Realms In The Firmament

The Battle Art Of A Thousand Troops was rather powerful when used against groups, but it was a bit inappropriate to use it in a one-on-one fight between cultivators. But Ye Xiao used it anyway.

He didn’t hesitate at all. It seemed like he was very adept at using it. So everyone arrived at the same conclusion, [He is proficient at using the Battle Art Of A Thousand Troops, but he doesn’t know any other martial arts.]

That was a reasonable assumption.

For a man from the general’s family, it was reasonable that he would use such a fistic martial art!

“Good move! How vigorous!” Guan Zheng-Wen kept his hands on the back and turned his emaciated body around. His clothes floated and he casually dodged to a position right beside Ye Xiao. The move seemed slow, but it was actually fast and clear. His pale and thin finger reached out towards Ye Xiao slowly. It was like this finger had broken the limit of time and space. This finger pointed towards Ye Xiao’s back.

The dodge and the finger move had already aroused exclamations from the crowd!

In the crowd, there were not only ordinary people like Lan Lang-Lang and Zuo Wu-Ji, but also some experienced and smart men. Although it was just the beginning of the fight between Ye Xiao and Guan Zheng-Wen, it had already become frantic.

It took only an instant to make everybody’s eyes wide opened, and a moment later, all their eye-balls dropped and bounced on the floor [1]. They were all extremely astonished…

[What… The famous Old Master Guan actually knows how to fight? And… He seems to be an absolute master.]

This instant transposition was truly a fantastic move. He casually avoided the danger. Ordinary men would be able to use it. And that finger move looked ordinary, but it contained a massive amount of power.

The old man was really good at hiding his capability.

Ye Xiao noticed that finger was getting closer, yet he didn’t turn around to defend against it. He suddenly jumped up and rolled his body, and then he made a turning kick. A blast of white whirlwind appeared and he had flew quite a distance forward. - Poof! -

It was another move in the Battle Art Of A Thousand Troops. It was ‘Warding A Thousand Troops’!

Guan Zheng-Wen didn’t hit Ye Xiao with that finger, yet he didn’t change the move either. He leaned his body forward and rushed towards Ye Xiao, chasing him like a ghost. It was as if his slim body was sticking to Ye Xiao.

At that moment, everybody realized that although Lord Ye was able to fight, he would never be a match for the Old Master Guan! He seemed to only know the basic moves of the Battle Arts Of A Thousand Troops. Yet Guan Zheng-Wen had already digested all the martial arts he knew into his fists, palms and fingers. His moves were fluent and free forming…

However, they didn’t realize that…

When Guan Zheng-Wen got close to Ye Xiao with an outrageous speed, his two fleshless hands had casually tapped Ye Xiao eighteen times continuously…

Every tap was silent.

Every tap was quick.

Yet, it was like he had never moved his hands.

Ye Xiao flew forward over three meters. And then he shouted and jumped over again in the air. With the sound of a wild wind, he instantly landed on the floor fiercely.

“Beast Leaping of the Battle Art Of A Thousand Troops! Well done!”

In the crowd, Wang Da-Nian applauded. Zuo Wu-Ji and Lan Lang-Lang looked at him, shocked. It was understandable for everyone to applaud, except for Wang Da-Nian!

Wang Da-Nian had enmity with Ye Xiao. He was the man on the Crown Prince’s side. He had no reason to applaud Ye Xiao!

Yet it was real that Wang Da-Nian applauded!

That was irrational!

That was against human nature!

Guan Zheng-Wen waved his hands. Ye Xiao was suddenly stopped mid-stride, abruptly halting his rush to Guan Zheng-Wen before slipping and crashing against the floor. The next moment, Guan Zheng-Wen was shaking his head smilingly with his hands on his back, “I am old. I truly am. My ability is not equal to my ambition now. I am useless… Lord Ye, you are young and strong. You are vigorous. Why don’t we just let the combat end as it is now?”

Everyone knew that Ye Xiao had lost this fight. Guan Zheng-Wen had shown a decent demeanor.

His casualness had perfectly shown his status as a senior. And he seemed to show mercy to Ye Xiao…

Nobody saw Lord Ye get hurt, right?

Ye Xiao stood up and spoke angrily, “End? What the hell are you talking about! I haven’t lost yet! Let’s fight again…”

People in the crowd shook their heads. [A foppish lord never changes. He truly has no decency. The old man has shown you mercy. You have already crashed twice… Yet you still don’t know how lame you are and you still want a tough fight?

How shameless…]

“You are right. You haven’t lost. Let’s call it even. I am truly too old for this. Let’s say you are concerned and respectful for an old man.” Guan Zheng-Wen laughed.

Ye Xiao humphed and said, “Since you said so, I will show my kindness to an old man. Let’s call it even then! You are really taking advantage of me then…”

With this declaration, the crowd bursted into catcall.

Ye Xiao dusted his clothes and suddenly spoke, “Old Master Guan, it really was not a good fight today. If there is a chance in the future, I will fight against you once again. I hope you can be in your best condition then. Heh heh!”

Ye Xiao laughed and said to the Crown Prince, “Your highness, I have enjoyed a good dinner. Now that the problem has been solved, I think it is time for me to get going.”

The Crown Prince didn’t expect that Ye Xiao would be so understanding. He had been thinking of a way to get him leave, yet Ye Xiao asked to leave himself. So he smiled and replied, “Take care, Lord Ye. We shall get together sometime to discuss the national affairs.”

Ye Xiao laughed, “Sure. When I have the chance, I will come back to enjoy good times with you once again… and your beautiful wife.”

The Crown Prince’s face twitched a bit. [You never forget to molest my wife…] Yet he still smiled and said, “You are always welcome.”

The Crown Princess was a bit angry before her eyes resumed sneering, [Come back again? You are going to die… And you actually tried to take advantage of me… Fine. I shall not be too critical of a man who is about to die.]

Ye Xiao laughed and waved his hand. And then he squeezed out of the crowd with Zuo Wu-Ji and Lan Lang-Lang and left. After he left the crowd, a weird smile appeared on his face, but nobody had noticed it…

…

Guan Zheng-Wen coughed and then walked to the front hall. He was trembling.

The crowd were led by the guards to leave one by one.

The Crown Prince watched Ye Xiao leaving until his silhouette vanished. And then he smiled to everybody and got back to the front hall.

In the front hall, three people remained.

They were the Crown Prince, the Crown Princess and Guan Zheng-Wen.

“Master Guan, how is it?” The Crown Princess couldn’t wait and asked.

The Crown Prince also showed an inquiring expression.

“Your highness… Oh.” Guan Zheng-Wen didn’t answer the question. He sighed, “You have entrapped me so deep…”

The Crown Prince smiled, “Everything is perfect. It is flawless. You don’t need to worry. If someday you truly fall into trouble because of what happened today, I will protect you.”

Guan Zheng-Wen paused for a while and then sighed. He looked at the expecting eyes of the Crown Princess and spoke in a deep voice, “The Melting Bone Palm… I have managed to drop eighteen solid hits on Ye Xiao… He will be fine for the next few days. But.. after a month, his bones will slowly crumble and he will die when all his bones become broken.”

Speaking of that, the wrinkles on his face seemed to become much deeper.

“There won’t be any doubts about it, right?” The Crown Princess asked apprehensively.

“This martial art has been my secret for many years… In those years, because it was too vicious, so… I decided to keep it a secret…” Guan Zheng-Wen sighed and said, “Even I myself have no idea how to cure it. So, Ye Xiao is bound to die this time.”

The Crown Princess puckered her face into a smile, “You have worked hard, Master Guan.”

Guan Zheng-Wen nodded and replied, “My pleasure, your highness.”

After that, he frowned and sighed deeply. In his eyes, there was a worry that became bigger and bigger…

He had surely finished the task of the Crown Prince, yet the enmity between him and Ye Nan-Tian had been clearly established.

It was fine if Ye Nan-Tian didn’t find out the truth. Otherwise, when Ye Nan-Tian came for him, he was afraid that his whole family would have no chance of… survival!

Now he could only hope that Ye Nan-Tian wouldn’t find out…

The promise from the Crown Prince, the old man knew that he really shouldn’t count on it!

“Your highness, I have one question about Ye Nan-Tian… What is his history?” He asked the Crown Prince in a low voice. The history about Ye Nan-Tian had been a secret in the Kingdom of Chen.

Ye Nan-Tian had been a mysterious man since he showed up in the kingdom. And then he was suddenly famous and became the second most powerful man in the military. All the political and martial groups were interested in him, yet none of them got to know anything about his past.

As the Crown Prince of the kingdom, he must know something, right?

The Crown Prince responded with a ‘hmm’ and then stayed silent for a while. And then he said, “I am not very well informed about it. It is said that Ye Nan-Tian was a hunter in the mountains… He coincidently came across something strange and ate some precious treasure, so he obtained a marvelous strength…”

He was merely talking shit.

He knew nothing about Ye Nan-Tian. In fact, even the king didn’t know much about Ye Nan-Tian. The Crown Prince only said that to comfort Guan Zheng-Wen.

Guan Zheng-Wen felt relieved and said, “That’s good. That’s great.”

[He is only a hunter who coincidently obtained some marvelous strength…

That has nothing to fear then.

If something happens to me, I could simply just kill him secretly. A living Ye Nan-Tian is the general of the Kingdom of Chen, the second powerful man in the military, but a dead Ye Nan-Tian is only a dead man!

With the capability of the Grandmaster Levels of Tian-Yuan, it won’t be hard to kill a general, right?]

……

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[1] The author must be trying to say those people were extremely shocked. It has the same meaning as ‘jaws dropping to the floor’.

This is the second sponsored chapter from last week. Again, a very special thanks to Mr. Nathanael C. for sponsoring the chapter.

Translated by: Rain

Edited by: Alpha, Arch