Ye Xuan was speechless.
Ever since Little Pagoda was modified by Qing’er, it had become so full of itself that it barely recognised its own identity.
He genuinely couldn’t fathom how Little Pagoda had turned so ostentatious.
At that moment, with the addition of Heaven’s Wrath and Earth’s End in the distance, the situation became utterly one-sided. The powerhouses from the Immortal Path Temple had no chance to escape. In less than a moment, all of them were slain. Naturally, Ye Xuan didn’t sit idle either. He collected the Universe Hearts of the fallen powerhouses and used the Qingxuan Sword to absorb the souls of all the Immortal Path Temple experts.
These souls were a tremendous boost for the Qingxuan Sword!
However, the Qingxuan Sword was now difficult to enhance further unless it devoured even stronger souls, such as those of the Sacred Heart Realm!
Notably, not a single person on Ye Xuan’s side had died!
It was a complete rout!
Tu Chen walked slowly to Ye Xuan, opened his palm, and a pile of storage rings appeared before him. “Young Master, the spoils!”
Ye Xuan glanced at the rings and smiled. “I’ll keep the Universe Hearts. You lot can have these.”
Tu Chen shook his head. “They all belong to you, Young Master!”
Ye Xuan looked at Tu Chen and the others, curious. “Why are you so loyal to me?”
Tu Chen replied, “You are the Young Master!”
Ye Xuan thought for a moment, then asked, “Why are you so loyal to my mother?”
Tu Chen hesitated, then said, “The Mistress saved the lives of my sixteen brothers. Not only that, she gave us cultivation techniques and resources. Without her, my sixteen brothers would have died long ago!”
Ye Xuan turned to Nan Weiyang. “And you?”
Nan Weiyang smiled faintly. “A debt of renewal! Without the Mistress, let alone reaching Half-Step Sacred Heart Realm, we wouldn’t even have achieved the sixth level of the Cosmic Heart Realm.”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly. “I understand.”
He knew that everyone present had been greatly indebted to his mother. Their respect for him stemmed from her influence, but he didn’t mind in the slightest.
Ye Xuan glanced at the storage rings in Tu Chen’s hands. “Keep them.”
Tu Chen hesitated.
Ye Xuan smiled. “That’s an order!”
Hearing this, Tu Chen no longer hesitated and accepted the rings.
Ye Xuan looked toward Heaven’s Wrath and Earth’s End in the distance. Apart from himself, they were the strongest in the group. These two assassins were undoubtedly carefully nurtured by his mother.
Ye Xuan looked at them. “Besides you two, is there anyone else secretly protecting me?”
Heaven’s Wrath hesitated, then said, “There is one!”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Who?”
Heaven’s Wrath said gravely, “Evil Descent!”
Ye Xuan frowned slightly. “Evil Descent?”
Heaven’s Wrath nodded.
Ye Xuan scanned his surroundings, then asked, “Male or female?”
Heaven’s Wrath shook his head. “We don’t know!”
Ye Xuan looked at Heaven’s Wrath, who hesitated before adding, “We only heard the Mistress mention it once by chance. As for whether they’re male or female, we don’t know.”
Ye Xuan shook his head with a wry smile.
At that moment, he thought of the mysterious ring inside his Little Pagoda.
Perhaps because his mother had nearly gotten him killed and hadn’t been there as he grew up, she felt guilt and remorse. Now, she was trying to make up for it in every way possible…
With this thought, Ye Xuan smiled faintly, warmth filling his heart.
Suddenly, Nan Weiyang asked, “Young Master, what do we do now?”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Let’s go to the Immortal Path Temple for a talk!”
Nan Weiyang hesitated. “Young Master, can we negotiate?”
Ye Xuan chuckled lightly. “After losing so many people, they should be a bit more level-headed now. Let’s go!”
With that, the group departed.
Heaven’s Wrath and Earth’s End vanished into hiding once more.
Not long after Ye Xuan and his group left, a woman suddenly appeared on the scene.
It was Nan Shi!
Nan Shi gazed at the distant horizon, silent.
At that moment, Upper Immortal Envoy and Left Upper Envoy appeared beside her.
Upper Immortal Envoy hesitated, then said, “Island Master…” Realising her mistake, she quickly corrected herself, “Deputy Pavilion Master!”
Deputy Pavilion Master!
At this moment, Nan Shi had gone from Island Master to Deputy Pavilion Master of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, second only to the mysterious Pavilion Master.
Truly, one person below and ten thousand above.
Nan Shi smiled lightly. “Do you think the Immortal Path Temple will negotiate with them?”
Upper Immortal Envoy nodded. “They will!”
Nan Shi smiled. “Explain.”
Upper Immortal Envoy said gravely, “Young Master Ye is no ordinary person. He commands a terrifying force comparable to the Immortal Path Temple. If they choose not to negotiate, it would mean mutual destruction. They absolutely won’t risk that!”
Left Upper Envoy nodded slightly. “Upper Immortal Envoy is right. The Immortal Path Temple doesn’t have the courage to go down with the Mysterious Realm. Moreover… the Temple Master surely knows by now that we set them up. They must be…”
He trailed off.
Nan Shi said softly, “You’re wrong!”
The two looked at her.
Nan Shi chuckled. “Under normal circumstances, that would be true. But unfortunately, you’ve greatly underestimated the Immortal Path Temple. Greatly underestimated!”
Upper Immortal Envoy frowned. “How so?”
Nan Shi smiled. “Perhaps even now, you’re wondering why, with such terrifying powerhouses behind Young Master Ye, I still scheme against him and make an enemy of him, right?”
Both nodded.
How terrifying was the woman in the plain skirt?
Even thinking about it now, they felt their scalps tingle!
She was like a god!
Nan Shi looked into the distance and said softly, “Some rules in this world are unfair, and we lack the power to break them. But the people behind him can… I want to use him to shatter those unfair rules.”
The two understood.
Nan Shi was borrowing the power behind Ye Xuan!
Upper Immortal Envoy suddenly asked, “Deputy Pavilion Master, is this… the Pavilion Master’s will?”
The Pavilion Master!
Nan Shi paused, then said softly, “If she were willing, why would I need to borrow Young Master Ye’s hand? The Pavilion Master… she has no interest in these matters! She might have even forgotten us by now. Over a thousand years! I haven’t seen her in over a thousand years… nor received any orders from her… Has she returned to the hometown she always longed for?”
The two envoys fell silent.
The Pavilion Master!
They had never seen this mysterious figure!
It might sound unbelievable, but it was true.
Only the seven Island Masters had seen her, but even they likely hadn’t seen her in a very long time.
Nan Shi suddenly said, “Have them recall all the powerhouses stationed outside immediately!”
With that, she turned and left.
…
**An hour earlier**
After parting with Ye Xuan, the Island Master of Water Mist Island returned to the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.
The six Island Masters gathered.
Only Nan Shi was missing.
The six sat facing each other, all silent.
At that moment, a woman walked slowly into the hall.
The six turned to look—it was Nan Shi.
Nan Shi walked to the main seat of the hall and sat down!
The other six Island Masters’ expressions shifted slightly.
That was the Island Master’s seat!
Nan Shi suddenly said, “From this moment, I am the Deputy Pavilion Master of the Immortal Treasure Pavilion. From today onward, apart from the Pavilion Master, my word is law!”
A terrifying pressure suddenly enveloped the six in the hall!
Their faces changed instantly, their eyes filled with disbelief.
Sacred Heart Realm!
This was the Sacred Heart Realm!
A true saint?
Nan Shi had reached true sainthood?
She glanced at them. “Who’s in favour? Who’s against?”
The hall fell deathly silent.
…
Ye Xuan led his group to the Immortal Path Realm, which was much larger than the Immortal Treasure Pavilion.
As soon as they entered, dozens of powerful divine senses locked onto them. Then, the space before them split open, and a middle-aged man in a Taoist robe, holding a whisk, stepped out slowly.
It was Xian Cang, the Master of the Immortal Path Temple!
Xian Cang looked at Ye Xuan, his expression calm. “Is Young Master Ye here to destroy my Immortal Path Temple outright?”
Ye Xuan’s brows furrowed.
This attitude didn’t seem open to negotiation!
At that moment, he realised he’d miscalculated.
Xian Cang looked at Ye Xuan. “Is that so?”
Ye Xuan smiled. “Temple Master Xian Cang, I’m genuinely curious. With your wisdom, you must know this was a trap set by Nan Shi!”
Xian Cang’s expression remained calm. “You’re wrong! It was a trap set by both her and me! Though, she concealed the true strength of you and the Mysterious Realm. That was my oversight!”
Ye Xuan frowned. “You set this trap and even let your son die for it?”
Xian Cang looked at Ye Xuan. “Just an unworthy son. If he’s dead, he’s dead! I have hundreds more sons! What’s the issue?”
Ye Xuan fell silent.
At that moment, he suddenly felt his own father seemed quite merciful by comparison!
Though his father had tricked him, he’d never tried to get him killed.
His father, while not perfect, was far better than this!
Ye Xuan collected his thoughts and asked, “What exactly are you scheming?”
Xian Cang looked at Ye Xuan. “You possess two divine artefacts. One is a divine sword that can ignore any space-time and is incomparably sharp. The other is a small pagoda, where time inside differs from outside—ten years inside is one day outside, correct?”
Ye Xuan remained silent.
He wasn’t surprised. He’d been using the Qingxuan Sword openly, even in front of Nan Shi. As for the Little Pagoda, though Nan Shi hadn’t entered it, other beasts like Shen Zhao had. With Nan Shi’s influence, uncovering this wasn’t difficult.
At that moment, Little Pagoda burst into laughter. “His target is me! Little Master, he says his target is me… Haha… Today, I, Little Pagoda, will destroy the Immortal Path Temple! Not even three swords can save them!”
With that, Little Pagoda shot out of Ye Xuan’s body…
Ye Xuan: “…”
