Alas!
Ye Cangtian blocked Rose's sword with his other hand, then sighed.
"Rose, it really is me. Emperor Canglan's soul possession attempt failed; I annihilated him instead!"
After a pause, Ye Cangtian continued, "Rose, we grew up together, and Bao'er too. Shall I tell you how I got the title of 'Human Butcher'?"
Huh?
His words made Rose and Yao Bao'er freeze.
They didn't know if soul possession would also take over the other's memories. Therefore, even though Ye Cangtian mentioned these things, they still found it difficult to accept.
If they made the wrong judgment and led Emperor Canglan to the ruins, how could they face the deceased Ye Cangtian?
However, if Ye Cangtian was telling the truth, and they failed to recognize him, how heartbroken would Ye Cangtian be!
With these thoughts, Rose spoke coldly, "Since you claim to be Ye Cangtian, how else can you prove it besides these things?"
Ugh...
Ye Cangtian was instantly stunned. If even his memories couldn't prove it, were there any other ways?
He thought, and then helplessly said, "If I weren't Ye Cangtian, why would I have saved Qingyan? And given him medicine?"
This...
Hearing this, Rose and Yao Bao'er began to waver. This was precisely the thing they couldn't figure out.
"Hmph! Perhaps this is just your ploy to gain our trust!"烨正豪 (Ye Zhenghao) said fiercely from the side.
He had come to this suspicion after Rose's reminder.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian glared at Ye Zhenghao and said irritably, "You fool, even if it's a ploy to gain your trust, I'm still injured now. Why would I risk my life alone?"
"This is also a ploy to gain trust!" Ye Zhenghao retorted stubbornly.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian was utterly speechless.
He glanced at everyone and said with a bitter smile, "Everyone, how can you believe me?"
"Amitabha!"
At that moment, Master Bu Tong stepped forward, looked at Ye Cangtian, and said, "This old monk has a method. You can demonstrate the move you used to kill Emperor Canglan and try the Six-Syllable Mantra again!
If you can perform both, then you are real."
In Master Bu Tong's opinion, even if Emperor Canglan had possessed Ye Cangtian's memories, he wouldn't have been able to cultivate Bai Long and Hong Chen so quickly.
Moreover, he still had a safeguard: the Six-Syllable Mantra.
After all, the Six-Syllable Mantra was a Buddhist technique that only those with compassion and understanding of Buddhist teachings could perform.
An evil being like Emperor Canglan would never be able to use it.
"Alright, but I'm still injured and cannot perform Hong Chen. However, I can do Bai Long."
Ye Cangtian did not dally. He instantly swung the Death Scythe in his hand.
The next moment, with a dragon's roar, Bai Long instantly appeared in the third-floor hall.
Sensing the pressure emanating from Bai Long, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.
"Amitabha, Benefactor Ye, you can try the Six-Syllable Mantra again."
From Master Bu Tong's address, it was evident that Master Bu Tong already believed the Ye Cangtian before him was real.
However, to be safe, he still wanted Ye Cangtian to demonstrate the Six-Syllable Mantra.
"Om, Mani, Padme, Hum..."
Ye Cangtian was not polite and uttered a series of Sanskrit sounds.
Upon hearing this sound, most people present frowned. It sounded like an old monk reciting incomprehensible scriptures, causing annoyance.
Conversely, Yao Bao'er and Rose, along with the others from the Hidden Group, showed excited smiles.
The next moment, Yao Bao'er rushed into Ye Cangtian's arms, weeping uncontrollably.
Rose also came to Ye Cangtian's side, turned her face away, and tried hard to suppress the tears from falling.
They had heard Ye Cangtian recite the Six-Syllable Mantra before, and it was exactly the same as now.
Coupled with the Bai Long Ye Cangtian had just displayed, this was enough to prove everything.
"Amitabha, it truly is Benefactor Ye."
Master Bu Tong clasped his hands together, bowed slightly to Ye Cangtian, "Benefactor Ye is blessed with great fortune, and you have also slain Emperor Canglan. Your merits are immeasurable..."
Hearing Master Bu Tong's words, and seeing the attitude of Yao Bao'er and Rose, everyone finally let down their guard and bowed deeply to Ye Cangtian!
They knew in their hearts that if it weren't for Ye Cangtian, they would have certainly perished here!
On the other side, Ye Cangtian comforted Yao Bao'er and Rose briefly, then his gaze swept across the crowd, hastily signaling them to rise.
"Everyone, I merely did what I should have done. There's no need for this."
"However, I have a humble request. I hope you can all keep what happened here a secret..."
Ye Cangtian explained that due to his severe injuries from the battle with Emperor Canglan, his cultivation had declined, and it would take quite some time to recover.
Therefore, he hoped that the matters here would not be leaked, lest someone take advantage of his weakened state to harm the Hidden Group.
"Amitabha, Benefactor Ye, please rest assured. This old monk will certainly keep it a secret," Master Bu Tong stated.
Taoist Yu Xing stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Publicly, you saved everyone here. Privately, you saved Qingyan.
So, please rest assured, Misty Rain Pavilion will not only keep silent but will also offer military assistance if the Hidden Group needs it..."
Seeing this, the rest of the crowd did not hesitate and quickly agreed.
Ye Cangtian cupped his hands towards them, expressing his gratitude.
Then, after a moment of silence, he took out a Qiankun bag and tossed it directly to Ye Zhenghao.
"Zhenghao, this contains the weapons from the third-floor hall earlier, as well as some elixirs. Please take them out and distribute them..."
Most of the people present were on his side, and the remaining ones had also shown courage earlier.
Just for that reason, Ye Cangtian couldn't let them leave empty-handed.
Besides, he understood the principle of "possessing a treasure invites trouble."
Furthermore, by giving the crowd some benefits, they would be more willing to keep his secret.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding people immediately smiled excitedly. They hadn't expected Ye Cangtian to be so generous.
Ye Zhenghao, who received the Qiankun bag, hesitated. "Brother, all of this was obtained through your life-and-death struggle and should rightfully belong to you. I don't think it's necessary..."
Before he could finish, Ye Cangtian waved his hand. "Distribute it. Reaching this point was not just my merit, but everyone's effort. And compared to them, I have already gained a lot."
Seeing Ye Cangtian's persistence, Ye Zhenghao said no more. He nodded heavily and then took out the treasures, distributing them meaningfully.
Meanwhile, the Death Squad, Yuan Hao, Hong Liu, and others did not participate. They believed that Ye Cangtian had definitely reserved suitable treasures for them.
They followed Ye Cangtian to the side and inquired about him while Ye Zhenghao was distributing the treasures.
"Boss, you burned your life force and died earlier, didn't you? How did you come back to life? Was it a zombie revival?" Yao Bao'er asked confusedly.
*Bang!*
Ye Cangtian heavily tapped Yao Bao'er's head and said irritably, "Can't you wish me something good? I didn't die then; I just fell into a coma due to extreme weakness..."
Ye Cangtian began to explain.
He had indeed burned his life force, but he had controlled it precisely, leaving a trace of life force.
It was simple; if he had burned this trace of spiritual power, it wouldn't have increased his power significantly.
Therefore, he wanted to preserve a trace of life force as a variable.
If he had truly killed Emperor Canglan, relying on the recovery abilities of the Three Great Seals, he would still have had a chance to escape.
But if he had failed, he could only accept his fate and let the other party kill him.
Fortunately, he succeeded.
Of course, he also had to thank Emperor Canglan.
If it weren't for Emperor Canglan controlling his body after the battle and consuming elixirs,
then with the abilities of the Three Great Seals alone, he wouldn't have been able to recover so quickly.
Yao Bao'er rubbed her head after hearing this and continued, "Boss, I clearly saw Emperor Canglan's soul enter your body. What happened afterward?"
Ye Cangtian did not hide anything and replied, "After the battle, my soul was also extremely weak, so I hid. Emperor Canglan's soul was busy repairing his body.
Only then did he come to the Sea of Souls to find my existence. However, by the time he found me, it was too late. I was no longer his match, so..."
Listening to Ye Cangtian's nonchalant and simple narration, Yao Bao'er and the others felt a lingering fear, their faces turning somber.
They knew that he made it sound simple, but in reality, it was incredibly perilous.
If it weren't for luck, Ye Cangtian might have perished.