Chapter 522: Pretending To Be Weak Is Suffocating
The bewildered Ye Guan left the tiny pagoda. An elderly man dressed in black robes appeared before him. When the elderly man saw Ye Guan, he bowed immediately and said, "Greetings, Young Master."
Young Master? Ye Guan was stunned."Who are you?"
The elderly man bowed once again and said, "I'm Elder Feng, and I work for Pavilion Master Qin."
Ye Guan was thrilled, and he exclaimed, "Where is my mother?"
"Someone is keeping tabs on her, so she couldn't come here by herself," the elderly man replied.
Someone is keeping tabs on her? Ye Guan's face darkened. The Clan Leader of the Past Clan was definitely the culprit. What an outrageous woman. Ye Guan truly didn't expect that she would send people to keep an eye on his relatives.
Ye Guan recalled something just then and asked, "Someone provided me with information about the Time Reversers. Was it perhaps you?"
Elder Feng nodded and explained, "Pavilion Master Qin has been secretly investigating the Time Reversers and the Sovereigns on their side."
"Why did Mother send you to find me? Did something happen?"
"We just received news that a mysterious army is heading this way. They're extremely powerful, so we came here to help you flee."
"What are they? Can you tell me more about them?"
"I can't tell you more about them because we don't know much about them. They're also too strong for us to approach, so we haven't been able to gather decent information about them."
Ye Guan's face darkened even further.
"The Past Clan's Clan Leader has increased the rewards for your Time Arrest Warrant to five strands of Ancestral Origin. Many Time Reversers were tempted by the reward and have decided to come out and hunt you down.
"Most importantly, there are quite a few unknown supreme elites among them."
Ye Guan frowned. "Unknown supreme elites?"
"Yes," the elderly man said, nodding. "They're Time Reversers who have decided to seal themselves to conserve what little lifespan they have, so it's been a while since any of them have made an appearance.
"However, they decided to unseal themselves to participate in the quest to hunt you down."
"Just how many Time Reversers are after me? Do you know any specific figures?" Ye Guan asked.
Elder Feng shook his head. "No."
Ye Guan frowned.
Elder Feng chuckled bitterly and explained, "The vast expanse's history is exceedingly deep that there has been a literal myriad of eras since the vast expanse's conception. To make matters worse, every era had its own batch of outstanding talents.
"Some of them are still alive, but many of them have decided to seal themselves to preserve their lifespan. Unfortunately, we have no way of investigating such supreme elites, and I think even the Past Clan can't do so as well.
"As far as we know, the Past Clan has recently been sending their own people to many different eras to find those supreme elites."
"I see..."
"However, we are aware of the strongest forces."
"The strongest forces?"
"The Time River spans a hundred billion years, and it has seen the birth of powerful forces such as the Past Clan. The Divine Time Hall and the Ancient Demon Hall are just below the Past Clan, but they're above the Four Ancient Clans, which are composed of the Ancient Clan, the Tian Clan, the Qing Clan, and the Yu Clan.
"Those below them are powerful rogue cultivators such as the Ancestral Dragon and the Heaven Sovereign."
"Wait, the Time River spans just a hundred billion years?"
"I'm not actually sure. I reckon only the Clan Leader of the Past Clan has seen what lies in the distant end of the Time River."
Ye Guan nodded, and he was about to say something else when Elder Feng beat him to the chase, saying, "Young Master, please follow me."
Elder Feng then turned to Ye Qingqing and said, "Please carve open a road for us."
Ye Qingqing nodded and slashed out, creating a spacetime rift.
The three of them soon disappeared into thin air.
As they were flying away somewhere, Ye Guan noticed two black-robed figures behind them. However, those black-robed figures weren't chasing after them.
Elder Feng explained, "They're covering our rear."
"But that's dangerous..." Ye Guan muttered.
Elder Feng smiled slightly. "Young Master, rest assured. They won't fight head-on."
"Really—" Ye Guan started.
However, a terrifying cacophony of explosions erupted behind them just then. Ye Guan turned around and saw dozens of terrifying mushroom clouds blotting out the entire Time River. To make matters worse, the currents of the Time River itself began to boil behind them.
Ye Guan's eyelids twitched. They're actually setting off explosives?!
A group of cultivators had no choice but to retreat in the face of the mushroom. The group of cultivators was none other than Guzhen and the Time Reversers.
They had to retreat for tens of thousands of meters before finally stopping. Then, they cast a confused gaze at the mushroom clouds.
What the hell is going on?
Everyone was stunned; they had no idea what to say.
The Heavenly Yuan Sovereign's expression became grim as he pointed out. "There are powerful people helping him."
"Tell the Hidden Clan to investigate this!" Guzhen bellowed.
Swoosh!
An elderly man suddenly appeared in front of them. "The people who are helping him are from the Time Pavilion, which was established by Ye Guan's mother, Qin Guan.
"They're a mysterious organization, so we know little about them. All we know is that they possess advanced technology, and they're extremely powerful but in a way that none of you can ever imagine. All of you should be wary of them."
The elderly man then turned around and left.
The Time Pavilion? Guzhen frowned.
The Time Reversers were puzzled as well. It was their first time hearing of the so-called Time Pavilion. However, the elderly man had already left, so they couldn't ask any questions even if they wanted to know more about the Time Pavilion.
Left with no other choice, they could only continue their chase after Ye Guan. It couldn't be helped. Ye Guan had become a walking Ancestral Origin, and everyone wanted a piece of him.
...
Under Elder Feng's lead, Ye Guan flew against the flow of the Time River.
Ye Guan suddenly asked, "Elder Feng, I remember you said that my mother has founded the Time Pavilion in the Time River. Is that true?"
Elder Feng nodded. "Yes."
"When was it established?" asked Ye Guan. He was truly curious about the Time Pavilion.
"The Pavilion Master had laid out the foundations in the Time River a long time ago, but at the time, everyone was focused only on researching new technology in the Time River.
"It was only after her marriage did she decide to develop the Time Pavilion by recruiting powerful individuals. The Grand Heavenly Sovereign is from the Time Pavilion."
Ye Guan was stunned. The Grand Heavenly Sovereign is actually under Mother's command?
Ye Guan was both surprised and touched. It turned out that his mother had never truly left his side. She had simply decided to quietly assist Ye Guan from the shadows.
"However, the strength of the Time Pavilion is still inferior to that of the Past Clan, which is why we've always been hiding in the shadows. My plan is to take you to Guanxuan City. The Pavilion Master has made that city for you, and it should guarantee your safety for a month."
"Is there anything that Mother wants me to do?"
"She wants you to head to Guanxuan City and take advantage of the arrays there to buy yourself some time."
"I see. Anyway, where is she right now?"
"I don't know. Her exact whereabouts have always been a mystery. We've never known her whereabouts; she can contact us, but we can never contact her."
Ye Guan nodded. "I see."
Elder Feng stared at the distant end of the Time River with a serious expression.
"We're almost there," Elder Feng remarked.
Rumble!
Rumbling noises echoed just then as dozens of powerful auras swept toward them from behind. Elder Feng's face changed drastically. "The mysterious army is here. I didn't expect that they'd catch up to us so quickly."
Ye Qingqing looked behind and saw the faint outlines of dozens of figures in the distance. Ye Qingqing's expression became heavy, which was a rare sight to see.
Just then, three black-robed people rushed toward them. Ye Guan's expression changed, and he was about to make a move, but Elder Feng hurriedly said, "Hold on, Young Master. They are our people."
The three black-robed people rushed past them and charged at the mysterious army. Moments later, over a dozen mushroom clouds erupted, and the scorching heat of the explosion swept in all directions.
Ye Qingqing's eyes narrowed, and she waved her sleeve. A burst of sword light erupted and enveloped the three of them.
Ye Guan looked at the terrifying mushroom clouds in shock. "Senior, are they taking down those people with them?"
Elder Feng replied, "Young Master, don't think too much into it. Those aren't real people; they're refined puppets that we made for the sole purpose of bringing their opponents down with them to the afterlife. They're not sentient at all."
Ye Guan fell silent, and he was starting to understand his mother's intelligence and cunningness.
Elder Feng wanted to say something more, but dozens of powerful auras swept toward them from behind. Ye Guan turned and saw that the mushroom clouds had already been dispersed by the powerful army. Dozens of ghost-like figures had emerged from the clouds and were chasing after them.
Elder Feng's expression changed drastically. "Young Master, let's go!"
With that, the three of them picked up the pace.
Ye Guan looked back and saw that the mysterious army was moving so quickly that he couldn't even make out their figures—all he could see were the figures' afterimages!
Ye Guan's expression darkened. The ghost-like figures were so fast that Ye Guan knew they'd catch up to them in less than ten minutes. Ye Guan had to admit that he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing—the ghost-like figures were even stronger than the Dark Dragon Guards of the Ancient Clan. It was simply unbelievable!
Ye Qingqing suddenly yelled, "The both of you should go ahead first!"
"No!" Ye Guan protested.
Ye Qingqing stared at Ye Guan and said, "Go and follow him to Guanxuan City. Your mother said that the city will help you buy you a month's time, and time is what you need the most right now."
Having said her piece, Ye Qingqing turned around.
However, Ye Guan grabbed her arm and exclaimed, "No!"
Ye Guan didn't want to leave Ye Qingqing behind, as he knew that the mysterious army was chasing after Ye Qingqing as well. If he were to leave Ye Qingqing behind, they'd gladly take that opportunity to kill Ye Qingqing once and for all.
Ye Qingqing stared intently at Ye Guan and said, "They're too fast. I have to stop them, or there's no way you can shake them off."
"I—" Ye Guan started.
However, Ye Qingqing interrupted Ye Guan, saying, "Are you seriously going to be so childish and reckless right now? Just let me stay here and stall for time. It's not like I'm so incompetent that I can't escape here on my own."
Ye Qingqing shook Ye Guan off and turned to charge at the mysterious army. Ye Qingqing was furious. How am I supposed to reveal my true strength when you're sticking so close to me like this? Pretending to be weak is really suffocating.
Rumble!
A rumbling noise erupted just then, and Ye Qingqing's face changed drastically. She turned around and saw Ye Guan covered in a crimson light from top to bottom.
The crimson light resembled blood, so it made Ye Guan appear as if he were drenched in blood.
Ye Guan had chosen to completely activate his Mad Demon Bloodline, allowing himself to succumb to madness!
Ye Qingqing was dumbfounded.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦