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Their 'performance?"

The god race supremes were at a bit of a loss. They couldn't help but wonder to themselves, "Does he want us to put on a talent show?"

This was really putting them in a tight spot!

After all, all of these supremes had a high status on the Divine Mountains, and had always paid attention to their image.

They might listen to songs or watch specialty shows in their spare time, but only the lowest-level of society made their living putting on such performances.

Now Ye Zichen wanted them to put on a show? Would they throw away their dignity just to stay alive?

Obviously they would.

Their hesitation only lasted a few seconds before a supreme who carried twin hammers stepped forth. He was two meters tall and covered in muscle; he looked explosively powerful. And yet, bafflingly, he suddenly started using his natal weapons to put on an acrobatics show.

Now that someone had taken the lead, the others didn't hesitate any longer. Some of them put on spear dances, others recited poetry or sang, others swallowed swords or balanced jugs on their heads….

They each fully displayed their unique talents! The only exception was Chen Jiannan. In truth, he wanted to put on a show too, but in the end, he chose to preserve his dignity instead.

Chi Mei's jaw dropped. She'd never seen a sky supreme perform acrobatics. The representatives of the Sea of Innocence and Four Directions Palace grew red-faced and flushed with embarrassment. This was too humiliating!

They couldn't help but look at Ye Zichen, then back at the supremes putting on a show with all their might. Finally, they closed their eyes.

"What are they doing?" Even Ye Zichen was at something of a loss. He told them to perform, but they'd taken his words literally?

Had they cultivated their brains out of their skulls?

Didn't they notice the hints they gave him?

Even if they wanted to perform, what was all this? Their acrobatics were neither exciting nor entertaining, their poetry was so bad, it left him speechless, and their folk dances hurt his eyes.

"Stop!" Ye Zichen really couldn't watch any more of this, so he called them to a halt. "What are you doing?"

The supremes looked at him in confusion. Hadn't Ye Zichen ordered them to put on a show? Why was he stopping them?

"Why are you stopping them? It was fun!" objected Chi Mei.

"If you want to watch this, you can watch it at home."

If she thought these glaringly-terrible performances were interesting, Ye Zichen was really worried about her sense of aesthetics. Besides, his goal really wasn't to watch them perform.

"Whatever else we say about you, you're sky supremes. Don't you have any dignity?" After silencing Chi Mei, he turned to the supremes in exasperation. "I'm embarrassed on your behalf!"

"Your Excellency, didn't you…" said one of the supremes, but when Ye Zichen glared at him, he swallowed his words.

"What about me?" said Ye Zichen. "I told you to perform, but I say to balance jugs or swallow swords? What I meant was…."

He rubbed his fingers together. This time, they noticed the tiny motion and understood just what it was Ye Zichen wanted.

They hurriedly removed their spatial rings, tossed them into a pile, and delivered them to Ye Zichen.

Money and possessions were outside objects. They were sky supremes! So long as they were alive, they could earn them all back.

Before long, Ye Zichen had twelve new spatial rings. These belonged to sky supremes, so they were much higher-class than the ones Ye Zichen had taken from the Axe Gang back in the Lower Lands.

His divine awareness scanned the rings' contents. The space within was breathtakingly vast, and they contained quite a collection of resources. "Not bad."

He smiled at the sky supremes in satisfaction. They smiled back obsequiously and nodded.

Ye Zichen paid them no further heed. Instead, he turned to Chen Jiannan. "You…"

The other sky supremes looked at him too. He was the only one who hadn't paid Ye Zichen's "protection fee." Those who were on good terms with Ye Zichen sent him private transmissions, urging him to hurry up and offer his ring.

Chen Jiannan felt utterly wretched! This was truly far too vexing!

Ever since he was a child, he'd always been a proud chosen of heaven, an existence others looked up to. As an immortal king, he gained admission to the Lightning Emperor's clan as an inner sect disciple, and he'd been walking on clouds ever since.

Yet now he'd let a mere earth supreme capture him, and he had to give up his money to save his life?

He truly couldn't bear it?

"What are you just standing there for? What, do you want to die?"

Ye Zichen's words brought Chen Jiannan to his senses. He was like a fish on the chopping block. No matter how angry he was, what could he do? He was strong, but could he overpower the Yao-Sealing Pagoda's army?

Could he overpower a ruler?

He gnashed his teeth, lowered his head, removed his ring, and placed it into Ye Zichen's open hand.

Ye Zichen scanned the contents. Wow! No wonder this guy was the sky supremes' leader!

Chen Jiannan's wealth was comparable to the other sky supremes combined. He had a veritable mountain of coins and countless divine grasses and medicines.

However….

"Where did that divine sword of yours run off to?"

"I broke it. Didn't you see me?" Chen Jiannan frowned.

"Don't try and pull one over on me," snorted Ye Zichen. "The blade you broke was completely different from the one you were wielding earlier. Do you think I didn't notice? Hurry up! I took a fancy to your sword, so hand it over!"

"Don't push me too far!"

"Do you want to die?"

Thunk!

Chen Jiannan shoved his divine sword into the ground directly before Ye Zichen's feet. Ye Zichen smiled at the ashen-faced sky supreme, plucked the sword from the dirt, then passed it to the ruler expert. "Could you help me erase his imprint?"

Given his relationship with Chi Mei, Elder Liu agreed. He reached out and erased Chen Jiannan's mark.

Chen Jiannan immediately sensed his connection with his sword disappear. He coughed up a mouthful of heart's blood. He'd nourished that sword with his blood essence for thousands of years. Losing his connection with it starkly reduced his strength.

"It's really not bad." The words "Sound of the Sea" were emblazoned on the blade; that must be its name.

Ye Zichen fiddled with it. He couldn't help but smile. In the past, he'd used immortal artifacts, then demigod artifacts. Now, finally, he'd made the switch to proper divine artifacts.

"Alright then, I've already felt your sincerity. You can go. You're all safe now." He placed the divine sword into the Yao-Sealing Pagoda. "But Chen Jiannan, you can't leave."

"What do you mean by this?" Chen Jiannan roared, "I did everything you asked! You…"

"Don't get so worked up." Ye Zichen looked at him and shook his head. "You passed my test, but you haven't passed Chi Mei's yet."

He looked at her, and shot her a meaningful look with all his might. "Has he, Chi Mei?"

The others were one thing, but Chen Jiannan? He could forget about leaving this place!