Tianming was destined to embark on a road that would change his life. He wasn’t afraid of a life-threatening battle, but the possibility that he was still the same man he was yesterday.
Such a genius was most frightening.
The white-haired young man surpassed the stars and pointed the Onyx Dragon at the cosmos, cultivating like a madman. Ye Shaoqing could only comfort himself with Qingyu. However, he soon discovered that even the tribane went beyond his imagination.
"Master, I have cultivated all the steps of the Moonset Galaxy Blade Art. Is there anything else? I’ve broken through to sixth-level Unity, would you like to test me? Master, I’ve already mastered the Path-Severing Flying Blade you taught me."
Staring at the diligent young woman, Ye Shaoqing felt a headache coming on.
"Your whole family are freaks of nature.”
But on second thought, these two freaks were his disciples. Wasn’t it great? What made Ye Shaoqing silly was the fact that even the little chick successfully executed the Heaven-Defying Sword Intent with its wings.
At that moment, Ye Shaoqing vehemently shook his fan, feeling like he needed a bucket of ice water over his head to calm down.
"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen such a handsome chicken?" glared the little chick as it angrily puffed up its feathers. "Why the hell are you still staring? Keep doing that and I’ll change your destiny with a stab to the eyes!" In comparison, the black cat sleeping on the tree seemed normal.
In fact, Ye Shaoqing was happy for them. Although he wanted to ask if it was worth risking their lives, he was more curious to see just how far they would go.
……
Sacred Mountain!
Ye Yuxi was on her way back to Azure Immortal Mountain, never imagining she would bump into Yuwen Kaitai again. His burly body flickered out from the shadows, intercepting her. Fortunately, she stopped in time, or she would have fallen right into his arms.
"Yuxi, you’re in a hurry. It just shows how uneasy and fearful you are," Yuwen Kaitai chuckled. The ghastly scar on his face made it difficult to look him in the eye.
"Get out of the way, dog.” Ye Yuxi couldn’t be bothered to talk to him.
"Have you heard that Shendu comprehended heavenly will, successfully breaking through to the Heavenly Will stage? He’s likely to seize the Grand-Orient Sword in the Realm Wars. The Ye clan is doomed," Yuwen Kaitai smiled.
Turning around, Ye Yuxi fixed a cold gaze upon Yuwen Kaitai.
"Yuxi, for the sake of our friendship, I’ll give you one last chance," added Yuwen Kaitai.
"And what would that take?" asked Ye Yuxi.
"Your second brother, Ye Shaoqing, took an annoying bug as his disciple. Although a bug poses no threat to us, his behavior has made the Yuwen clan unhappy. So, once we get the Grand-Orient Sword, the first we’re going to do is slaughter the Ye clan—that is, your father and your second brother. We’re just clearing any obstacles and making an example. Huangfu Fengyun and Shangguan Jingshu, those old dogs, will take refuge in my brother. At that time, the Grand-Orient Sect will be unified," envisioned Yuwen Kaitai.
"Then what?"
"I won’t tell you. But as long as you follow me, I’ll say a few words on your behalf. When the time comes, you’ll be a daughter-in-law of the Yuwen clan and you’ll still have your life. By the way, I managed to convince your eldest brother Ye Tianlong. As a son of the Ye clan, his cultivation is actually lower than yours. He must be indignant. However, he’s smart and wants to live. You should learn from him.” Yuwen Kaitai's fiery gaze fell on her.
Ye Yuxi smiled. How could she be unaware about her eldest brother? But that didn’t matter. Ye Tianlong was a coward who knew nothing important about the Ye clan.
"Yuwen Kaitai.”
"What is your decision?"
"I just want to say, aren’t you a little too confident in Yuwen Shendu?" she retorted.
"That’s because you don't understand the Yuwen clan’s resolve, nor Shendu’s ambition!" Yuwen Kaitai burned with passion.
"Can ambition be used as strength? What a joke! The Grand-Orient Sect has fallen to fifth place in Grand-Orient. Not to mention the flourishing Heaven’s Elysium has seven elysian children, four of which are at Heavenly Will. The forces ranked second, third and fourth are all eyeing the Grand-Orient Sword! Among them are several disciples of Heavenly Will. Even if Yuwen Shendu has some means, how can he seize the Grand-Orient Sword in a battle of such talented geniuses? So if you want me to surrender, wait until you actually possess the Grand-Orient Sword.” Ye Yuxi shrugged in a show of indifference.
"You don’t know Shendu’s abilities. Even without the Grand-Orient Sword, as long as my brother keeps advancing, he’ll break the balance in the council of elders one day.”
"Is that so?" A smile rose to Ye Yuxi’s lips. "Then I shall wait and see."
With that, she turned and decisively sped away, leaving a gloomy Yuwen Kaitai behind.
"You won’t take the living path. Well, no matter how beautiful you are, all that will become of you is a skeleton." Yuwen Kaitai pounded the wall into smithereens.
……
Tianming's breakthrough to fourth-level Unity was slower than he expected, by about five days. Right now, he was only ten days away from the Prime Struggle.
"Rising a level in a fortnight was impossible after all. The higher you go, the more difficult it is to advance. But for any genius in the Grand-Orient Realm, rising a level in twenty days was an almost miraculous achievement. In fact, it’s taken me two hundred days."
Tianming stared at the five ferocious black characters on his right hand, proof that his body had aged two hundred days.
Every step was a race against time.
However, he was fearless and strong in both spirit and will. His kind of fearlessness wasn’t born, but tempered by his experiences at the gates of death. Only after experiencing that can one advance bravely.
He was still the same, never admitting defeat, never conceding, never surrendering, never giving up!
The remaining ten days are obviously not enough for me to break through to fifth-level Unity. With my current strength, I don't know if I can deal with Yuwen Zhenxing and the others. Breaking through would be added insurance. If not, it'll be a life and death battle.
The Prime Struggle was perilous, more so than the battle with Li Xuanchen. However, Tianming couldn’t care less about that, since it didn’t matter.
On the edge of life and death, I just need to ensure that I’m stronger tomorrow than I am today. He covered his bane-rings and carried on with cultivation. Even with only ten days left, he was able to make great progress.