As Qiao explained, a murderous intent flashed in the Pope's eyes.
"Since it was your command error, why did you come back? You should have died to atone!"
Those were three Nine Revolutions Golden Pills!
To end up not even eliminating Ye Cangtian was truly enraging the Pope.
"Your Holiness, your subordinate knows he deserves death, but he wishes to remain useful and continue serving Your Holiness."
"At the same time, your subordinate has some bad news that must be conveyed. Please prepare yourself..."
Feeling the Pope's murderous aura, Qiao swallowed and spoke with difficulty.
"There's more bad news? Tell me!"
The Pope's voice grew even colder. Qiao's failure was bad enough; he wanted to hear what could be worse!
Upon hearing this, Qiao swallowed again and said, "After Fengze was captured by Ye Cangtian, he revealed matters concerning the relic entrance. Not long after, I lost contact with Edie."
"It's likely they met a terrible end..."
Qiao said through gritted teeth.
He naturally wouldn't admit any fault in this matter. He knew the Pope's temper; if he were implicated in any way, his life would surely be forfeit.
Therefore, on his way back, he had already figured everything out and decided to shift the blame onto Fengze, thus resolving everything.
After all, Fengze was already in Ye Cangtian's hands. Even if he wasn't dead, it would be difficult for him to see daylight again.
Thus, his lie would be foolproof...
"Damn Listening Wind Tower! Weren't they said to be warriors who would rather die than surrender? How could there be such a traitor!"
As Qiao's voice fell, the Pope's roar echoed through the hall.
The Pope was furious. He had gone to great lengths to help Listening Wind Tower rise, only to find they were a bunch of incompetent fools who were good at failing!
After a long period of roaring, the Pope finally calmed down.
Getting angry now was useless. The most important thing was to understand the exact situation.
So, he glanced at Qiao and said grimly, "Qiao, what is the current situation with the array at the China relic entrance?"
"This..."
Hearing the Pope's question, Qiao's expression suddenly changed, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
He had been too focused on escaping to care about the status of the entrance array!
Besides, Edie was in charge of that, and it had nothing to do with him!
Therefore, he couldn't answer at all.
Hmph!
The Pope snorted, and from Qiao's reaction, he understood everything.
"Truly useless!"
Saying this, the Pope glanced at Hassar beside him and said, "Hassar, mobilize all our informants and find out the situation at the China relic entrance as soon as possible. Hurry!"
Hassar immediately acknowledged, knowing the gravity of the situation.
If the China entrance array was still intact, then all the subsequent actions they had just discussed with the Pope would be meaningless.
Meanwhile, after watching Hassar leave, Qiao hesitated for a moment and then slowly said, "Your Holiness, I beg you to bestow upon your subordinate a Nine Revolutions Golden Pill. Since I have survived, it is to repay the Temple of Light with this unworthy body..."
Hmph!
The Pope snorted, his murderous intent undiminished. However, he still produced a Nine Revolutions Golden Pill and tossed it onto the ground.
Although he was deeply dissatisfied with Qiao, at present, there were only two veteran Earth-tier experts left in the outer hall of the Temple of Light: Qiao and Hassar.
Furthermore, their abilities and strength were indeed much greater than the few Earth-tier experts who had recently improved with pills.
Therefore, after much consideration, it was better to keep Qiao.
"Thank you, Your Holiness. Your subordinate will surely dedicate himself to the end..."
Qiao kowtowed repeatedly, then scrambled to the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill. Regardless of how much dust it had gathered, he swallowed it in one gulp.
It was as if he were afraid someone would snatch it away.
...
In the mountain forest near China's capital.
The thin spiritual energy in the forest surged towards the wooden house, eventually entering Ye Cangtian's body like an all-encompassing ocean.
After cultivating in seclusion for over ten days, Ye Cangtian's aura had stabilized, reaching the peak of the Earth-tier state. The residual medicinal effects were slowly being absorbed.
Yet, he still showed no signs of waking up.
At this moment, a different scene was unfolding in his mind.
It was a vast world, and he was surrounded by an invisible wall. No matter how much he punched or kicked, he couldn't break through this resilient barrier.
But just now, he had a moment of enlightenment.
He recalled the words of Elder Long, who had once told him that to break through to the Heaven-tier, one not only needed absolute talent but also to find one's own martial path.
With this thought, Ye Cangtian, trapped in his spiritual sea, began to ponder his martial path.
The saying goes, "Three thousand Great Daos, all lead to the same destination."
There were simply too many Daos: the Dao of Emotion, the Dao of Ruthlessness, the Dao of Benevolence, the Dao of the Gentleman, the Dao of Slaughter, and so on.
Ye Cangtian didn't know much and felt even less. He had no idea which one suited him.
In the end, in his helplessness, Ye Cangtian returned to his true heart and remembered his original intention for practicing martial arts.
His original intention for practicing martial arts was to constantly become stronger, to have the ability to protect everything he wanted to protect.
For this goal, he had to keep getting stronger and stand at the pinnacle of martial arts.
It was at this realization that Ye Cangtian gained a glimmer of understanding: his martial path was the Extreme Martial Dao.
Simply put, it was the pursuit of the limits of martial arts.
And when Ye Cangtian solidified his martial path, a miraculous scene unfolded.
In the spiritual sea, the impenetrable invisible walls gradually cracked under his assault. As the cracks widened, they finally collapsed with a thunderous roar.
This...
Ye Cangtian looked at everything in disbelief. He knew he had found his own martial path, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this.
At the same time, Ye Cangtian felt a more powerful surge of strength erupting from his limbs and bones.
However, just as Ye Cangtian was excited about finding his martial path and improving his strength, everything in his spiritual sea changed once more.
He suddenly discovered that there was still an invisible wall around him, but it was much larger and far more resilient than before.
With the experience of the previous time, Ye Cangtian once again held onto the intention of the Extreme Martial Dao and struck down.
As expected, the invisible wall developed cracks again. And when the invisible wall completely shattered, his strength improved once more.
This cycle repeated. Finally, after smashing through the fifth wall, Ye Cangtian stopped before facing the sixth.
It wasn't that he wanted to stop, but facing the sixth invisible wall, he was helpless. His all-out attack only caused the invisible wall to tremble slightly.
This indicated that he had reached his limit at this moment. To break through, he needed further accumulation.
The next moment, Ye Cangtian slowly opened his eyes and let out a thunderous roar.
Feeling the strength in his limbs and bones, a question arose in Ye Cangtian's mind. Based on his judgment, his current strength was definitely above the peak of the Earth-tier.
Yet, it seemed to be far from the strength of the Heaven-tier experts he had encountered.
After thinking about it, Ye Cangtian found no explanation and reluctantly put the matter aside for the time being. He then contacted a helicopter, preparing to return to China.
More than ten days had passed. He expected news from Zǐlóng soon, and he needed to return as quickly as possible.
...
Kyoto Villa.
Sisters Gu Qin and Gu Yue were sent out by Gui Wu to buy groceries.
As soon as the two women stepped out of the door, Gui Wu's large eyes fixed on Nancy.
Feeling Gui Wu's gaze, Nancy's face instantly turned crimson. How could she not know what Gui Wu was thinking!
After all, Gui Wu had done such things frequently after Ye Cangtian left.
Every time she sent the Gu sisters away, Gui Wu would establish dominance and live like an empress in the villa, while she was tragically reduced to a maid.
Whether it was serving tea, fetching water, or massaging her shoulders.
The most crucial point was that she couldn't defeat Gui Wu.
If she disobeyed Gui Wu's orders, Gui Wu would retaliate and teach her a lesson, only releasing her when she was bruised and swollen.
But it didn't end there.
After tormenting her, Gui Wu would meticulously feed her a small revitalizing pill, ensuring that any bruises and swelling would disappear before the Gu sisters returned.
This kind of thing happened every day, making Nancy so angry that she dreamt of repaying Gui Wu tenfold or a hundredfold.
Seeing Gui Wu beckon with her finger and then point to her own shoulder, Nancy's face flushed red again, and she said fiercely,
"Gui Wu, I warn you, don't go too far!"
"There's a Chinese proverb: leave a little room for others, and you might meet them again later!"