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Ye Zichen was walking toward the elevators when his foot froze mid-step.

His body was screaming at him that if he took even one more step forward, he might very well leave his life behind here.

A deep sense of impending crisis left him unable to leave recklessly. Still facing the elevators, he took a few deep breaths, and his fist surreptitiously clenched and unclenched within his sleeves.

He then replaced the grim look on his face with a smile and walked on back. "Gu…"

Before Ye Zichen could even respond, he saw the shattered tea table. It was nothing but powder now.

His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. Although smashing a tea table to powder wouldn't have been difficult for Ye Zichen either, that Gu Xuande had done such a thing meant he'd obviously lost his temper.

When an emperor lost his temper, blood flowed like rivers.

Although Gu Xuande wasn't a Realm Emperor, his position exceeded theirs.

So long as he wished it, turning all of the Upper Three Realms into his playthings was well within the realm of possibility. There was no need to even say it, but obviously, he could easily destroy Ye Zichen here and now, too.

A half-step transcendent!

If he wanted to kill Ye Zichen, it'd be as easy as snapping his fingers!

"Young man, with that personality of yours, you're just begging for a beating. Do you know that?" Gu Xuande's eyes were now full-on triangles, and although Ye Zichen wasn't sure when it had gotten there, he was puffing away at a cigar. He crossed his legs, and he no longer seemed the least bit like the leader of his family. This was clearly just some hoodlum!

He waggled his foot, leaned back into his chair, and from time to time, blew smoke rings.

"Do you have any idea whose territory this is? This is my territory. Ask anybody around—anyone can tell you that when you meet Gu Xuande, you have to get down on your knees and wag your tail like a dog. Who the hell do you think you are? Do you think you can just come and go as you please? Without showing my any respect at all?"

Gulp.

What was happening?

Did Gu Xuande have a split personality? Had his other self appeared? Why did he talk so much like a member of society's dark underbelly?

Gu Xuande let out a puff of smoke, stared at the stunned Ye Zichen, and frowned. "Young man, I'm talking to you! Don't play dumb. You talked just fine a moment ago, didn't you?"

"Ma'am, is there something wrong with your husband's brain?" The matter with Gu Xuande was a bit serious; he really did seem like a completely different person. Ye Zichen didn't want to talk to someone so clearly mentally ill, so he could only turn to.

"He…" Qing Li's eyes lit up, but before she could answer, Gu Xuande flung his cigar to the ground.

"Whose brain did you say has problems? If you've got the guts, say that one more time!" He looked like he wanted to skin Ye Zichen alive. The flung cigar rolled several meters on the ground.

Cyan smoke billowed from the cigar's pitch-black tip. Gu Xuande then patted his chair and starting getting up, as if intent on duking it out with Ye Zichen. However, a long time passed without any further movements….

"Qing Li, what are you doing? Hurry up and stop me!"

"Oh oh okay!" Qing Li rushed over.

Only then did Gu Xuande rise to his feet, howling and screaming as if intent on charging Ye Zichen with all his might. "Don't stop me! Today, I'm going to kill that pipsqueak and have a drink."

"……"

There really was something wrong with his brain, right?

Ye Zichen stood a few meters away, watching Gu Xuande clown around. He looked utterly befuddled.

By complete coincidence, the cigar rolled right over to his feet. He casually bent over to pick it up; he wanted to see whether or not it was a product of the Modern Realm too.

"Who said you could touch that?"

As soon as he picked up the cigar, Ye Zichen felt a suction pull it out of his hand, and it flew back to Gu Xuande.

Gu Xuande put it right back in his mouth.

Seeing this, Ye Zichen sneered. He was all but certain that Gu Xuande had fallen ill, and seriously at that. At a time like this, all they could do was contact a mental asylum and have the patient undergo systematic treatment.

For someone like Gu Xuande, who could be a menace to society, they had to treat him extra thoroughly.

Unfortunately, there were no such mental health organizations in the Upper Three Realms.

"Family Head Gu, please calm down! Don't strain yourself!" When dealing with a manic patient, you had to act in accordance with their flare-ups. Ye Zichen bowed, his face nothing but smiles.

Seeing this, Gu Xuande really didn't seem quite as manic as before. A cold snort left his nostrils, and he sat back down in his wooden chair. "You've learned fear?"

"Yes! I'm afraid, very afraid. You're the head of the Gu Family, a peerless expert, a half-step transcendent. This junior is nothing but an ordinary ruler; I've yet to condense even a single dao heart. How could I not be afraid?"

"Hmph. It seems you do know what's good for you." Gu Xuande let out an unbridled snort. With the cigar in his mouth, his words were a bit muffled and unclear. "In that case, I'll ask you one more time. Are you going to join the Gu Family? Or not?"

"I won't."

"That right…" Gu Xuande instinctively laughed, but suddenly, the satisfied look on his face disappeared. He took out his cigar, then stared, eyes wide. "What did you just say? It seems I didn't quite hear you clearly."

"You ought to have a healer take a look at you, then," said Ye Zichen. "I said I'm not joining."

"You #[email protected]!%…."

This time, Qing Li understood what to do. As soon as Gu Xuande started glaring, she rushed to hold him back, and no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't rise to his feet.

"Qing Li, hurry up and undo the barrier!" Gu Xuande glared at her.

"What do you mean? Didn't you want me to stop you?" asked Qing Li in confusion.

"No need! I'm really going to die of anger if he goes on like this! I have to crush him to death!" Gu Xuande was beside himself with fury. His divine power surged around him, and without even waiting for Qing Li to undo the barrier, he broke through it himself.

Standing not far away, Ye Zichen felt a violent wind sweep past him. Something, an after-image, blurred through his line of sight.

By the time Ye Zichen realized what was happening, Gu Xuande was already right in front of him, his right hand grabbing Ye Zichen by the collar.

Explosive divine power overflowed, surging around Ye Zichen. The power of a half-step transcendent was far more than Ye Zichen could block. In just a single breath of time, the divine power had ripped his green clothes to shreds of fabric, revealing the tight-fitting swirling flash plate he wore underneath.

"You're clever after all. You know to wear divine battle armor under your clothes." Gu Xuande's face was taut, but the hand clutching Ye Zichen's collar didn't relax in the slightest.

"I just don't know whether that lousy divine artifact of yours will be enough to withstand spatial storms and turbulence."

"What do you mean by that?" Before Ye Zichen could ask any further, he saw Gu Xuande draw his left finger through the space at his side. It was as if he'd cut it open; an enormous rift appeared.

"Xuande!" This time, even Qing Li lost her cool. Earlier, she'd taken all this as a joke, but now, Gu Xuande really seemed to want to dispose of Ye Zichen.

Spatial turbulence! Even a titled emperor would have a hard time making it back alive once they fell into it!

"I'll ask you one last time: will you join the Gu Family? Or not?"