Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ye Futian was playing the guqin at the Cottage Villa.
Someone walked up to him at that moment; it was Gu Dongliu.
“How is training, third brother?” Ye Futian looked at Gu Dongliu and asked.
“Saint Plane bottleneck,” Gu Dongliu answered. His plane had been higher than Ye Futian’s a long time ago, and his state of mind had always been superb; however, he remained incapable of making the breakthrough. He needed some opportunity to make the breakthrough.
“You’re getting ready to leave?” Gu Dongliu asked.
“Yeah.” Ye Futian nodded. “I’ve been training in isolation for some time ever since I made it into Saint Plane. It’s time that I venture outside. Furthermore, you guys probably need your turning points. If isolation isn’t doing you guys any good for making the breakthrough, why not try and venture outside instead?”
Gu Dongliu nodded and said, “What about the villa?”
“I’ll get the princess to look after the place. There shouldn’t be any surprises for us at this point,” Ye Futian replied.
“When will we be departing?” Gu Dongliu asked again.
“I’ll go to the royal palace for a bit. We’ll get ready to depart after that,” Ye Futian got up and said.
“I’d get the others to get ready.” Gu Dongliu did not say anything further, turning around and leaving.
Ye Futian took to the air and headed for the royal palace.
It has been quite a while since the last time Ye Futian went to Emperor Xia’s Palace.
He had never stepped foot into the royal palace ever since he met Emperor Xia personally last year.
He went to the Princess’ residence in the royal palace that day.
Xia Qingyuan looked rather displeased seeing Ye Futian show up. She asked coldly, “What brings you here?”
“When I last met his majesty, he told me to look for you when I was ready to leave.” Ye Futian then continued, “I hope you’ll tell me what I need to know, Princess.”
Xia Qingyuan stared at Ye Futian. She knew what he was there for.
It seemed that he had gotten ready to leave.
“Empress Qin,” Xia Qingyuan looked at Ye Futian and said.
“Empress Qin?” Ye Futian looked at Xia Qingyuan.
“The person you’re looking for. She is Qin Ge, an empress of the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path,” Xia Qingyuan looked at Ye Futian and explained. She was a legendary empress.
“However, the empress is at the Supreme Path Realm, which is extremely far away from Emperor Xia’s Realm. Despite having made it into Saint Plane, getting there will take you an untold number of years,” Xia Qingyuan looked at Ye Futian. She waved her hand, and a jade scroll flew at Ye Futian.
Ye Futian extended his will inside and found a map.
The 3,000 Realms of the Great Path were scattered all over the place and spread out in a cascading manner, seemingly without rules and making them look like stars.
Every single realm was like a star in itself.
Ye Futian found where Emperor Xia’s Realm was and found Emperor Li’s Realm, and the Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm at its left and right, respectively.
Other than that, there were also other Renhuang’s Realms, clustered together like a region of stars, and there was actually a curved line circling them as if to mark them deliberately. There were words denoting the region—the Crimson Dragon Region.
“The region you see Emperor Xia’s Realm in is known as the Crimson Dragon Region, which includes Emperor Xia’s Realm, Emperor Li’s Realm, and many other Renhuang’s Realms in it. All of them are parts forming the Crimson Dragon Region, and the topmost realm was the center of the Crimson Dragon Region—the Crimson Dragon Realm.”
Xia Qingyuan then elaborated, “The Crimson Dragon Realm is also the liveliest, most bustling realm within the region, attracting all manner of mighty ones there. Furthermore, it is a nexus connecting other regions. Every realm within the Crimson Dragon Region has a grand teleportation matrix leading to the Crimson Dragon Realm.”
Ye Futian’s eyes sparkled. What Xia Qingyuan meant was that there should have been one such matrix leading straight to Crimson Dragon Realm in Emperor Xia’s Realm.
“If you want to find the empress, you should use the Crimson Dragon Realm as your springboard before venturing into other realms.” Xia Qingyuan continued. Ye Futian nodded, saying, “Thank you, Princess. Is the royal palace capable of sending me straight to Crimson Dragon Realm?”
“It is.” Xia Qingyuan nodded.
“If that is the case, I’m afraid I’ll have to trouble you again, Princess,” Ye Futian said.
“No need to thank me. I’m going out on a pilgrimage myself as well, and I’ll be heading to Crimson Dragon Realm as well, so I’ll be taking you with me,” Xia Qingyuan said coldly.
“…”
Ye Futian blinked.
“I’m afraid that would be rather awkward, Princess.” Ye Futian’s eyes looked shifty. No one knew what the trip would have entailed, and Xia Qingyuan’s status was special.
“If you’re not going with me, then you figure out how to get there yourself.” Xia Qingyuan shot a cold glance at Ye Futian.
“Umm…” Ye Futian felt as if he was being crushed between her fingers and said in an exasperating tone, “Sorry to trouble you then, Princess.”
Xia Qingyuan looked at him coldly. Since when did Ye Futian get so polite?
“I’ll head back and finish my preparations,” Ye Futian said and left right after. However, he stopped after taking several steps.
He remembered that it was his actions of making use of the matrix before that led to all that had happened afterward.
Now…
He halted his steps and seemed to be steeped in deep thought.
Xia Qingyuan looked at Ye Futian’s back and felt puzzled.
What is he thinking now? she wondered.
Ye Futian stopped for a bit before turning around. He looked at Xia Qingyuan and asked, “Princess, may I ask for a favor?”
“Speak.” Xia Qingyuan had no idea what was going through Ye Futian’s mind.
“This trip might be somewhat dangerous, and I think you should stay where you are,” Ye Futian said.
“Speak.” Xia Qingyuan’s tone turned even colder. That b*stard.
Ye Futian spoke his mind, and Xia Qingyuan looked rather puzzled. Thoughts seemed to be running behind those bright eyes of hers, and she looked at Ye Futian, saying after a while, “I’ll do the setup.”
Ye Futian nodded before walking out of the princess’ residence.
However, he was unable to make it far before someone else had gotten in his way.
“Princess Xi,” Ye Futian looked at the alluring figure before him and cupped his hands, greeting her.
“Why don’t you come to visit my place since you’re here at the royal palace, Sir Ye? You’re telling me that you’ve forgotten all about me so quickly,” Yao Xi said as she seductively looked at Ye Futian.
“I have business to attend to. Help yourself around, Princess Xi,” Ye Futian cupped his hands and said, disappearing as soon as he finished.
Emperor Xia had warned her before. They were in the royal palace and directly under the scrutiny of Emperor Xia. Yao Xi would not have dared to do anything to harm him.
Best not get on the bad side of this woman, though.
“You afraid I’m going to eat you up or something?” Yao Xi called out without caring where she was. Her eyes were sad and resentful. Many in the royal palace heard her voice and felt speechless.
That Ye Futian is one hell of a lucky *sshole.
The people from the Cottage Villa came to the royal palace in a low profile manner several days later, hardly alerting anyone around them.
The teleportation grand matrix in the royal palace lit up, and many disappeared from Emperor Xia’s Palace right away.
Princess Xia Qingyuan left with them.
It was not until Xia Qingyuan went off that someone, including Yao Xi, took notice, wondering where Xia Qingyuan had taken Ye Futian.
However, the ones guarding the matrix actually kept the whole thing a secret and did not say anything to anyone.
…
In the royal palace of Dali Dynasty several days later.
Li Yao had seen some dark times after the incident with the Seventh Swordsman all those years ago.
He had originally been a student of the imperial advisor in name and had gotten close to the Imperial Advisor’s Residence.
However, due to the case with the Seventh Swordsman, he had almost turned against the Imperial Advisor and was at odds with them. He had even gotten the Prince Regent to act, yet the Prince Regent was blocked off by the Imperial Advisor, allowing Ye Futian to leave alive.
As such, Li Yao became the most downtrodden one in Dali Dynasty.
Both sides wanted to have nothing to do with him.
Li Yao reflected on himself and trained in isolation since then, and was actually able to make it into Saint Plane at the start of year 10024 of Divine Prefecture Calendar. That caused quite a commotion, and even Emperor Li took notice of him, thinking better of him. The third prince came to show goodwill as well.
Li Yao began to get close to his third brother and the side of the royal members, cutting off contact with those from the Imperial Advisor altogether.
Of course, it went without saying that the Imperial Advisor’s Residence was having quite a hard time. They were keeping a very low profile.
“Your Highness.” A servant girl came to report.
“Who was it that allowed you to disturb me?” Li Yao, who was training, opened his eyes and shot a cold glare at her. Having one’s training interrupted was something extremely irksome.
“Your Highness, there is news from Emperor Xia’s Realm,” the servant kneeled and said with a shuddering voice.
Li Yao’s eyes softened after he heard that it was news from Emperor Xia’s Realm. “Bring them in.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” The servant girl left and quickly brought someone there.
“Your Highness.” That someone bowed.
“What is it?” Li Yao glanced at the messenger, wondering if it had something to do with Ye Futian and if that man did something that would have astounded everyone yet again.
“There was news from Emperor Xia’s Palace saying that Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan activated the teleportation grand matrix in the royal palace, leaving Emperor Xia’s Realm,” the messenger reported.
“You sure about this?” Li Yao rose. Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan both left Emperor Xia’s Realm?
“The news could not be more true. Many knew of that news. Xia Qingyuan had indeed left with Ye Futian.”
“Where have they headed to?” Li Yao asked.
“The Emperor Xia’s Palace sealed the news, but there were rumors saying that Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan might have gone to train in the Crimson Dragon Realm.”
“The Crimson Dragon Realm?” Li Yao’s eyes sparkled.
The Crimson Dragon Region consisted of both Emperor Xia’s Realm and Emperor Li’s Realm. The Crimson Dragon Realm was the primary realm of the Crimson Dragon Region. It was not a place where both Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan could throw their weight around, yet they had actually left for that place.
“Is the news reliable?” Li Yao asked again.
“There shouldn’t be a problem,” the messenger replied.
Li Yao was feeling rather restless by then. Despite having broken into Saint Plane, there were some obsessions that he was unable to lay to rest.
The time he spent being duped by Ye Futian proved to be the greatest insult he suffered in his life. He had to make Ye Futian pay for that.
“Ye Futian in Crimson Dragon Realm,” Li Yao mumbled to himself and then left.
Ye Futian ventured outside with Xia Qingyuan, so Emperor Xia would have definitely sent powerful escorts to protect them along the way.
Li Yao’s current powers proved rather inadequate.
However, it was a chance that he would absolutely not miss.
