Dai Mubai's Despair

Inside the inn room, Wang Qi gripped the back of Dai Mubai's neck with one hand. Seeing Dai Mubai dressed as an inn worker, he formed a suspicion.

He wanted to kill Dai Mubai outright, but he was wary of the guards the Star Luo Royal Family had sent to protect him.

"This is troublesome. I don't think I ever provoked you, did I? So why did you want to kill me? Are Princes all this overbearing?"

Recalling what had just happened, Dai Mubai had taken advantage of Wang Qi's sleep and used an inn worker's spare key to enter his room. With a sinister grin, he had prepared to cut off Wang Qi's head with a knife.

If Wang Qi had not possessed an exceptionally keen sense of danger, he might truly have fallen prey to Dai Mubai while relaxed.

He pressed a knife against Dai Mubai's neck as the latter lay unconscious, probing several times and even exposing his killing intent, yet nothing happened.

This made Wang Qi wonder whether Dai Mubai actually had guards protecting him.

If he did not, then Dai Mubai could never have escaped from the Star Luo Empire to the Heaven Dou Empire while being hunted by Dai Weisi.

But if he did, why had they not come to rescue him when Wang Qi revealed his killing intent and Dai Mubai was unconscious?

It was strange, but no matter how curious Wang Qi was, he could not remain at this inn any longer. He could not even stay in Suotuo City.

"You came at the perfect time. I happen to need a Soul Master with a high-grade Beast Martial Soul to help me conduct an experiment."

Looking at the unconscious Dai Mubai, Wang Qi's eyes shifted. He took out a pill from his Soul Tool and stuffed it into Dai Mubai's mouth.

Then, with a tap on his jade pendant Soul Tool, a massive Darksteel Cage appeared in the inn room. After removing Dai Mubai's Soul Tools, he locked him inside the Darksteel Cage.

A faint pulse of Soul Power flashed, and Wang Qi stored both the Darksteel Cage and Dai Mubai inside the jade pendant.

Wang Qi had two Soul Tools: the ring Soul Tool hanging around his neck, and the Soul Tool capable of storing living creatures that he had purchased from an auction house after obtaining a large sum of money—the jade pendant.

He had originally planned to use it in the future to collect the Immortal Herbs from Dugu Bo's medicinal garden. He had not expected to use it on Dai Mubai first.

Using the room card on Dai Mubai, Wang Qi entered Dai Mubai's room. After disguising himself, he left Suotuo City and headed due south, toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

The area around the Star Dou Great Forest was surrounded by mountains. Wang Qi urgently needed a quiet place to study how to extract the bloodline carried by Soul Masters.

The following afternoon, after deliberately setting up misleading traces and interfering with anyone tracking his route, he finally arrived at a small mountain a hundred kilometers from the outer perimeter of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Inside a concealed cave, Dai Mubai slowly woke after Wang Qi had finished arranging everything.

"Where am I? Who are you? What are you going to do to me? Did Dai Weisi send you? I'm a Prince of the Star Luo Empire. If you dare harm me today, Dai Weisi definitely won't spare you."

"Once the birds are gone, the bow is put away; once the rabbits are dead, the hounds are cooked. I'm Dai Weisi's younger brother, a Prince of the Star Luo Royal Family. If you dare touch me, you'll definitely die."

"Let me go. I won't compete for the throne anymore. I'm willing to cripple my own Martial Soul. Can you let me go?"

"Dai Weisi, you're so vicious. Why are you so determined to target me? I already fled. Why are you still unwilling to let me go?"

"Let me go, and I'll cultivate diligently. My Innate Soul Power is a full rank nine. As long as I work hard, I may not have no chance of winning the Star Luo Empire's throne in the future."

"That's right, I'll win. Tell me, what do you want? Wealth, status, fame, beautiful women—once I ascend the throne, I can give you anything you want."

"How about the position of Star Luo's Grand General? Let me go, and I guarantee that once I become the Star Luo Emperor, the position of Grand General will be yours."

Dai Mubai was about to go mad. Wang Qi had ignored him the entire time, tinkering with equipment that he could not understand and that clearly did not look like anything good.

Thinking that Wang Qi had been sent by Dai Weisi to hunt him down, Dai Mubai was now trapped in a Darksteel Cage, with iron hooks piercing through his collarbones. He could not offer any resistance at all.

Like fish on a chopping block, the oppressive atmosphere made Dai Mubai feel as though he could barely breathe. He had endured pursuit within the Star Luo Empire, and he had thought that after escaping to the Heaven Dou Empire, he would be free as long as he killed Wang Qi, his pursuer. Who could have expected that the moment he was about to strike, he would lose consciousness?

"Although I don't really understand what you're talking about, I can vaguely guess that your identity seems rather extraordinary."

Wang Qi was too kind. Though he had captured Dai Mubai fully intending for him to die, and though Dai Mubai was merely experimental material, Wang Qi still disinfected the Special Tube meant to circulate blood.

Wang Qi's ambiguous words did not frighten Dai Mubai. Instead, they made him breathe a sigh of relief. "That's right, my identity is extraordinary. I'm a Prince of the Star Luo Royal Family. Since you weren't sent by Dai Weisi, then you don't have to—"

"No, you misunderstood. What I mean is, precisely because your identity is extraordinary, I can't leave any witnesses alive."

Wang Qi walked over to Dai Mubai, took out an extremely thin knife from his Soul Tool, and squeezed Dai Mubai's wrist. Then he cut it open. Almost in the blink of an eye, Wang Qi connected the Special Tube to the severed blood vessel in Dai Mubai's wrist.

"I hate trouble more than anything. The higher your status, the greater the threat you pose while alive, so the less likely I am to let you go."

"Don't worry, I won't kill you immediately. You're the finest tool for completing my great experiment. If you die, it'll be difficult for me to find experimental material as suitable as you."

Dai Mubai stared at Wang Qi in terror. Watching the Special Tube gradually fill with blood and feeling weakness spread through his body, Dai Mubai wept as he begged Wang Qi to spare him.

However, Wang Qi seemed not to hear Dai Mubai's pleas. He simply continued with the work he needed to do. Only after the blood formed a circulation through the Special Tube did Wang Qi insert the other end of the tube into the other end of Dai Mubai's severed blood vessel.

"Sigh, as expected, human constitutions can't compare to Soul Beasts. If this were a Soul Beast, it would take at most a quarter of the time to complete the blood circulation. Humans are simply too small after all. Still, that's fine. The smaller the body, the less work I have to do."

"No, I can't let Dai Mubai die this early."

Looking at Dai Mubai's pale face, Wang Qi frowned and took out a pill from his Soul Tool.

A Blood Recovery Pill. Enhanced by Wang Qi's Blood Dragon Ginseng soul ring, it was refined using various precious medicinal ingredients that restored vitality and blood while promoting blood production. The cost of a single pill alone was nearly a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

If he had not been worried that Dai Mubai, such excellent experimental material, would die before the experiment was complete, Wang Qi certainly would not have used such a valuable medicine on him.

Of course, this was also related to how Wang Qi had not particularly liked Dai Mubai as a character in his previous life. Leaving aside Shrek Academy's school motto, merely abandoning his fiancée and fleeing the Star Luo Empire alone, along with his attitude of treating others like goods, was enough to make Wang Qi dislike him.

At first, Wang Qi had not chosen to target or even kill Dai Mubai simply because he disliked the character in his previous life. Having lived on Douluo Continent for eleven years, Wang Qi might have found it distasteful, but he had not wanted to interfere proactively.

But what Wang Qi had not expected was that Dai Mubai would actually harbor murderous intent toward him. If he let Dai Mubai go again, even Wang Qi would think himself a saint.