Meanwhile, within the Yao-Sealing Pagoda.
Ye Zichen was still immersed in cultivation. Three years had passed since he began seclusion.
For these three years, he hadn’t taken even a single step out of his private room. Instead, he was fully immersed in meditating and pondering. This was the longest secluded cultivation of his life.
In his sea of consciousness, Ye Zichen’s miniature incarnation sat in the void, continuously absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. At the same time, the marks of the five elements world around him.
“Fire.” The miniature Ye Zichen pointed his finger, and the sigil corresponding to the fire element floated in front of him.
As he gave the command, the void around him instantly transformed into a sea of flames.
The flames blazed madly as if trying to melt heaven and earth themselves, but before long, the sea of flames turned a shocking, crystalline blue.
At the same time, temperatures plummeted from blazing heat to well below zero.
Ice fire. Success!
Ye Zichen’s eyes popped open.
“After countless divinations, I finally changed fire of the Five Elements a little bit. If I really want to recondense the Dao Heart, I really can’t imagine how long it’ll take.” Ye Zichen sat within his private room and murmured to himself. He pushed his hands forward, and a crystalline, icy spark of flame appeared in his palms.
“I wouldn’t have guessed that the next step of fire’s evoltuion wasn’t heaven-scorching heat, but rather the icy cold of frozen rivers. I’m afraid the ultimate form of fire is actually ice!”
When he calmed down, Ye Zichen realized that after three years of seclusion, it wasn’t just his comprehension of the fire element that had improved; his rank had improved all the way to the seventh-stage earth supreme level.
With his current strength, he could already open the second floor of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda.
“You said you were willing to wait me out, didn’t you? Well, just you wait. Once I’ve opened the second floor, I’ll happily play with you.” When he imagined Chen Jiannan’s face, he was ready and raring for action.
Chen Jiannan, you like using your strength to oppress others? What a coincidence; I like it too!
He waved his right hand and a cloth curtain appeared within the room. Its surface reflected the outside world. However, as soon as he saw the scene outside, Ye Zichen’s eyes reddened.
Several of the Leisure House’s members lay dead outside the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. From the look of the blood dripping from Chen Jiannan’s sword, he must have killed them himself. At the moment, he now held his sword to Xue Qi’s neck.
“Tch tch tch, for someone the people of this lower realm revere as their ‘Emperor Ye,’ you sure love hiding in your shell.” Chen Jiannan looked at Xue Qi and the other captives playfully. Around ten of them had already fallen beneath his sword. The onlookers, whether they were human, yao, or demon, watched on in cold indifference.
In their eyes, Xue Qi and the others didn’t even count as living things; they were nothing but ants.
At the same time though, in Chen Jiannan’s shoes, none of them would have made this choice.
They were esteemed sky supreme experts. With their status, killing sky immortals and immortal kings was beneath them.
Despite the blade pressed to his throat, Xue Qi’s eyes contained only indignation, no fear. He glowered at Chen Jiannan with blazing hot fury.
Unfortunately, he could neither talk nor move, otherwise….. Even if his blood soaked the earth, he’d at least make sure to get some of it on Chen Jiannan and leave his mark.
“Ye Zichen, are you coming out or not?” Chen Jiannan looked coldly in the direction of the pagoda and said, “I heard that you’re the savior of this world. Right now, this world needs you. As its savior, shouldn’t you show yourself and come to its rescue once more?”
“If you don’t respond, I’ll just have to keep going.” Chen Jiannan smiled playfully, but at that moment, an angry roar boomed throughout the wasteland like thunder.
“Stay your hand!” The sword stopped its downwards ascent. The survivors’ faces lit up with delight.
Chen Jiannan whipped around to face the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. “You’re finally talking. It seems your Excellency, the Savior of this World, still has a conscience.”
“Of course I have a conscience, but I’m afraid a dog ate yours,” said Ye Zichen, his words once again reverberating through the wastes. “You, a full-on sky supreme, have lowered yourself to kill sky immortals and immortal kings…. Do you have any shame at all?!?”
“What’s there to be ashamed about?” Chen Jiannan snorted. “If they want to blame someone, they should blame their own weakness. It’s only natural for the strong to kill the weak, don’t you think?”
When he heard that, Ye Zichen trembled with fury. He clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles, then sent another transmission. “You want me to come out, don’t you? Fine, I’ll come out now. However, you’d best not harm anyone else. If you do, well, you’ll have to live with the consequences.”
“I await with bated breath,” said Chen Jiannan.
Bang!
A fist slammed into the walls of the secret room, so powerful, everyone on the first floor of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda sensed the resulting tremor.
Ye Zichen’s bloodshot eyes scanned the bloody corpses of his old friends reflected on screen. He pushed the door to his room open, and saw Meng Huairong standing outside in obvious panic.
“It’s alright. I already know.” He glanced at her indifferently, then proceeded directly to the entrance to the second layer of the pagoda.
There was no door blocking the entryway to the second floor. Instead, the entrance was a tightly sealed hill.
There was a stone platform smack dab in the middle of the hill. Ye Zichen raised his hand and placed it directly on top.
Suddenly, countless elemental sigils lit up around the stone. Last time he tried to open the second floor, he got stuck here, at this step. When the stone lit up, it signified his comprehension of the Dao of the Five Elements was sufficient, but after that, he still needed enough raw strength to break through the hill.
His right hand clenched into a fist and crackled with brilliant lightning. He took a deep breath, formed a horse stand, then slammed his fist down with all his might.
Crunch!
The hill blocking his way to the second floor of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda instantly covered in fine cracks, which spread, until finally, the entire hill crumbled into gravel.
When the stones hit the ground, they disappeared without a trace.
“Master opened the entrance to the second floor.” Meng Huairong watched from afar, her expression somewhat disconsolate, and said to Jiao Qi, “I really don’t know whether to congratulate him or feel sad about it.”
“We ought to congratulate him,” said Jiao Qi scrupulously. “You ought to have noticed it too; our cultivation rate is far, far, far slower than Master’s. Although he hasn’t become a sky supreme yet, he’ll leave us behind sooner or later. If we want to be useful to him, all we can do is focus on our cultivation. I’m confident Master won’t forget about us.”
“You’re right,” said Meng Huairong with a smile.
As they wrapped up their conversation, Ye Zichen lowered his fist, then pushed the newly-revealed gate open. There was no resistance whatsoever. When he stepped through, he saw a land like a hidden paradise of legend.
However, to his shock, the instant he opened the door, he saw tens of thousands of yao kneeling on the ground. As soon as he stepped into the floor, they called out in unison, “Welcome to our new master!”
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