His son will repay his debt?

Ye Guan's expression darkened.

What does that even mean? Can my father really do something like that? I wasn't even born yet! How could he let his unborn son repay his debt?! This is ridiculous.

Erya looked at Ye Guan and said seriously, "It's true."

Ye Guan hesitated for a little before he assumed a pitiful expression and said, "I'm very poor…"

Erya stared at him blankly and said, "I can tell."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Erya patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry, we won't ask you to repay his debt. After all, you're still young."

Ye Guan shook his head with a smile. He did not think that his father would do something so ridiculous like asking his son to repay his debt. It wasn't something a normal person would do.

"Grandson, let's go and raid some tombs—no, I mean, let's go on an archaeological expedition!"

Ye Guan was a little puzzled. "An archaeological expedition?"

Erya nodded, explaining, "Yes, let's look for ancient secret realms and grottos. They are usually without an owner, and they'll belong to us the moment we find them. Your mother used to do that when she didn't have money…"

Ye Guan's expression froze.

Little White waved her paw excitedly.

Erya licked on her candied hawthorn and said, "She said that your mother has a ton of interesting stuff, especially those explosive watermelons."

Ye Guan did not know what to say.

"So, are you going with us?" Erya asked.

"Yes!" Ye Guan replied immediately. Of course, he was going! It was hard not to get rich following these elders of his.

However, Ye Guan recalled something just then and said, "But give me a few days. Let me finish things up here, and then I'll go with you, okay?"

"Okay!" Erya nodded.

Ye Guan smiled. His intuition was telling him that he was going to hit the jackpot. After all, the things that Erya and Little White were completely uninterested in, such as Ancestral Veins, were still considered a big deal to him.

Ye Guan's plan was to establish his own force—an organization independent of both the Yang and Ye families—a force that belonged solely to him. He had the resources to do so, so why not?

Ye Guan turned to Shen Ye and asked, "Senior, how many experts are there in the Mountain Sea World?"

Shen Ye instantly understood what Ye Guan was trying to do.

"Are you thinking of…" Shen Ye trailed off.

Ye Guan said, "You are the strongest in the Mountain Sea World, so you should have no issues ruling over it. To be blunt with you, I'd like the demonic beasts in the Mountain Sea World to follow me after you've managed to establish your rule over them."

Shen Ye fell silent.

The powerful ones among the demonic beasts of the Mountain Sea World were unruly, and getting them to submit to a human was virtually impossible.

Even he didn't really feel great at the idea of submitting to a human being. However, he was clear that this was a tremendous opportunity for himself and all of the other demonic beasts of Mountain Sea World.

The Mountain Sea World's strength was mediocre compared to other worlds, and it was far inferior to powers like the Ancient Wilderness and the god clans.

However, if they followed Young Lord Ye, the power of Mountain Sea World would undoubtedly receive a significant boost. This was unquestionable because Young Lord Ye was wealthy enough, and he also possessed that mysterious tiny pagoda.

Seeing Shen Ye's silence, Ye Guan smiled. "Senior, am I putting you in a tough spot?"

Shen Ye nodded. "Those demonic beasts are unruly. They are unlikely to submit to a human."

Ye Guan replied, "Actually, their attitudes don't matter. What matters is your attitude toward it."

Shen Ye fell silent. He knew what Ye Guan was saying. If he was willing to submit, most of the demonic beasts in the Mountain Sea World would follow suit.

However, Shen Ye was still unwilling to do so.

Ye Guan seemed to have seen through Shen Ye's reluctance and said, "Senior, are you at the Divine Dao Realm with forty percent divinity?"

Shen Ye nodded.

"How many demonic beasts are there in the Divine Dao Realm in Mountain Sea World?"

Shen Ye pondered for a moment before he replied, "There should be at least three."

Ye Guan proposed, "How about this? Let me help you increase your divinity to fifty percent or even sixty percent. I want you to tell those three demonic beasts that I'm willing to help them increase their divinity as well."

Sixty percent divinity?

Shen Ye chuckled bitterly. He couldn't deny that he was tempted by this proposal, as he knew very well that it would be difficult for him to achieve sixty percent divinity on his own.

Even fifty percent divinity was challenging for him. After all, he didn't have many Ancestral Veins or divine treasures.

Ye Guan said, "I'll give you time to think about it."

Shen Ye nodded and said, "I'll go back and discuss this with them to see how they feel about it."

Ye Guan smiled. "All right."

Shen Ye nodded and left.

Ye Guan returned to the world inside the tiny pagoda with Erya and Little White. He sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes.

He could feel a breakthrough, and it was all thanks to the fights he had participated in recently. Thus, he decided to push for a breakthrough in his cultivation realm.

He took out some Ancestral Veins and started absorbing the strands of Ancestral Origin inside of it.

Meanwhile, Ao Qianqian proceeded to spar with Erya, and they sparred every day.

Erya's presence was a rare opportunity to become even stronger, and their everyday life became more fun with Little White around.

Ao Qianqian was extremely happy to be around the two, as Erya and Little White would randomly give her divine treasures.

Ao Qianqian's goal was to reach the Human Dao Realm!

Today, Erya and Little White decided to visit the sea. They saw a lady in a white skirt upon arriving at the shore—she was the lady inside the coffin that they had stolen from

that

old man.

The lady in a white skirt cast a puzzled look at Erya and Little White.

Erya stared at her and asked, "Are you unwilling to be my Grandson's wife?"

The lady in a white skirt shook her head and laughed.

Erya walked up to her and licked her candied hawthorn before asking, "I heard you lost your memory?"

"I don't remember anything before I woke up."

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Let me take a look."

Erya grabbed the lady's hand and sent her divine sense into the lady in a white skirt's mind.

Soon, Erya frowned.

The lady in a white skirt asked, "What's wrong?"

"There's a door in your mind. Your memories seem to be sealed behind that door."

"Can you do something about it?"

"Yes, I can break that door with a punch, but you will get hurt because the door is connected to you."

The lady in a white skirt fell silent.

Erya added, "You probably created that door yourself."

"

Huh?

" The lady in a white skirt looked puzzled. "I created it myself?"

"Yes, since it's a part of you."

"Why would I seal my own memories?"

"Maybe you were bored?" Erya deduced.

The lady in a white skirt had no idea what to say.

Erya took out another string of candied hawthorn and licked it before saying, "My grandson said that he'll take you to see that old pallbearer after his breakthrough. You'll probably discover your identity by then."

The lady in a white skirt nodded and said, "Thank you."

Erya stared deeply at the lady in a white skirt before she turned around and walked away with Little White.

Just then, the lady in a white skirt said, "Why do I feel like you're dangerous?"

Erya didn't turn around as she said, "We're not interested in the reason you sealed your memories, but remember that my grandson is one of us. He hasn't harmed you, so you should not harm him. Harm him, and I'll smash your head in!"

The lady in a white skirt stared at Erya's silhouette, and her eyes flickering with indescribable thoughts…

***

Time would always flow swiftly amidst cultivation, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

Ye Guan was sitting cross-legged on the ground, resembling an old monk in meditation. He wasn't emitting even the tiniest vestiges of aura.

Ye Guan's eyes opened slowly, and the vicissitudes of life seemed visible in them.

Rumble!

A terrifying aura surged out from within him. Ye Guan had finally made a breakthrough into the Imperial Sovereign Realm!

Over the past ten years, Ye Guan had consumed countless strands of Ancestral Origin, all of which were top-quality. Even so, it took him a full decade to make a breakthrough. Clearly, the higher one's cultivation base, the more difficult it would be for them to make a breakthrough into the next realm.

Ye Guan flicked his sleeve, and his aura vanished. After a few moments, he looked around. Then, his figure flashed, and he appeared at a mountain summit. He looked up at the skies and saw that Ao Qianqian had reverted to her true form and had laid herself quietly in the sea of clouds. She was emitting a terrifying dragon aura.

Ye Guan was surprised.

Is she about to make a breakthrough as well?

All of a sudden, Ye Guan sensed something and left the world inside the tiny pagoda. He saw Old Zhao standing in front of him, and there were over a hundred people behind Old Zhao.

The hundred or so people cast wary gazes at Ye Guan. Their eyes radiated a complicated light along with traces of hatred. These people were part of the Dao Market, and they hated Ye Guan, as he had essentially destroyed the Dao Market.

Old Zhao walked up to Ye Guan and said, "These people are in charge of the Dao Market's branches. There were some who weren't willing to come here, and they want to—"

"They want to continue ruling over their branch of the Dao Market?" Ye Guan interrupted with a smile.

Old Zhao nodded.

Ye Guan calmly said, "Kill them."

Old Zhao was astonished, and the hundred or so people were stupefied.

Ye Guan added, "Kill all those who had chosen not to come here."

Old Zhao took a moment to regain his composure before nodding. "All right."

Ye Guan then swept his gaze across the hundred or so people and said, "The Dao Market belongs to my Yang Family. All previous rules will be abolished, and I will inform you of the new ones soon. If you are unwilling to stay, you may leave on your own, but you cannot take a single cent from the Dao Market under your jurisdiction.

"Those who want to leave can go now."

Almost immediately, a black-robed middle-aged man walked out of the crowd. He cupped his fists and said, "Young Lord Ye, we choose to leave the Dao Market."

The hundred or so people around him cupped their fists, expressing the same sentiment as the black-robed middle-aged man.