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No one knew exactly when the Great Sage had arrived. By the time they heard his voice, he was already standing only five meters away.

He was threatening Yang Jian with the Ruyi Jingu Bang. He pushed it against Yang Jian's cheek, forcing him several meters back. The violent, uncontrollable madness from the video had vanished without a trace. His eyes were as clear as water, save for his terrifying murderous rage.

"You're here too." He c.o.c.ked his head at Ye Zichen and Pu Jingwan.

Yang Jian shoved the staff away, then said, "Who do you think you're threatening?"

"I'm not threatening you; I'm just afraid I'm not done beating you up yet. If you'd like a few more black and blue marks, I don't mind loosening your bones a bit more." A flash of golden light shot out of the Great Sage's eyes, making his sleeves flutter.

The Ruyi Jingu Bang shook, as if ready to strike at a moment's notice.

When he saw this, Ye Zichen's pupils constricted somewhat. He didn't really mind if the Great Sage and Yang Jian fought; they'd been at each others' throats ever since their time in the Heavenly Court. They looked down on each other, and fought almost constantly. He was used to it.

No, what started Ye Zichen was the Great Sage's aura.

His towering presence and overpowering aura seemed to look down upon all of creation, and based on the subtle fluctuations of his divine power, he was a ruler; only a ruler's aura could be so stifling.

He glanced surreptitiously at Pu Jingwan, who understood what he was trying to ask. She nodded lightly.

"He really has become a ruler."'

Even though Yang Jian had said the Great Sage had broken through, at the time, that was merely Yang Jian's individual judgment. Ye Zichen hadn't seen it for himself.

The ruler-level Great Sage standing before him was a far greater shock than just hearing Yang Jian describe it.

He didn't know what was going on in Yang Jian's head, but even in the face of the Great Sage's disdain, he didn't fight back. He merely licked his lips, scratched his head, and glanced pointedly at Ye Zichen as if to request backup.

He was intimidated.

One look and Ye Zichen knew Yang Jian was intimidated. Otherwise, given his personality, there was absolutely no way he'd let the Great Sage talk like that. But then, this was also direct proof of just how strong the Great Sage was. Otherwise, given their comparable cultivations, Yang Jian would definitely have butted heads with him.

It seemed the difference between them was no small thing.

But thinking of it that way, the Great Sage's cultivation was rather terrifying. Yang Jian, who could instantly wipe out even a Divine Demon General, was already strong enough to stand at the peak of the Three Realms. He might not be stronger than Xue Yang, but he was at least comparable to him.

If the Great Sage was strong enough to verbally abuse Yang Jian without repercussions, didn't that mean…. He was on the same level as the Upper Three Realms' emperors?

Everyone fell silent. Yang Jian glanced pointedly at Ye Zichen. Then, perhaps due to the lengthy silence, he sent a direct, agitated transmission straight into Ye Zichen's consciousness. "Don't just stand there! Say something!"

Ye Zichen heard the urgency in his voice and couldn't help but laugh; it seemed Yang Jian really was afraid that the Great Sage would whack him.

But he had no one to blame but himself for the way the Great Sage treated him. This was all because of his dirty mouth.

His thoughts always leaped towards the worst possible explanation. He'd assumed infidelity right off the bat; anyone would have gotten mad.

"Great Sage, if you want to beat him up, go ahead. I absolutely won't stop you." Ye Zichen didn't even try to speak up for Yang Jian. On the contrary, he backed down, as if this had nothing to do with him. Pu Jingwan reacted the same way; she stepped aside. She felt that Yang Jian's mouth was a bit dirty. He had no idea what was going on; how could he just assume the Great Sage was being cheated on? She found it rather distasteful.

"Hey, you…. Wah…!" He watched as Ye Zichen and Pu Jingwan stepped back, disregarded him, then pointed weakly, as if he were on the verge of a breakdown.

They hadn't stepped up to help him even after all this time. All he could do was glare at his so-called friends in exaggerated shock.

No one was speaking up on his behalf, so he turned to go all out. "Howling Celestial Dog!"

The Erlang Lance appeared in his hands and he called his dog to his side, as if he planned to fight it out.

Then, against all expectations, the Howling Celestial Dog shook its tail and lay down next to Ye Zichen. It didn't so much as look at Yang Jian.

"You stupid dog, did you forget who your master is? I worked so hard to boost your cultivation, but now you don't need me anymore?" He cursed the Howling Celestial Dog out, but the dog merely lay on the ground ignoring him.

Once you got on a tiger's back, it was difficult to get back off. The Howling Celestial Dog accounted for thirty percent of Yang Jian's strength. On his own, he definitely wasn't the Great Sage's opponent.

"Hah, it seems you're the one who's been betrayed." The Great Sage sneered and lowered his staff. "You look so pathetic. Fine, I'll let you off just this once."

"What do you mean by that?" Yang Jian was suddenly frantic. "Are you looking down on me?" "Hm? That's right, I look down on you. So what?" The Great Sage sneered, then shrunk the Ruyi Jingu Bang and used it to clean his ears. Finally, he walked up to Ye Zichen.

Yang Jian jumped to his feet in anger, muttering about wanting to fight three hundred rounds with the Great Sage.

Still, the Great Sage had already said he wouldn't fight Yang Jian, so he wouldn't. No matter what Yang Jian said, the Great Sage ignored him completely and started chatting with Ye Zichen instead.

"Bro, why are you here? Didn't you say you had important business to attend to?"

"I've roughly taken care of it already. Also, Yang Jian sent me a message saying that you'd run into trouble, so I came over to take a look and see if you needed a hand. Looking at you now, though, it seems all is well," laughed Ye Zichen.

"What did he tell you?" asked the Great Sage.

"Not much; he mostly just said you were unstable. He also sent me a video of you to urge me to hurry over."

"Were you bored or something? You even sent a video!" The Great Sage glared at Yang Jian.

"Don't you have a conscience? I saw that you were on the verge of a mental breakdown and was afraid something would go wrong. That's why I called Zichen over." Yang Jian rolled his eyes.

"I was rational the whole time. I went on a rampage, but that was only to stimulate and unleash the power Master stored within my body. You should've just minded your own business. You even called Yezi over, ugh!' The Great Sage cursed at him.

"Your Master?" Ye Zichen was stunned. He couldn't help but ask, "Monk Xuan Zang?"

The Great Sage shook his head, and Ye Zichen understood. "Ah, so it was him."

Grandmaster Subhuti!

In his life, the Great Sage had had two masters. The first was the Golden Cicada, who'd been exiled to the mortal realm to retrieve scriptures. In his mortal form, he was known as the monk Xuan Zang. After returning to his former rank, he became the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit.

The Great Sage's other master was Grandmaster Subhuti.

However, after teaching the Great Sage his ultimate arts, he left after demanding the Great Sage not tell anyone he was his apprentice.

"Did you see Grandmaster Subhuti again?"

The Great Sage nodded slightly, then said, "It doesn't really count as seeing him again, actually. You remember the demons' invasion back then, I'm sure? Master was the one who saved me, but I only woke up half a year ago. Master merely said a few brief words to me, then sent me flying out of his domain."

"...."

This grandmaster was quite the character!