A significantly larger deal? The middle-aged man was intrigued. "What bigger business is there?"
Ye Guan stared at him. "Your goal is to unite the Mountain Sea World, right?"
The middle-aged man nodded honestly. "Yes."
"Why don't we work together?" Ye Guan suggested.
The middle-aged man stared at Ye Guan without speaking.
"I'm not going to hide it from you. I have many enemies that are raring to kill me, and they're pretty strong. Even the weakest of them is at the Divine Dao Realm..."
"I know. The Qi Family, the Temple of the Gods, and the Dao Market."
Ye Guan was astonished. "You've investigated me?"
The middle-aged man shook his head and replied, "Not really. My subordinate was doing business in Dao Market when he heard of..."
"The Zhou family's store?"
The middle-aged man laughed without saying anything.
"What do you think of my suggestion?" Ye Guan asked.
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Young man. Forgive me for being blunt, but I do not wish to be involved in the matters between you and them. Although I am not afraid of them, there is no need for me to become enemies with them, right?"
"Whatever they have will belong to yours once they're dead."
The middle-aged man remained silent.
Ye Guan was about to speak when the middle-aged man beat him to the chase. "A collaboration is possible, but you have to help me deal with two people. Help me deal with them, and I will work with you."
"Who are they?" Ye Guan asked, sounding curious.
"Not long ago, two outsiders walked in here. One is a Spirit Progenitor, while the other one is an evil beast... their presence here has brought the biggest change to this place's environment since time immemorial."
Ye Guan suddenly shot up and spoke in surprise, "What? A Spirit Progenitor? And an evil beast?"
The middle-aged man looked at Ye Guan. "Yes."
"Is the evil beast a little girl?"
"You know them?"
Ye Guan blinked before speaking seriously, "I won't say that I know them, but they'll definitely give me some face."
The middle-aged man instantly became suspicious.
"Let me deal with the two of them. Once you've united the Mountain Sea World, you have to help me deal with the Gods of the Qi Family, the Temple of the Gods, and the Dao Market."
"Young man, I'm powerful, but I cannot say for sure that I can help you get rid of them... they're powerful as well. Especially the Dao Market, the waters of that place are quite muddy and deep."
"How are you going to deal with them, then?"
"If you can trick them into coming into the Mountain Sea World, then I can kill all the cultivators with below fifty percent divinity. If you want me to go outside, then I can only help you deal with one cultivator that has fifty percent divinity at most. That is my limit."
Ye Guan pondered briefly for a moment before saying, "All right."
The middle-aged man nodded slightly, and then he looked at the Qingxuan Sword in his hand.
"This sword of yours..." the middle-aged man trailed off. He had been holding the sword for quite a while now, but he couldn't feel its presence. Simply put, he couldn't use it at all.
Ye Guan looked at the Qingxuan Sword. "Qingxuan, be obedient."
The Qingxuan Sword trembled slightly, and the middle-aged man could finally feel the presence of the Qingxuan Sword.
The middle-aged man couldn't help but muttered in awe, "This sword is indeed unique. Without the approval of the sword itself, no one will be able to use it."
Ye Guan asked, "Can you deal with that war beast on your own?"
The middle-aged man smiled. "Equipment becomes particularly important in a fight between experts with similar strength."
Shen Ye stared at Ye Guan, "Are you sure they'll give you face? To be frank, that evil beast is very hard to get along with. She's... been eyeing my treasures."
Ye Guan fell into deep contemplation.
Shen Ye shook his head with a smile. "So, it's best to put away your sword when you meet her. Otherwise, she might snatch it away..."
"Haha." Ye Guan chuckled and said, "It's fine. Bring me to meet them."
Seeing Ye Guan's confidence, Shen Ye didn't bother persuading Ye Guan to do otherwise.
"Follow me," Shen Ye said and left.
Ye Guan put away the carcass of that war beast before transforming into a streak of sword light to chase after Shen Ye.
Soon, Shen Ye led Ye Guan to a lake, and he pointed at the bottom of the lake.
"They're down there," Shen Ye said.
Ye Guan was puzzled. "What are they doing down there?"
Shen Ye said in a deep voice, "Searching for treasures."
Ye Guan turned to look at Shen Ye, who added, "They began searching for treasures everywhere the moment they arrived in this world, and that Spirit Progenitor is special. She can find hidden relics and ruins..."
Little White! Ye Guan shook his head with a smile. He knew that Little White had the ability to search for treasures.
Just then, the bottom of the lake trembled slightly.
"Let's go down," Ye Guan said before transforming into a streak of sword light that plunged into the lake.
Shen Ye hesitated briefly before chasing after Ye Guan.
***
There was a hidden world in the depths of the lake, and it was located directly beneath the lake.
A little girl punched the stone door right before her, and the seal on the stone door trembled violently. It fractured, but it didn't shatter.
The little girl was surprised, but she quickly gave it another punch.
Boom!
The stone door finally shattered, revealing a pitch-black corridor reminiscent of the abyss.
The little girl scooped the white-furred creature into her arms before walking down the corridor without bothering to hide her presence. She looked around and saw countless blood-red runes on the walls of the corridor.
The little girl merely glanced at the runes before licking her candied hawthorn. She wasn't concerned at all, as evil things had always felt cozy to her.
Soon, Erya brought Little White to a door. The door was blood-red as if it were made of blood, making it appear extremely eerie.
Erya licked her candied hawthorn and punched the door.
Bang!
The blood-red door trembled violently and cracked, but it didn't shatter.
Erya frowned and punched it again.
Boom!
The blood-red door was reduced to ashes.
Swoosh!
The mysterious blood-red runes on the walls of the corridor were set ablaze, becoming ashes at the same time as the blood-red door.
Erya frowned, realizing that she had shattered some kind of seal.
"Haha..." A peal of boisterous laughter suddenly came from behind the door. "Ten thousand years! It's been ten thousand years! I can finally come out! Haha..."