Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After the Purple Gold Rat Clan backed down, the ones from the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty and those from the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven glared at each other. It seemed as if a formless fire of war had enveloped the entire place.
“You’re all still at the Xuantian Pavilion, and I implore you all to restrain yourselves.” A voice was heard at that moment. The mighty ones were all able to sense that powerful might, which was from the Xuantian Goddess.
“Please forgive our trespassing, goddess.” Lin Yue of Shangxiao Divine Palace bowed and gestured at the air above. They were at the Xuantian Pavilion of Brahma’s Pure Sky, after all, and their action of going for each other’s throats without any regard for the rules was definitely rather rude.
With the goddess emerging to interfere personally, there was no way they could have continued fighting.
The students of Divine Music Palace at those from Shangxiao Divine Palace. Yan Sui looked at Ye Futian and said, “I hope to seek your guidance again if the opportunity presents itself, Sir Ye.”
He then turned around and left after saying that.
The sparring session with music that he extended to Ye Futian saw him losing to the other man, suppressed by the demonic instrument as he had been too sure of himself. Even though he had indeed been tricked by Ye Futian, he was still at fault nonetheless. Ye Futian told Yan Sui that he was about to use a Renhuang class guqin, yet Yan Sui paid no heed to it.
As such, he ended up being defeated by the demonic tune from the instrument right away.
Furthermore, Ye Futian’s actions at overwhelming those from the Purple Gold Rat Clan compelled him to reassess Ye Futian’s combat prowess as well. He was not alone in that, as everyone from Shangxiao Divine Palace had probably underestimated that young genius cultivator of Heavenly Mandate Realm.
The people of Shangxiao Divine Palace turned around and left one after another. Yi Tianyu shot a look at Ye Futian as he passed by as well, which seemed to have a lot of weight behind it.
“Let’s go,” Ye Futian lowered his voice and said. Everyone turned around and left, heading for the palace which they were staying in.
Xuantian Pavilion was mostly quiet again after that.
Night fell, and the blue sky above Xuantian Palace shrouded the entire place in its grandeur. Ye Futian trained in peace in the palace, yet his thoughts remained somewhat restless.
Footsteps were heard at the moment. Ye Futian opened his eyes and said, “Please come in, Goddess Qin.”
Someone came to him after he said that. She wore a cape and came alone in the night, looking rather lonesome.
Qin He came before Ye Futian, smiling and asking, “Am I getting in the way of your training, Sir Ye?”
Ye Futian smiled and shook his head. “I’m thinking of something as well, so much so that I came to pay you a visit.”
“Well, that sounds like we share the same thoughts.” Qin He smiled faintly and sat quietly across Ye Futian. Her jet black hair rested on her shoulders, and her skin looked even more fair and radiant under the moonlight, making her really look like some goddess who was beyond the reach of mortals.
Ye Futian smiled after hearing Qin He’s words, feeling rather warmed. Qin He looked at his handsome face and chose to sit and continue looking at him.
“Am I that good-looking?” Ye Futian said in a joking tone.
“Indeed.” Qin He nodded and continued, “Your looks are indeed rare in the world of cultivators.”
“Too bad that one can’t simply rely on looks to get their way about the world of cultivators. I wouldn’t have needed to train otherwise,” Ye Futian smiled and said.
Qin He smiled beamingly at him but quickly became silent. She looked at Ye Futian’s eyes and asked, “I heard that Jinyi came to pay you a visit before?”
“Indeed.” Ye Futian nodded.
“What did she say?” Qin He asked.
“Hardly anything.” Ye Futian smiled and continued, “There are many things that I could guess at, even if she were to not say anything, after all.”
Qin He continued to look at Ye Futian’s eyes after hearing what he said. A warm smile was seen in those deep eyes of his, which looked rather wise as well.
Qin He knew that Ye Futian had really gotten it.
Even if they were to say nothing, they seemed to truly know what the other was thinking.
That feeling was something only experienced between soul mates, and it felt mystical.
“I was sent to train in Brahma’s Pure Sky when I was very young, and becoming the empress had always been a goal of mine. I hoped that I’d be able to create my own era someday, becoming the object of faith for all female cultivators in the world. That is one goal I’ve been working to achieve for years.”
Qin He began to talk about things that seemed unrelated to anything, but Ye Futian chose to listen quietly nonetheless.
“Training was hard throughout the years. I’ve defeated many and became a goddess of Brahma’s Pure Sky. I’m now known as the number one, and I’m one more step closer to achieving my goal. As for the matter of a companion, it was something I had never thought about.”
Ye Futian was able to relate to her. She was a woman who had her sights on furthering her training. Her training was her faith, her religion, yet the ones at the upper echelons of Brahma’s Pure Sky wanted her to marry someone all of a sudden, so she definitely was resistant to it deep down. One’s state of mind would have definitely been very stable if one were to be able to get into Saint Plane in the first place. Even if one were to meet someone they had a liking for, it still would have been impossible for them to be swayed from that faith, which they had been holding onto for so long.
Qin He looked up at Ye Futian as she said with a smile, “You are of unmatched appearance, and your talents are second to none, Sir Ye. It is so much so that few in all of the Heavenly Mandate Realm are able to compare. If I were to have met you when I was younger, I might have actually asked you out on a date and wanted to be with you.”
Her tone sounded somewhat joking, but those were indeed her true thoughts. Qin He really did like Ye Futian, but she did not want to see them end up like that.
“Please, if you keep showering me with praise, my head is going to float away.” Ye Futian smiled and added, “You’re a rare beauty yourself, Goddess Qin. I’m afraid the likes of you are of a handful, even if you were to be compared with everyone throughout the entire Heavenly Mandate Realm. I’m very glad to have one good friend like you, too.”
“A good friend, eh?” Qin He looked at Ye Futian and smiled while saying in a low voice herself, “It is a beautiful thing indeed, and I’m very happy to have gotten t to know you, too.”
“The pleasure is mine.” Ye Futian nodded.
Qin He then rose with a smile, looking up at the crescent moon in the air, and said gently, “I suppose lacking something can be beautiful after all.”
She then left the place shortly after, and he did not say anything more. He did not even send her off. He simply watched as her beautiful silhouette disappeared from sight.
After Qin He left, Ye Futian then asked, “You done snooping around?”
Cough, cough… A handsome figure emerged without looking at Ye Futian, who walked past him and said in a low voice instead, “Don’t mind me, just passing by…”
Ye Futian looked at Hua Qingyun, and it was then he truly realized that the dashing heir of the Hua Clan of the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven was indeed very thick-skinned.
“Middle of the night. A man and a woman all alone. No flirting and all riddles. Man, this is boring,” Hua Qingyun muttered as he left with his head shaking, seemingly feeling the scene to be quite pitiful. This caused Ye Futian to feel baffled.
Ye Futian left and came somewhere else. There was someone sitting cross-legged there. Moonlight shone on that man’s robe, making him looking regal and solemn.
That man opened his eyes and called Ye Futian as the younger man walked by. “Futian,” he said.
“Teacher.” Ye Futian came before Qi Xuangang and said, “I need to seek your guidance.”
“About the matter with Qin He, I suppose?” Qi Xuangang asked.
“Indeed.” Ye Futian nodded and continued, “I wonder how I should make my choice, and if my choice will turn out to be correct.”
“I get the idea more or less with the thoughts you two share. Both of you have your own resolves. So what is the problem?” Qi Xuangang asked.
“I wonder if what I do is too self-centered, and if it will bring about a bad outcome,” Ye Futian answered.
“Everything happening in the world has its own course, and everything is interconnected. All things that have happened have their own causes and consequences. However, no one can truly foresee the future, so how would you know if your choice would lead to a bad outcome for sure? If you were to choose another path, would it be certain that the outcome would be a good one?”
Qi Xuangang then continued, “This is just like how it was back in Dali all those years ago. Your decision to leave was indeed a good one, but did everything happen as you expected it to afterward?”
Ye Futian chose to leave Dali without killing Li Yao, yet the Prince Regent went after them all the same. Yan Yuan ended up saving them. Eventually, the royalty of Dali became doubtful of the Imperial Advisor, which led to a series of events from then on out.
“In hindsight, your decision had indeed been the best. A man will only have to be able to hold their head up high and live up with their conscience with the choices they make. Regardless of what happens in the future, there will be no need for regrets then. What we can all do is to make the best out of the present instead of deciding the course of the future,” Qi Xuangang continued.
Ye Futian felt the weight on his shoulders being lifted after hearing what his teacher said. He then replied, “I understand.”
“Go now,” Qi Xuangang said, and Ye Futian left with a nod. Qi Xuangang continued to shut his eyes to train after Ye Futian left. The light on his body dazzled as he melded with the great path.
Ye Futian ceased thinking about anything else after he returned, choosing to shut his eyes to train instead.
The silent night seemed unusually long, and Xuantian Pavilion itself seemed unusually quiet as well. Cultivators of all forces trained in silence, waiting for the dawn to come.
Qin He would come to her conclusion on the next day.
She could not have simply left all the cultivators hanging, after all.
Ye Futian entered a mystical, calm, and immutable state in the midnight. It was as if he was so steeped into his training that he turned into a statue, yet he sensed his will spreading and existing everywhere, allowing him to see everything.
At that moment, a silhouette seemed to have appeared in his mind as he continued to train. It came seemingly out of nowhere.
That face was one that he was very familiar with. What happened in the world hardly fazed him when he was steeped in training, yet when that silhouette appeared, his heart twitched violently. It was as if he had been hit by something.
“Jieyu,” Ye Futian uttered a single word. His eyes opened all of a sudden. It was as if he had forcibly yanked out of that meditative state in an instant. That silhouette in his mind gradually blurred and eventually dissipated. It was as if it had never been there in the first place.
He shot to the air, and his eyes looked terrifying. He scanned the place with his will in all directions.
While it was entirely possible that the phenomenon happened because he missed Jieyu, his plane level would have allowed him to tell the difference. When it happened previously, he thought it was due to his spiritual will being in a shaky state, thus causing a hallucination.
But a hallucination yet again?
This couldn’t be.
Brahma’s Pure Sky. It definitely had something to do with the place.
He pursued the silhouette all the way when he last experienced the phenomenon, and eventually came to the place where Qin He was. That was a training ground in Brahma’s Pure Sky. The Xuantian Pavilion, which he was currently in, was within Brahma’s Pure Sky’s territory as well.
Back then, Jieyu was gone because she summoned the will of the empress of Brahma’s Pure Sky.
Was it true that Jieyu was truly still alive and somewhere in Brahma’s Pure Sky then?
Otherwise, how else could her appearing in my mind twice be explained? he wondered.
But then again, he was puzzled as to why he was unable to see anyone anywhere.
