Chapter 2499: The Time and Location of the Banquet

"A misunderstanding?" Yan Hara raised her eyebrows.

"What is there to misunderstand?" she sighed. "Since you’ve come back as the Divine Paragon, you’ll have to live his identity starting now. Or do you think you’ll be able to switch between the Divine Paragon and Yuan like a switch whenever you want? It might work for some time, but sooner or later, you’ll be exposed."

"So what if I am exposed? It’s not like I am pretending to be the Divine Paragon," Yuan calmly shrugged.

"That being said..."

He suddenly approached Yan Hara and leaned toward her shoulder, whispering a few words directly into her ear.

At first, Yan Hara blushed from the warmth of his breath and the gentle closeness of his voice. However, the more she listened, the wider her eyes became, quickly filling with shock and disbelief after realizing what he was planning.

"That’s insane!" she exclaimed loudly.

Yuan said nothing and merely stood still with a profound smile on his face.

"Are you really going to...?" Yan Hara asked in a saddened voice.

He nodded, remaining silent.

After another moment of silence, Yan Hara sighed again before speaking, "Let’s talk about your banquet. I have notified everyone about it. The only issue right now is the venue and time. As I’d already mentioned, without the Stairway to Heaven, gathering everyone will be difficult, unless we host the banquet in the Grand Library. As for the time... this is something you must decide since I don’t know when you’ll be available."

Yuan pondered for a moment before responding, "The banquet will happen two months from now in the Seventh Heaven... right beside the Demonic Realm."

"What...?"

Yan Hara’s jaw dropped, her eyes widened with disbelief.

"If I am going to tell everyone about the Demonic Realm, we might as well do so right beside it, right? As for the Stairway to Heaven... it will return by then, so everyone will be able to make it there. More people will be able to show up in the Seventh Heaven than the Ninth Heaven, too."

Yan Hara then said, "Then we’ll need to start working on creating the venue. Fortunately, there’s plenty of space over there. As for the size... I guess I’ll just make it as big as I can make it in two months."

"Thanks for helping me out."

"Don’t mention it. You’re busy, right?"

He nodded with a smile.

"What are your plans until the banquet?"

"Bringing the Stairway to Heaven back."

Yan Hara raised her eyebrows.

"Bring it back? How? Nobody even knows where it disappeared to, unless..."

She rubbed her eyes and sighed, "Of course you do. Why did I even bother asking?"

Yuan chuckled at her reaction and revealed, "I own the Stairway to Heaven, after all."

"Huh? Since when?"

"Since its creation," he calmly replied.

"Wait... that would mean..." Yan Hara’s eyes widened again with shock.

However, Yuan didn’t elaborate this time and turned around, walking to the exit.

"I’ll see you in two months, Leader Yan!"

Before Yan Hara could reply, Yuan walked out of the room, leaving her utterly speechless.

"He’s also the creator of the Stairway to Heaven...?" Yan Hara muttered to herself long after Yuan left.

Meanwhile, after leaving the Demon Sealing Clan’s Grand Library, Yuan went to look for the Stairway to Heaven.

However, there was one issue. Although he knew where it was located, he didn’t know how to access it. After all, this was the first time the Stairway to Heaven had used this defensive mechanism.

A few moments later, Yuan retrieved Number One Under Heaven and spoke to it.

"Zi Xuan, you should be awake by now, right?"

"..."

"Zi Xuan? Are you angry?" he asked with a stiff smile.

"What gave you such an impression?" Zi Xuan finally responded.

"Because... I haven’t been using you recently?"

"Not just that, but you’ve been cheating on me with another sword!"

Zi Xuan suddenly materialized in her spirit form and pointed at the Demon Annihilation Sword.

"Who is that?!"

Since the Demon Annihilation Sword had disappeared alongside Tian Chenyu, none of Yuan’s later incarnations had ever wielded it. As a result, Zi Xuan had never heard of its existence before.

"This is the sword wielded by Tian Chenyu, who existed before Tian Qiyuan..." Yuan quickly explained.

"That doesn’t explain why you’re using her instead of me!"

Yuan sighed and said, "You know the reason very well. I have been in the Demonic Realm, and she’s literally a demon-sealing sword. It was far more effective to use her in such a situation. Moreover, I wanted you to rest properly."

He continued, "Now that we’ve returned to the Nine Heavens, I will start using you again."

"What about me?" the Demon Annihilation Sword suddenly asked. "Am I going to become useless now that we’re no longer in the Demonic Realm?"

"That’s..." Yuan hesitated for a moment before continuing in an awkward tone, "I wouldn’t call you useless... but once all the demons in this world have been dealt with, your purpose will technically be fulfilled."

Even as he said those words, Yuan felt unsure how to explain it without sounding like a complete asshole.

"Of course, that doesn’t mean you’ll become useless," Yuan quickly added. "At the end of the day, as long as the Demonic Realm continues to exist, your presence will always be needed."

"As for you..." Yuan returned to Zi Xuan. "You know where Tian Qiyuan’s personal world is, right? I still cannot remember, so I’ll need you to take me there."

"Hmph," she coldly snorted, clearly still upset.

Yuan rubbed his eyes and said, "If you don’t tell me, I won’t be able to upgrade you..."

"What did you just say?" Zi Xuan’s ears immediately twitched the moment she heard a certain word.

She slowly turned to look at him with sparkling eyes, resembling a dog that had just heard its favorite word.

"I said that I’m going to upgrade you," Yuan repeated as he retrieved a certain material from his spatial ring and showed it to her.