‘You are our commander on this expedition. It’s up to you to make arrangements.” The demon who’d spoken up no longer tried to persuade his leader. He simply shrugged and passed all the responsibility to the wantonly arrogant demon supreme.
“Quinn, I hate that dull attitude of yours more than anything.” The demons’ commander frowned, but at that moment, someone shouted at them from up ahead.
“Who are you? It’s forbidden to fly above Maple City.” The speaker was a sky immortal expert, and from his uniform, it was clear that he was a subordinate of the Leisure House. He frowned as he approached, but just as he was about to berate them…
“D-Demons!” The sky immortal had lived through the great war against the demons, and had an extremely deep impression of demons. A single glance was enough to determine this group’s status as demons. He turned to report, only for the demon supreme to point a single finger at him.
A bloody hole appeared in the man’s back. He fell from the sky and fell to the ground below with a thud.
At the same time, the demons’ commander broke the statue looking over Maple City into pieces.
“Your Excellency, the divine artifact is stirring. Let’s hurry over to prevent the gods and yao from seizing the initiative.”
Just as the commander was enjoying himself, yet another demon spoke up. The commander frowned. He was just getting ready to have some fun. Why’d the artifact stir now? He felt a wave of disappointment was over him.
However, they couldn’t let anything go wrong with the divine artifact. Otherwise, he’d inevitably be in for it when he got back.
“Jackdaw, we’d best hurry over. If we delay important affairs, the Demon Emperor won’t let us off easy.” Quinn frowned at their commander.
The commander shrugged dejectedly. “I know, but I’m really quite interested in the local leyline. This is just a lower plane, yet their cultivation rate is comparable to our higher realm. How about this? You….”
Jackdaw pointed at the immortal-king-level youth, who hurried forth despite his unease. When he got there, he heard Jackdaw say, “I’m interested in your leyline. If you can help me seize it, I’ll grant you great fortune. Of course, I’ll also provide you some assistance. In a moment, I’ll send three thousand demon-king-level warriors for you to use as needed. All I want is the leyline. As for everything else….. Do with it as you please.”
“Demon kings? What level is a demon king…?”
“They’re just like your immortal kings.” The immortal-king-level youth trembled from head to toe. He’d have three thousand immortal kings at his disposal? Nevermind seizing the leyline; that was enough to take over the whole territory.
Although he wasn’t overly pleased to ally himself with demons, history was written by the victors….
Who cared if they were demons or not?
“This humble one shall carry out your commands!” With practically no hesitation at all, the youth knelt before Jackdaw.
“Hmhm. Don’t disappoint me.” Jackdaw nodded coolly, then addressed his companions. “Leave him with three thousand demon kinds. Everyone else, follow me to the divine artifact. We absolutely cannot let the humans and yao seize the initiative.”
The demons coveted the leyline. That, combined with the youth’s ambition, plunged the Immortal Region into peril. However, back in the Time Corridor, Ye Zichen was in absolute terror as well.
At this moment, Ye Zichen was staring directly at the man facing the campfire.
He wore golden imperial robes, and as he walked, the air around him seemed to submit. Even the blazing flames lowered their heads as if bowing to him.
The God Emperor.
The current ruler of the nine Divine Mountains, the God Emperor of the Central Divine Mountain.
After taking on the Five Elements Great Emperor’s last wish, Ye Zichen had imagined his first meeting with the God Emperor countless times. He never would have guessed that it’d come so quickly, or that it’d be so sudden….
More importantly, there was almost no distance between them. They were separated by nothing but a campfire. If Ye Zichen stretched out his hand, he could even touch the emperor’s lapels.
His heart thudded in his chest, so fast that he could barely breathe. His nerves were totally on edge; he dared not look the God Emperor in the eye. Instead, he lowered his head and cautiously averted his gaze.
“If you’ve entered the Time Corridor, you must be quite lucky,” said the hooded figure by the fire. “I can grant you a single wish, but you ought to know that this is no charity house. You’ll have to pay a price for whatever you receive.”
The God Emperor faintly knit his brows and said, “I want all of the Five Elements Great Emperor’s celestial fate.”
“I can do that, but you must pay the corresponding price!”“I can give you my heart,” said the God Emperor. Then, with practically no hesitation at all, he stabbed his right hand into his chest and plucked out his own heart. When he ripped it from his chest, blood spattered everywhere, but when the droplets landed on Ye Zichen, they disappeared.
Ye Zichen examined his unstained clothes, then subconsciously stretched out his hand.
It passed right through.
“This is an illusion!”
Just like that, the God Emperor had already presented the hooded magician with his heart. It still beat furiously. The hooded mage glanced at it indifferently, then tossed it into the flames.
The flames blazed even higher than before.
“A fair trade. I’m pleased. Leave the Time Corridor now, and you’ll appear at a time when the Emperor Star had yet to illuminate. As for how best to usurp the Five Elements Great Emperor’s destiny, well, I trust that I don’t need to go into it.”
And indeed, the God Emperor left without saying a single word. The sight truly took Ye Zichen’s breath away.
What he’d seen in the landscape painting, and the words the Five Elements Great Emperor had left for him, all of it was true. The God Emperor really had usurped his destiny, and in such a manner! He’d traded his very heart for it!
Didn’t that mean that the current God Emperor had no heart?
However, before he had time to digest all this information, yet another man appeared before the fire. When he saw who this new arrival was, Ye Zichen’s expression turned strange.
This was none other than the Five Elements Great Emperor.
“Welcome to the Time Corridor,” said the hooded figure, using the exact same greeting as before.
The great emperor evaluated the figure, then asked, “I want to know if Zhou Wu was here just now or not, and if he was, if he asked for anything!”
The sight of this left Ye Zichen dumbfounded. So the Five Elements Great Emperor knew that Zhou Wu had come here!
Right now, everything depended on the mage’s response…..
“What will trade in exchange?”
Spurt!
The Five Elements Great Emperor wasted no time with unnecessary words. He simply tore his right hand right off and tossed it into the fire.
“Is that enough!?”
“A fair exchange. Just now, Zhou Wu was here, and he asked how best to usurp your celestial destiny.”
He told him!
The mage actually told him!
This mage had to be trying to make trouble. Given his abilities, he had to know that this was the Five Elements Great Emperor.
“As Expected.” To Ye Zichen’s surprise, the Five Elements Great Emperor didn’t seem surprised at all. On the contrary, he seemed unperturbed.
He staggered out of the Time Corridor. For some reason, Ye Zichen’s heart ached as he watched the emperor leave.
He clearly knew someone was going to usurp his destiny, yet he couldn’t stop it.
This was truly a tragedy.
Just as Ye Zichen was about to sigh over how fate played tricks on people, the mage turned towards Ye Zichen….
“Welcome to the Time Corridor.”
