Chapter 2083: Chapter 2083: Gate of the World?

On the opposite bank of the river, Yan Meng and his old man hadn’t stayed there waiting. It wasn’t until Ye Haochuan returned to Anxi County and met the County Marquis that he learned Yan Meng’s old man had already been escorted away to see the Prefecture Master for losing Mushan County.

This only made Ye Haochuan feel it was hilarious. Mushan County had been lost for so long, and only now did they drag him back in chains. This efficiency was just amazing, huh?

Yan Meng hadn’t been taken away with his father. Instead, he shut himself alone in a room in the County Marquis Mansion.

After learning Ye Haochuan was back, Yan Meng finally opened the door and sprinted over to find him.

"My dad told me to follow you from now on and be your little brother!" As he spoke, tears kept welling up in Yan Meng’s eyes.

"Follow me? For what?" Ye Haochuan asked in puzzlement.

Yan Meng choked up. "My dad said he’s not getting out of punishment this time, might even be locked up for dozens or hundreds of years. I’ve got no one to depend on and no skills. I can’t survive alone."

"So he told you to follow me?" Ye Haochuan said, his expression a bit odd.

"My dad said you’re someone with great potential, that you’ll definitely achieve big things in the future. If I follow you, I won’t die!" Yan Meng said very seriously.

Damn it, I’m not some daycare auntie, why the hell should I look after you?

Ye Haochuan cursed inwardly.

But he only said it in his heart and didn’t voice it. After all, Yan Meng had just lost his father; if he hit him with something that harsh right now, the guy might actually snap.

Just as Ye Haochuan was trying to figure out how to tactfully turn Yan Meng down, Yan Meng suddenly took something out of his ring and handed it to him.

"My dad said this is his most valuable treasure, and he hopes you can..."

Holy crap, this is the good stuff!

Before Yan Meng could finish, Ye Haochuan’s eyes were already shining.

What Yan Meng gave him was nothing else but that very Flying Magical Treasure used earlier to send him and Niu Kui across the river.

Ever since entering the Immortal Realm, Ye Haochuan had been craving being able to fly like he did in the Lower Realm. Walking was just too damn tiring—and slow.

But both Flying Magical Treasures and flying Demon Beasts were ridiculously hard to acquire, and that had always been a regret in his heart.

He hadn’t expected someone to just deliver one to his door. How could he not be overjoyed?

"No problem, no problem!" Ye Haochuan quickly took the spherical Flying Magical Treasure, then happily introduced Yan Meng to Long Keyue and the others.

After that, Ye Haochuan went to find the County Marquis.

The County Marquis had originally been busy with preparations to retake Mushan County, but the moment he saw it was Ye Haochuan, he immediately put everything down and summoned Ye Haochuan in.

"Fellow Friend Ye, the Li Family’s properties have already been tallied. There are fifty million red crystals, countless houses and lands, and one Crimson Gold Iron Mine..."

"Only fifty million?" Ye Haochuan was a bit disappointed.

It wasn’t that he suspected the County Marquis of skimming; it was just that fifty million was really too little for him at his current stage.

He still needed to scrape together several hundred million red crystals to resurrect the owner of the small golden coffin and get the Earth Wisdom Bead from her.

"Ling Zhixing, I’ll leave five million red crystals for you. As for the real estate and mines, handle them as you see fit. From now on, this family business will be managed by you!" Ye Haochuan suddenly called Ling Zhixing over and spoke very solemnly.

"Huh? All for me to manage?" Ling Zhixing was clearly still a bit dazed.

He had heard Ye Haochuan mention that he had some property in Anxi County, but he hadn’t expected it to be this big.

Setting aside the fifty million red crystals for the moment, just that Crimson Gold Iron Mine alone was something all the rich and powerful dreamed of owning.

He’d always had ambition, but suddenly being handed so much at once still left him feeling a bit overwhelmed, like he was being favored too much.

"I believe you can definitely grow this family business bigger and bigger!" Ye Haochuan laughed. "Besides, don’t you already have a helper now?"

Auntie Wang, standing to the side, already had stars in her eyes. The moment she heard Ye Haochuan mention her, the greed on her face immediately faded, and she vowed earnestly, "Young Master Ye, rest assured, I’ll definitely assist Manager Ling in running all of this!"

Ye Haochuan nodded in satisfaction. This Auntie Wang wasn’t very literate, but she clearly had a talent for reading people and situations, and she was sharp.

Ye Haochuan had already had Ling Zhixing start teaching her to read. He believed that, given time, she would definitely become a capable assistant under Ling Zhixing.

As for questions about her character, there was no point in saying too much now—it would be up to Ling Zhixing to keep a close rein on her.

After explaining everything, all matters related to the Li Family were completely handed over to Ling Zhixing.

The Prefectural Governor invited Ye Haochuan to join the forces attacking Mushan County and even said he wanted him to serve as a Commander, but Ye Haochuan refused. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

His feelings toward that group of Demon Beasts were still quite complicated.

After all, he’d had a few dealings with the Fat Worm. The Fat Worm had even gone out of its way to protect Long Keyue and Ling Zhixing. When Ye Haochuan was captured, the Fat Worm also hadn’t killed him right away. All things considered, the Fat Worm had done him favors.

If it weren’t for humans and Demon Beasts walking different paths with conflicting goals, Ye Haochuan might’ve actually lent the Fat Worm a hand.

Given how things stood now, Ye Haochuan naturally couldn’t help the Fat Worm—but he also didn’t want to kick it while it was down.

He figured this entire operation by the Fat Worm was basically asking for death, and sooner or later it would be wiped out completely by human cultivators. But as long as he wasn’t the one personally doing the killing, he wouldn’t feel that guilty about it.

With nothing better to do, Ye Haochuan once again took out that piece of jade, preparing to study it.

When he pulled out the jade, he suddenly sensed that something in his ring seemed to share a similar aura with it.

"Gate of the World? How can this jade share a similar aura with the Gate of the World? Could it be..." A guess suddenly popped into Ye Haochuan’s mind.

He’d long felt that the aura on this jade was familiar, but he hadn’t expected that familiar feeling to come from the Gate of the World of the Sub-Fire Dimension Realm.

If he followed that logic, this jade might also be a Gate of the World for some other realm. Wouldn’t that mean he’d gotten himself another badass trump card?

The Gate of the World of the Sub-Fire Dimension Realm was already useless to him, but the benefits that gate had brought him were still etched deeply into his memory.

"If it’s a Gate of the World or not, I’ll know once I try." Ye Haochuan held the jade in his palm and focused his mind.

Ying ying ying~

The jade instantly responded, humming and trembling.

He hadn’t expected it to really be a Gate of the World. This time, this young master had struck gold!

Ye Haochuan was overjoyed, and then he couldn’t help looking forward to it even more—what kind of world would he be entering this time?

Just as his anticipation peaked, the jade suddenly gave a sharp "crack" and split with a huge fissure.

What the hell, what’s going on?

Ye Haochuan was just about to stop channeling power into the jade, when he realized it had already shattered violently, turning into dust.

And in that very instant, he felt the surroundings change in a flash. He, who should have been in the Military Marquis Mansion, suddenly found himself in a boundless desert...