The purple glow on Ye Wen's fingertips intensified, but the sword gathered there ultimately failed to launch.

"Tsk. It's you again!"

Athena held no spear, but that didn't mean she lacked other means to stop Ye Wen. She stood directly in front of the other two individuals; though facing Ye Wen, she was speaking to those behind her.

"Aphrodite, Hypnos, what is happening here?"

Athena had originally been in the Pantheon with Zeus, listening as Shen Gongbao explained that the Shu Mountain Sect had only established itself in that rather ** location due to some accident, and that their existence would not disrupt the current peace between Mount Olympus and the Heavenly Court. Moreover, the Shu Mountain Sect held no animosity toward the West; they even had disciples from the West—Shen Gongbao had brought up even Chris and Claire in his effort to persuade Zeus.

Hearing that a sect from the Eastern Immortal Lands was willing to accept Westerners as disciples greatly intrigued Zeus!

He knew a little about the immortal sects of the East. The cultivation methods they followed could transform an ordinary person into a being comparable in strength to a supreme deity. The Olympians held great interest in this so-called "cultivation," but the Eastern sects were extremely isolationist, making it impossible for them to learn more.

Unexpectedly, today he learned of a sect that was not only less exclusionary but also willing to teach Westerners the "Dao techniques" that allowed ordinary people to grow into god-like beings.

Out of curiosity, Zeus had chatted with Shen Gongbao for a few more words, and the conversation gradually spiraled into disarray, deviating far from the original topic.

By this time, Athena, still inside the hall, was growing bored. She knew her "father" often acted this way, suddenly taking an interest in all sorts of random things, and that it was best not to disturb him then.

So, after offering a greeting, she prepared to leave the Pantheon, intending to keep an eye on that Eastern cultivator named Ye Wen. From Shen Gongbao's narrative, she had learned that Ye Wen was the head of the Shu Mountain Sect, an extremely powerful "Immortal"—in Olympian terms, at least a being of the level of a supreme deity.

If such a powerhouse were allowed to roam unchecked on Mount Olympus, who knew what might happen? It was better to go out early and keep watch nearby.

However, before she could exit the main hall, she sensed a formidable surge of power erupting, coupled with two very familiar divine auras trapped within that sharp, drawn-sword-like presence.

As the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena was naturally sharp-witted and understood immediately what had occurred without needing deep thought. Without further hesitation, she rushed out of the Pantheon, fixed her direction, and sped toward the disturbance, arriving just in time to intercept Ye Wen before he could attack.

The beautiful woman, Aphrodite, known as the most beautiful being on Mount Olympus (though there were certainly many beautiful women on Olympus), and Hypnos's son, Hypnos, who was naturally quite lovely and favored appearing as a cute little girl due to his mastery of illusions.

It wasn't exactly surprising that these two had clashed with Ye Wen; the key catalyst was the former God of War, Ares... Although Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus, the god of fire and the forge, her true love had always been Ares. Therefore, it wasn't strange that Aphrodite would clash with Ye Wen over Ares.

What made the situation much trickier was that Hypnos had gotten involved!

Hypnos was a subordinate of Hades, the King of the Underworld, and Hypnos was his son—his only surviving son, as the others had perished in the great battles of the past. If Ye Wen were to kill Hypnos today, Hades would likely side with Ares and strongly advocate for war against the East.

Ye Wen retracted his finger. Upon seeing Athena arrive specifically, he knew the matter had essentially reached its conclusion.

"This beautiful goddess seems intent on gifting me a beautiful dream to welcome my arrival, but I don't particularly favor this method of welcome."

That simple sentence allowed Athena to grasp the sequence of events. It seemed Aphrodite had exploited her ability to perceive others' love, collaborating with Hypnos's illusions to ambush Ye Wen, only for Ye Wen to shatter the illusion and prepare to deal with the pair.

Thinking this, Athena felt a headache brewing; the situation was truly vexing.

Ye Wen glanced at the assembled figures. Aphrodite remained outwardly calm; he couldn't fathom why she was behaving this way, acting as if she weren't worried about him taking action at all!

"This demeanor suggests she has some sort of reliance..."

He couldn't figure it out, but the way Aphrodite looked at him was deeply unsettling. He was certain he intensely disliked this woman, despite her unparalleled beauty—a beauty that seemed to transcend East-West aesthetic differences, capable of striking one to the core.

But to Ye Wen, she was simply a cunning jackal cloaked in beauty, ready to spring and bite at any moment.

"I recall that in Greek mythology, this so-called Goddess of Beauty and Love wasn't exactly a kind figure."

Considering this, Ye Wen realized that not all those myths were entirely untrustworthy. For instance, Ares in some legends was depicted as a reckless fellow, and meeting him today, he resembled none other than the famously rash Zhang Fei from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, albeit the theatrical version!

As for Aphrodite, despite her astonishing beauty, her temperament and cunning...

His gaze swept around and finally settled on Hypnos: "This is Hypnos? The son of a second-rate god?" Ye Wen had few impressions of him, knowing only that he enjoyed manipulating dreams and liked to disguise himself as a cute little girl.

A shiver ran down his spine as a thought that made his scalp tingle surfaced: "Was that dreamscape the one you cast upon me?"

"What about it?" Hypnos remained wary of Ye Wen, as he still couldn't grasp how Ye Wen had broken his illusion. That power was so immense he couldn't resist it, and the light, which seemed capable of penetrating the very soul, filled him with dread.

"How did you construct such a dreamscape?"

Although the entire dreamscape was incredibly illusory, and many elements felt awkward to Ye Wen, undoubtedly, the main substance and materials constructing the dream were things he was intimately familiar with.

The general environment of that world was entirely based on his impressions of that country from the anime he watched in his youth, including school life and home life.

Perhaps it was precisely because the materials in that dream were derived from these impressions, gathered from the unreal, that he felt such a strong sense of disharmony.

"By utilizing the more superficial memories in your consciousness."

Hypnos didn't conceal it; perhaps he felt there was no point in hiding something so trivial. In his eyes, Ye Wen's proficiency with illusions and similar arts might be far superior to his own, which is why he shattered the illusion so easily?

Ye Wen remained silent, pondering the technique revealed in Hypnos's words!

"Utilizing the more superficial memories in your consciousness..." Generally speaking, memory is like a sphere. The deepest layer consists of memories that are rarely brought up but held dear; this portion is difficult to influence, which is why Hypnos couldn't utilize it.

For example, the Ning Ru Xue he created in the environment was nearly flawless, but that tiny sliver of difference existed precisely because of this—it couldn't be traced, so it couldn't be exploited.

"However... you have unintentionally fulfilled one of my desires, but that doesn't mean I will let you off the hook!"

Ye Wen's words left the others baffled. Athena felt a tightening in her chest, wondering secretly, "Is this Ye Wen still going to strike? Is he not afraid of causing an irreparable conflict with Mount Olympus?"

She looked up at the man, fearful that he might suddenly attack, but was surprised to find Ye Wen had closed his eyes, standing perfectly still, radiating not even a hint of battle intent.

While wondering about this, she heard Ye Wen declare, "A light punishment. If you dare provoke me again, you will experience the true Six Paths of Reincarnation!"

Athena blinked, then gasped, quickly turning around to look. She saw Hypnos standing frozen in place, his expression vacant, his eyes seemingly unfocused.

This state lasted for about two or three seconds. Just as Athena was about to reach out to check on Hypnos, she suddenly saw his eyes regain focus, but his face was covered in sheer terror, cold sweat streaming down his face. In the next second, he collapsed to his knees, clutching the ground with both hands, panting heavily.

"What happened?"

Her first reaction was that Ye Wen had used some trick; her second was that Ye Wen had launched an illusion or some sort of mental attack against Hypnos; her third was: impossible!

If Ye Wen could break Hypnos's illusion, Athena thought that wasn't entirely shocking. Hypnos's illusions, while powerful, weren't flawless, and coupled with the limitations of his divine power, being broken wasn't strange.

But to see Hypnos, who had spent millennia mastering illusions, defeated by such a mental attack—this was something she found hard to believe. Even if Hypnos's divine power was slightly inferior, he had studied this art for thousands of years; perhaps no other Olympian understood illusions better than him, not even his father, Hypnos, when it came to the sheer act of creating illusions.

For a god like this to be felled by a mental attack from an Eastern cultivator? And judging by Hypnos's state, it would take time before he recovered, which made Athena even more incredulous: Ye Wen’s words implied he had held back?

Ye Wen had indeed shown mercy. Otherwise, Hypnos wouldn't have merely toured the Six Paths of Reincarnation once; it would have been endless cycles until his spirit collapsed, ending in spiritual death! The terrifying aspect of mental attacks is that achieving such feats requires very little time—perhaps only a few minutes before one collapses from experiencing countless reincarnations.

"The Six Paths of Reincarnation is certainly effective, but it consumes too much True Qi!"

Ye Wen had performed the Six Paths of Reincarnation subtly. But embarrassingly, he realized he would need time to recover his energy. Fortunately, his body and the mutated True Qi within it retained the characteristic of extremely fast recovery. Thus, after closing his eyes and maintaining an aloof posture for a moment, the True Qi that had been heavily depleted was restored, and the fatigue in his spiritual sense also eased.

When he reopened his eyes, Ye Wen glanced at Hypnos, who was still kneeling, before turning his gaze towards Aphrodite. The expression on the face of the goddess renowned for her beauty finally shifted slightly. Ye Wen finally understood that the goddess's earlier composure had been because she hadn't grasped the situation—she had underestimated his strength, and equally, she had underestimated Ye Wen's audacity.

She hadn't expected that Hypnos, master of illusions, would have almost no ability to retaliate against Ye Wen, nor had she expected Ye Wen to dare attack them so openly, even while standing on Mount Olympus.

Now, seeing Ye Wen genuinely dare to act, Aphrodite's expression became incredibly complex, a mixture of terror, disbelief, and perhaps a touch of indignation?

"Ye Wen!"

Athena had learned his name from Shen Gongbao, and following their custom, she addressed him directly by name.

"I hope you will cease here."

Ye Wen looked back at Athena and shrugged, "I hope you understand, I, Ye, am merely defending myself!"

"Yes, I understand, and I guarantee that such incidents will not happen again!" She turned and glared at Aphrodite, her eyes filled with warning.

Actually, Athena held no good impression of Aphrodite; this woman who flaunted her looks and enjoyed petty schemes was generally unwelcome, and they rarely interacted. However, this unexpected incident today forced her to intercede for Aphrodite.

After all, Aphrodite was a deity of Mount Olympus; she couldn't just be casually slain on their own turf.

"Furthermore, I hear that you and the other, Shen Gongbao, plan to stay on Mount Olympus for some time. I shall arrange suitable lodging for you then."

"Certainly!"

Ye Wen didn't know what had transpired in the Pantheon or how Shen Gongbao had reasoned with Zeus. But judging by Athena's reaction, their initial contact seemed friendly enough, as Athena had at least agreed to let Ye Wen stay on Mount Olympus.

He glanced back at the still somewhat pale Aphrodite and the still panting Hypnos: "However, I hope you can find me a relatively quiet place to stay."

"Of course." Athena spared a look at the pair. "We will certainly ensure the two of you are satisfied!"

Athena indeed kept her word. The lodging she arranged for Ye Wen was excessively quiet, almost bordering on the back mountains of Mount Olympus. The cluster of buildings looked somewhat dilapidated and rarely saw visitors. Athena found two reasonably intact palaces here for the two of them to reside in.

When Shen Gongbao left the Pantheon and found Ye Wen, Ye Wen was sitting on the cold, rigid stone bed, staring blankly at the stars overhead.

"So, this is the lodging Athena arranged for us?"

Ye Wen shrugged. "At least there's a bed!" As he spoke, he forcefully thumped the stone bed beside his hip. With Ye Wen’s strength, a punch should have left a mark, yet not even a scratch appeared: "A durable enough bed. I wonder who used to live here."

Shen Gongbao was speechless. Although he had guessed that even if they successfully remained on Mount Olympus, most Olympians would harbor negative feelings toward members of the Heavenly Court, leading to poor treatment, he hadn't expected them to be so direct, arranging a rundown room and a cold bed.

Fortunately, such material things were not of primary importance to cultivators. If necessary, they could always sit and meditate for rest.

Finding a clean spot, Shen Gongbao sat down directly and looked at Ye Wen, who was cross-legged on the bed: "I heard Head Ye clashed with two gods again, and injured one of them?"

"Aphrodite, Goddess of Beauty and Love, and Hypnos, son of Hypnos." Ye Wen didn't dwell on the matter, still gazing up at the sky. "I merely gave Hypnos a small scare. He’ll be fine after a couple of days of rest."

"I didn't realize Head Ye was also proficient in illusions." Shen Gongbao’s praise was sincere. He had only heard that Ye Wen possessed formidable close-combat abilities—that even Yuan Hong couldn't best him—but he hadn't expected him to be versed in illusionary arts as well.

Ye Wen, however, found it odd how clearly Shen Gongbao knew the details: "General Shen knows this much more?"

"When I arrived, Athena subtly tested me, which I managed to brush off with casual talk! That's when I heard about this matter."

"Oh."

Ye Wen surmised that Athena wanted a clearer understanding of his strength, so she tried to probe Shen Gongbao for information. But Shen Gongbao was cautious enough that he likely didn't reveal any flaws—more critically, Shen Gongbao only knew so much; he had nothing significant to betray even if he wanted to.

After exchanging a few words, the two focused on their own affairs, neither speaking again. It wasn't until late into the night, after watching the stars for half the night, that Ye Wen suddenly said, "Looks like I need to go out for a stroll!"

Before the words fully left his mouth, a man materialized before Ye Wen: "No need. Saying it here is the same!"

"Oh. However... how should I address Your Excellency?"

"Hades, King of the Underworld."