Inside a secluded valley deep in the mountains of Northern You Prefecture, Ye Que and Ye Yunhai stood ten meters away from each other.
"I can choose whatever path to go on, be it the Devil's Practice or the Orthodox cultivation. What does it have to do with you? Who the hell are you? What right do you have to lecture me?" Ye Yunhai was looking at Ye Que with a resentful expression. It was as if he was staring at something filthy. "You keep bringing up the old Ye family. Have you returned to acknowledge your ancestors? Is your name listed in our ancestral records?"
Frowning, Ye Que said nothing.
"I've seen the records. The name 'Ye Que' isn't there at all, only my name 'Ye Yunhai'. That makes me the Young Master of the General's Manor. You're just a poor country bumpkin. Even if you became a cultivator through dumb luck, it doesn't change that fact. You'll forever be an illegitimate child and a bane. That's the fate you're born with."
Ye Que chose not to immediately attack Ye Yunhai after the latter humiliated him. Similarly, he also chose not to stop Ye Yunhai when the latter fled. It wasn't a question of his ability; he just didn't know if he should. Had he suffered such disgrace in the past, he would have definitely pummeled Ye Yunhai without hesitation if he could. But he had gone through too much now. He wouldn't let a few words affect him. More importantly, Ye Yunhai's identity was his younger brother from another mother. With Ye Zhengru gone, what other family did he have in this world? If his mother was alive, she would surely not wish to see him attack Ye Yunhai. She wouldn't want him to do the killing, at least. That was the kind of woman she was. That was the reason that Ye Que hesitated earlier. Even if Ye Yunhai had taken up the Devil's Practice and became a wicked devil cultivator, he wasn't willing to attack the former at this moment. Thus, re
You Prefecture was the prefecture located at the far north of the glorious Tang Empire as well as the coldest place in the Central Plain. Legend had it that the cold was so severe there that snow would easily form in the mouths of those who speak. Even when two people were standing opposite each other, they might not be able to hear what their friend was telling them. They had no choice but to return home and gently melt down the ice in their mouths before being able to talk. This legend originated from a temple in Northern You Prefecture and thus, it gained the nickname of "Boiled Snow" over time. This also became the origin of the Boiled Snow Temple. The Hall of Great Strength stood tall in the heart of the Boiled Snow Temple, with three gates in front of it. Three golden statues sat inside the hall: Gautama Buddha, Maha Kasyapa, Ananda. Lying in front of the statues was a pale yellow praying mat. Currently, the mat was unoccupied. There w
The ear-piercing sound of door-knocking reverberated throughout the Boiled Snow Temple. The sound traveled far in the dead of the night, passing through the temple doors to reach the three halls, all the way to the Hall of Great Strength. Naturally, the Buddhist cultivators inside heard the sound but their abbot had just issued a handwritten decree that the temple would be closed for ten years and that no one was allowed to leave or enter. The knocking continued for a while before finally stopping. The female disciples of the Pavilion of Wind and Thunder looked flabbergasted. "Could the monks of the Boiled Snow Temple be deaf? Even if they're dead asleep, how could the noise not wake them?" "Senior Sister, could the monks be in meditation?" Qian Shuheng guessed. "It's not like they're meditating behind closed doors. Their ears still function! Do you screen out all noise when you meditate?" his Senior Sister retort
Hearing the voice coming from behind the temple doors. The disciples of the Pavilion of Wind and Thunder all fell into silence, including the agitated Guan Shuheng. Lei Tianyou told them to come to Boiled Snow Temple because Grandmaster Yunxia was here. He believed that their relationship would be able to buy them several days of shelter. However, Grandmaster Yunxia was dead and that linkage could be considered as completely broken. How else could they open the temple doors? Moreover, the little monk had made it clear that the temple would be sealed off for ten years and no guests would be entertained. The temple wouldn't get involved in any affairs of the Cultivation World either. This could be considered an act of isolation from the outside world in order to focus on their cultivation. Perhaps, they were wholeheartedly trying to shun the world. Endless darkness. Ice-cold stillness. Wh
There was a small courtyard overrun with withered grass in the dilapidated Guandi temple. Ye Que stomped his feet lightly, producing a wave of Sword Qi that cut off all the withered grass. He unleashed another wave of Sword Qi and the snow was swept to the sides, leaving a small, empty ground in the courtyard. There was no shortage of firewood in the mountain, so Guan Shuheng was able to swiftly return with a great harvest. The pile of firewood formed a three-meter-tall wooden pagoda. What started as burning embers soon became a bonfire as tall as a human. Even though it was snowing, the blaze was strong and exuberant. With Guan Shuheng feeding the fire with a continuous supply of firewood, the temperature inside the Guandi temple gradually rose. When Red Bean was in the Boiled Snow Temple, she purposefully looked out for food. It was impossible to find any meat there, but she managed to find quite a lot of sweet potatoes and a small bag of
It was a snowing atop Mount Cicada in Northern You and yet drizzling in a hidden valley in the southern region. Inside the pitch-black darkness that enveloped the valley, a black-robed old man was playing a game of Chinese chess with a young child with pleated pigtails. In front of them was a chessboard covered partially in black pieces and partially in white pieces, with a blood-red line on it. It was a board that was a whopping ten feet in size. The black-robed old man lowered his head to look at the stone pieces on the board that were scattered like stars in the sky. He looked like he had sunken into a long period of reflection. The young child that sat cross-legged across him didn't disturb him. He held his chin, looking somewhat disinterested. This game wasn't your typical game of Chinese chess. The stone pieces pre-arranged on the board were all the same color and translucent. Every time the old man touched the pieces, th
The people in black robes who had traversed a great distance to be here were known as Cao Xue and Xie Yi respectively. The leader of the armed youths who broke into the Guandi Temple was known as Chen Chenchen. Those in black were practitioners that had just stepped on the demonic path. They did not come from the Mountain Valley of Pure Blackness but had come in support of their kinds who were implanted in the Truth Cultivation sects. The armed youths were from Broken King Gorge. It might have been coincidence or fate that the Gorge was being attacked from the outside and within while the Pavilion of Wind and Thunder was attacked unexpectedly by Ye Yunhai. Within half a day's time, rivers of blood were flowing from Broken King Gorge. Only a few young disciples with low levels of cultivation emerged eventually. This was because the Gorge was located very close to Zen Mountain. In fact, they were only separated by one cliff. As s
Xie Yi was a Buddhist cultivator before he became a devil cultivator, and he was also halfway at Formless Realm level. After seeing that Ye Que was merely at beginning Starburst Realm level, he believed that he would win easily. He had not expected to meet someone more than his match, however. No matter how tough the defense of the Impenetrable Defense of Three Deities was, it was no match for the River Soldier. Coupled with Ye Que's gold python of Divine Energy and the Bone Crunching 13 Blades of Thunder, it was logical and expected that the was able to slay Xie Yi. Furthermore, in his previous life, Ye Que had fought against monks from the Temple of Six Buddhas as a disciple of the Qingqiu Sword Sect. In fact, he even defeated their reclusive Buddha while he was at Apocalypse Realm strength. Even if Xie Yi had true Formless Realm level strength, Ye Que was confident of slaying him, much less when he was just halfway through it. Ye Que gave
Li Jianqi was a Formless Realm expert who had absorbed the Battle Soul of the Great Founder. Even though she was not well versed in formations, she did not have to be so careful. However, both Uncle Jiao and her walked extremely carefully. The higher the realm, the more a practitioner was able to understand how tough the path to cultivation was, and the more he or she was able to understand that there was always someone more powerful than them out there. Moreover, the formations gave off an obvious prehistoric aura and were evidently not from any technique of the current Cultivation World. As such, neither of them dared to take the formations lightly. They were not in the royal palace. Who knew what sort of offensive capabilities Ye Que had incorporated into these formations? What if they attacked them without differentiating between friend and foe? They were not really worried about dying in the manor, but mostly they were afr
Even Ye Que himself was not entirely sure of the phenomenon, much less Li Jianqi. However, a lack of understanding would not obstruct him from learning. The Divine Book seemed to have grown increasingly amazing. Till now, there were already more than 20000 Divine Sect Seminary disciples, and its name was already known among all of the people at the bottom of society in Luoyang. It did not collect fees nor commission and imparted cultivation methods for free. It took it upon itself to explain one's doubts in cultivation away, and it was not a front. The methods Ye Que taught his disciples really allowed them to sense Nature's Spiritual Qi. It was only natural that something as wonderful as this was passed on by mouth, and more people began joining. No one was able to withstand the temptation of progressing in the world of cultivation once he or she entered it. Naturally, they would join the wild goose chase. As its
Winning the competition held among the troops stationed in Luoyang with a set of saber skills? One had to know that the Southern Encampment did not consist of troops stationed at the border. Even though they underwent much training, their prowess in battle was still somewhat behind the border troops. During the previous competitions of such small groups of a thousand soldiers each, the four encampments were not favorites to win. Ye Que had just allowed 1000 soldiers from the Southern Encampment to win the competition after teaching them a set of saber techniques consisting of only about a dozen moves over three days! It was no wonder that Zhang Yue would find it necessary to report the matter to Li Jianqi. "Is the saber technique related to the Southern Encampment winning the competition?" Li Jianqi asked somewhat suspiciously. There were battle techniques in the army as well. Each encampment had its own recognize
Ye Que remained in the Southern Encampment for three days. Ye Que began to hypothesize on the third day the reason that caused the strange phenomenon within his Spiritual Sea. With the aid of the soldiers, Ye Que was finally able to come to a conclusion. The Divine Sect Seminary disciples and the soldiers had practiced the Mountain-Splitting, Water-ceasing and Heaven-Splitting techniques, and there was no reaction from his Spiritual Sea if there were 100 or less than them. If there were more than 100 of them, however, his Spiritual Sea would begin to froth, but only when seminary disciples who had learned the Divine Sect's cultivation technique were present. It did not react when soldiers from the Southern Encampment practiced the Mountain-Splitting stroke. Also, if the energy and spirits of the disciples were not in sync, and they were training at their own pace, there would not be any reaction from his Spiritual Sea. Four cri
"Lend me a thousand soldiers. I have to test a hypothesis." The figure in red light armor standing in front of the military monument had just stopped releasing more sword energy when Ye Que walked up to her. When she turned to face him, Li Jianqi's aura had reverted back to the youthful and beautiful young woman, completely devoid of the bloodthirsty battle intent she displayed earlier on. As Ye Que thought about it, he believed that it should be the effects of absorbing her ancestor's Battle Soul in the Imperial Mausoleum. "Ye Que?" Li Jianqi exclaimed, somewhat shocked. "You want to borrow a thousand soldiers? For a deduction?" "Stop asking me so many questions. I can't explain all of them right away. Just tell me if you would lend them to me?" Ye Que asked somewhat impatiently. Anyone would also be in a hurry to prove his or her theory correct after experiencing so many amazing things and a way of amplifying the power of one's own cultiva
Three saber strokes were made before the gates of the seminary. Ye Que's Spiritual Sea exploded thrice. Ye Que nearly stumbled off the Bridge of Long Life and looked incredulously at the disciples not far away from him. They had still not noticed him and were still practicing their saber techniques. This was because they had also discovered something amazing. It was common for practitioners to be unable to grasp the essence of their training while practicing saber techniques on their own. Their physical selves, sabers, Spiritual Forces, Spiritual Seas and pathways of their sabers were always in disharmony. Training with thousands of other people, however, would speed things up, causing man and saber to reach a state of harmony very quickly, as if the larger the number of practitioners, the greater the benefits. Some of the practitioners had not realized this fact during the first round of training, but by the third round, even
Xichuan Town was a small ordinary town at the western border of Tang State, but it was renowned far and wide. This was because it was situated at a position that was nearly as far away from each of the six neighboring nations at the western border. During a normal day, cargo and trade flowed in and out of the town, as did merchants and travelers. A teahouse was located at the entrance to the town, and two elders sat at a table near the windows. Both of them had white hair, and a chess set was placed right in front of them. The black and white chess pieces were engaged in a titanic battle, and the moves they made were so complicated that it was hard to tell who would emerge as the victor. The elder on the left of the table pinched up a white chess piece with his fingers. "The Tang State has sent out 30 thousand light cavalries to Western Xia. Looks like they are expecting a quick victory." The other elder at the opposite end of the table laug
Gradually, the sky took on a marble-white color as dawn arrived. Frost and dew gathered on the walls of the palace. Li Chunzhi's brows were decorated with a layer of frost. The Chief Councillor of the Grand Council of Tang State trailed behind him, with the imperial bodyguards staying put a short distance away. Countless cultivators from the Judicature lay in ambush at all corners. Tang State continued to be compromised from all sides. If anything happened to Li Chunzhi, it would be the cherry on top of their misfortune. No one went up to stop him. Neither did they dare to. They could all tell that this soon-to-be Emperor was stewed in worries underneath his expressionless face. At dawn, Li Jianqi draped a white robe over her shoulders and climbed up the tower atop the walls. She stood behind Li Chunzhi and contemplated for some time before saying gently, "Father, you should mind your health. You've stood here for an entire nig
Inside the quiet General's Manor, a black-clothed man was shouting himself hoarse. Ye Que didn't think he would be ambushed on his first official return to the manor or that the assassins would be survivors of the Ye Army. These people must have mistaken him for being a Devil Seed after he used his Sword Qi to bind them. Perhaps the battle in You Prefecture left too deep a trauma in them that they would mistake anyone with supernatural powers as a cultivator, a devil, and the culprit behind their brothers' massacre. "Did all of you run from the city of You Prefecture?" Ye Que had released the bind his Sword Qi placed on them. The group of men remained deeply wary of him even after they were freed. However, they refused to let Ye Que distort the truth out of principle. "I'll repeat this again. We didn't flee from the battle. We broke out of the siege under Chief Wu's orders. We didn't run." The person repeated hims