Chapter 23：Extortion Backfired

At that moment, Cang Yan finally realized that he had hit a wall. The seemingly ordinary old beggar had unrevealed powers and highly unpredictable moves, thus Cang Yan was definitely not a match for him.

"Senior, please spare my life. I've learned my lesson," Cang Yan shouted loudly and took a few steps back. 

"Stop," Old Man Qingzhu commanded softly. Suddenly, the hundreds of Flaming Blade Qi ripples stopped mid-air and ceased to move forward. With a light tap of the broken bamboo pole, all of the Flaming Blade Qi dissipated into thin air.

Cang Yan looked disgraced and he stared at Old Man Qingzhu with a terrified gaze. He whispered, "Senior, I was naive and I've learned my lesson. Please forgive me." Then, he bowed respectfully to Old Man Qingzhu followed by a salute. 

The onlookers nearby were dumbfounded and dared not make a sound. Even Cang Yan, who was a Qi Plundering Boundary master, could not rival Old Man Qingzhu, let alone them. 

Old Man Qingzhu smiled as he took another mouthful of wine and said with a smile, "Kid, since I have a good temper, I'll forgive you, but…I'm not the one you robbed today. I'm sure you understand what you have to do." Then, he glanced towards Ji Mo.

Cang Yan immediately knew what Old Man Qingzhu meant. He walked up to Ji Mo without a hint of contempt, but he was not respectful either. Although Old Man Qingzhu's intention was obvious, as a Qi Plundering Boundary master, Cang Yan still felt a little humiliated apologizing to a nobody.

"Brother, I'm sorry for having offended you just now. As long as the mountains are green and the water flows, we shall meet again." He stubbornly saluted Ji Mo before spinning around to quickly leave.

"Stop right there. Do you want to leave right after bullying others?" Ji Mo stopped him in his tracks as he lowered his gaze with a cynical smirk on his face. 

"What do you want?" Cang Yan frowned.

"Your companions tried to rob me and you attacked me without finding out what happened. As a Qi Plundering Boundary cultivator bullying me, who's in the body tempering phase, you are such a rascal! Are you going to just leave without compensating for the mental damage that you have caused?" Ji Mo said, knowing that Cang Yan would not do anything to him because Old Man Qingzhu was around. 

He took the chance to make a bold move. After all, a Qi Plundering Boundary master must have more riches than Ji Mo himself. 

"How much do you want?" Cang Yan asked straightforwardly.

"A million Qi Gathering Pills!" Ji Mo spelled out an astronomical figure.

"What!? A million!?" Cang Yan suddenly turned pale as he fiercely spluttered, "Y-you're crazy!"

A million Qi Gathering Pills was a substantial amount even for a Qi Plundering Boundary master. Since Cang Yan robbed and looted houses, he was only a rogue cultivator. Despite having those paltry earnings, he was not that well to do and a million pieces of Qi Gathering Pills was just too great of a pressure.

How was it possible to obtain them?

Ji Mo's request for the million Qi Gathering Pills was just too exorbitant.

"Yeah, I'm crazy. So, are you giving a million Qi Gathering Pills or not?" Ji Mo threatened.

His words did not just surprise Cang Yan. Even the onlookers felt it was too much. Nevertheless, Ji Mo did not care. Before this, they thought that he was an easy target, so they came to extort him. To deal with people like them, one had to use an eye for an eye, and treat them the way they treated others. 

"I can't give you a million Qi Gathering Pills," said Cang Yan who looked awful. 

"Alright, since you don't have a million, then you should at least have something for me," Ji Mo said while stretching out his palm.

Cang Yan frowned. He stared at Ji Mo scornfully but seemed slightly frightened at the sight of Old Man Qingzhu who was drinking by the roadside. The old man did not seem to care and appeared to support Ji Mo.

At that moment, Cang Yan gritted his teeth and said, "I have 30,000 ready-made Qi Gathering Pills here and a 20,000 pill note. You can take it if you want." He threw a pouch at Ji Mo. 

That type of pouch was called a treasure pouch. It was for cultivators to keep their belongings and it came in small and large sizes. However, the one that Cang Yan had was probably a low-level pouch that only had a few cubic meters of space.

Ji Mo took the treasure pouch to peer inside. There were really 30,000 Qi Gathering Pills and a 20,000 pill note which he happily kept. He was worried about not having enough money to buy spiritual medicine. Although these Qi Gathering Pills were not substantial, they were enough for him to use for a while. 

Cang Yan snorted coldly, full of hatred toward Ji Mo, but there was nothing he could do. He activated a sword talisman, stepped on the sword-light, and left without a trace.

Ji Mo did not pay attention to them since they were insignificant and nothing could be gained from them. Therefore, they were free to leave. Meanwhile, Ji Mo was overjoyed as he played with the treasure pouch in this hand. He could not believe that earning money could be that easy. It seemed like robbing was a notable option.

Nevertheless, thoughts remained as thoughts. Ji Mo knew that if not for Old Man Qingzhu, he would have been hung. After all, the divine power that a Qi Plundering Boundary master possessed was not something that he could have contended.

"Thank you, old man. Why don't we split these Qi Gathering Pills?" Ji Mo suggested to Old Man Qingzhu. He felt a little embarrassed when Old Man Qingzhu did not take the Qi Gathering Pills he had earned previously from the business. Furthermore, the Qi Gathering Pills he gained from Cang Yan was not a scanty amount, so he was embarrassed to have them all to himself. 

"You can keep them first." Old Man Qingzhu stood up, holding the broken bamboo pole as he grinned. "Kid, you do know that you just saw the Broken God's Eye, don't you?"

"The Broken God's Eye…" At the mention of this visual technique, Ji Mo nodded immediately. The Broken God's Eye demonstrated by Old Man Qingzhu that he witnessed could imitate other divine powers. Ji Mo had never heard or seen anything of its kind before. If this visual technique could be grasped, he would have no concern about not being able to learn advanced divine power.

As long as the Broken God's Eye was used to observe the divine power others displayed, then it could be reenacted. This method could be described as heaven-defying. 

Apart from that, the Broken God's Eye had another function, which was to expose all lies and locate all the rare treasures hidden in the mountains and seas. By cultivating it to the highest level, one could learn all the secrets between heaven and earth and know the future. This godly eye would make one invincible!

Old Man Qingzhu smiled, then pointed at Ji Mo's left eye. At once, Ji Mo felt a sharp pain as if a needle had penetrated his eyeball. He could not help but let out a grunt while tears flowed.

"I have transferred a fraction of the Broken God's Eye directly into your eye. Discover it on your own. I'll take my leave now and we shall meet again if there's an opportunity in the future." Old Man Qingzhu chuckled before he turned around and walked towards the road ahead facing the sunset as his shadow gradually disappeared. 

A strange song emerged from the sunset: "My wineskin is empty, and so is the road. The vast immortal road is drunkenly empty as I stir from a significant dream. What is the use of heaven and earth giving birth to me? Empty immortal techniques, thousands of empty techniques, what hatred unto immortals for being useless…"

Ji Mo felt unbearable pain in his left eye. His tears flowed and he was unable to keep his eyes open. He could only hear Old Man Qingzhu's voice fading in the distance before eventually disappearing.

After a long while, he felt the pain in his left eye improve, so he opened his eyes, but Old Man Qingzhu was nowhere to be seen.