Chapter 1442: Yi Nian

Ye Qing looked at Ye Guan and grinned. "Brother Ye Guan, I still can't beat you."

Back when he started following the Great Daoist Brush Master, he trained bitterly under him, travelling from place to place. His goal was to one day have a fair and open duel with Ye Guan, not necessarily to win or lose. He just wanted a proper match.

Of course, deep down, he wanted to prove something to the world. He wanted to prove that the Ye Clan had more than just Ye Guan. There was also Ye Qing, and he wasn't any less impressive than him.

All these years, he cultivated relentlessly under the Great Daoist Brush Master.

He dared not slack off. He had gone to the most dangerous places, endured countless life-and-death trials, and danced on the edge of death time and time again.

Despite that, he still couldn't defeat Ye Guan!

Ye Guan shook his head. "I've just been luckier than you. If it weren't for the support of my parents and others, I wouldn't be your match."

Ye Qing shook his head as well and said, "Back when we were both in the Ye Clan, before either of us had our lucky encounters, and before your identity was restored, I still couldn't beat you."

Ye Guan smiled. "Actually, I was under a lot of pressure back then, too. It was because of you that I dared not slack off in my cultivation. You probably don't know this, but I often got up in the middle of the night to train in secret, as I was afraid that you'd surpass me.

"Back then, my thoughts were simple. I'm the heir, so if you somehow manage to surpass me and take that title away from me, it'd be so embarrassing I could die."

Ye Qing revealed a bitter smile. "So you often trained in the middle of the night..."

Ye Guan nodded. Thinking back to those days in the Ye Clan, he smiled warmly. The days he had spent in the Ye Clan were full of happiness, and they were still young back then.

He could still remember getting into fights with the younger generation of noble clans like the Li Clan.

Although he was only a foster child of the Ye Clan, no one in the Ye Clan ever truly treated him as just

that.

What were his dreams back then? Before the age of ten, his dream was to grow up and beat the hell out of the Li Clan, the Zhao Clan, and the Wang Clan.

When he became a bit older, he dreamed of joining the Guanxuan Academy and doing everything he could to get stronger. How much stronger? He had fantasized about it.

He wanted to become the number one among the younger generation in Nanzhou.

Why? It was because he wished to meet his real parents and make them regret ever leaving him at the Ye Clan by making sure that he'd become as outstanding as possible.

He had even imagined exactly how he'd act, how cool he'd be when he slapped them in the face with his success. The very thought of seeing the regret on his parents' faces filled him with immense satisfaction.

He never imagined that things would turn out so completely different from what he had pictured. Looking back now, he was truly happy back in those days.

Just then, Ye Qing slowly stood up. He turned to look at the Great Daoist Brush Master and bowed deeply, saying, "Master, I, Ye Qing, will never forget your kindness in raising me, but I won't let you harm my brother."

The Great Daoist Brush Master wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled. "This is between me and him; it has nothing to do with you. When I trained you, I never planned to use you against him.

"A melodramatic plot like that is beneath me."

Ye Qing opened his mouth to say more, but the Great Daoist Brush Master interrupted, "This has nothing to do with you. Go chase your own life and path."

He then turned to Ye Guan and asked, "What do you think?"

Ye Guan nodded and looked at Ye Qing. "Go on, this is between me and him."

However, Ye Qing shook his head.

Ye Guan turned his gaze to the Great Daoist Brush Master. With a casual wave of his hand, Ye Qing was instantly teleported away.

The Great Daoist Brush Master looked at Ye Guan and said, "Don't worry. I won't harm him."

"I know." Ye Guan nodded. "You're a bad person, but at least, you've got some vision."

The Great Daoist Brush Master burst out laughing.

Ye Guan turned toward Shang Hongyi.

Shang Hongyi frowned deeply upon sensing his gaze.

"I've always wanted to see whether I could kill a Domain Lord. I guess it's time to find out," Ye Guan said.

As soon as the words left his mouth, the Qingxuan Sword flew into his hand. In an instant, a beam of sword light took to the skies, flying straight toward Shang Hongyi.

The sword strike carried with it the terrifying energy of Faith and Order.

As it tore through the air, the heavens and earth trembled.

A savage glint flashed in Shang Hongyi's eyes. She roared and threw a punch forward. Countless strands of Great Dao energy flew toward Ye Guan, but when they made contact with Ye Guan's sword light, they collapsed.

Boom!

Shang Hongyi was blasted away, forced to retreat tens of thousands of meters in the blink of an eye.

The moment she stopped, another sword light appeared silently in front of her. Shang Hongyi's eyes narrowed into slits. Ignoring her injuries, she gnashed her teeth and punched forward, gathering more Great Dao energy.

When her fist met Ye Guan's sword light, it shattered again, and she was blasted away once more.

When she came to a halt, her fleshly body was cracked open, and blood poured out of her, leaving everyone stunned and horrified.

Had Ye Guan always been this terrifying? Now that he was wielding his faith power, even ordinary Domain Lords were no longer a match for him.

Instead of attacking once more, Ye Guan stared calmly at Shang Hongyi.

"Is this your true body?" he asked.

Shang Hongyi glared at him without replying.

Ye Guan smiled. "It doesn't matter anymore."

With that, he swept his gaze around his surroundings, and finally, his eyes fell on Sui Gujin. He smiled again and said, "Thank you. Without you, my faith power wouldn't have reached this level."

Sui Gujin looked at him but said nothing.

Ye Guan chuckled. "If I'm not mistaken, the Civilization Founders of the three civilizations must be here, am I wrong?"

The Civilization Founders were here?

Rumble!

The spacetime in the distant sky rippled and distorted. A moment later, two men slowly stepped out of the rift.

The man on the left was clad in a flowing white robe with long hair draped over his shoulders. He had a wild, unrestrained aura. He was none other than the Founder of the Suiming Civilization, Sui Gutian.

The man on the right wore a dark-gold mecha suit. His white hair cascaded behind him, and he exuded a majestic presence. He was the founder of the Eternal Civilization and was also known as the Eternal Ruler.

The Civilization Founders of the two great civilizations were here!

They stared calmly at Ye Guan.

Sui Gutian stared at Ye Guan and said, "If you want a one-on-one fight, I'll be happy to oblige."

Rumble!

His aura pervaded the heavens and the earth. He was far above the Domain Lord Realm! The Order Sword Intent that Ye Guan had released just now was completely suppressed!

He was at the legendary Civilization Ancestor Realm—the highest realm in the observable universe!

When Sui Gutian's aura spread, everyone present felt as if a massive mountain was pressing on their chests. They found it extremely difficult to breathe.

A Civilization Founder was so terrifying!

"You want to fight?" A voice suddenly rang out from the horizon. "I'll join you."

Everyone turned toward and saw a lady dressed in a blood-red robe.

She was Fan Zhaodi! A terrifying evil energy swept across the battlefield, neutralizing Sui Gutian's overpowering aura.

Two powerful auras stood in opposition, confronting each other in the skies.

Upon seeing Fan Zhaodi, everyone was shocked. The Chief Enforcement Officer was here!

Meanwhile, Fan Zhaodi walked calmly to Sui Gutian and the Eternal Ruler. Her eyes depicted a sea of blood as she coldly spat, "You can both come at me together."

Together?!

Everyone was stunned. How arrogant!

"

Hahaha!

" Sui Gutian laughed. "Since you said so, I'll oblige."

With that, he took a step forward, and the spacetime around everyone turned illusory.

Fan Zhaodi glanced at Ye Guan as her figure became illusory.

They had entered a special, independent spacetime.

Ye Guan stared deeply at the illusory Fan Zhaodi before walking over to Sui Gujin. He smiled and said, "Looks like the outcome is already decided."

Sui Gujin nodded.

Suddenly, Ye Guan grabbed her hand and started walking toward the Divine Ruler Temple. Sui Gujin didn't resist and allowed him to hold her hand.

High in the sky, Shang Hongyi stared at both of them with murderous intent in her eyes. She wanted to act, but the Great Daoist Brush Master stopped her.

Ye Guan continued walking with Sui Gujin while holding her hand. He looked at the edge of the distant skies and saw a radiant road. At the end of that path stood two statues, one male and one female. A throne was slightly behind and between them.

Ye Guan looked at that chair and smiled. "So that's the Ruler Divine Throne?"

Sui Gujin nodded. "It should be."

"Universe Ruler... Would you become the Universe Ruler by sitting on that throne?"

"That throne contains the inheritance of the Ancestral Civilization. Obtaining it is equivalent to inheriting the full legacy of the Ancestral Civilization, and in the observable universe, gaining that legacy... means becoming invincible."

"I see."

"Of course, beneath that throne is something that doesn't belong to this observable universe."

Ye Guan looked at her curiously, but Sui Gujin said no more. He didn't ask any questions, either.

The two of them walked quickly, and before long, they stepped onto the river of Time. When Ye Guan looked down, he saw countless flickering shadows of time, but they were hazy.

Sui Gujin kept her gaze fixed on the road, saying nothing.

Ye Guan looked up at the Ruler Divine Throne. The chair looked no different from an ordinary throne, as it appeared extremely plain and simple. Now that he was close enough, he saw two swords behind the throne.

Ye Guan asked, "Lady Sui, do you know why the Ancestral Civilization disappeared back then?"

"I know a bit." Sui Gujin nodded. "They obtained a scroll, and it was something they were never meant to possess."

Ye Guan nodded thoughtfully in response.

Before long, they reached the Ruler Divine Throne. Ye Guan turned to face her and said, "This is as far as I can walk with you."

Upon hearing that, Sui Gujin's hand in Ye Guan's palm trembled slightly.

She looked straight at him and saw a gentle smile.

Sui Gujin realized just then that he knew

it

.

"When did you figure it out?" she asked.

"Probably the first time we met," Ye Guan replied, "Or maybe sometime after as we spent more and more time together, but now, it doesn't really matter anymore."

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Sui Gujin had never chosen him. She had always been on the Great Daoist Brush Master's side.