Zhou Fan shook her head with a smile, feeling somewhat helpless. She did not bother replying and simply continued collecting the entrance fees.

Soon, the majority of the people outside had already entered the ruins.

Glancing at the storage ring in her hand, Zhou Fan's lips curled up into a smile. “I never expected to make such a profit. I really am a genius. Hehe…”

She had amassed nearly four hundred Ancestral Veins, which was quite a fortune for her.

“It’s so much easier to make money from the wealthy.” Zhpu Fan couldn't help but sigh. She then turned to the Left Elder and said, “Left Elder, I’ll take the Right Elder inside. Stay here and stand guard. If anyone wants to enter, charge them thirty Ancestral Veins. If they’re strong powerful, just let them in, got it?”

Although the Left Elder was somewhat reluctant, he didn’t dare disobey Zhou Fan. He nodded slightly and replied, “Understood.”

Zhou Fan stared at him. “Do you really understand?”

“Yes," the Left Elder nodded again reluctantly.

Zhou Fan smiled and went silent. The Left Elder's temper was bad, but he was powerful—powerful enough that only a few people could harm him.

Zhou Fan turned and entered the bronze ghost gate with the Right Elder.

The Left Elder felt a bit upset at the fact that he was left out. Was Zhou Fan thinking that he wasn't someone capable of looking at the big picture? It was the opposite, okay? He loved looking at the big picture.

Just then, a spacetime rift suddenly appeared before the Left Elder.

A shadowy figure and a red shadowy figure emerged from the rift. A shockwave burst out of their feet as soon as they landed.

The Left Elder frowned at the sight and waved his right hand, shattering the shockwave. He looked at the two shadowy figures in the distance, feeling annoyed.

The two shadowy figures were none other than Xuan Yang and Cang Yue from the Evil Dao Alliance.

They had been tracking down Ye Guan under Evil Granny's orders. They went through a lot of trouble before they finally found his whereabouts.

The two looked at the bronze ghost gate in the distance and started walking toward it.

All of a sudden, the Left Elder stood in their way and looked at them coldly. “Each of you must pay thirty Ancestral Veins.”

Xuan Yang frowned. “Why?”

The Left Elder was already in a bad mood, so he flared up and exclaimed, “I asked you to pay, so pay! Why are you asking so many questions?”

Xuan Yang was dumbfounded.

Cang Yue chimed in, “What do you mean by we have to pay, sir?”

The Left Elder glanced at Cang Yue. He wanted to get angry, but he recalled Zhou Fan’s instructions and held back his rage.

“Those who want to walk beyond that gate must pay thirty Ancestral Veins.”

Cang Yue asked again, “Why?”

The Left Elder replied indifferently, “I don’t want to explain.”

Xuan Yang lost his temper and punched the Left Elder. This was his first time being subjected to such a humiliation. What kind of nonsense was this?

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Cang Yue also got furious and turned into a beam of red light, charging at the Left Elder.

The Left Elder was stunned by the sneak attack, and then he became furious.

Damn it, they really dared to attack me!

The Left Elder wasn't the one to back down. He drew his sword and unleashed a burst of sword light.

Boom!

A deafening explosion echoed as the sword light shattered, dispersing into innumerable light crystals.

The Left Elder was forced to retreat, and he finally stopped several hundred meters away. He looked at Xuan Yang and Cang Yue in the distance with a hint of surprise in his eyes. “Not bad.”

Xuan Yang glared coldly at the Left Elder and said contemptuously, “What a joke.”

The Left Elder sneered and retorted, “Two versus one. But does it really matter even if there are two of you?”

With that, the Left Elder unsheathed his sword, and a burst of sword light slashed out toward Xuan Yang and Cang Yue.

He wasn’t afraid of a two-on-one fight at all.

After all, he was a swordsman.

Xuan Yang and Cang Yue's eyes became filled with killing intent. The two vanished at the same time, and two terrifying shockwaves erupted, tearing apart the air.

Boom!

A cacophony of explosions echoed afterward as the nearby spacetime shattered and disintegrated beneath the fierce battle between the three.

The Left Elder was strong, and his sword moves were devastating, but he started struggling after a short while.

Xuan Yang and Cang Yue were powerful as well, and the two of them had impeccable teamwork as they suppressed the Left Elder.

The Left Elder could barely fend off their attacks with his flying swords.

Fifteen minutes later, a thunderous boom echoed as the Left Elder was blasted hundreds of meters away.

Upon stabilizing himself in midair, he stopped and cast a solemn gaze at the two distant figures. They were strong.

Xuan Yang mocked, “Aren’t you tough? Why are you running?”

The Left Elder was furious. “If you have the guts, fight me one-on-one.”

"There is no way I'm going to do that," Xuan Yang calmly responded, “What are you going to do about it?”

“Do you think you’re the only one with allies?” said the Left Elder. He then crushed a talisman, and soon powerful auras appeared around them as hundreds of cultivators in black with swords in hand moved to surround them.

Xuan Yang's face darkened at the sight. He stared at the Left Elder and questioned, “Which civilization are you from?”

"There's no way I'm going to tell you," the Left Elder boisterously laughed and continued, “What are you going to do about it, you dumbass?!"

Xuan Yang was furious. “Do you know who we are?!”

"I don't care!" the Left Elder scoffed and exclaimed, “Attack!"

He charged forward, transforming into a streak of sword light that headed straight for Xuan Yang and Cang Yue. The cultivators in black followed suit, rushing in as well.

Xuan Yang’s face turned extremely grim.

Where did this madman even come from?

With that, the battle between them resumed, becoming even fiercer than earlier.

***

Ye Guan found himself in a desolate wasteland upon walking past the gate.

An array of bizarre-looking statues stood hundreds of meters ahead of him.

Each of the statues had no arms and was looking down at the ground; some of them were even broken and incomplete.

Overall, the place was pretty desolate.

Ye Guan looked around and asked, "You've never been here before?"

"No, I wasn't strong enough, and my rank was too low for me to join the expedition," Zhou Yuan replied.

Ye Guan nodded and looked around again. Then, he took to the air with his sword.

The next moment, however, a mysterious force engulfed him. His expression changed, and he tried his best to descend, but it was too late.

Boom!

Ye Guan crashed heavily to the ground, cracking the earth open.

After a while, Ye Guan crawled out of the deep pit and sat down, feeling incredibly dizzy.

Zhou Yuan said solemnly, "It seems that there are mysterious restrictions here."

Ye Guan shook his head hard. Once he was no longer dizzy, he looked up at the sky with a solemn face. "These restrictions are strong."

"Young Master Ye, we're in the ruins of a Tier Four Civilization," Zhou Yuan said, "We must be careful."

Ye Guan nodded and stood up, looking at the strange statues in the distance.

The towering statues gave off an oppressive air.

Just as Ye Guan started walking toward the distant statues, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned and saw Zhou Fan accompanied by that elder in black.

"So we meet again, Young Master Ye," Zhou Fan remarked with a smile."

Ye Guan smiled and replied, "Lady Fan, are you interested in those statues, too?"

Zhou Fan nodded and suggested, "Take a closer look at them, Young Master Ye."

Ye Guan turned to examine the statues. Upon closer inspection, he found that each statue was covered in mysterious runes.

Ye Guan was puzzled. "What is this?"

"They are extraordinary statues containing an ancient cultivation method and a divine technique," Zhou Fan explained. She walked up to one of the statues and examined it for a moment before saying, "This one contains a divine technique."

"Lady Fan, you can read these characters?"

"No, I can't." Zhou Fan shook her head.

Ye Guan was baffled. "Then how...?"

"

Pfft!

" Zhou Fan laughed. "I was just guessing."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Are you kidding me?

Zhou Fan covered her mouth with her fan and laughed once more. "Young Master Ye, I’m not messing with you. I simply made a deduction. Anyway, come and take a closer look."

Ye Guan walked over.

Zhou Fan waved her jade fan, and the mysterious runes on the statues seemed to come alive, transforming into streams of light that danced in midair.

Ye Guan was fascinated. "What is this?"

"This is a special divine technique of our Great Zhou Imperial Clan. It allows us to animate anything.”

Zhou Fan waved her jade fan again, and the streams of light flew returned to the statue, which eventually became calm once more.

"These statues contain powerful cultivation methods. It's been countless years since then, but they are still a top-tier civilization among Tier Four civilizations."

Zhou Fan glanced at Ye Guan and became even more curious upon seeing Ye Guan's face devoid of any greed.

Unbeknownst to her, he was greedy, but he simply had no interest in any cultivation methods or divine techniques.

His techniques were not the best in the vast expanse, but they were top-tier and incredibly suitable for him.

Meanwhile, Ye Guan also noticed that Zhou Fan was indifferent to the ancient techniques before her.

They'd definitely be top-tier techniques even in a Tier Four civilization, but she actually showed no interest in them?

Ye Guan's curiosity was piqued.

"Let's go?" Zhou Fan asked. She did not wait for Ye Guan's reply as she turned around and left.

Ye Guan followed suit; neither of them mentioned taking away the statues or copying the mysterious runes.

Zhou Yuan couldn’t help but speak up, "Young Master Ye, those statues contain top-tier cultivation methods and techniques. You should take one for yourself."

Ye Guan shook his head firmly, saying, "No, I'll lose face if I were to do that. If she doesn't want them, then I do not want it as well."

Zhou Yuan had no idea what to say.

Was showing off really

that

important?

Coca and Corlumbus's Thoughts

I kid you not, the similarity between Zhou Yuan and Zhou Fan’s names confuses me