In a dense forest. Yang Ye stood in front of a tree while 10 black shadows stood quietly behind him without moving. It was like they’d been frozen in time. If someone else was here, that person would notice that those black shadows had actually faintly fused with the trees in the surroundings, and it was utterly impossible to notice them without looking carefully!

Yang Ye turned around and glanced at them while his eyes revealed a wisp of admiration. The 10 of them had been carefully chosen by him before he headed to Ancient Domain City, and they were the most elite amongst the group of assassins. Their strengths and every other aspect were the best amongst the assassin! This was obvious from how quickly they’d assassinated those devil profounders outside Ancient Domain City!

“All of you are really not bad!” Yang Ye nodded, and then his gaze descended onto a man who stood between Leng Jun and Leng Yin. The man wore a black mask and a black cloak, and he held a short sword in his hand. Even though his face was concealed, his gaze was extremely icy cold and sharp. The reason Yang Ye paid attention to this man was that this man wasn’t weaker to Leng Jun or Leng Yin at all when he assassinated those devil profounders outside Ancient Domain City, and it was even to the extent that he surpassed them. Because he alone had killed 4 profounders in less than 5 breaths of time. Moreover, he’d done so with an extremely decisive and clean strike to the neck!

“What’s your name?” asked Yang Ye.

The man was stunned. Obviously, he hadn’t expected that Yang Ye would pay attention to him. After he recovered from his shock, he hurriedly bowed to Yang Ye, and then he said, “Sword Master, I’m Zhang Liu!”

Yang Ye grinned and said, “I saw you fight just now, and your strength is really good. It’s even to the extent that I felt a sense of danger!”

Zhang Liu smiled bitterly as he shook his head, and he said, “Sword Master, your strength is extraordinary. You fought four peerless geniuses by yourself, and you even made the Sword Emperor retreat in defeat while being a sword cultivator yourself. How could I possibly be a threat to you?”

“Little Liu is right!” Meanwhile, a black figure walked over and bowed to Yang Ye, and then he said, “Sword Master, I’m Ye Yun. I’m the youngest amongst all of us brothers. Of course, I’m the smartest as well!”

Yang Ye smiled and said, “I don’t know if you’re the smartest, but these words you spoke allowed me to know that you’re absolutely the most shameless!”

The others couldn’t help but smile when they heard this, and some even started laughing.

The young man called Ye Yun rolled his eyes, and he felt rather helpless.

Meanwhile, Yang Ye pondered deeply for a moment before he raised his hands in front of him, and then his profound energy circulated slightly. 10 black strings instantly flew out from within him and entered the bodies of these 10 people.

The 10 of them were stunned by this. After they recovered from their shock, excitement surged onto their faces while their eyes were filled with bewilderment.

Because Yang Ye had returned the strand of their soul which he used to control them. In other words, they weren’t under Yang Ye’s control anymore….

“Sword Master, why?” Zhang Liu spoke in a slightly agitated tone.

Yang Ye smiled and said, “There’s no reason. I just like it, so I did it! Now, all of you can choose to stay by my side or leave. Of course, I hope that you’ll choose to stay by my side because I need all of you.”

There was a reason why Yang Ye had done this. When he was encircled by those four fellows outside Ancient Domain City, he’d asked the profounders from the southern territory to leave, and he’d even secretly issued an order for the 10 of them to leave. However, they hadn’t left, and they were even prepared to attack. However, he’d forcefully restrained them, and that was the only reason why they hadn’t attacked in the end!

At that time, he was facing four peerless geniuses. So not to mention everyone else, even he was ready to die. He knew that they would absolutely die if they attacked because Mu Jun, Hun You, and Mo Ke were really too extraordinary. Assassinations were practically useless against them!

Moreover, Yang Ye was very clearly aware that the 10 of them knew they would definitely die if they attacked! In short, Yang Ye was slightly moved at that moment. Yes, even he, Yang Ye, had others who were willing to live and die with him! He’d committed these feelings to memory, and he didn’t want anything to taint these feelings. So, he’d returned their souls to them!

All of them remained silent.

After a short while, Ye Yun chuckled lightly and said seriously, “Sword Master. Actually, in our hearts, we brothers were following you mainly because a strand of our souls was in your possession, and we wanted to obtain even more cultivation resources through you! However, when I saw you fight those four geniuses outside Ancient Domain City for the sake of the profounders from the southern territory, I told myself that you are someone worth following. Moreover, I believe that I’ll only be able to take revenge by staying by your side!”

“I agree with Little Ye!” At this moment, Zhang Liu said, “Amongst all the profounders of the human race, I, Zhang Liu, only admire you, Sword Master! You have a slightly selfish character, but that’s only to outsiders, and you’re very loyal to your own. I knew I didn’t misjudge you when I saw how you fought for those profounders from the southern territory and what you just did!”

“Little Ye is right. We only have a chance at revenge by following you, Sword Master. So, I choose to stay by your side!” Leng Jun spoke as well.

“I choose to stay by your side!”

“I choose to stay by your side!”

“I….”

All 10 of them chose to continue staying by Yang Ye’s side.

Yang Ye took a deep breath and said, “All of you carry a debt of blood on your shoulders, and so do I, Yang Ye. Moreover, our enemies are extremely strong. However, I’m confident that we’ll annihilate all our enemies one day!”

“We’ll annihilate all our enemies one day!” The others bowed to Yang Ye and spoke in unison!

As he gazed at them, traces of emotion flashed through Yang Ye’s eyes. I’ve started to have friends and brothers as well? I’m going to have more people to protect?

Even though he’d gained even more responsibility, Yang Ye didn’t feel even a trace of aversion towards it. Conversely, he had a slightly strange feeling instead!

Yang Ye shook his head, and then he flipped his palm. A scroll appeared in his hand as he said, “This is an Earth Rank movement technique called the Clone Illusion Technique. It isn’t of much use to me anymore, but it should be quite useful to all of you. Especially when it’s combined with your bizarre movement technique. It would absolutely be a terrifying combination. So cultivate it together!”

“Yes!” They didn’t refuse.

“There’s something else!” Yang Ye continued. “All of you’ve revealed yourselves. So, I presume that Mo Ke and Hun You’s companions will definitely not let all of you go, and they’ll definitely start investigating all of you. All of you’ll be in extreme danger if Mo Ke starts targeting you!”

“There’s no need to worry about that!” At this moment, Ye Yun suddenly said, “The Martial God said that she would open the Hidden Dragon Pagoda in 3 days. In other words, Mo Ke must do his best during this period to prepare for the Hidden Dragon Pagoda and the battles to ascend the Hidden Dragon Rankings. If it was at any other time, then he would definitely not let us go for killing those devil profounders. However, he’ll definitely place all his attention on the Hidden Dragon Pagoda now. So, at the very most, he would dispatch the elites of the devil race to kill us!”

“But all of you aren’t afraid of the elites of the devil race, right?” Yang Ye smiled and said, “Those elites just happen to be the best prey for all of you to train with, right?”

“Sword Master is wise!” Ye Yun smiled and said, “The 10 of us are at the peak of the King Realm, and we need prey to train with in order to improve further. Those profounders from the devil race and nether race just happen to fit this requirement. So, you don’t have to worry about us, brothers. If you’re really worried, then get a few sets of equipment for us. Truthfully speaking, everything we brothers are wearing and the weapons we use are truly quite shabby!”

“Those last two sentences were your true objective, right!?” said Yang Ye.

Ye Yun grinned when he heard this, and he said, “Sword Master is wise!”

“Stop trying to flatter me!” Yang Ye smiled as he scolded, and then he said seriously, “Remember not to die at the hands of the profounders from the devil race and nether race. I’ll get the equipment for all of you, so work hard on improving your strengths. I have the feeling that the continent won’t be peaceful at all in the future. If we don’t have strength, then even surviving would probably be a problem for us, let alone taking revenge!”

Even Ye Yun restrained his smile when he heard this, and he said seriously, “Sword Master, we’ll work hard to improve our strengths and follow closely behind you. We won’t allow you to leave us far behind! Otherwise, how could we brothers have the face to continue staying by your side if we’re a burden to you? So, don’t worry. We’ll do all we can to improve our strengths just for that!”

Zhang Liu nodded and said, “Sword Master, even though Little Ye seems to have a slightly glib tongue, but he spoke the exact same words that we wish to speak. We know you’re a true monstrous genius, and you’ll definitely soar into the sky in the future and leave us far behind. However, you don’t have to worry. We’ll work hard and do our best to stay close behind you!”

Yang Ye nodded and said, “That’s for the best. Right, for the sake of motivating all of you to improve your strengths, I’ve decided that I’ll reward the person that doesn’t suffer any injury and kills the most profounders from the nether race and devil race. The reward will be 5,000 energy stones, 10 top-grade talismans of various types….” Suddenly, Yang Ye’s voice stopped abruptly because the 10 of them had vanished on the spot….

Yang Ye stood on the spot and stared blankly ahead, and then he shook his head and smiled. “What a bunch of good for nothing fellows. I only spoke about 5,000 energy stones and 10 top-grade talismans of various types. Was there any need for all of you to act like that? How shameful!”

Yang Ye was like a well-fed man who didn’t know the suffering of the starving. The 5,000 energy stones weren’t anything much, but those top-grade talismans were extraordinary. They were top-grade talismans, and it was even 10 of various types. That was absolutely a huge amount of wealth! So, how could they not be tempted by it?

Of course, the most important reason was that they wanted to compete with each other. In the past, they didn’t have an excuse and reason, so it was very likely for a competition between them to harm their relationship. However, it wasn’t the same now because they had a very good reason and excuse.

After a short while, Yang Ye smiled. However, his smile suddenly froze as he stretched out his hand to lightly stroke the hair in front of his chest. In an instant, a clump of his hair fell from his head onto his palm.

Yang Ye fell silent as he gazed at the white hair in his hand. After a short while, he shook his head before his figure flashed and vanished on the spot. He was determined to save Xiao Yuxi even if he had to exhaust his lifespan. Fortunately, the Hidden Dragon Pagoda was about to be opened.

He wasn’t afraid of death, and he was merely afraid that no one could save Xiao Yuxi once he died!