Chapter 909: What Use Is An Apology

The Dao Emperor chuckled softly upon hearing the Dark Monk's words. "It seems the Dark Monk has also set his sights on Ye Guan's sword."

Xiu Fa frowned in displeasure. He was also coveting the sword in Ye Guan's hand. He was confident of killing Ye Guan, and once Ye Guan was dead, the sword would naturally become his property.

However, Xiu Fa didn't act on his own and instead looked to the Dao Emperor for guidance. Dao Emperor Zhaowu appeared friendly, but Xiu Fa knew that when that he was extremely terrifying.

The Dao Emperor smiled, took a sip from his cup, and said, "Let him play around for now."

Xiu Fa was unhappy, but he did not say anything. He nodded slightly and took one last look at the Qingxuan Sword before stepping backward to meditate in peace.

Meanwhile, Ye Guan faced the Dark Monk with the Qingxuan Sword in hand. The terrifying aura of the Invincible Sword Intent emanated from him, shattering the spacetime around him—it was a truly fearsome sight.

The Dark Monk stood with his hands clasped together, radiating a dark and evil Buddhist light. Seven other monks were standing behind him, and they were all exuding the same powerful and ominous aura.

The Dark Monk glared at Ye Guan with a sinister expression. "Ye Guan! I'll fight you one-on-one if you don't use that divine sword. Otherwise, you won't stand a chance if we gang up on you!"

Ye Guan thought for a moment and replied, "Are you sure?"

The Dark Monk clasped his hands together. "Of course."

Ye Guan nodded and said, "Alright, then. I'll fight you one-on-one."

With that, he put the Qingxuan Sword away.

The Dark Monk sneered and turned to the monks. "All of you, step back."

The monks withdrew ten thousand meters away, clearing the battlefield for the two of them. However, they made sure to surround the battlefield with their aura; clearly, they were worried that Ye Guan might escape.

Once the monks had retreated, the Dark Monk turned his gaze back to Ye Guan, and his expression grew increasingly cold. The reason he didn't want others to intervene was, of course, due to his own selfish desires.

After experiencing the power of the divine sword in Ye Guan's hand, he developed a strong desire to possess it. The Dark Monk couldn't allow anyone else to interfere.

Moreover, it was an embarrassment to gang up on Ye Guan.

However, the Dark Monk wasn't confident that he could beat Ye Guan, and it was all because Ye Guan's sword was just too powerful.

Fortunately, Ye Guan was willing to fight without using it.

Otherwise, he would have had to act shamelessly today.

What a fool!

The Dark Monk couldn't help but mock Ye Guan in his mind. He believed that Ye Guan's willingness to fight without the divine sword was due to the so-called a swordsman's pride. In his view, pride was a foolish concept.

Ye Guan asked, "Shall we begin?"

The Dark Monk snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. "Of course."

Ye Guan opened his palm, and a sword made out of sword intent appeared in his hand. His figure trembled, and he vanished in a flash of sword light.

Schwing!

A streak of sword light tore through the battlefield. Although it was not the Qingxuan Sword, Ye Guan's sword was still extremely powerful.

The Dark Monk was somewhat surprised by the sight. He initially thought that Ye Guan's terrifying strength was solely due to the divine sword, but now, it seemed that Ye Guan had some skills, albeit not much.

The Dark Monk emptied his mind and gestured with his hand. A Buddhist seal manifested, and he thrust it forward with a roar, "Sanskrit World Resonance!"

Boom!

A dark light swept across the heavens and the earth, turning the world into a hellish landscape. At the same time, frantic roars echoed, shattering the surroundings.

Sanskrit World Resonance was the most powerful Buddhist technique of the Dark Buddha Temple. It had five special abilities—death, decay, decline, destruction and ruin—which was also known as the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.

It was capable of annihilating countless beings across the vast expanse.

The Dark Monk was going all out!

He didn't want to give Ye Guan any chance.

His many years of experience told him that one had to go all-out, even against a weak enemy. Many powerful individuals throughout history met their end upon underestimating their opponents.

The Dark Monk was not about to make a foolish mistake like that.

The Dark Monk revealed a look of disdain upon seeing Ye Guan charging at him, but his expression froze the next second—Ye Guan had pulled out the Qingxuan Sword!

The Dark Monk's expression changed drastically, but it was too late to dodge.

A ten-thousand-feet-long sword light descended!

Schwing!

It was just a brief moment, but the world was torn apart, and the dark Buddhist light shattered into pieces.

When everyone came to their senses, Ye Guan had already appeared several hundred meters behind the Dark Monk. Moments later, the world finally returned to normal.

The Dark Monk looked dazed as he muttered, "You... liar..."

"My apologies," Ye Guan said with a sincere face, "Let me apologize."

The Dark Monk spat out a mouthful of blood. The next instant, his fleshly body and soul disintegrated into dust. He was dead! Honestly, he could have lasted a bit longer, but he was so infuriated by Ye Guan's words that he died early.

"YOU!" A monk from afar stepped forward and scolded, "You shameless swordsman! You said you wouldn't use the divine sword, but you used it! You... shameless!"

Ye Guan frowned. "I've already apologized. What else do you want?"

The monk retorted angrily, "What use is an apology? He's dead! Dead!"

"Shall I burn some joss paper for him then?" asked Ye Guan.

Everyone was utterly speechless.

"Shameless swordsman, you shameless!" the monk roared, transforming into a ray of Buddhist light that flew toward Ye Guan.

Ye Guan swung his sword, and the world became illusory.

The faces of the seven monks changed drastically, and they all retreated, but it was too late. The sword had severed a combined total of five hundred thousand years from their lifespan.

The seven monks were filled with horror and dared not approach him again.

"Shameless?" Ye Guan stared at them and sneered, "That old codger's cultivation base is several realms higher than mine, and he wanted to fight me one-on-one.

"Is that what you call having shame? All of you tried to gang up on me earlier on as well, and you think you aren't shameless?"

The monk's face darkened. "Ye Guan, you're definitely going to die today! Everyone, let's attack him together!"

Just as the monks were about to make their move, a roar echoed from the distant sky. "Who dares to touch someone from my Great Zhou?!"

Boom!

A spacetime rift manifested, and four figures emerged from it—the Emperor of the Great Zhou, Dao Jun, Ci Tian, and Prime Minister Yuan.

Ye Guan was surprised to see them. "Senior Dao Jun?"

Dao Jun smiled. "You're in trouble. How could we not come to your aid?"

Ci Tian put his hands together and smiled. "Young Master Ye, you have cultivated the Diamond Body, so you're part of the Burning Heaven Temple. We naturally cannot stand by while you are in trouble."

Dao Jun shook his head. "Ci Tian, I think you're cultivating your skin rather than Buddhism. You're getting more and more thick-skinned."

Prime Minister Yuan chimed in, "He's not thick-skinned; he's shameless."

Ci Tian was speechless.

Ye Guan smiled as he looked at the people before him, and his heart became filled with warmth at the sight of them. He hadn't expected the four of them to come here. It was clearly not a coincidence. Evidently, the Great Zhou had been watching over him all this while.

In the tavern, the Dao Emperor glanced at the Emperor of the Great Zhou and the others before asking, "Great Zhou?"

He hadn't done much research before coming to deal with Ye Guan because, to him, an investigation didn't matter, as the outcome would be the same either way.

Tianwu Xin quickly explained, "They're a Tier Four civilization. Their founding ancestor was quite powerful, but the Great Zhou has declined and is far weaker than it once was. They're helping Ye Guan because the current heir seems to be involved with Ye Guan."

The Dao Emperor smiled and sipped on his wine without responding.

"Our people have arrived as well," Tianwu Xin remarked.

As soon as her words fell, the southern sky churned, and powerful auras manifested; they all belonged to Path Creation Realm cultivators!

Wuma Luo stood at the helm of them, and he stepped forward upon seeing the experts of the Great Zhou. He thought it was an opportunity for the Wuma Clan to make their move, so he decisively led his group forward.

Wuma Luo and the other cultivators from his clan positioned themselves next to the monks, making their intentions clear to everyone.

The faces of the Great Zhou Emperor and the others darkened, and they were confused at the same time.

Who are these nine Path Creation Realm cultivators and what organization do they belong to?

Ye Guan was also puzzled, but a voice suddenly echoed in his mind. "

These are the Nine Clans of Zhaowu. The Wuma Clan has already pledged allegiance to the Dao Emperor of Zhaowu. Besides the Wuma Clan, the Tianwu Clan has also stood on the Dao Emperor's side.

"The leader of the Tianwu Clan and their powerful members are hiding in the shadows. Be careful...

"

The voice belonged to Li Han.

Rumble!

Just in time, the spacetime in the northern sky surged. The next moment, a spacetime rift was torn open, and twelve powerful figures emerged, led by Tianwu Ling, the Clan Leader of the Tianwu Clan.

Twelve more Path Creation Realm cultivators!

Upon seeing Wuma Luo and his clan's show of allegiance, Tianwu Ling was unwilling to be outdone. He knew that declaring loyalty early would win them favor with the Dao Emperor and secure greater profits in the future.

Dao Jun and the others were shocked by the appearance of the Tianwu Clan's experts.

Where did these twelve additional Path Creation Realm experts come from? And why are their auras so overwhelmingly powerful, far beyond ordinary Path Creation Realm cultivators?

They were utterly stunned. Path Creation Realm cultivators were rarely seen, but more than ten of them had gathered here. Moreover, they all harbored killing intent against Ye Guan.

Li Han's voice echoed in Ye Guan's mind again. "

The Tianwu Clan, led by their Clan Leader Tianwu Ling, is exceptionally strong. Be careful.

"

The Tianwu Clan—one of the nine clans of Zhaowu!

Ye Guan was surprised, as he didn't think that some of the Nine Clans of Zhaowu would pledge allegiance to the Dao Emperor. He wondered if the Shui Clan was among them.

He owed them a favor, so he was reluctant to become their enemy.

The spectators hurriedly fled upon seeing so many Path Creation Realm experts. They fled from the Ascension World, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

They had already realized that this was not going to just be any ordinary battle—it was going to be a world-shaking battle. Although staying to watch the spectacle was tempting, they didn't want to risk being collateral damage.

Dying that way was just sad.

Soon, eighty-five percent of the experts throughout the Ascension World had fled to make way for the upcoming fight. The remaining experts were either confident in their strength or simply too intrigued to leave.

Jimo Lan was hiding in the shadows, and her gaze was on Tianwu Ling and the others. She suddenly realized that she had severely underestimated Dao Emperor Zhaowu.

Should I side with Ye Guan?

Jimo Lan looked at Ye Guan, remaining silent. She knew that stepping out now to support him would be a true act of assistance in his time of need.

However, she hesitated, as this did not only affect the Jimo Clan but herself as well. If she were to make the wrong gamble, she'd pay for it with her life. In the end, Jimo Lan decided to keep on observing from the sidelines.

"

Puhahaha!

" A melodious peal of laughter reverberated, and the spacetime behind Ye Guan trembled. Moments later, a young man dressed in black emerged from the spacetime rift with eight Path Creation Realm cultivators behind him.

The black-robed young man was none other than Li Han!

Upon seeing Li Han, Jimo Lan's brows furrowed deeply. After a while, she shook her head and remarked, "What a reckless fool!"

Li Han approached Ye Guan and said, "Brother Ye, I hope you don't mind that I brought only a few people with me!"

Li Han had just declared his allegiance!

Ye Guan smiled. "How could I mind?"

Li Han walked up to Ye Guan and glanced at a certain tavern down below. "The Dao Emperor is in a tavern on Dao Street, along with some top-tier Path Creation Realm experts.

"They haven't shown up yet, so I don't know their numbers and exact strength. All I know is that they are extremely powerful."

Ye Guan asked, "Then why did you choose to stand on my side?"

Li Han replied seriously, "We are sworn brothers in both life and death. You said it yourself—surely you haven't forgotten that?"

Ye Guan burst out into laughter.

"Dao Emperor, he's the Ninth Hall Master of the Evil Dao Alliance and the heir of the Li Clan, Li Han..." Tianwu Xin muttered with a grave face. "I didn't expect him and the Li Clan to take Ye Guan's side."

"It's not just him." The Dao Emperor chuckled, "The Eighth Hall Master of the Evil Dao Alliance has also taken Ye Guan's side."

With that, the Dao Emperor took a sip of his wine and smiled. "Interesting. This is getting more and more interesting."