Clang!
Two swords met.
Thud!
One of the sword wielders was thrown back.
"Ugh!"
It was Wang Yao.
He gritted his teeth and looked up.
Bam!
Before he could even move his head, a kick landed right on his head, stomping his face on the ground.
He was unconscious once again.
"Alright, stop."
A voice entered Ye Tian Yun's head, making his whole body freeze.
He calmed himself down and moved back.
"Give him another kick."
Another voice rang. Unexpectedly, this was Wang Yao - albeit the older version residing in Ye Tian Yun's consciousness.
Ye Tian Yun frowned but didn't kick the young Wang Yao anymore.
His mind was currently in turmoil.
'What happened to me?'
He had many questions.
However, there was no one to answer him.
'Maybe I should be Wang Yao…'
Maybe except for the older Wang Yao.
'But first, I need to go out…'
Ye Tian Yun took a deep breath and turned around, "We started on the wrong foot. I will take my leave for today."
"It's alright," City Lord Wang said, "I hope Wang Yao gets serious about cultivation after this meeting. The reason why I didn't interfere earlier was that I knew the outcome of this exchange."
Ye Tian Yun frowned.
He couldn't tell what City Lord Wang was trying to say.
'No one here even has the Token Of Fate's favourability prompt…'
This was what made things even weirder.
Unlike the earlier times, Ye Tian Yun couldn't see the favourability of anyone in this room.
In fact, there wasn't any prompt even on Butler Liu.
'What in the world is going on?'
He really had quite a lot of unanswered questions.
But before thinking about anything else, Ye Tian Yun wished to leave this place,
There was something that made him averse to this place with every passing second.
Just then, City Lord's words rang out once again in Ye Tian Yun's ears.
This time, however, he was talking to Ling Qing'er who was still standing in shock.
"Qing'er, it's time for you to return to your home. You have been here since you were just a year old, but this is not your home."
Tears began to wellup in Ling Qing'er's eyes, "uncle WAng, I… I don't want to go… please don't send me…"
Madam Wang, who had just put another pill in Wang Yao's mouth, raised her head, and with a doting expression, she said to Ling Qing'er, "Child, this will always be your home. But you must go for now."
"And don't you dare hold a grudge against the Great Ling Clan. Your father had to put a stone on his heart when he decided to bring you here. I have always told you, it was for your safety."
"But Aunt…" Ling Qing'er pursed her lips, "You said we can wait till my physique wakes up, but nothing had happened yet."
Butler Liu spoke at this time, "Miss Ling, there's something important happening in your Clan, and your parents wish for you to return as soon as possible."
Ling Qing'er then glanced at the unconscious Wang Yao, "Can… Can we at least wait till Brother Wang wakes up? I don't want to go without saying goodbye to him."
City Lord Wang nodded, "Sure. They can wait."
Ye Tian Yun suddenly heard an angered voice in his head, "That bastard doesn't deserve Qing'er's love!"
It was the older Wang Yao.
And he was talking about…. Himself?
Ye Tian Yun was confused why would Wang Yao be angry at the younger Wang Yao?
In fact, why would he even react against anything?
This was… weird.
But before Ye Tian Yun could ask Wang Yao about this, City Lord Wang turned towards the former and said, "Nephew Yun, have some rest for a few hours. And don't go before you eat. You may not know, but your aunt's cooking is very good."
Ye Tian Yun simply nodded and followed City Lord Wang outside with Butler Liu following the two of them.
Meanwhile, Madam Wang and Ling Qing'er stayed behind to tend Wang Yao's wounds.
…
Upper Heavens.
In a huge palace, which is famously known as the most powerful existence in the cultivation world, someone fell on their knees and coughed blood.
The gender couldn't be told, neither was the face visible because of dim light in the room, but it could be made out from their silhouette that this person was severely injured.
"Ugh… I did it…"
The figure greeted his teeth and popped a few highest-grade medicinal pills in his path.
"These injuries won't heal with pills." Someone's voice rang through the hall.
Slowly footsteps approached the kneeling figure.
"I told you to be careful."
The figure gritted his teeth, "It went well. The rivalry between Ye Tian Yun and Wang Yao should now begin. I am sure the System had given the quest to kill Ye Tian Yun by now. Now that transmigrated soul has a mission to bring down Ye Tian Yun and make him return to his roots."
"Hm, good." The figure nodded, "How did you do it? Were you really able to influence both of them?"
The injured person nodded his head.
"Yes. I manipulated their thoughts and forcefully made them hostile to each other. For the transmigrator, it wasn't much. But Ye Tian Yun might get suspicious because he didn't act his usual self."
"Oh?" The standing figure turned around and walked to the nearby window.
Glancing outside at the thousands of Saint Realm disciples focused on cultivation, the figure smiled and said, "Well, Ye Tian Yun broke away from the time-cycle and now has the Emblem Of Time."
"We can't let him grow any stronger. Talk to the Heavenly Oracle Sect, and make them move. No… wait…. Those kids might harm Ye Tian Yun too much and we might lose our biggest asset."
"What should I do then?" The injured figure spoke with his hands pressing on his chest.
The silhouette beside the window turned around, and asked, "Can you influence someone's emotions again?"
"NO!" The injured figure immediately shook his head, "influencing emotions is highly taboo and might lead to death if done just one time. And I have already done this twice. I can't use it again. If I try, there's almost no chance of success and I know I won't survive."
After a small pause, the figure continued, "I don't think we should push the limits. Since the original timeline is broken, we need to be careful as to not make it fully unpredictable."
"I have already influenced Ye Tian Yun and Wang Yao to become enemies on a stupid joke. If we do anything else, I am sure we will be found out. We can't risk the whole plan just on two kids."
The figure beside the window thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, I was being too irrational. We have the advantage, so there's no need to rush. We don't need to interfere with Wang Yao's life now. He has a target, and a big help - the Emblem System."
"For now, we will focus on destroying the Great Ye Corps. Spies have noticed moments among the survivors, and I think this time Emperor Ye might come back to the Upper Heavens."
"Emperor Ye!?" The injured figure's face lost its color out of fear.
The whole Upper Heavens was afraid of two things - the Heavens itself and the legendary Emperor who once alone wrecked the whole Upper Heavens - Emperor Ye Tian Xuan.