“The heavenly yao clan, the nine-tailed foxes?” When Ye Zichen heard that, he practically seized up. If he went there, didn’t that mean he’d run into……
Su Yan!
Su Yiyun obviously knew what he was thinking and nodded. “That’s right, it’s the clan where my little sister is living, but don’t get so excited about seeing her that you forget your mission. I’m afraid that Master wants you to descend to the Lower Three Realms right away. The Xuan-Yuan Sword’s sword spirit has already awoken, and all three Upper Three Realms have sent people to claim it.”
Su Yiyun smiled as he spoke; he knew of Ye Zichen’s relationship with Su Yan.
Ye Zichen, however, couldn’t bring himself to smile.
Forget himself in his excitement?
It was unclear whether Su Yan would even be willing to see him or not.
Back then, he hurt her deeply.
“What kind of person do you think I am? I’ve always known to prioritize the big picture. Anyway, since we’re rather pressed for time, I won’t delay any longer.I’ll head straight there. Right, are you going to come with me?”
“I won’t,” said Su Yiyun gravely. “With Master in seclusion, the River Styx needs me to oversee things. I’ll just wait here for your good news.
“Alright.” Ye Zichen’s divine power flowed through his hand and into the pale blue command medallion. As soon as his divine power entered it, it fired a beam of pale light, and a blue door appeared within the palace.
Ye Zichen stepped inside, stood in the doorway, and cupped his fist in farewell. “Let’s say goodbye for now, then.”
“Until next time.” As Su Yiyun chuckled, Ye Zichen disappeared into the doorway.
The instant silence returned to the great hall, Su Yiyun’s smile disappeared. He immediately clenched the other two command medallions and said somberly, “Master, I’m afraid that while you’re in seclusion, it’s not just the yao who are going to get antsy. Even the old monsters of the River Styx are stirring.”
Meanwhile, in the lands of the Nine-tailed Fox Clan…
The nine-tailed foxes were a peak-level clan back in the primordial era, and they’d once fought alongside the Emperor Star and the other starbearers to repel the demon’s invasion. However, in the process, they suffered such heavy losses that even now, hundreds of thousands of years later, they’d only recovered around half of their former prosperity.
The current nine-tailed fox clan still had a transparent status, but they’d never recovered the glory they’d had in the primordial era.
The nine-tailed foxes lived on a mountain in the heart of fox territory. Only young foxes and those with the purest bloodlines could live there. This was the safest place in all of the fox clan’s lands, and it was almost impossible for outsiders to enter.
Yet today…..
They captured an uninvited guest.
A man was bound to a towering, ancient tree. This was none other than Ye Zichen, who’d just used Emperor Hades’ command medallion to open a gateway here.
His appearance startled a group of playing fox children. Without so much as letting him explain, the little foxes tied him up.
They were still little; none of them were even immortal kings yet. Given his status as a supreme, It would have been extremely simple for Ye Zichen to defeat them, but he was here on a mission; there was no need to fight with a bunch of kids.
“Hey, this is a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!” said Ye Zichen helplessly. “I’m here to see your clan head; I bear you absolutely no ill will.” There were currently at least thirty half-grown foxes in front of him.
They’d already taken on human form, but they only looked around seven or eight years old.
“If you want to meet our clan head, why didn’t you come through the gates? Why’d you sneak onto our sacred mountain?”
“This is all a misunderstanding.” Ye Zichen didn’t quite know how to explain himself. His eyes circled back and forth. “Hey, I um…. I know Su Liu’er. She should be here, right? Can you bring her to me? She can vouch for my innocence.”
A girl who looked like a porcelain doll pouted her lips, batted her eyes, and exclaimed, “You know Big Sister Liu’er?”
However, the little boy beside her immediately pulled her back and snorted, “Don’t listen to him. Big Sister Liu’er has a pure nine-tailed fox bloodline. What yao hasn’t heard of her? Besides, she’s not currently within our territory. He says he knows her, but can he prove it? We’d best alert the guards and lock him up for now.”
“Don’t do that!” said Ye Zichen. “I’m not a bad guy. Why do you want to lock me up?”
He glared at the boy, then said, “if Su Liu’er isn’t here, what about Su Yan? I know her too….”
“Big Sister Su Yan? Why should we trust you?”
“She should be around, right? Just bring her; then you’ll know if I’m telling the truth or not. If it turns out I’m lying to you, go ahead and lock me up. In any event, you have me tied up, so I can’t run away.”
“Then…. wait here.”
A woman as refined and elegant as a fairy sat within a quiet, secluded residence’s stone table quietly working on her embroidery.
At that moment, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps outside her door. She set her embroidery on the table, and before long, she saw a red-faced seven or eight-year-old girl. The girl immediately jumped into her arms.
“What is it, Qiao’er?” The woman tousled the girl’s hair.
The girl batted her eyes and said,” Big Sister Su Yan, a man suddenly appeared on our mountain. We captured him, but he says he knows you. Little Gang told me to bring you over to see him.”
“He knows me?” The beautiful woman chuckled and said, “Alright then, I’ll go take a look.”
Ye Zichen, meanwhile, was still tied to a tree. His heart thudded violently in his chest. Before long, he might see Su Yan. How many years had it been? He had no idea if she was even alright or not.
As his heart trembled, the boy, who seemed like the leader of the children, crossed his arms and snorted,”Let me tell you, if Big SIster Su Yan doesn’t actually know you, you’re in for it! You trespassed on our nine-tailed fox clan’s holy mountain. You won’t get away with this, not even if the Yao Emperor himself tries to protect you.”
“Oh? Not even the Yao Emperor can help me? Is your clan that impressive?”
“What do you think?” The boy arrogantly scrunched up his nose. Before Ye Zichen could retort, two figures came into view.
“Big Sister Su Yan is here!” He didn’t know which of the fox kids it was, but one of them cried out. The little boy immediately turned and rushed away to greet her. Ye Zichen immediately lowered his head. His hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly.
“Big Sister Su Yan, that guy says he knows you.” The boy pointed at Ye Zichen. The woman nodded, then approached the tree.
When she was about thirty feet away, she stopped, and called out gently, “Excuse me, but who…..?”
Ye Zichen trembled at the sound of that familiar voice.
When she saw this, the woman frowned instinctively, until she saw him lift his head and say…..
“You…. How’ve you been?”
