Chapter 521 – Miaomiao and Liu Che
Next day morning
Miaomiao arrived at the VIP box room early, waiting for Liu Che, the father of Liu Hanzhen and Liu Xuande. Lilith didn't come with him today as she had already returned to the Netherworld. However, she left his daughter there to protect Miaomiao from nasty deities.
Levi, the Princess of the Netherworld, took the role of Miaomiao's guardian today. Sun Bofu was also nearby, following Levy around.
When Miaomiao and Lilim first met, they simply sized each other up and briefly introduced themselves. However, none of them fancied the other party.
Miaomiao was not in the mood to expand his harem, and Lilim didn't think highly of Miaomiao.
Still, the gorgeous face of Miaomiao made Sun Bofu's heart skip a beat. He kept staring at the purple demon face.
"Stop that, Sun Bofu. I'm a dude with a BPC, and I don't fancy men."
"What's a BPC?" Lilim and Sun Bofu were curious.
"A big purple cock."
"..."
Lilim clicked her tongue in disgust. However, Sun Bofu gave an answer that Miaomiao was disgusted.
"What a shame. I like the normal color. A purple cock gives a weird vibe of rotten flesh."
"…"
Miaomiao had goosebumps. He took a mental note that he would never play a dick joke with that guy ever again.
Also, that was racism. What was wrong with having a purple cock?
While Miaomiao's mental age temporarily regressed to kindergarten age, Liu Che and his entourage entered the VIP box room along with other clan lords.
When Liu Che spotted Miaomiao, he walked straight to him and saluted.
"I didn't manage to introduce myself before. I'm the patriarch of the Great Liu Clan, Liu Che. Are these table seats available?"
"Oh?"
The table that Miaomiao was occupied was a round table with many chairs. However, Lilim and Sun Bofu only stood behind him and acted as bodyguards.
Miaomiao stood up and politely returned the gesture, "I'm Mao Miaomiao, the patriarch of the Mao Clan. And… go ahead. I don't mind."
"Haha. Thanks. Well, excuse me," Liu Che slowly pulled the chair and sat, but his legs trembled like a feeble old man.
But as soon as Liu Che sat down, he got to the business.
"I received a report that a descendant from my clan has succeeded the throne. What was her name? Liu Guang?"
Miaomiao nodded, "Yes."
"And I heard that you are her prime consort, yes?"
"Indeed, I am."
"Oh, good. Well, then, before we get to the political business, I have a request. Would you mind returning what you have stolen from the Liu Clan Vault? We lost a lot of resources from the incident, and we would like to have them back."
Miaomiao scratched his cheek. He couldn't return anything to this old man as he had already distributed most of the items to his disciples and his wives. The rest of the manuals were stored in the Ten Path of Nirvana Sect's library, and it might be troublesome to bring them here.
Still, Miaomiao tried not to be overbearing or act like a dick. He attempted to compromise and make friends instead of offending people left and right like a protagonist.
Moreover, he had a way to take advantage of this favor.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"How much do I owe you? I can't return all the items, but I'll compensate for your losses."
Liu Che revealed a wry smile on his face. He took out an ancient abacus and calculated the prices of all the items.
"About 541 million essence cores."
"…"
Miaomiao rubbed his glabella. He suddenly had a migraine.
Fortunately, Miaomiao had many soul stones from the live-stream business. He could pay for the remuneration and end the feud between him and the Liu Clan.
"Well, the stolen items were mostly unusable heaven-grade artifacts, old pills, and discarded second-hand goods from the mainland, so we don't mind if you buy them off our hands. However, the cultivation and technique manuals are precious. We wish to have them back."
"Okay. I'll return the manuals."
Miaomiao had no problem returning the manuals since he had already made several copies.
Noticing that Miaomiao was this understanding, Liu Che's smiling face looked brighter than before.
"I'm relieved. I'm glad you're not like one of those arrogant pricks from the mainland."
"I know right? I'm trying not to offend others, but others always provoke me. Oh, by the way, I didn't intend to steal everything from the Great Liu Clan's vault. I thought it was the vault of someone else from your clan."
"Liu Dynasty's vault?"
"Yeah, some sort of."
"I know. You had a feud against our agents that we sent to overseer the Aves Continent. Misunderstanding can happen. Oh well, let that incident be water under the bridge, alright?"
"Cool."
Miaomiao sighed and brought out a pouch with a thousand 1st-grade soul stones onto the table.
As soon as the pouch came out, the soul stones emitted the aura of intense Soul Qi.
All clan lords turned to the pouch. Even their bodyguard immortals and world guardians stared at it.
"Do you accept soul stones? I don't have essence cores on me at the moment."
Miaomiao had used up all his essence cores. As for the rest of his pocket money, he already transferred everything to Wei Yuan via system inventory.
"…"
Liu Che widened his eyes. He had never seen so many 1st-grade soul stones before. Even if his patrons regularly distributed soul stones for him, he only received like 10 to 20 1st-grade soul stones a month.
Seeing a thousand of them, Liu Che had the urge to snatch the pouch on the table.
However, Liu Che knew his limits. He glanced at Lilim, who had been sneering at him.
Liu Che dryly laughed. He couldn't afford to offend Miaomiao's backers. He minded his manner and suppressed his greed.
"One 1st-grade soul stone is equal to a million essence cores. I'll take 500 of them. Also, please return my clan's technique and cultivation manuals when you can."
"Sure. Once I get back to my continent, I'll send them back to you."
Liu Che smiled. He extended his hand to pick the stones from the pouch, but Miaomiao suddenly pulled the sag back.
"Junior Mao?" Liu Che frowned and stared at Miaomiao's face.
"I forgot to mention my conditions."
"Conditions?"
"It's true that I was at fault. However, I can't simply yield my soul stones to you, or I'll be remembered as a weak pushover. You see, I have a reputation to uphold."
Miaomiao's face changed. His pretty face turned dark, and his smug smile was no longer friendly.
"What do you want?" Even Liu Che no longer maintained gentle and kind expressions. He glared into Miaomiao's eyes while emitting the presence of an emperor.
The room trembled as the Soul Essence and the killing intent of Liu Che erupted.
"I'll give you 600 1st-grade soul stones and all your manuals back. However, I want you to forfeit the upcoming match."
"Hoh?"
Liu Che narrowed his eyes. It seemed that Miaomiao was using this pretext of paying for the Liu Clan Vault incident to fix the match.
Liu Che had no problem following this condition since he didn't need to win the clan lord tournament anymore. However, the problem lied in the other clan lords.
They heard the conversation, and it would not bond well for the Great Liu Clan's reputation.
Liu Che coughed and pretended to be unwilling, "Don't you have any shame, junior? Are you trying to buy your way to win the tournament? Don't you have the integrity of a man? I know that you're weak, but you should at least prove your strength with your own power, not trickery or underhanded tactics."
"Pfft. I'm not a protagonist. I don't need to be so Kung-ho-oh-I'm-righteous-so-I-need-to-fight-honestly-to-prove-my-worth. I'm an aspiring asshole, and I'll do anything to achieve my goals no matter what it takes."
"…"
Liu Che couldn't understand Miaomiao. He thought that Miaomiao was a sensible person, but he was revealed to be a cunning type.
Still, Liu Che needed the soul stones. He couldn't afford to miss this opportunity to get so many precious cultivation resources. Otherwise, he would need to wait a month to get his clan's monthly wage from their backers.
"You won't be able to win the others this way."
"But I can avoid fighting you, so why not?"
Liu Che sighed. He turned around to check the reaction of the others for a moment. Then, he turned around to face Miaomiao.
"I'll resign. Satisfied?"
"Cool."
The immortals behind Liu Che widened their eyes while the other clan lords sneered at Liu Che and Miaomiao.
The clan lords inwardly mocked Liu Che for throwing away his reputation as one of the Great Clans. From now on, the Great Liu Clan would be reduced to a normal clan, and their places in the Holy Land would be taken away by the other Great Clans.
They didn't realize that Liu Che also had another ulterior motive. They all forgot about the connection between Liu Che and Miaomiao through Liu Guang.
While the commotion attracted everybody's attention in the VIP room, Karen overheard the conversation and stomped toward Miaomiao and Liu Che.
"There will be no underhanded tricks. You two will fight in the tournament, fair and square."
"What if I don't want to," Liu Che shrugged.
"Then, I'll take the extreme measure," Karen laughed at them and clapped her hands.
But nothing happened.
"…"
Liu Che and Miaomiao stared at Karen, who awkwardly waited for her subordinates for the entire minute while her posture was frozen.
A minute later, world guardians led Liu Hanzhen and Liu Xuande to the VIP room. Both had their hands tied behind their back, and they were blindfolded.
Ma Xingjuan, Kang Yan, and Dian Wei were dragged here as well. All of them were bounded by strange arrays, and they couldn't move.
Karen glanced at Lilim, who only raised her eyebrows in amusement.
Seeing that Lilith's daughter had no intention of stepping into the mess, Karen proceeded with her countermeasure, "If one of you throw the match, your family will be engraved with a slave brand, and they will become the prizes for the tournament winner! If you don't want to lose your precious family members, you must uphold your honor as the tournament contestants and give it your all!"
"…"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLiu Che's face changed. Even though he never really educated his sons, he still cared about them.
No father wanted their children to become a slave!
He gritted his teeth and turned around to face Miaomiao, "I'm sorry. I guess I can't accept that condition anymore."
"I can tell," Miaomiao scoffed and glanced at Lilim.
The Netherworld Princess ignored him. She simply crossed her arms, enjoying the drama.
"Haiz," Miaomiao scratched his head, "Do you know why I'm trying to make you give up, senior Liu?"
"Why?"
"I don't want to kill you."
"What?!"
Miaomiao's face turned solemn, "Even if I'm looking like this, I'm a lot stronger than my representatives from my continent. Do you think those deities are protecting me for no reason?"
"…"
Indeed, it was odd for Miaomiao to be here. A weak 6th-stage cultivator couldn't possibly become the top contender from the Aves Continent or represent them as the top fighter.
How could a weak rabbit boldly waltz into the den of lions with its head held high? Something was definitely wrong with that rabbit – Either he was a moron or a predator under disguise.
Thinking this far, Liu Che hesitated.
But as Liu Che couldn't come up with a solution, Liu Hanzhen took off his blindfold with his tied hands and bellowed.
"Father, if you don't want to fight this asshole, let me crush him in your stead! I'll show you why 6th-stage trash doesn't belong in this prestigious arena!"
"Oh!"
Inspired by the outburst, Karen repeatedly clapped her hands. She smiled at Liu Che, "You know what? I have an idea. In a case like this, I'll randomly pick the substitute of one side to replace the incompetent contestant! Also, the fight will be FIXED as a deathmatch instead of a friendly match as a punishment."
Karen turned to Liu Hanzhen and untied the treasure rope. She patted his shoulder, "For the sake of demonstration of this new rule, Liu Hanzhen, you will be fighting Mao Miaomiao in your father's stead, and it will be a fight to the death. Of course, if you win, you get to keep all Mao Miaomiao's items. But if you lose, it's the other way around. As for Liu Che, you are disqualified!"
Liu Hanzhen grinned. He glared at Miaomiao and thought of Wei Yuan, Kang Yan, and Ma Xingjuan.
He was always envious of Miaomiao. He wanted Miaomiao's wives!
Still, he wasn't stupid. Liu Hanzhen looked at Lilim to check if Miaomiao's backer wanted to interfere.
Lilim grinned as she could read the mood. She waved her hands, "Whatever happens to Mao Miaomiao in the official match is none of my responsibility. He is an adult, so he needs to know how to wipe his own ass. Go ahead and go ham."
Hearing the approval of Lilim, clan lords in the room, except for Liu Che, sneered at Miaomiao.
Miaomiao had a bitter smile on his face. Again, he inwardly sighed.
'I guess my protagonist luck is at work. These villains have lost all of their brain cells. Welp, more cat food for mu-nya, and more soul food for me and Xu Chu.'
Miaomiao tiringly waved his hand as he was bored of this repetitive forced-development script, "Whatever. Do whoever you want. I'll fight anyone as long as their cultivation base doesn't exceed the mortal world."
Karen laughed, "Good. It's settled. Oh, I almost forgot. On the first round, you can't use your familiars, pets, summons, or any form of helpers!"
"…"
Liu Hanzhen burst into laughter as he was wary of Miaomiao's pet, aka the catopus. Without helpers, he was sure that Miaomiao had no chance.
Karen also hurried to seal the deal, "Oh, I almost forgot again! Because of this incident, your match will be pushed forward! You and Liu Hanzhen will fight in the opening match!"
Karen attempted to borrow a mortal's hands to kill Miaomiao again.
Miaomiao took notes of Karen's deeds. He set a goal in his mind.
Once he was strong enough, he would turn this fat swan into sashimi for Mu-Nyang's catopuses!