Chapter 187.1: The History of the Artifacts

How could Taiyi not be furious? What virtue or merit did he possess to be ambushed by a Great Venerable?

Those terrifying lightning serpents, each capable of annihilating a First Step to Heaven True God, left him utterly powerless to resist. There was nothing he could do before such an overwhelming existence.

At this moment, Thunder stood upon the firmament. A violent gale howled, his hair thick and cropped short.

When he heard Qi Yuan's protests, he paused in slight confusion. Then, he swung his massive hand. The once peerless and invincible Taiyi was reduced to a small chunk of flesh.

Then, Thunder appeared before Qi Yuan. "Disciple, you spoke too slowly. Fortunately, there's still a bit of him left."

He spread open his broad palm. Inside lay a small strip of pitch-black meat, more cooked than anything in a barbecue shop. Somehow, it was still alive.

Qi Yuan stared at the remnant, his eyes flickering. "Big Boss, can I have it?"

He could clearly sense that he was no match for the person before him. A true man knew when to bow and when to stand.

Thunder handed over the charred lump of flesh. "Didn't I say I'd give you a meeting gift? Naturally, it's yours."

As Qi Yuan stared at it, his sword manifested behind him, blazing with intense light. He wanted to slay a god to gain EXP. "Take my sword, you old fart!"

Qi Yuan had coveted this white moonlight for a long time. He had schemed, plotted, and meticulously planned just to trick it into descending. EXP and evil spiritual energy, none of it could go to waste!

Bang!

The sword struck the fragment of flesh. An awkward scene followed. Qi Yuan staggered, nearly losing his footing. That lump of flesh was absurdly tough, he couldn't cut it.

Thunder burst into laughter. "You need to eat more meat to build yourself up. Look at those scrawny arms and legs! Forget ruling over three thousand beauties a night, you probably couldn't handle one."

He knew full well that Qi Yuan had not yet entered the True God realm. How was he supposed to fight a True God without becoming one?

Meanwhile, no matter what he did, Qi Yuan simply couldn't destroy the meat. Thunder had done this on purpose, just to watch Qi Yuan make a fool of himself.

The people within the territory all wanted to laugh, but dared not to. After all, they had to preserve a god's dignity.

Wang Wenqi, who stood beside Qi Yuan, started plucking the strings of her pipa. A piercing note rang out, reducing the lump of divine flesh to ash. In that instant, a vast torrent of EXP surged into Qi Yuan. His level instantly went from 70 to 89, stopping just short of level 90. Powerful evil spiritual energy also flowed into him.

Qi Yuan immediately felt high-spirited and invigorated. Only then did he look at the short-haired, burly old man, his eyes glinting. "Big Boss, your strength isn't bad."

"Your talent isn't bad either," Thunder said, studying Qi Yuan. "Back in the ancient era, which division were you from?"

Qi Yuan said quietly, "My identity is a bit special. If I tell you, you must keep it a secret."

Thunder understood at once. As expected, Qi Yuan was someone on a special mission. Otherwise, how could he know so many obscure True Gods?

Qi Yuan said calmly, "I belong to the Huaxia Dragon Group."

Who hadn't heard of the Huaxia Dragon Group? It was a place where talents gathered. Having something like the Four Heavenly Kings was perfectly normal, wasn't it?

"The Huaxia Dragon Group?" Thunder murmured. "I've never heard of it, but those four words alone sound extraordinary."

"Big Boss, are you interested in joining the Dragon Group?" Qi Yuan continued to bullshit smoothly, "if you join now, I can make you captain of a special operations unit."

Thunder laughed with amused eyes. "I'm here to take you as my disciple, not to join some Huaxia Dragon Group nonsense. My strength is decent, right? Come, be my disciple. I'll dote on you properly."

Qi Yuan was taken aback. "You want to take me as your disciple?"

"Of course."

"Your strength isn't good enough."

Thunder's smile froze.

Qi Yuan explained seriously, "I refine qi with the Five Elements, build my foundation with the Heavenly Dao, condense a Star Golden Core... Your strength is so-so. You could barely qualify as a special-effects artist in my team."

He had music and background SFX, but whenever he went into battle, he was still short on special-effects personnel.

Thunder's endless sea of lightning and terrifying lightning god visuals would definitely suffice.

"Interesting," Thunder narrowed his eyes. "Do you have a master?"

Qi Yuan said earnestly, "Yes. I don't know how strong my master is, but she's absolutely far, far stronger than you. Even if I formed a Star Golden Core, I wouldn't dare try to compare myself to my beautiful master."

In his eyes, Ruan Yixi had always been shrouded in enigma.

Thunder asked, "Your master sounds interesting. Where is she?"

He was thinking that someone so strong was probably the leader of that so-called Huaxia Dragon Group. Sixth Step to Heaven? Seven, perhaps? If so, then he truly couldn't measure up.

"My master is rather introverted," Qi Yuan replied seriously, "Because I keep calling her 'wife,' she gets shy and runs away."

Thunder's expression turned strange. "You call your master 'wife'?"

Qi Yuan said matter-of-factly, "She is my wife. What's wrong with calling her that?"

"

Cough, cough

..." Thunder waved his hand. "I won't take you as a disciple after all. I don't have that kind of blessing!"

He had no desire to be called "wife." The thought alone was unbearable. Imagining bringing a disciple to visit old friends, with him shouting,

"Wife! Wife!"

everywhere... It was simply too embarrassing.

Then, Thunder thought of something and asked, "Has your master ever taken you to meet her friends?"

Qi Yuan shook his head. "No.”

No more words were needed. Thunder understood immediately. How could she dare? Just imagining that scene was enough.

Qi Yuan looked at him, baffled. "I feel like you've misunderstood something. I don't have a habit of calling men 'wife.’"

Thunder chuckled. "Don't worry, there is no such misunderstanding."

"Big Boss, want to join my special-effects team or not?" Qi Yuan pressed on. "Join now and you can still be a team leader. Once members of our Huaxia Dragon Group's Heavenly Court all descend, you'll only be an extra."

At his current stage, Thunder was still worth recruiting.

Thunder laughed. "I'm very interested in this Huaxia Dragon Group of yours. I'll stay and see. What kind of gods does it have? Could it be that I don't even know a single one of them?"

"You can stay in my Clearwater Village," Qi Yuan said seriously. "Still, let me make this clear: don't steal my kills."

He absolutely hated kill-stealing. Every kill brought him massive EXP, after all.

"Interesting," Thunder replied. "I won't act carelessly. If I draw the attention of other powerful beings, I will be finished."

Today's strike had already been very restrained. If it attracted other new gods, escaping would be difficult.

"That's good," Qi Yuan said, finally relaxing.