The Heaven Dao Diviner wanted to resist, but after just a few moves, he was subdued by the powerful immortal energy gripping his throat.

The difference in strength was frighteningly vast.

“Where is she?” Li Ye asked.

With a rigid expression, the Heaven Dao Diviner said in a deep voice: “Who are you asking about?”

Li Ye didn’t answer, only increasing the force on his throat by twenty percent.

Blood vessels surfaced in his eyes as the Heaven Dao Diviner clutched the bagua disk in his hand, glancing at Taihe, who was also showing signs of pain across from him. He felt confused.

If Li Ye cared about that young girl, why was he completely disregarding Taihe’s life or death? If he didn’t care, then why was he asking about her?

Seeing that the force truly seemed intent on crushing his divine soul, the Heaven Dao Diviner stopped thinking and said hoarsely: “I’ve never seen the young girl by your side.”

Blatant lies.

…

…

Li Ye raised his hand, and a wisp of purple smoke floated out from between the Heaven Dao Diviner’s brows. The purple smoke fell into his palm, shimmering with pure, high-quality immortal energy.

This was one of the Heaven Dao’s souls.

At the same time, a strand of Taihe’s divine soul also separated from his body. His standing figure swayed, and a hint of illness appeared between his brows.

Li Ye didn’t even spare Taihe a glance as he directly swallowed the Heaven Dao’s soul.

The Heaven Dao became anxious. If Li Ye swallowed his soul, Taihe’s soul wouldn’t automatically enter his mouth. Continuing like this would only lead to passive destruction.

With this thought, he flipped his hand, and the copper-green bagua disk suddenly burst with purple light. Within that purple light were blade energies that unexpectedly pushed Li Ye’s immortal energy back several inches.

Caught off guard and pushed away, Li Ye withdrew his sleeve and looked at the object in his hand, showing slight realization: “I wondered why the Heaven Mechanism Lock, one of the ancient divine artifacts, had vanished without a trace for years. So it was here.”

The perfectly good Heaven Mechanism Lock had been transformed into a bagua disk—an act of defying heaven. After so many years, not a single person had noticed.

No wonder this man could divine without error; the Heaven Mechanism Lock must have provided considerable assistance.

With his life at stake, the Heaven Dao Diviner no longer cared about such matters. Seizing the opportunity, he escaped underground. A gust of wind swept past, and Taihe Xianshi, standing nearby, also disappeared without a trace.

Li Ye didn’t even raise an eyelid, calmly summoning a cloud and stepping onto it.

The Heaven Dao Diviner fled toward the western part of the Thorn Forest. Dragging Taihe along, he moved extremely fast, like a bolt of lightning, causing trees along the way to topple. After running just two li, a figure suddenly appeared on their escape route.

The Heaven Dao Diviner was on high alert. Without waiting to see who it was, he attacked directly.

After the massive purple-gold light passed, the figure was collected into his bagua disk. The Heaven Dao Diviner weighed it, feeling it was somewhat heavy. Just as he wanted to see who he had captured, a barrier suddenly descended in front of him.

His expression changed, and he halted his steps.

The barrier encased the entire Thorn Forest like a water screen. Li Ye descended along with the barrier, casually standing before his eyes, his cold gaze dispassionately watching him, like a cat licking its paws while waiting for a mouse.

When he had fled, he released four separate phantoms. How had Li Ye blocked him so unerringly?

Though shocked inwardly, the Heaven Dao Diviner dared not show it. He merely raised his eyes to glare at Li Ye, seeking another opportunity to exploit.

“Qian Tian has arrived at the Thorn Forest,” Li Ye said in a very cordial tone. “Does the Diviner wish to see him alive, or let him come collect your remnant souls?”

With these words, the Heaven Dao Diviner abandoned the idea of escaping again.

There was no escape. Li Ye was not in a hurry to kill him; he must have conditions to discuss, otherwise, given his temperament, he would never waste time with such idle talk.

Somewhat more settled, he swept his sleeve and asked: “What do you want?”

Li Ye didn’t answer, only glancing at Taihe.

The Heaven Dao Diviner chuckled lightly: “The soul-binding with him will certainly not be undone, but if you’re willing to sit down with me and resolve our misunderstanding, I can find the young girl and return her to you.”

Li Ye laughed softly, his eyes and brows revealing complete nonchalance: “You speak as if it’s so simple.”

His tone sent chills down one’s spine, but the Heaven Dao Diviner knew he had guessed correctly—Li Ye was indeed concerned about that young girl, which was why he hadn’t killed him.

Although the young girl truly wasn’t in his hands, finding her shouldn’t be difficult. Originally, the Heaven Dao Diviner had no intention of bowing his head to seek reconciliation, but at this point, the best approach was indeed to bow to him.

He truly hadn’t killed Li Ye’s birth mother.

He hadn’t explained earlier because he wanted to retain a tactical advantage to use when Li Ye made radical mistakes, but the Heaven Dao never anticipated that in just one short year, Li Ye would become so powerful and terrifying.

Sighing lightly, the Heaven Dao Diviner put away his bagua disk and submissively entered Li Ye’s barrier.

Li Ye retracted his killing intent and methodically bound him.

Qian Tian also arrived quickly. Within half an hour, a vast expanse of heavenly soldiers surrounded the Thorn Forest. He looked up at Li Ye, his eyes bloodshot: “You’ve played quite the calculated game.”

Trapping him in the Western Sea, then bringing people from the netherworld to cause trouble in the Nine Heavens—drawing the tiger away from the mountain, making a feint to the east while attacking in the west.

Originally, with Qian Tian present, the Nine Heavens were well-guarded, and the netherworld beings couldn’t possibly have infiltrated so easily. But he had specifically received news that Li Ye was attacking the Western Sea.

Li Ye had a grudge with the Western Sea, disrupting the Taihe Immortal Sect’s peace—everyone in the Nine Heavens knew this. Upon receiving the news, no one doubted its authenticity, and even the Heaven Dao Diviner permitted him to lead troops to the Western Sea.

Then he was detained there by Zhu Yan for over ten days.

How cunning Li Ye was! Even killing Long Shu was part of his plan. Qian Tian had truly believed he was acting out of impulsive rage for his beloved, but now he realized that even the little immortal Er’er was merely a decoration on his chessboard.

Everyone thought he was constrained by emotion, but who would have guessed that this person was still as cold-blooded and heartless as he had always been.

Summoning his magical artifact, Qian Tian pressed his lips tightly together.

“Enough,” the Heaven Dao Diviner spoke up. “I have already come to terms with him. There’s no need for further conflict.”

Slightly startled, Qian Tian asked in confusion: “Diviner?”

“Go find Immortal Er’er. Supreme God Li Ye and I still have some misunderstandings to resolve.” The Heaven Dao smiled gently, as if he weren’t bound, maintaining his immortal bearing and compassionate tolerance before everyone.

Qian Tian hesitantly withdrew his magical artifact, his eyes full of bewilderment.

At this critical juncture, what was the purpose of finding Er’er? Didn’t Li Ye disregard her? He even harmed Taihe.

But since the Heaven Dao Diviner had said so, he raised his hand and passed down the order.

However, while his subordinates went to search, he didn’t move, remaining in place, vigilantly watching Li Ye.

No immortal energy could be detected from him, yet he could slay immortals and Buddhas, which meant this person had reached another realm, beyond their comprehension. Even if they found Immortal Er’er, if he decided to act, none of them would escape.

Concern welled up in his eyes as Qian Tian turned to look at Zhen Huan Gong standing beside him.

Zhen Huan Gong’s expression was solemn, his thoughts probably not far from his own. Noticing his expression, he simply shook his head slightly.

They couldn’t confront him directly. If finding Er’er could lead to reconciliation, that would be the best outcome. Even if it meant agreeing to some conditions, it would be acceptable.