Illusory stars circulated as Ye Zichen circulated his energy.
He sat on his bed, barely-visible draconic aura encircling his body.
After cycling his energy one last time, all of the draconic energy entered his body.
He let out a breath of impure energy and opened his eyes. In his pupils, you could faintly see the shape of the North Star.
Half a month had passed.
Ye Zichen was keenly aware of how he’d changed since illuminating the Emperor Star. His connection to Heaven and Earth had grown more intimate, and when he regulated his spiritual energy, the energy that re-entered his body was exceedingly pure.
His cultivation proceeded at a tremendous pace, yet…..
The Upper Three Realms still rejected him.
He casually reached for the cell phone lying near his bed. With each passing day, the time allotted to prepare for the upcoming Struggle for the Three Realms had grown shorter and shorter; now, very little remained.
He opened the Three Realms Reputation Leaderboard….
The Buddha of the Western Buddhist Domain was still in first place, followed by Ye Zichen, Great Sacred Emperor Equaling Heavens, Fuxi, the North Pole Emperor, and other leaders of the Three Realms.
Hm?
Ye Zichen’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. Before, he hadn’t noticed this, but Great Sacred Emperor Equaling Heavens was still on the leaderboard.
Before the Jade Emperor ascended, he’d given two hundred thousand reputation to Ye Zichen. That wasn’t his entire reputation, though. With what he had left, he should still be in first place.
But now his name had completely vanished from the leaderboards. That obviously meant he’d ascended, so now his name would no longer appear on the list.
But Great Sacred Emperor Equaling Heavens’ name was still there.
That meant he’d yet to ascend.
“Isn’t his strength pretty much the same as the Jade Emperor’s?
The Leyline is back in the Immortal Region, so what’s going on with him?”
He frowned, closed the Leaderboards, then glanced at the Red Packet Server.
Lately, it had been all but deserted.
The only ones posting were heavenly soldiers and some minor immortals. All the big figures hadn’t posted anything in days.
When he considered the recent changes on the Leaderboards, he assumed that they were all busy preparing for the upcoming Struggle for the Three Realms.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
“Ye Zichen, Ye Zichen.”
From this casual way of addressing him alone, he knew….
That this was the herb king, Lil’ Lorie.
She’d woken up a few days earlier, having finally recovered from being forced back into her origin form. The first thing she did upon waking up was grumble about wanting to eat candy.
Earlier, he had asked her to stimulate the leyline, damaging her origin, and Ye Zichen still had a guilty conscience. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest as he passed her a few thousand bottles of pills, including more than a few high-grade medicines.
He leaped from the bed and opened his bedroom door.
As sunlight flooded into the room, he saw…
Lorie clutched a huge pile of medicines to her chest. Her cheeks were stuffed full of pills, but she nonetheless kept shoving more and more of them into her mouth.
“Someone’s here to see you,” she said, but her mouth was so stuffed, her words came out muddled and indistinct.
“Hm?”
“Someone’s here to see you.”
“….”
Ye Zichen cocked his head and listened a few more times, but couldn’t make out what exactly she was trying to say.
When she grew frustrated, she reached out and gestured for him to wait, then chewed furiously and swallowed all the pills in her mouth.
“I said, someone’s here to see you,” she said irritably. “What’s wrong with your ears? I said it so many times, but you didn’t understand”
She seemed so annoyed by Ye Zichen’s stupidity that she’d even forgotten to properly savor the candy’s flavor.
To tell the truth, since Ye Zichen had lit up the Emperor Star, she was the only one who still dared talk to him like this.
For the most part, the others didn’t even dare to look him in the eye, especially when he involuntarily emanated an imperial air. Then, they were especially terrified.
For instance, despite Brother Stone’s uncomplicated, open nature, he no longer dared pat Ye Zichen on the shoulder.
As for Su Liu’er….
Before, Ye Zichen had planned to stay with the Nine-tailed Fox Clan, but after just a few days, Su Liu’er had kicked him out.
She said it was because she was too lazy to look after him, that he was a bother.
But behind her back, Fatty Yin told him that his Emperor Star stifled her. How could someone as tyrannical as her endure that kind of sensation?
He’d had no choice but to return to the Immortal Region’s Maple City.
Ye Zichen had undoubtedly gained a lot when he lit up the Emperor Star, but as he saw it, he’d lost much more.
He finally understood why the emperors of ancient times were so lonely…..
But there was nothing to be done about it.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he said helplessly. “Who’s come looking for me, and where is she? I’ll go take a look.” Although his tone was resigned, he was actually in quite good spirits.
“It’s Zuo Mo from the Treasure Tower. She’s in the lobby, near the entrance.”
“Then I’ll head on over,” nodded Ye Zichen, but just as he was about to leave, he felt Lorie tug on his sleeves.
“Hm?” He looked back in confusion, and she batted her eyes at him.
“Give me some more candy first.”
Her appetite for medicine was growing at a staggering pace. Fortunately, Ye Zichen had ample resources. An ordinary person couldn’t possibly sustain such an herb king.
He gave her a few thousand more bottles, which she placed into her bag of holding, although she, of course, called it her candy pouch. Then he dashed to the front hall.
Zuo Mo sat on one of the chairs in the entrance hall. She wore robes, and her elegant long hair had been cut short, but this didn’t affect her beauty at all. Furthermore, she seemed to have become more experienced.
After inheriting the title of Clad Head, her temperament had somehow changed.
For instance…..
“Zuo Mo,” Ye Zichen greeted her with a smile. When Zuo Mo saw him, her delicate figure trembled slightly, but she nevertheless stood and bowed, lips pressed into a polite smile.
“Emperor Ye”
“What are you doing? We’ve known each other for so long, what’s all this ‘Emperor Ye’ nonsense?”
“I must follow the rules of etiquette.”
“If you keep this up, I’ll get mad,” said Ye Zichen, feigning indignation.
After a long pause, she said, “Zichen”
Judging from her expression, it was obvious that she still had feelings for him.
But she was now head of her clan, and her every word and deed represented the Treasure Tower.
She wasn’t a little girl anymore, and could no longer cast everything aside in pursuit of love.
Although she still admired him, she couldn’t behave like she did before.
Ye Zichen saw it too, but he didn’t let it show. The way he saw it, this was actually a good thing. He already had too many people by his side. If he added Zuo Mo…
Furthermore, she cared for him wholeheartedly, but he had to split his affections amongst many people.
This would be unfair to her.
It was difficult to disappoint a beautiful woman.
Things between them hadn’t been resolved, but it was better to just….
Let her affection for him gradually fade away.
He smiled and coughed lightly, then gestured for her to sit.
With a smile, he said, “You’ve been extremely busy lately, and have been earning a few hundred thousand celeste a minute. For you to come here now…. Well, there must be a reason for it.”
“Indeed.” Zuo Mo nodded, then took out a letter and placed it on the table.
“Come and take a look.”
