Chapter 59: That Xu Que From Six Years Ago
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
The next day, the sky was bright and radiant.
Xu Que draped on his black robes and carried the dark buster sword. He was chewing on some foxgrass as he hummed a tune and walked across the mountainous roads.
He had already travelled non-stop for an entire night and was inching closer towards the imperial city.
He had finally reached the borders of the Fire Country. Not only were the borders desolate, the journey to the imperial city from here was extremely far. Even if he were to travel continuously for days and nights, he would take at least another month or two before he would reach.
However, Xu Que was mentally prepared for this arduous journey. He was also prepared to kill any demonic beasts who appeared so that he could accumulate more experience points and continue gaining levels.
Besides, his journey to the imperial city meant that it was paved with dangerous people.
For example, the Emperor was of the Infant Transformation Stage, level 6. He was a level higher than the Celestial Sect’s Leader, Zhang Dan Shan, whose might was already frightening to behold.
Earlier during their last encounter, Xu Que had used his pair of mystical fires to attack Zhang Dan Shan. This was also after he activated his Soaring Dragon’s Nine Transformation Skill with the added strength. That was Xu Que’s most powerful combination.
Right to the end, he didn’t even lay a scratch on Zhang Dan Shan. He only managed tear his clothes, which made him look worse off than he really was.
And Xu Que’s journey to the imperial city to face the Emperor of the Fire Country, who was much stronger than Zhang Dan Shan, placed a tremendous amount of pressure on him.
When a cultivator reached the Infant Transformation Stage, every level increase was extremely difficult to achieve. For example, the strongest person in Celestial Sect, the leader, would have taken several decades just to increase in one level. Besides, he would require a great deal of treasures and resources in order to ascend.
The difference between Zhang Dan Shan and the Emperor of the Fire Country might just be a single cultivation level but it was a huge difference. If the pair of them were to engage in a battle, Zhang Dan Shan would lose within several moves.
The difference between them was only one level but in order to reach the cultivation level of the Emperor, the amount of resources required was enough to raise tens of cultivators up to the Original Infant Stage.
Therefore, Xu Que wasn’t exactly feeling very good about it. Although he killed many people before this, they were just tiny flies. If he were to really face up against an Infant Transformation Stage cultivator, he wouldn’t stand the tiniest chance.
"Ai, so depressed!" Xu Que reared his head back and sighed as he kept walking onwards.
Before long, he had scaled an entire mountain and had descended from it. When he reached the foot of the mountain to rest, he noticed that there was a tea house nearby.
Since this route was a common route and everywhere was a desolated wasteland, most people would rest at this particular teahouse regardless of whether they were cultivators or normal people.
When Xu Que walked over, he noticed that there were many normal people sitting around. Before long, the waiter came up to them and poured some boiling water into their teacups.
"Waiter, get me a bottle of Sprite!" Xu Que found an empty table and threw his weight down on it as he shouted out.
The waiter paused, "Guest, what’s a sp-sprite? We don’t have that here."
"What do you have then?" Xu Que asked.
Just then, his own eyes lit up as if he just understood something. He initially wanted to make a joke by ordering Sprite but the minute he spoke the words out, he realized that sprite and coke didn’t exist in this world. They didn’t have draft beers too. If he were to conjure these drinks out, he probably could use those to act tough and act cool.
"Guest, we have great tea and several dishes which would go well with wine. What would you like to order? Please let me know!" The waiter laughed out.
Xu Que had already started to imagine all the possibilities of how he could act tough and was clearly distracted. He nodded his head, "Eh, just getting me some random tea would do!"
"Sure!" The waiter acknowledged before leaving.
Before long, the sound of many footsteps belonging to men and horses could be heard. There was even the faint rumbling of a carriage, pulled by horses.
Everyone within the tea house started to pay attention as they craned their necks to get better looks and started discussing.
"Aiyo, such an entourage. It must be a noble person!"
"That’s right. After being here for so long, this is the first time I’ve seen such an imposing entourage. Could it have came from the imperial city?"
"What imperial city? Look at the direction they’re headed. It’s more like they’re going towards the imperial city. It was probably the envoys belonging to the neighboring nations."
"That’s not right. The carriage bore the flag of our Fire Country. How could it be the envoys of other nations!"
"Then it must be an envoy from our Fire Country who had gone to other neighboring nations and have just returned. Ai, let’s not talk about this. Drink up…"
...
Xu Que looked out at the dirt road and noticed the entire group of people. Indeed, they looked very formidable. They were clearly not just any other entourage. Besides, their numbers were huge. They had more than 200 people with them, among those were more than 100 cultivators who ranged from the Core Bearing Stages to the Original Infant Stages. They were a formidable group.
They had riders on horseback and others walked. They were all protecting a single carriage which was right in the middle and looked extremely glamorous and magnificent.
Although the curtains were drawn and the doors were shut, Xu Que could feel that there were two people seated within the carriage and they were both of the Golden Core Stage!
What kind of person could be so noble that such a large entourage had to follow him to protect him. Even an Original Infant Stage cultivator was part of the entourage.
Xu Que’s suspicion was clearly aroused yet he was too lazy to think too much as well. He shook his head, picked up the hot cup of tea and took several sips.
...
The carriage moved across the tea house slowly while a pair of gorgeous looking women sat within the carriage.
One of them wore a white, jade embroidered robe and had her silky hair draping down all the way to her shoulders. A jade hairpin was stuck within her bun of hair. She had a sweet and delicate face which always seemed to be smiling. Her eyes exuded an elegant and intelligent demeanor which caused everyone around her to like her instantly. She was always likened to a flower for her beauty.
The woman beside her was much prettier and had sharper features than her. Her hair was tied up in a high bun and her complexion was smooth and pale. However, she had a certain cold and icy look in her eyes which almost seemed like she could see through anyone and anything. She had an elite demeanor about her which indicated that she was a lady of lofty status.
The woman in white robes whose face was full of smiles asked softly, "Princess, your highness, who made you so angry? From the moment our journey towards Fire Country began, your expression was so sullen. Be careful that wrinkles don’t sprout out since you’ve been frowning."
If Xu Que had seen the icy looking woman in the carriage, he would definitely pick up his great buster sword and smack her right in the face.
That’s right, this sullen looking cold woman was the only Princess of the Fire Country. Her name was Ji Wan Qing and was also referred to as the Flaming Sun Princess.
Such a familiar face would’ve been recognized instantly by Xu Que. According to his memories, this pretty looking yet cold woman had spent 7 days and 7 nights in bed with the owner of his body. She managed to absorb all his spiritual powers before dumping him into a desolated area.
However, if Xu Que were to see her now, he would surely be shocked. In his memories, the Flaming Sun Princess wasn’t so cold and arrogant back then. In fact, she was a warm and adorable girl in the past!
"Zi Xuan, do you remember Xu Que?" The Flaming Sun Princess asked the woman in white robes softly.
"Xu Que?" The woman in white robes paused as she blinked her gorgeous looking eyes several times in a bid to recall that familiar name. "I remember. When were travelling across the borders, everyone around was talking about that Xu Que. But I remember thinking that the rumors were too exaggerated to be true. How could a Core Bearing Stage disciple kill an Original Infant Stage cultivator in front of an Infant Stage Cultivator? The rumor even said that the person who died was a Sect Elder. Right at the end, he even managed to escape. I’m sure there were some dramatization and distortion of facts here."
"No." The Flaming Princess shook her head gently, her expression was blank, "I’m talking about the other Xu Que from six years ago!"
The woman in white robes muttered to herself as a wary look appeared on her face. After thinking for sometime, her mouth mumbled several more words as if she recalled. She then gave a surprised look, "Are you talking about that Fire Country Prince Consort from six years ago? I remember him. That’s right. That Prince Consort was called Xu Que. How’s he now?"
"He’s dead." The Flaming Princess replied nonchalantly.