Chapter 1577: News Leaks

It was perhaps an exaggeration to say that this had been a complete, unmitigated disaster.

It was thanks to those troublemaking clowns, Yang Jian and Pu Jingwan, that this incident with Venerate Spirit Treasure had gone to hell.

Information on Venerate Spirit Treasure's whereabouts should have been under Ye Zichen's control. So long as he kept his mouth shut, there was nothing the great emperors could do, no matter how many direct messages they sent.

He'd only left the chat briefly to exchange a few words with the Ocean Emperor's main body, but when he came back...

Seventh Dragonborn: @ Ocean Emperor

Third Dragonborn: @ Ocean Emperor

Jade Pool Palace Master: @ Ocean Emperor

Fox Empress: @ Ocean Emperor

The great emperors were no longer targeting their messages at Ye Zichen. Instead, they were targeting the still-unresponsive Ocean Emperor, master of the Northern Divine Mountain and its Holy Land, the Sea of Innocence.

Ye Zichen scrolled through the message log, then saw Pu Jingwan and Yang Jian....

Invincible Adorable Beauty: I know where Venerate Spirit Treasure is! I don't need your daughters, so can you give me those treasures you mentioned earlier?

Erlang Shen: I know too!

Fox Empress: Alright. Regardless of which of you tells us, I promise to give you what I promised.

Invincible Adorable Beauty: Venerate Spirit Treasure is in the Xue Family dungeons!

Erlang Shen: That's right!

Invincible Adorable Beauty: I told you what you wanted, so you'd better not play me! Hurry up and add me, then send red packets!

Erlang Shen: Don't forget my share!

The chat then inexplicably went so silent, it was as if everyone had died. A full five minutes of silence later, the great emperors started sending Xue Yang direct messages in a mad flurry of activity, pressing him for an explanation.

"I really..." Ye Zichen couldn't help but gnash his teeth. In the end, he'd lost to Pu Jingwan's greed.

Although she'd come from the Outside, she was still fully aware of how valuable the treasures the great emperors had offered were.

Any one of them, whether it was the pills, the ranked divine artifacts, or the Fox Will, was far, far more valuable than the spirits of the departed she gathered on a day to day basis.

It seemed she'd been unable to resist temptation, which was why she'd sent them Venerate Spirit Treasure's location. Worse, she'd told them the truth.

The Ocean Emperor's brow was so deeply furrowed, you could see the lines even from a distance.

He hadn't made such an expression once during the mountain's internal conflict, but word of Venerate Spirit Treasure's presence in his dungeons was going to summon multiple great emperors, each the master of their respective domains.

Worse, he absolutely couldn't let them into the dungeons. Given their senses and cultivation, they'd sense the former Demon Emperor the second they passed through the dungeon's doors. If they found out about that, it would take more than a few quick explanations or waves of the hand. There was no way he could pull the wool over their eyes, either. They were sure to investigate until they got to the bottom of the matter. They might even arrange for further investigations.

When they found out the truth of the matter, well, there'd be no way for the Xue Family to talk themselves out of this mess.

"Ocean Emperor." Ye Zichen licked his lips awkwardly and walked over.

Xue Yang's avatar looked at him, his gaze rife with disappointment. "I shouldn't have given you that command medallion!"

The sight of Xue Yang's obvious disappointment made Ye Zichen's heart clench. He was undoubtedly furious; this involved the fates of the entire Xue Family. As its leader, of course Xue Yang was upset!

If Ye Zichen were anyone else, even the most esteemed elder of the Xue Family, Xue Yang might very well have killed him in a fit of rage.

However, Ye Zichen was the Emperor Star, their hope of future transcendence. His life and death affected the survival of every living being in the Three Realms.

No matter how angry the Ocean Emperor was, he couldn't kill Ye Zichen.

He could only sigh and wrack his brains for some way to prevent the great emperors from finding out any more than they already had.

Over at the River Styx, the Ocean Emperor's main body was already locked in conversation with the other great emperors. Ye Zichen couldn't face Xue Yang calmly. He could only walk up to Pu Jingwan and Yang Jian.

He immediately discovered that Pu Jingwan was hopping up and down with delight like a little girl; she was receiving a seemingly endless stream of red packets from the great emperors.

It seemed that the great emperors had really kept their word. Everything they'd promised, they delivered via red packet!

"Pu Jingwan! Yang Jian!"

"Don't bother me. I'm busy." Pu Jingwan waved him away and ignored him completely.

Yang Jian, however, turned to look at Ye Zichen, and when he saw his friend's obvious displeasure, he rubbed his hands together. "Yes?"

"Yang Jian, are those treasures really so important to you? When I tried to give you that armor earlier, didn't you refuse it? Could it be that these great emperors' treasures are really that important?" Ye Zichen couldn't help but shake his head. "Given Pu Jingwan's obsession with money, it's not surprising that she'd stir up trouble like this, but how could you go along with her?"

"Ye-zi, what are you saying? I said all that to minimize your losses!" Yang Jian said righteously. "Pu Jingwan was obviously going to spill the beans. I couldn't let her run off with all the goodies, now could I? I was out seizing treasures on your behalf. Look... Let's split them, fifty fifty! I'll send them to you now!"

Indeed, shortly after, Ye Zichen's phone started buzzing.

"I sent them!"

....

Ye Zichen couldn't help but cover his face. He was speechless; Yang Jian was infuriating, but also ridiculous.

Based on what Yang Jian was saying, he didn't care about the treasures at all; he was just concerned that Ye Zichen would get the short end of the stick. That was why he'd spoken up when Pu Jingwan showed signs of revealing Venerate Spirit Treasure's location.

At times like this, he was awfully quick on the uptake, but...

"Yang Jian, this is not the time to worry about petty gains and losses." Ye Zichen smiled bitterly.'

However, before he could finish that thought, Pu Jingwan approached. She'd just received a generous bounty of treasure from the divine emperors, and her face beamed with unconcealed delight. She was muttering something—it sounded like she was calculating how much her haul was worth.

When she got close and saw Ye Zichen's grimace, she tilted her head and giggled. "Why do you seem so upset?"

"Aren't you ashamed to even ask that?" Ye Zichen glared at her. "Have you accepted all the great emperors' red packets?"

"I did! Those great emperors of yours sure are extravagant!" Pu Jingwan sighed with emotion.

"You enjoying yourself?"

"I suppose so," said Pu Jingwan. She actually paused to think it over before nodding. "I'm certainly happy."

This only pissed Ye Zichen off even further. "You're sure taking this easy. Girl, do you have any idea that after what you said in the group chat, the Ocean Emperor practically exploded?"

"Why?" Pu Jingwan didn't understand. "It's just Venerate Spirit Treasure. So what if we tell the great emperors? He was in the wrong to begin with. Letting them get their revenge isn't so bad. Also, Venerate Spirit Treasure has all those divine artifacts. If the great emperors come take them, well, we're the ones who tipped them off, so they'll likely share a fair bit with us."

Ye Zichen practically coughed up blood. He hadn't realized that Pu Jingwan's true temptation wasn't the treasures the great emperors had offered, but rather, Venerate Spirit Treasure's hoard of divine artifacts...

No wonder her eyes practically lit up when she looked at the old toad.

She'd always been infatuated with money. Ye Zichen wanted to be mad at her, but he couldn't quite manage it. In the end, he could only sigh. "But did you forget what we just learned from the Ocean Emperor? They've got the former Demon Emperor down there! We absolutely can't let word get out!"

"Isn't that a simple fix?" Pu Jingwan shrugged, completely unconcerned. "You're just worried they'll sense the former Demon Emperor after they enter the dungeons, and that this will bring harm to the Xue Family, right? Why not just proffer up Venerate Spirit Treasure and move the former Demon Emperor elsewhere? Wouldn't that fix the problem?"

Ye Zichen froze, stunned.

Pu Jingwan shrugged. "Don't you think that'd do it?"