"Haha, that's smart of you." Ye Xiu smiled faintly, looking at the Zifeng Chain. His life was spared, but he couldn't resist stepping forward a few paces, unable to resist touching the nearly still spray of the waves.

With the slightest touch, a feeling of intimacy and softness instantly flooded his body. However, as he broke through the thick layer of water, he suddenly saw a figure behind the giant wave—a silhouette cloaked in long robes and a cowl, standing directly before him.

Who was this?

A wave of surprise washed over Ye Xiu. Yet, because of the capricious nature of the Zifeng Chain, he had no idea when the artifact might lose its power. He quickly turned, searching for a nearby elevated hillside, and began moving in that direction.

Ye Xiu was now safely high above, and the colossal wave receded immediately. From a distance, Ye Xiu saw that the figure had not vanished with the ebbing tide, still standing perfectly straight and alone.

So, Ye Xiu turned, intending to descend the hill to question this person, but unexpectedly, as he spun around, a figure flashed directly in front of him.

"Damn!" Ye Xiu cursed inwardly, though curiosity was stronger. How could this person appear before him in an instant? Did he possess some artifact like the Zifeng Chain? Thinking this, Ye Xiu confidently observed the person. Yes! It was that plain attire; he remembered these clothes. It was the old man with the full white beard—the same one who had given him a 2B pencil on his twentieth birthday. Good heavens! Had this old man also time-traveled?

"Lord of the East Sea?" Ye Xiu knew nothing about this elder, and he dared not speak too loudly. "Are you the Lord of the East Sea? Or the old man who gave me the pencil? Are you the same person?"

The elder, still hooded with his head bowed low, spoke with surprising firmness, "Indeed, it is I."

"You..." Ye Xiu had his answer, but he suddenly didn't know how to proceed with his questions. There were far too many things he needed to ask.

"You did find your way here after all," the Lord of the East Sea said, as if he had expected Ye Xiu to arrive. "It’s just that the way you invited me to meet was rather unfriendly; you destroyed more than half of the precious items on the Immortal Isle."

Ye Xiu began pacing in place. What items, what situation, what Immortal Isle—everything suddenly jammed in his throat. He wanted to ask something but didn't know where to begin.

"That's right, we chose you," the Lord of the East Sea spoke first, hiding nothing. "We were simply calculating how you would return from the 21st century, and we weren't fully prepared to receive you, yet here you are. We didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."

"Forget it, forget all that, I want to go back!" Ye Xiu could tell this Lord of the East Sea truly commanded time like an immortal. At this moment, his only desire was to return home, to his own era.

Seeing Ye Xiu’s expression, the Lord of the East Sea shook his head and sighed, "We are powerless, because we don't even know by what medium you arrived in this world."

"Hell!" Ye Xiu felt utterly incapable of communicating with this old man. "Didn't you say you were preparing to receive me? You must have a way; you absolutely can do it!"

The Lord of the East Sea sighed once more. "If you had come through our medium, we could send you back. But now, we know nothing of your origins, nor have we found any medium on you, so..."

"Medium, medium! Go to hell with your medium!" Ye Xiu intensely disliked the old man's deliberately ambiguous tone. He directly drew the sword from his back and pointed it at the old man. "If you don't tell me the truth, I'll kill you. Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're old."

"Heh heh." The Lord of the East Sea removed his cowl, revealing an aged, smiling face toward Ye Xiu. "You won't kill me, and in fact, we are destined to become the best of friends."

"Nonsense!" Ye Xiu angrily flicked the sword in his hand, exasperated. "Then tell me, just who are you people? What exactly do you want from me?"

The Lord of the East Sea stroked his long beard and said, "You are merely the one chosen by my Master. As long as you agree to the Master’s request, this world will ultimately be yours."

"Master! Who is your Master?" Ye Xiu pressed.

"The Master resides on Penglai Island. No one knows who he is, not even I. Perhaps people would rather call him God."

"God!" Ye Xiu gasped. Fine! He couldn't help but spread his hands and laugh. He was the chosen one, chosen by God, to time-travel. Damn! How cliché could this be?

The Lord of the East Sea gazed coldly out at the sea. "Heaven's will is hard to defy, and so is the God's will. The God can choose who becomes the overlord of this world, and he can choose the life or death of a person. But only once, the God lost!"

"God can lose?" Ye Xiu was utterly bewildered.

The Lord of the East Sea turned back to look at Ye Xiu. "The God chose Ying Zheng, so he unified the Six Kingdoms, but he greedily demanded the God grant him immortality, so the God abandoned him. The God chose Zhang Liang, to help him perform the flying wedge assassination against Qin, but the giant died, and he failed, so the God abandoned him too. Finally, the God chose him, but unexpectedly, he betrayed the God at the critical moment."

Ye Xiu carefully considered the chain of thought presented by the Lord of the East Sea. It seemed reasonable, especially Zhang Liang’s failure, which he had personally verified. But who was this person who betrayed God? What was that about?

The Lord of the East Sea didn't stop. He continued, "That was Han Xin. The God bestowed upon him supreme glory and a golden opportunity to dominate the entire political climate, yet he completely disregarded it, ultimately betraying the God!"

"Han Xin, betrayal?" Ye Xiu immediately thought of the historical records: Han Xin was the foremost of the Three Heroes of the Early Han, a founding minister of the Western Han Dynasty, and a representative figure of the 'War Strategy' school of military thought, revered by later generations as the 'Immortal of War' or the 'God of War.' 'King, Marquis, General, Minister'—Han Xin occupied all these roles; he was an extraordinary figure.

"So the God decided to abandon him and chose you instead!" At this point, the Lord of the East Sea looked very solemnly at Ye Xiu. "What you must do is replace Han Xin before he betrays the God. That way, the matter of betrayal won't arise."

"You want me to take care of Han Xin! And before he betrays God? What does that mean?" Ye Xiu felt like he had become an assassin from a movie, though right now, he felt quite good about himself—exceptionally good.

"The Master told me to choose this moment to meet you. This time period is precisely before Han Xin can fully realize his ambitions, and you are certain to agree," the Lord of the East Sea seemed very confident in persuading Ye Xiu.

"Heh heh, if God is so capable as to warp time and space, what do you need me for? Please get this straight, I might not agree," Ye Xiu thought these people were utterly unreasonable.

The Lord of the East Sea languidly moved his lips. "Your fate is Heaven's will. Your arrival here from your time prophesies that you will walk the path laid out by God. It doesn't matter if you consider it first. When you truly need the God's help, you will naturally agree to our terms."

"Then won't God worry that I might betray him too?" Ye Xiu smiled, brandishing his sword. "What will happen then?"

The Lord of the East Sea had already turned faintly and started walking down the hill, saying as he went, "The God will choose someone else to replace you. That is all."

Ye Xiu quieted down upon hearing this. It seemed the God's decree was inevitable; eventually, someone would fulfill the God's mission. He continued to shout after the retreating back of the Lord of the East Sea: "I want to know what exactly Han Xin betrayed the God about! What did he do to the God?"

The Lord of the East Sea did not answer, instead walking leisurely across the rocks.

Ye Xiu realized he was intentionally avoiding the question, so he pressed on another matter: "Lord of the East Sea, I want to know your real name. Who are you?"

"A servant of God, Peng Zu." With those few words left behind, the Lord of the East Sea vanished into a mist rising from the sea.

"Peng Zu!" Ye Xiu could only stand motionless on the high cliff, gazing at the illusory image of Penglai in the sea. Could he be the Peng Zu of legend, the immortal? He was a servant of God.

Ye Xiu remained alone by the desolate beach for several more days. The truth was, he still hadn't figured out any of the pressing questions. He had thought finding the Lord of the East Sea would lead to a way back, but now, not only was the hope of returning completely lost, but he was inexplicably tasked with finding and replacing Han Xin.

Moreover, the place mentioned by the old man, "Lijing," the origin point for the Mohists and the Ghost Valley School, was deeply etched in his mind. Wan'er was still missing, Lü Xu was waiting for his return, and Sister Ji Jiang had faded away. Ye Xiu began to feel a headache. Finally, after stumbling through several small fishing villages along the East Sea in a daze, a bustling city appeared in his vision. This was Xiao County.

Ye Xiu had been craving a proper feast for days. Although he had eaten plenty of sea fish recently, nothing compared to the satisfaction of twice-cooked pork from his hometown. He wondered if these small shops offered any unique delicacies.

Ye Xiu quietly traversed several main streets alone. After a string of escapes and fierce battles, his clothes were in tatters. Coupled with the Heaven's Will Sword on his back, which was as black as coal, he looked every bit a beggar. Just as he was about to reach the end of one street, he suddenly heard a noisy clamor of men and women around the corner and moved closer to see what was happening.

It turned out the corner opened up to a lavishly decorated house, entirely draped in colorful silks. When the wind blew, a fragrance of cosmetic powders drifted over, refreshing the heart.

A group of fawning young noblemen were standing at the entrance, receiving flirtations from several voluptuous women. Unfortunately, those women were all too plump to catch Ye Xiu's eye.

It was the Cuiyan Pavilion, a brothel. Ye Xiu scoffed coldly in his heart. However, he became interested when he overheard the crowd mention that a remarkable woman who sold only her artistry but not her body had arrived at the pavilion today. But just as he was about to slip in with the crowd, he was stopped by a vulgar-looking madam.