TL: Etude
"You can't kill me. This is Linhai Base, and the Lin family has rules. No warrior can fight or kill others here, otherwise they will be sanctioned by the Lin family and other clans!" Mo Yuan blurted out in panic.
"Instead of begging for mercy at this moment, you're still trying to threaten me? It seems you've grown accustomed to throwing your weight around in the name of the Mo family. You've forgotten what real circumstances and reverence mean. Let me teach you a lesson today," Ye Tian said. He reached out and grabbed Mo Yuan's arm, squeezing lightly.
Crack!
A crisp sound echoed, followed by Mo Yuan's scream. Ye Tian had just rendered Mo Yuan's arm useless. To heal it would require very precious healing resources. Would the Mo family spend such a high price for a warrior with no potential for advancement?
No, the Mo family wouldn't.
"Get out!" Ye Tian barked.
Mo Yuan dared not threaten Ye Tian any longer. Enduring the intense pain, he scrambled out of Ye Tian's residence.
"Mo family, I hope you don't do anything foolish, otherwise..." A glint of killing intent flashed in Ye Tian's eyes.
Upon returning home, Mo Yuan immediately went to see the head of the Mo family—Mo Changsheng. Mo Changsheng had basic-level talent, but thanks to the Mo family's vast resources, he had cultivated to the early stage of elite warriors by the age of thirty. Although it was difficult for him to advance further, his high status allowed him to sit on the throne of the Mo family. This was because he was the son of Mo Changqing, the only great warrior of the Mo family.
Mo Changqing had many sons and daughters, most of whom had low talents. Only a few had basic talents, and among them, Mo Changsheng had the best.
"Family head, you must seek justice for me!" Mo Yuan, dragging his limp arm, walked tearfully to Mo Changsheng and knelt down.
"What happened to your arm? Did something go wrong when you went to invite Ye Tian?" Mo Changsheng frowned.
"Ye Tian has no respect for our Mo family!" Mo Yuan cried as he recounted Ye Tian's arrogance. In his narrative, he portrayed himself as a pitiful and innocent person, blaming everything on Ye Tian, who had cruelly disabled his arm.
After Mo Yuan finished speaking, Mo Changsheng ordered someone to take him away, without mentioning anything about treating his arm.
"Waste!" Mo Changsheng cursed.
Naturally, he was cursing Mo Yuan. Failing to accomplish a task, if not a waste, then what was he? Of course, Mo Changsheng didn't entirely believe Mo Yuan's words. As the family head, he knew what kind of person Mo Yuan was; he must have offended Ye Tian.
But it was clear that Ye Tian had refused the invitation; otherwise, Mo Yuan wouldn't have dared to offend him.
"Hmph, a mere elite warrior dares to reject our Mo family. If it weren't for my father using a secret technique that shortened his lifespan, why would I even bother inviting an outsider?" Mo Changsheng thought resentfully.
This was a secret known to only a few people, even many high-ranking members of the Mo family were unaware. Mo Changqing had returned alive from the Mighty Ant extermination mission. However, he had used a secret technique that consumed his lifespan to escape from a high-level Mighty Ant. According to his estimate, Mo Changqing had at most one year left to live.
Mo Changsheng was well aware of the Mo family's situation. Without a great warrior to hold the fort, the family would be in a precarious position. They had offended many other families, and if those families retaliated, the Mo family would be in trouble. Therefore, he wanted to strengthen the Mo family's power, and Ye Tian was an excellent choice.
Ye Tian was very young, just sixteen years old according to investigations, yet he had already reached the level of an elite warrior. His talent was at least of high-level cultivation, and he also had a speed talent, which was revealed during the Mighty Ant mission and witnessed by many warriors.
The Mo family not only wanted to win him over but also to control him. If successful, they would have an ace up their sleeve for decades to come. To control Ye Tian, they had to act before he rose to prominence, and now was the perfect time.
Mo Changsheng turned and walked towards an underground chamber deep within the Mo family's compound. Soon, he met his father, Mo Changqing, who was recuperating.
"Father, Mo Yuan messed up the task!" Mo Changsheng reported.
"Messed up? That's expected. Such talents are usually arrogant and look down on our Mo family. It's normal for him to refuse the invitation. But even if he doesn't come to us, we can still capture him!" Mo Changqing said coldly.
"Father, how about we let the Lin family sanction Ye Tian first? He just disabled Mo Yuan, and that's a good excuse," Mo Changsheng hurriedly suggested.
"Foolish!" Mo Changqing scolded. "What is Mo Yuan? Just an ordinary warrior. Ye Tian's talent is incredibly strong. He is destined to become a great warrior, not just an ordinary one like me, but a true peak great warrior. The Lin family won't go against such a talent; they might even try to win him over. Right now, the Lin family is too busy dealing with the alliance between the two bases to handle other matters. Once they're done, Ye Tian will be out of our reach!"
Mo Changsheng shuddered and lowered his head. "You're right, Father. I'll arrange for Ye Tian's capture immediately."
"Here, this is a potion that erases one's intelligence. I got it from a major base at a great cost. After capturing Ye Tian, make him ingest it. His intelligence will be mostly wiped out, leaving him in a daze for a while and losing his memory. His talents won't be affected. Once he's mostly recovered, we can use our methods to train him and thus completely control him," Mo Changqing said sinisterly.
"Excellent plan, much better than using potent poison and occasionally providing an antidote to control him!" Mo Changsheng was excited.
After taking the potion that erases intelligence, Mo Changsheng left to arrange for Ye Tian's capture.
Late at night, the Mo family dispatched ten elite warriors, two of whom had special talents. One had a low poison talent, and the other had a basic swordsmanship talent and had cultivated a powerful black-iron-level sword technique that specifically increased attack power. Although these two elite warriors were only at the early stage, their combat abilities were comparable to those at the middle stage.
In addition to them, there were two middle-stage elite warriors among the ten, making the force equivalent to four middle-stage and six early-stage elite warriors. Such a force was more than enough to deal with an early-stage elite warrior like Ye Tian, who had a decent speed talent.
Unfortunately, they had no idea that the person they were about to confront was an extraordinary genius.