edited by RED

Black Tortoise hurriedly looked over to the entrance Xu Qi used to get in here earlier, saying, “Don’t worry, it’s not that simple. Although you guys can come in here, it doesn’t mean that it can get out. Venerable Ziyan is not that silly of a man.”

Xu Qi nodded his head expressionlessly, but he was prepared to act at a moment’s notice. He didn’t want Primal Chaos to escape. Otherwise, he would be dead all the same.

Primal Chaos stopped in place when it arrived at the entrance, emitting greyish energy from its body. That grey energy made Xu Qi, who was looking from afar, realize the danger it posed.

The grey energy formed into a large sphere and flew toward the entrance. As it was about to enter the pitch-dark entrance, a gigantic golden-colored character suddenly shone out of nowhere and dispersed Primal Chaos’ grey energy.

Looking carefully, Xu Qi managed to make out the golden word; it was a “forbidden” character.

“See that, little brat? Entering is easy, but getting out is another question. All these years, that one restriction spell alone made that disgusting thing suffer many losses,” Black Tortoise said plainly. However, a look of hatred could be seen in its eyes as it saw the “forbidden” character.

Xu Qi didn’t give a response to Black Tortoise. He continued looking at Primal Chaos, who stood at the cave entrance.

After a while, it looked to have given up and laid down on its stomach.

“Uncle Tortoise, your seal is located at the bottom of the lake, right? Truth be told, I’m a landlubber; I don’t know how to swim,” Xu Qi said to Black Tortoise as he turned around helplessly, seeing as Primal Chaos wouldn’t be able to escape anytime soon.

“You’re really silly, little brat. Who do you think I am? If you want to go to the bottom of the lake, do you even need to go in the water?” Black Tortoise mocked Xu Qi once it heard about his inability to swim.

“Ah? How should I get down then?” Xu Qi asked, puzzled.

Black Tortoise rolled its eyes back as it slowly submerged into the water.

Just as the shell Xu Qi was standing on was about to submerge into water, the whole shell shone in blue. Then, the lake water immediately split to the sides with the shell as the center, forming two walls of water.

Xu Qi sucked in a breath of cold air as he watched the miraculous scene unfold. He had forgotten that Black Tortoise had the title of the Water Deity. When it comes to controlling water, nothing would pose difficulty to it.

Black Tortoise slowly dove down as Xu Qi looked on, his heart in awe at this ancient divine beast’s miraculous ability.

“Little brat, this is but a little trick, and you’re already acting like this. We’re at the bottom now, come take a look,” Black Tortoise interrupted Xu Qi’s thoughts.

“Oh? We’re already here?” Xu Qi answered blankly, then looked down from the shell.

However, all he saw was a pitch black lakebed; there was nothing there. Still, he leaped off the shell.

As he stepped on the lake floor, it wasn’t as muddy as Xu Qi imagined. There wasn’t even any muddy water. He looked at the surroundings; there wasn’t anything other than the two walls of water.

Black Tortoise didn’t say anything. It slowly extended its four huge claws out of its shell.

“Eh? I thought you didn’t have any claws,” Xu Qi laughed.

“You’re the one with no claws. Your whole family have no claws,” Black Tortoise rebuked in annoyance.

Xu Qi was immediately left speechless; his entire family didn’t have any claws to begin with.

Black Tortoise couldn’t be bothered with Xu Qi and used its claws to crawl forward. However, it only took a single step forward before a rainbow energy barrier suddenly appeared before it and blocked its way. On the energy barrier, a few characters could be faintly discerned.

“See? That’s the seal; it’s all around me. You wouldn’t be able to sense it. All I can do is to rise to the surface. In here, I can’t even move a single step; that Venerable Ziyan is such a ruthless man,” Black Tortoise complained.

Xu Qi propped his chin on his hand and said, “Since all four sides are set up with seals, can't you just fly over?”

“You’re a little brat, indeed. Fly over? Let me tell you this; my limbs are all chained with invisible shackles by Venerable Ziyan. The furthest I could go is to the water surface; not a bit higher,” Black Tortoise dismissed Xu Qi’s words. It felt like it was looking at an idiot.

Unexpectedly, Xu Qi didn’t retort. He still looked to be in deep thought.

After a while, Xu Qi took out the torn cloth again. Rainbow energy shone in his hand and he started drawing the depicted pattern for “Unsealing Black Tortoise.”

This pattern was more complicated than the others; it looked to be a combination of words, which proved to be a headache for Xu Qi. After making several failed attempts, sweat could be seen all over his forehead.

On the side, Black Tortoise and Giantwood Python saw the serious look on Xu Qi’s face and didn’t dare to interrupt him. They waited patiently for him as he continued trying, a look of anticipation could be seen in Black Tortoise’s gaze toward Xu Qi.

More time passed, and uncountable failed attempts piled up. Xu Qi felt his energy was about to be exhausted. Suddenly, his strength and energy began recovering speedily.

Xu Qi looked down at his own body. He found that he was enveloped in a blue glow and immediately understood. It was Black Tortoise’s Revitalizing Jet. He turned around and nodded to the divine beast, his heart growing more fond of this technique.

Xu Qi resumed drawing the talisman pattern, but his failed attempts continue piling up. His energy was restored with Revitalizing Jet every time it ran low, turning into a cycle.

As Xu Qi immersed himself within the cycle of failing and retrying, the outside world that was Rivulet City was about to be flipped over; no, it should be that it was already flipped over. It was in chaos.

In the Xu Clan mansion, their Chief Housekeeper, Xu Pingfan, had a grave expression on his face. He tried contacting his young master for several days and also personally went to Mo Dingtian’s place several times, but he just couldn’t be found.

Xu Pingfan could no longer sit still while the storm enveloped Rivulet City, but he had taken Xu Qi as his pillar for such matters and could do naught but wait. He was sure the young master was in secluded training, but was concerned that it might be too late by the time he came out on his own volition.

The reason why Xu Pingfan would be so flustered right now was because it was as Mo Dingtian said to Xu Qi previously: there would be a huge storm; one that enveloped the city in blood and terror.

Everyone had thought the Helian Clan and Liang Clan would prosper to new heights after establishing connections with Glacial Ambuscade Pavilion and Abyssal Beast School respectively.

However, it went against all expectations. First, it was the entire Liang Clan who got massacred overnight without any signs of trouble beforehand. Their patriarch, Liang Renqing was torn from limb to limb and not a single person from their clan came out alive.

The terrified Helian Liang sensed that something was amiss and sent men to Glacial Ambuscade Pavilion to request for aid, but his Helian Clan too, was met with the same misfortune and was massacred before reinforcements arrived. It was said that Helian Liang died a worse death than Liang Renqing.

What was even more bizarre was that on the night Helian Clan was massacred, Rivulet City’s defense force seemed to have discovered something and their captain, Li Hai led men into Helian mansion. They never returned.

In the short period of three days, two of Rivulet City’s most prominent clans were exterminated, and the captain of City Defense Force disappeared mysteriously. The whole city was instantly shrouded in terror. You couldn’t even see a person on the streets during daytime; everyone was afraid for their lives.

At this moment, Mo Dingtian was even more anxious than Xu Pingfan. The sudden situation had caught him unprepared and the Mosuo Auction House was closed indefinitely.

Looking at the situation, Mo Dingtian decided to give it a try and requested for help from his clan. To his surprise, the Mo Clan promptly sent a super strong lineup as reinforcement, with their Second Elder as the leader and quietly came to his mansion. However, the Second Elder only left a single sentence upon reaching here and looked for a separate place to settle down on their own; it seemed like they didn’t respect their first young master at all.

Even now, Mo Dingtian still remembered vividly the words the Second Elder, Mo Wei, left behind.

“The Patriarch has commanded such: I will be responsible for all Mo Clan matters in Rivulet City from today on; just sit and wait patiently,”

Although Mo Dingtian had the status of their Mo Clan’s First Young Master, due to him being away from the clan for years he didn’t have the dignified bearing he should have had in front of the Second Elder.

Furthermore, Second Elder Mo Wei was highly regarded in Mo Clan since the First Elder’s demise while protecting Mo Dingtian. His prestige enabled him to disregard this first young master who had been exiled by their clan for years.

Mo Dingtian didn’t want to disturb Xu Qi’s training originally, but seeing as so many men from Mo Clan came to his mansion and the strange happenings in Rivulet City, he decided to anyway. He knocked on the doors for a long time, but no response came. Thus, he pushed the door open and went in.

To his surprise, Xu Qi wasn’t in his room. Mo Dingtian sighed helplessly; this young master of Xu Clan had always been hard to locate, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Facing the strange happenings in Rivulet City and the lineup from Mo Clan, Mo Dingtian felt a headache just thinking about everything. All he could do was to silently pray in his heart that Xu Qi would quickly appear.

At nighttime, Mo Dingtian hosted a feast and invited the second elder, Mo Wei, alone, hoping to obtain some information from him.

However, to his surprise, the Second Elder came, but he didn’t say a single word; all he did was enjoy the food and wine. Mo Dingtian was only able to entertain him with a smile, not daring to pose any questions.

“First Young Master, I know that you wish to get some information, but it’s best that you don’t hear about it, or trouble might come in your way,” Mo Wei suddenly said after drinking some wine.

Mo Dingtian was ecstatic when he finally heard Mo Wei speaking. He quickly refilled the latter’s wine glass and said, “Second Elder, it’s not that I wish to know about whatever, but that I wanted to find out whether there’s anything I could help Second Elder with. After all, I have stayed in Rivulet City for many years. There are many things that I would be more familiar with.”

To his surprise, the second elder Mo Wei nodded in approval and continued, “Previously, the Purple-flamed Dark Phoenix was born on Mt Burning Cloud and the patriarch decided to sit out the fight, not sending any men here. It was because those kind of things aren’t what our powers would allow us to get involved with. Even if we were to participate in it and obtained the Purple-flamed Dark Phoenix through luck, our clan would probably be wiped out the next day. We understand that much.”

“However, this time around, our clan received secret reports even as you requested aid from the clan. It was about there being an ancient treasure in the hands of one of Rivulet City’s clans. We have no idea as to exactly which family holds the treasure. Thus, the clan hurriedly sent me here to protect you, while at the same time to try and see if an opportunity arises for us to obtain it,” Mo Wei took a sip of wine and continued speaking.

Mo Dingtian came to a sudden realization at hearing such; no wonder Liang Clan and Helian Clan would be exterminated one after another. It is very probable that it was linked to that whatever treasure. However, bitterness rose in his heart as he thought of his clan sending so many experts; it was all for the sake of the treasure, not for him.

Mo Dingtian hurriedly said, “Many thanks to Second Elder to rush to our aid despite the troubles. Though, two of the three great clans of Rivulet City were already exterminated. Perhaps the treasure was already taken.”

Second Elder shook his head. He emptied the wine in his glass and said, “They probably haven’t got their hands on it. According to the information I got, the two groups of people have yet to leave Rivulet City.”

“Two groups? The people who massacred Helian Clan and Liang Clan belonged to two different groups?” Mo Dingtian was shocked.

“Did you think only one party had their eyes on the treasure? Let me tell you; it’s probable that even the seven top schools who left Rivulet City sent people here secretly,” Second Elder continued.

Mo Dingtian was even more astonished when he heard this. Then, he thought of the three great clans in Rivulet. Now, only the Xu Clan was left; could it be that their next target would be them?

Mo Dingtian refilled Second Elder’s glass again and probed, “Of the prominent houses in Rivulet City, the only one left is the Xu Clan, which has fallen from grace. Could it be that they would still be targeted?”

“From the looks of the current situation, the treasure could very possibly be in Xu Clan. Truth be told, our Mo Clan plans to strike first and gain the advantage!” Second Elder said.

Mo Dingtian felt as if he was struck by lightning. He stood there, blanked out as he thought, Our Mo Clan wants to make a move against the Xu Clan; how am I supposed to face Xu Qi?!