"You are Hades?" Ye Wen looked at the man before him—his long, jet-black hair like the night sky, his handsome features so striking they could be called beautiful, his posture commanding, dressed in robes of opulence. He hadn't expected that this figure, who radiated no gloom or terror, would be the notorious King of the Underworld.

"...Hades offered no reply, perhaps deeming Ye Wen's question beneath his notice. It made sense; on Mount Olympus, who would dare impersonate the esteemed Lord Hades?

Seeing Hades remain silent, Ye Wen pressed on, "I wonder why Lord Hades seeks me out so late at night? Hades wouldn't come looking for a mere chat in the dead of night. Ye Wen suspected it was either related to that son of his, the God of Sleep, or perhaps Hades simply held a deep prejudice against Easterners and had come to deal with him directly.

He tilted his head up, gazing at the expanse of stars, then at the moon, which hadn't been obscured in the slightest.

"The moon isn't dark, the wind isn't strong! This isn't a good time for mischief." Although Hades didn't grasp every nuance of Eastern sayings, with his intellect, he easily discerned the implication behind Ye Wen's words: "For me, the time, the place, or the weather holds no significance." "Oh?" Ye Wen sensed an overwhelming confidence radiating from Hades, an air of looking down upon the world that thoroughly irked him. The way Hades regarded him was like observing an ant, or perhaps that was simply Hades’ manner toward everyone.

"Let's get straight to the point, what is it?" Since Hades maintained such an attitude, Ye Wen lost all inclination for small talk. He had been on Mount Olympus for less than a day and found not a single person or deity whose temperament he found agreeable; they were all intensely detestable.

Whether it was Athena, Artemis, or this Hades, they all carried an air of inherent superiority. If they looked upon their own subjects that way, it might be one thing, but to regard him with such eyes made Ye Wen profoundly uncomfortable—he certainly wasn't born subservient.

"I merely wished to see what the Easterner who could defeat Thanatos using illusionary arts looked like." Hades' expression remained unchanged as he spoke, as if his purpose was truly just a simple visit.

However, his actions suggested otherwise. The moment the words left his lips, Hades casually waved his hand. The longsword, which had appeared from nowhere, swept upward in an underhand slash, leaving a perfectly distinct score mark across the stone bed Ye Wen had been sitting on.

Ye Wen, having already sensed Hades' movement, had instantly sprung away. Standing to Hades' right, maintaining a measured distance, Ye Wen adopted no fighting stance, simply resting naturally while observing the longsword in Hades' grasp—a weapon that shimmered with cold light and pulsed with endless killing intent.

"The strike Hades just made used virtually no strength; it means the sheer sharpness of that sword was enough to cleave the stone bed in two. Ye Wen already understood the sturdiness of that bed; without using focused inner strength, he couldn't have split it so easily. To think such a solid object was so effortlessly bisected by that blade.

"This longsword..." Ye Wen's first thought was the legendary Sword of Hades. His meager knowledge, mostly gleaned from anime, suggested that Hades' weapon was the Sword of Hades.

But Shen Gongbao, standing nearby, changed color dramatically, his expression shifting wildly as he stared at the longsword in Hades' hand: "The august King of Olympus actually uses a weapon?" Apparently, Hades typically fought without armaments; even in personal combat, he fought barehanded. This differed from the Sea King, who favored his trident, or the King of the Gods, who wielded lightning as his tool. Hades was more adept at fighting hand-to-hand.

To arrive at Mount Olympus and find that Hades possessed such a formidable blade—it was unclear if he simply disdained using it before, or if it was recently forged. If it was new, then Ye Wen had to consider why the King of the Underworld would specifically commission such a powerful weapon. Thinking it over, a weapon’s purpose seemed singular: to cut people down!

Hades spared Shen Gongbao a brief glance before returning his focus entirely to Ye Wen, the longsword held casually, seemingly devoid of any immediate desire to attack.

Yet, Ye Wen dared not relax his guard. That single move demonstrated that Hades’ execution of an attack was almost entirely uninfluenced by preceding posture. It suggested the Underworld King had achieved absolute, effortless control over his own power and body, capable of unleashing his strength as he willed in any situation.

Coupled with the Sword of Hades... although Ye Wen gathered from Shen Gongbao's words that his initial impression was wrong—this deity clearly hadn't wielded the sword for long—if it was the weapon of the King of the Underworld, calling it the Sword of Hades wasn't inaccurate.

At that moment, Hades suddenly swung his sword-wielding right arm diagonally upward, launching a razor-sharp sword qi toward Ye Wen. The path cut by the qi left incredibly clear traces on the ground, leaving no doubt as to the terrifying power of that single strike.

Facing the rapidly approaching sword qi, Ye Wen felt no panic. While powerful, this attack was hardly beyond his capability. He clapped his hands together over his chest, emitting a soft purple glow. Ye Wen’s right hand then formed a grip as if holding something.

The purple light flashed intensely, and an object materialized in Ye Wen's right hand. Anyone looking closely would recognize it as the hilt of a weapon. As Ye Wen’s hands slowly separated, a blade wreathed in flowing purple light appeared between them.

Clang!

Ye Wen made no move to block; he continued his drawing motion. The incoming sword qi reached him just as his half-drawn sword intercepted it.

The sword qi and the blade clashed, emitting a crisp sound. Following that sharp collision, a sound resembling a dragon's roar echoed through the silent night sky. Both Hades and Shen Gongbao froze. The purple light intensified, almost obscuring Ye Wen. He let out a soft shout: "It is impolite not to return a gift. This strike is for you." As he finished speaking, a purple sword qi shot forth from the luminous purple haze. This qi moved with incredible speed, accompanied by resonant dragon roars that commanded attention, impossible to ignore.

Hades, too, could not dismiss this attack. Watching the qi hurtle toward him, he held his longsword upright. The blade, far wider and larger than an Eastern longsword, completely shielded him from the incoming strike, yielding another clear, ringing clash.

To an ordinary observer, the exchange appeared simple: Hades casually sent a sword qi, Ye Wen blocked it, Ye Wen returned a sword qi, and Hades blocked that too.

But in Shen Gongbao's eyes, it was far from simple!

Hades' initial strike, while fearsome, had relied little on his personal strength; its majesty stemmed mostly from the longsword itself. Ye Wen’s counter, however, was different; it clearly carried Ye Wen's own inner Jing Qi. Judging by this, Ye Wen's blade seemed inferior to Hades'.

Yet, Hades didn't see it that way. He lowered the sword he held upright and scrutinized the longsword Ye Wen gripped once more.

"This sword is not bad," Ye Wen thought, "but it lacks what a true weapon should possess." It's not a real weapon to begin with. He was curious, though, what his Zixiao Sword lacked: "Oh? What do you think my Zixiao Sword is missing?" With a casual wave, the killing aura emanating from Hades' sword intensified slightly. To Ye Wen's eye, the Sword of Hades looked increasingly uncomfortable to behold.

"Killing intent. A weapon without killing intent, can it truly be called a qualified weapon?" Hades spoke, his gaze fixed on Ye Wen’s Zixiao Sword. "Easterner, your blade's durability and sharpness are excellent, but it lacks killing intent. Therefore, your sword can never become a true weapon." Ye Wen remained silent, inwardly acknowledging the truth of the statement. He recalled that swords like the Purple Heaven Sword or the Azure Rope Sword, though belonging to righteous figures, emanated intense killing intent, so much so that even masters had to use various methods to suppress their inherent malevolence before junior disciples could wield them.

Weapons meant for combat, therefore, should possess stronger killing intent; weapons lacking it were merely ordinary tools.

However, his Zixiao Sword was different; it was fundamentally an aggregation of his own Zhen Qi. Strictly speaking, it didn't even qualify as a weapon or a magical artifact.

"This Zixiao Sword isn't truly a weapon, so I don't care about that aspect." "Because it is condensed from your own power?" Ye Wen's technique was impossible to hide from someone of Hades' caliber. The moment Ye Wen summoned the Zixiao Sword, Hades had discerned its true nature.

"Sort of..." To imbue the Zixiao Sword with killing intent would mean Ye Wen himself must become saturated with it—a humanoid weapon? Ye Wen was no mass murderer and held no interest in such a suggestion.

After this exchange, the earlier tension seemed to dissipate, yet neither Ye Wen nor Hades sheathed their weapons, remaining cautiously poised opposite one another—though Hades appeared significantly more relaxed.

"The dignified King of the Underworld, coming so late—surely it wasn't just to discuss weapons and killing intent? I suggest we dispense with the preamble and get to the point," Ye Wen urged. A subtle change finally appeared on Hades' handsome face, a slight curve forming a smile: "Easterner, not everyone appreciates such overly direct temperaments." "And not everyone enjoys personalities that circle endlessly without reaching the core issue," Ye Wen retorted, inwardly cursing: Calling me a brute? Does he think I can't tell?

"Hmph!" Having been subtly mocked, Hades dropped his smile and let out an angry snort, casually returning his longsword to concealment—no one saw how he did it; the blade simply vanished into thin air. Hades then reached his hand toward Ye Wen, murmured a few low words, and the ring on Ye Wen's finger began to vibrate violently, threatening to slip off his hand.

"Hm?" Sensing the ring's instability, Ye Wen immediately activated his Hun Tian Bao Jian Zhen Qi, causing a golden light to surge around him. He specifically utilized the Jin Chen Xi energy, bathing his entire form in golden radiance, making him look like a massive, humanoid lightbulb in the dark night.

"Oh?" Hades showed surprise. He hadn't expected this Easterner to suppress the ring and prevent it from breaking free of his control. "Easterner, your abilities are more complicated than I anticipated." "Is that so?" Though Ye Wen answered lightly, he knew he had exerted his utmost effort during that seemingly innocuous clash.

Compared to Hades merely uttering a few casual incantations, Ye Wen had needed nearly all his strength to suppress the Ring of Persephone, which was trying to abandon him. Moreover, he had used the Jin Chen Xi energy—which was almost antithetical to the ring’s deep, dark power—to achieve this control.

Yet, in that instant, Ye Wen realized the ring's original owner was the King of the Underworld standing before him. The power emanating from Hades meshed perfectly with the ring, as if they were once a single entity.

Flashing the ring on his finger, Ye Wen asked, "Did you forge this ring?"

"Indeed." Hades made no move to reclaim the ring, showing no anger. "This Ring of Persephone was originally forged for and gifted to my wife. But she disliked it and always tossed it aside carelessly. I assumed it was lost forever, but to see it again..." Ye Wen hadn't expected to have seized the Underworld King’s betrothal gift. Based on this alone, the man before him could justifiably fight him to the death. Persephone? A moment's thought confirmed it was merely a translation issue!

"Don't worry, I don't want the ring back now." The mighty Hades, having failed once to forcibly reclaim the artifact, would not sully his reputation by begging Ye Wen for it again. He stiffened his posture and declared: Forget it, keep the ring!

Although Ye Wen suspected Hades was merely putting up a brave front, for the King of the Underworld to dismiss something so important so easily demonstrated a certain magnanimity!

After a few more exchanges, the tense atmosphere noticeably eased. Ye Wen retracted his inner power, and the Zixiao Sword dissolved away. Ye Wen and Hades stood facing each other, conversing normally.

Shen Gongbao, positioned nearby, seemed like a pure spectator. If someone offered him a bag of popcorn and a soda, he would be the quintessential bystander.

Yet, even if Ye Wen wanted Shen Gongbao to join the conversation, it seemed impossible. Hades appeared to hold the Heavenly Court's Water Division General in low regard; Shen Gongbao was barely registered in his vision. After a moment, Hades simply addressed Ye Wen: "Come with me," completely and utterly ignoring Shen Gongbao.

Watching Hades turn and walk away, Ye Wen said nothing and followed suit. As for Shen Gongbao? He was left to rest on his own.

The two hadn't walked far, merely traversing a short distance through the ruins, before arriving at a relatively open area. Hades found a stone table that seemed relatively intact, sat down, and pointed to a stone stool opposite him—the invitation was clear enough.

Ye Wen showed no deference to the Underworld King, walking straight over and taking the seat.

As soon as Ye Wen sat down, Hades spoke, immediately revealing his arrogance: "You are barely fit to sit with me. As for the person with you... Hmph." Ye Wen did not respond to this statement, which might or might not have been a veiled compliment, but remained seated, quietly watching Hades, awaiting his next words.

"Easterner, your name is Ye Wen?"

"Correct."

"You came to Mount Olympus... because of the frequent conflicts between the Olympian Gods and the Eastern World, correct?" As the King of the Underworld, Hades was privy to much information, and coupled with his sharp intellect, this deduction was not surprising. What was even more astonishing to Ye Wen was Hades' next statement: "In truth, like Athena, I do not wish for Mount Olympus to continue engaging in warfare with the Eastern World, especially wars that are essentially meaningless. The conflicts between Olympus and the East are nothing more than a farce. The entire reason stems from Zeus and the other gods being bored, so they raised armies to fight the Heavenly Court just to amuse themselves!"

Initially, Hades saw no issue with this. But soon, he noticed his forces suffered devastating losses in every engagement—while Zeus, the instigator, sustained almost no losses, as Olympus rarely sent vast armies, instead employing only major gods and demigods as commanders leading soldiers from the Seas and the Underworld.

How could Hades, Lord of the Underworld, tolerate his troops being constantly depleted in such endless charades? He gradually lost all enthusiasm for such matters, placing him, to some extent, on the same side as Athena.

The two—or rather, two deities—were staunch opponents of launching further wars against the Heavenly Court. They hoped this farce would not continue indefinitely.

"Hades? I didn't expect Athena, a key combatant in the Holy War, and Hades to be allies here? But... this seems advantageous for me?" Realizing the situation, Ye Wen began contemplating how to forge a strategic alliance with Hades. If successful, wouldn't the threat of Mount Olympus to the East be neutralized? Then he could return home sooner!