The instant the pressure swept forth, Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan simultaneously took half a step forward. They blocked most of the former Demon Emperor’s aura on Ye Zichne’s behalf.
When they looked around, they saw that all the prisoners’ divine power was surging. Many of them had even fallen to all fours.
However, the yao in the green shirt was still casually enjoying his wine, as if the surging aura didn’t influence him in the slightest.
Ye Zichen’s eyes flashed. He thought to himself, He’s definitely some unparalleled expert!
Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan blocked right in time, but the wave of pressure still affected Ye Zichen for a moment.
For a second, his blood surged, and his divine power was a mess.
He took in Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan’s expressions. Despite their lofty cultivations, they seemed like they were struggling.
As for the yao in green? Although he was closest to the entrance to the third floor, and although they saw no sign of him releasing divine power to defend himself, he seemed completely unaffected.
This proved an enormous amount.
The former Demon Emperor’s rampage lasted for another hundred breaths of time.
As his violent energy dispersed, Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan stepped back. Although they said nothing, Ye Zichen could see that their faces were pallid.
“I wouldn’t have thought it looking at you, but you’ve really got quite a few experts at your side, don’cha, kid?” The yao in green nodded, then glanced appraisingly at Ye Zichen’s friends. “They’re both imperial-level experts, but they look rather unfamiliar. I expect they’re experts from the past ten thousand years or so.”
For him to say that suggested that he’d been imprisoned for ten thousand years, if not more.
Ten thousand years!
What an idea!
Ye Zichen’s existence, even if you went back to his first life as the Yellow Emperor, hadn’t lasted ten thousand years!
Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan were quietly adjusting their conditions; the pressure of the former Demon Emperor wasn’t so easy to bear. After all, he was among the oldest living members of the Third Era.
Furthermore, even before becoming the Demon Emperor, he was already a top expert of his generation.
Tens of thousands of years had passed since then, and he’d undoubtedly only gotten stronger.
Ye Zichen silently slipped his friends a pill each, then turned to the yao expert. He smiled and cupped his fist. “Senior, it seems I’ve yet to introduce myself. My name is Ye Zichen!”
“Why are you so polite all of a sudden? Heh, do you want something from me?” After living for tens of thousands of years, even naturally non-sentient yao would acquire wisdom. This green-shirted expert, meanwhile, had long since taken on human form. As such, when he saw Ye Zichen cup his fist, call him ‘Senior’, and introduce himself, he immediately realized that something was going on.
The yao expert laughed, but didn’t return the polite gesture. He just leaned against the light barrier and grinned.
Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan could sense that he was extraordinary too. They said nothing. They simply stood at Ye Zichen’s side.
“You’re wise indeed, Senior.” Ye Zichen respectfully cupped his fist once more. “Might I ask why you’ve been imprisoned for so many years? As far as I know, the Xue Family doesn’t imprison anyone for ten thousand years.”
“What do you mean, they don’t? Hasn’t the guy down there been imprisoned even longer?” The yao gestured toward the third floor. “You’re awfully clever, kid. I said your companions must have risen in the past ten thousand years, and you immediately realized how long I’ve been locked up in here.”
The yao in green stretched lazily, then lay down on his bed. “Don’t beat around the bush. I have no interest in pleasantries and other such trifles. If you want to ask me something, go ahead and ask it. I like the look of you. If I’m in the mood, I’ll happily tell you what you want to know.”
“Alright, then I’ll get straight to the point. Will we be able to go to the third layer in the near future?”
“Of course.” The yao expert nodded. “If you really want to, you can go down right now. He’s stopped throwing a fit, hasn’t he? But I’m afraid he might suddenly go off again. You struggled to resist it even with the seal between layers between you. If you go down there, I’m afraid all of you might perish.”
“Indeed, that’s exactly what worries me, and that’s why I chose to ask for your guidance,” said Ye Zichen.
“Then you’ve really overestimated me.” The youth arched his brows. “You ought to know at least a bit about the guy downstairs, yeah? You must have heard about him from the Ocean Emperor. How could I possibly control his temper? All you can do is test your luck. But I wouldn’t recommend trying it anytime soon. Over the past few days, for some reason, he’s thrown several fits.”
“Ye-zi.” Yang Jian instinctively sent Ye Zichen a transmission and looked him in the eye. They’d come here specifically to talk with the former Demon Emperor.
But now this yao expert was saying that they shouldn’t go down there anytime soon, and that even if they tried, they’d be pushing their luck.
Based on what he was saying, who could predict when the former Demon Emperor would be in a calm, receptive mood? What if he was like this every day?
Just now… blocking the former Demon Emperor’s aura for a hundred breaths of time had practically wiped him out.
Who knew how long his outburst would last next time? Yang Jian feared that if he had to endure that kind of torture day in and day out, his spiritual sea would crumble.
Ye Zichen sensed his gaze, then gestured for him to stay calm. Then, he turned back to the yao in green and said respectfully, “Then might I trouble you to contact me when the Demon Emperor is relatively calm?”
“Of course I don’t mind, but as you know, prisoners don’t have transmission slips. How am I supposed to pass on the message? You can see this seal too; my yao sense can’t get through it at all,” said the yao expert.
“That’s an easy fix,” said Ye Zichen with a chuckle. “This is the command token the Ocean Emperor gave me. It should be enough to open the seal around you. I can give you a treasure to contact me with. Then, when the time comes, you can send me a message. How about it?”
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll just run away?”
“No, I’m not.” Ye Zichen shrugged. “As you can see, my two friends are no ordinary people, and besides, this is the Xue Family. I wouldn’t call this place an ‘inescapable net’ or anything, but it’s close. Where would you even run? Besides, you don’t seem all that intent on escaping.”
“You’re quite interesting, kid.” The yao nodded. “But why should I help you for nothing? We’ve barely exchanged more than a few words with each other. I like the look of you, but that’s the only reason I even bothered talking to you.”
“What do you want? Whatever it is, I can give it to you,” said Ye Zichen forthrightly.
“Are you sure?” The yao’s eyes lit up.
“Of course. Divine pills, delicacies of the lands and seas, the finest wines and nectars. Whatever you want, I’ll be happy to offer you.” Ye Zichen laughed. He could see that this yao expert had quite an appetite for wine.
That worked out perfectly; he had a collection of fine wines from all over the world on his person. If this yao expert could help resolve his current predicament, it would be worth it even if he had to part with his entire stash.
But to his surprise…
“Heh, I don’t want all that stuff,” laughed the yao. “I want a precious treasure.”
“A precious treasure?”
Ye Zichen had considered countless possibilities, countless things this expert might want, but he hadn’t considered it might be an treasure.
He was imprisoned. Even if Ye Zichen gave him some unparalleled divine artifact, what good would it do? Could it be that this expert was soon to be released, and that the Xue Family had confiscated all his treasures before locking him up, and that he wanted Ye Zichen to arrange a new set of treasures for him?
Although Ye Zichen was quite wealthy, this yao expert didn’t seem ordinary, either.
It was highly unlikely an expert like this would take a fancy to any treasure he had just lying around.
“Are you certain?” Ye Zichen was stunned.
“Of course.” The yao licked his lips. “It seems you’ve got quite a few decent treasures on you. Give me the one I want, and I’ll help you out. How about it?”
