Some of the purple blood splattered on Ye Zichen’s face.
Although Gu Li was the one the cyan light hurt, Ye Zichen’s face overflowed with shock.
Just now, he’d been no more than half a meter from Gu Li, and with his spiritual sea sealed, he was just an ordinary person, albeit with a stronger physical body. In this state, he’d have a hard time standing up to any cultivator, even just the most ordinary of spiritual body cultivators.
If Gu Li wanted to kill him, he couldn’t escape.
But what shocked Ye Zichen wasn’t that he’d escaped from the brink of death. Rather, he was shocked by the light that had burst Gu Li’s arm.
It was only half a meter from him!
Although he was bȧrėly stronger than an ordinary mortal right now, none of the light had touched him, not even the slightest shockwave. The power dispersed, leaving him unharmed.
When you attacked, increasing your attack’s range along with its power was easy, but reducing its range and compressing it required incredible control.
If the expert’s aim had been off even by a little bit, both Ye Zichen and Gu Li would have died beneath that cyan light.
Gu Li, now missing his right arm, fell to one knee, his pupils furiously constricting. He wanted to throw caution to the wind and kill Ye Zichen, but just now, he’d really felt death fast approaching.
The Right Special Emissary was still bitterly pleading for mercy on his behalf. The voice overhead merely called out a single command: “Scram!”
Both Special Emissaries reacted as if they’d received a divine pardon. They grabbed Gu Li and high-tailed it out of there.
“Holy Lord, we have to leave right now!”
“Are you going against my orders? I want you to kill him!” Gu Li, eyes bloodshot, pointed at Ye Zichen and shouted in fury. “I want you to kill him!”
“Haven’t you misunderstood something?” Suddenly, the taciturn, silent Left Specially Emissary shot Gu Li an aloof look. “We’ve always sworn allegiance to the Demon Emperor. He sent us to ensure your safety. On the condition that it doesn’t endanger you, we might deign to follow your orders, but if we have to choose between your commands and your safety, your safety comes first!”
“You….”
“Please, don’t make this difficult for us. Follow us and leave this place! If you stubbornly insist on staying behind, we’ll have to resort to force, then confess our misdeeds to the Demon Emperor upon our return,” said the Left Special Emissary coldly.
In the face of the Left Special Emissary’s insistence, Gu Li had no choice but to swallow his fury.
The Right Special Emissary chimed in as well. “This is in your best interests. Come with us!”
In the face of their repeated attempts to persuade him, Gu Li didn’t directly agree, but he didn’t refuse, either. They took his silence as agreement anyway, then carried him off with one final glance at the sky.
“Retreat!” The Left Special Emissary called out to all the demons, then led every last one of them away from Jadewave City. Gu Li’s terrifying, poisonous gaze didn’t leave Ye Zichen until they vanished from view.
Just now, he’d felt utterly helpless.
The Great Sage was on par with the two special emissaries, but they’d joined forces with so many rules to target his weak points.
Fortunately, someone had shown up right in the nick of time!
Ye Zichen nodded and smiled. Although they’d been in danger right now, other than temporarily having his sea of conscious and divine power sealed, Ye Zichen had emerged unscathed.
He was more concerned about the voice in the sky.
Who exactly was he? Was he really the king of the Northern Kingdom?
Ye Zichen took a deep breath, then bowed towards the sky and said, “Senior, are you the king of the north? I thank you for saving my life. Might you show yourself before me so I can thank you properly?”
“Nevermind those trivial niceties. All you have to remember is this: you owe me a favor,” said the voice from above.
“That’s only natural.” Ye Zichen nodded.
“I understand, senior,” said Ye Zichen. “I’m afraid I still don’t know who you are, but I can sense that you are not the king of the north. Might you tell me your name or title? That will make it easier to repay your kindness in the future.”
“When I need you to repay me, I will naturally seek you out,” said the voice. Then, it disappeared.
The voice emanating from overhead was gone. It seemed whoever it belonged to, they were signaling that it was time for them to leave. The sky rippled, then the mysterious expert vanished without a trace.
Ye Zichen cupped his fist and bowed toward the sky until the ripples completely disappeared. Only then did he look up.
“That was a true expert,” said the Great Sage solemnly.
“Yes, but who was he? Why did he save me without so much as telling me his name or title? Why didn’t he show himself?” asked Ye Zichen.
“Who cares who he is? In any event, he had good intentions.” The Great Sage laughed.
“That’s true enough.’ Ye Zichen laughed. “That senior said we should never return to the Northern Kingdom, so we won’t. Let’s get Fairy Zi Xia and her family settled on the Northern Divine Mountain, then let that be the end of it.”
As soon as the words left his lips, the air started to distort. Before long, the smiling Hermit Emperor stepped through the skies, stroking his beard.
“Senior Hermit Emperor.” Ye Zichen smiled at him apologetically. “I’m not deliberately messing with you, I swear. Moments ago, I really was in grave peril, but….”
“An expert already helped you, right?” the Hermit Empire laughed knowingly.
“You…”
“Did they show you their face?” asked the Hermit Emperor.
“No, they didn’t.” Ye Zichen shook his head. “Do you know who it was?”
“What did he say to you?”
Ye Zichen recounted everything the mysterious voice had said without a second thought. The Hermit Emperor stroked his beard as he listened thoughtfully. From time to time, he nodded.
“He doesn’t want to be stained with too much karma. If that’s how he feels, why did he get involved in this at all? He intervened, yet still tried to separate himself from it. How idealistic.” The Hermit Emperor chortled disdainfully.
Based on his words, it was obvious he knew who’d saved Ye Zichen.
“He doesn’t want you to know, so I won’t provoke him by telling you. Didn’t he say it himself? When he wants you to return his favor, he’ll come looking for you. Just wait. When the time comes, you’ll know.”
The Hermit Emperor laughed. Then, his phone buzzed in his brėȧst pocket. The familiar sound of a cell phone notification made Ye Zichen and the Great Sage arch their eyebrows.
The Hermit Emperor laughed heartily. “They must have been worried about you.”
The Hermit Emperor took out his phone and glanced at the message on screen. Instantly, his expression turned unsightly.
“Hermit Emperor, what….”
“Hurry back to the Northern Divine Mountain with me!”
