The young woman’s smile was playful, and her fingers waggled about as she waved her hand.
The entire world seemed to freeze around them. Ye Zichen stared, wide-eyed, at the young woman, his lips quivering and his eyes filling with joy. He thought he’d lost her, and now that she was here again, his eyes brimmed over with hot tears.
“Ke….”
“Big Brother Zichen, I really missed you!” Before Ye Zichen could even speak or process what was happening, yet another figure flung himself into Ye Zichen’s arms.
When he looked down, he saw that it was Zhuge Kongming. And that wasn’t all; Little White and Yin Shang, the Minister of the Left he hadn’t seen in ages.
They were all here to represent their respective factions in battle. They’d discovered Ye Zichen because there was quite a commotion around him; it would have been harder not to discover him.
The yao race’s foxes and dragons had rushed over, and even the demons’ Holy Maiden was here.
It was fair to say that Ye Zichen was now the focus of every single participant’s attention. In just a few short minutes, everyone present had emblazoned his image into their hearts.
“Xia…” Ye Zichen wanted to say something, but Zhuge Kongming wept in his arms like a child.
“I thought I’d never see you again, Big Brother Zichen, I’m just so moved….” He wept, his eyes and nose overflowing…..
“Hey! These are new clothes. If you want to cry, can you do it off to the side?” Ye Zichen tried to push Zhuge Kongming away, but the boy stuck to him like a magnet. No matter how hard Ye Zichen pushed, it was no use.
“Alright, alright, if you really want to cry, I’ll hug you in a moment. But for now, can you please make way?”
“No!” The onlookers burst into laughter, and the girl standing behind Ye Zichen covered her mouth and laughed too.
When Ye Zichen heard her laugh, he laughed too.
He laughed without reservations, straight from the heart.
Nothing else mattered. It didn’t matter what happened back then, or whether she’d lived or died. Right now, she was standing with him, alive and intact. What was the point in asking questions/
It was her, that cute young woman who’d always called him “Big Brother Zichen.”
She didn’t know why, but when Liu Qing saw Zhuge Kongming and Little White, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
All these people, gathered together, felt incredibly harmonious.
Under their influence, Liu Qing’s icy smile faded, and she laughed with them. However, when she caught Ye Zichen’s gaze, she instinctively looked to the girl closest to him, and the other women surrounding him. Who knew what their relationship was….?
“Lecher.” Liu Qing snorted coldly and looked away. What are His Majesty and Xuan Ji thinking? Why do they want me to get together with this kind of person? Doesn’t he have enough “red strings of fate” already?
Finally, Zhuge Kongming left Ye Zichen’s embrace.
However, he and the other phoenixes, as well as Little White and the other Howling Celestial Dogs sat down around him. Yin Shang’s team, too. Soon, Ye Zichen was surrounded.
The Divine Martial Academy had deliberately left a bunch of seats here, but suddenly, they weren’t quite enough.
The staff placed a few more chairs around, allowing everyone to sit down, but it was a tight squeeze.
As for why the staff would do that….
The dragons, foxes, and phoenix were all top clans of the yao-realm. As for the Holy Maiden, that was even more obvious: there were countless demons, but only nine Holy Maidens. Yin Shang represented the entire Northwest Divine Mountain, while Liu Qing represented the Four Directions Palace.
What kind of people were these?
How could ordinary staff members like them offend them?
Although it had to be said that the one they were most afraid of was Ye Zichen. It seemed that all these incredible people had gathered there because of him.
Just what was so special about this unknown youth? Why was he acquainted with the top younger generation experts of all three realms?
The staff were shocked, but so were the rest of the participants. They were now completely focused on what was happening around Ye Zichen, and paid no more attention to the last of the teams entering the arena.
Xue Mo and the others felt the same way.
“Who exactly are you? Xue Mo looked at the crowd building around them, considering these people’s origins. She couldn’t help but sigh.
Ye Zichen was their axis, the one they’d gathered around. He’d connected factions of all three realms!
These were no ordinary factions either. Pick any one at random, and they were enough to make the entire Upper Three Realms tremble.
Throughout all this, Jiang Wei of the Navigators had once opened his eyes a crack, but he wasn’t as shocked as the others. However, the hint of a smile on his lips grew stronger.
They were here to participate in a Battle of Geniuses, but now it seemed that Ye Zichen had started a friendly get-together.
Not all of these people were directly acquainted with each other, but they all had a few mutual acquaintances at the very least. When they started chatting, the atmosphere was so smooth and naturally that they couldn’t help but smile. Furthermore, they could see Ye Zichen’s excitement.
Of those who’d gathered around Ye Zichen, Yin Shang was the most worked up.
As the Emperor Star’s Auxiliary Star, he’d witnessed the Emperor Star’s death with his own two eyes. After returning to the god race, he’d reminded himself repeatedly that the Emperor Star couldn’t possibly die so easily. He’d gone to great lengths to establish a faction to support his master.
He’d been waiting for his king’s return.
And now, fortunately, he’d waited long enough.
He wanted to throw himself at Ye Zichen just like Zhuge Kongming, but he restrained his excitement. He warned himself that although he was the Emperor Star’s auxiliary star, he was also the leader of his team.
Even though he was inwardly excited, he had to maintain his dignified demeanor.
And he did, until….
“Yin Shang, you’ve worked hard.” It was just one short, simple sentence, but it was enough to make Yin Shang, a famed genius, tear up.
No one else knew how worried he’d been, nor had he ever told anyone.
But Ye Zichen’s simple greeting touched the softest, most vulnerable parts of his heart. Yin Shang’s eyes reddened, but he could do nothing but hide his tears and shake his head silently.
When Little White saw this, he smiled. Others might not understand, but Little White had been in close contact with Yin Shang this whole time. He knew how much Yin Shang had sacrificed for Ye Zichen’s return.
The students accompanying Yin Shang’s eyes widened in shock. They knew their senior, Yin Shang, too well. Ordinarily, he was domineering and strict.
Yet now, a simple greeting seemed to have made him…
Burst into tears.
Also, the people gathered here were a mix of humans, yao, and even demons, but they were all peacefully coexisting. The relations between the three realms were extremely tense of late, so how was this possible? Why weren’t there any conflicts?
All of this was far too shocking, but for fear of Yin Shang’s strictness, they could do nothing but silently evaluate…
The mysterious Ye Zichen.
