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When killing a man, go for his heart! This was a psychological attack!

For the sake of his personal greed, the God Emperor had seized the Five Elements Great Emperor's imperial celestial fate. Only then did he become master of the god race.

Since Ye ZIchen had inherited the Five Elements Great Emperor's will, if his revenge consisted of merely slaughtering the God Emperor and taking back the stolen celestial fate, wouldn't that be a bit lacking?

He'd prefer to let Zhou Wu see hope, yet forever fail to take that final step. He'd prefer to see Zhou Wu trapped forever on the verge of achieving his goals.

Then, in the end, he'd despair!

The greater the hope, the greater the let down. This would be a far more satisfying form of revenge.

Xuan Ji stared at Ye Zichen, stunned. This sort of psychological torture was a bit much! She didn't know why, but suddenly, she felt like looking after kids was awfully exciting. But after her excitement faded, her expression shifted, and she stormed right up to Ye Zichen and flicked him on the head.

Ye Zichen, who'd been immersed in thoughts of his masterstroke, was stunned and confused. He rubbed his head and looked at Xuan Ji in a daze.

She'd hit him quite hard; he felt a lump rising where she'd hit him.

"What was that for?"

"Was messing with my emotions fun for you?" Xuan Ji frowned at him. "If you knew that all along, why didn't you let me know? You put me in a bad mood for nothing! You saw that I'd been tricked, so why didn't you say something? I bet you were enjoying yourself, huh?"

He'd best not respond.

It was true; earlier, when Ye Zichen took in her expression, he'd secretly been enjoying himself.

Just who was Xuan Ji?

She was the Lady Providence, someone famed for her ability to perceive heavenly mysteries.

There was little in the Upper Three Realms that she couldn't divine. No matter what happened, she always seemed to have predicted it. Yet just now, she'd been completely on edge. Ye Zichen was naturally quite pleased with himself!

But now, after taking her punch, his pleasure faded, leaving nothing but paid behind.

He rubbed his head fearfully, but didn't dare argue with her.

He had Pu Jingwan with him, but Pu Jingwan's relationship with Xuan Ji was decent. If Xuan Ji decided to beat up her nephew, given Pu Jingwan's personality, she'd just stand aside and watch the show.

Ye Zichen didn't want to take a beating for nothing.

Xuan Ji glared at him. "I'm confiscating that battle armor Zhou Wu gave you. Consider it punishment for having tricked me."

"Hey, no, don't…." Ye Zichen was somewhat fl.u.s.tered.

Zhou Wu was the God Emperor! Given his position, any gifts he handed out were at least divine artifacts. Although Ye Zichen had divine battle armor already, who would complain about having a few extra divine artifacts?

Even if he didn't wear it himself, he could give it to his friends to help ensure their safety.

Or, alternatively, he could sell it. It would absolutely fetch a high price.

Why should he give it to Xuan Ji for nothing?

"Do you want a beating?" Xuan Ji raised her fists. Ye Zichen immediately scratched his head, then backed down.

Isn't it just a set of divine battle armor? The Outsiders are sending me eight hundred sets.

Seeing that Ye Zichen didn't dare resist, Xuan Ji smiled in satisfaction.

This armor was made of quite good materials. If she sold it, she'd earn quite a bit. Or she could just hold onto it. Either would be a good choice.

She'd just obtained both the battle armor and the pill bottles Zhou Wu had reimbursed her with. When the Outsiders arrived with the promised resources, Ye Zichen would pay her a hefty sum, and he'd give her another two bottles of Pills of Fortune, too.

She'd earned quite a bit on this expedition!

Thinking about it put Xuan Ji in better spirits. She swayed her arms, then narrowed her eyes and looked at Ye Zichen. "That's right. Do you remember what I said earlier?"

"What specifically?" said Ye Zichen, still with a hint of bitterness in his tone.

"What I said to the Divine Arbiter," said Xuan Ji.

"About her juniors? So you really did say all that for my sake."

Ye Zichen had thought there was no need to go into all that detail, so he figured she was saying it for his benefit. Now it seemed that really was the case.

"I didn't say it for you. Do you think I'm that bored? It would be fair to describe my relationship with her as 'an abyss of suffering.' Complimenting her descendents? Ha ha…." Xuan Ji's shoulders shook as she snorted. "Let me tell you something. The Divine Arbiter is absolutely loyal to Zhou Wu, and so are her clansmen."

"But you don't have to worry. Although her juniors include a whole pile of Divine Generals, you don't need to worry about them too much. The only one you need to take note of is that Jinghua guy I mentioned earlier."

That was the Divine Arbiter's nephew, the one who could apparently go toe-to-toe with Xue Yang. Ye Zichen had already made a mental note of him.

"You could consider him a monster. He's less than three hundred years old, but he's already strong enough to contend with great emperors. The rulers of the eight holy lands are not necessarily strong enough to suppress him."

"He's that much of a monster? Then you…."

Xuan Ji laughed, but the wanton pride in her eyes said it all.

"You need to pay attention to that monster. Furthermore, her clan has quite a few old monsters, too. Their cultivations are all comparable with hers. Their ranks include at least a hundred Divine Generals, and all of them are absolutely, unquestionably loyal to the God Emperor. There are no less than five factions similar to hers out there: equally strong, equally loyal to Zhou Wu."

….

Ye Zichen fell silent. He'd been stunned into silence, his ears ringing as he heard her describe Zhou Wu's foundations.

At least five factions on the level of the Divine Arbiter's family?

Didn't that mean the equivalent of six holy lands stood behind Zhou Wu?

He'd really…

Never heard of such a thing.

"The God Emperor raised up these factions after taking the throne. As for how exactly he did it, I tried to divine his methods, but came up with nothing. I already told you everything I learned," said Xuan Ji.

"I…" Ye Zichen scratched his head. He was only just starting to understand the last words Han Nan had said to him….

Enough?

He'd always known Zhou Wu had secret factions backing him, but Ye Zichen was surprised by how deep the God Emperor's foundations ran.

And here Ye Zichen had thought his twenty rulers would be enough to do what he wanted in the God Realm.

Now it seemed they weren't even close.

Even if the Outsiders had given him ten times as many, he wouldn't dare say with confidence that they were enough.

No, this was no good!

When the Outsiders arrived with his resources, he had to discuss this with them, and ask for more elites. Otherwise, it would be difficult to take on a behemoth like the God Emperor.

Furthermore, since the Yao and Demon Emperors were on equal footing with the God Emperor, were their methods any inferior to Zhou Wu's?

There was absolutely no way!

They had absolutely trained elite forces in secret too. Basing their forces off the God Emperor's standards, Ye Zichen would need over a thousand rulers under his command if he wanted to seize the advantage.

"Auntie, do you know the surnames of the clans the God Emperor has cultivated in secret? It would help me keep an eye out for them," said Ye Zichen.

"I don't know." Xuan Ji shook her head. "But I do know that the Divine Arbiter's surname is 'Shen.'" I don't know anything about the others."

Their surname was "Shen," written with the character for "god!"

What an arrogant-sounding surname.

It was troublesome that Xuan Ji didn't know the hidden families' surnames, but it was good that he'd learned of the Divine Arbiter's family clan.

In the future, if he ran into someone surnamed "Shen," he'd have to be extra careful of them.

Especially that monster Jinghua.

"Ah, so it's not 'Jing Hua' but…. Shen Jinghua? I'll remember that name."