Realms In The Firmament

The Black Water Sect was losing. They were like a thin layer of snow under the scorching sun. Within just a short time, they were already melting down!

Nearly six hundred of Divinity Origin Stage cultivators had rushed into the battle, and now these men were all dead!

There were less than thirty enemies who were still struggling, surrounded by all the cultivators of the Monarch’s Hall. There was nothing they could do now.

The others were all dead bodies on the ground!

“How come it ends so fast?” Meng Youjiang was shocked.

[The Monarch’s Hall… It is impossible to defeat the enemy so quickly!]

Meng Youjiang thought that an internecine outcome should be good enough for the Monarch’s Hall. The Black Water Sect was a strong sect in the martial world after all. Even though the Monarch’s Hall had great medicines that could cure their wounded men quickly, the Black Water Sect was powerful enough to fight against the Monarch’s Hall! The Monarch’s Hall took no advantages on this fight!

However, the truth astonished him.

Not only Meng Youjiang but also the others, even the men of the Black Water Sect, were shocked.

‘What… What the hell is going on?’

‘How come things changed within such a short time? How is this possible!’

“Contemptible!”

“Shameless!”

The angry scolding awoke Ye Xiao, who was also lost in his thoughts. The prime master of the Black Water Sect—Niu Liangde—was freaked out! He was shaking. He was staring at the battlefield. He was looking around and scolded in fury!

“Who was it? Who was it? Show yourself! Filthy bastard! A sneak attack never brings honor! You loser! You bastard! You are a bunch of contemptible sh*ts! You f*cking dog sh*t! Come! Show yourself!”

He thought he had made a perfect plan, and with that plan, he could send the Scorpio Sect and the Green Wolf Sect to their ruin and eventually destroy the Monarch’s Hall. The Black Water Sect would be one of the top-class forces in the Limitless Ocean if his plan went well. He didn’t dare to start the plan until he finally made sure it was perfect!

However, he didn’t get what he wanted. It was far from what he planned. He was not going to defeat the Monarch’s Hall and seize the territory. Instead, his Black Water Sect was going to be destroyed in this battle!

Niu Liangde was totally broken!

As the prime master of the Black Water Sect, he thought more than he did. He was the only one who realized how weird the situation was. He had been watching the fight and was ready to send more men to help at any time. However, he saw something surprising…

There were a few cultivators who were in purple robes with the sign of the Monarch’s Hall. They moved on the battlefield as fast as ghosts. They didn’t actually do anything in the beginning, but after the Saint Origin Stage cultivators of the Black Water Sect joined the battle, they attacked! The first of the Saint Origin Stage cultivator directly went to Bu Xiangfeng, so the purple-robe cultivators did not do anything to him. The other Saint Origin Stage cultivators were all killed by these mysterious men!

These men moved so fast that nobody saw how they attacked. Wherever they went over, people of the Black Water Sect froze, waiting to be killed. Even those Saint Origin Stage cultivators couldn’t survive!

If a Saint Origin Stage cultivator couldn’t move, he was just a piece of meat on the plate who was easy to kill!

When the Monarch’s Hall was winning, the mysterious men disappeared.

Niu Liangde clearly saw one of them disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke after an attack.

Their appearance totally changed the situation of the battlefield!

If not for these mysterious men, the Monarch’s Hall was never going to win!

Even though the Monarch’s Hall had Bu Xiangfeng, the Black Water Sect could send more Saint Origin Stage cultivators to deal with him. Meng Youjiang was right. The Black Water Sect was a powerful sect, and they knew many things about the Monarch’s Hall. Their plan was specially made against the Monarch’s Hall. The Monarch’s Hall was going to lose in a fight like this!

However, because of these mysterious men, things went differently.

Niu Liangde was full of hatred and anger.

If the Monarch’s Hall truly was more powerful than he thought, he wouldn’t be so pissed, because in that case, it was his own fault for not making a correct estimation. However, these mysterious men were unbelievably powerful… In Niu Liangde’s opinion, the Monarch’s Hall was cheating!

‘This isn’t right!’

“Show yourself! All of you! Come out! You bloody murderers! You filthy bastards!” Niu Liangde was desperate, shouting like a madman. He should be a leader of hundreds of men, but he ended up alone standing right there like a fleeing dog!

The leaders of the Black Water Sect all died in this fight!

Ye Xiao frowned and blandly said, “That guy is full of bullsh*t! Go get him!”

At first, Ye Xiao was looking forward to meeting this man who was good at schemes, but now he realized how mentally weak this man was. It was such an embarrassing person who freaked out when losing a fight! That was not a wise man!

Bu Xiangfeng, Meng Youjiang, Gui Lingxiao, and Ren Zhixi rushed over at the same time with a shout.

Niu Liangde struggled, swearing abusive words like a madman with screeching exclamation!

Finally, his voice stopped after the last exclamation, and it became silent.

There was the smell of blood in the air.

Erhuo quietly showed up on Ye Xiao’s shoulder, staying low. It seemed like Erhuo was taking a nap there, but actually not… Nobody noticed that the soul energy from the dead people kept moving toward Erhuo…

“Lord Monarch… What happened… It was…” Meng Youjiang seemed confused. He walked toward Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao stayed calm and blandly said, “We won. That is enough for me!”

“No… I mean… Well…” Meng Youjiang was still shocked.

“This victory will bring us fame in the world!” Ye Xiao stopped Meng Youjiang and said, “We should award everybody according to his contribution!”

The crowd cheered up.

Meng Youjiang’s wife—Rong Ke’er—secretly pulled her husband’s sleeve.

Meng Youjiang stopped trying to talk. He always listened to his wife when things like this happened.

However, he was thinking, ‘Why can’t I ask? Why didn’t he answer me? It is weird. It is obviously abnormal. I’ll die out of curiosity if I didn’t know what is behind this…’

Ye Xiao looked happy. He gave an order to clean the battlefield and bury the dead bodies. The Monarch’s Hall got a lot of materials from the fight, and they were all stored up. In the end, he announced that everybody could have a vacation of three days to rest.

It seemed he didn’t care about what Meng Youjiang was confused for.

Nobody knew what Ye Xiao was thinking.

A few days later, a sect came to challenge the Monarch’s Hall again. The enemy must have heard that the Monarch’s Hall had just been through a few fights, so the enemy believed the Monarch’s Hall must be weakened now. The enemy wasn’t weak though. It was not weaker than the Black Water Sect. The Monarch’s Hall fought in full power but did not seem to win the battle. In the middle of the fight, the weird situation happened again.

Ye Xiao kept watching those mysterious men and did not make a sound.

After their victory, he rewarded everybody again, as if nothing special had happened.

In one month, the Monarch’s Hall had been through eight battles. Members of the Monarch’s Hall barely died!

The eight sects were all defeated. The eight sects were all stronger than the Monarch’s Hall, but they did not get what they wanted!

The Monarch’s Hall was expanding incredibly fast!

In one month, their territory became three times bigger!

Ye Xiao decided to give up territories that were too far away, and his territory was still three times bigger. The Monarch’s Hall had seized a huge piece of land, which was almost one-sixth of the City of Chaos!

It was obviously huge!

There surely was an advantage, but there was always a disadvantage, too. The rise of the Monarch’s Hall had drawn attention from other sects. They had occupied such a huge place within a short time.

The Brotherhood Alliance was closest to the Monarch’s Hall, so they were the first to turn against the Monarch’s Hall. One mountain couldn’t have two tigers as kings. The rise of the Monarch’s Hall would definitely weaken the influence of the Brotherhood Alliance. The Brotherhood Alliance had neglected the Monarch’s Hall in the beginning, but now they started to be alarmed.

Ye Xiao cared about something else more than the hostility from other forces though!

After the crazy expansion in one month, Ye Xiao finally figured out what was going on with the mysterious force that had been helping them on the battlefield.

One day, when the sun fell, Ye Xiao prepared a full table of a feast in the Hall of Life and Death.

The Hall of Life and Death was where people got their treatment, but Ye Xiao used it for dining.

It was his first time to prepare food and drink in the Hall of Life and Death.

The guests were four people.

They were Master Guan, Master Song, Master Ju, and Master Yun.

The four old men arrived and looked at the feast. They didn’t say a word.

Perhaps, this was the first time, and also the last time these four old men ate together in this place.

“Old masters, please sit.” Ye Xiao smiled. He led the old masters to their seats and then carried out a jar of liquor.

“It took me quite some hard work to take this liquor from Meng Youjiang… It is said that there aren’t many of it in the Human Realm Upon Heavens. It is a fine liquor. Let’s have a good drink tonight.”

Ye Xiao smiled and said, “You have been doing a lot, old masters.”

The old men were all confused.

‘Drinks?’

‘Why?’

‘In the Hall of Life and Death? Where people get their treatment?’

‘This is… This is quite weird, isn’t it?’

The brown-colored liquor was giving dense bouquet. Ye Xiao poured it into the white china bowls. It smelled so good.

Ye Xiao urged the old men to drink more, and the four old masters didn’t turn it down. They were open-minded people, and they started to enjoy the meal.

Ye Xiao had lived in three realms. His experience and profound views made him outstanding. When they were talking on the table, Ye Xiao had shown the old masters how good he was. The four old masters were surely experienced cultivators who were the most well informed in the world. The conversation was great.

“From the day I arrived in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, I have been learning a lot.” Ye Xiao smiled and said, “It has been a year since I first came to this world… One year ago, I was only at level two of the Faery Origin Stage. Life wasn’t impossible back then, but still… It wasn’t easy…”

“You have been through quite a lot, Lord Monarch…” The old masters went along with it. They knew how to talk to people. It was always right to chime in with others in a conversation. However, the next moment, the four old men were shocked.

‘Wait… One year ago? Level two of the Faery Origin Stage?’

‘Does it… Does it mean… he…’

The four old men were having the same thought. They couldn’t believe it…

“That’s right. It wasn’t easy. One year ago, I was only at level two of the Faery Origin Stage. I was a weak shrimp… I had to be really careful, making progress with caution… I could have gotten myself killed if I made any careless mistakes! Now I am at level five of the Divinity Origin Stage. I am much better than I used to be…” Ye Xiao raised a drink and bitterly smiled. “However, after learning more in a year, I realize there are much more I don’t know. The path of cultivation is full of difficulties and danger.”

And then he drank up the liquor and made a sigh.

The room was in silence!

The four old men were totally shocked.

A level-two Faery Origin Stage cultivator got to the level five of the Divinity Origin Stage within a year! That was incredible! It was epic! They felt like it was a fairytale!

Even a fairy tale wouldn’t tell such an unbelievable story!

People who wrote fiction knew how important logic and general knowledge mattered. What happened to Ye Xiao was absolutely against logic and common sense! It was impossible!

For all Faery Origin Stage cultivators, to reach level six from level five was a huge difficulty.

It was not easy. Many cultivators stopped at level five, and that was all they could get in their lives.

After that, there was also a huge barrier between level eight to level nine. Many people stopped there.

To reach level one of the Divinity Origin Stage from the Faery Origin Stage was definitely a more difficult challenge.

Many more people stopped at the top of the Faery Origin Stage!

Over ninety percent of the Faery Origin Stage cultivators stopped at the top of the Faery Origin Stage, and these people never had the opportunity to reach greatness.

There was a barrier between level three to level four of the Divinity Origin Stage, too. It was the first difficulty a Divinity Origin Stage cultivator had to face on the path to higher levels…

One barrier after another, most cultivators stopped before reaching the top of the martial world. It seemed there were many top-level cultivators in the world, but they were just a tiny part of the total population of the Human Realm Upon Heavens!

Ye Xiao had broken through fifteen levels within one year. It was unbelievable. A genius, a talented man, a legend, these words weren’t good enough to describe him. He was a monster. Nobody had ever done this before, and nobody could do it ever!

“Your improvement within a year must have shocked the world!”

Master Guan finally said something after being quiet in shock for a long time.

In fact, that was not enough to express his compliment!

“Amazing!”

Master Ju was shocked for a long time, and then he said something too. He looked at Ye Xiao and thought of the young men in his clan. He thought the talented kids in his clan were great, but compared to Ye Xiao, they were like old cattle carrying broken carriages.

When he said the word amazing, he made a long sigh and had a drink. In the end, he made a sigh again.

Comparison killed one’s confidence sometimes. When somebody was compared to somebody better, he could easily be broken!

“Thank you so much, Master Guan. You have gotten me a lot of capable men. That truly has saved me time. At first, I was going to spend more time on studying the art of dan making, but I realized that it is also more important to get a bigger fist first. I am weaker than most cultivators in the world, and that is not going to make me a good leader. So I decided to focus on cultivation.” Ye Xiao casually said, “In fact, as long as one works hard, there will always be progress.”

The four old men were embarrassed.

‘That is not true. You surely have the right to say so!’

‘The others have worked hard as well, but that only bring them a tiny step up in cultivation…’

The four old masters were still in shock, and Ye Xiao had already changed the topic.

“Those men… Those cultivators who secretly helped us on the battlefield… I guess they are your men, aren’t they?” Ye Xiao suddenly brought up a question that surprised the four old master. It was abrupt.

The abrupt question was a trick. The four old men were cunning, but they didn’t have time to give it a second thought before giving the answer.

“Yes… Wait!” Master Ju said immediately, but he then realized what had happened when the other old men stared at him.

He had said it, and it was too late to take it back!

…