Chapter 376: Breakthrough
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Xiao FengYang replied, “That’s right, this younger brother has the same thought. We have to cut the emotional longing inside Xue’er, or else this will result in irreparable consequences! Now that Ling Tian is being pursued by the Martial Order Medallion owner, there is more than a ninety percent chance that he can’t live on! From what I discovered, experts have been sent by the secretly plotting Yu Family as well as the XiMen Family who have a grudge against the Ling Family. They’re watching over the entire Sky Bearing Empire for the sole purpose of not allowing Ling Tian to return to Sky Bearing alive! In addition, the DongFang Family has also sent their people to observe the situation, just like us. Thus, it is guaranteed that Ling Tian can’t walk out of this alive! If Xue’er can’t get rid of her lovelorn thoughts, then I’m afraid…”
Xiao FengHan had a grave expression as he paced around, before asking, “How did you find out about these matters? The Yu and XiMen Family are within my plans, but how did you find out about the DongFang Family’s matters?”
Xiao FengYang laughed in satisfaction as he replied, “Hehe, a few days ago, some of the DongFang Family members came over, proposing on behalf of their prince, DongFang XingChen. But I knew that elder brother was planning to leave Xue’er by your side for a few more years, and thus I pushed the matter down for you. It was precisely from their mouths that I found out about the matter of Ling Tian being hunted.”
“This matter can’t be rushed.” Xiao FengHan frowned, and unhappily said, “If we are too hasty, we will only end up causing Xue’er unhappiness.”
“Big brother, I, on the other hand, feel that if this matter were to succeed, it would be killing many birds with one stone.” Xiao FengYang grinned. “Firstly, we can use this to cut off Xue’er’s thoughts about Ling Tian. Secondly, we can win over an ally in Eastern Zhao, which can serve as a restriction for the Yu Family. Lastly, with Eastern Zhao allying with us, when we set off on conquest we do not have to worry about our backyard being set on fire!”
Xiao FengHan lowered his head, pondering about this matter. He ended up sighing, “Let me think about it for awhile.”
A hint of a smile rose on the corners of Xiao FengYang’s lips. He knew that his elder brother was already partly convinced, and didn’t say anything else, bowing and leaving the room.
Xiao FengHan sat at the Windblown Pavilion alone after Xiao FengYang left, sighing every now and then. Eventually, as the night grew deeper, he too retired to his room.
It was only a long time later that a petite figure slowly stood up from the thick forests surrounding the Windblown Pavilion. Only when the faint moonlight shone could that figure be seen clearly. With peerless beauty, a delicate body, tottering on the spot, it was the little princess, Xiao YanXue!
Her purpose of coming over was actually to ask Xiao FengHan to help Ling Tian on behalf of their friendship, but to think that she overheard such a news instead! Her heart felt as if it was being twisted. From hatred and disgust, her opinion of Ling Tian had slowly turned positive, but it was far from being madly in love with him; she just wanted to help someone she admired. She definitely didn’t want such a figure to die under various plots and schemes!
However, Xiao YanXue never expected that her two grandfathers, who had always treated her like an absolute treasure, would choose to sell her out this time! In the end, they still chose to betray her! Even after working her heart out for the family these few years, she only amounted to this much! At this point, her heart felt totally shattered…
On the second day, while the entire Xiao Family was discussing a marriage alliance with the DongFang family, Xiao FengHan received a report that Xiao YanXue had left behind a letter and disappeared, her whereabouts unknown…
At the same time, Ling Tian felt as though he was in a dream.
An earth-shatteringly huge dream!
Inside his dream, he seemed to have experienced both his lifetimes, staining himself with years upon years of mortal dust!
The endless misery in his past life, sorrowful and bitter; a thousand struggles, ten thousand types of torture!
Then he experienced the frivolity of this life, looking down on the world; surrounded by beauties and passion, domineeringly flying upward!
The excess melancholy and low-spiritedness of his past life slowly drifted further and further away from him, and inside the dream, his experiences of both lifetimes slowly merged into a single whole, no longer separate from each other, as though he had gone through both experiences at the same time. Pain and pleasure, love and hatred, success and failure, each opposing force met without any gaps, and the resulting feeling was as though one had successfully detached himself from the mortal world, detached from the cycle of samsara.
Zhuangzi dreams of a butterfly, but who is Zhuangzi? And who is the butterfly? Who is in whose dreams? Or is it the butterfly that is dreaming of Zhuangzi?! 1
However, this didn’t matter anymore. So long as one has experienced it, lived through it, be it dreaming or awake, fantasy or reality, what difference was there? Be it in dreams or in reality, it was good enough to have seen it!
No regrets!
In the darkness below the boulder, Ling Tian slowly opened his eyes, giving out a large grin, his entire being radiated indifference to the world! A carefree smile! If any woman in the world were to come across this smile, most likely, she would immediately fall in love and be lost forever!
The only problem with this wonderful smile was that there was nobody to witness it!
Ling Tian was greeted with stillness all around him, and the only sounds he could hear were the chirping of the cicadas coming from above the ground. They sounded so loud, as though they were right beside him!
Ling Tian suddenly felt comfortably warm, an unspeakable sense of comfort, as though he was soaked in a perfectly calibrated hot spring! His spirit now seemed like a piece of exquisitely made jade, reflecting the goodness of the world, tangible and intangible!
He flicked his sleeve, and enormous internal energy shot forth, blasting the boulder above him high up into the air. In that instant, the entire area was coated with a new layer of soil!
Amid the flying debris, Ling Tian flashed out of his hiding spot, landing on the top of a tree. He immersed himself in the scorching sunlight as he cast his eyes toward the horizon, suddenly entertaining the thought of how it seemed like the world was underneath his feet!
The monarch overlooks all below the heavens! Commanding the rain and winds! That is me, Ling Tian!
Ling Tian was unaware of how many days he had spent trapped in his hiding place, but he was definitely sure that it was no short break! The internal energy in his body had been replenished, and with a breakthrough in his cultivation as well as his mental state, he could estimate that it was not something that could have been done in just a day and night! The grumbling of his stomach made him even more sure of this fact. Based on his previous realm, his body wouldn’t feel hunger even after one or two days, let alone make such a grumbling noise.
It seemed like he had buried himself for at least three days. Was he trying to bury himself alive? Ling Tian laughed out. Even with the increase in his cultivation, he probably still wasn’t a match for Justice, but he should at least have some chance of withstanding him.
The so-called martial way could only be considered having started when a person has reached the XianTian stage. In the XianTian stage, it can also be roughly divided into 4 categories, namely: Cultivating essence into energy, smelting energy into spirit, refining the spirit back to Void, and melding the void into the Way itself. Right now, Ling Tian had successfully broken through the stage of cultivating essence into energy and had stepped into smelting energy into spirit. However, Justice was most likely at the later stages of refining the spirit back to Void, and he probably was even half a step into melding the void into the Way! Thus, the distance between the two of them was still quite far, and while Ling Tian could clash head-on with Justice now, he still wouldn’t be able to defeat him!
While he had currently improved his martial arts by a huge step, Ling Tian had always done things in a cautious way. Without an 80% chance of success, he wouldn’t go and invite trouble. The most important thing now was for him to find something to eat. The other matters could wait, his stomach couldn’t!
Squinting his eyes, Ling Tian took his bearings before moving quickly towards the Celestial Gathering City of Western Han.
Hmm, Justice probably flew off to some random location already, right? He would probably be like a headless fly searching everywhere for traces of himself, and Ling Tian took joy in his misfortune. Justice, oh Justice, you’ve chased me for so long and made me this disheveled for the first time in my life. How can I not give you some punishment in return? I’ll let you play around for a while longer!
Ling Tian happily thought this as he sprinted towards the Celestial Gathering City. What he was unaware was the fact that Justice was also in that very same city, and had already been there for three days! Right now, this scary person had already once more recovered to his optimum level!
In the time taken to pour a cup of tea, Ling Tian had arrived at the edge of the city. Casting his gaze around, it landed on a tavern, with the label, “One jar will get you drunk three days, the fragrance when a jar is opened spreads out ten feet!”
Ling Tian chuckled at this, he didn’t even dare claim that the Hero’s Blood and Luna Fragrance that he himself brewed could live up to such an expectation, but this little tavern actually dared to do so! He slowly approached the place.
Right now, the sun shone down brightly, the time approaching afternoon. The tiny tavern was deserted, and the waiter was snoozing off at the counter, a trail of saliva hanging out of his mouth. Seeing how he was still smiling so widely in his dreams, Ling Tian assumed that he was having a happy dream.
Even when Ling Tian approached him, there was no reaction, so Ling Tian lightly rapped the table before saying, “Oh, who dropped their silver?”
“Silver? Where? Where?! I dropped it! I dropped the silver!” The moment he heard the magical word, the snoozing waiter immediately perked up in attention, and his eyes searched left and right, scanning the area around him.
“Bring this young noble a few good dishes and some wine, and as for the silver, I’ll definitely not be stingy.” Ling Tian patted him on his shoulder as he smiled.
“Sure, young noble, please hold on for a moment.” The waiter scratched his head and laughed, running to the kitchens.
In a moment, four dishes and a bowl of soup were served up, and just as the waiter turned to leave he recalled that the impeccably dressed young noble had not yet placed an order for wine. He turned back and began, “This young noble, would you like to…” The following words, however, got stuck in his throat as his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets!
This seemingly rich and well mannered young noble had one hand scooping up pieces of beef, and the other scooping up the soup, gorging himself like an animal! Looking at the dishes on the table, every dish had already been reduced by half, and that huge plate of beef was even close to being picked clean. The young noble’s hands, mouth, and even his clothes were full of oil, and he was even ignoring whatever the waiter just said, enjoying himself in his own world!
