Chapter 991: I Don't Want to Die

Upon hearing Ye Guan's words, Bu Xuan slowly loosened his right hand, and the terrifying pressure that had filled the world dissipated like a receding tide.

The starry skies returned to normal.

Ye Guan glanced at himself and smiled bitterly.

One punch had reduced him to his soul form—how terrifying!

It seemed that he had still grossly underestimated the Chief Enforcement Officers of the Tianxing Civilization!

From a distance, Bu Xuan gave Ye Guan a once-over and said, "Stop smiling bitterly. The fact that you survived one of my punches is already impressive."

Ye Guan's smile became even more bitter.

Bu Xuan laughed and said, "How long have you been cultivating? I've been cultivating for at least a billion years and have fought against countless top-tier elites from many universes. Whether it's cultivation level or combat experience, you're no match for me right now."

Ye Guan suddenly asked, "Senior, when the incumbent Chief Enforcement Officer participated in the trials, did you go easy on her or not?"

Bu Xuan's smile faded and was replaced by a rare seriousness. "No."

He did not hold back?!

Ye Guan's eyelid twitched in stupefaction.

"You two can't be compared," Bu Xuan said, "She was much stronger than you are. Actually, you’re the weakest individual to have ever attempted these trials."

Ye Guan was dumbfounded.

Bu Xuan said, "Heal up before anything else."

Ye Guan nodded and sat down to reconstruct his fleshly body.

Without Little Pagoda's help, it took him several hours to reconstruct his fleshly body. Looking at his newly formed fleshly body, he shook his head with a wry smile.

The destruction of his fleshly body meant a massive decrease in strength. He'd have to cultivate his fleshly body from scratch again!

Ye Guan felt extremely frustrated.

Just then, Bu Xuan said, "If you want me to go easy on you, then you must bribe me."

Bribe?

Ye Guan almost thought he had misheard.

Bu Xuan pouted. "What's up with that face? Don’t I need to make a living too?"

Ye Guan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Senior, wouldn’t that look bad?"

Bu Xuan replied, "I don’t care."

Ye Guan was speechless.

This guy wanted a bribe!

Without Little Pagoda, what could Ye Guan offer as a bribe?

Candied hawthorns?

With that thought in mind, Ye Guan decided to give it a try. "Senior, my hometown has something magical. Take a look."

Ye Guan opened his palm, and a skewer of candied hawthorn floated toward Bu Xuan.

Little Pagoda wasn’t with him, but he still had a storage ring, which contained various items he had brought from the Milky Way.

Bu Xuan looked curiously at the candied hawthorns. "What is this?"

Ye Guan earnestly replied, "It’s called Dao Hawthorn Fruits."

Bu Xuan said, "Explain."

Ye Guan's expression was solemn as he said, "It comes from a Bodhi Tree in the Milky Way. It blooms once every three hundred million years, bears fruit after another three hundred million years, and then it takes another three hundred million years for those fruits to ripen.

"A Bodhi Tree bears only one skewer of fruit in its lifetime. Consuming it... is immensely nourishing."

Bu Xuan glanced at Ye Guan and carefully peeled off the wrapper.

He was about to take a bite when Ye Guan said, "It’s best eaten by licking."

Licking?

Without much thought, Bu Xuan extended his tongue and licked the candied hawthorn gently. It tasted sour and sweet—pretty good—but it didn’t contain any spiritual energy.

Bu Xuan looked at Ye Guan suspiciously. "Immensely nourishing?"

Ye Guan nodded. "It takes three hundred years after consuming it for the true benefits to be absorbed."

Bu Xuan bit into it and chewed it up before swallowing it. Then, he cast an indifferent gaze at Ye Guan, saying, "I almost fell for that."

Ye Guan was speechless

Bu Xuan asked, "Do you have anything else?"

Ye Guan thought for a moment, then said, "Yes."

He started a fire and began roasting a lamb.

Ye Guan knew that the Tianxing Civilization had no creatures like lambs.

Sure enough, when Bu Xuan saw Ye Guan pull out a lamb, his eyes revealed a strong sense of curiosity. "What kind of demon is that?"

Ye Guan replied, "A Dao Lamb!"

The poor lamb had no idea what to say.

Bu Xuan examined the lamb and asked, "It’s from the Milky Way, too?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Yes, this lamb feeds on dragons and phoenixes in the Milky Way. It is the ancestor of all demons and possesses..."

Bu Xuan interrupted, "It has no demonic energy."

Ye Guan laughed awkwardly. "It’s delicious, though. You’ll see."

Bu Xuan nodded. "Alright."

Soon, Ye Guan roasted the lamb to perfection. He sprinkled some seasoning on it, and an irresistible aroma filled the air.

Bu Xuan stared at the lamb, and his eyes were filled with intense interest.

Ye Guan tore off a leg and handed it to Bu Xuan, who accepted it without any hesitation and ate it immediately.

After a while, Bu Xuan looked at Ye Guan and smiled. "It’s pretty tasty!"

Ye Guan smiled.

It wasn’t that the lamb was extraordinarily delicious; it was just that beings like Bu Xuan had long surpassed the need for food or sleep. In other words, it had to have been a while since Bu Xuan had anything tasty to eat, so the lamb tasted even tastier for him.

In simple terms, it was all about novelty.

Bu Xuan suddenly asked, "Got any wine?"

Ye Guan snapped out of his thoughts and smiled. "Yes!"

He took out a bottle of wine and handed it to Bu Xuan.

Bu Xuan opened the bottle and took a whiff of it. "It’s got a fragrant aroma?"

Ye Guan smiled. "I brought this from the Milky Way. It’s very famous there, but I heard that the buyers of this wine don’t actually drink it."

"Why not?" Bu Xuan was curious.

Ye Guan explained, "People mostly buy it as a gift."

Bu Xuan took a sip and immediately frowned.

Ye Guan asked, "What’s wrong?"

"The wine isn’t pure—it’s not for me." Bu Xuan shook his head. Then, he set the wine aside.

Ye Guan was dumbfounded.

Bu Xuan was clearly satisfied with the lamb. In no time, he had finished it clean.

Ye Guan was a bit surprised by Bu Xuan's catons. He hadn’t expected the higher-ups of the Tianxing Civilization to be so approachable. It seemed that only the lower-ranking officials were the arrogant and condescending ones.

Bu Xuan clapped his hands and said, "We can start the trial now."

Ye Guan smiled. "So does this mean my bribe was successful?"

Bu Xuan laughed heartily. "It was."

Standing up, Bu Xuan glanced around and said, "Do you know where we are?"

Ye Guan shook his head.

Bu Xuan looked at him. "This is the Fu Wu Domain."

Ye Guan looked at Bu Xuan, waiting for more.

Bu Xuan gazed around, a complicated expression in his eyes. "This was where Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu once trained. She's the reason why Chief Enforcement Officers are supreme and untouchable existences."

Ye Guan asked, "Is she still alive?"

Bu Xuan nodded. "Yes, she is."

"Is she here?" Ye Guan asked, looking around.

Bu Xuan nodded once again. "Yes."

Ye Guan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Am I going to fight her?"

Bu Xuan chuckled. "She'd kill you—well, not quite. You’re not one of the Tianxing Civilization’s fruits, so maybe she won't kill you."

Ye Guan was puzzled.

Bu Xuan explained softly, "This involves a secret of our Tianxing Civilization. It happened a long, long time ago."

"Can you share it with me?"

Bu Xuan looked at Ye Guan and smiled. "Why not? Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu once betrayed our Tianxing Civilization!"

Ye Guan’s interest was piqued. "She betrayed the Tianxing Civilization?"

Bu Xuan nodded. "Yes, and it's all because she fell in love with an outsider. At the time, our civilization absolutely abhorred the idea of that."

Ye Guan fell silent. He was aware of what Bu Xuan was talking about.

"Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu was planning to elope with the man, but they were discovered by the Tianxing Ruler at the time. I don’t know the exact details, as I wasn’t born yet, but I do know that a fierce battle ensued. She, along with four enforcers, fought the Tianxing Ruler, who was accompanied by two High Gods and four Crimson Gods. In that battle, two enforcers died, three Crimson Gods perished, and both High Gods were killed..." Bu Xuan's eyes flickered with complex emotions as he added, "That battle severely weakened our Tianxing Civilization."

Ye Guan asked, "What about the Tianxing Ruler and Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu?"

Bu Xuan replied, "Fu Wu was sealed here, and the Tianxing Ruler was gravely injured, dying less than a hundred years later."

Ye Guan was stunned. "The Tianxing Ruler died?"

Bu Xuan nodded. "Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu was incredibly powerful. That battle was extremely intense, and we lost nearly half of our top elites..."

"Even after all these years, our Tianxing Civilization has yet to fully recover," Bu Xuan said, sighing.

Ye Guan hesitated before asking, "If Fu Wu was that strong, why did you guys not compromise? Why push her to the corner?"

Bu Xuan shrugged helplessly. "I'm confused about that."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Bu Xuan went on, "Is mingling with a foreign civilization really that bad? I don’t think so. For example, you—I think you’re quite impressive. Really, you’re talented!"

Ye Guan immediately became wary.

This guy was acting a bit off!

Bu Xuan suddenly asked, "Do you know why I’m telling you all this?"

"I don’t know, and I don’t want to know." Ye Guan shook his head.

"It's all because the reigning Tianxing Ruler is trapped in the Wujian Universe," Bu Xuan said, staring seriously at Ye Guan. "The seal left by the previous Tianxing Ruler has not been reinforced, so..."

Ye Guan asked cautiously, "She’s about to break free?"

Bu Xuan nodded. "Yes, are you nervous?"

Ye Guan hurriedly replied, "What do you mean by that? Brother Bu, be clear—what does this have to do with me?"

Bu Xuan could not care less about the change in address. He stared at Ye Guan and solemnly said, "I, along with Sui Sui, have two tasks here. The first is to evaluate and cultivate outstanding fruits. The second is to guard the seal..."

Ye Guan immediately said, "You know my strength. Do you really think I can suppress Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu?"

Bu Xuan laughed. "What are you thinking? Why would I send you to suppress Chief Enforcement Officer Fu Wu?"

Ye Guan was confused. "Then what?"

Bu Xuan replied seriously, "I want you to go talk to her. Convince her not to cause trouble."

"Why don’t you go talk to her yourself?"

"Because I don't want to die..."

Ye Guan was confused.