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"That's only natural." The "Minister of the Left" hurriedly put away the key fragment, and a hint of a smile flashed across his face. "When I get back, I'll give the key fragment to his Excellency. Sky Sovereign Taibai, please stay on the alert for anything regarding the fragment. If you discover anything, please contact us at once."

The stars flashed, and a deep blue comet cut through the sky.

However, even as he flew away, the "Minister of the Left" stayed focused on Taibai Jinxing and the others down below. As soon as she was sure they weren't looking, he chose a random place out of eyeshot and stopped.

Earlier, he looked just like a human, but he suddenly sprouted horns, and his skin grew swarthier. His whole demeanor changed to one of wanton arrogance.

Demon.

The man Taibai Jinxing mistook for the Minister of the Left was in fact a demon!

However, his surroundings didn't contain even the slightest amount of miasma.If you judged him purely based on his aura, he really seemed no different from a human.

"Gu Li's quite good at research. To think he'd invent something like this! I really fooled that stupid old man!" The demon cocked his head aside, then stopped in mid-air. He touched his fingers to his eyes and removed something like a pair of contact lenses.

A wicked grin flashed across his face, and the space around his fingers distorted. The "contact lenses" shattered into powder, then blew away in the wind.

"This method of hiding one's presence is exquisite indeed. I'm afraid that geezer is a half-step ruler, but not even he could identify my aura. Unfortunately, the disguise doesn't last for all that long. Still, this is the right direction for our research. So long as we proceed ahead and work hard, we'll be able to invade the God Race's inner sanctum without so much as a whisper."

"He wanted me to exterminate the demon race for the glory of mankind? Feh!" The demon spat, then snapped his fingers. A gate appeared in the heavens, waves of miasma rolling off its surface.

"Time to go home." The demon stretched then stepped inside. Once he'd passed all the way through, the gate disappeared without a trace.

Meanwhile, back outside Raging Flame City, Taibai Jinxing maintained his farewell bow in the direction the "Minister of the Left" had gone in.

After a while, the stalwart man beside him cocked his head. "Your Excellency, I felt like there was something a little off about the Minister of the Left." Although the stalwart man's brain wasn't good for much, his instincts were far sharper than average.

When the Minister of the Left received the key fragment, the stalwart man noticed the minister's eyes light up with a brief flash of excitement and disdain.

More importantly, how did the minister find them in the first place?

The Minister of the Left was the commander-in-chief of the Milky Way, but they weren't the Emperor Star's Auxilliary Stores, much less his Fated Stars. The only possibility was that the minister had been observing them in secret.

As for why he'd do such a thing, barring something unexpected, it was because of the fragment of the key to the Divine Mausoleum.

Taibai Jinxing nodded slightly, then pulled out a fragment.

It was none other than the fragment of the key to the Divine Mausoleum.

When he saw it, the stalwart man arched his brows despite himself. "You gave him a fake?"

Taibai Jinxing nodded. "It was just too strange. Just now, just after we retrieved the fragment from Ye Zichen, he said that Gu Li had located the Divine Mausoleum. But so what? This is just one of the fragments, yet he said they needed it to test the mausoleum's veracity? That just can't be right."

The stalwart man nodded despite himself.

To tell the truth, even now, Taibai Jinxing believed Gu Li was the Emperor Star, but the Minister of the Left's behavior seemed awfully strange.

He couldn't give him the fragment yet. He had to go back and thoroughly investigate the minister's true identity first.

If Gu Li really was the Emperor Star, he could give him the fragment then. It wouldn't be too late. If his overcautiousness delayed Gu Li's development, well, he was willing to live with the consequences.

Part of why he'd made this choic was what Ye Zichen had said earlier. It really had shaken him somewhat.

Ye Zichen's expression didn't seem like he was lying, especially when he accused Ye Zichen of trying to trick him…

That wasn't the anger of having your lies seen through, but rather, true indignation.

Also, Ye Zichen had asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Taibai Jinxing felt it was worthy of further investigation.

….

After seeing Taibai Jinxing and his companions off, Zuo Mo reappeared in the reception room.

Ye Zichen remained seating and puffing at a cigarette. There were cigarette butts scattered around him, and the entire room reeked of nicotine.

"You're here." He put out his cigarette and, with a surge of divine power, cleansed the surrounding air of smoke. "Have they left?"

Zuo Mo nodded slightly. "Who were those people?"

Ye Zichen's eyes flashed with disdain. Just thinking about it gave him the urge to smoke, but now that Zuo Mo was here, he decided he needed to get a handle on himself. He snorted, "Just a couple of madmen."

He didn't want to talk about it, but his mood was still incomparably somber.

Gu Li still hadn't learned. Now he was after the former God Emperor's inheritance? And he'd sought out Taibai Jinxing? But not even Taibai Jinxing could see through his demonic nature?

Ye Zichen didn't want to consider the implications of such a cloaking device, but…

Also, how did Gu Li learn of Taibai Jinxing's key fragment? And how did he find him, much less contact him?

Surely Taibai Jinxing himself wasn't the problem?

His fingers drummed on the table, but at that moment, a divine sense transmission entered directly into his sea of consciousness. He immediately rose to his feet. "I'm going to the River Styx."

Once Ye Zichen arrived, he saw Su Yiyun waiting outside the river to greet him.

"You called me over. Is it because the Xuan-Yuan Sword is ready for me?"

"That's right." Su Yiyun nodded slightly, and Ye Zichen's eyes lit up.

The Xuan-Yuan Sword had been the top divine artifact since the ancient era. Even Emperor Taiyi's Eastern Emperor Clock wasn't its equal. When a divine artifact on that level was fully unsealed, just what heights could it reach?

Perhaps after obtaining it, even rulers would be nothing before him?

Of course, Ye Zichen was letting his imagination get away from him.

Rulers already stood at the peak of the universe. If a single Xuan-Yuan Sword was enough to overcome them, who would waste their time raising their cultivation? They'd just go straight for the sword and be done with it.

However, even if the sword alone wasn't enough to cut down rulers, with it by his side, Ye Zichen's comprehensive strength would increase several times over.

"Don't just stand there! Come on, let's go down."

"Of course we can go, but you'd best mentally prepare yourself first." Su Yiyun patted Ye Zichen on the shoulder. "Emperor Xue Yang has already arrived."

When he heard that, Ye Zichen froze. Thanks to Emperor Hades' interference, things were a little tense between him and Xue Yang.

"If he's there, he's there. I'm just here to pick up the Xuan-Yuan Sword. Besides, I have no plans to become his son-in-law, and even if I did, as my father-in-law, would he really hurt me?"

"If you say so. Let's head on down, then."