I Have a Sword

The hidden experts were shocked upon seeing Ye Guan kill the middle-aged man with just a single move. Once their initial shock had passed, they turned around and fled as fast as they could.

Ye Guan had just killed a full divinity expert with one strike right before their eyes!

In other words, Ye Guan wasn't someone they could fight, so they decisively retreated to avoid any unnecessary deaths.

Ye Guan didn’t chase them, as killing these small fry held no significance.

The Fourth Prince of Great Zhou!

Ye Guan's eyes narrowed, thinking that the Fourth Prince had to be Lady Zhou Fan's competitor. However, all of these didn't make sense at the same time.

Someone capable of competing with Lady Zhou Fan couldn't possibly be a foolish man.

It seemed that the matter wasn’t as simple as it appeared on the surface.

Is someone trying to frame the Fourth Prince? Ye Guan pondered.

The distant spacetime trembled. The next moment, a figure rushed toward Ye Guan like a bolt of lightning.

The figure moved so fast that the surrounding spacetime cracked like glass, and a spiderweb pattern spread for kilometers in the starry sky.

The figure was none other than Zhou Yuan. He bowed deeply to Ye Guan and said, "Young Master Ye."

Zhou Yuan's heart was full of shock. It had only been ten days since Ye Guan entered the tiny pagoda, but he had already become an eighty percent divinity expert!

However, he quickly understood what was going on upon being reminded of the tiny pagoda.

Ten days outside was a hundred years inside the tiny pagoda. Regardless, Ye Guan's pace was still terrifying. He was truly a monstrous talent.

Ye Guan put away the Qingxuan Sword and asked, "How is the investigation going?"

Zhou Yuan nodded slightly. "The Great Zhou has been established for billions of years and is a top Tier Four civilization. Especially their founding ancestor, who is said to be invincible among Path Creation Realm experts. After founding the Great Zhou, he led the Great Zhou into conquering a Tier Four civilization. After devouring that civilization, the Great Zhou developed rapidly. Today, the Great Zhou’s power has reached a very terrifying level, and it has only a few rivals among Tier Four civilizations."

Ye Guan asked, "How does it compare to your Arcanist Civilization during its glory days?"

Zhou Yuan pondered briefly over it before replying, "I’m afraid we have to fight for me to know the answer. It mainly depends on the strength of their Founding Ancestor and our Divine Sorcerer. Their victory and defeat will decide the fate of their civilization."

"Divine Sorcerer?" Ye Guan asked, "Is that the founder of your Arcanist Civilization?”

Zhou Yuan nodded, “Yes.”

Ye Guan nodded slightly. Gu Ze was apparently sealed by that Divine Sorcerer. There was no need to explain just how powerful one had to be to suppress and seal a Path Creation Realm expert.

As for the Founding Ancestor of the Great Zhou, he was definitely strong. Ye Guan had seen it with his own eyes, after all.

A mere wisp of his soul had almost killed that wicked woman with just a single slap.

Who was stronger? It was hard to say.

Zhou Yuan said, “Young Master Ye, there's something else.”

Ye Guan looked at Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan said in a serious tone of voice, “I discovered that Lady Zhou hasn't been doing well since her return to the Great Zhou."

Ye Guan frowned. “What do you mean?”

Zhou Yuan recounted the punishments that Zhou Fan had to take.

Ye Guan's expression darkened. “Are the Fourth Prince and Lady Zhou enemies?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “Their maternal families have always been mortal enemies, so they can be said to be mortal enemies as well. The Fourth Prince has sent people here to find you. He was most likely trying to probe your strength. After all, Lady Zhou had decided to use her most precious life-saving talisman for you.”

Ye Guan pondered for a moment and then asked, “Is she in danger?”

“I’m not sure if the Fourth Prince will risk killing her, but it’s certain that Lady Zhou is in a very difficult situation right now," Zhou Yuan replied, "She has to face not only the Fourth Prince and the Second Prince but her own family as well. From what I know, the families that have been supporting her are defecting one after another to either the Second Prince or the Fourth Prince…”

“It seems that I must visit the Great Zhou," Ye Guan remarked."

Zhou Yuan said seriously, “Young Master Ye, you also need to be cautious of the Evil Dao Alliance. They're looking for you everywhere.”

The Evil Dao Alliance... Ye Guan nodded slightly. It seemed that the Evil Dao Alliance was indeed planning to target Sister Zhen.

Time! He still needed more time!

Although his strength had greatly improved and he had Zhou Yuan and others accompanying him, Ye Guan knew this was still far from enough to contend with the Evil Dao Alliance.

Ye Guan emptied his mind and looked at Zhou Yuan in front of him. “Lead the way. Let’s head to the Great Zhou first.”

“Alright.” Zhou Yuan nodded. He then soared into the sky like a bolt of lightning and disappeared into the depths of the starry sky.

Ye Guan followed suit on his sword.

Shortly after Ye Guan and Zhou Yuan's disappearance, a shadowy figure appeared where they were just a few moments ago. The figure looked up at the starry river before turning around and leaving.

During the journey, Ye Guan suddenly asked, “Elder Zhou Yuan, how did you find the Great Zhou?”

He knew that civilizations were cautious about revealing their location.

Zhou Yuan quickly responded, “Young Master Ye, addressing me as 'Elder' is a bit much. Please just call me Old Yuan.”

Ye Guan chuckled and nodded. “Sure.”

Zhou Yuan explained, “I got along well with that Right Elder, so we exchanged contact information.”

“I see,” said Ye Guan with a nod.

With that, the two stopped talking and picked up the pace.

***

A man in white robes was sitting on the stone steps leading to a great hall somewhere in the Great Zhou.

The man in white robes was reading a book, seemingly immersed in it. The man in white robes was none other than the Second Prince, Zhou Mu.

An old man holding a fly-whisk and dressed in a clean and tidy Daoist robe was standing behind Zhou Mu.

Swoosh!

A man in black suddenly appeared in front of Zhou Mu. He bowed slightly to Zhou Mu and said, "Second Prince, An Chen is dead."

"Oh?" Zhou Mu's expression remained calm. "How many strikes did it take?"

The man in black replied in a deep voice, "One."

Zhou Mu frowned and looked at the man in black. "Just one?"

The man in black nodded. "Yes."

Zhou Mu was silent for a few moments before saying, "Now it's getting interesting..."

Zhou Mu was the one who had sent that group to find Ye Guan.

Ye Guan's assumption was correct. The Fourth Prince had been framed.

Zhou Mu's goal was simple—test Ye Guan’s strength using the Fourth Prince's identity.

Of course, Zhou Mu wasn't afraid of getting exposed. He believed that there was no evidence that could link the matter to him, so how would anybody know about his involvement?

Zhou Mu gathered his thoughts and said, "You may go."

The man in black added, "He's on his way to the Great Zhou."

With that, the man in black retreated.

Zhou Mu turned to the elder, "Master, what do you think?"

Dao Jun calmly replied, "Were you really just trying to test his strength?"

Zhou Mu smiled. "I understand my Ninth Sister very well. Anyone she recruits is no ordinary person, and if she's willing to use the ancestor's protection to recruit someone, there are only two reasons behind that—they have an extraordinary background that makes their value surpass even the ancestor's protection, or she has feelings for him. Given her pride and arrogance, she would never fall for an ordinary person, so I'm particularly curious about that young man."

"At this point, it appears that both possibilities might be true."

Dao Jun said, "Do you believe that the Ninth Princess could make a comeback with that young man's help?"

Zhou Mu smiled. "No way."

Dao Jun frowned slightly.

"That young man could kill An Chen with one strike, proving his terrifying strength. He's certainly not an ordinary person. Moreover, the Evil Dao Alliance wouldn't target someone from an ordinary background. In other words, we really need to have a better understanding of that young man's origins," Zhou Mu explained.

Dao Jun asked, "Should we try to win him over?"

Zhou Mu shook his head, "A genius swordsman like him would never submit to others. Trying to recruit him is unrealistic, or he would have come here with Ninth Sister."

"How about killing him?" Dao Jun asked.

Zhou Mu shook his head again."No. His background is still unknown to us. That would be an unwise decision."

"Then what should we do?"

Zhou Mu smiled. "We do nothing. We're not going to harm Ninth Sister, but we're not going to help her as well. We're just going to watch from the sidelines."

Dao Jun nodded slightly.

"Fourth Brother is also pretty patient. He has yet to take any actions against Ninth Sister, which is pretty unusual for him."

Dao Jun said, "He must have some concerns."

Zhou Mu laughed. "He's probably also wary of that young man's identity and background. I guess it can be said that Ninth Sister has truly caught us off guard this time."

The Founding Ancestor's Protection was their greatest trump card. With it, one could have a single chance of surviving any fatal situation.

Even Zhou Mu wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary, but Zhou Fan had actually used it for an outsider.

It was a decision that they found to be quite abnormal.

Zhou Mu closed the book in his hands and looked up at the distant sky. "He should be here soon. Once he's here, I must see for myself what kind of genius he is for Ninth Sister to value him so highly."

Dao Jun nodded and closed his eyes, saying no more.

***

By a lakeside somewhere stood a young man sat with a fishing rod in hand. His gaze was transfixed on the lake; the young man was none other than the Fourth Prince, Zhou Di.

Swoosh!

An old man appeared behind Zhou Di and said in a deep voice, "Fourth Prince, now is the best time to eliminate the Ninth Princess. Our people are ready. Just give the order, and we'll make our move. Without the Founding Ancestor's Protection, she's definitely going to die."

Zhou Di didn't respond.

The sight made the old man feel anxious. "Fourth Prince, what would you like to do? This is a rare opportunity—"

"Be patient, Elder Li," said Zhou Di with a smile.

Elder Li was about to say something when a shadowy figure appeared next to Zhou Di. The shadowy figure bowed deeply to Zhou Di and whispered something into his ears.

Zhou Di sneered, "My second brother is quite cunning. He tested that young swordsman using my name. How amusing..."

The shadowy figure asked, "Should we leak the truth?"

"No need." Zhou Di's expression remained indifferent. "If that young swordsman is dumb enough to fall for such a weak scheme, then Ninth Sister has made a poor judgement. Anyway, you are dismissed."

The shadowy figure bowed slightly and retreated.

Zhou Di laughed, "My second brother appears to be a kind scholar, but his heart is actually full of deceit. Ninth Sister is still miles better than him. At the very least, she isn't a hypocrite."

Elder Li's expression was grave as he responded, "That young swordsman is coming to the Great Zhou?"

Zhou Di nodded.

Elder Li's eyes revealed killing intent as he asked, "Should we eliminate him?"

Zhou Di shook his head, "His background is complicated. We can't do that. At the very least, we can't do it ourselves. As far as I know, Ninth Sister has many suitors. You should make use of those devoted fools!"