Ye Xuan and Shi Li travelled together to the Holy City!
On the way, Ye Xuan asked, “Is that Ye Chen the top figure of the Ye Clan’s younger generation?”
Shi Li nodded, “Yes!”
Ye Xuan smiled faintly, “Why is he showing himself now?”
Shi Li glanced at Ye Xuan and grinned, “Guess!”
Ye Xuan smiled but said nothing.
Shi Li laughed, “The Ye Clan has always been the face of Ancient Desolation, including its younger generation. But your sudden rise has made them feel threatened, so they’re no longer staying aloof!”
Ye Xuan shook his head with a smile.
Shi Li looked at him, “Aren’t you angry?”
Ye Xuan was puzzled, “Angry about what?”
Shi Li studied him for a moment, then smiled, “Young Master Ye, I must say, you’re quite a decent person, though sometimes you’re a bit, heh…”
Ye Xuan’s face darkened at her words.
What kind of talk was that?
Shi Li suddenly added, “The Ye Clan dropping their low profile is, in a way, a good thing. And don’t overthink it, Young Master Ye, because the Ye Clan’s enemy has never been Ancient Desolation.”
Ye Xuan said, “The dimensional universe?”
Shi Li nodded, “Yes!”
Ye Xuan gave a slight nod.
A trace of worry flashed in Shi Li’s eyes as she said softly, “This time, the parallel universe is clearly set to confront the dimensional universe! At least the younger generation is.”
Ye Xuan fell silent.
Where there were people, there was conflict!
Let alone between two universes?
Ye Xuan looked into the distance, sighing inwardly. Honestly, he just wanted to run his academy!
Run an academy, show off a bit, flirt with girls—how nice would that be?
At that moment, Shi Li suddenly said, “Young Master Ye, I heard Qin Guan fought that Lu Chaoxi earlier and won! Is that true?”
Ye Xuan snapped out of his thoughts and laughed, “Your sources are quite well-informed!”
Shi Li smiled faintly, “Major events in Ancient Desolation and the dimensional universe rarely stay hidden!”
Ye Xuan nodded, “They did fight, and Qin Guan did win!”
Shi Li glanced at him and smiled, “Impressive!”
Ye Xuan laughed heartily, “It’s Little Guan who’s impressive!”
Shi Li nodded slightly, falling silent, lost in thought.
A moment later, she suddenly asked, “Young Master Ye, do you have someone you like?”
Ye Xuan was taken aback.
Shi Li looked at him and smiled, “Is that too forward of me?”
Ye Xuan laughed, “A little!”
Shi Li blinked, “Is it inconvenient to answer?”
Ye Xuan grinned, “I like quite a few people!”
Quite a few!
Shi Li froze, then hesitated before asking, “A lot?”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Yes!”
Shi Li stared at him, silent.
Ye Xuan smiled, “For example, I quite like you, Miss Shi Li. You’re beautiful, intelligent, and kind…”
Shi Li laughed, “That’s not the kind of like I meant! I meant the mutual, romantic kind…”
Ye Xuan said, “I have quite a few of those too!”
Shi Li’s expression froze.
Ye Xuan smiled faintly, saying nothing.
The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward!
Shi Li then asked, “Can you, Young Master Ye, truly like several girls at once?”
Ye Xuan replied, “I think most men can!”
Shi Li looked at him for a moment, then shook her head with a smile, “Young Master Ye… you…”
Ye Xuan laughed, “Matters of the heart are complicated! Let’s not talk about them!”
Shi Li nodded slightly, feeling a touch of disappointment.
In truth, she had a fondness for Ye Xuan. She had always wanted an external ally!
As a woman with no exceptional strength, to hold sway over the elders in the Shi Clan, she needed support.
And Ye Xuan was ideal!
Focused on his academy, without ambition for power, with a strong background and outstanding qualities—if she could be with him, their future children would surely be exceptional.
Ye Xuan was practically the perfect candidate!
But, alas, he seemed a bit too flirtatious!
As the current heir of the Shi Clan, sharing a husband with other women was something neither she nor her clan would accept!
Unless Ye Xuan were someone like the Ancient Heavenly Emperor… only then might she consider compromising!
With that thought, Shi Li shook her head slightly.
As for love?
She had never considered it. For her, liking someone was enough!
For those of great clans, everything revolved around benefits.
Love? That was just a fleeting illusion!
At that moment, Ye Xuan suddenly said, “Miss Shi Li, isn’t it said that the Ye Clan won’t enter the Holy City unless someone becomes an emperor? Has Ye Chen already achieved that?”
Shi Li snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head, “He definitely hasn’t. To become an emperor of Ancient Desolation means becoming its strongest. He’s not there yet!”
Ye Xuan was curious, “How does one become the strongest in Ancient Desolation? I mean, who must they defeat first?”
Shi Li looked at him, “The Holy City’s guardian, Elder Zheng!”
Elder Zheng!
Ye Xuan frowned slightly, “The old man we saw at the city gate?”
Shi Li nodded, “Yes!”
Ye Xuan said softly, “I thought it was Boundless Master!”
Boundless Master!
Shi Li said gravely, “He’s very mysterious. Before he showed his strength, we knew little about him, only that he once knew Emperor Ye. As for who’s stronger between him and Elder Zheng… I think it’s probably him!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “Why?”
Shi Li shook her head, “Intuition!”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly. He didn’t actually know how strong that oddball Boundless Master was, only that even Sister Nian hadn’t defeated him!
This guy was likely among those who could withstand less than three sword strikes!
Next time they met, should he be a bit more polite?
At that moment, Shi Li suddenly said, “We’re here!”
They had arrived!
As soon as Shi Li spoke, they stepped out of the teleportation array, appearing before the Holy City.
Elder Zheng was still guarding the gate!
Shi Li approached him, bowing slightly, “Elder Zheng!”
Elder Zheng glanced at her and nodded.
Ye Xuan looked at Elder Zheng and also bowed slightly, “Elder Zheng!”
Elder Zheng looked at Ye Xuan, silent.
Ye Xuan hesitated, then asked, “Elder Zheng, do you have any legacies?”
Shi Li’s expression froze.
Elder Zheng remained silent.
Ye Xuan gave an awkward smile, “Never mind if you don’t!”
Elder Zheng suddenly said, “I heard you’re running some academy?”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Yes!”
Elder Zheng thought for a moment, then said, “Why not focus your energy on something more meaningful?”
Ye Xuan smiled, “Like conquering the dimensional universe?”
Elder Zheng nodded, “Throughout history, all prodigies have taken pride in challenging the dimensional universe! You’re quite good. With effort, you might even become an emperor in the future!”
Ye Xuan shook his head, “In today’s world, might makes right, and there’s no order. The one with the biggest fist sets the rules. The strong act as they please, and the weak accept their fate…”
He shook his head again, “I opened my academy to establish a new order, to show the world what’s right and what’s wrong.”
Elder Zheng looked at him, “You have grand ambitions!”
Ye Xuan smiled, “Elder Zheng, how long have you been guarding Ancient Heavenly Emperor here?”
Elder Zheng looked at the statue of Ancient Heavenly Emperor in the distance, saying softly, “A very, very long time!”
Ye Xuan asked, “Why guard?”
Elder Zheng replied, “Out of respect!”
Ye Xuan nodded, “I admire you! But, Elder Zheng, you could also do something more meaningful!”
Elder Zheng looked at him, “Such as?”
Ye Xuan said, “Join my academy! We’re short on people. You could be an elder in our martial institute.”
Elder Zheng laughed, “Are you serious?”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Yes!”
Elder Zheng paused, then said, “Why didn’t you bow to Ancient Heavenly Emperor?”
Ye Xuan was taken aback, then smiled, “Respect in the heart is enough. Why cling to formalities?”
Elder Zheng stared at him, “That’s your view?”
Ye Xuan nodded.
Elder Zheng fell silent.
Ye Xuan added, “Elder Zheng, Ancient Heavenly Emperor doesn’t need you guarding him here! People from the parallel universe wouldn’t dare cause trouble here. And if those from the dimensional universe do, you can’t stop them, can you?”
Elder Zheng smiled, “True!”
Ye Xuan grinned, about to speak, when suddenly, two men approached slowly from the distance!
Shi Li tugged at Ye Xuan’s sleeve, and he turned to look at the men!
One he recognised—Chu Tian!
Beside Chu Tian was another man!
Clearly, this was Ye Chen!
Besides them, others had gathered, including prodigies from the ten great factions and other talents from Ancient Desolation.
Under everyone’s gaze, Ye Chen walked slowly to the statue of Ancient Heavenly Emperor, bowed slightly, then strode to Elder Zheng and smiled, “Elder Zheng, I challenge you!”
A challenge!
At those words, everyone in the crowd was shocked!
Beside Ye Xuan, Shi Li was equally stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief!
Elder Zheng looked at Ye Chen, “Are you sure?”
Ye Chen nodded, “Sure!”
Elder Zheng smiled faintly, “Then let’s change locations!”
With that, both vanished instantly.
A moment later, everyone felt the spacetime around them grow illusory.
Ye Xuan looked up into the void above, where Ye Chen and Elder Zheng stood facing each other from afar.
Elder Zheng looked at Ye Chen, “Make your move!”
Ye Chen nodded slightly, “Forgive my offence!”
With that, he clenched his right hand, and in an instant, a golden ‘Dao’ character appeared between his brows!
Boom!
Suddenly, an immensely terrifying pressure swept across all of Ancient Desolation. Not only that, in the Dimensional God Hall of the dimensional universe, eight of the nine statues abruptly opened their eyes!
Somewhere, Boundless Master, who had been walking, suddenly stopped. He turned sharply to look below, and after a moment, his expression grew slightly grave.
Monk Wu asked, “What’s wrong?”
A trace of doubt flickered in Boundless Master’s eyes, “Dao! The Dao character, one of the six true words… the head of all Daos! This Ye Chen… is this generation’s great emperor… Why was it given to him and not Ye Xuan… What is the Master of the Great Dao Pen planning? Does he think Ye Xuan’s a failure and wants to train a new one?”
Monk Wu suddenly said, “Like he did with you, thinking you weren’t good enough and abandoning you, right?”
Boundless Master’s expression froze. He looked at Monk Wu, saying seriously, “Baldy, if you don’t know how to talk, just don’t, alright?”
Monk Wu: “…”
