Yang Jian struck at Ye Ling with all his might. The ferocious power swept across the heavens and earth, casting the entire ancient relic into darkness.
"Is Yang Jian insane? What is he doing?"
Nezha felt the power Yang Jian unleashed, a trace of shock flashing in his eyes. He couldn't comprehend what had gotten into Yang Jian.
With the Mother of Calamity and the Divine Statues of the Three Yuan Star Lords before them, the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals were in a state of disarray. Yang Jian, the main force of the Heavenly Court's punitive expedition, was not attacking the Mother of Calamity or the divine statues. Instead, he was attacking Ye Ling like a madman, engaging in internal strife.
If this were reported to the Heavenly Court, Yang Jian would have undoubtedly violated heavenly laws and committed a grave offense!
Nezha couldn't understand why Yang Jian had a grudge against Ye Ling.
Even if he was unconvinced by Ye Ling's established imperial prestige and wanted to challenge him, he should have chosen a better time!
Nezha's thoughts were in chaos, but the Divine Statues of the Three Yuan Star Lords attacked again, drawing Nezha's attention and preventing him from being distracted.
"The power is quite good... it already has the semblance of a half-step Saint."
Ye Ling commented slightly as he watched Yang Jian's full-powered divine strike. Then, he casually condensed a demonic sword and slashed through the void.
A black sword energy tore through the air, easily cleaving space, and along with Yang Jian's condensed divine power and his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Halberd, it was sliced into two!
The sky seemed to be cut open by a splitting blade, a sight of extreme grandeur.
Yang Jian froze in place, his expression rigid, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
The blade of his divine weapon fell from the sky, piercing directly into the ground.
If Ye Ling hadn't deliberately shifted it upwards just now, that sword energy would have definitely split him in half!
Yang Jian looked at his broken divine weapon, his body trembling slightly.
He knew very well that there was a vast gap between him and Ye Ling, but he couldn't grasp this gap before they had actually fought!
The seemingly effortless strike from Ye Ling made Yang Jian truly feel the chasm that existed between them!
An enemy like this could not be defeated by him burning his life essence and going all out!
The long sword condensed from demonic energy in Ye Ling's hand dissipated. He looked at Yang Jian and smiled, "How is it, have you calmed down?"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Yang Jian fell silent, unable to respond for a long time.
Although he was very unwilling, he had to admit that he had completely fallen into Ye Ling's hands, and there was no chance of escaping from Ye Ling.
After a long silence, Yang Jian finally said, "I do know about the hidden space of the Tongtian Relic, and I know that a Saint sacrifice ritual is being performed inside, with the purpose of resurrecting the Three Yuan Star Lords."
"The reason I want the body of the Three Yuan Star Lords is to possess his body for my own use, to break through to Saint realm with his body, and to escape the control of the Heavenly Court."
"Escape the control of the Heavenly Court?" Ye Ling raised an eyebrow.
Yang Jian said solemnly, "The Heavenly Court is now corrupt. On the surface, it is still controlled by the Jade Emperor, but in reality, everything in the Heavenly Court is controlled by a Saint named Xuan Xiao."
"Not only the Heavenly Court, but other Divine Courts are also more or less controlled by Xuan Xiao. The Immortal Realm is no longer as pure as it once was."
Hearing Yang Jian's words, Ye Ling's eyes slightly narrowed, but his expression remained unchanged. He asked Yang Jian, "Then the problem is, the Immortal Realm appears to be peaceful on the surface. Even as the True Monarch Erlang, your strength is only at the peak of Zhenwu, and you can't interfere in matters between Saints."
"How did you know so much?"
Yang Jian said directly, "Because I have already defected to Xuan Xiao and become one of his pawns in controlling the Heavenly Court. With my help... Xuan Xiao has obtained almost complete control of the Heavenly Court."
Ye Ling said, "You admit to betraying the Heavenly Court so easily, is that alright?"
Yang Jian was quite nonchalant at this moment, saying, "Even if I don't admit it, you can guess it, can't you?"
"But I guess you admitting it yourself is another matter. Aren't you afraid I'll tell them about you?" Ye Ling pointed to Nezha and Li Jing in the distance. "They don't seem to know about this yet."
"Even if the Heavenly Court is controlled by Xuan Xiao, I estimate that quite a few powerful immortals and gods are still kept in the dark. If you are exposed, your fate will not be good."
Yang Jian said, "You are not of the same path as them, nor the Heavenly Court. Whether they believe you if you tell them about me is one thing, and whether it is beneficial to you is another."
"Although you are far stronger than me, in my opinion, you and I are the same kind of people. You wouldn't do something that offers no benefit."
Ye Ling looked at Yang Jian deeply, then shook his head and smiled, "Haha... it's indeed easy to converse with intelligent people. Indeed... I have no reason or motive to leak this."
"On the contrary, I want to cooperate with you?"
"Cooperate?" Yang Jian frowned.
Ye Ling scanned the surroundings and said, "Xiao Tian Quan is not nearby. It should have gone to report to Xuan Xiao, right?"
Yang Jian's eyes changed slightly, and ripples stirred in his heart.
It was obvious that Ye Ling had guessed correctly.
Seeing Yang Jian's reaction, Ye Ling smiled and continued, "From your appearance, you don't seem to be sincerely working for Xuan Xiao. Otherwise, you wouldn't have coveted the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord."
"However, I regret to tell you that even if I give you the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord for you to possess, you will not be able to escape Xuan Xiao's control. Instead, you will sink deeper."
Yang Jian asked in a deep voice, "Why?"
Ye Ling said, "Not to mention that the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord is too weak. If you possess it, it will not only fail to advance your strength but will also trap your soul within the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord, never to be reborn!"
Hearing Ye Ling's words, Yang Jian's expression changed drastically, but in his eyes, there was more doubt.
Xuan Xiao had already deceived four Saints to the altar and performed the Saint sacrifice ritual. The Three Yuan Star Lords had absorbed the power of at least four Saints. How could his physical body be weak?
Ye Ling smiled, "I know you won't believe what I say, but that's the truth. The power of the Saints is stored in that divine statue. If you really want to possess it, you might as well possess that divine statue."
"Now, the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord is a prison for the soul."
"That divine statue..."
Yang Jian looked at the divine statue that was fighting Nezha, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.
He could indeed feel a powerful energy from within the divine statue, and when he had fought the Divine Statues of the Three Yuan Star Lords before, he had also felt an unusually powerful might from them.
At that time, he thought that might was emanating from the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord.
However, now that he had calmed down, he could still distinguish where that power came from.
His desire to possess the body of the Three Yuan Star Lord had blinded his reason.
Realizing this, Yang Jian understood that he could no longer rely on possessing the Three Yuan Star Lord to escape Xuan Xiao's control. He could only ask Ye Ling, "How do you want me to cooperate?"
Ye Ling smiled slightly, "It's very simple. Tell me all the information you know, and if possible, lure Xuan Xiao out."
"The rest will be up to me to handle."