Yang Qi, pulled by the red thread, felt his longing for Li Xiaomei surge like a flood. He would give anything now, just to see Li Xiaomei!
"Emperor... I..."
Yang Qi, his eyes reddening, looked at Ye Ling. Overwhelmed by the ceaseless longing in his heart, he knelt directly before Ye Ling and pleaded, "No matter what method the Emperor uses, I only beg you to let me see Xiaomei, just once!"
After speaking, Yang Qi kowtowed repeatedly to Ye Ling, even damaging his own soul.
Seeing Yang Qi's current state, Ye Ling lowered his eyelids and murmured, "It seems the modifications were a bit excessive. With the added pull of that red thread, being separated from Li Xiaomei for even a second is probably equivalent to enduring a thousand years of torment..."
"If this continues, this fellow will go mad before long. It seems I can't take him with me..."
Ye Ling stopped Yang Qi from kowtowing further and directly unleashed a surge of spiritual energy, knocking him unconscious.
The Old Man of the Moon looked at the unconscious Yang Qi on the ground and trembled, "Em-Emperor... shouldn't we change this young man's fate back? Tampering with destiny is a grave offense against heavenly laws. What if things are exposed..."
The Old Man of the Moon couldn't imagine the scene of himself being captured by a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers and placed on the execution platform.
The crime of that stone monkey, who altered the Book of Life and Death and wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, was probably not much worse than this.
Ye Ling chuckled, "What? You're scared already?"
Seeing Ye Ling's smile, the Old Man of the Moon became flustered, "I, I..."
Indeed, he was afraid.
Ye Ling continued, "There's no free lunch in this world. If you want my favor and to break through to True Martial, you have to pay a price and bear risks."
The Old Man of the Moon anxiously said, "This humble immortal naturally understands, but what Your Majesty is doing now is deceiving the Heavenly Dao. This cannot be hidden... Once it's exposed, I, a mere immortal, am insignificant. If I die, I die, but can Your Majesty truly bear the consequences?"
Ye Ling patted the Old Man of the Moon's shoulder and smiled, "This is not something you need to worry about. Since you're already on this boat, don't think too much. Just help me obediently, otherwise you'll gain nothing and end up with an empty basket."
Hearing Ye Ling's words, the Old Man of the Moon shivered and subconsciously nodded, "U-Understood..."
Looking at the Old Man of the Moon's current fearful state, a hint of a smile flickered in Ye Ling's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards involuntarily.
In reality, he faced no risk in doing this. Even if things were exposed and the Old Man of the Moon was implicated, other gods and immortals would only see the Old Man of the Moon as having Ye Ling as a powerful backer, and they would only treat him with greater favor.
This matter was actually a great opportunity that the Old Man of the Moon had stumbled upon.
It was just that Ye Ling had a bit of mischievousness and deliberately scared the Old Man of the Moon.
After all, the Old Man of the Moon's job was to facilitate the myriad of good relationships in the world, and Ye Ling had no reason to harm him.
After slightly scaring the Old Man of the Moon, Ye Ling quickly became serious, focusing his attention on the red thread binding Yang Qi.
At this moment, Yang Qi's longing for Li Xiaomei had reached its extreme. It was likely that Li Xiaomei felt the same, also longing for Yang Qi.
Now, using the Old Man of the Moon's red thread, even if Yang Qi and Li Xiaomei were separated by thousands of miles, or even in different timelines, they would surely be able to sense each other.
"Let's begin..."
Ye Ling murmured, carving a formation on the ground with runes, placing Yang Qi within it. He simultaneously summoned the laws of time and space, disturbing the spacetime of the Hall of the Son of Heaven, allowing the red thread to locate Li Xiaomei across countless timelines.
The River of the Great Dao surged within the Hall of the Son of Heaven.
The formation laid out by Ye Ling erupted with immense power, and the red thread binding Yang Qi emitted an increasingly intense glow.
Soon, the red thread pierced through spacetime, seeking out Li Xiaomei.
"What's happening?" Cui Jue, sensing the powerful pressure erupting from the hall, immediately rushed over from the side hall, followed by the bruised and limping Black and White Impermanence.
It was clear that during that period, the two of them had suffered quite a bit from Cui Jue's discipline.
However, Black and White Impermanence ignored their pain, quickly took healing elixirs, and healed their injuries. They stared blankly at the illuminated formation in the hall, exclaiming, "Good heavens! The Emperor is about to do something big... The Great Dao itself has manifested! What a tremendous fortune for us to observe the Great Dao here?"
"You've arrived at the perfect time!"
Seeing Cui Jue and the others arrive, Ye Ling immediately returned the Book of Life and Death and the Soul-Hooking Brush. "After the formation dissipates, the modifications made to the Book of Life and Death will revert on their own. You just need to keep an eye on Yang Qi for me!"
"The residual Great Dao here is a gift of fortune for all of you. Seize it yourselves. Breaking through to the True Martial realm here is not difficult."
With that, Ye Ling didn't wait for Cui Jue and the others to ask, and immediately pursued the red thread, chasing after Li Xiaomei.
The Old Man of the Moon watched Ye Ling tear through space and leave. He then glanced at Yang Qi lying on the ground and sighed, "Although these emotions were fabricated by the Emperor, one cannot deny that if Yang Qi didn't love Li Xiaomei, even if the Emperor modified their fate, there wouldn't be such a strong reaction..."
"No matter when, the emotions possessed by mortals can unleash unimaginable power..."
Cui Jue and the others also nodded subconsciously upon hearing the Old Man of the Moon's words, agreeing with his assessment.
Although they were gods, far more powerful than mortals, the emotions possessed by humans were something they far surpassed.
The Three Realms, after all, were derived from the mortal world.
Cui Jue also looked at Yang Qi lying on the ground, his thoughts gradually drifting.
In the Hall of the Son of Heaven, the gods had their own thoughts, while Ye Ling, at this moment, was tracking the red thread into a space filled with nothingness.
Here, it was pitch black, with only a white sphere of light suspended in it.
The red thread tied to Yang Qi's wrist penetrated the light sphere and did not extend further.
"It seems Li Xiaomei's soul is hiding here."
Ye Ling looked at the white sphere of light in the darkness, gently pressed the red thread, and retracted it. Simultaneously, he traversed vast distances, dispelling the power of the Book of Life and Death, restoring everything.
Just then, on the other side of the void, the mysterious man who had abducted Li Xiaoxiao also arrived here, carrying the unconscious Li Xiaoxiao.
The two met eyes, and the atmosphere in the void instantly became incredibly strange.
The mysterious man's eyes shifted slightly upon seeing Ye Ling there, but he quickly calmed down and said in a deep voice, "Ye Ling... I never thought you'd be able to find this place."
Ye Ling glanced at Li Xiaoxiao, who was held in the mysterious man's arm, confirmed that Li Xiaoxiao was not in mortal danger, and then smiled at the mysterious man, "Even if you try your best to hide from me, you can't escape. It seems we are destined to meet..."
"Huang."