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The green-shirted yao’s smile instantly faded, and he looked at Ye Zichen as if he were some sort of terrifying monster. His eyes flashed and darted about, and he retreated as far back as he could.

As he retreated, he watched the pagoda in Ye Zichen’s hands out of the corners of his eyes. In the blink of an eye, his face was pallid and wan. He pressed his hands against the light barrier and, despite his best efforts, started dry-heaving.

Still holding the tower, Ye Zichen looked dazed. Based on this green-shirted yao’s expression, he naturally had a past with the Five Elements Great Emperor, and it seemed the memories of this incident were awful indeed.

But for him to retch like this…

Could it be that this yao had once been a denizen of the Yao-Sealing Pagoda?

“Senior.” Ye Zichen instinctively tried to ask about his situation, but when the yao saw him approach, he reached out as if trying to push him away.

“Don’t come near me. Don’t come near me…”

When Ye Zichen heard that, he stopped in place. The green-shirted yao gasped for breath.

Those present on the second floor only saw his pallid face and his dry retching, but they didn’t know that to him, the Yao-Sealing Pagoda was something straight out of a nightmare.

All they saw was a palm-sized treasure pagoda, but it made him think of…

“I can’t think about it!” He muttered to himself and forcefully shook his head. Quite some time passed before he managed to calm himself. He let out a deep breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His hand slipped into his chest pocket. He took out a gourd of wine, threw back his head, and drained it.

It was hard liquor, and it burned through him like fire as it went down.

The intense stimulation helped him overcome the urge to hurl, and his pallid face regained some of its usual color.

“You….” The yao expert was sitting on the ground, leaning against his bed. He pointed, and Ye Zichen approached, still holding the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. The yao’s pupils then constricted, and he cried out, “Hurry up and put it away!”

“Oh oh oh!” Ye Zichen didn’t mean to, but at times like this, he let his dense, awkward side show. This yao expert had such an intense reaction to the Yao-Sealing Pagoda; he naturally had some trauma associated with it. Yet Ye Zichen had been totally oblivious; he just went on holding it up there right for the yao to see.

Once he put the pagoda away, the yao let out a sigh of relief, then shook his head. “You little…. You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Senior, please understand, I’m not doing this on purpose.” Ye Zichen smiled bitterly. “Of all the treasures on me, I can only think of a few that might be worthy of your notice. You showed no interest in the armors and such I showed you earlier, so the only thing I could think of was the Yao-Sealing Pagoda….”

“Don’t say it’s name in front of me!” the yao cried out.

“Oh.” Ye Zichen obediently shut up.

The atmosphere in the dungeon was suddenly rather awkward, but at that moment, the former Demon Emperor on the third layer had another outburst. Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan hurried to Ye Zichen’s side to resist it for him. The yao within the light barrier frowned, and his fingers drew something in the air in front of him.

This time, the former Demon Emperor’s outburst was rather brief; it lasted only a few dozen breaths of time, then died down.

This interlude mellowed the tense atmosphere a little. The yao then turned to Ye Zichen and narrowed his eyes. “You still haven’t told me what your relationship is with Five Elements. What, are you his descendant?”

“Senior, the Five Elements Great Emperor and I have no blood relationship,” said Ye Zichen. He cupped his fist respectfully.

“That doesn’t matter. I was just curious,” muttered the yao. “Everyone knows Emperor Hades and the Five Elements Great Emperor were close. When Five Elements fell, everyone thought that Emperor Hades did nothing, but although they didn’t know it, he actually attempted to assassinate Zhou Wu and get revenge several times. That’s why they detest each other so much, and that’s why Emperor Hades was relegated to the Lower Lands of the God Realm and tasked with defending its borders.”

He spoke as if none of this really mattered, but every word stirred up enormous waves in Ye Zichen’s heart.

Emperor Hades had tried and failed to assassinate Zhou Wu.

Zhou Wu was no benevolent ruler, but no one could disregard his cultivation. He really did have the strength to occupy the God Emperor’s throne. Although Emperor Hades’ cultivation was lofty and profound too, it wasn’t impossible that he’d fail in his attempts to kill ZHou Wu.

What surprised Ye Zichen wasn’t his failure, but that he’d made the attempt…

The Fox Empress Su Qingyan and the Fox Clan Head Su Wan had once been the Five Elements Great Emperor’s wives. When the Five Elements Great Emperor fell, Su Qingyan had once traveled to the River Styx to beg Emperor Hades to fish his soul out of the River of Time.

Emperor Hades slammed the door right in her face.

That led the Fox Empress to believe that Emperor Hades had disregarded his former brotherhood with the FIve Elements Great Emperor. She’d resented him ever since.

As such, she hadn’t visited or contacted him once in the ten thousand years since that incident.

Even now, when they were in the same war prep chat group, fighting a common enemy, Emperor Hades and the Fox Empress hadn’t communicated any more than absolutely necessary.

Yet now, this green-clad yao expert was turning his perception of events upside down. To think that Emperor Hades had tried to kill Zhou Wu! And more than once at that!

“Senior, how did you learn of this?” Ye Zichen truly didn’t understand. Both Emperor Hades and God Emperor Zhou Wu were renowned figures, and although Ye Zichen had never looked down on this yao expert, not even the likes of Xue Yang, Bi’an, and Chao Feng knew about these failed assassination attempts. This yao expert was on par with them. How could he possibly know all this when they didn’t?

“How did I find out? Back when Emperor Hades made his attempt, I was….” The green-shirted yao grinned, his eyes narrowing into slits, but halfway through his explanation back down. He snorted at Ye Zichen, “Kid, you’re playing me for information.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Ye Zichen bowed at the waist and cupped his fist. “It’s just, the Fox Empress resents Emperor Hades for refusing to locate the Five Elements Great Emperor’s soul within the RIver of Time to this day. Now you’re telling me that he tried to assassinate Zhou Wu in the name of revenge….”

“Of course Su Qingyan’s request was rejected!” The yao laughed. “After his failed assassination attempt, Emperor Hades was gravely wounded. His low ebbs started happening earlier and more often as a direct result. You can ask around if you don’t believe me, but in the thousand years after Five Elements died, Zhou Wu didn’t once show his face. That was because he had it rough after his clash with Emperor Hades too, and he needed a full thousand years to recover.”

“As for Five Elements’ soul, well, in life, the Five Elements Great Emperor was an imperial sovereign-level expert. Even if Emperor Hades could locate his soul, the backlash of trying to revive him would be far more than he could bear. Besides, post mortem, the Five Elements Great Emperor’s soul wasn’t in the River Styx to begin with. How could Emperor Hades possibly revive him?”

“You even know that?” Ye Zichen was stunned.

“What’s so special about knowing all this? Don’t make such a fuss about nothing.”

The secrets this yao in green just told him were unknown even among great emperor-level rulers, but he spoke as if none of it mattered in the slightest, and he didn’t seem the least bit proud.

Ye Zichen felt continuous waves of shock in his heart. The yao then arched his brows and laughed. “I told you all this, so shouldn’t you tell me something in exchange? You’re not related to Five Elements by blood, so where did you get the Yao-Sealing Pagoda? Why is it that, at your cultivation, you’re acquainted with so many great emperors? Why do you have two imperial lord-level experts protecting you? Who… exactly are you?”