If it weren't for this, the Fourth Prince would have appeared earlier and wouldn't need to appear only now.
However, Xiaoyao was somewhat puzzled about what exactly the Fourth Prince saw in him. He could be certain the Fourth Prince wanted him to work for him—otherwise, he wouldn't be afraid of hurting him or go through such elaborate means using the Dragon Binding Formation.
"Fourth Prince Your Highness, I don't know what you want me to do. Just speak directly—everything can be discussed," Xiaoyao looked at the Fourth Prince and his several subordinates. Besides the six people in the Dragon Binding Formation, there were three or four others standing by the Fourth Prince's side on the road they came from.
At this moment, the Fourth Prince didn't have people surround him either, because it wasn't necessary—just for a small servant, it wasn't needed. Secondly, there weren't enough people. Having three or four people surround him would leave gaps everywhere.
"I need your alchemy skills, but I also dislike your alchemy skills," the Fourth Prince said with a smile—a very contradictory statement, and his smile looked quite sinister.
"??" Xiaoyao was somewhat confused. "My alchemy skills are very ordinary!"
"Ordinary?!" The Fourth Prince's face twitched slightly. "If they were ordinary, how could they have such effects? Mo Yu and the others' progress speed, and the pills Mo Yu used that obviously restored stamina better than my advanced pills—don't tell me these weren't all caused by your pills. This is exactly what I dislike about you, yet want!"
"This is their own effort. Pills are always just an auxiliary means. The same pills will vary from person to person. You can't match their speed simply because your aptitude doesn't compare to theirs," Xiaoyao said very directly.
"I really don't like you," the Fourth Prince said coldly. Xiaoyao actually said directly to his face that he was inferior to others—how could he accept this?
"You don't need to like me—we're not familiar anyway. Speaking of which, Fourth Prince Your Highness, why did you wait until now to do this? Didn't you have many opportunities before?" Xiaoyao asked casually. He actually understood the Fourth Prince's thinking, but he wanted to delay time and chat more.
The Fourth Prince at this moment wouldn't think Xiaoyao was stalling for time. In his heart, he believed that no matter how much Xiaoyao delayed, there couldn't be any possibility of a turnaround. There wasn't anyone within ten meters of this place, and his control over Xiaoyao was completely secure.
At this moment, the Fourth Prince only felt that Xiaoyao truly didn't understand, and to demonstrate his own wisdom and resourcefulness, he specifically told Xiaoyao: "This is because you came with the Dragon Gate Tournament after all, plus your reputation in the New Moon Empire's capital. If I had acted against you in the New Moon Empire's capital, I might have offended the New Moon Empire—that would be more loss than gain. Even now, I can't let people know I captured you, not only because it might attract the New Moon Empire, but also because it might provoke Guxing and those women!"
"Originally, for what you did, I wanted to kill you, but your alchemy skills make anyone reluctant to kill you. With your alchemy skills plus the Heavenly Wind Kingdom's resources, becoming an Emperor-level martial artist wouldn't be a problem for me. The Dragon Gate Tournament—that's just for small fry to participate in. I don't care about it.”
Hearing this, Xiaoyao thought of a saying: Those who can't eat grapes always say grapes are sour! If you really were so open-minded, would you still come looking for trouble with us?
Originally, he didn't want to voice his thoughts, but at this moment he wanted to confirm something, so he took this opportunity to probe.
"If that's the case, why would Fourth Prince Your Highness send people to obstruct us from participating in the Dragon Gate Tournament?" Xiaoyao asked suddenly, seemingly unconcerned.
"That was just because I didn't want too many people interfering with me... How do you know about this?" The Fourth Prince answered casually but soon realized something was wrong.
The Fourth Prince was indeed the one who had obstructed the Dragon Gate Tournament from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom—the one who had disguised as bandits back then. Who would have thought he'd use the same trick again.
Thinking carefully, the Fourth Prince's resentment toward the Young Miss at that time, some subtle expressions and actions, were all good evidence. Also, when he ambushed the Young Miss and others back then, he had said the Young Miss had cost him some people.
At that time, everyone thought he was referring to Princess Ke Xin and others, but thinking about it now, he might have been talking about the fake bandits killed by the Young Miss and others.
From the Fourth Prince's character, he was an extremely hypocritical person who liked making moves behind the scenes, so him being the mastermind behind that incident wasn't really hard to imagine!
"First, your bandit methods are exactly the same, making it easy for me to associate with that time. Second, this person beside you had appeared at that place back then," Xiaoyao pointed at one of the people beside the Fourth Prince.
"Impossible. I was disguised then and only appeared for an instant. How could you possibly recognize me?" That person said in shock.
"I have an advantage—very good memory. Even just for an instant, I can see you clearly. Also, even if you disguised yourself with makeup, some of your physical characteristics don't change,” Xiaoyao answered with a smile.
With just one glance, once Xiaoyao saw someone, he would remember that person. This was his powerful memory, and this memory was trained bit by bit—it wasn't innate. Of course, saying it was innate wasn't impossible either, but that was potential that needed to be developed.
A person's memory isn't fixed from birth—it can be improved later. One can take memory-improving pills, plus some memory enhancement methods, which can make someone without any memory talent develop extraordinary memory.
This point is ignored by many people, who think memory is just talent that can't be envied. But they don't know that all of a person's abilities can be developed.
Just like the Fourth Prince before them—his aptitude was inferior to Guxing and others, but his potential could still be developed. If Guxing and others didn't work hard, the Fourth Prince would definitely catch up.
The Fourth Prince capturing Xiaoyao was one method of developing his own potential.
"Since you know about this, I definitely can't let you go," the Fourth Prince said coldly. He hadn't expected that not only had his plan failed, but someone had discovered it too.
"Now let me ask you another question—where are you planning to take me? Back to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom? In that case, aren't you afraid of being discovered?" Xiaoyao asked. He asked this question just to determine where the Fourth Prince wanted to take him. If it didn't suit his intentions, he would escape now.
If this place wasn't far, or was right on the way to the Great Tang Empire, then he would consider not leaving yet.
Don't doubt whether Xiaoyao had the ability to run. He had been stalling for time to prepare for escape, and at this moment it was mostly complete. What accomplished this was still Chi Chi.
The Dragon Binding Formation wasn't any difficult problem for Chi Chi—it could eat the barrier.
That's right, Xiaoyao could not only eat any physical thing, it could also eat intangible energy bodies—that is, internal power—and it could also eat such barriers.
Xiaoyao discovered this once when confining Chi Chi. That time he used a formation to lock Chi Chi up, afraid Chi Chi would go out and cause trouble, eating the medicinal materials he had painstakingly prepared. Chi Chi had already eaten for a while then, which was why Xiaoyao confined it.
But unexpectedly, Chi Chi quickly ate through the barrier and jumped out, very arrogantly "acting cute" toward Xiaoyao. At that time, Chi Chi thought Xiaoyao had prepared food for it.
For this Dragon Binding Formation, if Chi Chi had time, it could devour it completely, but by then it would have been discovered long ago and couldn't continue devouring. It was now just eating a hole, and after being eaten by it, those places couldn't reconnect.
Xiaoyao sometimes wondered if he had bought an unusual spirit pet—whether he had bought a descendant of Taotie. This little glutton really could eat anything in the world, even energy. Nothing in this world could stop this little glutton anymore.
Perhaps it was also because this little glutton was by his side, constantly absorbing his internal power, that it had this wonderful evolution.
But regardless of which it was, Xiaoyao felt he had profited. Even if this little glutton had no special power, just this special ability gave him many conveniences. Used well, it was more precious than high-level monster beasts.
Taking a step back, even if this little glutton was trash, he had no choice now but to treat it as a treasure.
Now, because of Chi Chi, Xiaoyao could at least escape this Dragon Binding Formation that others couldn't escape from. This was one of Chi Chi's precious qualities.
But now Xiaoyao didn't want to escape, because he suddenly realized the Fourth Prince before him was an opportunity—an opportunity to solve his problems.
"Taking you to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom would be convenient for me, but the risk is too great. You've been in the royal palace for some time. If someone discovers me, I'd be in trouble. Besides, there are already forces watching me there, making exposure even easier," the Fourth Prince explained, as if wanting to let Xiaoyao know his intelligence and wisdom once again.
"At the same time, your disappearance will definitely attract attention from the Mo and Nangong families. I couldn't possibly take you back to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. I'll take you to a place others would never think of, where we can conveniently obtain needed medicinal materials and refine pills in the fastest time. That's the key!"
The Fourth Prince paused, then continued: "As for after the pills are refined, carrying them is very convenient. Using messenger eagles, it only takes one day to arrive."
Messenger eagles were a type of low-level monster beast, but they had a great characteristic—extremely fast flight speed and the ability to fly for very long periods. With just some training, they could fly between two points and transfer through other points, reaching anywhere in a network that could deliver information across the entire continent within days.
(End of Chapter)
(Taotie) - Legendary creature known for its enormous appetite and ability to devour anything