"Humiliating?" Gu Ze was enraged upon hearing Qiu Ling's words, and he couldn't help but grumble, "Do you want freedom or dignity? Things have already come to this, and you're still worried about your pride?"

Qiu Ling said in a low voice, "I want freedom, but I can't lose my dignity either."

Gu Ze was speechless and proceeded to berate Qiu Ling harshly.

However, Qiu Ling wasn't responding to him at all, so Gu Ze decided to stop. After pondering for a moment, he said, "If you ask for help out of nowhere, I don't think anyone out there will actually help you. You should offer rewards. How about the items in the pagoda? They are of no use to you anyway."

Qiu Ling hurriedly agreed, "Sure, sure, talk to him for me."

No one could hear their conversation, and even if Ye Guan and the others could, they wouldn't understand their words, as they were speaking in the Shui Civilization's common language.

Gu Ze cast a disdainful gaze at the black pagoda. He really thought that Qiu Ling had a backbone, so he was surprised to learn that he was a bit of a coward.

Gu Ze turned to Ye Guan down below and smiled. "The guy inside the pagoda wants to make a deal with you. If you use your sword to break the seal and free him, you can take anything you want from inside the pagoda. What do you think?"

Ye Guan didn't respond.

"He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's not a despicable liar."

Ye Guan seemed to fall into contemplation. He glanced at the black pagoda and asked, "Are you sure?"

Gu Ze nodded. "Yes, I'm sure."

"I have a condition," Ye Guan said.

"What is it?"

"I'll help him break the seal, but he has to fight for me. Just once," Ye Guan said. He thought it was an opportunity worth taking, even though it was somewhat risky. Not only would he be able to obtain treasures, but he'd also be able to enlist the help of a Path Creation Realm expert.

Gu Ze pondered briefly over Ye Guan's condition.

It was a really reasonable condition, so he turned to the black pagoda and said, "He has two conditions. First of all, you have to fight for him once. The second condition is Eternal Crystals. He wants two Eternal Crystals."

"Eternal Crystals?" Qiu Ling was puzzled. "How does someone with such a low cultivation base know about Eternal Crystals?"

Gu Ze explained in a serious tone, "Take a good look at that young man. He's extraordinarily gifted. He has three unique bloodlines, and he has a sword capable of breaking the high priest's seal. He can't be just an ordinary talent."

Qiu Ling fell silent.

"I think that his two conditions are reasonable. He even said that swinging that sword even once would cost him a thousand years of lifespan. The price he has to pay is really high. It's not fair if there's no compensation at all."

After a moment of silence, Qiu Ling remarked, "I agree to his conditions as long he can actually break the high priest's seal."

Gu Ze nodded. He then looked at Ye Guan and said, "This guy is a bit stubborn. At first, he did not like your condition, saying that fighting for someone else is beneath him. However, I persuaded him and emphasized what he's going to get by accepting the deal, and he eventually agreed to it."

Ye Guan stared at Gu Ze and asked, "Will he attack me to steal my treasures once he's out there?"

"Rest assured," Gu Ze said, "He has a bad temper and is pretty dumb, but he won't stoop to something so low."

Ye Guan nodded. "I trust your character, senior."

Gu Ze's lips twitched.

Damn it, why does it feel like he's mocking me by saying that? I'm a Path Creation Realm cultivator, and he's not even a bit afraid of me? Damn it! Does having someone backing you up really make you a big shot or something?

Gu Ze turned around, not wanting to deal with Ye Guan any longer.

Ye Guan was quiet as well. He opened his palm, and the Qingxuan Sword flew out, shooting straight into the sky.

Boom!

The mysterious seal reappeared upon sensing the Qingxuan Sword, but as soon as the two made contact, the seal broke, shattering into countless fragments of energy that disappeared into nothingness.

It was shattered in an instant.

Gu Ze's eyes widened slightly in shock. He looked down at Ye Guan in silence with his thoughts inscrutable.

Ye Guan held out his palm, and the Qingxuan Sword flew back to him.

Boom!

A black beam of black light shot up into the sky, followed by a burst of laughter echoing throughout the horizon.

Ye Guan looked up and saw a long-haired man in a black robe laughing maniacally. His laughter was like thunder, causing the heavens and earth to tremble. He man was a Path Creation Realm expert!

Ye Guan stared quietly at him.

Gu Ze suddenly chimed in, "Qiu Ling, it's time to fulfill your promise."

Qiu Ling stopped laughing and glanced at Gu Ze. With a wave of his sleeve, two crystals landed steadily in front of Ye Guan, causing Gu Ze's expression to stiffen.

Ye Guan was a bit puzzled.

Why is this guy giving me these things? Wait, aren't these the so-called Eternal Crystals that Yi Nian once showed me?

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Qiu Ling glanced at Gu Ze and nonchalantly said, "Gu Ze, what's up with that ugly face? Are you feeling unwell? Do you need treatment?"

Gu Ze glared at him, wishing that he could punch the bastard in front of him to death.

Qiu Ling sneered at him and then looked at Ye Guan down below. He opened his right hand and a strand of divine sense fell in front of Ye Guan. Then, he pointed at his own head.

Ye Guan immediately understood what he was trying to say and tapped the divine sense with his finger. Soon, the divine sense was filled with the languages of the Guanxuan Civilization.

This wasn't Ye Guan's first time doing something like this. In fact, he had already learned the languages of many civilizations, and even if he met someone using an unknown language, he could learn their language with just a few steps.

Qiu Ling retracted his divine sense and sized Ye Guan up before saying, "When my Shui Civilization left back then, we took everything with us, but we had to leave some things behind. Go ahead to the twelfth floor; there are still useful items there."

Ye Guan cupped his fist and said, "Thank you, Senior."

Qiu Ling opened his palm, and a talisman that looked like solid water appeared before Ye Guan. "If you encounter danger in the future, activate this talisman, and I will come to your aid if I can."

Ye Guan cupped his fist again. "Thank you."

Qiu Ling looked at the Qingxuan Sword in Ye Guan's hand with shock in his eyes. However, he looked away quickly. Greed had filled his heart, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.

He found it unusual that the shrewd Gu Ze had not even attempted to snatch it away, so he believed that it was best not to do anything foolish.

After all, a sword that could break even the high priest's seal had to have been forged by a terrifying individual.

Powerful cultivators on their level were aware of just how terrifying the geniuses of the vast expanse could be. One would never know what powerful figures were out there, so one had to be always wary of their own actions, lest they end up kicking an iron board.

Qiu Ling emptied his mind and turned to look at Gu Ze in the distance.

"Shall we spar?"

"Sure," Gu Ze replied indifferently.

Swoosh!

The two then disappeared, heading somewhere else to fight.

Their disappearance left behind a wake of turbulent spacetime.

Ye Guan turned to the black pagoda and started walking toward it.

After taking two steps, he cast a puzzled look at Zhou Fan behind him and asked, "Lady Zhou, you don't want to come with me?"

Zhou Fan was surprised. Then, she smiled and said, "He didn't say that we can go, too."

Ye Guan shook his head and retorted, "Didn't you say that we were friends? Since we're friends, we should share blessings and face difficulties together. Let's go."

Zhou Fan looked at him, and she smiled upon seeing that he was sincere rather than just being polite. "All right."

With that, she and Ye Guan headed to the black pagoda.

The Right Elder, Zhou Yuan, and the black-robed middle-aged man remained didn't follow them.

The black-robed middle-aged man watched as Ye Guan and Zhou Fan disappeared into the pagoda. "I think they're a good match. He's talented and she's beautiful. They're both exceptionally talented."

Both Zhou Yuan and the Right Elder frowned at the black-robed middle-aged man's remark.

The Right Elder calmly said, "My young lady is a descendant of the Great Zhou Imperial family. She carries the imperial bloodline, and she's even the Commander of the Great Zhou Imperial City's Forbidden Army. She's a distinguished daughter of heaven, and her pursuers are all outstanding and monstrous individuals."

"Young Master Ye has three unique bloodlines inside of him," Zhou Yuan stared sideways at the Right Elder. "He's not even thirty years old, but he can already make quick work of Divine Dao Realm experts and even stand his own against Transcension Realm experts. Could Young Master Ye's peers—even throughout the vast expanse—claim that they are better than him?"

"An individual can be as monstrous as possible, but it doesn't matter if they don't have a powerful backer," the Right Elder nonchalantly replied, "They might suddenly perish on the path to the Great Dao without a backer to protect them. Moreover, a genius who has yet to mature is nothing more than an ant or a speck of dust in the face of certain powers."

"In the eyes of some people, some powers are nothing but ants," Zhou Yuan said calmly.

The Right Elder frowned. "The Great Zhou has been around for nearly several billion years now. We've never had a rival except for the Tianxing Civilization."

The Right Elder's words reminded Zhou Yuan of the Tianxing Flame inside Ye Guan, and he couldn't help but chuckle. "The Tianxing Civilization? It's nothing special."

The black-robed middle-aged man cast an astonished gaze at Zhou Yuan.

The Tianxing Civilization is nothing special? That boasting is... it's a bit over the top!

"

Hmph!

" the Right Elder scoffed. "I've lived for so many years, but this is the first time I've heard someone say that the Tianxing Civilization is nothing special. Am I a frog at the bottom of a well, or is something just bragging?"

"I completely understand how you feel," Zhou Yuan remarked, "I used to be as arrogant as you. I thought my civilization was invincible, but I was eventually humbled."