Chapter 4230 — The Escort's Invitation

When people spoke of the Cheng father and son of the Venom-Eye Mercenary Corps in the Wei Arc sea region, the names carried considerable weight. Beyond their arrogance and domineering ways, another very important reason was that both father and son relied on dual cultivation to advance their powers—which was precisely why Cheng Qitiao was forever seizing young women. The two of them cultivated through that very practice.

Of course, had it been dual cultivation alone, that would have been one thing, hardly enough to earn them such mockery. The crux of it was the rumor circulating in the markets: the Cheng father and son practiced dual cultivation by sharing those young women among themselves. Thus the women around Cheng Qitiao came to be nicknamed behind their backs as his "little mothers"!

Granted, this matter was known to every soul in the Wei Arc sea region, yet people only discussed and laughed about it in private. Few dared say it to their faces—after all, one does not expose another's sore spots. The Cheng father and son and the Venom-Eye Mercenary Corps were not to be trifled with; a provocation like that to their faces would cost lives.

Still, however powerful the Venom-Eye Mercenary Corps might be, however many they could overawe, there were always a few who could not be cowed—and the black-robed man before them was one of them.

Wei Zhao quietly took the measure of this black-robed man who had appeared so suddenly. He looked somewhat frail, carrying a faint air of the sickly and the scholarly—but that was mere appearance. The man's temples bulged high, and from time to time a flash of keen light darted through his shifting gaze, plainly marking him as one of no ordinary strength.

Discreetly invoking his golden finger, Wei Zhao was startled to discover that the man was in fact a peak great-perfection expert of the late Golden Core stage, a mere final step from the Nascent Soul realm!

And that was not even what shocked Wei Zhao most. What truly startled him was the servant following at the black-robed man's side—this one's strength was genuinely unfathomable. Even the golden finger could not see through him, which meant that, like that old Kong, he was at least a Nascent Soul expert!

Now Wei Zhao was truly alarmed. He had been in the Wei Arc sea region only a short while, yet already he had encountered two great Nascent Soul experts in succession—and both of them, astonishingly, in the station of servants. It was enough to make one's jaw drop!

He had thought before that the Wei Arc sea region, chaotic as it was, was after all only a small place, unlikely to hold many experts. Who would have imagined it so thick with hidden dragons and crouching tigers that even Nascent Soul experts would stoop to serve as another's servant? Even someone like Shangguan Lan'er, a princess of the North Island, did not command such treatment.

It seemed the waters of the Wei Arc sea region ran far deeper than he had imagined!

Yet once he realized that this servant's strength was no less than old Kong's, Wei Zhao understood at once. No wonder this black-robed man dared mock Cheng Qitiao to his face—he truly had the confidence and the capital for it.

"Qi Wenmo, this is none of your business. I advise you to stay out of it and spare yourself the trouble!" Cheng Qitiao, gnashing his teeth in fury, said coldly and hatefully. Had old Kong not been injured—had he not likely been no match for the other man's servant—he would probably have already set old Kong loose to strike.

"Heh, how is it none of my business?" The black-robed man called Qi Wenmo, unhurried, continued his mockery: "You've taken a fancy to this young hero's companion and want to carry her back to be your little mother, isn't that so? So filial of you—do the Cheng ancestors know? Their graves must be smoking by now, no? No, not just smoking—spitting sparks, I'd say!"

"Hmph, what business is it of yours? These two are nothing but outsiders newly arrived. Don't tell me you want a hand in it too?" Cheng Qitiao's face grew uglier by the moment, the veins on his face leaping wildly, yet he never dared make a move, and could only keep grinding his teeth and enduring.

"My apologies—you've guessed rightly." Qi Wenmo smiled, too lazy to bother with him further, and turned to Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao: "Young hero, I am Qi Wenmo, young master of the Skysupport Escort Agency. I witnessed your remarkable skills just now, and so I wish to invite you both to join our Skysupport Escort Agency as escorts. What do you say?"

"You dare poach from me?!" Hearing this, Cheng Qitiao's face could no longer hold, and he flew into a thunderous rage.

He did indeed harbor misgivings about this Qi Wenmo—the man's Skysupport Escort Agency was not to be provoked, especially with old Kong injured. So even when mocked to his face like this, he dared not strike, fearful of swallowing a silent loss today and never recovering his ground later. Thus he could only endure for the moment and let the storm pass.

But that did not mean he would let Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao go. These were prey he had set his sights on, meat already fallen into his mouth—how could he simply let them slip away?

In his mind, even if Qi Wenmo helped these two for a time, he could not help them for a lifetime. Even if not today, then tomorrow or the day after, these two would still never escape his palm.

But for Qi Wenmo to actually try to recruit these two as escorts of the Skysupport Escort Agency—that he absolutely could not tolerate!

For that would mean Wei Zhao and his companion became people of the Skysupport Escort Agency, and moving against them thereafter would no longer be so easy.

"Listen well, Qi Wenmo—I set my eyes on these two first. Doing this is breaking the rules of the Wei Arc sea region, and when the matter blows up, even your Skysupport Escort Agency will find no advantage in it!" Cheng Qitiao threatened through gritted teeth.

Qi Wenmo, however, paid him no heed at all, merely smiling as he looked at Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, awaiting Wei Zhao's reply. As for Cheng Qitiao's clamor, it seemed to be mere air—not even worth a fart.

Watching this unfold, Wei Zhao understood clearly in his heart: both were young masters of second-generation powers in the Wei Arc sea region, but this Qi Wenmo was far stronger than Cheng Qitiao.

This Qi Wenmo had hardly stepped forward to recruit him out of simple righteousness. The man had likely seen that he and Huang Xiaotao had the strength to wound a Nascent Soul expert, and so had intervened midway to extend an olive branch!

Otherwise, even if he found Cheng Qitiao detestable, he would not have said what he just said—at most he would have struck while the iron was hot, seizing the chance of old Kong's injury to trample Cheng Qitiao soundly.

Acting out of righteousness was rare in the scheming world of cultivation, especially in a place of such chaotic order as the Wei Arc sea region. That Qi Wenmo would champion the two of them for no reason at all was utterly impossible.

But that was fine. In Wei Zhao's view, Qi Wenmo having an agenda was actually a good thing, for this was not simple assistance—it was a recruitment of the two of them.