Chapter 393

Chapter 393: Are You Teaching Me How to Work?

"Master, sales have broken two hundred sixty billion in just half a day."

Su Mu flushed with excitement as he presented the recorded figures to Ye Xu.

"That little?" Ye Xu’s brows knitted briefly. Once the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings was announced, every true immortal and Immortal King across all realms would surely learn of it. Two thousand six hundred people in half a day was merely a drop in the bucket.

Su Mu clicked his tongue inwardly; Ye Xu’s greed truly knew no bounds. Hundreds of billions of Star Yuan, yet he called it insufficient.

"The world of the mighty—I truly do not comprehend it," Su Mu sighed.

Recalling his past life, he had merely been an Immortal King, encountering barely a handful of Immortal Venerables. This lifetime, not only had he met the Heavenly Emperor, the human ancestor, and the Mad Daoist, but he’d even laid eyes on Alien Universe Immortal Emperors.

Swoosh!

Right then, a streak of light landed before Heaven’s Secret Pavilion. Dust-covered and grim-faced, Qin Yu strode inside without hesitation.

"Qin Yu of the Purple Star Heavenly Court pays his respects to the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion." Qin Yu clasped his hands in salute.

Ye Xu’s eyes gleamed—an Immortal Emperor with the Three Yuan Proof!

"Daoist friend, such formality is unnecessary."

Ye Xu smiled lightly. "As one of only two Immortal Emperors within the Purple Star Heavenly Court, you stand second only to the highest authority. There is no need for such courtesy."

"You overpraise me, Master," Qin Yu replied. "Pleading for the people has nothing to do with status or power."

A flicker of surprise crossed Su Mu’s gaze.

Someone from the Purple Star Heavenly Court… speaking words like these?

"Master, your ability to fathom past and future is truly admirable. Even His Majesty speaks of you with utmost reverence," Qin Yu offered respectfully.

Ye Xu narrowed his eyes slightly. His cultivation lay below Qin Yu’s, leaving him unable to pierce the man’s thoughts.

Could the Heavenly Emperor be inviting him to the Purple Star Heavenly Court?

Ye Xu remained silent.

"To speak frankly, I come this time for the sake of all living beings under heaven." Suddenly, Qin Yu dropped to one knee, his expression devout and humble. "I implore you, Master, to show mercy!"

Su Mu jolted in shock. He knew Qin Yu’s reputation—a pivotal figure within the Purple Star Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Emperor’s strongest arm, the very engine driving the court’s function. That such a towering loyalist would kneel before Ye Xu was utterly unforeseen.

Frowning, Ye Xu stirred with a thought. An invisible force lifted Qin Yu gently until he stood once more.

Qin Yu’s face betrayed no emotion, yet inwardly, awe gripped him.

Rumors claimed the master of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion resided in the transcendent realm. This meeting likely confirmed it.

"Daoist friend, within Heaven’s Secret Pavilion, all are guests. Such gestures are unneeded," Ye Xu stated lightly. "What meaning lies behind your earlier words? Do you hold that the release of the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings has sown chaos beneath the heavens?"

The timing was unmistakable—Qin Yu’s arrival, precisely after the list’s publication, clearly tied to it. Yet Ye Xu couldn’t grasp how unveiling the rankings affected all mortal lives. His intention had been simple profit.

"Esteemed Senior." Qin Yu’s tone shifted to profound deference. "With the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings unveiled, all know the strength of others, and the prowess of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion itself. Those named upon it… most bear deep-seated vendettas. It will inevitably ignite a storm of bloodshed."

"What does this have to do with me?" Ye Xu’s expression turned slightly cold. "Moreover, those on the list mostly stole the power of heaven and earth to sustain themselves. Even if they truly perished, it would not harm the common people."

"Senior, have you ever considered that His Majesty might die because of this?"

Qin Yu gathered his courage and finally voiced his viewpoint.

"As is known to all, the Heavenly Dao governs the universe’s operation, the changing of the seasons, and the rise and fall of all things. Those top cultivators with the Three Yuan Proof, wishing to transcend, must first surmount this barrier of the Heavenly Dao."

"In their eyes, the Heavenly Dao is the greatest stumbling block!"

Ye Xu’s heart trembled slightly inside.

He vaguely grasped Qin Yu’s implication.

In the past, the top cultivators who entered Heaven’s Secret Pavilion were merely the Heavenly Emperor, the human ancestor, and the Mad Daoist. Though they were powerful, their aims were distinct.

More critically, the true prowess of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion had failed to make a deep impression on those supreme cultivators.

But the release of the unparalleled rankings made everyone witness the might of Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

If one wished to kill, they could now rely on Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s hand.

Moreover.

For cultivators in the Immortal Emperor realm, the Heavenly Dao looming overhead was like a mountain. To transcend and ascend, they first had to remove this mountain from above them.

The emergence of the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings gave many Immortal Emperors hope for slaying the Heavenly Dao and shifting the mountain away.

"Senior, if the Heavenly Dao collapses, the world will descend into chaotic disorder. The entire universe might implode as a result, bringing calamity upon all living beings!"

Qin Yu appeared profoundly impassioned, every word striking forcefully.

Fearing his speech might unsettle morale, he had not dared utter it within the Purple Star Heavenly Court.

He believed the Son of Heaven understood this too.

Thus, Qin Yu personally came to Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

Su Mu’s heart pounded fiercely.

He also had not anticipated that the birth of the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings would wield such immense influence.

If Qin Yu’s words held truth, the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings was like a life-taking talisman targeting the Son of Heaven.

He dared not imagine what chaos the world would face if the Heavenly Dao crumbled.

"Very logical."

Ye Xu nodded.

Qin Yu’s eyes sparkled as if seeing hope.

"Senior, if you can remove His Majesty and the cultivators of the Purple Star Heavenly Court from the unparalleled rankings, Qin Yu vows to report to His Majesty and secure a price that satisfies you."

"Are you instructing me on how to act?"

Ye Xu’s gaze chilled slightly as he spoke lightly: "You should realize that spilled water cannot be gathered back."

"Once the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings was released, there was no retrieving it."

"Otherwise, Heaven’s Secret Pavilion’s credibility would suffer damage."

"This junior dares not."

Qin Yu knelt on the ground with a bang, fists clenched tight.

This time, Ye Xu did not use his strength to help him rise.

In his heart, Ye Xu sighed softly; though Qin Yu’s words had their own logic, what was done could not be undone. Once he removed the experts of the Purple Star Heavenly Court from the unparalleled rankings, how could he account for it to the world?

His hard-earned reputation from running Heaven’s Secret Pavilion would likely collapse because of this.

"Senior, I have another compromising method."

Qin Yu had seen the contents of the Golden List of the Unparalleled Rankings; it was very brief, lacking any fatal information about the Son of Heaven. He looked at Ye Xu and said, "The Purple Star Heavenly Court wishes to buy out all His Majesty’s information, hoping Heaven’s Secret Pavilion won’t reveal it to outsiders."

Ye Xu lightly tapped the armrest with his fingers, a strange smile on his face. "Qin Yu, you’re an Immortal Emperor too, having toiled hard to cultivate to the Three Yuan Proof. Don’t you wish to transcend?"

"I do."

Qin Yu nodded.

"In that case, you should grasp how the heavenly path suppresses cultivators," Ye Xu said coldly. "From the highest Innate Divine Beings to the common masses, none escape its control."

"If the heavenly path were destroyed, your transcendence path would no longer be hindered by the rules of the heavenly path."

"But if, for personal gain, one shatters the heavenly path’s shackles and brings disaster to the people, it dishonors the ancestors above and betrays the masses below."

"What point is there in defying your own will?"

Qin Yu’s eyes burned intensely, filled with passion as he stared straight at Ye Xu.

Ye Xu shook his head gently.

At last, he understood why Qin Yu was valued by the Son of Heaven. This was no cultivator yearning for personal power; Qin Yu resembled a governor who thrived under rules.

He lacked the human ancestor’s self-sacrificing courage but wasn’t crazy like Mad Daoist, Li Ruoyu, or others.

Qin Yu had a firm baseline he rigidly upheld.

"Go back."

Ye Xu said, "You can’t afford it."

Those who wanted the Son of Heaven dead weren’t one Immortal Emperor but a group of Immortal Emperors.

Whatever the Purple Star Heavenly Court could offer, that group of Immortal Emperors would surely match.

Ye Xu was a merchant.

Profit came above all.

Plus, the human ancestor was about to recover; with his powers, he could save the Pangu universe again.

If that group of Immortal Emperors and Innate Divine Beings truly targeted the Son of Heaven, he didn’t mind obliging the human ancestor once more, aiding his full merit attainment for transcendence.

"Senior…"

Qin Yu pleaded bitterly, his smile fading into sorrow.

"You go back."

Ye Xu summoned magical force, and Qin Yu was ejected from Heaven’s Secret Pavilion.

"Can the human ancestor still save the world this time?" Qin Yu mumbled.

He knew the human ancestor wasn’t dead.

Yet last time, the Immortal Realm’s collapse threatened all people; this time, it targeted the Son of Heaven.

After all, a small conflict existed between the human ancestor and the Son of Heaven.

"Master…"

Su Mu opened his mouth but hesitated to speak.

"Do you also think I’m cold-hearted and a ruthless merchant?" Ye Xu asked.

"Sigh…"

Su Mu sighed, "I just feel the beings of all realms barely survived a crisis under the human ancestor’s shield, and now they face another calamity."

"Who can save them this time?"

"Heehee…"

Ye Xu smiled mysteriously.

"When disaster strikes, the strong bear it; your worrying won’t help."

"Relax."

Ye Xu grinned faintly, "If those guys truly want to kill the Son of Heaven, I’ll surely make them pay dearly, forcing them to bear the cost."