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The essence spirits were really something. Even their speech was as arrogant as could be.

From the thunder essence spirit's words, Ye Zichen could tell that they were indeed the mausoleum's transcendent fortune. They'd been placed here so that they could one day leave with an Emperor Star who'd comprehended the five elements.

But in that case, couldn't they be a bit more obedient?

He was their future master, so why were they making fun of him for no good reason?

"I don't respect you at all"?

Ye Zichen wanted to turn those words right back around!

The others "aren't as magnanimous"?

Tch! Feh!

Wasn't he making himself sound awfully grand?

Ye Zichen twisted his neck and followed the thunder essence spirit further in. The scene before him was quaint and extremely pastoral.

There was a stone table right in front of them, with five stone stools.

The path was made of sandstone, and a dense forest spread out as far as the eye could see. In the distance, there were even hints of flourishing, golden wheat.

But wait, essence spirits shouldn't need to eat, right?

Ye Zichen couldn't help but wonder. The essence spirits most likely consumed the power of the five elements to sustain themselves, just like cultivators absorbed spiritual power. Human cultivators could go months without food without going hungry.

They went to restaurants and taverns, but that was purely to satisfy their tastebuds.

Could it be that the essence spirits were the same way?

There was no sight of any homes in the area, but there were boulders scattered haphazardly along both sides of the path. The water spirit who'd left to disrupt the fire essence spirit's performance slumped on one such boulder. Ye Zichen couldn't help but recall the scroll paintings.

He looked around, then understood: this was the place depicted in the paintings.

The water essence spirit was lazily soaking in the sun…

The sun!

This was a space within the mausoleum. The mausoleum as a whole was in fact another dimension.

Separate dimensions were planes carved out of space; there shouldn't be a sun here!

Ye Zichen suddenly looked into the sky, then found there really was a blazing sun hanging overhead.

"The world is formed of three thousand daos, but the power of the five elements is its fundamental framework."

"Without the five types of elemental essences, there would be no world. The word can exist without the dao, but not without the power of the elements. We five elemental essence spirits leave here, so even though it's technically a separate dimension, you could think of it as a miniature world."

The thunder elemental essence spirit could see Ye Zichen's surprise, so he drifted over and explained.

Ye Zichen nodded. The sun was of the fire element, and without it, plants couldn't grow. Even humans would find it difficult to survive without light. Water nourished all living things. Wind, thunder, and lighting were all indispensable as well.

He could imagine it now: if heaven and earth lost the five elemental essences, it truly couldn't exist. But if the other daos disappeared, it wouldn't shake the world's foundations.

The power of the five elements really was important!

Furthermore, from the thunder elemental essence spirit's words, he could tell that the Grand Dao of the Five Elements was a peerless dao a level above all others.

He'd said it earlier, but the elemental essence spirits all had a lot of personality.

After explaining, the thunder essence spirit didn't say so much as half a sentence more to Ye Zichen. Perhaps he'd explained all that to Ye Zichen simply because he felt like explaining. If he weren't in the mood, he likely wouldn't have said anything even if Ye Zichen begged.

The fire elemental essence spirit was still pressed up against Gu Luolin's chest, taking advantage by playing the petulant child.

Little perv…

How to handle this?

"All of you, come on out!" Although the thunder essence spirit was fourth in seniority, he really did have the air of the leader.

The water essence spirit flipped over, but still lay on top of his boulder, unmoving. And yet, from the look of him, just flipping over had taken most of his energy."

"Miss, let's go sit by the stone table." The fire elemental essence spirit whispered in Gu Luolin's ear.

Ye Zichen had already met these three essence spirits, so he now wanted to meet the remaining two.

A flash of silverly lot shot past Ye Zichen's eyes, and by the time he came to his senses, there was another elemental essence spirit before the stone table. He looked rather similar to the others.

The new arrival sat beside the fire essence spirit and leaned against the table, his arms on its surface. His gaze was locked on Ye Zichen, and he looked him up and down.

Before long, he retracted his gaze. Ye Zichen saw a hint of contempt on his face. "Heh, what pitiful elemental power…"

"Hee hee…." Even the lazy, reclining water essence spirit laughed along.

Gu Luolin stared, then looked at Ye Zichen. "It seems they're laughing at you."

"You know, if you kept quiet, no one would assume you were mute." Ye Zichen gnashed his teeth. His face was practically green.

"Ol' Four, what did you call us over for? Don't tell me the Emperor Star is here? Where is he….? Why don't I see him?"

"That's him, more or less," said the thunder elemental essence spirit.

"No way!" The essence spirit by the table froze, stunned, then looked at Ye Zichen in shock. "You're this era's Emperor Star? I'm truly sorry; I've never seen such pathetic elemental power. I assumed you were the Emperor Star's butler or something."

"Pff!" This time, even Gu Luolin couldn't help but laugh.

Ye Zichen narrowed his eyes and forced himself to maintain his smile.

"Don't sink to their level of brainlessness. All of them elemental essence spirits are weirdos. They're not right in the head. I'm the Emperor Star, so I have to be magnanimous. How could I possibly argue with toddlers?" Ye Zichen inwardly repeated this mantra.

The essence spirit on the stone stool laughed, then turned towards the water essence spirit lounging on the boulder. "What are you hiding over there for? Ol' Four told us to come out!"

Only then did Ye Zichen realize that there was yet another essence spirit hiding behind the boulder. He was peering out from behind the corner, just like in the scroll painting. Only his eyes were visible, and he looked rather fearful.

Ye Zichen flashed him an amiable smile, but to his surprise, the essence spirit only shrunk back.

"Ol' Two, if you're always so afraid of strangers, how are you going to accompany the Emperor Star into battle?" said the essence spirit on the stone stools. The others knew when to call it quits, but this guy's every word was rife with mockery for Ye Zichen.

Ye Zichen really couldn't take it!

"Hey, you!" Ye Zichen picked up a rock and walked up to the seated essence spirit, but just as he was about to act, the thunder essence spirit, the fire essence spirit in Gu Luolin's arms, and the reclining water essence spirit beat him to the punch, practically simultaneously.

A fireball, heavenly lightning, a blast of water…

Mixed in among the three was a blade of pure wind.

Wind.

The one who'd released it was none other than the shy boy poking his head out from behind the rock. It seemed the shy one was the wind essence spirit, while the joker on the stone stool was lightning.

To Ye Zichen's surprise, the essence spirits seemed quite unified. Just as Ye Zichen was about to push back, the other four attacked him, the Emperor Star, in unison.

Before Ye Zichen could take even two steps, three different elemental attacks blocked his path. When Ye Zichen saw this, he merely smiled coldly.

He'd made it this far; he was no soft persimmon, no soft target anyone could play with as they pleased.

He flung the rock in his hand to the dirt, then called upon the power of the five elements. The ambient elemental power was already extremely dense, so skills he'd once been unable to unleash instantaneously were no useable at a moment's notice.

He released four different attacks of concentrated elemental power. They landed accurately on the essence spirits' attacks. At the same time, Ye Zichen didn't slow his advance in the slightest. His hand crackled with electricity as he reached for the lightning essence spirit.

"Heh…." The lightning essence spirit grinned wickedly, then transformed into a streak of lightning and charged straight for Ye Zichen's right arm.

Ye Zichen had to admit that, when it came to control over their respective elements, the essence spirits were skilled. The lightning gathered in Ye Zichen's palm clashed with the lightning that was the lightning essence spirit.

The result? Ye Zichen was pushed dozens of steps back, and his entire arm went numb.

The lightning elemental essence spirit then followed-up without hesitation. The other essence spirits called upon their powers as well, all of them trying to take Ye Zichen down.

"Enough, you guys." Gu Luolin slammed the table, and surging wind elemental power gathered around her.

The fire elemental essence spirit was the first to stop. He blinked, then immediately betrayed his fellows. The fireballs condensed in his hands accurately targeted his brothers.

"Wah! One look at a pretty woman and you throw duty and brotherhood away, huh? We've been together for three whole eras, but you… I don't mean to criticize, but…" The lightning essence spirit looked at the incoming fireball, which was now only about ten meters away, pointed at the fire elemental essence spirit, and shook his head.

Then, he dispersed the lightning gathered around him and sat back down, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

"I don't want to play anymore. It's no fun. Hey! You guys see it too, right? There's a traitor in our midst."

"He's always been like that, though." The water elemental essence spirit dispersed his gathered power too, then slumped over the stone. "Did you forget what he was like when we were with the Second Era's Master of the Stars? He was always running off and sticking to the Emperor Star's wives. In the end, he let those guys destroy the era."

"It's really no good. When the true gods arrive, all they'll have to do is pull out a couple of beauties to tempt you. If they do, won't you just turn around and betray our era's Master of the Stars?" The lightning elemental essence spirit seemed like he was at a loss for words.

"Boss, if you keep acting like this, it really is hard on us." The thunder essence spirit chimed in too.

The wind elemental essence spirit took a few steps out from behind the stone and nodded along.

A moment ago, they and Ye Zichen had their teeth bared and swords drawn, but in a flash, all of them turned their ire on the fire essence spirit. Ye Zichen was strugglin to follow this sudden change.

Gu Luolin dashed over too, looking stunned. "Why are they fighting?"

"How should I know?"

"It seems they're fighting because of me?" Gu Luolin looked at the fire essence spirit, who stood in the center and seemed rather overwhelmed.

Ye Zichen nodded. "It seems like it!"