Realms In The Firmament

“There are a few things we need to do next… Well, just a few things…” Ye Xiao thought for a while and said, “First of all, we need to get some money. What I have here are the most valuable things… We need to make sure it is safe when we exchange them for the money we need. We must keep our pocket from being empty first. The job is yours. Think of a way to sell these things. Remember, it must be safe. Let’s get as much money as we can. Get it done quickly. Do not let anybody know our real identities! If people know what we have here, it will bring us only troubles.”

The Dark Evil Spirit nodded and said, “Yes. This is important.”

In his heart, he thought with praise, ‘Young Master Ye may seem like an idiot, who knows basically nothing about the Human Realm Upon Heavens, but the longer I stay with him, the more I know how profound and wise he is.’

‘As long as I follow his instructions, I can avoid all the possible risks.’

Apparently, he misunderstood again. Ye Xiao was good at this because he had done it several times. When he was in the Land of Han-Yang, he turned into Feng Zhiling to get the money he needed. Now, the Dark Evil Spirit was going to do all the dangerous works for him, and he got to wait somewhere safe. He wasn’t profound and wise, he was just experienced!

“Second, well…” Ye Xiao thought for a while and said, “We must find somewhere to stay. It doesn’t need to be luxurious, but it has to be covert. Other than that, it needs to be big.”

“A big house? That’s not difficult.” The Dark Evil Spirit said, “As long as we have enough money, it won’t be difficult to find a big house somewhere inside the City of Chaos.”

“Hmm…” Ye Xiao frowned and said, “One more thing… About me… We tell people I am a dan-maker… Whoever is suffering from some incurable illness or severe wounds is welcome to come and get some proper treatment.”

“Are you really a dan-maker, Young Master?” The Dark Evil Spirit was surprised again.

Dan-makers, especially high-level ones were definitely respected in the Human Realm Upon Heavens. All the powerful forces had their own dan-makers. Whoever was able to make dan beads with dan gloss, that could cure wounds, was vigorously supported. In fact, it was all the same in the Land of Han-Yang, and the Qing-Yun Realm!

That was why the Dark Evil Spirit was so surprised when he heard that Ye Xiao was a dan-maker who could cure incurable illness!

Ye Xiao sighed and said, “It is good to be a dan-maker, but sometimes it is not. If not that I am obsessed in the art of dan-making, I wouldn’t be so weak in martial art cultivation. People always say it is better to focus on one thing than to become mediocre on many things… I know it is right. It is just too difficult…”

The Dark Evil Spirit was shocked.

‘Young Master Ye actually compares the art of dan-making to the dao of martial arts. He said that whoever is suffering from some incurable illness or severe wounds is welcome to come and get some proper treatment. Doesn’t it mean he is great at dan-making?’

“May I ask what dan-maker level are you at, Young Master?” The Dark Evil Spirit asked.

“Our family doesn’t follow the level system in the Human Realm Upon Heavens. Cultivation level, dan-maker level, we are different. I don’t have an official dan-maker level, but I can make supreme dan beads.” Ye Xiao blandly said.

“Supreme dan beads? Really? Supreme dan?” The Dark Evil Spirit was breathing heavily and widely opened his eyes and stared at Ye Xiao.

The Human Realm Upon Heavens was a lot more powerful than the Qing-Yun Realm and the Land of Han-Yang. In the history of the Human Realm Upon Heavens, there were quite many dan-makers who could make supreme dan beads.

However, most of those dan-makers had been dead for millions of years. Back in history, there was an incredibly powerful cultivator in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, who gathered all the supreme dan-makers together to make Heaven Seizing Supreme Dan to save his son!

The Heaven Seizing Supreme Dan was successfully made, but when the dan bead was produced, the divine punishment struck down on those dan-makers. The dan-makers didn’t know what was happening to them, so they all got hit by the horrible punishment strikes. Over ten supreme dan-makers got killed. The art of dan-making in the Human Realm Upon Heavens went backward over a million years!

When Ling Wuxie gave Ye Xiao the Golden Soul Tower to resist the divine punishment, the punishment strikes didn’t seem powerful at all. In fact, the punishments in the two realms were two different kinds of power.

The Human Realm Upon Heavens was a top-grade realm in the universe. The divine punishment in the Human Realm Upon Heavens was definitely much more powerful than the Land of Han-Yang. Back in the days, Wan of Clouds once said to Ye Xiao, “Any medical material in the Human Realm Upon Heavens was more valuable than a five hundred years old ginseng in the Land of Han-Yang.” She was quite right about it.

In fact, when that divine punishment struck down in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, nobody had ever seen it coming. It was unexpected. The dan-makers who got hit didn’t have time to react before they were down. When Ye Xiao resisted the punishment in the Land of Han-Yang, he knew it was coming! Most importantly, Ye Xiao had the Golden Soul Tower, which was a treasure weapon from the top-grade realm. Its power was at a much higher level than the limitation in the Land of Han-Yang. The divine punishment in the Land of Han-Yang could never get through the powerful shield of the Golden Soul Tower. That was why Ye Xiao was completely safe under the Golden Soul Tower’s protection even if the punishment actually struck down on him!

Certainly, there was no punishment on Ye Xiao when he made the Heaven Seizing Supreme Dan because Brother Egg made it for him. He didn’t have to tell others the truth about it, did he?

After the divine punishment in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, the number of supreme dan-makers in the world was massively decreased. Only three to five dan-makers appeared, who were all legendary figures!

A dan-maker who could make supreme dan beads was even more influential than the Sky kings!

Just a few days earlier… the Dan Saint, who was known as the first dan-maker in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, successfully made some supreme dan beads. To successfully produced a stove of supreme dan beads within a few hundred years was a rather difficult thing in the world.

‘A legend is standing right in front of me!’

‘People of the Ye Clan are definitely monsters!’

The Dark Evil Spirit thought.

“Young Master, listen. We can’t let others know that you are such a great dan-maker… Once people know, it will only bring you danger. The supreme dan beads you made should be hidden from the public…” The Dark Evil Spirit looked around anxiously and said in a low voice.

Ye Xiao looked at him and blandly said, “Sure. I know what to do. I just don’t think it is a problem telling you. I trust you.”

“Thank you, Young Master!” The Dark Evil Spirit was so moved by Ye Xiao’s last few words that he nearly shed tears. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly got down on his knees and said, “Young Master, you trust me this much. I don’t think there is anything I can do to repay your trust. Please, take me as your servant. I will spend the rest of my life serving you!”

Ye Xiao nodded and accepted it. He said, “Old Dark since you really want to follow me, I won’t turn it down. From now on, let’s fight for our own glory in the Human Realm Upon Heavens.”

‘Fight for our own glory in the Human Realm Upon Heavens.’

That was easy to say. However, the Dark Evil Spirit heard the confidence in Ye Xiao’s words!

It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do as long as he tried!

That was such incredible confidence!

At that moment, even though the Dark Evil Spirit was an experienced cultivator in the martial world, he was thrilled like a young man.

He had a feeling—after traveling alone for many years, now I finally set down.

He felt fulfilled, which was a feeling that all itinerant cultivators wanted!

“However, you are wrong about me revealing my dan-making skills. I don’t really want to save anybody.” Ye Xiao looked at the Dark Evil Spirit and blandly said, “I want to… recruit people.”

“Recruit people?” The Dark Evil Spirit was surprised. His eyes were full of excitement though.

“That’s right. We are recruiting people. We need those people to follow us; who are wounded, poisoned, abandoned, who don’t have a long time to live, and who should that are at high cultivation level…” Ye Xiao smiled and said, “These people all look forward to vengeance. We make good use of it, and they will be a great power for us.

“We can use them. They will be the first group of people who work for us. We will make our first step with them.”

Ye Xiao blandly said, “There is one thing we must make sure. They have to be willing to join us. We can’t force them. If we push them, they won’t be loyal to us. Some of them will turn against us sooner or later. It won’t do any good for us. This is the early stage of our force. We have to place quality above quantity. Loyalty is the priority. After all, if our people are weak in cultivation, we can help them improve, but if they are traitorous to us, there is nothing we can do!”

“Sure. That’s right.” The Dark Evil Spirit lit up his eyes.

Apparently, he didn’t know that Ye Xiao was such a thoughtful and steady person. He was not like a young man at all.

It brought him confidence.

“Some powerful ones may choose to embrace freedom, so they may refuse to follow me. Well, we can show them our kind hearts and do them favors, so they will be our friends someday.”

Ye Xiao said, “And the favor for them must be returned someday… They have to at least help us once after what we do for them. That’s at least we can ask from them. I can’t waste my time curing my future enemy, can I?”

“Absolutely not.” The Dark Evil Spirit nodded to agree.

“Moreover… We can tell people that they can bring us the prescription of some rare dan, so we can make the dan beads they want as long as they bring us the materials too… They will have to pay for the service for sure. The price depends on how difficult the dan beads are to make.”

Ye Xiao said, “It will be a good business to get us some money. However, we have to make sure they bring us at least three portions of the materials… After all, I can’t be sure that the dan beads can be made for the first time, can I? Dan-makers aren’t gods after all.”

“That’s right! Absolutely!” The Dark Evil Spirit nodded and said, “Even gods can’t be sure that the dan beads can be made successfully for the first time. Other than that, it needs time to practice.”

“Heh heh.” Ye Xiao smiled.

Well, he didn’t quite agree with that. ‘Erhuo can absolutely make the required dan beads as long as it gets the materials. The dan beads it makes will be of the best quality, and it always made the most dan beads out of the least materials. Back in the old days, Erhuo made eleven Heaven Seizing Supreme Dan beads…’

‘Does it mean… Erhuo is more capable than gods?’

Erhuo was murmuring somewhere, ‘Well, you know how good I am now, don’t you? I am just trying to stay low, trying not to draw unnecessary attention. Well, gods mean nothing. None of the gods of yours is a match to me…’

“Young Master, you are brilliant. If we can take the advantages soon, we will recruit a lot of people in a short time.”

The Dark Evil Spirit sounded excited, and said, “We are talking about the foundation of the great plan.”

Ye Xiao looked at him and said, “Old dark, you are good. You know me.”

…

The Dark Evil Spirit couldn’t calm down even after Ye Xiao left the room.

The last few words between them were resounding in his head, like an old bell ringing in the morning.

“How big is the plan we are talking about, Young Master?”

“One step at a time.”

“What else is in your mind, Young Master?”

“One step at a time.”

“When we start it, we will be a target for many people because of our advantages, our brilliance, and our arrogance… Have you prepared to face that, Young Master?”

“One step at a time.”

Three questions.

Ye Xiao gave the same answer.

One step at a time.

However, the Dark Evil Spirit was shocked by the answer. He was astonished.

In the answer, there was Ye Xiao’s great ambition! It was his unimaginable ambition!

It was difficult to describe how pragmatic it was!

‘I will plan the next step, only when I set firmly on the first step.’

‘I will only start to decide how big the plan should be when I start to do it.’

‘I will do greater tomorrow, only after I am great today. I won’t start planning tomorrow until I get it done great today.’

‘Therefore, it is what I am doing now that decides how great the plan should be.’

‘I can be great today, then I can conquer the Limitless Ocean tomorrow. I can conquer the Limitless Ocean today, then I can be king of the world tomorrow.’

‘My plan is no plan. I only focus on the present. I will only reach perfection now.’

‘Make the current step, and make it perfect, before the next step.’

‘There is no future plan.’

‘There is no end to my ambition.’

‘To become a target to all may be a problem. I should still deal with it one step at a time.’

‘I will watch. I will see what my enemies will do to me.’

‘I will see what those I have helped will do to me.’

‘I will see where the situation is leading us to.’

‘I will not make the decision until I see it.’

‘To make plans now is only to be an armchair strategist. It is totally meaningless!’

…

The Dark Evil Spirit had been through so many years in the martial world, so he knew the rules and hidden laws in the martial world.

‘I will get on with the necessary works tomorrow.’

The Dark Evil Spirit talked to himself in his head.

It was already midnight.

Four hours later, it would be dawn.

…

Ye Xiao was sitting in meditation. Suddenly, he heard the noise outside on the street. It seemed people were crowding together…

He was surprised, and he opened the window to look down.

On the street, it was full of people crowding everywhere.

They all looked pretty excited.

“Master Xiao is here.”

“Ah, ah, ah… Master Xiao is here! He is here! I am so excited.”