Gan Yuan

"Here we are."

Ding Qing and her comrades snapped back into their senses when they heard Rozen's words, and they found a mountain was already right in front of their eyes before they realized it.

"What? Already?"

They were dumbfounded since barely that much time had passed, yet they already arrived at their destination. They were even prepared to die when they hopped onto Yi Tianyun's raft.

"You can reach a peak by climbing this path. It shouldn't be that hard." Yi Tianyun said as he stepped down from the boat.

There was no other cultivator in the area because Yi Tianyun had already absorbed the black clouds the last time he was there, allowing the cultivators to climb the peak safely.

"This... Don't tell me you're actually the Great Emperor of the Heavenly Cloud Empire?" Ding Qing had a hard time processing all the strange things that have happened.

"Mm." Yi Tianyun nodded and left after saying that.

He helped them cross the Netherworld River because Ding Qing was a nice person. However, he had no intention to go to the Ghost World with them.

Considering his current circumstances, going to the Ghost World would be dangerous, so taking others with him was out of the question.

Ding Qing wanted to say something as he watched Yi Tianyun's back that slowly disappeared from her sight, but she refrained from doing so.

"Sister Ding, we are not dreaming, right? He is the Great Emperor of the Heavenly Cloud Empire... I heard that he is invisible, often disappeared from the Heavenly Cloud Empire, but I never thought that he would appear before us."

"Yes. Fortunately, I did not say anything rude earlier; otherwise, I would end up like Liu De, thrown into the Netherworld River full of poison."

"He really is something else. Who would have thought that someone that young is a Great Emperor? I have to be more careful not to offend anyone by mistake in the future."

Every single one of them reflected on their mistakes. They shuddered as the scene when Liu De was thrown into Netherword River kept playing their heads.

Ding Qing nodded without saying anything. No one there, not even Ding Qing herself, could comprehend why Yi Tianyun gave her special treatment.

For Yi Tianyun, someone as kind as Ding Qing was quite rare in this cruel world, hence the special treatment she gave her.

...

Yi Tianyun returned to the misty woods, but this time, he took a different route, there was no path leading to his destination, yet he kept going, and not long after, he arrived at another mountain.

He climbed up with his bare hands. A monster lurking in the dark watched Yi Tianyun closely, ready to ambush him, but when it sensed Yi Tianyun's intimidating, it changed its mind and decided to lay low for the moment.

Shortly after, Yi Tianyun reached the peak, where there was no death mist. He did, however, found an abandoned hut.

He walked over and gently pushed open the door, which was covered with dust. Only God knew how long this hut had been abandoned.

"Seems like the guardian who used to live here has left..." Yi Tianyun frowned.

That hut was supposed to be where one of the guardians was supposed to live according to the memory that he obtained from the Heavenly Rock Suppressing Ancient Tablet.

However, that place was abandoned, and nobody knew where that guardian was.

The Ghost World had become so dangerous lately, mainly because of the guardian's absence. A lot of Divine Runes there were out of order due to the long period of time it was left unattended.

The guardians were obliged to protect the passage they were left in charge of for as long as they lived. It might sound inhumane, but there was no other restriction as long as they upheld their duty.

Yet the passage was nowhere near a good condition now. The transmission array above the Ghost World Passage has lost its clarity. At this rate, the passage would disappear in the near future.

It would be a different story if the guardian was already dead, but there was no sign of anyone dying in the hut as far as Yi Tianyun could see, and it seemed like there was more than one person living in the hut.

Yi Tianyun tried to look for any clue, and after a while, he saw a token with the word "Gan Yuan" engraved on it.

"Gan Yuan? Could it be the Heaven Primordial Empire's Great Emperor?" Yi Tianyun's eyes showed a bit of surprise. If that really were the case, it would be a real coincidence.

Although he did obtain the Heaven Creating Divine King's memories from the Heavenly Rock Suppressing Ancient Tablet, he didn't know their names, only their whereabouts.

After all, the Heavenly Rock Suppressing Ancient Tablet was a weapon, not a person, so it didn't provide Yi Tianyun with the details.

He was intrigued when he saw the word "Gan Yuan." If this were somehow related to Heaven Primordial Empire, it would mean that the guardian refused to be bounded to his duty and left to create an Empire of his own!

With their power, creating an Empire was not a problem at all. The Heaven Creating Divine King wouldn't mind if they wanted to establish their own Empire.

However, neglecting his duty to conserve the Ghost World Passage was not acceptable.

If the Heaven Creating Divine King returned and saw the Ghost World Passage in this state, he'd be furious for sure. But then again, no one knew whether the Heaven Creating Divine King was still alive or not.

The guardian that used to live here must've thought that the Heaven Creating Divine King would never come back, hence left this place.

He was obviously different from Ren De, who devoted himself to his duty by staying in that small village as a guardian instead of establishing an empire.

"Looks like I have to make a trip to the Heaven Primordial Empire..."

He planned to ask the guardian who used to live here to protect his Empire, just like Ren De.

Even more so to keep an eye on the sealed demon.

Now, he had to make a trip to the Heaven Primordial Empire, an Empire that was considered relatively low-key.