"Do you want to ask whether the Heavenly Emperor truly perished?" Futu Yijing asked with a smile inside the great hall.
Mandala nodded.
"No," Futu Yijing answered.
Then the Heavenly Emperor emerged from the Human Emperor Seal, his gaze gentle.
The Heavenly Emperor's soul was considerably stronger than before. The Human Emperor Seal had proven quite effective.
"Mandala, I told you we would meet again."
Mandala looked at the Heavenly Emperor's soul, a glimmer of tears flashing in her eyes.
The Heavenly Emperor reached out and stroked Mandala's little head.
Not wanting to disturb their conversation, Futu Yijing quietly withdrew from the great hall.
Unlike other old mentors carried around by their protégés, the Heavenly Emperor resided within the Human Emperor Seal, so he could move around within a certain range, provided he did not stray too far from it.
The moment Futu Yijing left the great hall, four people blocked his path.
The four were, naturally, Mu Chen, Nine Nether, and the sisters Tang Bing and Tang Rou.
"What else do you want to ask me?" Futu Yijing looked at Mu Chen with a smile.
Tang Bing and Tang Rou looked at Futu Yijing with intense curiosity.
"Senior, what position do you hold in the Futu Ancient Clan?" During their journey through the Ancient Heavenly Palace, Mu Chen had sensed that Futu Yijing bore him no ill will, which was why he dared to ask such a question.
"Your mother's former rival," Futu Yijing answered with a smile.
Mu Chen's expression changed.
This was the answer he had least wanted to hear. He had considered the possibility that Futu Yijing belonged to his mother's faction, but had never imagined that he was actually her rival.
The question he had wanted to ask stuck in his throat.
"But not anymore," Futu Yijing continued.
Qing Yanjing had already been imprisoned in the Ancestral Pagoda, while Futu Yijing had broken through to Heavenly Sovereign. The position of future clan leader was essentially already his.
As such, he had to consider Qing Yanjing's feelings toward the Futu Ancient Clan.
A Saint Grade Grandmaster possessed top-tier combat strength. If someone like her became estranged from the Futu Ancient Clan, it would be detrimental to the clan's prosperity.
His position as the future leader of the clan required Futu Yijing to consider such matters.
And Qing Yanjing's feelings toward the Futu Ancient Clan would depend, to a large extent, on the clan's attitude toward this brat Mu Chen.
Besides, Mu Chen was a child of destiny. He would certainly have no shortage of fortuitous opportunities, and with their aid, his cultivation would advance far faster than Futu Yijing's, who relied purely on cultivation to improve.
Even though Futu Yijing had become a Supreme at sixteen, an Earthly Sovereign at twenty, and now a Heavenly Sovereign at two hundred and twenty, he still had to admit that fortuitous opportunities were simply unbeatable.
Those two hundred years on the Saint Abyss Continent had ultimately set his cultivation back, but he had no regrets.
Only by giving something up could one gain something else. He had traded the possibility of becoming a Heavenly Sovereign at thirty for mastery of the True Dragon Precious Technique at its very pinnacle, as well as incomparably powerful physical strength.
It was like the difference between inflated combat ratings and genuine combat prowess in an online game. Between the two, Futu Yijing had chosen genuine combat prowess. He absolutely could not become the paper tiger someone else devoured while pretending to be a pig!
Still, two hundred years really was a little long. That Heaven-Slaying Demon Emperor had been a damned stubborn bastard, dragging their game of cat and mouse out for a full hundred and fifty years.
The thought made his teeth itch with hatred.
Once Futu Yijing found the Blade Demon Clan's home territory, he would slaughter every weakling Demon Emperor in the clan!
Only after hearing Futu Yijing's words did Mu Chen breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, they were no longer rivals.
"Senior, back in the Ancient Heavenly Palace, what did you mean when you said you had made a promise to my mother?" Mu Chen desperately wanted to learn more about his mother.
"She said you're still a weakling and asked me to watch your back," Futu Yijing replied without the slightest attempt to soften his words.
Mu Chen's breath caught. How am I supposed to respond to that?!
Hearing Futu Yijing speak so bluntly, Nine Nether could barely suppress her laughter.
Tang Bing and Tang Rou were rather surprised. They had just learned that Mu Chen was about to break through to Earthly Sovereign, yet in this man's eyes, he was still weak?
Although he had been dismissed as too weak, Mu Chen could still sense Futu Yijing's concern for him.
He could not quite understand Futu Yijing's attitude toward him.
Logically, as a member of the Futu Ancient Clan, even if he bore Mu Chen no hostility, he should not have shown such feelings toward him.
As though he had seen through Mu Chen's thoughts, Futu Yijing continued:
"The Futu Ancient Clan isn't as petty as you think. The same blood flows through your veins as ours, after all."
In truth, if Futu Yijing had not transmigrated into the Futu Ancient Clan, the clan really would have been that petty.
But as its young master, Futu Yijing had subtly influenced and changed quite a few people.
The same blood...
Mu Chen's eyes filled with complicated emotions.
Perhaps he had blamed the Futu Ancient Clan too much...
"Do you have any other questions?" Futu Yijing asked.
"Senior, is there a time limit on the promise you made to my mother?" Thinking of Luo Li, Mu Chen wanted to find a powerful figure to back him up.
The smile on Futu Yijing's face stiffened, then immediately returned to normal.
Mu Chen keenly noticed that fleeting change.
"My mother probably asked you to protect me for a while, while I'm still weak, but didn't say how long, did she?" Mu Chen began forming a plan.
"Are you and your mother linked at heart?" Futu Yijing found the possibility highly suspicious.
Futu Yijing did not deny it either. He suddenly felt that, even without being by Mu Chen's side, Qing Yanjing had still managed to maneuver him into her plans.
"Go on, then. What do you want me to help you with?" Futu Yijing did not resent Mu Chen for playing little tricks on him.
After all, with Qing Xuan around, Futu Yijing also regarded Mu Chen with something of an elder's affection.
"I'll need to ask Mandala before I know the exact situation," Mu Chen said, feeling rather embarrassed now.
He had already asked for help, yet he did not even know exactly what he needed Futu Yijing to do.
"You little brat." Futu Yijing covered his forehead, sounding somewhat exasperated.
Mu Chen had schemed to rope him in before even understanding the situation.
"Go and get the details. I happen to have some free time lately."
The coordinates Qing Yanjing had given him for the Dragon Phoenix Fallen Land lay on the border of the Great Thousand World, adjoining the Outer Realm Evil Clan's territory. When he went there, the enemies he encountered would no longer merely be Earthly Sovereigns of the Outer Realm Evil Clan. There would very likely be Demon Emperors.
He had to admit that Qing Yanjing really had confidence in him, daring to call that his opportunity to break through to Heavenly Sovereign.
Futu Yijing was indeed very unlikely to die at a Demon Emperor's hands, but that did not guarantee he could seize this opportunity!
Now that a fortunate turn of events had allowed him to break through to Heavenly Sovereign in the Ancient Heavenly Palace, he could take some time to rest and recuperate before heading to the Dragon Phoenix Fallen Land. He had to claim this opportunity!
If he encountered a weakling Demon Emperor and his clan, he would slaughter the clan and wipe out its entire race!
If he encountered a Heavenly Demon Emperor, he would seize every chance to make his life miserable and would not let him off either!
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