Realms In The Firmament

Since Ye Xiao had said so, the steward didn’t think that he should keep asking, so he just said, “My lord, do you know… those men of the Mu Clan are all dead…”

Ye Xiao promptly turned his head and exclaimed, “What? All dead? What’s going on exactly? Do you know who did it?”

“It is confirmed.” The steward frowned, “It must be the most mysterious organization in the world, the House of the Chaotic Storm… No one was left alive and they even left some words for the world to see… It seems that the House of the Chaotic Storm is deliberately going against the Mu Clan?”

Ye Xiao immediately realized something.

[It seems that Xiu Of The Heavens has really done it!]

She had actually done it without any reservations; she had completely wiped out the members of the Mu Clan that had entered the capital. She was decisive, heartless, cruel and powerful, all at the same time…

It really scared Ye Xiao.

“The House of the Chaotic Storm, which many thought to be only a myth, have really surfaced.” Ye Xiao murmured. His eyes lit up, as he recalled the day when he had chased those men to the mountain…

The bamboo forest…

It must have something to do with the House of the Chaotic Storm.

[Sometime in the future, when the sky is clear and dry, I’ll take some gasoline and burn that bloody bamboo forest down… Let me see what can be lured out of it…]

When he returned to his garden, he saw Su Ye-Yue sitting in the pavilion, resting her jaw on her hands. She was gazing at the moon in the sky.

Ye Xiao walked over gently and sat opposite to her.

The girl looked at the moon and said, “Xiao Xiao, do you ever wonder… if there are people on the moon?”

Ye Xiao replied, “I suppose so. According to the myths, a goddess lives there, Chang-Er, right?”

The girl answered with a ‘hmm’ and said, “Xiao Xiao, you got me so worried.”

Ye Xiao smiled warmly, “Don’t worry. Who am I? I’ll always be ok.”

Su Ye-Yue nodded softly and said, “You’re fine now… But, I was really scared...”

She became silent for a while, before suddenly speaking out in high spirits, “Xiao Xiao, you didn’t go to the auction the other day! What a pity! I was there and it not only opened my eyes, I even gained something. It is a book, the Sword Art Of Feng-Hua. It’s a marvelous sword technique! I can be a superior cultivator from now on…”

“The Sword Art Of Feng-Hua? Is it really that powerful?” Ye Xiao frowned, “Let me have a look.”

Generally, this kind of request was inappropriate. If Steward Song was present, he would’ve definitely stopped him straight away. The martial art books that were qualified enough to be sold at the high-level auction of the Ling-Bao Hall were at least high-grade books. Anyway, he was still the Xiao Monarch inside, so he only intended to identify the book. Even with his greedy eyes, he wouldn’t spare it a glance. As for the girl…

Of course she wouldn’t mind.

She grinned before producing a book from inside her clothes and giving it to Ye Xiao. Only now did Ye Xiao notice the elegant sword placed on the stone chair beside her.

[It seems that the girl is really interested in martial arts. I wonder whether the book is the complete version or if it’s only an unfinished work.] Ye Xiao wondered and asked, “Yue, what level have you reached in your cultivation?”

Su Ye-Yue turned a bit bashful as she answered, “About the 7th level of the Grade of Ren-Yuan…”

“Level 7. The Grade of Ren-Yuan…” Ye Xiao nodded and felt a bit surprised. As a spoiled princess in the Palace of Hua-Yang, she had actually reached the seventh level of the Grade of Ren-yuan. This was already quite impressive. So he said, “Did you start cultivating since you were a kid?”

“Nah…” Su Ye-Yue hesitated, but she decided to continue, “My father has been fighting on the battlefield his entire life, so he didn’t want me to learn any martial arts. He thinks that a girl lacks delicacy if she decides to practice any kind of martial arts. I have always been interested in it though. Since two years ago, I started to learn something from the guards of my house… Well, I have to keep it a secret and not let my father notice. So I am doing ‘three days fishing, two days drying nets’ [1]; I only practice occasionally. Sigh… It is a pity that the guard who taught me the cultivating method died in a battle not long after the last lesson…”

Ye Xiao was shocked!

[What?

Two years ago?

Taught by a guard?

Practiced secretly?

‘Three days fishing, two days drying nets’?!

And she actually reached the seventh level of the Grade of Ren-Yuan in two years?

Is she a monster or something?]

With a record like that, she could be counted as a person having a fine aptitude but not outstanding in the Qing-Yun Realm. However, they were living in the Land of Han-Yang. With such an achievement, it might not be enough to call her a genius among geniuses!

And she was cultivating without her parent’s permission; she practiced secretly; she cultivated from time to time…

That meant no one was guiding her!

At the first place, the guard that had been teaching her had already died in battle… That meant the guard only had an average aptitude in cultivation. How could the cultivating method used by such a man be any good?

Under all these negative conditions, she had been cultivating on her own and had actually achieved the seventh level of the Grade of Ren-Yuan.

This was just inconceivable!

The Xiao Monarch was really astonished!

He nearly wanted to believe that the person in front of him was a monster!

“What’s wrong?” Su Ye-Yue noticed that Ye Xiao had become silent, so she hastily asked, “Am I too slow? Am I too weak? My father had always said that I have no talent in cultivation, that I am not qualified for cultivation…”

Ye Xiao’s mouth quivered, [What? No talent in cultivation? Not qualified for cultivation?

What the hell… If you are not qualified for cultivation, there won’t be any people qualified for cultivation.]

Ye Xiao wasn’t born in a noble clan in his previous life; he had been an orphan. After he had luckily gained the Pure Yang Martial Art, his cultivation speed was praised as ‘one day, a thousand miles’[2] by his master. He had even been compared to a peerless genius that was seen once every ten thousand years!

However, now that he learned about Su Ye-Yue, he finally realized that there was always someone better in the world. Su Ye-Yue’s aptitude should be at least superior to his aptitude in his previous life.

“I think cultivation suits you.” The Xiao Monarch said, “Come on. Let me check your aptitude.”

After speaking, he immediately held her hands.

Honestly, he really had no intention to take advantage of her. He just wanted to know more about the monster-like genius sitting in front of him!

Her hands were cool and soft like jade. The East-rising Purple Qi instantly operated and a tiny but long stream of spiritual power ran around her entire Jing and Mai.

And then Ye Xiao loosened her hands and laughed bitterly.

He laughed bitterly out of amazement and self-mockery. If he had already been a genius that was rarely seen in even ten thousand years, then how were people to describe her aptitude? Rarely seen monster? Immoral and against nature itself? He couldn’t believe that her aptitude was much better than what he had expected.

In terms of aptitude, she was better than Ye Xiao in his previous life, and she was no less than the outstanding Wen-Ren Chu-Chu that he had just met - in fact, she was even better than Wen-Ren Chu-Chu. However, she’d never had a good teacher and had been cultivating all by herself. She had gone through many unnecessary paths that had damaged her Jing and Mai…

However, this damage was almost negligible in Ye Xiao’s eyes.

[“Female body of Spiritual Yin. Natural-born superior Jing and Mai. Bones of pure Yin. The Jing and Mai are like rivers. This body is totally a perfect body for a cultivator…”] Ye Xiao sighed, [“If a person like her was in the Qing-Yun Realm, even the two super sects will fight so hard to have her as their inheritor! The interesting thing is that in the Land of Han-Yang, her father actually forbids her from cultivating, and he has told her that she was unqualified for cultivation…”]

This time, Ye Xiao had truly understood several words: a reckless waste of god’s good gifts, the pearls were covered by dust![3]

This was mind blowing!

“Close your eyes. I will give you a present…” Ye Xiao spoke gently.

“What present?” She was embarrassed and happy at the same time. It was the first time she would receive something from Ye Xiao. She closed her eyes as he told her to.

“Open your mouth.”

“Ahh~”

The next moment, she felt warmth within her mouth as a round dan bead was placed on her tongue. It quickly dissolved into a fluid and passed through her throat and went into her stomach. She was flurried and suddenly felt a fragrance spread inside her mouth. When she was about to carefully taste it, the fluid had already turned into some kind of hot qi, which was flowing throughout her entire body, including her Jing and Mai.

She felt an indescribable sense of comfort spreading all throughout her body.

She immediately opened her eyes, “Wow? It feels so good! What was it? Why was it so tasty? Do you have more?”

Apparently, she wanted a second bite after enjoying the taste.

It was understandable for a little girl to have such an idea! However, she didn’t know that all the negative influence in her Jing and Mai had completely vanished after eating that tiny dan bead!

In fact, it had even strengthened her!

Ye Xiao could only smile bitterly.

He asked her to close her eyes and then he placed a Pei-Yuan Dan Bead into her mouth in order to help her wipe the illnesses inside her body. He had good intentions, but the girl actually wanted to eat the dan beads like sweets. That was a bit over the top. Although he was capable of providing her with more of these ‘sweets’ since he had the powerful Spaces under his control, it would still be quite a waste.

“No. That’s the only one.” Ye Xiao threw his hands high up in the air.

At the moment, there were still some things he couldn’t let the girl know.

If the girl had a big mouth and spread the information about, there would never be another day of peace for him.

“So tasty.” Su Ye-Yue licked her lips to enjoy the endless aftertastes and regrettably said, “If there are more of this kind of tasty beans, then I can eat eighty or a hundred everyday… I would never think that it is too much.”

Ye Xiao was speechless. [Taking the undeserved gain for granted; what a girl.

Eighty or a hundred everyday?

That is truly…]

The next moment, the girl suddenly frowned, “Oh no. Pain in my belly…” She jumped up and looked around, “No no no no no…” And then she left rapidly.

Ye Xiao furrowed his brows; he had actually forgotten about this…

………………

[1] ‘three days fishing, two days drying nets’ :- It is a metaphorical description of people who lacks perseverance and don’t persist on doing things.]

[2] ‘one day, a thousand miles’: 一日千里, literally means traveling a thousand miles within one day. It means something is very fast or happens very quickly.]

[3] ‘reckless waste of god’s good gifts’:- means a big waste of something very valuable. ‘The pearls were covered by dust’ means a good thing is neglected making it hard to be discovered like the pearl being covered by dust. (暴殄天物，明珠蒙尘)]