Chapter 263: Palace of the Human Emperor

Having heard Zhuge Yi's account at the time, Ye Lin had already vaguely guessed something.

The object Zhuge Qianyang placed on the child was a compass, and this compass was a divine artifact; Zhuge Ni, as it happened, possessed an astrology compass that could only be opened by her own bloodline.

More crucially, Ye Lin had never seen Zhuge Qianxing use this compass.

"Want me to save Zhuge Yi from the Zhuge family? That's a different price altogether..."

Ye Lin turned and left without hesitation; he was currently like a clay bodhisattva crossing a river, barely able to save himself. The Xie family alone was enough to give him a headache, and to offend the Zhuge family for the sake of Zhuge Yi would truly be asking for trouble. He would wait until the day his strength could crush the Zhuge family before considering it.

The current outcome was actually the best one: Zhuge Yi would continue to stay in the Zhuge family as a well-behaved child and would not come to harm him, her convenient cousin—the best of both worlds.

On the other side, having returned to the Zhuge family, Zhuge Yi had indeed taken Ye Lin's advice to heart.

Before she returned, she had already suppressed the surging emotions in her heart, pretending as if nothing had happened.

Ye Lin was quite right; with her current strength, even if she knew the truth, there was nothing she could do.

Venting emotions only provided temporary satisfaction and could not accomplish great things.

It would not be too late to investigate the truth once she had the strength to go toe-to-toe with the Zhuge family.

No sooner had Zhuge Yi returned to the Zhuge family than she bumped into the family head, Zhuge Yi!

Zhuge Yi was a lean, wiry old man of about fifty, draped in a deep purple Taoist robe. On his back was a basket containing black donkey hooves and black dog blood; in his left hand, he held a soul-summoning bell and a soul-guiding banner; in his right hand, he held tarot cards; around his neck hung crystal-clear Buddhist prayer beads, and tucked into his waistband were a tortoise shell and a Bible.

If one were to judge solely by his appearance, anyone would think this guy was an unlearned charlatan, and would never associate him with the status of a Zhuge family head.

"Yo, has the future pillar of my Zhuge family returned?" Zhuge Yi smiled very kindly.

"Zhuge Yi greets the family head." Zhuge Yi bowed in salute. Zhuge Yi had a habit of liking to run off to the foot of the pedestrian bridge to tell fortunes when he had nothing to do.

As for why Zhuge Yi did this, no one in the Zhuge family knew.

"Oh my, why are you still standing on ceremony with me? Get up, get up quickly!"

Zhuge Yi hurriedly helped Zhuge Yi up. Just as Zhuge Yi raised her head, Zhuge Yi tapped a finger on the center of her brow, giving her no time to react at all.

In an instant, Zhuge Yi stood frozen in place like a robot with its power cut off, and those blue double pupils directly lost their focus.

Several figures appeared behind Zhuge Yi; they were the elders of the Zhuge family!

"Family head, did Zhuge Yi encounter that peace lock again?" one of the elders asked.

"It appears so," Zhuge Yi said indifferently. "It seems Zhuge Qianxing still hasn't given up. I thought he would have stopped after he died."

"Family head... this cannot go on. This is already the fourteenth time we have wiped Zhuge Yi's memory. If this continues, I fear it will cause irreparable damage to Zhuge Yi's nervous system. We must find that peace lock and destroy it completely!" another elder said in a deep voice.

"No matter. As many times as that peace lock appears, I will wipe her memory just as many times."

The smile on Zhuge Yi's face was somewhat pathological. He closed Zhuge Yi's eyelids and stroked her eyes with great obsession.

"Anyway, it's not like we actually need Zhuge Yi to protect my Zhuge family..."

Time was like a warm breeze, passing lonely through the nine-turn intestines before dissipating between heaven and earth, leaving no trace.

In the blink of an eye, it was the day the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm opened.

When the golden morning sunlight enveloped the entire Daxia Academy, Ye Lin had arrived at the assembly point early with Duan Ling.

Hu Baiqing glanced coldly at the two of them before withdrawing her gaze.

After losing to Ye Lin, she had defeated Liang Yu, and the five spots for Daxia Academy to go to the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm were finally confirmed.

Ye Lin, Duan Ling, Zhang Xing, Hu Baiqing, and Zhu Yuquan.

This trip to the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm was led by Dean Yan Lanbing in person. Looking at the five high-spirited individuals, including Ye Lin, Yan Lanbing nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good! Purple energy comes from the east, full of youthful vigor! You are the newborn morning sun!"

Yan Lanbing did not stint on praise, conducting a pre-battle mobilization.

"I believe you are all very clear that our greatest opponent in this trip to the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm is the Supreme Academy!"

"Some say the most unforgettable hatred in the world is meeting an unbeatable opponent! I don't see it that way. Having an opponent like the Supreme Academy is the greatest fortune of our Daxia Academy!"

"Because the person who understands you best must be your opponent, and the person who loves you best must also be your opponent! We and the Supreme Academy must walk hand in hand and compete in good faith. So, do you understand what you are to do on this trip to the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm?"

"Understood!" X5

"What are you to do?"

"Take down the Supreme Academy!" X5

"Very good! Very spirited! Set off!"

Although he knew there was a high probability they would still be second best this year, Yan Lanbing was still deeply gratified to see Ye Lin and the others eager to try.

As for losing to the Supreme Academy, it was actually not shameful; after all, the Supreme Academy recruited the very top tier of students in all of Daxia and possessed the best educational resources.

Simply put, losing was no loss, and winning was a huge profit.

Yan Lanbing only feared that the students of Daxia Academy would lack the temperament and courage to even challenge the students of the Supreme Academy; that would truly be the end.

Under Yan Lanbing's leadership, the group headed toward the very heart of the capital.

And in the heart of the capital stood a magnificent building, like a needle pinning the sea, stabilizing the heart of every Daxia citizen.

The bright golden glazed tiles emitted a soft radiance under the morning sun, and the cyan stone slabs paved a vast, ancient, and grand square.

Merely looking at that building from afar made one feel a sense of majesty and solemnity, making one want to prostrate and worship.

"Is this... the Palace of the Human Emperor?"

Ye Lin's gaze was somewhat heavy. Relying on his powerful spiritual energy, he could perceive that the existence within the Palace of the Human Emperor was like a sleeping tiger.

"Yes, the only building that can stand in the heart of the capital is the Palace of the Human Emperor."

Yan Lanbing nodded with a smile, then led them to the square in front of the Palace of the Human Emperor to wait.

At this time, there were already many teams in the square. When Ye Lin and his group appeared, many academy teams looked at them with covetous eyes.

If Daxia Academy's goal was to take down the Supreme Academy, then the goal of the other academies was to take down Daxia Academy!

After all, since a great man lives between heaven and earth, how can he be willing to live under others for long?

"Be careful, don't actually flip the boat. There are tricky opponents in the other academies too!" Yan Lanbing reminded them in a low voice.

The existence of the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm was to balance the strength of graduates from various academies and prevent a situation where one house dominated.

And some who knew of the existence of the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm would deliberately choose some inferior academies when filling out their preferences, so that they could possess a spot for the Mountain-Sea Secret Realm.

After all, the difficulty of snatching a spot at the Supreme Academy versus snatching one at an unknown third-rate academy was completely different.

Just as Yan Lanbing was telling Ye Lin and the others about some precautions, an exclamation rang out.

"The people from the Supreme Academy are here!"