"That was a good show. I hope I didn't keep you bored."
Ye Tian Yun spat on the ground and cracked his neck; he said, "Well, I wasn't bored because they felt more real. The weak and pathetic version of you. But they were the real ones. The one in front of me seems more fake."
Wang Yao shook his head, "Ye Tian Yun, Ye Tian Yun… I think you still haven't understood your own situation here."
"This is my yard," He smirked, "I can make you fight hundreds of me and would love to see you die, but I guess it's your lucky day."
Ye Tian Yun frowned, "You can't kill me?"
"Haha, no, it's just, your time hasn't come yet." Wang Yao smiled, "Before you die, I want to take back something very important from you."
"Hm?" Ye Tian Yun asked, "From me? Didn't you succeed in becoming Heavenly Emperor? What is it that I have that you can't have?"
"Well, it turns out even the Heavenly Emperor can't have everything he wishes for." Wang Yao shrugged.
Ye Tian Yun looked around for a moment, "Where's Xiao Ming?"
"Hm? Are you still interested in that guy? I have already taken care of him." Wang Yao smirked.
"You sent him to a safe place?" Ye Tian Yun smirked, "So much for your future brother, eh?"
"Bah!" Wang Yao sat on the wall in front of him and said, "What brother? Just a bunch of useless baggage!"
"Hm?" Ye Tian Yun got confused by this, "What do you mean?"
Wang Yao shrugged, "Ye Tian Yun, let me tell you, when I first began my journey after our first encounter, I met a lot of talents."
"And one day, I thought of creating a legion of such talented young cultivators who would help me in reaching the peak."
"In the first few stages, they were a huge help. But then, things began to deviate."
"They began to slow me down."
"Even though they had Tokens or Emblems, I was way ahead of them. But I wasn't the Heavenly Emperor as yet. I still needed their presence.
And finally, on an unfortunate day, one of them betrayed me. I was shaken. And from that day, I kept my guard up. I already knew many things about this world, and I learned many things I had no idea about when I was young.
This was when an idea struck me. I wanted to go back. I wanted to restart my journey. I already had two Emblems. Emblem of Time, which you know about, and Emblem Of Chaos, which I got after Shi Yan's death."
"Shi Yan died?" Ye Tian Yun was surprised.
Shi Yan was almost as powerful as Wang Yao, maybe even a bit more powerful. But the most notable thing about him was not his strength but his loyalty.
"Shi Yan was a hard nut to crack," Wang Yao replied, "It pained me when I slit his throat. But he had asked for something that was never his, to begin with. He wanted to be the Heavenly Emperor. That was simply ridiculous."
Ye Tian Yun smirked when he heard this, "In my opinion, Shi Yan deserved the Throne more than you."
Wang Yao narrowed his eyes, "Ye Tian Yun, you do know that this is not the Hundred Realm Refining Stage, right? The difference between our strengths is unsurpassable. So choose your words wisely. Don't forget that I can kill you with a flick of my finger."
"Oh?" Ye Tian Yun smiled at him, "Wang Yao, among both of us, we know who's not afraid of death. And don't you talk about the Hundred Realm Refining Stage. That day, on that stage, we both fought, and I crushed you. If not for the God's Legion's intervention, it would have been you who lost your pathetic life."
"As for you killing me… well, now you have the chance, come on, do it. This is not a storytime, get me some action."
Wang Yao shook his head upon hearing Ye Tian Yun's words, "I will kill you, don't be in a hurry. But, aren't you curious why am I even here? What is actually going on? Or… how did YOU come back in time?"
Ye Tian Yun frowned at him, "Of course, I am curious. But, what are the chances that you will tell me the truth?"
Wang Yao shrugged, "Ye Tian Yun, do you remember the reason why we became enemies?"
Ye Tian Yun slightly nodded, "Of course, I remember. That day I came to your home in the Lower Heavens to fetch the great Ling Clan princess. And you, like an idiot, misunderstood that I was lusting for her beauty."
"Were you not?" Wang Yao frowned, "Also, weren't you engaged to her? How can I remain calm after hearing this? I made it my goal to crush you. Ye Tian Yun, believe me or not, you were my motivation back in those days."
Ye Tian Yun shrugged, "What's the point of discussing all this?"
Wang Yao sighed, "Actually, this talk is important. Maybe not for you, but for me, it is."
"Have you heard of a saying which goes like this, 'there's a mountain beyond the mountain and heaven beyond the heavens.'?"
"Ye Tian Yun, when we were fighting for the Heavenly Emperor's throne, in our minds, that was the peak of the universe."
Ye Tian Yun frowned, "Are you saying it was not?"
"Indeed." Wang Yao glanced at the clear sky above, "The world is beyond our imagination. It's beyond what we could have ever asked for."
"And trust me when I say this, to become Heavenly Emperor, you don't need the Emblems and Tokens alone. You need something else too."
"What?" Ye Tian Yun asked.
Wang Yao let out a sigh and shook his head, "I don't know."
"Hm? You don't know?" Ye Tian Yun was a bit confused, "Didn't you just say that you sat on the Heavenly Emperor's throne? And now you're saying you don't know?"
Wang Yao shook his head, "The world beyond the Middle Heavens is too vast. We, cultivators, are just a drop in the ocean of powerhouses. And to conquer this ocean, I have come here. Because you hold something that can change my fate."