Ke Xie’s expression turned a bit odd!
This guy came here to show off?
At that moment, Ye Xuan suddenly said, “Brother Ke Xie, can you tell me about this City of Ten Thousand Domains?”
Ke Xie nodded eagerly, “Of course! The City of Ten Thousand Domains is divided into three factions, the first is our Divine Dao Kingdom, the second is the Barbaric Lands, and the third is the Tianyuan Holy Sect!”
Ye Xuan frowned slightly, “The Barbaric Lands? Tianyuan Holy Sect?”
Ke Xie nodded, “The Barbaric Lands are the sworn enemies of our Divine Dao Kingdom, back when Emperor Shen conquered the heavens and myriad domains, the Barbaric God Clan of the Barbaric Lands refused to submit, so the Emperor banished them to the extremely remote Barbaric Continent, now known as the Barbaric Lands. Nowadays, the Barbaric God Clan has regained some strength and has been opposing our Divine Dao Kingdom ever since!”
Ye Xuan was puzzled, “Why didn’t the Emperor just wipe out the Barbaric God Clan back then?”
Ke Xie shook his head, “I don’t know!”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly, “And this Tianyuan Holy Sect?”
Ke Xie explained, “The Tianyuan Holy Sect was once the top sect, and it still is, before Emperor Shen rose, they were the strongest sect across the heavens and myriad domains, and it seems the Emperor had some deep ties with them, but later, for reasons unknown, they moved their entire sect away and never set foot in the Divine Dao Kingdom again.”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Got it!”
He glanced around, “Do people fight here often?”
Ke Xie said gravely, “Not usually!”
Ye Xuan frowned, “No fighting?”
Ke Xie nodded, “Not only do they not fight, people usually trade with each other…”
He pointed to a street in the distance, “That’s Black Market Street, if you have any treasures, you can sell them there!”
Ye Xuan looked at the street, it was lined with quite a few stalls!
Ke Xie added, “That’s the only absolutely safe place in this city, because no one dares to start trouble there, it’s protected by the bosses of all three factions! Of course, to sell there, no matter what you sell, you have to hand over ten percent of the profits to the faction leaders!”
Ye Xuan grew curious, “The faction leaders?”
Ke Xie nodded, “Our Divine Dao Kingdom’s boss is Fang Lin, his background’s a bit mysterious, some say he’s the heir of the Taiyi Clan, the kingdom’s top family, others say he’s royalty! His true identity’s unknown!”
Ye Xuan asked curiously, “How does this Taiyi Clan compare to the Divine Marquis Mansion?”
Ke Xie said gravely, “In the beginning, the two families were evenly matched, because both the Divine Marquis and the Taiyi Divine Minister were key figures under Emperor Shen! But later, the Divine Marquis Mansion gradually fell behind the Taiyi Clan, since the Mansion never produced any stunning prodigies in later generations, while the Taiyi Clan produced several!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “And the Divine Dao Kingdom’s royal family?”
Ke Xie hesitated, then said, “Brother, I can’t say much about the royal family!”
Ye Xuan smiled faintly, “I’m more curious about this, with so many powerful families in the Divine Dao Kingdom, don’t they ever threaten the royal authority? You know, if a family grows too strong, it’s bound to challenge the throne!”
Ke Xie gave a wry smile, “How would they dare?”
Ye Xuan grew curious, “Why wouldn’t they?”
Ke Xie said gravely, “The Divine Dao Kingdom’s royal family has endured for so long for many reasons, but the main one is that every generation’s Divine Ruler isn’t a pushover! Plus, Emperor Shen decreed that the throne passes to the worthy, not the eldest, and this ‘worthy’ includes women, as long as you’re capable, even a woman can become the ruler of the Divine Dao Kingdom!”
Ye Xuan frowned, “If a woman becomes ruler, doesn’t that mean the kingdom could end up in someone else’s hands?”
Ke Xie laughed, “A woman’s offspring can inherit the throne, but they must carry the pure bloodline of the Shen Dao Clan, to be precise, from birth, a woman’s child has their other bloodline devoured by the Shen Dao blood within them! And if a woman rules, her child must take the Shen Dao surname from birth.”
Ye Xuan murmured, “I see!”
Ke Xie continued, “Plus, the Shen Dao Clan has an incredibly fearsome Divine Dao Army left by Emperor Shen, back then, this army followed the Divine King to conquer the heavens and myriad domains, never once defeated! Even the Barbaric God Clan’s strongest Barbaric Iron Cavalry fell to them!”
Hearing this, Ye Xuan wondered, could his Divine Emperor Token command this Divine Dao Army?
He felt it was a long shot!
Ke Xie went on, “The boss of the Barbaric Lands is Ti Anu, he’s not of the Barbaric God Clan, but his status within it is extraordinary, even some of their direct lineage willingly follow his orders!”
Ye Xuan asked, “And the Tianyuan Holy Sect?”
Ke Xie said, “The Tianyuan Holy Maiden, her name’s unknown, a very mysterious woman, rarely shows herself!”
Ye Xuan grew curious, “If there’s no fighting, what’s the point of this place?”
Ke Xie pointed into the distance, “Behind this City of Ten Thousand Domains, there’s a mountain range with an ancient ruin, no one knows from what era, and that ruin is the real reason people come here! But now, no one can venture deep inside anymore, because it involves the tenth layer of spacetime!”
Ye Xuan laughed, “The Divine Dao Kingdom didn’t claim it for itself?”
Ke Xie shook his head, “They tried, but in the end, they compromised! If the Divine Dao Kingdom insisted on keeping it, the Tianyuan Holy Sect and Barbaric Lands would team up, something the kingdom didn’t want, since the Tianyuan Holy Sect has always been neutral!”
Ye Xuan asked with a smile, “Hasn’t the Divine Dao Kingdom thought of allying with the Tianyuan Holy Sect against the Barbaric Lands?”
Ke Xie gave a wry smile, “That, I don’t know!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “Brother Ke Xie, let’s part here!”
With that, he walked off into the distance.
Ke Xie hesitated, then called, “Brother Ye, where are you going?”
Ye Xuan didn’t answer, disappearing into the distance without looking back.
Ke Xie glanced at where Ye Xuan vanished, murmuring, “What a strange guy!”
…
Ye Xuan left the City of Ten Thousand Domains, heading into a mountain range.
His goal was also that ruin!
He wasn’t too interested in the ruin’s treasures, with the little tower and Qingxuan Sword, he didn’t care much for other items!
Soon, Ye Xuan reached the depths of the range, looking ahead, the distant mountains were shrouded in haze, unreal and indistinct.
Something unusual!
Ye Xuan paused, then pressed forward, reaching the deepest part, his brow furrowed, he noticed the spacetime here was different.
The spacetime had shifted!
He was now in the eighth layer of spacetime, yet everything around him looked unchanged!
What was going on?
Ye Xuan frowned, this place was odd!
After a moment, he glanced around and continued, crossing a small river, he stopped, realizing he’d entered the ninth layer of spacetime!
The ninth layer!
Ye Xuan’s brow creased, this place was bizarre, the deeper he went, the stronger the spacetime became!
After a pause, he moved on, entering the ninth layer, he grew wary, though nothing seemed different, he didn’t dare let his guard down, soon reaching a valley, where his expression turned grave, the spacetime pressure was intensifying!
Without the Qingxuan Sword to ignore spacetime pressure, he had to be cautious.
Just then, Ye Xuan halted, ahead sat a man, head bowed, lifeless, clearly dead!
Ye Xuan approached, the man still clutched a storage ring, a pure white spear lay on the ground, obviously no ordinary weapon!
Ye Xuan glanced at the man, curious, how did this guy die?
Footsteps sounded nearby.
Ye Xuan turned, a woman approached slowly, clad in a deep purple gown, her face veiled, her features hidden, but her figure striking.
She looked at Ye Xuan, “Who are you!”
Ye Xuan clasped his fists, “Ye Xuan!”
She frowned slightly, “Ye Xuan?”
Ye Xuan nodded.
She shook her head, “Never heard of you!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “And you are?”
She stared at him, silent.
Ye Xuan shrugged and walked off, then she said, “Keep going, and you’ll die!”
Ye Xuan looked ahead, between two mountains was a narrow缝隙, beneath it a tiny path, barely wide enough for one person!
He turned to her, “What’s ahead?”
She replied, “The ruin’s gate!”
Ye Xuan asked, “Do you know what this ruin is?”
She looked at him, silent.
Ye Xuan blinked, “Am I that handsome?”
She paused, what kind of question was that?
Ye Xuan laughed, “If I’m not wrong, you’re the mysterious Tianyuan Holy Maiden, right?”
She nodded slightly, “Yes!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “I’m Ye Xuan, and you?”
The Tianyuan Holy Maiden fell silent again!
Ye Xuan shook his head and turned to leave.
She said again, “You’ll die!”
Ye Xuan didn’t look back, “None of your damn business!”
With that, he strode toward the narrow path.
You’re aloof?
I’m more aloof than you!
Hearing him, the Tianyuan Holy Maiden frowned, how crude!
Ahead, Ye Xuan reached the path, about to step in, his expression shifted, the spacetime before him wasn’t the ninth layer anymore!
The tenth layer!
The spacetime ahead was the tenth layer, its pressure beyond what he could currently withstand, if he forced his way in, as she’d said, he’d die!
But retreating now would be humiliating!
Especially in front of a woman!
Ye Xuan thought it over, then turned and left.
Screw it!
He didn’t have much face to lose anyway, so what did it matter?
