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Chapter 1553: Release

When had imperial-level experts become so plentiful?

While they weren’t, say, as plentiful as ox hairs, there were far more than they’d imagined. Not even the likes of the Ocean Emperor, a long-established great emperor, had seen these two newly-arrived experts before.

However, what really surprised them was that when they landed beside An Lu, her tears, which she’d stopped after great difficulty, started welling up again. 

“Are you throwing me away?” An Lu rushed up to Gu Li’s side, then looked at him, her eyes misty with tears. “Look at me. Answer me! Are you throwing me away? I don’t want to leave you. I want to be with you forever.”

From beginning to end, Gu Li dared not meet her gaze. An Lu reached out and took his hand directly, only for Gu Li to forcefully break free of her grasp.

Then, he looked at Ye Zichen. “Is that alright?”

“With these two looking after her, it’s true that An Lu can live out her days without fear or worry,” said Ye Zichen. He looked at the two imperial-level women and sighed. It was obvious just from sensing their auras that they were on par with Pu Jingwan. “But I’m sorry: I refuse!”

Instantly, Gu Li tensed and froze.

He wasn’t the only one; even the surrounding great emperors were stunned, especially Yang Jian and the others close to Ye Zichen. All of them knew that he was the soft-hearted type. How could he say that after hearing An Lu’s earnest pleas? How could he say that after hearing everything Gu Li’s humble request? 

All of them thought he’d agree. None of them expected him to refuse!

As for the surrounding demons and enemy yao, their eyes flashed with fury. The moment Gu Li surrendered, their feelings changed completely. Giving up and surrendering meant that, in their hearts, he was no longer the Emperor Star.

They remained still, not out of concern for him, but because of the Sacred Beast Clan reinforcements. Even if they fought and won, they’d suffer enormous casualties. Also, for the sake of transcendence, they had to ally themselves with one Emperor Star other. Fighting would only worsen their relationship.

Ye Zichen’s refusal meant he was planning to keep them all here. His refusal left no room for reconciliation, as there was no way they’d give in without a fight.

“Ye Zichen! Have you thought this through?” Gu Li’z gaze sharped. “You’re saying you want to keep us all here? Even An Lu? Look around you: our army numbers in the hundreds of millions, all of them brave warriors. You think that with this pitiful smattering of people, you can keep us here? I hadn’t realized that you… were such a self-righteous hypocrite. But fine: if you want a mountain of corpses, I’ll stick this out to the very end.”

“Gu Li… Big Brother Zichen…” An Lu stared, dazedly looking between them. She bit her lip and walked up to Ye Zichen. “Big Brother Zichen, I’m willing to take his place, okay? So let him go, please. I’ll stay behind.”

“If you want to stay behind, I’ll naturally welcome you with open arms, but wouldn’t you rather be with Gu Li?” Ye Zichen reached out and patted her on the head. “If he’s not with you, you definitely won’t be happy, right?”  

“Ye Zichen!” Gu Li roared.

It sounded like he was planning to imprison them both.

What a large appetite! With just this handful of subordinates, he wanted to capture the pair of them!

But…..

“You can leave.” Ye Zichen spoke. Gu Li’s hideous expression froze, then faded. He stared at Ye Zichen in a daze, his eyes wide with confusion and disbelief.

“You…” 

“Both of you can leave. I… won’t keep either of you,” said Ye Zichen.

“You’re letting them go?” The head of the Xuanwu Clan was a brawny fellow, and when he heard Ye Zichen’s words, he turned to glare at him. “Kid, who the hell do you think you are? You’re just a trivial little diviner, yet you’re standing there giving orders. You think we’ll let them go just because you tell us to? Wouldn’t that mean our clansmen died for nothing?”

“Watch your mouth.” The silvery edge of a lance suddenly pressed up against his neck. It belonged to Yang Jian! “Let me tell you: that’s Ye Zichen you’re talking to.

“I’ll introduce myself, too. I’m Yang Jian, and even if he’s a diviner, he’s my bro. If you dare insult him again, if you dare go against him again, I’ll cut your tongue out and ferment it!”

“You…” The head of the Xuanwu Clan froze. His clansmen instantly took out their weapons, but as soon as they moved, the experts of the Upheaval Alliance locked onto them.

“Lady Providence, we….” These were their allies, yet now, they were facing each other with weapons drawn. Hu Bazi didn’t quite know what to do, so he couldn’t help but transmit a message to Xuan Ji.

Xuan Ji was a fox, too.

She wasn’t a nine-tailed fox like Su Qingyan. She was merely an ordinary fox with an ordinary bloodline. She’d sent her clansmen to live in nine-tailed fox territory, entrusting them to Su Qingyan’s care. 

But now, the nine-tailed foxes had taken a heavy blow indeed.

Fox Empress Su Qingyan and Clan Head Su Wan’s injuries were so severe, and Xuan Ji didn’t even know whether her clansmen were still alive or not. 

Gu Li was the one behind it all.

Let him go? She wasn’t willing!

“Hurry up and leave before I change my mind. Get out of my sight,” Ye Zichen turned to Gu Li and said coldly.

The demon-yao army was on the verge of retreating, but the Sacred Beast Clan experts furrowed their brows and stepped forward to stop them.

Instantly, the Upheaval Alliance, the Outsider Rulers, the Great Sage, Pu Jingwan, and Su Yiyun stepped forward to hold them back.

“Go!” Ye Zichen faced the pressure head-on and shouted at Gu Li. 

Gu Li was moved. “Ye Zichen, it seems I owe you a favor. In the future, I’ll be sure to repay this benevolence.”

“There’s no need for that. I’m just letting you go for An Lu’s sake. She’s going to go with you, so don’t do anything to taint those eyes of hers. If you do, and I find out… Next time, I won’t let you off.” Ye Zichen snorted. “Don’t corrupt those spotless eyes.” 

“Alright.” This time, when he looked at Ye Zichen, Gu Li nodded and flashed him a rare, non-mocking smile. “It seems I deeply misunderstood you earlier, and that you’re more interesting than I realized. If we didn’t stand opposed to each other, perhaps we truly could have been brothers.”

“That’s not possible. After that incident in the Gu Family, back in the Modern Realm, there’s no way we could have become brothers.” 

“Perhaps!” Gu Li didn’t argue with him. He simply chuckled and said, “Since you did so much for me, I can share a bit of information with you. Actually, the fox and Sacred Beast Clan members aren’t all dead. The corpses you see lying around died when we attacked the mountain, but the rest of them are hiding in a cave at the base of the mountain. You… can go find the precise location yourself.” 

When they heard that, Xuan Ji and the Sacred Beast Clan heads arched their brows. Xuan Ji then rushed directly down to look. She knew there was a cave at the foot of the back mountain.

At the same time, Gu Li grinned. “If fate wills it, let’s meet again!”