Chapter 1759 — Chapter 1759 Acquiring the Second Ancient Seal

"Despite your earlier disrespectful behavior, I forgave you and allowed you to walk away," Yuan said to Tan Songyun, his tone cold and unyielding. "But you chose to persist in slandering me. While I am forgiving, my patience has its limits. This time, Lady Tan, you haven't just slandered me—you've also involved the Shen Family in your reckless actions."

"I have no excuses," Tan Songyun said, her voice weak and apologetic. "My hatred and desire for revenge clouded my judgment. If you wish to take my life for offending you, I will not protest. However, I humbly plead with you to spare the Shen Family."

"At least you can admit when you are wrong. Unfortunately, you are not in a position to make any request at this moment."

The Shen Family trembled at these ominous words.

"I will deal with you later."

Yuan turned to look at the Dragon King and the rest of the Shen Family.

"Dragon King, I will give you a chance to talk before I give you my judgment."

The Dragon King quickly responded, "I have no excuses, Your Majesty. I deserve death for doubting your identity, not to mention my unruly behavior. I know that I am in no position to request anything, but I just hope Your Majesty can forgive my family. They were against testing your identity from the very beginning, but I forced them to go along with my foolishness."

The Dragon King did not lie. The rest of the Shen Family were still reluctant to confront Yuan despite knowing there was a good chance he was a fake.

After a moment of silence, Yuan spoke, "I don't blame any of you for doubting my identity. As a matter of fact, I am a newly appointed Dragon Emperor."

"A new Dragon Emperor…?" The Dragon King muttered.

There could only be five Dragon Emperors in existence, so the only way for another Dragon Emperor to be appointed was through the death or retirement of an existing Dragon Emperor.

If Yuan had been recently appointed to his position, it meant that he was replacing one who passed away.

'The last time a Dragon Emperor passed away, we were notified even while in the Fifth Heaven, and I was ordered to personally travel to the upper heavens to attend their funeral. Why didn't we hear anything this time?' the Dragon King wondered, his mind racing with confusion over the lack of communication.

However, the Dragon King did not doubt Yuan's identity despite this. He figured it was due to other issues.

Yuan continued, his tone unwavering. "I have a rule: if I am going to punish someone, I must punish everyone involved. However, there is one individual who truly does not deserve any punishment. Out of consideration for that person, I will spare the Shen Family this time."

The Dragon King and the others felt as if a mountain had been lifted off their shoulders after hearing Yuan's words.

"Thank you for showing us mercy, Your Majesty!" the Dragon King banged his head on the ground as he kowtowed.

Although Yuan didn't specify who this individual was, everyone knew he was talking about Shen Shi.

However, in reality, Yuan never intended to punish them. After all, they were correct, and he was a fraud.

Yuan cleared his throat and said, "Dragon King, stand up."

The Dragon King immediately stood up, not even bothering to wipe the blood off his forehead unless he was ordered to do so.

Yuan made a beckoning gesture, almost as if he was asking for something.

The Dragon King quickly understood what Yuan wanted and retrieved the Ancient Seal.

"I will leave this in your hands," said the Dragon King, and he handed the Ancient Seal to Yuan.

Yuan smiled inwardly after collecting the second of four Ancient Seals out there.

"I will let the Xi Family know of your cooperation when I return."

"There's no need for that, Your Majesty." The Dragon King swiftly rejected.

"Are you sure?"

"I am certain." "Okay. Anyway, now that my business is done here, I won't linger any longer." Yuan proceeded to let Xi Meili know of the outcome through voice transmission.

The next moment, Xi Meili appeared before them.

"That took longer than anticipated. Was there an issue?" Xi Meili asked, pretending to have seen nothing.

Yuan shook his head and calmly said, "There's no issue at all. We can leave now."

However, before they left, Yuan turned to look at Tan Songyun and said, "Lady Tan, you and I are not done yet. Follow me."

Tan Songyun silently nodded and followed.

'Good luck, Zither Goddess.' The Dragon King prayed for her inwardly.

As much as he wanted to help her, she was on her own.

After traveling for several days, Yuan finally stopped somewhere in a secluded area.

'Yu Ning, can you create a concealment formation around us?' Yuan asked her.

"Of course."

Yu Ning took control of Yuan's body for a moment, creating a powerful concealment formation in the blink of an eye.

'He's an Array Master as well?' The Zither Goddess swallowed nervously.

Once the formation was set up and Yuan regained control over his body, he asked Xi Meili to leave them alone for a moment.

"Lady Tan, I would like to ask you a few questions. You must answer them truthfully no matter what. Consider this your punishment for slandering me."

Tan Songyun was a little bewildered by such a punishment, but she still nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"First and foremost, can you tell me about the person you're looking for?"

"..."

Tan Songyun answered after a moment of silence, "His name was Tian Kai, my music teacher and lover—or so I thought."

"How long have you known this Tian Kai?"

"About a year before he left me."

"What did you two do during that time?"

"He taught me the zither during the day and showed me love during the night," she replied, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion. Despite her attempt to mask her feelings, the anguish and hatred in her tone were unmistakable.

"What went wrong?" Yuan then asked.

Hearing this question, Tan Songyun's body trembled.

"Everything…" she sighed.