Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

"who is the next?"

"I."

There was a movement around him, Qin Xiao turned his head, and Qiu Puryue stood up.

Meeting Qin Xiao's gaze, Qiu Puryue smiled slightly.

Qin Xiao glanced at the blackboard and saw that Qiu Puryue's opponent was Chen Mo.

Because this was just a competition, Qiu Puryue also wanted to know what level she had reached, so she didn't plan to use blood magic, only attributes.

The two of them came to the venue. The venue had been restored by the dean. The sturdy man sat next to Xia Wule, folded his arms and turned his head to talk to her.

The game started, and just as Qiu Puyue showed the jade flute in her hand, the shadow under Chen Mo's feet had already rubbed into thin strips and spread to her feet. Qiu Puyue had no choice but to step back a few steps. The shadow was chasing her like a snake, and in the blink of an eye it wrapped around her calf.

Qiu Puyue paused, and before she could react, Chen Mo had already appeared in front of her, punching her in the face.

Qiu Puryue leaned back to avoid it, and the flute was already at her lips.

Mo Hanyu and Qin Xiao covered their ears almost at the same time.

This action puzzled Lan Huaiqiu who was standing beside him, and he looked at the two of them in confusion.

Tian Miao seemed to have not reacted yet, but as soon as the voice came out, his memory came back.

Tian Miao's face suddenly wrinkled into a ball, and he lowered his head with his hands.

Not only Tian Miao, but everyone around them who heard the sound for the first time all stopped in their tracks, as if they were frozen.

Even Chen Mo paused for a moment.

Qiu Puryue seized the opportunity, kneeed and punched upwards, but was easily avoided.

Qin Xiao looked at Chen Mo's fighting style and always felt that he had seen it somewhere, but it was just slightly different.

What he had seen before seemed more... fierce.

Who is coming?

Qin Xiao frowned slightly and recalled.

The shadow under Chen Mo's feet had spread to the entire field, and Qiu Puyue inevitably stepped on it. In an instant, the dark ground was covered with dense thorns. The top of her foot was pierced and blood flowed out.

Qin Xiao held his cheek and tapped his temple from time to time, trying hard to recall where he had seen him before.

"What's wrong?" Mo Hanyu sensed something was wrong with him and turned around to ask.

"Hmm... I feel like I've seen this somewhere... Oh, I remember it now." Qin Xiao paused and remembered.

Wang Ji.

He had demonstrated a move very similar to this one before. When he was chatting with Meng Liyun before, she mentioned that Wang Ji was a shadow attribute.

Shadow attribute. A Qi cultivator with this attribute can control shadows. The more powerful ones can even use the shadows of others to strangle their masters. Shadow attributes have specific true bodies, which are usually animals. Attributes will be more outstanding in a certain aspect depending on their type. For example, Wang Ji is a spider, and he is more sensitive to changes and perceptions of the surrounding environment.

And this Chen Mo...

Qin Xiao looked at the field. As the two of them were fighting, a slender, winding shadow quickly swam from Chen Mo's arm, and fell onto Qiu Puryue the moment his arm touched her neck, twisting like a snake, circling and strangling her neck.

Qiu Puryue quickly lost strength and fatigue due to lack of oxygen. She reached out to tear away the thing that was tightening around her neck, but she could feel nothing.

In the end, she gave in.

Qin Xiao looked at it, feeling a little strange.

"He is not an evil cultivator." Qin Xiao looked at Mo Hanyu with an affirmative tone.

"Yes." Mo Hanyu replied, "Didn't I tell you? There are only a few."

"Since you are not an evil cultivator and your talent is not bad, why did you come here?" Qin Xiao asked him.

"Of course it's because we're poor." Before Mo Hanyu could answer, Miao Kaijie, who was sitting in the row below him, seemed to have calmed down, raised his head and said with a smile.

"Poor?" Qin Xiao was stunned. "Doesn't the Qi Cultivation Academy have subsidies?"

He remembered Yun Qi saying that the Qi Xiu Academy would give some gold coins as subsidies to children from poor families every year.

"You... don't know anything?" Miao Kaijie was a little surprised and raised his eyebrows and asked, "You are Yuhua's, right?"

"Yes." Qin Xiao nodded. Although Mo Hanyu beside him was somewhat dissatisfied with Miao Kaijie's interruption, he did not say anything and listened to the conversation between the two quietly.

"Your Yuhua is famous for being good to civilians." Miao Kaijie explained to him with a habitual teasing tone, "In our country, there are some small countries that don't have these subsidies."

"The subsidies issued by your Qi Cultivation Academy are the money issued by the upper echelons of your country, including the subsidies for civilians... They really reach you. For places like Xingchen Wangqiu..." Miao Kaijie smiled sarcastically, "Almost all of them were swallowed up by the aristocratic families. How could they flow into the hands of ordinary people?"

"If I remember correctly, you should also be from an aristocratic family."

Qin Xiao still remembered that he once said that those in the mountains were the children of the family patriarchs.

"Not entirely." Miao Kaijie looked up at him, seeing the confusion in his eyes, and was surprised by his naivety. "Have you never thought about it?"

"……what?"

"..." Miao Kaijie looked at him playfully, but did not answer. Instead, he changed the subject, "If you don't understand, don't ask. It's not good for children to be exposed to these things."

Qin Xiao: ...

Who are you calling a child?

Even if it's only in this life, it's just one year difference, okay?

Qin Xiao was speechless.

"Let's talk about Yuhua." Miao Kaijie shook his head, "Do you know what is the biggest difference from other countries?"

Qin Xiao paused and shook his head.

"Your country's laws are very strict." Miao Kaijie pointed at Qin Xiao and laughed. His slightly brown eyes reflected the figures of Mo Qin and the others. "In our Xingchen, we did give money to subsidize poor families, but after being allocated from above and cut down layer by layer, the money that finally reached them couldn't even provide them with food."

"The emperor allocated money to the aristocratic families, and those aristocratic families took a portion, which then flowed to the local small families. Those local small families took some more, and then it was specifically distributed to each college and each person..."

"Do you know what will happen in Yuhua in this situation?"

Qin Xiao was stunned for a moment and shook his head.

"You will die." Miao Kaijie took a bite of the egg he had just peeled and said with a smile, "But on our star, you won't die."

"Not only that, some even know it but still allow it to happen."

"Either because his cultivation level is high and we don't want to offend him, or because we think he is still useful and can turn a blind eye." Miao Kaijie shrugged: "I heard that Yuhua ruled the country with benevolence, I wonder if he has changed now."

It should be changed.

Qin Xiao thought of Luo Yun’s previous curfew and heard that many people were killed.

"In fact, your Yuhua is a rare flower in the empire. You are the only country that can kill Qi cultivators for ordinary people." Xia Wule came over at some point, put an arm on the silent Chen Mo beside him, and said excitedly, "Wasn't there a case that shocked the continent before? It was said that a person who had just reached the Earth Realm, seemed to have finally broken through after decades of holding back, and in his excitement, he raped and killed a man passing by. The man's parents died, and he depended on his sister for life. Although he awakened his attributes, he did not have the slightest talent for cultivation. The sister is also an ordinary person, without any background or support, and she had not even read a few words, but she ran to the Diligent Punishment Department of the Imperial Capital to appeal for injustice. After being caught, the Qi cultivator said that he did not kill on purpose, but that he did not control himself at the time, and he was willing to atone for it."

"But my sister refused and said she wanted him to pay her back with his life. It seemed that they quarreled again, and the Qi Xiu got angry and said that he would kill her in the future. It was because of this sentence that the director, who was originally hesitant, immediately ordered him to be killed, and even burned his body in front of my sister."

"I was even afraid that someone would avenge Qi Xiu and hurt my sister, so I found a safe place for her...Oh my God."

“My goodness… You should know how shocking it is to kill a Qi cultivator at the Earth Realm for an ordinary person.” Miao Kaijie clicked his tongue and shook his head. “If this happened here… it wouldn’t even make a splash.”

"In this world, strength is respected. Doing this for an ordinary person... is not worth it." Xia Wuliao sighed, "Although I feel very happy, you have to know that because of this incident, very few Qi cultivators are willing to develop in Yuhua."

"Of course, if you commit a crime in other countries, your punishment may be mitigated or even exempted because of your cultivation level, but it's different for Yuhua." Yin Xihui smiled, "For example, in the past two years, Lei Ting's Yuqing Temple, no one dared to go crazy in Luoyun even if he died."

"I remember this incident. It was said that Yuhua had planned the assassination, otherwise Yuqing Temple would not have died so quietly." Xia Wuliao raised his eyebrows and asked teasingly, "Tell me, is it true?"

"Stop making fun of me..." Yin Xihui smiled helplessly, "Lei Ting is seriously injured."

"Don't say that. You guys in Thunder don't lack strong people." Miao Kaijie spread his hands and smiled, "You guys in Thunder truly respect strength. Whoever has the bigger fist has the final say."

"Not necessarily..." Yin Xi smiled and glanced at Qiu Puyue who came back and sat down, "The emperor is only at the Earth Realm now, but he has people at the Heaven Realm under his command."

"Are there not many Heaven Realms of Thunder?" Xia Wuliao laughed, "Among the four great empires, you have the most."

Qin Xiao turned his head: "What?"

"Heavenly realm Qi cultivators." Miao Kaijie replied, "I remember Yuhua was 32nd, Lei Ting was 45th, Xingchen was 21st, and Wangqiu was 25th."

"How should I put it... Your Yuhua policy does indeed discourage some capable Qi cultivators, but there are still some people with a strong sense of justice who appreciate this and choose to join. Also, because of this policy, many young shoots that have not yet developed are protected... There are pros and cons." Xia Wule shrugged.

“Although Yuhua’s Heaven Realm is not as good as Thunder Realm, there are many Earth Realms.” Miao Kaijie encouraged, “There will definitely be a day, come on!”

Qin Xiao: ...

What's so good about him...

Lan Huaiqiu, who was listening to their conversation, widened his eyes. He seemed unable to digest so much information, but also seemed just shocked by the topic they were talking about.

"...You know so much." Lan Huaiqiu sighed softly.

"No." Mo Hanyu's ears were sharp and he glanced at her, "Look, he doesn't know anything."

The accused Qin Xiao: …

"I...have never heard of these things." Lan Huaiqiu saw Mo Hanyu taking the initiative to talk to him, so he started chatting with him, "I have never thought about these things."

"Where are you from?" Qin Xiao asked her.

"Me? I'm from Xingchen." Lan Huaiqiu said with a smile.

"She followed us here!" Miao Kaijie noticed this and said hurriedly as if to take credit.

"How dare you say that?" Chen Mo suddenly spoke up, giving him an indescribable look, "He was kidnapped here."

"Nonsense!" Miao Kaijie glared.

"I... I came here voluntarily." Lan Huaiqiu said quickly.

"...So, why did you come here?" Qin Xiao watched helplessly as the topic deviated away from the mountains and rivers.

"I told you, we're poor." Miao Kaijie gave him a strange look, "We have to pay to go to school over there."

"Even if there is a subsidy, it is very little. Not only can it not offset the tuition, it is not even enough for food." Chen Mo said softly.

"Do you think everyone is like your Yuhua? The subsidies not only offset the tuition fees but also leave a lot..." Miao Kaijie said, "I will go to Yuhua in my next life."

Qin Xiao: ...

"You can go in this lifetime." Xia Wule said coldly, "Go ahead."

“Then I…” Miao Kaijie turned his head and made an exaggerated expression, “I’ll go there after I’ve mastered my skills!”

Qin Xiao: ...

"Yuhua doesn't want all the trash." Chen Mo said suddenly.

Miao Kaijie looked at him incredulously: "What?"

Qin Xiao: ...

"Am I useless? No way!?" Miao Kaijie turned his head suddenly, grabbed Qin Xiao's hand, and looked at him with tearful eyes, "You said... Am I useless?"

"...pretty good?" Qin Xiao met this kind of person for the first time. His body stiffened and he asked tentatively.

Miao Kaijie didn't seem to expect him to be so serious. He paused, let out a roar, and leaned against him: "I knew you were the most honest and the best, wuwuwu..."

As she said this, she wanted to hug his thigh, but was ruthlessly pushed away by Mo Hanyu.

"You two are not familiar with each other, so keep your distance." Mo Hanyu pressed his head and tried to push him down.

"Why do you care about me? Xiao, look at him... He wants to stop you from making friends, and wants him to be the only one closest to you so that he can control you! Look how bad he is." Miao Kaijie pointed.

"Shut up! Do you think you can call me an owl?" Mo Hanyu gnashed his teeth in hatred.

“Look at how ferocious you are!” Miao Kaijie pulled his mouth with disdain, and his expression changed instantly when he looked at Qin Xiao, “You see how fierce he is, but I’m different… I’m so weak, sensible and considerate, I must be better than him, Xiao——”

"Fuck you--" Mo Hanyu wanted to crush his dog head.

Of course Qin Xiao could see that Miao Kaijie just wanted to tease Mo Hanyu, so he didn't respond or join in their fight. He just raised his head and continued watching the game.

After fighting for a while, they felt it was boring and turned away.

"You don't even help me." Mo Hanyu slapped Qin Xiao's arm angrily.

Qin Xiao glanced at him and said, "I see you are quite happy."

"How is that possible?" Mo Hanyu turned away with a pout, glanced at Miao Kaijie who was secretly making faces at him, and bared his teeth at him.

"Look, this is quite happy." Qin Xiao said suddenly.

"Shut up!"

Qin Xiao closed his mouth as he said, looked at the two people fighting below, gradually lost interest, closed his eyes, tilted his head and fell asleep.

After Mo Hanyu finished speaking, he turned his head away. He didn't hear Qin Xiao's reply for a long time. He felt a little uneasy and began to wonder if he had spoken too harshly. Just as he was about to turn around and ask, a furry head fell on his shoulder.