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The Ocean Emperor formed of flowing water stood between Ye Zichen and the green-shirted yao. He silently glanced at the yao, then turned to look at Ye Zichen. “Are you alright?”  

Ye Zichen hadn’t expected the Ocean Emperor to show up here. In response to his question, he turned to Xue Yang and cupped his fists, a junior greeting his senior. “I’m alright!”

“Why are you here?” The green-shirted yao started, then looked Xue Yang up and down appraisingly. “Ah, so it’s your avatar. And here I thought your real body was here! What, did you think if you showed up, you could intimidate me?”

He seemed proud, even arrogant, and he showed the Ocean Emperor no respect at all.

But the other captive yao didn’t dare show any trace of disrespect. Even though this was just an avatar, everyone knew that the Ocean Emperor’s avatar was an imperial lord-level expert too. 

In the face of the green-shirted expert’s disdain, the Ocean Emperor’s avatar remained unaffected.

 He was fully aware that, even if his true body were here, this captive would react in much the same way. 

“Had you really hurt him just now, never mind me, Xuan Ji, Emperor Hades, Bi’an, Chao Feng, the Hermit Emperor, Su Qingyan, Su Wan, Zhao Qianling… I’m afraid all of them would come. Right, I almost forgot: the newly ascended Lord of Seven Stars, the Master of the Big Dipper, would come too, and she’d be utterly furious,” laughed the avatar.

The yao’s arrogant smile froze. He batted his eyes and looked rather dazed. “The kid’s even got ties with those two fox grannies?” 

The Ocean Emperor’s avatar laughed but said nothing. The yao then turned to Ye Zichen, who stood there in silence, a bitter smile on his lips. The yao had naturally guessed that Ye Zichen’s status was rather unusual, but he suddenly felt as if he’d kicked a hornet’s nest. 

Every last expert the Ocean Emperor’s avatar mentioned was a major power capable of intimidating the masses. Four great emperors in charge of a whole Divine Mountain, Xuan Ji of the Profound Pavilion, and the empress and clan head of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan.

And there was no need to even discuss Emperor Hades!

Of this bunch, he was most familiar with the two nine-tailed foxes. He’d interacted with them entirely due to their connection to the Five Elements Great Emperor. The details of their interactions and connection were a long story. It was also because of an incident that happened back then that he referred to Su Wan and Su Qingyan as ‘grannies.’ 

In short, of the people Xue Yang mentioned, he was most afraid of the two foxes.

Also, the Lord of Seven Stars. The former Lord of Seven Stars was the commander of the countless stars of the night sky. Their position was even higher than that of Chao Feng, the man who’d established the Star Altar.

But the former Lord of Seven Stars had fallen ten thousand years ago. He hadn’t guessed that…

The new Lord of Seven Stars was connected to Ye Zichen, too.

“Little fellow…” The yao expert turned to Ye Zichen and shook his head. “I suddenly see you in a whole new light.”  

“You’re exaggerating, Senior.” Ye Zichen grimaced.

“But what of it?” The yao’s expression took a sudden turn. “Even if all of you showed up, what could you do to me? I can’t beat you lot, but I can hide, can’t I?”  

He grinned, his smile suggesting that he had something up his sleeves.

If the aforementioned great emperors attacked in unison, never mind the yao in green; even the three Realm Emperors would be in for a headache. 

Despite himself, Ye Zichen’s eyes widened in unconcealed shock.

Hide?

If the great emperors wanted to find someone, they could find them, no matter where they hid. Yet this yao said, with the utmost confidence, that they couldn’t even touch him!

Also, the Ocean Emperor had just called him “Venerate Spirit Treasure!” 

“If you hide away in your shell, it’s true that there’s nothing we can do to you, but do you really want to return to those days of endless darkness?” laughed the Ocean Emperor’s avatar.

 “Hmph!” The green-shirted yao snorted noncommittally. 

“Spirit Treasure, don’t get upset. You really ought to thank me; I saved your life, didn’t ?” Xue Yang’s avatar sighed, seeming rather exasperated. “You were trying to trick him out of his divine artifacts, weren’t you?”

The yao instantly lost his temper. “What do you mean, ‘trick’? He wanted to work with me! We were making a legitimate business deal!”  

“Fine, fine, a legitimate business deal.” The Ocean Emperor’s avatar didn’t argue. He simply shook his head and laughed. “Do you have any idea what you were asking for just now?”

“What?” asked the green-shirted yao.

The Ocean Emperor didn’t answer. Instead, he turned to Ye Zichen and nodded. “Go on and summon the Xuan-Yuan Sword. Not even he’ll be brave enough to ask for it then.”

“What a joke. Are there really treasures that I, Venerate Spirit Treasure….” the yao snorted in disdain, but halfway through his sentence, he froze. “Wait a minute. I didn’t mishear you just now, did I? The Xuan…. Xuan-Yuan Sword?!”

As Venerate Spirit Treasure stood there in a daze, Ye Zichen summoned his sword.

The Ocean Emperor’s avatar was here, and he’d seemed completely certain that Venerate Spirit Treasure wouldn’t dare ask for his sword. Naturally, there was no reason to hesitate. He did as he was told and summoned his sword.

It released dazzling golden light, bathing the whole second layer of the dungeon in a layer of shimmering gold. 

The instant Venerate Spirit Treasure saw it, the blood drained from his face. His reaction was even more exaggerated than when he saw the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. 

But what was really unbelievable was this peak expert’s legs were now trembling uncontrollably, his hands covered his mouth, and his skin had gone bright red. His eyes were bulging, so much so that they seemed liable to pop right out of his head. 

“Even after all these years, the Xuan-Yuan Sword has such an influence on you? It seems you really learned your lesson back then.” Venerate Spirit Treasure’s reaction didn’t surprise the Ocean Emperor’s avatar in the slightest. On the contrary, he smiled as if this were well within his expectations. “Even if we offered it to you, would you dare take it?”

“Why wouldn’t I dare…” Venerate Spirit Treasure forced himself to look up, but when he saw the Xuan-Yuan Sword, his words trailed off mid-sentence. 

A long time passed before the yao gnashed his teeth and cried out, “I don’t want it!”

“That’s right. Actually, when I heard you ask for the treasure on his arm, I considered not showing up at all.” The Ocean Emperor’s avatar laughed. 

“It seems I really haven’t lost my touch. I took one look at you and knew you had treasures on you, I just didn’t realize that you had far more treasures than I expected. You even have the Xuan-Yuan Sword!” Venerate Spirit Treasure was still gnashing his teeth. 

“Senior…” 

Before Ye Zichen could even finish his sentence, Venerate Spirit Treasure cut him off. “Don’t call me that! You’re my senior! Kid, you really were sent from above just to torment me, huh? You don’t just have the Five Elements Great Emperor’s Yao-Sealing Pagoda; you even have the Xuan-Yuan Sword!”  

“Sen-”

“Stop with that polite nonsense. I’m in a bad mood, so hurry up and leave!”  

“But our cooperation…”

“What cooperation? Scram! Get out of here before my mood gets even worse! And next time you show up, you’d better be careful, or I might lose my temper just like the guy downstairs!”

“What kind of cooperation?” asked Xue Yang’s avatar.

 Ye Zichen hesitated for a moment, then explained. After learning the details, Xue Yang’s avatar smiled. “Spirit Treasure, you don’t want to cooperate?”

“So what if I don’t? Do you dare touch me?” asked Venerate Spirit Treasure.

“I don't dare, but….” the avatar chuckled. “Someone here does. Young Friend Ye, how about you summon the Xuan-Yuan Sword’s artifact spirit?”