The image shattered.
As Ye Zichen pulled his consciousness from the landscape painting, he gulped madly and sat on his bed gasping for breath.
His entire body was drenched in sweat. Even his bed was soaked.
What astonished him was that, this time, he still remembered everything clearly even after leaving the painting. It seemed he’d earned the Five Elements Great Emperor’s approval, which is why he was allowed to keep his memories of the painting.
The Five Elements Great Emperor’s last words to him, “Avenge me” echoed through his consciousness non-stop. His heart thudded violently in his chest. At the same time, Ye Zichen subconsciously opened his mouth to say, “Zhou…..”
But as soon as he’d spoken the first character, Ye Zichen hurriedly covered his mouth and swallowed his words. For cultivators as strong as the men in the painting, just saying their name shook the Will of the Heavens. Given that Ye Zichen was now stained with the Five Elements Great Emperor’s karma, he had to be extremely careful.
Furthermore, the Five Elements Great Emperor wanted him to get revenge. If that golden-robed man knew he stood with the Five Elements Great Emperor, he might simply wave his hands and crush Ye Zichen like a bug.
Ye Zichen furrowed his brows, then pulled countless jade slips from his spatial ring.
These were all slips he’d gathered after going through the Axe Gang members’ stuff. They contained a basic overview of the God Realm, the Divine Mountains, their major factions, and important figures.
For the next six hours, Ye Zichen read the jade slips. Just as he felt his brain was on the verge of exploding with information….
“I……”
The jade slip slid through his fingers and plopped onto the bed. Ye Zichen stared directly at the wall, his gaze lifeless. “The….God…..the God Emperor?”
The “Zhou Wu” the Five Elements Great Emperor mentioned was none other than the current leader of the God Realm who dwelled upon the central Divine Mountain.
The God Emperor!
“You’re not messing with me, are you?” Ye Zichen felt as if he’d gone mad. The “golden-robed thief” in the painting was actually the God Emperor?
Was this a joke?
Ye Zichen was nothing but a mere immortal king. He hadn’t even fully converted his energy into divine power or become a supreme. The leader of the gods, the God Emperor, was definitely a ruler-level expert. He was supposed to get revenge against someone like that?
Had he lost his wits?
Nevermind “getting revenge,” Ye Zichen was worried that, before he even caught a glimpse of Zhou Wu, the God Emperor would wave his hands and kill him a hundred times over.
Revenge?
There was no chance of that!
But if the Five Elements Great Emperor was strong enough to contend with the God Emperor, he had to be an expert at the same level. The riches he’d left behind were likely more than enough to buy the entire seventy-two districts.
Also, at his level, the “good fortune” he’d left behind wouldn’t be just wealth and treasure. It would also include his legacy.
If he obtained the Five Elements Great Emperor’s legacy, wouldn’t he stand at the very top of this world’s food chain? At the time, even the God Emperor wouldn’t be enough to frighten him.
Ye Zichen laughed foolishly, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure whether he was laughing or crying.
He wouldn’t lie and say the prospect of inheriting the Five Elements Great Emperor’s legacy didn’t tempt him, but if he really went for it, he’d become enemies with the current ruler of the God Realm, the God Emperor.
No matter how he looked at it, this was an extremely risky trade-off!
“Mister Elements, although this humble one saw the story in the painting and sympathizes with your plight, I am just too weak. My hope of avenging you is fleeting and miniscule. How about this? Please allow me time to think it over. Also, I only have this one painting, so I can’t obtain your legacy yet anyway. Right now, my heart is in turmoil. Please grant me a little time.”
It didn’t matter whether the Five Elements Great Emperor could hear his murmuring. Ye Zichen had to say it anyway.
With that, he placed the landscape painting back into a spatial ring. Out of sight, out of mind. Just looking at the painting filled him with anxiety. For now, it was better to just not think about it.
Ye Zichen focused on calming himself down, then stood and went downstairs….
“Sir, you’ve left seclusion.” The clerk, who’d been busy with work, hurriedly dashed up to Ye Zichen. “I’ve kept your private dining room open for you. Want your usual?”
When the clerk saw Ye Zichen, he had an unreadable expression.
Suddenly, Ye Zichen realized something. He furrowed his brows and asked, “How long was I in my room?”
“Three days,” replied the clerk.
When Ye Zicheen heard that, he was stunned. He wouldn’t have guessed it would take so long just to look at a painting. And here he’d thought it had just been a couple of hours. Three whole days!
He nodded and followed the clerk to his private dining room. It was then that he noticed the clerk was dressed differently than before.
“This is….”
“Hee, our boss promoted me to manager. This is all thanks to you. If not for you, I would never have been so lucky.”
He scratched his head happily and said, “In order to thank you, this meal is on me.”
That Kong San really knew how to handle things. He knew this clerk was on good terms with Ye Zichen, so he’d had him promoted to manager. This was an attempt to get on Ye Zichen’s good side.
Although he could afford to pay for his own food, it was hard to refuse others’ hospitality. Ye Zichen didn’t refuse.
“I don’t know how my apprentice is doing either. Considering how much time has passed, I’m afraid the clan competition has already started.”
Right now, he had no business worrying about avenging the Five Elements Great Emperor or obtaining his great fortune. He needed to think about what was going on in front of him. He could let that other stuff sit for now.
Ye Zichen spread out his immortal awareness…..
In the Wu Family estates in the north of Raging Flames City.
For the Wu Family, the clan’s grand competition was a major event, especially considering that this time, it would affect the election of the next city lord. Countless family clans had hurried over to spectate. They had no choice; this contest would help decide the next city lord, so they had to be there to form ties and build connections with the family most likely to take the position.
Although the Wu Family estate wasn’t small, there were far too many spectators, so it was now extremely crowded.
The competition was held in the family’s martial arts arena, which occupied a vast area encircled by shaded pavilions.
The northern and southern pavilions were already brimming with spectators. Raging Flame City’s three top-level clans sat directly in the east, alongside the city’s two major factions: the Skyspan Tower and Ye Zichen’s new gang, Upheaval.
In truth, the Wu Family didn’t want to invite Upheaval at first, but when they considered that Upheaval had ousted the Axe Gang, they weren’t quite sure of their true strength. In the end, they invited Upheaval to watch too.
The true leaders of these five factions stood at the very forefront. They could see everything going on atop the stage.
“Family head Wu, with so many clansmen participating, it’ll take days before you get any results. Why did you call us out here so early? I’m afraid this is a bit of a waste of our time.”
The speaker was the current city lord, as well as the head of the Wang Family, Wang Lei. He was tall and stalwart, and seemed like an upright and big-hearted fellow. However, his term of one hundred years was just about up. In the past, the top-level clans’ peak experts would compete to determine the next city lord, but this time, the other two clans decided to base the election off a competition between their younger generation instead.
This thoroughly displeased him, so he was in no mood to watch the competition and intentionally went looking for trouble. “How about we leave for now, then, once you’re just about ready, we can come back and watch the end?”
