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His awareness dimmed.

All Ye Zichen knew was that he'd entered a new space. When his awareness cleared up, he looked around and saw a majestic palace.

In its center were sixteen dragon pillars, each with lifelike eyes.

They were all different: vicious, peaceful, disdainful…..

Each of the sixteen dragons coiling around the pillars had a completely different attitude.

There were five diagrams in the center of the main hall, each inscribed with one of the five elements. After just a single glance at them, Ye Zichen was keenly aware of just how trivial his mastery of the Five Elements was.

"Is it you?" This dignified, yet gratified murmur echoed through Ye Zichen's ears, instantly awakening him from his reverie.

When he looked up, he saw a man in purple imperial robes sitting on a draconic throne.

The Five Elements Great Emperor!

Ye Zichen gulped instinctively. Ye Zichen had seen the figures in the landscape painting clearly. He'd seen this man's robe and the imprint on his forehead before.

It was the Five Elements Great Emperor, the same man he'd seen fall for the God Emperor's scheme atop the raft in the landscape painting.

Ye Zichen dared not delay; he hurriedly bowed and said, "Junior pays his respects to the Five Elements Great Emperor."

Whoosh!

The palace walls burst into flames. The flames were deep blue. Under their light, the hall grew incomparably eerie and sinister. Ye Zichen tensed up, but he had no idea what to do. All he could do was lick his lips nervously."

The Five Elements Emperor sat on his throne and smiled coolly at Ye Zichen. "You don't share my blood and can't receive my inheritance. Why has the Yao-Sealing Pagoda fallen into your hands?"

Bloodline?

Inheritance!

Now, finally, Ye Zichen finally understood: no wonder he couldn't touch anything back in the mausoleum! It turned out that sharing blood with the Five Elements Great Emperor was one of the prerequisites to take those treasures.

Chi Mei and Wu Yi had such a thorough understanding of the mausoleum. Didn't that mean…..

They were the Five Elements Great Emperor's descendants!

No wonder Chi Mei was so awe-inspiringly intent on getting justice; it turns out she was avenging her ancestor! Jeez, she really pulled one over on me.

When he considered this, Ye Zichen wanted to gnash his teeth in fury, but that thought only lasted a second. Almost as soon as the Five Elements Great Emperor asked his question, Ye Zichen responded, "I received this pagoda through a lucky chance. At the time, I was in your armory, and I encountered an apparition who let me choose any treasure I wished. I happened to choose this one."

"He let you take it? Since you entered the armory, you must walk the path of the Five Elements," said the Five Elements Great Emperor calmly.

"That's right. This junior is untalented, but on my tenth reincarnation, I gleaned some enlightenment into the Dao of the Five Elements," replied Ye Zichen.

"You reincarnated ten times to gain enlightenment into the Five Elements? That's already no small feat; you needn't undersell yourself, especially given that gaining enlightenment into this Dao is far more difficult now than it was back then."

Atop his throne, the emperor smiled calmly, his eyes narrowing into slits.

As soon as the Five Elements Great Emperor praised him, Ye Zichen cupped his hands and asked, "Senior, there's something this junior doesn't understand."

"Speak!" The Five Elements Great Emperor waved his hands.

"In the landscape paintings, I saw the God Emperor attempt to seize the Dao of the Five Elements, then I saw you erase it. If that case, if this Great Dao is gone, why can I still glean enlightenment into it?"

This question had puzzled Ye Zichen ever since seeing the painting.

"What I shattered was its Dao Heart," laughed the Five Elements Great Emperor. "The Great Dao is formless. No matter how strong I was, I couldn't possibly completely destroy it. However, behind every Dao is an existence known as a Dao Heart, which you can only obtain after reaching the limits of a given Dao. The God Emperor wanted to seize my Dao Heart and break through the shackles blocking him from the heart of all other Daos. However, I shattered his ambitions by destroying my Dao Heart before he could take it."

"Since the Dao still exists, couldn't the God Emperor still just rebuild it?"

"Of course!" The Five Elements Great Emperor didn't deny it. "Zhou Wu can, of course, glean enlightenment and rebuild the Dao Heart on his own. However, that's not as easy as you seem to think it is."

"Daos, in truth, don't exist. They are the rules our ancestors discovered and, through their own enlightenment, condensed into Daos. When enlightenment into a Dao reaches its peak, it forms a Dao Heart. Once a Dao Heart appears, a Dao has reached perfection, and cultivating it becomes much easier. Since ancient times, only I have formed the Dao Heart of the Five Elements. When I destroyed it, I destroyed the Great Dao of the Five Elements

"If you want to obtain the Dao Heart anew, the only way is to rebuild it, to carve out the path of the Five Elements once more. Even if Zhou Wu has gleaned enlightenment into countless Daos and obtained theri Dao Hearts, if he wants to complete the Dao of the Five Elements, his only choice is to figure out for himself. The amount of effort and energy this would take is beyond your imagination."

"Your current understanding of the Dao of the Five Elements is still shallow, so you haven't encountered too many shackles in cultivation. However, when you attempt to reach major success in the future, you'll understand just how difficult your path is."

A Dao Heart.

To Ye Zichen, this was a completely new concept. He'd never heard that, when you reached the peak of a Dao, you could condense its heart.

Just as Ye Zichen was pondering this, the Five Elements Great Emperor continued, "There are countless treasures in my armory. You indeed are connected to me by fate. However, for the Yao-Sealing tower to appear in your hands means that my bloodline will struggle to return to its former peak."

The Five Elements Great Emperor suddenly sounded dejected. To Ye Zichen, he seemed like a fallen hero.

It was easy to imagine that, back at the Five Elements Great Emperor's peak, his family was a peak-level clan.

However, after he fell, the God Emperor undoubtedly suppressed his descendants. They'd likely been driven to the brink of extinction.

However, what Ye Zichen couldn't understand was, why the Five Elements Great Emperor thought that losing this one treasure would prevent his descendants from recovering their lost glory.

Was there really something special about the Yao-Sealing Pagoda?

"But that's fine as well. I can see that you illuminated the Emperor Star too, and are one of heaven's chosen emperors. You even cultivate the Dao of the Five Elements. Furthermore, there were countless treasures in the armory, yet you chose the Yao-Sealing Tower. Junior, you and I are truly connected by fate."

"I had planned to leave this great fortune for my descendants, but now….. Giving it to you is good too."

With that, the emperor waved his hand, and a jade pendant the size of a quarter landed in Ye Zichen's hand.

"This pendant is a key to the North Pole Emperor's legacy. There are four in total; I only have one. As for whether you can find your way inside, well, that depends on your fortune."

"This palace contains five diagrams that I made when I attained enlightenment and formed the Dao Heart of the Five Elements. Although the Dao Heart has been destroyed, with these as a reference, your way forward should be a bit smoother. To use them, all you need to do is focus on them and meditate."

"This Yao-Sealing Pagoda was once my favorite toy. It has four layers in total…. Inside are some of the pets I captured back then. If you're strong enough to open the pagoda, it might help you in the future."

"Remember! You must avenge me!"