Book 7: Chapter 11 – Hometown
Snowrock Castle bustled with excitement and activity. Their marquis, marchioness and two young masters had returned. The castle’s inhabitants especially looked forward to meeting the rumoured young master, Dong Bo Xue Ying, who was a legendary Transcendent!
Hu.
Xue Ying walked along the peak of the mountain. He breathed in deeply, taking in the earthly l scent of the soil. He smiled as a sharp bite of coldness filled his lungs.
This was the smell of home! The place where he had grown up!
The season was early spring. Since Water Rites Town was located close to the northernmost part of the continent as well as the Great Snowy Plains, a large area of the peak still had snow accumulated. Xue Ying deliberately creating crunching sounds with each of his steps as he walked across the snow. Even though he chose to crunch through the snow, the Dong Bo Clan’s servants and guards had already swept the main road clear of snow.
“Greetings, Master Xue Ying”, an old man garbed in white met with him, smiling and bowing respectfully.
“Mage Bai Yuan Zhi,” Xue Ying laughed. “It seems you haven’t changed much since the last time I saw you.”
“Master Xue Ying, you are the one who hasn’t changed much. You’re still as young as ever,” Bai Yuan Zhi replied. He had watched Xue Ying transform with his own eyes, from a relatively extraordinary teenager into an existence he himself could not even imagine. For many years now, Mage Bai Yuan Zhi, had borrowed resources from the Dong Bo Clan which allowed him to reach the Silver Moon rank.
After all, the Dong Bo Clan had achieved its position as the number one clan in the Azure River County and was ranked amongst the top three most powerful clans in the Tranquil Sun Province.
“Disciple Brother Xue Ying,” a soft voice sounded. Jing Qiu arrived beside Xue Ying in two steps.
“Greetings Mage Yu,” Bai Yuan Zhi addressed Jing Qiu respectfully. For some time now, he had known of the other female Transcendent mage originating from Azure River County.
“Jing Qiu, this is Mage Bai Yuan Zhi,” Xue Ying introduced. “The next time you visit to cultivate, it would be great if you would show him some pointers.”
“Certainly,” Jing Qiu smiled at Bai Yuan Zhi. “Mage Bai, after I finish building my Mage Manor, you may occasionally visit me there.”
“Thank you Master Xue Ying. Thank you Mage Yu,” Bai Yuan Zhi said. He was quite excited by the invitation.
With three Legend rankers and several tens of Silver Moon rankers, the current Dong Bo Clan had a powerful battling force. Amongst them, Bai Yuan Zhi was not considered a shining, outstanding talent amongst this force. His special status was solely due to to the fact that he knew Xue Ying from Xue Ying’s youth. Likewise, Bai Yuan Zhi taught Qing Shi. Therefore, these achievements gave him a special status.
After interacting briefly for a sentence or two, Xue Ying and Jing Qiu continued on, side by side.
“So this is where you grew up?” Jing Qiu curiously looked around her.
“Mn. Breathing in the air here makes me feel different. I feel like I’m home,” Xue Ying walked ahead with extreme familiarity. “Oh yes, have you finished setting up the arrays?”
“It’s an extremely easy task,” Jing Qiu nodded. “The entire peak of Snowrock Mountain is covered within the area of the array. With these three big arrays, I’m certain that no demons will dare to attack.”
Jing Qiu gazed curiously at Xue Ying.
She felt Xue Ying’s attachment and feelings for this land. She looked around her, studying the place where her love grew up.
……
晚宴，很是隆重。
The dinner that night was extremely grand, as Xue Ying and Jing Qiu would be leaving the next day
“I have something important to say,” Xue Ying stated after dinner. At his words, the entire Dong Bo Clan and Yu Clan quieted down. After all, a Saint Transcendent was addressing them!
“I’m glad all of you have been able to come home from the Infernal World. While it might be relatively safer over there, living there is not good for mortals. There is very little to do in the Infernal World. We Transcendents can live there and chase after our own goals. Yet for mortals, the Infernal World is really just a prison,” Xue Ying laughed. “Now that we are back in the mortal world, it’s time for all of you to flex some of your muscles.”
At that moment, everyone laughed.
That was right.
Both the Dong Bo Clan and the Yu Clan were clans with Transcendents! How important were they in the mortal world? In the Xia Capital, the mortals from these clans could do nothing but hold themselves back. The Infernal World held so many Legend rankers, and the entire place housed more than half of the Xia Clan’s Transcendents. For a mere mortal, living in the Infernal World was like living the life of a rice insect. There were very few entertainment outlets for mortals. The days would be extremely boring, and living there meant wasting their lives away!
“Even though the danger is greater in the mortal world, it’s still okay! During this past year, the battle between our Xia Clan and the demons has reached its apex. Currently, the demons have learnt their lesson and are hiding in nooks and crannies of the world. Even after searching for a long period of time, our Xia Clan’s Demigods couldn’t find a single demon. As a result, they’ve decided to send us Transcendents back to assist them in searching for the demons,” Xue Ying laughed loudly. “They are really good at hiding! This shows that the battle between our Xia Clan and the demons has transformed from frontal assault to a seek and find conflict! The more they hide, the less of a threat they are to mortals. Thus, this is currently the best period of time for everyone to return.
“There are several places which are extremely safe.
“One of the safe havens is my Snowrock Castle! I dare to say that those Abyss Demons would not dare to attack here! Maybe some peak demons might be able to break through the arrays, but they would still need a long time to break through the arrays. During this period of time, you can send messages for help. Within the time of a single breath, there will be human Demigods rushing over to aid you!” Xue Ying laughed. “Thus, all of you can rest assured. I’ve read through countless books of our Xia Clan’s history, and I dare to say that these demons are extremely cunning, prudent, and selfish! They will not dare to gamble with their lives! The chance of this location facing an attack from a Demigod demon… is smaller than the chance for a gold piece to drop down from the heavens.
“Another safe place will be the Eternal Wind Academy. It is the location of the Knight of Eternal Wind. Qing Shi, since you you and your friends are part of the Eternal Wind Academy, you are allowed entry into the academy.
“But the most important safe haven for all of you is still be the province!
“Even when the demons first started their invasion, none of them dared to charge into the provinces,” Xue Ying continued. “Every single one of the 19 Xia Clan’s provinces have had their defenses reinforced over many generations. Each province now has many sets of arrays protecting them! There are even more powerful arrays protecting the provinces than here at my Snowrock Castle. The moment a Demigod demon attacks those places, the arrays will be triggered, and the Demigod demons will not be able to escape! As for the weaker demons… they would certainly die when facing the arrays.
“These three places are extremely safe.
“The next safest area would be the country. Their arrays are relatively formidable as well, and you can always travel to the country if you want to. Only the most powerful demons will dare to ignore the power of those arrays” Xue Ying said. “All right. Now that I’ve explained to you all about the safe places, I expect that in the future, the activities of my Dong Bo Clan and your Yu Shi Clan will be dependent on your own decisions.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you Master Dong Bo.”
The Yu Shi Clan members immediately expressed their gratitude. They were all extremely pleased and happy to see their own clan’s Jing Qiu getting close to Xue Ying.
In their eyes, Jing Qiu was an extremely beautiful female Transcendent mage, and Xue Ying was someone who had become a Saint Transcendent after cultivating for only a short period of time, with the hope of becoming a Demigod! Of course they supported their relationship.
“Brother, I’m bored at home. I’ll be going with Ya-er and the rest back to the Eternal Wind Academy,” Xue Ying’s little brother, Qing Shi, said.
“All right,” Xue Ying did not try to stop him. Even though Qing Shi might seem young, in reality, he was reaching 50 years of age. Of course, comparing his current age to his lifespan of 200 years, he was still relatively young. The battle with demons might last for even more than a thousand years. Xue Ying definitely did not want to see his little brother live the life of a rice insect for the rest of his life.
……
The Dong Bo Clan and Yu Shi Clan, which were both clans at the apex, once again received their regional power and authority after returning from the Infernal World.
Everything returned to normal in the Xia Clan’s World.
Of course… this was attributed to the fact that there would always be human Transcendents chasing and killing demons. The human Demigods stationed themselves in various regions of the world. This arrangement allowed them to always be on guard and have the ablity to rush to the aid of anyone in their region! Precisely because of this immense Transcendent pressure, the close-to-ten-thousand remaining demons had decided to hide. The deeper the demons hid, the less active they became. Hiding like this was their safest option. After all, the demons who dared to take risks would certainly be killed by the humans!
“Let’s part our ways here.”
It was dawn of the second day.
In the air above Snowrock Mountain, Xue Ying and Jing Qiu Smiled at each other. Two Transcendents travelling together to chase after any traces of demons would be too conspicuous and inefficient. In any case, the Infernal Palace had already forbidden such a situation.
“Disciple brother Xue Ying, you must take care of yourself,” Jing Qiu said.
“You too,” Xue Ying replied.
Soon, the two went their different ways.
Jing Qiu turned into a stream and flew towards the southern part of the region.
As for Xue Ying, he flew towards the western end of Water Rites Town.
