“Li Tianming!” the girl called out to him.
“You know me?” Tianming looked at her standing beside Xuanyuan Yuheng, and considered the fact that he had truly offended some people from the Archaic House of Xuanyuan. So he guessed that this girl wasn’t here with good intentions.
“Of course I do. You’re the disciple brought back by Her Eminence, and Her Eminence has decided to take you as her disciple. So how can I possibly not know about you?” The girl smiled, but the smile didn’t seem friendly.
“Oh.” Tianming nodded with a similar smile.
The girl came over to Tianming and continued, “Let me introduce myself. My name is Xuanyuan Muxue.”
She stretched her hand out as she spoke. Her fingers were beautiful, with icy blue nails that looked like blue crystals. Every single one of them looked like a piece of art.
“Hello, nice to meet you.” Tianming reached out and gently shook hands with her. She was using her left hand, so Tianming naturally used his left hand as well. When his black arm came in contact with her slender hand, it was a huge impact that looked like the beauty and the beast.
“Muxue, time to go,” Xuanyuan Yuheng said.
“Okay, Big Brother Yuheng.” Xuanyuan Muxue released her hand from Tianming’s and smiled. “See you later.”
“See you later,” Tianming replied. Then, he watched as Xuanyuan Muxue and Xuanyuan Yuheng disappeared from his sight.
“Love tribulation again?” Ying Huo’s eyes were wide open.
“This is no love tribulation.” Tianming raised his left hand and saw a layer of ice covering his black arm. If he were an ordinary first-level empyrean saint, his fingers would be frozen by now.
“Then what is it?”
“A threat,” said Tianming.
“Why do you say that?”
“Can’t you tell that she looks like Xuanyuan Yufeng?” Tianming replied.
“I can’t remember faces. You humans look the same to me. Everyone has been saying that you’re handsome, but you don’t look much different from Gu Shaoyu to me,” Ying Huo replied.
“That’s not facial blindness. You’re just blind!” Tianming snapped.
“Speaking of which, wouldn’t you make fewer enemies if you let Xuanyuan Yuheng off?” Ying Huo asked.
“You can’t put it that way.” Tianming turned around and looked at Xuanyuan Lake. “I’ll be useless without any enemies. I can only force myself to improve with pressure. Everyone’s fighting to improve, and you’ll only be pushed aside if you let someone go ahead. In the end, you won’t have any path to follow.”
“That makes sense. Your society is filled with thrills, and you’ll be finished if you make a mistake somewhere. It’s not easy competing with wits and courage,” Ying Huo said in an emotional tone.
“It’s alright. It’s necessary. When it’s time to attack, attack. When it’s time to stop, stop. I’ll stop for a bit after the faction battle and place my focus on cultivating to reach the fourth level of the Empyrean Saint stage as soon as possible. I want to see how powerful you guys become with empyrean gold bodies and third-grade tribulation manna.”
“Well, I’m sure I can easily crush your balls!” Ying Huo said with a ferocious expression.
“Get lost!” Tianming smiled wryly. It looked like this joke wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“Speaking of which, Ling’er is really awesome!” Meow Meow was still immersed in happiness.
“She can only give me gifts if I perform well. The key is that we have to convince others with our strength,” said Tianming. He knew that the Archaion Sect wasn’t so peaceful, and there were many people paying attention to him. They would definitely know of his performance in the faction battle.
“Let’s go report to the Earth Branch. We’ll take a look at the Heaven Cauldron after I’m an Earth Branch disciple!” Tianming headed to the Earth Branch after leaving Xuanyuan Lake.
But as he was walking through the snow plains, Tianming knit his brows when he felt something locking on to him. He immediately started running.
When he glanced at his rear with his third eye, he saw a figure clad in black armor chasing after him. He could sense that whoever it was was in the peak Empyrean Saint stage. And since they were coming after him, this meant they were confident of killing him.
“Let me guess, you must be someone from the Sterling House of Fang,” Tianming said as he ran for his life.
The other party narrowed his eyes into slits. He had no idea how Tianming had guessed his identity. But it was simple; he had just met Xuanyuan Muxue and Xuanyuan Yuheng from the Trioptic True Dragon Branch. They knew that he was someone the eminent had brought back, and that they couldn’t rush things. So aside from them, Tianming only had a grudge with the Fang siblings in the faction battle.
“Die!” The assassin sped up and swiftly closed on Tianming. Tianming came to a stop as he turned around and looked at the assassin. His action made the other party briefly stunned.
“Sect Master Jian, why didn’t you give me something that I can use to protect my life with?” Tianming said to his surroundings, which left the assassin dumbfounded. The assassin first panicked, then immediately started to run away. But when he turned around, he bumped into a man in blue.
“Sect master of the Human Branch!” The assassin quickly knelt and started trembling.
“State your identity,” said Jian Wuyi.
“Sect Master, I’m the Sterling House of Fang’s Fang Xingying.” The assassin immediately removed his disguise and revealed his face. His face was drained, and his teeth were trembling when he spoke. He turned around and looked back at Tianming several times. He had no idea why Jian Wuyi would appear around Tianming.
“Who instructed you to assassinate him?” Jian Wuyi asked.
“N-no one.…”
“Mhm?”
“Fang Xingque! It’s because Li Tianming humiliated someone from the Sterling House of Fang…” Fang Xingying stammered.
“Got it. You can get lost now,” said Jian Wuyi.
“Yes!” Fang Xingying was overjoyed. He didn’t expect that he would be released. Although he couldn’t figure out anything, he still immediately fled. On the other hand, Tianming imprinted the name ‘Fang Xingque’ into his mind.
“How did you know that I was following you?” Jian Wuyi held his hands behind him and looked at Tianming with a smile.
“Her Eminence said to let you ensure my safety. So you’d be placed in a tough spot if I got killed,” Tianming replied.
“It looks like you’re becoming full of yourself,” said Jian Wuyi.
“I dare not!” Tianming replied.
“It’s fine. With the eminent protecting you, it’s reasonable for you to become full of yourself. We’re all curious what Her Eminence sees in you. You’re not stupid, and you know your situation well. Don’t worry about it. You won’t suddenly die with me around,” said Jian Wuyi.
“Yes!” Tianming knew that there must be someone beside him. It didn’t necessarily have to be Jian Wuyi, but he was certain that someone would be around him. After all, Feiling had said that Jian Wuyi would be held responsible if anything happened to him.
Tianming had been under great stress ever since coming to the Archaion Sect. The upper hierarchy here might seem amicable, but who knew what was going through their minds. At the very least, Jian Wuyi would alternately seem harsh and friendly at times. Tianming was curious what Jian Wuyi really felt about him.
“Then I’ll be taking my leave now?” Tianming asked.
“Go ahead,” Jian Wuyi waved his hand.
Tianming nodded and turned to leave. However, the eye on his black arm was slightly open and looking at Jian Wuyi, who was behind him. The latter was looking at him with a smile on his face.
But when he walked hundreds of meters away, he saw the smile on Jian Wuyi’s face disappear, replaced with indifference. His smile was creepy, which sent a chill down Tianming’s spine.
“There’s something in his mind aside from protecting me! Could it be the Hexapath Samsara Sword?” Tianming frowned. Although that meant that no one ordinary would come after him, his path in the Archaion Sect was still perilous.
“I can only protect myself by becoming strong.” Tianming looked in the direction of the Heaven Branch. This time, he was finally close to the Archaionfiend Eye.
……
Fang Xingying was shuttling through the forest in the Sterling House of Fang. A group of youngsters had fun in the forest, and they were bolting around in the snow with enormous snowballs in their hands.
“Xingque!” Fang Xingying yelled. The next second, a gigantic snowball crashed onto him and made him feel dizzy.
When he got back to his feet with great difficulty, Fang Xingying saw Fang Xingque looking at him with a smile and stretched his hand out, “Where’s the head? Give it to me.”
“Xingque, something happened, and I failed.” Fang Xingying lowered his head.
“This is the fourth day, and you’ve exceeded the time given to you. Is that all you have to say to me? Don’t you believe that I’ll tear your head off?” Fang Xingying replied.
“Fang Xingying, you’re really useless. Who else can believe that your talent was even higher than Xingque when you were young?” someone sneered.
“His Rainbow Phoenix bloodline is crippled, while Xingque awakened his Rainbow Phoenix bloodline. How can they be compared to each other?” another person said.
While they were mocking, Fang Xingying immediately explained, “Please calm down. The reason I failed is that the sect master of the Human Branch interfered and protected Li Tianming!” He was so nervous when he tried to explain that he sounded like he was speaking gibberish.
“Haha!” everyone laughed.
“And you fought with the sect master of the Human Branch and got defeated?” Fang Xingque smiled.
“No, that’s not the case. I swear what I said is true!” Fang Xingying said.
“Are you treating me as a fool?” Fang Xingque jumped down and slapped Fang Xingying, causing half of his face to swell.
“It really was the sect master of the Human Branch….”
“Do you think you could survive if the sect master of the Human Branch is protecting him? Jian Wuyi can kill you with a single blow. Fang Xingying, your parents are dead and you’re just a vermin in the Sterling House of Fang. For Jian Wuyi to kill you would be as easy as squashing a bug. Do you think I’m you? Lying without coming up with any sense of logic?” Fang Xingque patted his head.
“I’m not lying,” Fang Xingying refuted.
“Oh? Are you arguing back to me? Did you manage to let that brat escape somehow?” Fang Xingque smiled.
Fang Xingying lowered his head, furious. He didn’t want to say anymore.
“Are you still considering yourself to be the Rainbow Phoenix Bloodline’s heir? Someone come over here and pluck his teeth out. This coward! Someone like you shares the same grandmother as me?” Fang Xingque jumped off the pile of snow.
Someone came up to Fang Xingyin and started pulling out all his teeth. Fang Xingying’s mouth was soon filled with blood and he was struggling in the snow with tears streaming down his cheeks.
Father, mother, my bloodline caused you guys to die. My birth itself was your death penalty. I’m really sorry. I want to live on and take revenge, but I’m scared. The world is too cruel….