"W-Wait!" Someone there stopped Yuan from leaving with Yan Hara.
Yuan turned around to see a middle-aged man that he did not recognize, and he asked, "What is it?"
"Did anything unusual happen in the Demon Sealing Pagoda while you were inside?" The middle-aged man asked.
"Unusual?" Yuan raised his eyebrows. "How unusual? That was my first time entering the Demon Sealing Pagoda, so I can't tell you if anything is out of the ordinary even if it happened."
"If you don't mind, can you give us a brief explanation on your experience inside the pagoda?" The middle-aged man continued to ask.
"Can I ask why you want to know?"
The middle-aged man then said, "Because the Divine Paragon showed up when you entered the Demon Sealing Pagoda! That has never happened before!"
"What? The Divine Paragon showed up?" Yuan was shocked to hear this.
He should be the Divine Paragon, so how did someone who is supposed to be dead and reincarnated show up?
"W-Well… Not the real Divine Paragon, but an illusion of him… He showed up after you entered the pagoda, even releasing this unfathomable demon sealing aura. However, he disappeared after a few minutes, and only a handful of people were able to witness it."
"I see… So that's what happened. Unfortunately, I didn't see the Divine Paragon inside, but I did hear his voice. This is what happened inside—"
Yuan proceeded to give a brief recollection of his experience within the pagoda to the people there.
After hearing Yuan's story, the people there no longer questioned him, as they did not find anything unusual with his experience inside the Demon Sealing Pagoda.
"Can I go now?" Yuan asked.
"Y-Yes. Sorry for bothering you, little founder." The middle-aged man bowed to him in a respectful manner.
Although slowly, the people within the Demon Sealing Clan's Grand Library were beginning to treat Yuan differently.
Perhaps it was due to his uncanny resemblance to the Divine Paragon, or maybe they were just convinced by his overwhelming talents, these people were beginning to see Yuan as a potential leader of the Demon Sealing Clan in the future.
Sometime later, Yuan followed Yan Hara to her personal living quarters. All official lecturers are granted residency within the Grand Library.
"Are you okay? You seem off." Yan Hara asked him once they sat down.
Yuan showed a bittersweet smile before speaking, "I experienced my first death today. Even though it wasn't real, it felt real, and the fact that I had been killed by a demon is also real. I… I have overestimated myself today and put my companions' lives at risk."
"Fortunately, the demon wasn't real. If we had been facing a real demon outside the pagoda, I would've not only gotten myself killed but my companions as well, and the thought of this really bothers me…"
"Brother Yuan…" Xiao Hua, who was still sticking to his body like a slug, mumbled in a low voice.
Clearly, she was also affected by Yuan's death. Not only did she fail to protect him, but he also died right before her eyes.
"Xiao Hua promised to protect Brother Yuan, but…" She sighed with teary eyes.
This is the first time that Yuan has seen Xiao Hua cry with such emotions, and it made his heart sting.
"If we're all going to blame ourselves, then I blame myself for not being able to protect you, Young Master." Feng Yuxiang sighed as well.
Seeing their depressed state and sensing the gloomy atmosphere, Yan Hara spoke out loud, "There's no need to blame yourself— all of you. You were up against a Demon Emperor, after all. Let me tell you something. Ever since the disappearance of the Divine Paragon and the decline of the Demon Sealing Clan, nobody has been able to pass the fourth floor of the Demon Sealing Pagoda, and only a handful of demon sealers were able to pass the third floor."
Yuan looked at her and asked, "You said that it was 'sort of' a Demon Emperor before."
"Ah, that's because the gray-skin demon isn't truly a Demon Emperor, but it's so much more powerful than a Demon General that we cannot call it a mere Demon General. However, a real Demon Emperor is even more fearsome than the demon on the fourth floor."
"It's something like a Cultivator who is half a step away from entering the next realm. It's at a level that far surpasses anything at the same rank, yet it's not truly at the next rank." Yan Hara explained.
"I see… That makes a lot of sense. But for it to be that powerful when it's not even a true Demon Emperor… It makes me wonder about the real strength of a true Demon Emperor." Yuan sighed.
"Trust me, you don't want to find out." Yan Hara smiled.
Sometime later, Yan Hara focused her gaze on Xiao Hua and Feng Yuxiang, "By the way… Can you explain who they are… and why the little one is emitting the aura of an Exile?"
Yuan's body shook when he heard Yan Hara's words. It was also at this moment that he recalled Senior Bai's words— that those from the upper heavens would recognize Xiao Hua to be an exile and that Exiles are hunted in the upper heavens.
"W-Wait! I can explain! Xiao Hua isn't a bad exile!" Yuan immediately became defensive.
Yan Hara smiled when she saw this, and she said, "Calm down. Although I am not someone who favors exiles, I am also not someone who would hunt them on sight. Honestly, I couldn't care less."
"W-While that may be true, what about all those people at the Demon Sealing Pagoda? If you can tell that she's an exile, they should also know!" Yuan said.
"Trust me, if they noticed, you wouldn't have been able to leave in one piece. Her exile aura is really weak right now for some reason, and I didn't notice it until we sat down," she explained.
Yuan finally calmed down a little after hearing such words.
'Thankfully, Senior Yan isn't an unreasonable person…' He sighed inwardly.
