“Gallows?” Ye Guan asked, sounding dumbfounded.

City Governor Zhao’s face was cold. “Yes.”

“I will take responsibility for my actions alone. How can they go after my grandfather? That’s ridiculous! Tell them to come after me!”

City Governor Zhao stared coldly at Ye Guan. “Your grandfather killed their people, so they’ll naturally go after him. You’re just an accessory to the crime.”

“Now that you put it that way, I suddenly look forward to the return of the Forest Civilization.”

City Governor Zhao frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Ye Guan smiled. “Nothing much. Now, can we talk about the Time Bracelet?”

He was truly curious about the Time Bracelet.

Hearing Ye Guan mention the Time Bracelet, City Governor Zhao’s face turned ugly again.

He glanced at Erya, who was licking a hawthorn candy, and forcibly suppressed his anger. “The Time Bracelet is a super divine artifact left by the Forest Civilization. It contains the power of time and can accelerate the flow of time in a certain area.”

Ye Guan suddenly asked, “Can it reverse time?”

City Governor Zhao frowned. “Can time even be reversed? What are you talking about?”

Ye Guan ignored City Governor Zhao; his intuition was telling him that time could be reversed.

“Can you... return that Time Bracelet to me?” City Governor Zhao asked.

Ye Guan glanced at Little White. “You should ask her.”

Unfortunately, Little White had already whipped out a hammer and was glaring at City Governor Zhao.

City Governor Zhao’s face twitched at the sight.

“City Governor Zhao, you can leave now! This Daogu City is mine.”

“So you people are bandits?”

Erya suddenly interjected, “You attacked us first. Our principle is to not attack unless the other party attacks us first."

City Governor Zhao roared, “I didn’t attack first! You attacked me first! I just said that I didn’t like him... Is it a crime to dislike someone?!”

“Although you didn’t attack us first, we felt your hostility toward us. Since we knew that you were going to attack us eventually, we decided to just beat you to the chase and attack you first. This is called timely intervention, do you understand what I mean?”

Timely intervention...

City Governor Zhao’s expression froze.

Qing Zhi and Qing Dai on the sidelines were stunned.

Shen Qi grinned, staring at Erya with interest.

“Everyone knows that our Yang Family is reasonable. But you've chosen to be unreasonable before us, and frankly... that was foolish of you.”

Everyone. “...”

City Governor Zhao was so angry that his face flushed red. If he could just beat Erya, he would have given her a beatdown long ago, but...

Ye Guan suddenly asked, “Are you from the Forest Civilization?”

City Governor Zhao remained silent.

Ye Guan chuckled. “So you’re not?”

City Governor Zhao stared at Ye Guan without responding. Indeed, he wasn’t from the Forest Civilization. When they left years ago, they had taken almost everyone with them, but he was left behind.

Ye Guan suddenly suggested, “Why not stay and work with me?”

He made the offer because he needed to understand the Forest Civilization thoroughly. They seemed quite hostile toward him, after all.

City Governor Zhao was the only person who could contact them, so Ye Guan considered roping in City Governor Zhao.

City Governor Zhao sneered, “You’re overthinking it, Young Master Ye.”

With that, he turned into a dark flash of light that disappeared into the horizon.

Ye Guan smiled. He wasn't surprised by City Governor Zhao's decision to leave.

He looked at Shen Qi beside him and asked, “Do you know this place well?”

“I'm a bit familiar with this place. If you want to take control of this city, then City Governor Zhao is the key. But he's obviously not going to work with you. Fortunately, there's another key. Let me take you to him.”

“All right.” Ye Guan nodded. Then, he looked at Qing Zhi beside him and said, “Qing Zhi, stay here for a while and help me manage things.”

Qing Zhi smiled. “Sure.”

The Primordial Spirit Clan had stabilized, and they no longer needed her attention.

Ye Guan nodded slightly and followed Shen Qi into the distance.

Qing Dai watched them leave and remarked, “You made the right choice.”

Qing Zhi asked, “Are you really not planning to return to the clan?”

“There’s nothing worth going back for.”

Qing Zhi was silent.

Qing Dai looked at Qing Zhi and asked, “So the Primordial Spirit Clan has decided to fully support him?”

“Yes.”

Qing Dai looked at Qing Zhi. “You know the Forest Civilization is coming back. There will definitely be a war between the Forest Civilization and the Guanxuan Civilization.”

Qing Zhi nodded. “I know.”

“Then why are you so determined to follow him...?”

“What does the Forest Civilization have to fight Young Master Ye?”

Qing Zhi could still remember the terror of the blue-robed man...

The Gui Zhe Civilization was above the Forest Civilization, but they were so respectful to the blue-robed man.

A cultivator with a hundred percent divinity? Even if the Forest Civilization had someone at that level, they still wouldn’t stand a chance against Ye Guan.

Qing Dai nodded slightly and said, “I hope you made the right choice.”

With that, she turned around and left.

***

Shen Qi led Ye Guan to a quiet palace. There was no one inside the palace except for an old man.

The old man stared at Ye Guan without speaking.

Shen Qi smiled. “Elder Zhe, long time no see.”

The old man nodded slightly. “Congratulations on your freedom.”

“This time, I’ve come to speak on behalf of Young Master Ye.”

“You’re still as straightforward as ever.”

“Elder Zhe, Young Master Ye wants to take over this place, but he’s not familiar with it. He's hoping that you can help him.”

Elder Zhe turned to look at Ye Guan and asked. “Young Master Ye, do you know that the Forest Civilization is coming back?”

Ye Guan nodded. “I know.”

“And you still want to take over this city? How brave.”

"Are you familiar with the Forest Civilization?”

Elder Zhe shook his head slightly and replied, “Not much, but I can tell you one thing for sure—they’re incredibly strong. And they've come here to reclaim this universe.”

"You have to be prepared for that," Elder Zhe said, staring straight at Ye Guan.

“I understand.” Ye Guan nodded. Then, he smiled and asked, “Would you stay here and help me?”

Elder Zhe remained silent.

Ye Guan smiled patiently, waiting for an answer.

If Elder Zhe agrees, it'll be great. Otherwise, it's fine.

After a moment, Elder Zhe said, “They're paying me a hundred strands of Ancestral Origin annually—”

“I’ll give you two hundred,” said Ye Guan with a chuckle.

“Deal.”

“Pleasure to be working with you.”

"Likewise," Elder Zhe said with a nod. Then, he added, “Follow me.”

Elder Zhe turned around and walked deeper into the palace.

Ye Guan and Shen Qi followed closely behind him.

Under Elder Zhe’s guidance, Ye Guan and Shen Qi soon found themselves in an underground palace.

A vast plaza appeared before them. The plaza was so vast that it seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions.

Several mysterious objects in a variety of sizes were in the middle of the plaza.

Ye Guan was curious. “Elder Zhe, what are those?”

“This plaza is a massive teleportation array, and those things are special flying machines built by the Forest Civilization…”

Ye Guan’s interest was piqued. He examined the machines closely and found many similarities to his mother's Guanxuan Ships.

“These things can help someone travel between different universes. The array and these things are incredible...” Ye Guan muttered.

Elder Zhe nodded slightly. “City Governor Zhao has been studying the Time Bracelet, these flying machines, and this teleportation array, but he hasn’t made much progress…”

Ye Guan immediately contacted Little Ai using a transmission charm.

Little Ai responded, saying that she'd bring a team to come here.

Guanxuan Civilization’s technology was advanced, but they were always keen to learn from other civilizations.

Swoosh!

Little White suddenly appeared next to Ye Guan, startling the latter.

Isn't she busy counting treasures in the pagoda with Erya? Why did she come out?

Little White looked around and started examining the ground.

Ye Guan asked, “Found another treasure?”

Little White grinned and used her tiny paws to rub Ye Guan’s head.

Ye Guan’s expression froze.

“Master Pagoda, what did she say?”

“She says that you're quite avaricious,”

Little Pagoda replied.

Ye Guan. “...”

Little White placed her tiny paws on the ground.

Rumble!

The ground trembled, and countless beams of light shot up, creating a massive circular array in the sky.

Ye Guan was stunned.

“The array has been activated?” Elder Zhe was shocked and bewildered.

City Governor Zhao had brought numerous array masters to study the array over the years, but there was never any progress.

The array was too complex for them to even understand, let alone activate.

However, a tiny furry creature actually managed to activate the array with just a single touch of its paws? Elder Zhe was truly baffled.

Ye Guan was astonished, but then he recalled that Little White could communicate with spirits.

The array most likely had a spirit.

Just then, stars appeared within the array

"Universe Coordinates!" Elder Zhe exclaimed.

“Who dares spy on our Forest Civilization…” A terrifying voice boomed from the array, and a devastating power surged out of it.

Ye Guan was alarmed. The devastating power was beyond the ninety percent divinity level. The attacker had to be a full divinity cultivator, at the very least.

Just then, a figure stepped in front of Ye Guan.