The Authority of Hat Guy

Xu Mu frowned slightly. What was the deal with this female lead?

Was she trying to win herself over?

But right now, he didn’t have the mind to care about this woman. Yang Lielan had hyped him up too much, so he definitely needed to keep a low profile.

“You’re all too kind. This time, Old Chen and I didn’t do much fighting; we mainly relied on strategy, and we even called in reinforcements.”

Xu Mu nudged Chen Xuan with his elbow. “Old Chen, say something.”

“Alright! In the early part of this mission, we did use some clever tactics, but in the end, we miscalculated. Lao Jiexiang still had Chi Ting by his side.”

Chen Xuan gestured wildly as he spoke. “We were no match for them at all. In the end, Brother Mu activated a self-detonation and blew Chi Ting into severe injury right on the spot.”

“Damn it!”

Xu Mu cursed under his breath. I told you to speak just so we could keep a low profile, but instead, you’ve made us look even more impressive.

“What? You guys even severely injured Chi Ting?”

Ji Liang’s eyes were filled with disbelief. “I haven’t heard anything about this.”

“Xu Mu, the technique you used—that should be the one you displayed at the Martial Ranking Tournament, right?”

Yang Lielan followed up with a question.

“That’s right.”

Xu Mu gave a slight nod.

“I’m also very interested in that technique of yours. Was it passed down by your master?”

Ji Liang looked at Xu Mu with a smile.

“It was taught to me by my master. I’m just relying on how powerful the technique is.”

“Xu Mu! Excessive modesty is just arrogance. That divine-grade technique, the Final Spark—even if you put it in front of everyone here and gave them ten years, they still might not master even half of it.”

Ji Liang gazed at Xu Mu. “I think you’ve mastered at least eighty percent of it. That’s talent.”

Hearing this, Xu Mu was secretly shocked. This old man actually knew about it.

“Chairman, do you know this technique?”

Geng Yanlin asked curiously.

Not just him—everyone present was extremely interested. In Xu Mu’s match at the Martial Ranking Tournament, the most eye-catching thing was this technique.

Clearly, his strength was several major realms weaker, and the level of Qi he unleashed was also weak, yet the power far exceeded what his realm should have been capable of.

“I’ve heard of it. The principle of this technique is very simple, but the conditions for using it are extremely strict—you have to release all the Qi in your body in a single instant.”

Ji Liang explained with a smile. “As long as the quantity is sufficient, it can make up for the gap.”

“Release it all in an instant? How is that possible? How could the body’s meridians withstand that?”

As Yang Lielan spoke, he also glanced toward Xu Mu.

“That’s why I said this kid is pretending to be weak. To unleash it, you have to go through endless tempering, even risking your meridians rupturing to continuously release in large amounts. Practicing this technique is extremely painful—you have to endure inhuman suffering. I think only Xu Mu himself knows.”

Ji Liang looked at Xu Mu with an admiring smile.

The expressions of everyone else around as they looked at Xu Mu also changed.

Xu Mu scratched his head awkwardly. Pain?

There was no pain.

He had just drawn it, and he could use it right away.

Of course, he definitely wasn’t going to say that.

“Chairman, why can this technique unleash such tremendous power? Could you explain in more detail?”

Geng Yanlin continued to ask.

Ji Liang raised his hand. “For example, if my realm is lower than yours, then the quality of our Qi is vastly different. When I hit someone with Qi, it’s like throwing a rock at them. When you hit someone with Qi, it’s like setting off gunpowder.”

Geng Yanlin nodded inwardly, waiting for more.

“Now let’s start the competition. Your Qi might be of a higher grade, but the amount you can release at once is limited—after all, your meridians can only handle so much. You could destroy this building with one punch.”

Ji Liang pointed to the roof high above and said, “But my Qi has no limits. Even if each strike is as weak as a thrown stone, what if I used a stone bigger than this entire building?”

Hearing this, Geng Yanlin finally understood.

The others around them also grasped the reasoning—in simple terms, it was raw overwhelming force, winning by sheer volume.

“So that means, if I can survive this wave of attacks, I win.”

Geng Yanlin said with a smile.

“Exactly. That’s right.”

Xu Mu nodded. Against a big villain like this, he naturally had to show weakness to lure them in.

Of course, it wasn’t just him—against anyone, Xu Mu always kept a card up his sleeve.

“Alright, bring out the goods.”

Ji Liang looked toward the middle-aged woman standing nearby.

The woman walked over to Xu Mu’s side and directly produced four ninth-grade heavenly treasures.

And they were all strength-boosting types, not the junk given out during the martial tournament.

“Thank you, senior.”

Xu Mu didn’t stand on ceremony and casually took two of them. As for the remaining two, he handed them to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan initially wanted to refuse—after all, he had barely helped in this mission.

But with so many people around, he had no choice but to accept them. He’d deal with it later when they were alone.

“Everyone, eat up. Don’t be shy.”

Ji Liang smiled at the crowd.

...

During the meal, everyone chatted about recent events, and Xu Mu didn’t get a word in edgewise.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone dispersed.

Ji Liang asked Xu Mu and Chen Xuan to stay behind, saying he had some private matters to discuss.

Ji Liang took the two of them and, with a light leap, landed on the roof of a building.

He pulled a pipe out of his spatial ring and smiled at them. “You don’t recognize me, do you?”

“We didn’t before, but we do now.”

Chen Xuan said with a smile.

“No, I’m the group admin—Shang Shan Ruo Shui.”

Ji Liang stuffed tobacco into the pipe bowl. Without any gesture, the tobacco lit itself on fire.

“So you’re the group admin.”

Xu Mu recalled that last time in the group chat, it was this very admin who had @‘d Ji Qingge, telling her to tone down her bad temper.

Thinking about it, Xu Mu suddenly froze. “Senior, is Ji Qingge your...”

“She’s my granddaughter.”

Ji Liang said with a smile.

“Let me just say this upfront—I’ve already made her change her group nickname.”

Xu Mu said hurriedly.

No wonder Ji Qingge had set her nickname to “I’m the Baddest in This Group.”

With her grandfather being the head of the Ji clan and the director of the Sanitation Bureau, who wouldn’t be that cocky?

“Heh, a bet’s a bet. I don’t care about that.”

Ji Liang looked at Xu Mu and Chen Xuan. “The reason I specially asked you two here is that I have another task to hand over to you.”

Xu Mu broke into a faint smile—he knew coming here wouldn’t be that simple.

“Senior, what kind of task?”

Xu Mu grabbed Chen Xuan’s arm. “The whole reason we joined the outsourcing team is so we don’t get our time taken up. If it’s a time-sucking task, we definitely won’t do it.”

“Exactly. Mu-ge has a family, and I still need to find my senior sister.”

Chen Xuan chimed in. “Senior, don’t give us some undercover mission that lasts years.”

“Don’t worry, this task isn’t forced. It’s just a personal request of mine.”

Ji Liang took another puff from his pipe, his gaze drifting into the distance.

He gave a brief account of the whole affair.

Twenty years ago, Ji Liang had already stepped back from the front lines, handing over all family matters to his son. But during the last chaos involving the Inner Realm God-Mother, his son was killed.

His daughter-in-law was pregnant at the time. After giving birth to the child, she seldom came home—only a handful of times in all those years. Yet every time she returned, she would bring Ji Qingge no small number of celestial treasures and rare materials.

But three years ago, she set out for the ancient battlefield of the Ninth Inner Realm, and to this day, she has not returned.

Xu Mu rubbed his chin. "By your account, senior, you want me to go rescue Ji Qingge's mother?"

A sudden thought struck him—Ji Qingge was one of Cap-Boy's women. Surely her mother wasn't one of his old flames too, was she?

After all, Cap-Boy was that kind of authority figure. He had a taste for women who already had children.