Ziwei Dou Shu

Having made up his mind, Shen Ye stood in the vast ancient hall and said calmly, "The two of you watching the show from the shadows, can you come out now?"

Duan De, who had been grinning as he mocked the five great factions, froze. He stiffly turned to Ye Fan. "He can't be talking about us, can he?"

Ye Fan rolled his eyes. "What do you think?"

Duan De still hesitated. "How about we hide a little longer? Maybe there are other people hiding here too?"

Ye Fan earnestly tried to dissuade him. "I think we'd better not. This man doesn't seem to have a particularly good temper. What if he thinks you were secretly..."

"Ahahaha!" Duan De decisively lifted the breath-concealing array and walked out from the corner of the hall with an ingratiating grin. "Thanks to Your Highness's divine might, those vicious scoundrels were intimidated. Otherwise, who knows how we two brothers could have survived? Once we leave, we will surely sing Your Highness's praises far and wide!"

Having said that, Duan De wanted to grab Ye Fan and run, but before he had taken more than a few steps, Shen Ye's voice came from behind him. "Please wait!"

Duan De grimaced, but when he turned around, he put on another lecherous smile. "What does Your Highness need from this poor Daoist?"

Shen Ye shook his head slightly and tapped Ye Fan with a finger. "I'm not looking for you. I'm looking for him!"

"You know each other?" Duan De's suspicious gaze shifted back and forth between them.

"We know each other?" Ye Fan was equally bewildered.

"No." Shen Ye shook his head slightly, pinching his fingers in the manner of a mystical fortune-teller. "But I calculated that one of my opportunities lies with you!"

Ye Fan's pupils suddenly contracted, and cold sweat seeped down his back. Could it be that the matter of me obtaining the Green Copper Block has been exposed?

It was not that he begrudged the treasure. He was worried that if the Green Copper Block was truly as important as those people claimed, the other party might kill him to silence him!

Shen Ye continued, "I am not one to bully others by relying on power, nor will I forcibly seize your opportunity. I wish to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Ye Fan relaxed slightly, but he still did not dare let down his guard. "What does Your Excellency wish to trade with me?"

This kid's got quite a bit of pride in his bones! Seeing that Ye Fan had not used an honorific, Duan De felt a little concerned.

"Essence of Heaven and Earth. Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi!"

The moment Shen Ye spoke those words, Ye Fan had yet to react when Duan De screamed like a madman, "You brat actually have such a peerless treasure? Those who see it get a share—quick, quick, give me a portion!"

Ye Fan looked utterly blank. Wasn't it the Green Copper Block? What the hell was the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi? He had never even heard of it!

"I have never seen any Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi. Have you made a mistake, Your Excellency?"

The Destiny Orb was frantically issuing warnings. Clearly, Shen Ye's earlier words had drawn someone's attention to him.

However, Shen Ye was not worried. He merely said calmly, "Not now, but in the future! I traced this opportunity through countless deductions. I originally believed it would be found in this Demon Emperor's Tomb, but only after seeing you did I finally become certain that this opportunity of mine lies with you!"

Naturally, he said this so that the Empress would know he had not deduced the existence of the "hidden mastermind," but had merely calculated that his own opportunity was "coincidentally" connected to Ye Fan.

"Deductions?" Duan De curled his lips in disinterest. After swindling and deceiving people for so many years, he had never heard of such an ability.

If such an ability truly existed, source masters would have long since been squeezed out of existence!

Yet Ye Fan felt a yearning arise within him. Back when he was still on Earth, he had heard of the grand reputation of deducing the secrets of heaven, and he could not help asking, "What method of deduction does Your Excellency speak of?"

Shen Ye said, "Ziwei Dou Shu!"

He was not making it up. His Star Soul Map was the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, and after lighting up its Star Palaces, he had naturally comprehended the methods of Ziwei Dou Shu.

However, Ziwei Dou Shu was broad and complex, difficult to master. A physician could not treat himself, a diviner could not divine for himself; one might know fate, yet find it hard to change it. Thus, in his previous life, he had not delved deeply into Ziwei Dou Shu.

"Ziwei Dou Shu!" Ye Fan's mind churned with excitement. He knew ancient Chinese culture well and had naturally heard of this art. He could not help thinking, They must have some sort of connection to Earth on the Other Shore of the Starry Sky!

Seeing Ye Fan lost in a daze, Shen Ye continued, "The treasure I will use to conclude this transaction is this page of the 'Dao Scripture.' If you agree, I can give you this page of the 'Dao Scripture' right now. If you obtain the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi in the future, you need only give me one-fifth of it!"

After saying that, Shen Ye added, "Though the value of a single page of the 'Dao Scripture' is far from comparable to the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi, value is relative. For you right now, the Sea of Wheels Scroll of the 'Dao Scripture' is more precious than anything else!"

Ye Fan nodded. A bird in the hand was worth ten in the forest.

Not to mention that he did not currently possess the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi—even if he truly did, he would choose to trade it for the Sea of Wheels Scroll of the "Dao Scripture."

Steadying himself, Ye Fan asked hesitantly, "What if I don't obtain the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi in the future?"

"Then I simply misjudged. In any case, one page of the 'Dao Scripture' amounts to nothing. But..." Shen Ye's voice sank as he warned, "If, little brother, you obtain the Source Root of All Things' Mother Qi and keep it hidden, intending to renege on our deal, then the consequences will be difficult to predict!"

"Of course I won't!" Ye Fan firmly shook his head. Leaving aside the fact that he had no intention of deceiving him, the information related to Earth that the other party had revealed alone meant he could never possibly default on the deal!

He even wanted to draw closer to the other party, so that he could pry information about Earth from him.

Meanwhile, Shen Ye pondered inwardly. Since it was a fairly concluded transaction, the Empress would not come looking for trouble with him, would she?

Once the deal was made, Shen Ye tossed the page of golden paper toward Ye Fan.

Ye Fan caught the golden sheet and immediately connected with his golden bitter sea, channeling power into his eyes as he began to read.

Yet he had only barely made out several lines of tiny writing on the golden paper when his eyes began to sting and his head grew dizzy. He hurriedly looked away, not daring to read any further.

Seeing Ye Fan obtain a treasure for no reason at all—and one that he himself could not use—made the sourness in Duan De's stomach churn like stormy seas.

Watching someone else make money hurt him even more than losing money himself!

Now that he saw Ye Fan suffer a hidden loss, Duan De immediately felt much better. He sneered sourly, "What? You thought obtaining the 'Dao Scripture' would let you ascend to heaven in a single step?"

Ye Fan could only smile bitterly. He truly had entertained such thoughts, and could not help mocking himself. "I really was overestimating myself!"

Only now did he truly understand the difficulty behind Shen Ye's ascent to heaven in a single step. He sighed inwardly, As expected of a Holy Son-level figure from a great faction. He is not someone the current me can compare to!

"Yue'er, let's go."

Seeing that Shen Ye was preparing to leave, Ye Fan hesitated again and again before finally asking, "If it is convenient, could you tell me why that puppet had no head?"

To speak deeply with a shallow acquaintance was a taboo for gentlemen!

They had only just met, so naturally he could not directly ask about sensitive matters such as Earth or the other party's homeland. But if he merely asked a question out of curiosity from the standpoint of an onlooker, it should do no harm, right?

"That was a mechanized armor crafted in the likeness of a great general serving beneath the deity worshipped by my clan!"

"A great general serving beneath him?" Ye Fan's eyes shone as his entire body trembled with excitement. "With Great God Xingtian as his general, could this deity be the Yan Emperor?"