Chapter 898: Third Hall Master
Chapter 898: Third Hall Master
When his fleshly body cracked open, Ye Guan's figure blurry as he retreated in a hurry, moving thousands of meters away in the blink of an eye. However, the two swords followed him relentlessly, sticking to him as if they were maggots on the marrow.
Ye Guan raised his sword to defend himself.
Bang!
Ye Guan's sword intent was shattered, and he was sent flying.
Swoosh!
The two swords appeared right in front of Ye Guan. In response, Ye Guan decisively swung his sword—Lifespan Severance!
The world and even time itself became illusory. The next moment, the two swords disintegrated into dust.
"Hmm?"
The middle-aged man’s eyes flashed with surprise. "The Dao of Time..."
Ye Guan landed on the ground and looked down at himself. A spiderweb-like crack was all over him, and blood was oozing out of his wounds, making him a terrifying sight to behold.
Ye Guan looked up at the distant swordsman in shock. He didn't expect the man to be so terrifying. He was just in the Second Heaven, after all.
The swordsman was certainly no weaker than Ji Xiaojian.
Damn! How did Ji Xiaojian manage to reach the Third Heaven?
The middle-aged man opened his palm, and the two flying swords hovered quietly before him. He stared at Ye Guan and asked, "Your sword technique just now contained the power of the Dao of Time.
"With your current strength, you shouldn't be able to wield such power. How did you do it?"
Ye Guan wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth and replied, "Time compression."
"How does that compression work?" asked the middle-aged man. Then, he realized that he was being too forthwith and hurriedly added, "Pardon me for being presumptuous."
Ye Guan smiled. "If you're curious, I can explain it to you."
The middle-aged man hesitated. "Are you sure?"
Ye Guan nodded. "It's no trouble."
The middle-aged man put away his sword and cupped his fist. "Thank you, then."
Ye Guan then explained his method of compressing time without hiding any details.
However, Ye Guan was the only one who could possibly use Lifespan Severance, as it required the use of his unique spacetime to convert time into lifespan. Without that unique spacetime, other swordsmen could only enhance the power of their sword techniques with this concept.
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but praise Ye Guan. "To come up with such a method, you are a true genius. However, I have one more question. Compressing time is not that difficult, but how do you make so many years pass in an instant?"
Ye Guan smiled. "I have a unique spacetime that allows me to do that."
The middle-aged man was extremely curious, but he didn’t ask any further.
It would be impolite, after all.
Ye Guan suddenly asked, "May I ask for your name, senior?"
The middle-aged man smiled. "My name is Li Suifeng. As you can see, I'm a swordsman."
Ye Guan asked, "Are you also being suppressed by the Great Dao here?"
Li Suifeng nodded. "Yes."
"Senior, have you seen this woman?" Ye Guan asked. He opened his palm and drew a portrait of Ji Xiaojian with his sword aura.
Seeing Ji Xiaojian’s face, Li Suifeng nodded slightly. "She's been here before."
Ye Guan asked, "She bested you?"
"You could say that," Li Suifeng said, smiling. "I couldn’t do anything to her, and she couldn’t do anything to me. So she moved on to the Third Heaven."
Ye Guan replied, "I see."
Li Suifeng stared deeply at Ye Guan and said, "You’re just a full divinity expert, but you actually dared to come here. I think you're quite impressive, too."
Ye Guan smiled and explained, "I came here to train."
Li Suifeng hesitated for a moment before saying, "You shouldn’t go to the Fourth Heaven. It’s too dangerous."
Ye Guan nodded. "I know. I’m not strong enough to go there."
Li Suifeng smiled. "It’s not just about strength. The cultivator in the Fourth Heaven has a particularly bad temper and is very unfriendly to outsiders...Actually, none of us are very friendly to outsiders."
Ye Guan was curious. "Why?"
Li Suifeng explained, "Each Heaven is like an era, and every era has many resources. People from outside come here mainly to plunder those resources..."
As he spoke, he glanced around, his expression complex. "The resources of my era have already been plundered clean."
Ye Guan said seriously, "With your strength, Senior..."
He suddenly stopped.
Li Suifeng smiled. "In a one-on-one fight, I wouldn’t be afraid of anyone. If the outsiders join forces, however, I can only watch them take away the resources here."
Ye Guan thought for a moment and then asked, "Have you ever considered finding some helpers, senior?"
Li Suifeng looked at Ye Guan without speaking.
Ye Guan smiled and exclaimed, "Senior Tian Qi!"
Swoosh!
Tian Qi appeared before them. He had recovered a portion of his strength, so his aura had become much stronger than before. Of course, this was all thanks to the Dao Fruit and the Eternal Crystal.
Li Suifeng was startled. "Tian Qi, you managed to leave?"
Tian Qi nodded. "It's all thanks to Young Master Ye."
Li Suifeng immediately turned to Ye Guan. "You can break the Great Dao Seal?"
Ye Guan nodded.
Li Suifeng was silent for a moment before asking, "What do you want in return?"
Ye Guan replied, "Serve me for a hundred years."
Serve for a hundred years! Li Suifeng was silent. As a swordsman, he really didn’t want to serve anyone.
"Brother Li," Tian Qi said, "A hundred years is just a blink of an eye for us. Besides, Young Master Ye is easy to get along with. He's straightforward and is not a schemer at all."
"Breaking that seal means being subjected to the karma of the Great Dao," Li Suifeng said, staring deeply at Ye Guan. "Are you sure you can withstand that, Young Master Ye?"
Before Ye Guan could respond, Li Suifeng added, "I must tell you that the karma of the Great Dao is no ordinary karma. Once you're entangled in it, the Great Dao will target you relentlessly, and you could even receive divine punishment."
Ye Guan was a bit surprised. The swordsman in front of him clearly had a good heart, and he now liked him a bit more than earlier. Ye Guan smiled and replied, "Don’t worry, senior. I have a sword that can break the Great Dao Seal without incurring any karma."
"A sword like that actually exists?" Li Suifeng was intrigued.
Ye Guan nodded and opened his palm.
The Qingxuan Sword turned into a beam of sword light and shot into the sky.
Boom!
The sky split open, and a seal appeared.
The next moment, however, it was shattered by the Qingxuan Sword.
The mysterious force around Li Suifeng dissipated in an instant.
He was no longer shackled. Li Suifeng closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, he opened his eyes, looking a bit agitated as he remarked, "I’m finally free."
He had always thought that he'd die here, but today, he was finally free.
Li Suifeng bowed slightly to Ye Guan and said, "Thank you."
Ye Guan asked, "Senior, how much of your strength can you wield?"
"About thirty percent," replied Li Suifeng.
Ye Guan was shocked. He's just at thirty percent of his true strength, and he's already this terrifying? How horrifying is he going to be at his peak?
Ye Guan was delighted. What he lacked the most right now was powerful allies and supreme elites. After all, he couldn’t unify the vast expanse by himself. He needed people to work for him—people to work for his cause.
And he finally had a group of powerful allies!
Moreover, Ye Guan was expecting to welcome more allies soon.
Ye Guan immediately brought the two of them into the tiny pagoda.
Li Suifeng was immediately stupefied at the sight.
Tian Qi chuckled, empathizing with Li Suifeng. In fact, he was more shocked than Li Suifeng the first time he found himself here.
Just then, Li Suifeng turned to Ye Guan and said seriously, "I still ended up underestimating you, Young Master Ye."
Ye Guan smiled and opened his palm. A Dao Fruit floated over to Li Suifeng. "Senior, this will help you recover your strength."
"This is an excellent elixir," Li Suifeng said, looking at the Dao Fruit in astonishment. However, he hesitated and said, "I haven’t done anything to earn this reward."
Ye Guan said seriously, "To be honest, senior, I have a powerful enemy—the Evil Dao Alliance. I will need you to contribute significantly to my fight against them."
Li Suifeng was surprised. "The Evil Dao Alliance?"
"You’ve heard of them, senior?"
Li Suifeng nodded. "Of course. I even had dealings with them before."
"Senior, which era are you from?"
Li Suifeng replied, "My era was tens of billions of years ago."
Ye Guan’s expression was a bit strange.
Li Suifeng smiled. "You’re wondering how someone in the Path Creation Realm could live that long, aren’t you?"
Ye Guan nodded.
Li Suifeng explained, "Two reasons. First of all, I wasn’t in the Path Creation Realm when I interacted with those people. Secondly and lastly, those who are being suppressed by the Great Dao experience a much slower passage of time."
Ye Guan was puzzled. "Why?"
Li Suifeng explained, "It’s the Great Dao’s punishment for us; it wants to keep us trapped here forever. Our time will slow down significantly, but it’s not a good thing because our bodies and souls are still decaying irreversibly. In simpler terms, it’s a slow death combined with prolonged suffering. We know exactly when we’ll die, but we can’t do anything about it."
"I see..."
"If the Evil Dao Alliance wants to kill you, you’re in great danger."
"Which Hall Master did you interact with, Senior?"
"The Third Hall Master, and they a swordsman. They are a heretical cultivator, and they've created their own path—their own Dao—using the malice and evil thoughts of people. Of course, they are an extremely terrifying enemy."
Ye Guan fell silent.
"Rest assured, Young Master Ye," Li Suifeng said earnestly, "A drop of water shall be repaid with a flood. Even if the Third Hall Master were to come and find you, I will fight to the death to protect you."
Tian Qi wanted to say something to express his loyalty, but lacking eloquence, he ended up shouting, "Me too!"
Ye Guan had no idea what to say.