Concentrated, supreme-level divine power bore down on Ye Zichen so hard, he struggled to breathe. The thatched hut couldn’t bear his explosive aura, either, and collapsed with a bang.
Heaven and earth turned pitch-black and countless gusts whirled overhead. Space itself showed signs of tearing apart.
“I’ve been discovered?” In the face of this sudden development, Ye Zichen’s expression grew unsightly.
He was strong enough to sense the vast gap in their strengths. If they came to blows, he feared it wouldn’t end well for him.
He couldn’t just freak out. If he lost his cool, this was really over.
“Esteemed Emissary, what do you mean by this?” Even in the face of such concentrated pressure, Ye Zichen still knit his brows, puffed up his chest, and feigned confused, righteous indignation. At the same time, he opened his hand, revealing the fire element spatial ring.
“I came here to perform a transaction with you. This was entrusted to me by my family. Those yao are nothing but servants, so what’s this talk of ‘allying myself with yao?’ If you’re trying to test me, I don’t think there’s any need for that at all. The ring is right here. Take a look and you’ll understand.”
He flung the ring at the emissary, who, as expected, reached out and caught it. While the emissary examined its contents, Ye Zichen no longer hesitated. He seized the opportunity to reach out to the Yao-Sealing Pagoda and have it summon him inside.
Distracting the emissary was perhaps his only chance, which was why he didn’t summon the pagoda immediately.
That was because the emissary was locked onto his presence. So long as he made the slightest misstep, he feared the emissary might just kill him outright. He couldn’t risk entering the pagoda without catching him off-guard first.
However, his first attempt to hide in the pagoda failed.
“There’s something up with the Yao-Sealing Pagoda!” He tried to connect with it once more, but to his utter astonishment and dismay, his connection with it had been severed.
“You’re seeking death!”
After investigating the proffered ring’s contents, the emissary crushed it into powder. Although the ring Ye Zichen gave him was of the fire element, there weren’t any treasures inside at all!
The utterly engaged emissary swung at Ye Zichen.
This fist cut through, stirring up fierce wings. It tore the very space around him, opening several spatial rifts.
Ye Zichen stared in wide-eyed shock, then crossed his arms to protect himself.
The fist slammed into him, sending him flying out of the remnants of the thatched hut’s courtyard. He flew a full hundred meters before finally coming to a stop.
That immense power sent his blood surging, and he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. A trace of vibrant red stained the grass.
“Your Reverence.” Jiao Qi and Meng Huairong were visibly shaken. They looked up at Chi Mei pleadingly, just begging for her to grant them permission to go rescue Ye Zichen.
Chi Mei simply laughed without the slightest trace of concern in her eyes. “What are you so nervous about? Your master usually hides himself thoroughly. This is an opportunity for you to see his trump cards. Isn’t that grand?”
Ye Zichen wiped the blood from the corners of his lips, then looked at the advancing emissary and rose to his feet, his eyes bloodshot. “You want my life? Well, taking it won’t be easy! Thunder!”
The sky above instantly rumbled with thunder and bolts of lightning thick as cobras flicked their tongues through the air and charged at the emissary.
The emissary sidestepped the attack with obvious disdain. When the cobras hit the ground, they blasted deep holes into the earth.
“Wind, Rain, Lightning, Fire!”
With life and death on the line, Ye Zichen could no longer hold back. Even if news of his proficiency in the five elements spread because of this, he had to go all-out. With a shout, the other four elements appeared around him. With the addition of the thunder he’d summoned earlier, all five elements of heaven and earth were present.
“The Dao of the Five Elements!”
The emissary looked at Ye Zichen in astonishment. Ever since the Five Elements Great Emperor’s passing, practically no one of the god race had cultivated the Dao of the Five Elements. It wasn’t just hard to gain enlightenment into; even if you did, without it’s Dao Heart, it was incredibly difficult to walk this path to great heights.
And yet, the man in front of him had not only comprehended the Dao of the Five Elements; it seemed he’d already reached minor success!
“The Five Elements Eight Trigrams Formation!” As the five elements appeared around him, Ye Zichen shouted once more. Instantly, an eight trigrams diagram appeared beneath his feet. Shockingly, it contains all five elements within.
“Spread out!” With another angry roar, the formation transformed into countless specks of light and filled the skies.
The motes of light gathered, forming a veil of the Dao of the Five Elements and enveloping Ye Zichen completely within.
“Hmph,” snorted the emissary in disdain upon seeing Ye Zichen’s newly-formed elemental barrier. “Do you think that hiding in your shell means I’m helpless against you?”
In this type of situation, where there was no means of escape, all defending himself would do was slow his demise. In the end, Ye Zichen was still doomed. If he wanted to live, he’d be better off staking everything on an attack. That way, who knows? He might still have a shot at survival.
In his eyes, Ye Zichen was nothing but a piece of meat on the cleaver. He’d never make any trouble ever again.
However, beneath the veil of light, Ye Zichen grinned wickedly. The next instant, he summoned a demigod blade from a spatial ring.
He held the sword in his right hand, while his left stroked the blade.
As he looked at his right hand, his gaze became incomparably sharp. He hefted his blade into the air, then gripped the handle in both hands.
An illusory azure dragon appeared behind him. As it roared, his sword flashed with dazzling golden light.
“So it was him!” Chi Mei, who’d watched the whole thing from afar, gasped in astonishment, but her surprise quickly transformed into a radiant smile.
She wasn’t surprised even when she saw Ye Zichen use the Dao of the Five Elements. If he could open the Yao-Sealing Pagoda, that was the minimum requirement, after all. She already knew all of this, so there was nothing worth getting surprised over.
This test was in truth, intended to discern just how far Ye ZIchen had walked down the path of the five elements. She never would have guessed he’d bring her such a pleasant surprise!
“Since you’re him, there’s no need to continue this test any longer. Sweetie, I really was right to choose you!”
A delicate smile suddenly appeared on Chi Mei’s face; she was flushed bright pink. Jiao Qi and Meng Huairong, meanwhile, were visibly astonished. Despite the distance, they could sense the overwhelming destructive power contained within that strike.
Jiao Qi and Meng Huairong glanced at each other, and saw shock written in each other’s eyes. They couldn’t help but ask themselves, “Even if we returned to our true forms, we couldn’t stop that blow, could we?”
At the same time, Ye Zichen hefted his demigod artifact and roared, “The Heaven Plundering Strike, First Stance!”
