Chapter 134 | With a Protagonist Halo, How Did I End Up the Villain?

“Shopkeeper, do you have any other magical artifacts?” Ye Fan asked, looking at the single-tooth rake in the long box with a frown.

He felt that the design of this magical artifact was a bit too embarrassing to present!

The goat shopkeeper stroked his goatee. “Young Hero, it’s already quite good that our Treasure Pavilion has these three magical artifacts! You must know, we of the demon race are not good at artifact forging!”

Ye Fan looked at the single-tooth rake in the long box and said helplessly, “Pack it up!”

He would just have to make do with it! It wasn't for him anyway.

Afterward, Ye Fan paid the spirit stones, took the magical artifact, and went straight to General Tiger's residence.

“General Tiger, this is the magical artifact I refined for you.”

Seeing the long box Ye Fan produced, General Tiger's eyes lit up. With such a long box, the magical artifact inside had to be quite large! It would surely be mighty and domineering. This 98th Prince really knew how to please people. This kid had looked smart ever since he was little!

But the moment the box opened, General Tiger was dumbfounded.

Smart? Smart, my foot!

The magical artifact was indeed large, but wasn't the design a bit too bizarre? It felt like a master forger had failed to finish it according to plan, abandoning it halfway through.

General Tiger looked up at Ye Fan. “Smart Egg, is this the magical artifact you refined?”

Ye Fan’s face instantly darkened. He knew the general had complaints, but could he please not blurt out his mental nickname for him?

Even so, he still replied with a straight face, “Yes. Look, it’s even a high-grade magical artifact!”

General Tiger checked and saw that it was indeed a high-grade magical artifact, which only made him feel more pained and speechless. “If you didn't have enough materials, you should have just said so! You can't just refine a defective product like this!”

“Aha! There were plenty of materials, and this is definitely not a defective product. I designed it this way on purpose!” Ye Fan argued repeatedly. “This treasure is called the Heaven-Suppressing Single Tooth. Don't look at its casual appearance; that is the ultimate simplicity of the great Dao! The reason it was designed like this is to reduce weight, making it easy to carry around. If you can't win a fight, you can carry it and run faster!”

Ye Fan looked at the single-tooth rake in the long box and continued to explain against his conscience, “Don't let its peculiar shape fool you, its power is immense. It hits hard, blocks blades steadily, and is perfect for both close-quarters and ranged combat...”

At the same time, he felt a wave of helplessness in his heart. As a grand Immortal Emperor of his generation, he had actually resorted to fooling a demon. For some reason, he actually felt a bit of self-pity!

Listening to Ye Fan's boasting, General Tiger looked at the single-tooth rake again. His mouth twitched, and he couldn't say a word for a long time.

If this damn single tooth were at least in the middle, he might have been able to convince himself to believe this nonsense.

“I don’t like this Heaven-Suppressing Single Tooth. Exchange it for another one!”

Hearing that General Tiger didn't like it, Ye Fan grew anxious. You can't just not like it! He had spent a fortune to buy this, and even though he had used the general's daughter's spirit stones, he was still the one who spent them!

“General Tiger, use this Heaven-Suppressing Single Tooth for now, and I will refine a better one for you in the future. I ran into a bit of an accident during the refining process this time, so I can't refine any artifacts for the time being...”

Hearing this, General Tiger couldn't help but suspect that this guy must have injured himself during the refining process, which was why he had produced such a defective piece! Seeing how confident he had been before, the general had thought he was some kind of expert.

Without that diamond, don't take on that porcelain work!

He had always thought this kid was a luminous pearl, but turned out he was just a firefly.

Well, even though it looked a bit ridiculous, it was still a high-grade magical artifact after all. He might as well use it for now!

General Tiger ended up putting the single-tooth rake away.

“There is a situation right now that I need to tell you about!”

Seeing Ye Fan's serious expression, General Tiger asked in confusion, “What is it?”

“The demonic cultivators of the Northern Province have joined forces with General Dog, and the righteous cultivators of the Eastern Province have partnered with Minister Fox!”

“What? They joined forces? They partnered up?”

The moment Ye Fan's words fell, General Tiger couldn't help but exclaim in shock!

“Yes!”

Ye Fan was not surprised by General Tiger's reaction. After all, he had been just as shocked when he first heard the news!

Just then, General Tiger said something that nearly choked Ye Fan with anger.

“Why didn't they seek me out to partner up? How am I any worse than that old fox?”

“Ah! Why?”

Ye Fan replied crossly, “How should I know!”

General Tiger turned to look at Ye Fan and questioned, “Is it because of you? Did collaborating with you bring me bad luck?”

Ye Fan looked at General Tiger and took a deep breath. Suddenly, he had a nagging feeling that he might have chosen the wrong partner.

But he didn't hold back in his response either. “Can't you look for the reason within yourself? Maybe it's because you aren't working hard enough, or because you aren't outstanding enough?”

General Tiger tossed his head. “How is that possible?”

“I am incredibly powerful!”

Ye Fan looked at General Tiger speechlessly. Do you even believe your own words? If he were that powerful, he would have rebelled and become the Demon Emperor long ago.

“Then how the hell are we supposed to play? With them joining forces, every single one of them is stronger than us!” General Tiger couldn't help but grumble.

“No! We still have a chance—a massive chance!” Ye Fan narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice.

“What chance? Once they unite, they will have more Unity-stage cultivators than us. How are we supposed to fight?” General Tiger glared with his tiger eyes, thoroughly perplexed.

“Besides, no amount of scheming can overcome absolute strength!”

Ye Fan shook his head and smiled. “We can let the mantis stalk the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind...”

Hearing this, General Tiger's eyes lit up as well.

“That's right! We can just wait to reap the benefits!”

“Exactly!”

The two looked at each other and smiled, both seeing the light of victory in each other's eyes.

After discussing further, Ye Fan finally left General Tiger's residence.

...

Inside her seclusion chamber, the Empress had finally managed to recover from her injuries with great difficulty.

But when she wanted to leave, she discovered she couldn't get out!

“What's going on? Are the array patterns broken?” the Empress couldn't help but mutter.

With a twitch of her brow, she cast another array pattern!

The stone door remained as steady as a mountain, without even a single tremor.

The Empress's eyes turned cold. She immediately pinched a hand seal, her fingertips flowing with spiritual energy as she attempted to force open the restriction.

The spiritual light flickered slightly inside the seclusion chamber, but the outside of the stone door seemed to have been sealed with multiple layers of formations. The moment her hand seal touched the edge of the door, it dissipated without a trace.

The Empress tried a few more times, but still couldn't open it.

Helplessly, she had to give up for now, planning to wait until the Demon Emperor noticed and opened it for her.

However, she waited for several days in a row, yet the Demon Emperor never came.

The Empress grew anxious.

What on earth was happening?

Or did the Demon Emperor play some tricks to lock her in here?

Their wedding anniversary was just around the corner.

Promptly, she stood up to try again.

She examined the door of the seclusion chamber, carefully feeling along the edges of the stone door.

Her fingertips brushed past the cold stone crevices, and she finally felt a very subtle difference in a corner.

Gritting her teeth, the Empress channeled all her spiritual energy and attacked that spot.

Boom! Boom!

She had no idea how long she had been blasting it.

Her spiritual energy was depleted once again.

Only then did she hear a few crisp clicking sounds, followed by a heavy, muffled thud.

The stone door finally slid outward, revealing a narrow gap.

Exerting her remaining strength, she pushed herself through, stepping out of the seclusion chamber in complete disarray, her usual poise and majesty utterly gone.