Chapter 1360: My Grandfather

After standing still for a while, Diyi Jingzhao's lips curled up into a self-mocking smile. The man before her had known everything right from the beginning, and he saw through her as if she were a pristine pool of water in a cave.

Her schemes were meaningless because he was a Supreme Emperor!

In the face of absolute power, all calculations and schemes were fleeting clouds, unless both sides were equal in power!

Whether it was strength or intelligence, the man before her clearly overpowered her, and he simply disdained playing tricks on her.

In the distance, Ye Guan approached the Holy Throne. The Holy Throne was pitch-black. It was neither steel nor iron and was as smooth as a mirror. It was made of some unknown material.

He sat down on it, and the Holy Throne trembled slightly.

Ye Guan immediately sensed a dangerous aura. Without hesitation, he pressed his Path Sword against the Holy Throne, and it instantly fell silent.

Ye Guan looked at the sword in his hand and smiled. "Little Path, thank you."

In truth, the Path Sword hadn't stayed because of his aunt's will, but because it wanted to remain a little longer on its own. After all, the first sword that accompanied Ye Guan wasn't the Qingxuan Sword, but the Path Sword.

It shared a deep bond with him.

Ye Guan smiled and asked, "Little Path, how is my aunt doing right now?"

The Path Sword trembled slightly as if trying to say something.

"

Hahaha.

" Ye Guan laughed. "I won't ask then!"

The Path Sword trembled again.

Ye Guan was deeply moved. The Path Sword had told him that it wanted to stay here a little longer and would leave only after he left this place. Clearly, the sword had decided to stay here to protect him.

Ye Guan was touched. "Thank you."

Then, he turned to the Holy Throne before him and pressed the Path Sword on it. "I'm a reasonable person. I'll give you a chance to pledge loyalty to me."

The Holy Throne was dumbfounded.

How could it dare resist?

At that moment, a trembling voice came from within the throne. "Spare me, Supreme Emperor."

Ye Guan smiled. "What is your name?"

The voice responded, "I am the Holy Throne, and the Holy Lord once sat on me, which is how I developed sentience. I'm an Emperor-grade artifact at the moment, but I'm far stronger than most Emperor-grade Weapons."

Ye Guan frowned slightly. "The Holy Lord?"

The Holy Throne replied, "The ruler of our Suiming Civilization."

Ye Guan was intrigued. "Then why didn't you follow them to the Old Lands?"

The Holy Throne's tone turned somber. "When my master left for the Old Lands, I had just gained sentience and wasn't strong enough to be with him.

"However, I believe that my master will return one day, so I will wait here until then. That's why... I won't recognize you as my master, Supreme Emperor." Its voice was still trembling; it was clearly fearful of the Path Sword.

Ye Guan was surprised. He scrutinized the Holy Throne for a moment and smiled. "That's fine. I won't force you. But I'd like to chat with you. Is that alright?"

"Of course!" the Holy Throne quickly responded, "Ask me anything you wish, Supreme Emperor."

Ye Guan glanced around. "This place has a mysterious law suppressing everyone's cultivation. Who left it here?"

The Holy Throne answered, "To be honest, it was me."

Ye Guan was shocked. "You?"

"Yes. The Suiming Civilization needs the most talented individuals to become Supreme Emperors. We would then send them to the Old Lands to serve us. I placed that law here to filter those with exceptional talent and great perseverance."

"And you also help them become Supreme Emperors?"

"You can say that, as I'm the only one with Supreme Emperor Origin Essences."

Ye Guan asked solemnly, "With a Supreme Emperor Origin Essence, anyone can become a Supreme Emperor?"

"No, no, no," the Holy Throne hurriedly clarified, saying, "Only those with supreme talent, immense perseverance, and destiny have the slightest chance of reaching the Supreme Emperor Realm upon absorbing a wisp of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence.

"Throughout this starry region's existence, countless geniuses have come here, including some whom even I found astonishingly talented, but despite that, only a dozen or so actually became Supreme Emperors."

"I see." Ye Guan nodded slightly. Then, he asked, "So you've been alive for six hundred billion years?"

"I guess you can say that," the Holy Throne answered, "Most of that time, I'm dormant. As a sentient artifact, my lifespan is hardly consumed while sleeping. Plus, I sustain myself by absorbing wisps of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence once needed."

"What about that guard from earlier? He couldn't have been here for six hundred billion years, too, right?"

"Of course not. Every so often, the Suiming Civilization will send someone from the Old Lands, and they'll have Supreme Emperor Origin Essences in hand."

"Is the Suiming Civilization doing all that just to cultivate some talent?"

"Of course!" the Holy Throne explained, "Supreme Emperor, do you not know just how scarce true talent is nowadays?"

Ye Guan was silent.

"Those capable of becoming a Supreme Emperor through a wisp of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence are extraordinary monsters even in the Old Lands. It's not just our Suiming Civilization; the other two top-tier civilizations in the Old Lands are also using various methods to recruit and cultivate experts for themselves.

"In this era, civilizations on the same tier compete primarily based on who has more top-tier talents."

Ye Guan pondered for a moment and nodded. "That makes a lot of sense."

This was a strategy worth adopting. In the future, his Guanxuan Universe would need to recruit more talents, after all. He couldn't sustain an entire universe by himself.

Just then, Ye Guan chuckled and asked, "How talented am I then?"

The Holy Throne thought for a moment and answered, "Supreme Emperor, you're not considered a talent."

Ye Guan looked confused.

The Holy Throne explained, "You are a commander, a ruler. The kind of leader that will appear only once in billions of years."

Ye Guan was momentarily stunned, and then he burst out into a peal of laughter.

"Supreme Emperor, do you have any other questions?" asked the Holy Throne.

Ye Guan's laughter faded. "The guard I just killed—"

"What guard?" The Holy Throne interrupted, "Supreme Emperor, that guard clearly had impure thoughts and had succumbed to his inner demons, ultimately perishing due to his own heart's corruption. What does that have to do with you?"

Ye Guan gazed at the Holy Throne for a moment, then smiled. "Will the Suiming Civilization believe that?"

The Holy Throne replied, "Doesn't matter; my word is the only thing that matters."

"You're pretty talented, too," said Ye Guan with a laugh. He patted the throne and looked at the distant ancient hall. "What's that place?"

The Holy Throne respectfully replied, "Supreme Emperor, that is the Suiming Divine Hall, and there are two concealed demonic beasts there. When my master and the others left, they were still just eggs.

"I fed them two wisps of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence, and they started evolving. Their strength is decent, but they are surely not worthy of your attention.

"There's a bronze statue in the great hall, and there's a hidden mechanism beneath it. Opening it will reveal nine Bronze War Generals left behind by my master.

"They're Quasi Emperors, and in an era without a Supreme Emperor, they are essentially invincible. Moreover, they are nearly indestructible. No Dao techniques here can harm them. I will now give you the method to control them..."

The Holy Throne spilled out everything it knew without any hesitation.

Apart from the nine Bronze War Generals, there were also some emperor crystals inside the great hall. Moreover, they weren't just ordinary emperor crystals but Supreme-grade emperor crystals, which were extremely rare even in the Old Lands.

Ye Guan smiled slightly. "Thank you. By the way, how many wisps of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence do you have left?"

The Holy Throne respectfully responded, "Supreme Emperor, I still have nine wisps of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence."

Ye Guan chuckled. "I'd like to borrow five from you, and you can keep the remaining four. What do you think?"

Just then, nine deep purple wisps floated over to Ye Guan. "Supreme Emperor, there's no need to be so polite. With your strength, killing me is effortless. I'll give them all to you."

Ye Guan smiled. "I only need five and consider this a loan. I will definitely return them to you in the future."

He put away the five wisps of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence.

The Holy Throne was slightly puzzled. "That's..."

Ye Guan smiled and explained, "You're sincere, so I won't take advantage of you."

The Holy Throne quickly said, "Many thanks, Supreme Emperor."

Supreme Emperor Origin Essences were important to the Holy Throne, as they were the reason it could stay here for so long.

In fact, whenever an envoy arrived, a portion of the Supreme Emperor Origin Essence in their hands would become the Holy Throne's stipend.

Ye Guan smiled. "I'll go take a look inside the great hall."

With that, he walked into the distance. After taking a few steps, he stopped, turned around, and looked at Diyi Jingzhao nearby. Smiling, he asked, "Lady Jingzhao, would you like to come and take a look?"

Diyi Jingzhao looked at Ye Guan. After a moment of silence, she quietly walked up to his side. Ye Guan opened his palm, and a wisp of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence floated before Diyi Jingzhao.

Looking at the Supreme Emperor Origin Essence in front of her, Diyi Jingzhao was stunned. Then, she turned to look at Ye Guan and stared at him in confusion and bewilderment.

Ye Guan glanced at the wisp of Supreme Emperor Origin Essence and smiled. "This is something all Quasi Emperor powerhouses dream of obtaining, and you're hesitating to accept it?"

Diyi Jingzhao stared at Ye Guan deeply, saying nothing. However, her eyes were filled with doubt and suspicion.

Ye Guan smiled at Diyi Jingzhao. "This sword belongs to my aunt, and the sword inside me belongs to my father. Do you remember what I said? My family is the reason I made it this far.

"Thus, even after becoming a Supreme Emperor, I made sure not to let it get to my head. I made sure to always remember the days when I had no choice but to take a beating."

Ye Guan shook his head and chuckled. "So, about your scheme against me, I actually don't mind them. On the contrary, I admire you."

"W-why?" Diyi Jingzhao asked in a trembling voice.

That scheme.

Her face turned red upon being reminded of some indecent scenes on that night. Despite what happened, he actually said that he didn't mind? Was he implying something?

Ye Guan smiled. "My grandfather was a remarkable man, but Master Pagoda once said that he wasn't exactly a good person... Yes, Master Pagoda said so himself. My grandfather razed cities and exterminated clans as if it were nothing.

"But that's to be expected, throughout history, who among those who achieved great things wasn't ruthless? Even I have done my fair share of schemes, so how could I demand that others be good and kind to me?"

"The Diyi Clan is in a desperate situation as well," said Ye Guan. "What you did was completely understandable. Besides, I believe that had it not been for the Diyi Clan's predicament, someone as proud as you would never sacrifice yourself."

"Are you thinking that I'm doing this to subdue you? To make you utterly loyal to me? And to own you?" asked Ye Guan.

Diyi Jingzhao stared at him. After a long while, she muttered, "You don't need to do that. The sword in your hand is no weaker than the Supreme Emperor Sword inside you. You... are far more terrifying than any of us had ever imagined.

"Someone like you would never lack women, nor would you stoop to using such means to control them. You are a good man."

Ye Guan stared deeply at her and chuckled. "Hahaha, that may not be true. Lady Jingzhao, you're so beautiful that even I find you captivating. Who won't be moved by your beauty?"

Upon hearing that, Diyi Jingzhao's face flushed slightly.

Ye Guan added, "Of course, don't worry, Lady Jingzhao. I won't have any improper thoughts about you. I only consider you a friend."

With that, he turned around and walked away.

For some reason, Diyi Jingzhao felt disappointed.