Realms In The Firmament

“Who are you?” Ye Xiao was caught on his neck. His life was simply in the enemy’s hand. He just stopped fighting and asked calmly.

Since things had turned for the worse, being scared wouldn’t help at all.

So he just calmed down and tried to figure out what was going on. Since the enemy didn’t kill him at once, he might have the chance to survive this.

That man’s eyes flashed weirdly. He asked slowly, “Your martial arts are strange and complex. Who taught you?”

Ye Xiao humphed and spoke proudly, “You are asking a stupid question here, man. I am the son of the great general. My martial arts are surely from my father.”

That man’s voice was a bit weird and he said, “Your father… Ye Nan-Tian is truly that strong?”

Ye Xiao sneered, “Absolutely. My father can shock the whole world, and he can just look down upon the whole universe. Why should I learn my martial arts from somebody else?”

That man answered, “That is reasonable.”

He then turned quiet in the dark. Ye Xiao could feel that the dark night was turning even darker.

That man was actually a spacial cultivator.

Ye Xiao finally understood.

That was reasonable.

He should be able see anything in any dark situation as long as he operated his martial art.

Yet he was completely blind during the fight.

Even though it just lasted for a short time, things shouldn’t have been like that.

Obviously, his enemy had been controlling the space. Well, he felt it was reasonable that he lost.

That was just too big a gap between their capabilities.

Thinking of that, Ye Xiao’s face turned even darker.

The enemy was too strong and Ye Xiao would be very likely dead tonight.

He was simply too weak in front of that man.

“As I know, Ye Nan-Tian doesn’t have the capability to teach you this though.” That man spoke in the darkness, “At least his martial arts should never be so evil and complex. Hey, hey… The Golden Hand and that cold power, The moves of your steps… Those are mysterious martial arts that are rare in the world.”

Ye Xiao felt relieved hearing that.

[This guy is strong indeed, yet he is not acknowledged enough after all. He only recognized the Golden Hand and doesn’t really know about the Gelid Qi and the One Laughter in Skyline steps. He is just normal…]

Ye Xiao humphed and said, “You ignorant fool, let me teach you something then. Those are the secret martial arts of our clan.”

That man seemed to cough as he said, “What? The secret martial arts of the Ye Clan?”

Ye Xiao sneered, “I don’t think a little stupid bastard like you would have known anything about my clan. My clan it the No.1 clan in the Qing-Yun Realm. Have you even heard about the Qing-Yun Realm? Heh, heh, heh… I don’t think so! How can an ignorant fool know anything about how big the world is?”

That man couldn’t help but cough once again as he asked, “Is the Ye Clan truly that powerful?”

He meant, ‘how come I don’t know that?’

Ye Xiao spoke blandly, “That’s why I said you are an ignorant fool. Am I wrong? Look, you better leave as soon as possible. If the superior cultivators of my clan come over, even though you are a little big stronger than me, you will be instantly killed.”

His voice was full of confidence. It was some kind of tone from a king or a dominator.

It was truly vigorous though.

He didn’t seem to be fearing the man who was holding his life.

He talked like those ‘cultivators of the Ye Clan’ were just around and they would come instantly as long as he shouted the order…

That man seemed to believe him and got quiet.

The room was full of silence.

After a while, Ye Xiao spoke again, “It is alway wise to bow to the reality. As long as you free my Uncle Song and get out of here, I promise I won’t get to you for this. I can swear with my life. Although my life is in your hand at the moment, there is some kind of soul compulsion in me, and if I die in your hands, no matter where you go, my clan will hunt you down. So you cannot kill me. Killing me means you are a dead man too. Look, you must have been cultivating for a long time that’s why you have become strong as this. You don’t want to mess with some truly powerful enemy. That will break your cultivation dream, man! It is hard in the cultivation world. Don’t be too harsh, otherwise, you will ruin everything you got.”

That man coughed again and said, “Well that guy, Song Jue, you were talking about, what if I have already killed him? What if he has died for you?”

Ye Xiao’s eyes were full of coldness and he said slowly, “Then I will give you the last advice. Well… Just kill me now. That would at least make your death more important. No matter what, if you killed him, there will be no other solutions except we get you killed!”

The answer made the man turn quiet.

After a while, that man said, “Song Jue, although he’s your father’s sworn brother, he is only a steward to you and to this house. Why do you think like that? It will get both you and me killed after all. Even if there is truly somebody in your clan that can take my life, you will die before me.”

Ye Xiao sneered and said, “There are always things that a man should do. You cold-blooded stupid bastard will never get to know it. You will never get to understand what it means to be a real man.”

“Well said.”

That man actually praised when he heard the answer.

And then he said, “So… You mean you would rather die to keep this steward alive. Right?”

Ye Xiao sneered, “You are talking garbage. If Uncle Song died, you will be dead soon.”

That man kept silent for a while and said, “The Ye Clan… I didn’t know the Ye Clan was so powerful though… I truly had no idea…” His voice seemed to be a bit sad.

Ye Xiao said, “Look. It is difficult in the cultivation world. Life is always precious. Since you have already achieved such power in such a young age, why waste your future. Just listen to me. You and me, we will be cool after this. You go on with your cultivation and I with my wealthy life. We don’t have to mess with each other. What do you think?”

And he continued slowly, “I don’t think you would kill my Uncle Song before you meet me though.”

That man laughed in the dark.

He seemed to be quite happy. And then the hand that held Ye Xiao’s neck loosened. The voice of that man was clear and loud; it was filled with comfort, “Good. You are truly a good son of your father.”

A slight sound seemed to echo in the room. - Pah. -

And then Ye Xiao found that he was able to see things clearly.

That man had removed the spacial block.

What Ye Xiao saw was a tall and handsome middle-aged man standing with his hands on his back. The man was looking at Ye Xiao with warmth in his eyes like looking at a precious treasure.

The man had no beard on his face and he had a big body. Yet he gave Ye Xiao a feeling of a giant tree. He was gentle and righteous.

And he looked solemn and vigorous. His smile actually made Ye Xiao feel relieved.

He just stood there and Ye Xiao felt he was like a huge mountain that was unbreakable. It was like millions of men and horses were behind him waiting for his commands.

That feeling didn’t exist in Prince Hua-Yang, who was also known as a war god.

Ye Xiao realized who the man was right away.

He was Ye Nan-Tian, his present father.

He was totally stunned and he completely lost his bearing.

He had been bragging for such a long time, and it turned out he was bragging in front of his father…

On the other side, Song Jue was looking at Ye Xiao with tears in his eyes.

When Ye Xiao was caught in the dark facing death, he actually put Song Jue in a prior position in his heart, and he would even like to die fighting against the enemy for him.

That was real.

Under that circumstance, even if Ye Xiao gave up, Ye Nan-Tian and Song Jue would never say he did wrong. It was always a smart move to take the shame and keep himself alive. Only when he was alive could he plan for the future. Yet Ye Xiao chose to die fighting without regrets.

That was some honorable spirit.

At that moment, Song Jue had the thought, [it is totally worth taking good care of you all these years. I will even die smiling because I have you as my nephew in my life.]

“Okay. Don’t just stand there like a fool. Sit down and let’s talk.” Ye Nan-Tian nodded. Even though he had been missing his son for a long time, he had to calm down and act like a serious father.

Even though he had been worried for him;

Even though he had been fighting all the way home for him;

Even though he had nearly gave out his whole life for him;

Even though he had nearly cried out when he heard the horrible news about him;

When he saw him in person and discovered him well, he didn’t mention any of them.

It was just enough to know he was fine.

[What I have done… Those are what a father should do. It is my responsibility.

It is simply not worth mentioning.]

Ye Xiao didn’t realize this indifferent father had been traveling over 2 thousand miles, through endless fights within five days back home, just because he had heard about the bad news about his son.

Did it really matter to him what he had done for his son?

It didn’t.

…

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From XianXiaWorld