Qi Hao's sudden appearance instantly caused the atmosphere to become rather tense. Behind Zhou Yuan, Genesis Qi surged around Lu Tieshan and the rest, their eyes like an eagle's as they locked onto the former.

Wei Canglan frowned slightly, staring at Qi Hao as he faintly said, "Qi Hao, there should be no need for Qi Manor to interfere in such a matter. It will be better for you to return."

"I'm afraid that a single sentence from general Wei is not enough to deter Qi Manor." Qi Hao laughed, his tone filled with mockery.

He had previously been courteous to Wei Canglan because Qi Manor wanted to draw the great general to their side. Since Wei Canglan had now chosen to help Zhou Yuan, Qi Hao naturally would not give the former any face.

"Oh?"

Wei Canglan's eyes opened slightly wider as an astonishing pressure spread from his body, directed straight at Qi Hao.

In the face of an Alpha-Origin stage expert's pressure, Qi Hao's body immediately stiffened.

"Hehe, Wei Canglan, you are still so easily irritable even after so many years." However, a raspy voice was heard the moment Wei Canglan's pressure spread. A figure in black robes slowly walked out from behind Qi Hao as black Qi rose, completely blocking Wei Canglan's aura.

"That's the Black Venom King!"

The emergence of the black robed figure immediately drew cries of horror from the surroundings. The crowd noisily withdrew, eyes filled with terror. It was clear to see how infamous the Black Venom King was in Blackwater.

"Black Venom King!"

Wei Canglan was first stunned by the appearance of the middle-aged man in black robes, but his expression quickly darkened. Intense killing intent surged out of his body, causing the surrounding Genesis Qi to rebel.

"Oh? Wei Canglan, do you plan on having another bout with me here? Could it be that you have forgotten the suffering I dished out back then?" The Black Venom King let out a sinister laughter, the black Qi around his body churning as a horrible stench spread.

Two gazes clashed, hatred and biting-cold murder raging within them.

"Honoured ones, this little city of mine will not be able to survive a battle between the both of you. With the Battle Puppet ruins right before our eyes, this is no place for the both of you to fight or others will take advantage!" As the auras of both individuals grew stronger and stronger, a loud voice suddenly rang out as a figure flew over from far away and landed nearby.

It was the city lord of Devil Prison City, an individual with the strength of the advance Heaven Gate stage.

Like everyone else, he did not dare to interfere directly in the clash of two Alpha-Origin stage experts. Fortunately, his quick-wittedness with words made Wei Canglan's and the Black Venom King's eyes flash and their astonishing auras slowly receded.

Neither party was stronger than the other. If they were to fight and end up injured, it would instead present an opportunity to others.

Wei Canglan icily said, "Humph, if I see you in the ruins, I will definitely kill you!"

"Hehe, it is more likely that you will not be able to leave Blackwater this time." The Black Venom King matched the former word for word.

After seeing both of them back down, Zhou Yuan's gaze turned towards the seller of the store who currently had an agonized look on his face. Neither side was going to be accommodating, and he did not dare to offend either one.

"Five thousand Genesis crystals." Zhou Yuan did not waste his breath and flatly gave his offer.

"Six thousand." Qi Hao immediately responded. Although he did not know what use the black jade tile would be, he was hell bent on making things difficult for Zhou Yuan.

"Ten thousand." Zhou Yuan's voice remained emotionless.

Qi Hao's eyes flashed. "Fifteen thousand."

"Twenty thousand."

An uproar broke out around them, everyone secretly licking their lips. No one could have imagined that such a seemingly worthless object would cause such a crazy bidding war. Of course, from what they could see, Zhou Yuan was purely unwilling to back down due to pride.

Qi Hao was likewise somewhat stunned. He stared at the black jade tile for a long time, but was unable to discover anything. Not even the tiniest wisp of Genesis Qi could be detected from the black jade tile.

Hence, he laughed and said, "Your highness is truly generous. As the saying goes, a gentleman should not take what another wants. I'll yield this item to you."

There was a trace of mockery on his lips as he spoke. The original price of two thousand Genesis crystals had been raised to twenty thousand by him, a fact that was enough to screw Zhou Yuan over this time.

As such, Qi Hao's pent up frustration due to the previous incident had finally been let out.

The surrounding onlookers looked at Zhou Yuan as if he was a fool. This was not a small sum, spending twenty thousand Genesis crystals to buy a useless black jade tile was really somewhat dumb.

It was obvious that prince Zhou Yuan had been tricked by Qi Hao.

Zhou Yuan ignored the surrounding gazes and instructed Lu Tieshan to pay as he grabbed the black jade tile. He did not sense anything even after some observation and thus passed it to Yaoyao as he softly muttered, "It is worth it?"

The truth was, even he himself felt a little foolish, but he still bought it because he trusted Yaoyao's judgement.

Twenty thousand Genesis crystals was no small amount. The Qi Nourishing stage Genesis Masters present who possessed ten to twenty thousand Genesis crystals after toiling for many years were already considered rather rich.

As for prince Zhou Yuan, his many years of savings only equated to about fifty thousand Genesis crystals, almost half of which had been spent in the past few minutes.

Yaoyao gently felt the jade tile with her hand as she observed the ancient patterns on it. With a sudden laugh, she replied, "You'll know later on whether it's worth it or not."

Zhou Yuan could only helplessly shake his head.

At this moment, the Black Venom King walked over, his eyes fixed on Zhou Yuan as black Qi surged around his body.

Wei Canglan took half a step forward, his eyes vigilant as he stared at the Black Venom King.

The Black Venom King glanced at Wei Canglan before turning towards Zhou Yuan as his raspy voice sounded, "Hehe, are you the prince of the Great Zhou Empire? I've heard that you managed to neutralize my Devil Miasma Poison."

Evidently, he had found out from Qi Hao that Zhou Yuan had neutralized the poison in Wei Bin's body.

"The Devil Miasma Poison is not that great, neutralizing it is nothing strange." Zhou Yuan's expression was calm.

The Black Venom King's eyes opened slightly wider. "What an arrogant little brat!"

With a sinister smile, he said, "Do not feel so confident just because Wei Canglan is protecting you."

He cast a sideways glance at Wei Canglan as he continued, "Even he suffered quite a bit at my hands. I'm afraid that you've bet wrongly this time."

Wei Canglan's face turned black with anger. The Devil Miasma Qi of the Black Venom King was extremely difficult to deal with. Due to its poisonous nature, it had indeed caused him much suffering and even affected Wei Bin.

The Black Venom King smiled. "Kid, Qi Manor promised to give me three cities after completing this task, if you give me six cities, I will help you instead."

Upon hearing this offer, fury flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes, A chilling look appeared in his eyes as he looked towards Qi Hao. To think that this bastard actually dared to do a transaction with Great Zhou's land and citizens.

However, Qi Hao merely smiled nonchalantly in response.

Zhou Yuan withdrew his gaze and said in a calm voice, "It's enough that general Wei is with me. As for the Great Zhou Empire's land, anyone who dares to hope for a share shall be killed."

The Black Venom King was taken aback. Soon after, he laughed and pointed at Zhou Yuan.

"What a charismatic kid. Excellent. Pray hard that you will never land in my hands, because I really want to have a taste of what it will be like to boil the prince of Great Zhou."

"I will not even bother to boil you. A single chop to remove your dog-head is all that is needed." Zhou Yuan revealed an icy smile. He had intense hate for someone who repeatedly infringed on Great Zhou's borders and slaughtered her citizens.

By the side, Qi Hao let out a mocking laugh and prepared to speak.

"Qi Ritian , your fate will be the same if you land in my hands." Before Qi Hao could speak however, Zhou Yuan's cold gaze swept over. The fact that this son of a bitch used Great Zhou's land in a transaction infuriated the former even more. Zhou Yuan would not be merciful if Qi Hao landed in his hands.

"Qi Ritian?" Qi Hao was stunned. Soon after, he burst into rage as he frostily said, "Zhou Yuan, you dare to humiliate me?!"

Zhou Yuan retorted, "The only thing in your family's bones is rebellion, so what if I humiliate you?"

Qi Hao smiled angrily. "You think you are so great. You've not even reached the Qi Nourishing stage and yet you dare to speak to me in such a manner. If no one was protecting you, I would have killed you where you stand."

He was a true-blue advance Qi Nourishing stage practitioner, while Zhou Yuan had only unblocked seven meridian channels. It would be easy to slay Zhou Yuan in a direct clash.

"You will have your chance. When the time comes, we will see exactly who will be killing who." Zhou Yuan's voice was emotionless. Once he reached the Qi Nourishing stage, even without the first level of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture, the Omni Python Qi, he may not necessarily fear Qi Hao if he were to utilise the power of his Spirit and Genesis Runes.

Qi Hao's expression darkened after being smothered by Zhou Yuan's words. The former knew that there was not much point in continuing to compare whose tongue was sharper. Therefore, he shot a eerily cold glance at Zhou Yuan, before waving his hand as he turned and left with the Black Venom King and the rest of the party.

Zhou Yuan watched them leave as his expression became grave. Although it had been easy beat them with words, he did not dare to underestimate them in the slightest.

"Our most troublesome foe is the Black Venom King that even general Wei will not have much of an advantage over in a fight. Looks like we have to think of a way to deal with the Black Venom King's Devil Miasma Poison, or the situation will become extremely unfavorable to us if anything unfortunate befalls general Wei…"

Zhou Yuan's eyes flickered in thought. In the end, he looked towards Yaoyao as a smile emerged on his lips. The twenty thousand Genesis crystals must not be spent in vain.

[1] *齐昊 & 齐日天

The 'Hao' (昊 ) character from Qi Hao's name is made up of two characters, 'Ri' (日) and 'Tian' (天)

Hence, Zhou Yuan is making mockery of Qi Hao's name by calling him Qi Ritian.

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