Ye Yu tucked the organized notes into his robe and stepped up to the passage leading to the Celestial World. He was just about to enter when he stopped.
Heâd spotted signs of damage along the passage.
It wasnât broken, but hairline cracks ran through it.
That made him curious. Was this deliberate sabotage? Or collateral damage from some battle?
If it was the latter, there was nothing to discuss.
But if it was deliberateâwhat was the saboteur after?
Ye Yu couldnât make sense of it.
He entered the passage and arrived in the Celestial World.
There, he checked the passages to the Demon Realm and the Underworld and found damage of varying degrees on both.
For now, it wasnât severe; without a careful inspection, no one would notice these small details.
If one fruit is bad, it could be an accident.
If all the fruits are bad, you can rule out âaccident.â
Someone was deliberately sabotaging the passages of the Lower Five Realms.
And their strength wasnât ordinaryâotherwise, how could they shake such colossal structures?
But why do this?
People always have reasons for what they do.
Acting without awareness is what fools do.
What good would destroying passages do for them?
Ye Yu couldnât help but frown slightly.
Right then, he noticed the space around him begin to warp.
This was the omen of shattering the voidâthe sign right before ascending to the God Realm.
It seemed his time was running short.
He drew in his aura at once and headed toward the Wuwei Tower.
He didnât dare move too fast.
Right now he was like he had been back in the mortal world:
he couldnât afford any large movements.
Heâd suppressed his cultivation too hard. He should have gone to the God Realm already; delaying this long had pushed the power in his body to a critical point.
At any moment, he might shatter the void and be gone.
It left Ye Yu with a sense of helplessness.
Had he known, he wouldnât have studied the passage problem.
But it was too late to say anything now; moving quickly and steadily was the safest course.
As time passed, the warp under his feet worsened.
Luckily, the Wuwei Tower was less than a hundred li away nowâif he could just hold out a little longer, heâd be fine.
Ye Yu let out a slow, turbid breath.
Just then, a figure barred his way.
From the demon horns on the figureâs head and the thin, gaunt frame, it was clear the other was a Fallen Demon.
âWhy are you forcing down your cultivation instead of moving on to the next realm?â the demon asked.
âItâs none of your concern. Move, or die.â
Ye Yu kept his pace as even as possible, his voice ice-cold.
It was only because he was at such a critical juncture that he couldnât make a move.
Otherwise, he wouldnât have wasted words on a stranger from the demon race.
The warning didnât drive the Fallen Demon back. Instead, a playful smile tugged at the demonâs mouth.
âDonât bluff. In your current state, youâre perched on the edge of shattering the void. If we really fought, youâd likely ascend to the God Realm before you managed to kill me.â
Hearing that,
Ye Yu had to halt and study the demon closely.
The other carried a Demon Emperor cultivationâand seemed quite familiar with shattering the void and stepping into the God Realm.
Who was he? Ye Yu hadnât seen this person in the Demon Realm before.
Could he be an old monster whoâd only just awakened?
Sensing Ye Yuâs complicated gaze, the Fallen Demon spoke softly. âNo need to be so tense. Iâm Cui Yachun of the demon race. I bear you no malice. I only want to borrow something. As soon as you agree, Iâll leave at once and wonât delay your business. How about it?â
Ye Yu laughed in anger.
âWell, well. # NĐŸvĐ”light # The demon race truly has nerve nowâpanhandling from me, of all people.â
That was a new one.
âWhat do you want to âborrowâ?â Ye Yu asked coldly.
âEverything youâre carrying.â
Cui Yachun stepped forward and formed a seal with both hands.
In an instant, a gigantic array diagram flared in the clouds.
Countless black dragons roared out of the array.
They turned into chains that bound Ye Yu tight.
The rest coiled around them, waiting to strike.
âFriend,â Cui Yachun said lightly, âI know this array might have trouble killing you.
âBut holding you for a while wonât be difficult.
âIf you try to break the formation by force, your power will surge and youâll head straight into the God Realm.
âThatâs not what you want right now, is it?
âSo be good and toss me your storage ring, your immortal robe, and any valuables. Iâll open the array and clear a path for you.â
âDonât be stingy at a time like this. Once youâre in the God Realm, these things wonât be of much use to you anyway. Better to let me handle them, donât you think?â
Ye Yu couldnât help but laugh.
âYou really are a genius of twisted logicâmugging top-tier yokai immortals right as theyâre about to head to the God Realm. How did you come up with this line of work?â
âFunny coincidence,â Cui Yachun replied, grinning. âThere have been quite a few immortals heading to the God Realm lately. So I came up with a quick-money method.â
âMy talent canât compare with yours who are about to ascend.
âIf I donât stockpile resources this way, Iâll never reach the God Realm in this lifetime.
âYou people standing on the mountaintopâgive us climbers a chance.â
Ye Yuâs eyes narrowed.
Quite a few immortals heading to the God Realm lately?
The leap from immortal to god was no easier than a mortal stepping into the Emperor Realm.
There was no way large numbers were ascending at once.
That alone proved the Celestial World had undergone some kind of change. Otherwise, even someone like Cui Yachun wouldnât be lurking here.
There was definitely a problem.
Seeing Ye Yu remain silent, Cui Yachun urged, âFriend, have you decided?â
âI noticed you seemed terribly anxious just now, rushing to take care of something. What, not in a hurry anymore?â
It sounded like a question, but it was psychological warfare,
stoking Ye Yuâs anxiety to force a quick compromise.
This trick had worked for Cui Yachun many times before.
But this time he was unluckyâheâd run into Ye Yu, the type who yields to softness, not to force.