Chapter 867: Master Pagoda, Shall We Spar?

The black-clad youth didn't respond immediately. He walked straight to the throne and looked up at it.

After a long while, he finally said, "The Great Zhou is not the key here; the key is that young man Ye Guan from the True Universe."

The lady in white said, "We've already investigated that."

The black-clad youth said, "Tell me more about it."

"He's from the Guanxuan Universe not from the True Universe. The True Universe and the Guanxuan Universe were once enemies, but when Ye Guan visited the Milky Way, he met the True God, and the two ended up together for some reason. As a result, the Guanxuan Universe and the True Universe reconciled and made peace..."

The black-clad youth frowned slightly. "The Milky Way?"

"Yes." The lady in white nodded. "It's a particularly remote place."

The black-clad youth tapped the hilt of his saber with his left hand and said, "Tell me more."

The lady in white hesitated and then said, "Our people cannot enter that place."

The black-clad youth turned to look at the lady in white and asked, "What do you mean?"

"There is a mysterious powerful being protecting that place. Our people were killed before they could even approach it," said the lady in white in a grave tone of voice.

The black-clad youth's eyes narrowed.

The lady in white added, "That place is quite strange, and it does not experience universe tribulations."

The black-clad youth walked up to the throne, but he didn't sit on it. He tapped the hilt of his saber with his left hand and said, "The vast expanse is boundless, and it contains a myriad of wonders. Just tell me more about Ye Guan."

The lady in white nodded and said, "He's the ruler of the Guanxuan Universe. Although he is only at ninety percent divinity, his strength is extremely formidable. He once fought five Path Creation Realm experts single-handedly. Although he had relied on an unknown divine sword and his bloodline, his strength shouldn't be underestimated. Outside the Ascension World, a genius on his level is rare."

The black-clad youth said, "He can't possibly be the Tenth Hall Master's murderer."

"The death of Tenth the Hall Master is very strange... We couldn't find out anything about it. The battlefield was wiped clean with a special technique, so even our people couldn't turn back time to find out the truth," the lady in white said solemnly.

"The Great Zhou must be hiding the truth," said the black-clad youth.

The lady in white nodded. "Yes."

The black-clad youth closed his eyes and said, "There are two possible reasons behind that. It is either they simply do not want to reveal their trump cards to deal another devastating strike on us, or they want our Evil Dao Alliance to underestimate the strength of the people behind Ye Guan so that we'll keep on targeting Ye Guan."

The black-clad youth opened his eyes and stared at the lady in white. "Zhan Xue, which one do you think it is?"

Zhan Xue pondered briefly before replying, "It's hard to say."

"You believe it's the latter, but you are simply unwilling to admit it." The black-clad youth pointed out.

Zhan Xue nodded slightly.

The black-clad youth said, "I met the Tenth Hall Master."

Zhan Xue looked up at the black-clad youth, who continued, "His strength is not much in the grand scheme of things, but in this universe region, he's at the top. Even ten peak Path Creation Realm experts can't possibly kill him, but he was actually obliterated. I said obliterated, as he couldn't even escape. In other words, his murderer's strength is far stronger than him."

The black-clad youth tapped the hilt of his saber with his left hand and said, "The True God can probably do the same, but she's busy with the universe tribulation. In other words, we have severely underestimated the strength of the forces behind Ye Guan."

Zhan Xue nodded in agreement. "That must be the case."

"Let's go to the Great Zhou, then."

Zhan Xue was taken aback, and she hesitated before saying, "Our people are still investigating Ye Guan's backers. Don't you want to wait a bit longer?"

The black-clad youth said, "We can't retreat here."

Zhan Xue fell silent.

The annihilation of the Tenth Hall was a serious incident. Moreover, the news had already spread throughout the vast expanse.

If the Evil Dao Alliance were to take no action, how would the major forces of the vast expanse look at them from then on?

The Evil Dao Alliance had dispatched the Hall Master of the Ninth Hall and its top experts, showing everyone that they were taking the matter seriously.

After a moment's hesitation, Zhan Xue said, "Everyone, leave."

The black-clad experts didn't move but turned to look at the black-clad youth instead.

The black-clad youth waved his hand, and the black-clad experts vanished into thin air.

Zhan Xue said solemnly, "Young Master, as you said, the Great Zhou must have deliberately concealed the information to make us underestimate the strength of those behind Ye Guan and to provoke us into targeting him again. How come they are daring enough to do that? It's simple. They're just

that

confident. They believe that the strength of those behind Ye Guan is greater than that of the Evil Dao Alliance..."

Zhan Xue stared at the black-clad youth but did not continue.

The black-clad youth nodded slightly and said, "I understand your concerns. I am stronger than the Tenth Hall Master but it's not by much. In other words, they could kill me, too."

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Zhan Xue nodded. "Yes"

"But..." the black-clad youth trailed off, staring at Zhan Xue before asking, "Did I ever say that we are going to the Great Zhou to kill that young man?"

Zhan Xue was stunned.

The black-clad youth said, "We can't retreat here, but we can certainly take a different path."

The black-clad youth pressed the hilt of his saber with his left hand and walked toward the door, leaving behind the stunned Zhan Xue.

Upon reaching the entrance of the hall, the black-clad youth said, "Do you know why the Tenth Hall Master died? It's all because he was too arrogant. I won't make that kind of mistake. I've seen much of the world, and I know how high the heavens are. I am a bit strong, but I am no more than an ant in the eyes of some beings in the vast expanse."

With that, the black-clad youth walked away.

A smile blossomed on Zhan Xue's face as she muttered, "Ancestors of the Li Clan, you've chosen correctly. Our Li Clan truly has hope..."

***

Within the Ancestral Land of the Great Zhou, Ye Guan was standing within a pillar of light with his aura growing stronger by the second.

Ye Guan was inheriting the inheritance of the Great Zhou, and the Great Zhou's way of passing down their inheritance was simple.

It only involved copying the memories of their ancestors and implanting them into the successor's mind.

Some people were capable of accepting all of those memories, while others absorbed only what was useful to them.

Ye Guan was simply absorbing what was useful to him. He lacked experience, especially in cultivation. His cultivation speed was pretty fast, especially when compared to these ancient cultivators.

Moreover, he had little to no understanding of "Divinity."

Ye Guan knew himself well. His combat strength far exceeded that of his peers largely due to his bloodline and sword techniques that he had received from his ancestors. Without them, he wouldn't be that terrifying.

In addition, he had yet to resolve his greatest weakness, which had always been his cultivation base.

Ye Guan's goal was to erase that weakness.

To save time, Ye Guan brought all the pillars of light into the tiny pagoda.

The guardian of the Great Zhou's Ancestral Land pretended not to see it. After all, everyone in the Great Zhou knew that Young Master Ye was connected to the Ninth Princess, who was destined to become the empress of the Great Zhou.

***

On the same day, the Great Zhou Emperor and Zhou Fan gathered in a part of the starry sky.

A black-clad youth and a lady in white was standing in the distance. Twelve Path Creation Realm experts with a saber in hand stood behind the black-clad youth and the lady in white.

The expressions of the Great Zhou's experts became solemn.

Twelve Path Creation Realm experts!

Moreover, the black-clad youth at the helm of the group had an unfathomable strength.

This lineup was indeed formidable.

The Great Zhou Emperor remained calm, confident in the presence of the sword energy left by the lady in the plain skirt. He didn't believe that they could withstand that sword energy.

"Great Zhou Emperor," the black-clad youth asked, "Is Young Master Ye here?"

The Great Zhou Emperor calmly replied, "Do you have any business with Young Master Ye?"

"Yes."

The Great Zhou Emperor said, "Young Master Ye is in the middle of cultivating and cannot be disturbed."

The black-clad youth responded, "No problem, I'll wait for him here."

The Great Zhou Emperor frowned.

***

The others, including Dao Jun, were also a bit surprised.

The members of the Evil Dao Alliance seemed to have gotten quite accommodating.

The black-clad youth closed his eyes and remained silent.

The Great Zhou Emperor glanced at the black-clad youth and then said, "Let's go."

With that, he and the other powerful figures of the Great Zhou vanished into thin air.

Zhan Xue looked at the departing Great Zhou Emperor and his entourage. "There was no hint of fear in their eyes."

The black-clad youth asked, "Have we found out the origins of the swordsman who fought Ji Xiaojian and Cang Wu?"

Zhan Xue nodded, "She's from the Guanxuan Universe, and she's Ye Guan's aunt. Her exact strength is unknown."

The black-clad youth asked, "Was she hiding her strength?"

Zhan Xue nodded, "It seems so. During her fight with Ji Xiaojian and Cang Wu, she rarely used lethal moves and managed to hold her own against the two of them in a quite leisurely manner. She must have been hiding her true strength."

The black-clad youth was silent for a moment before muttering, "The Guanxuan Universe..."

"Young Master, why did you come here to see Ye Guan..." Zhan Xue trailed off.

The black-clad youth closed his eyes and replied, "You already know, so why ask me? Zhan Xue, you don't need to be so cautious around me."

Zhan Xue bowed her head slightly and said nothing.

The black-clad youth suddenly asked, "Zhan Xue, between me and that Young Master Ye, who do you think is stronger?"

Without hesitation, Zhan Xue replied, "You're the stronger one, Young Master."

The black-clad youth smiled and went silent.

***

After an unknown amount of time inside the tiny pagoda, Ye Guan—standing with his eyes closed inside one of the light pillars—opened his eyes.

The light pillars around him dissipated.

As soon as Ye Guan opened his eyes, two sharp flashes of sword light flitted across his eyes.

Ye Guan opened his palm, and a wisp of sword intent shot out, piercing the sky up above.

Hum!

A resonant sword hum echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

Full divinity!

Just then, the hair around Ye Guan's ears turned white at a rate visible to the naked eye until all of his hair eventually became white.

Ye Guan's gaze also became as cold as a thousand-year-old icy cavern.

Indifference!

Ye Guan opened his palm, and a sword made out of sword intent appeared in his hand.

"Master Pagoda, shall we spar?" Ye Guan asked. The next moment, the sword was switched to the Qingxuan Sword.

Little Pagoda had no idea what to say.