Chapter 97: Hurry and Capture Qi Qi Xinyue (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Juelian's Devotion)

"I believe in you. Your cultivation isn't worse than mine—don't call me Senior. You can just call me by name." Zhong Chi said without hesitation.

Ding Huan's ability to walk on wood to reach here wasn't easy—the sea was full of ferocious aquatic beasts.

Especially a kind of knife-back fish: not only could it leap out of the sea, but it could also fire arrows too swift to guard against.

"Alright, Senior Zhong, please come up." Ding Huan landed again on the log.

"Hahaha…" Zhong Chi laughed loudly, leaping through the air and landing directly on the other end of the log.

He had nothing with him; the only blade he owned was still in his hand, so he could leave whenever he wished.

Ding Huan expelled true qi from his feet, and the log instantly sliced through the sea, speeding away.

"Impressive skill," Zhong Chi couldn't help but praise.

Ding Huan smiled. "In terms of cultivation, I'm far behind you. I'm just younger. If you weren't injured, walking on this log across the sea would be easy for you."

Zhong Chi shook his head. "Ding Huan, if you consider me a friend, don't call me Senior. I'm only in my forties."

"Fine then, I'll call you Old Zhong." Ding Huan didn't mind.

He called Zhong Chi Senior out of respect for his sacrifices defending Earth against ferocious beasts—not because he was a Xiantian cultivator or because he was older.

Zhong Chi nodded in satisfaction. "If I weren't injured, my true qi wouldn't be much thicker than yours. And your effortless control over this log—I can't match it."

As for now, I certainly can't. The cultivation method you practice is extraordinary."

As one of the earliest Xiantian experts, Zhong Chi naturally understood the differences between gene arts.

He realized Ding Huan's cultivation must be a gene art, not a martial art.

Gene arts and martial arts each have their strengths, but ordinary gene arts are vastly inferior to martial arts.

Their only advantage is speed: gene arts are faster to cultivate, without the tedious, years- or even decades-long foundational training required by martial arts.

How many decades does a human life offer? Thus, those who excel in martial arts are as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns.

"Old Zhong, I'll detox you later. Once you recover your strength, we'll head ashore." Ding Huan controlled the log as it surged toward Qi Qi Xinyue's reef island.

Though he had severely wounded that giant gorilla, it wouldn't die so easily. If both the giant gorilla and the demon dragon emerged, he couldn't handle them alone.

"Forget detoxing. My poison is probably incurable. When I return, I'll settle accounts with Shi Changyi, that bastard. Even if I die, as long as I take out that scumbag, I'll feel at peace."

Zhong Chi shook his head.

Ding Huan sighed. "Old Zhong, you're too naive."

"What? Don't you trust my abilities? I don't even need to lift a finger to eliminate that trash." Zhong Chi was displeased with Ding Huan's dismissal.

As China's top powerhouse, his reputation wasn't just empty fame—his friends spanned the globe. Why should he fear a mere foreign devil?

Ding Huan chuckled.

"Old Zhong, I'm not looking down on you. If you weren't poisoned and your strength were at its peak, you might truly suppress Shi Changyi without lifting a finger. But now that you're poisoned, it's a different matter."

"It's like if you were currently worth millions—you wouldn't need to borrow; people would rush to offer you money, asking if you had enough. But if you were truly destitute? Haha, most of the people you know would avoid you."

Zhong Chi fell silent after hearing Ding Huan's words.

He knew all too well the Federation and the Top Ten Academies of Blue Star—if he returned injured, Ding Huan's words might become reality.

The Federation and the Chinese Security Bureau tolerated the Gene Alliance precisely because the Alliance had two super experts: its leader, Shi Changyi, and his shadow, Leng Qi.

Zhong Chi sighed. "My poison can't be cured—I know it. My meridians are poisoned. Even if I hadn't met you today, I wouldn't live much longer."

Meridian poisoning is beyond the reach of modern medicine.

Perhaps a gene serum could neutralize this poison, but before such a serum could be developed, Zhong Chi's bones would already be cold.

Ding Huan smiled. "I say I can, so I can. Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

Zhong Chi said nothing—not because of doubt, but because it was simply impossible.

…

Qi Qi Xinyue sat like a statue on the reef, staring at the churning sea far away, her mind utterly blank.

She didn't know how long she had sat, nor how much longer she would sit.

When two figures appeared in her vision, her thoughts still floated in a state of unconscious detachment.

Only when the two figures drew nearer and she recognized one as Ding Huan did she suddenly stand up and rush forward several steps to the edge of the reef island.

Ding Huan halted the log at the reef's edge, leapt off, and asked, puzzled, "Miss Qi, what's wrong?"

"Ah…" Qi Qi Xinyue suddenly realized she shouldn't have acted like this.

She quickly wiped her eyes. "I just… missed home."

"Mm. Don't worry. If you work hard at cultivation, there's still a chance you can return home. Let's go inside, rest, and discuss how to leave."

As Ding Huan spoke, he remembered Zhong Chi beside him and quickly introduced him: "This is Zhong Chi…"

"Ding Huan, isn't she the woman captured on that spaceship? How did she…?"

Clearly, Zhong Chi had seen Qi Qi Xinyue before and knew where she came from.

Ding Huan smiled. "Yes? What of it?"

Zhong Chi's expression turned grave. He looked at Ding Huan seriously.

"Ding Huan, I advise you to bind her now and take her to the Federation for imprisonment. This isn't a small matter."

Ding Huan looked at Zhong Chi calmly. "Old Zhong, if you don't want to come with us, stay here. We're leaving."

Without another word, Ding Huan ignored Zhong Chi entirely and entered the reef cave—his pack was still there.

Zhong Chi hurried forward. "Ding Huan, I know you're upset by what I said, but have you considered the consequences?"

"If the Federation and the Gene Alliance find out you're associating with an alien who invaded Earth, not only you—but everyone close to you—will be wanted, hunted by everyone."

Ding Huan turned back and looked at Zhong Chi, speaking slowly and clearly.

"Old Zhong, I do what I do. I don't need anyone to teach me, and I don't need the Federation or the Gene Alliance to dictate to me."

"Alien invasion of Earth? Haha. Ask your conscience—who actually lured this ship here?"

"I know, but…"

Ding Huan waved his hand. "Old Zhong, I'll say this clearly to you. The moment those idiots of the Gene Alliance sent out the signal searching for extraterrestrial civilizations, the alien invasion of Earth was already a foregone conclusion. No one could change that.

It has nothing to do with her. On the contrary, she's a victim. The ones who harmed her are the Gene Alliance and the Federation. Of course, that spaceship is also one of the things that harmed her."

Ding Huan naturally knew Qi Qi Xinyue's background. To put it bluntly, she was just like he had been back then.

Back then, he had been captured by the Gene Alliance and taken into the universe for the purpose of using him as a test subject for genetic drug trials.

And Qi Qi Xinyue was the same. In her hometown, she had been labeled a heretic, then taken into the universe to search for the planet where the Divine Race lived.

Speaking of this, Ding Huan simply stopped. He looked at Zhong Chi and said: "Old Zhong, I actually used to feel some sympathy for you. Because you were set up by Shi Changyi while trying to deal with the Gene Beasts.

Now I understand, you deserved it. A guy with a rigid mind who follows the crowd like you — if you weren't set up, that would be against heaven's way.

'Every pitiful person has their hateful side' — that's talking about you. Please, can you have a brain of your own? You actually believe what those bastards of the Gene Alliance say? Forgotten who poisoned you, have you?"

To be honest, Ding Huan actually regretted bringing Zhong Chi here.

This guy was so rigid and by-the-book that all his intelligence had probably been spent on cultivation.

"Do you know why the Federation imprisoned her? It's because of that bastard Shi Changyi. He wanted to get the secrets on her, yet he acted like a whore while still wanting a monument erected to his chastity.

I, Ding Huan, am taking Qi Qi Xinyue back openly and honorably today. Who dares to do anything? And who could?" Ding Huan's tone brooked no argument.

Qi Qi Xinyue saw Ding Huan and Zhong Chi arguing and felt a little anxious and uneasy inside. From the attitude of the two when they spoke, she could sense it was probably because of her.

When she had been captured and imprisoned back then, Zhong Chi had also been there, and had even expressed his approval. Now that he had surely seen her, Zhong Chi wanted Ding Huan to arrest her.

But from Ding Huan's resolute attitude and contemptuous gaze, she knew Ding Huan would absolutely not arrest her.

She stared blankly at Ding Huan's imposing manner, and a warmth welled up inside her.

Perhaps this was why, when she saw Ding Huan leave and then return, she had unconsciously shed tears. It was because, without realizing it, she had come to regard Ding Huan as a friend.

Zhong Chi was stunned. After quite a while, he slowly came to his senses. He bowed to Ding Huan and said:

"It was me who was rigid. I always felt that as long as it was decided by the Federation and the two major Alliances, it had to be right. Shi Changyi is a piece of rat droppings — after all, just one piece. Now I feel I was wrong.

Ding Huan, thank you for reminding me. I really did put all my energy into cultivation. Many things that are common sense and human nature, I actually didn't take into consideration."

He also thought back to what Ding Huan had said earlier — that his poison couldn't be cured, and that going back to look for trouble with Shi Changyi would be a joke.

Ding Huan sighed and looked at Zhong Chi: "A person like you shouldn't go after being some number one expert, and don't get blown around by a few rainbow farts from others until you don't know which way is up.

Here's a suggestion for you: don't listen to the Federation, and don't assume everything the two major Alliances do is right.

If you take my advice, after we go back this time, join the Security Bureau. Don't mess around in the jianghu anymore — you're not cut out for it."

"Alright." Zhong Chi answered Ding Huan seriously. He didn't feel that Ding Huan's scolding was wrong.

His daughter had told him more than once not to mix with that group from the Federation, and especially not to trust the people of the Gene Alliance.

"Forget it. I'll go detoxify you in a bit, then let's go." Ding Huan said helplessly.