Chapter 526: Different Ideologies

Ye Guan knew very well that if the white-robed woman were to make a move, he would be no match for her at all. Perhaps even the Great Daoist Brush Master wasn't her match.

Thus, if the white-robed woman were to make a move, he would throw all caution to the wind.

Damn it! I'm going to give up everything! Let's all give it up together!

For now, however, it seemed that the white-robed woman had no intention of making a move.

"Let's go inside the pagoda," Ye Qingqing said just then. She led Ye Guan into the world inside the tiny pagoda.

The two soon found themselves standing in the void just above the world of the tiny pagoda. Ye Qingqing stared at Ye Guan and said, "Come, let's spar."

"Okay," Ye Guan replied.

Swoosh!

Ye Qingqing vanished into thin air, and a radiant sword light erupted.

Ye Guan's face changed drastically, and he raised his sword to defend himself.

Clang!

The sound of metal clashing against metal echoed, and Ye Guan was forced to retreat by the sheer force of the impact. The nearby spacetime trembled as well. Ye Qingqing's attack was just too strong!

Ye Guan cast a look of disbelief at Ye Qingqing standing with her sword in the distance.

Ye Guan felt numb all over, but his right arm was more than just numb. It was actually bleeding.

How powerful...

Ye Guan muttered to himself. Ye Qingqing had never really attacked him until now. He knew that Ye Qingqing was strong, but he didn't know her exact strength until now when Ye Qingqing attacked him.

Indeed, she was a terrifying swordsman. To make matters worse, Ye Qingqing's attack just now was definitely not her full power.

Ye Qingqing looked at Ye Guan and said, "Take off your clothes."

"Huh?" Ye Guan froze in shock.

Ye Qingqing frowned slightly. "I said strip!"

Ye Guan blinked and stammered. "T-t-that's a bit..."

Ye Qingqing was surprised upon seeing Ye Guan's expression. Then, she smiled blandly. It was a bland smile, but Ye Guan's scalp tingled upon seeing it.

"I—" Ye Guan started.

However, his speech was interrupted by Ye Qingqing slashing out toward him.

Alarmed, Ye Guan hurriedly raised his sword to defend himself.

Boom!

The sword wave shattered Ye Guan's sword light and sent him flying away. It took him quite a while to stabilize himself, and when he finally came to a halt, he immediately spat a mouthful of blood.

Ye Guan went completely numb.

Ye Qingqing stared at Ye Guan and asked, "I told you to strip so I can see the progression of your Mortal Physique."

Ye Guan nodded at that and instantly stripped off all his clothes.

Ye Qingqing walked up to him and examined him closely. The patterns on Ye Guan's body had enveloped his chest, and they were very intricate patterns. Moreover, every stroke seemed to contain a myriad of runes.

Ye Qingqing furrowed her brows slightly at the sight. She reached out and stroked one of the patterns. The next moment, Ye Qingqing's expression changed slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Ye Qingqing's expression became serious. "These patterns contain an extremely powerful might!"

An extremely powerful might?

Ye Guan was curious. "What is it?"

Ye Qingqing shook her head. "I don't know."

Ye Guan fell silent.

Ye Qingqing looked up at Ye Guan and said, "Only that woman knows the secrets of the Mortal Physique."

Ye Guan smiled bitterly.

Ye Qingqing was right. Ye Guan's plain-skirt aunt was the only one with a Mortal Physique until now, so no one understood the mysteries of the Mortal Physique better than her.

Unfortunately, Ye Guan reckoned that his plain-skirt aunt didn't care about such a physique at all.

Ye Qingqing suddenly asked, "How is your Mortal Physique progressing? Is it only through battle?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Yes."

"Fight me, then."

Ye Guan hesitated. Ye Qingqing was so fierce that he didn't feel like fighting her at all.

Ye Qingqing calmly asked, "What's wrong? You don't want to fight me?"

"No, no, no. It's my honor to be trained by you, Aunt!"

Ye Qingqing's lips curved up slightly into a smile. "Is that so?"

Ye Guan nodded.

"Then, come on!" Ye Qingqing urged. Then, she turned into a streak of sword light that made a beeline for Ye Guan.

Ye Guan's expression changed dramatically at the sight. He dared not be careless as he rushed forward and slashed out with his sword. A radiant sword light erupted, cascading like a waterfall toward the oncoming attack!

Boom!

The world inside the tiny pagoda was soon filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal. Ye Qingqing dominated Ye Guan completely, and the latter hadn't been able to retaliate at all.

Ye Guan was truly getting a taste of Ye Qingqing's terror. Ye Qingqing's swordsmanship was better than any Sovereigns out there. Her moves were simple and without embellishments, but they were all performed with peak speed and strength.

Ye Guan could barely withstand them.

Her sword dao was profound yet simple, and her swordsmanship was a perfect reflection of her sword dao!

Ye Qingqing stuffed Ye Guan full of her sword sandwiches for almost an hour. In the end, Ye Guan collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.

However, this was all because he wasn't merged with Ao Qianqian. Unfortunately, Ye Guan reckoned that even if he fought Ye Qingqing while fused with Ao Qianqian, he still wouldn't stand a chance against Ye Qingqing.

After all, Ye Qingqing had truly dominated him, and he never managed to fight back.

Ye Qingqing crushed him in all aspects.

Ye Qingqing walked up to Ye Guan just then and saw that new patterns had appeared on Ye Guan's chest. There weren't many of them, but the patterns had still grown more numerous.

"It really is effective," Ye Qingqing said, nodding at the sight. "Hurry up and recover. Let's fight immediately once you've recovered."

"Okay," Ye Guan said. He recovered in no time, all thanks to the Divine Tree of Nature's help.

Soon, the two were fighting each other again. Unfortunately, Ye Guan was still being dominated completely by Ye Qingqing.

However, there was a slight improvement compared to the first bout. Ye Guan was adapting slowly to Ye Qingqing's speed and strength.

Of course, this could be attributed to the fact that Ye Qingqing wasn't really taking Ye Guan seriously. Otherwise, there was no way Ye Guan could acclimatize to Ye Qingqing's fighting style.

And just like that, the two fought each other multiple times—one was teaching the other while the other was trying his best to learn.

...

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign and the Time Reversers were gathered outside Guanxuan City with solemn expressions. They tried to force their way in by bombarding the city, but it was futile. There were too many arrays, and there were also those mysterious supreme elites who'd always self-destruct against them.

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign felt something, and he turned toward the saber wielder clad in a black robe. Dozens of mysterious supreme elites, all dressed in black clothes, were standing behind the saber wielder.

They were hiding their faces, but they weren't shy in showing their formidable strength.

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign asked, "Just who are you guys?"

The saber wielder merely glanced at the Heavenly Yuan Sovereign.

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign frowned.

Why are these guys pretending to be aloof?

Swoosh!

An old man suddenly appeared in front of everyone, and his attire meant that he was from the Hidden Clan

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign stared deeply at the old man.

The old man spoke in a deep voice, "We've investigated and found out that the reason behind Ye Guan's quick recovery is that he has a divine treasure called Little Pagoda. It is a tiny pagoda with a world inside of it, and the flow of time inside that world is markedly different compared to the outside world."

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign frowned. "The flow of time is different? There's a time difference?"

The old man nodded and replied, "Ten years inside the pagoda is equivalent to just one day outside!"

"What the fuck?!" the Heavenly Yuan Sovereign inadvertently cursed as his expression changed drastically. "He actually has such a divine treasure?"

The Time Reversers revealed solemn looks as well. Ten years inside the pagoda was only one day outside? Was the old man trying to pull their leg or something?

"That's not all," the old man said, "He also has the Divine Tree of Nature, which is a divine treasure capable of healing him indefinitely. He has the True Tree as well, which was planted by the True God a long time ago. It's a tree with its own world, and it contains an endless supply of spiritual energy..."

The faces of the Time Reversers became grim. They finally understood why Ye Guan seemed indestructible. It turned out that Ye Guan had an unlimited supply of spiritual energy as well as a divine treasure capable of healing him indefinitely.

It was like having a portable spiritual hotspring on his back.

"Ye Guan has issued a Dao bounty," the old man said.

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign frowned. "A Dao bounty?"

The old man nodded and explained. The expressions of the Time Reversers changed drastically at the explanation. They would be guaranteed a strand of Ancestral Origin so long as they refrained from fighting and waited a hundred years? That was amazing!

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign stared deeply at the old man. "Did he really say that?"

The old man nodded. "Yes."

Everyone fell silent. They'd obtain a strand of Ancestral Origin so long as they go neutral, while Sovereign-level cultivators would obtain three strands of Ancestral Origin a hundred years later by doing the same!

"Can we trust Ye Guan's words?" someone asked.

A middle-aged man said in a deep voice, "Ye Guan is cunning and deceitful. His words cannot be trusted at all."

"I think it's believable," an old man said, "Ye Guan is the King of the Guanxuan Universe as well as the True God and the Great Daoist Brush Master's chosen one. Moreover, he's a swordsman as well. Can he really deceive us?"

"But does he really have that many strands of Ancestral Origin?" someone asked.

The same old man replied, "Would the Great Daoist Brush Master and the True God not have enough strands of Ancestral Origin for us?"

Everyone went silent. There was no way Ye Guan would have so many strands of Ancestral Origin, but it was a different story when it came to the Great Daoist Brush Master and the True God.

Should we still fight?

Everyone exchanged glances.

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign stared at the old man from the Hidden Clan and asked, "Why tell us that?"

Everyone turned to look at the old man, and the latter calmly replied, "The Clan Leader said that the choice is yours. You are free to choose, and you are free to leave as well."

The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign fell silent.

"Do you all know why the Great Daoist Brush Master has yet to show his face?" asked the old man.

The crowd stared at the old man.

The old man calmly stated, "It's all because the Clan Leader has suppressed the Great Daoist Brush Master!"

The crowd was shocked. The Great Daoist Brush Master was being suppressed?

"Everyone, Ancestral Origin can solve urgent problems, but if you want true immortality, you must overthrow the Great Dao and establish a universe without any order. However, Ye Guan and the Great Daoist Brush Master's goal is the opposite of that. He has promised you many benefits, as he desperately needs your help, but what about later?"

Everyone was quiet, seemingly ruminating over the old man's words.

"The Clan Leader said that once Ye Guan has succeeded in establishing his brand-new order, you'll become the biggest threat to his order. After all, you, supreme elites, are powerful.

"The emperors of the secular world have done something similar. Who among them didn't promise the wealth and prosperity of their subjects while they were busy conquering lands? Once the conquest was done, how many of those heroic subjects had ended up surviving to enjoy their promised wealth and prosperity?"

The crowd contemplated silently, saying nothing.

"The Clan Leader said that a world without order is the best order. You will enjoy unprecedented freedom without the restriction of an order. At that time, you can go even further; you can enjoy the endless resources of the universe!"

The old man then looked at the Heavenly Yuan Sovereign and said, "All of you should make your own decision, and the Clan Leader will respect your decision. She's not going to hate you for taking Ye Guan's side. In fact, she doesn't even hate Ye Guan.

"Yes, Ye Guan is our enemy, but she said that neither side is wrong. It's just a difference in ideologies, and the Clan Leader respects the ideologies of others."