The moon was already hanging high up in the sky when Qian Shuhua woke up.
Only Ye Que remained on the table opposite her.
Qian Shuhua shook her head and felt a splitting headache coming. She took a long while to gather herself before finally asking, "Where's my brother?"
Ye Que opened his eyes to look at her and replied, "He went out to do some errands. He was afraid of waking you up and thus he didn't send you back. He told me to wait here for you."
"Rascal. How dare he leave his sister behind. Is he not afraid that I'll be taken advantage of?" Qian Shuhua said as she re-arranged her clothing and glared at Ye Que.
"Stop looking, no one touched you. Doesn't this tavern belong to your house?" Ye Que said, rolling his eyes.
"It's good that you know that," Qian Shuhua replied before grunting. She got up and wanted to walk, but began to stagger after only
Qian Shuhua was sprawled at one side of the street and kept vomiting as she bent over. She was seeing stars, and her breath reeked of alcohol. She had seen her fair share of fights before, but they were child's play. The eldest daughter of the Qian family had not witnessed any real bloodshed before. As such, she opened her eyes wide when Ye Que asked if she had seen people being killed before. Many shifty figures appeared in the skies, and Ye Que stood in the middle of them. The group of people with felt caps had come for revenge, and their leader shouted as he raised the saber that was hanging from his waist. They swooped down from the roofs in all directions. "Sabers are not meant to be wielded in this manner." Ye Que said to his attackers, before reaching out with his bare right hand to grab hold of the saber of their leader with amazing speed. At the same time, his left leg moved forwar
Both Qian Shuxiao and Qian Shuhua did not behave like a respectable master or mistress in Qian Manor. One was an infamous rich playboy, while the other was a lady well-known for causing trouble and kicking up a big fuss. Now, they were considering training with Ye Que. Throughout the entire night, Qian Manor was filled with noise and commotion. The brouhaha finally stopped when dawn came. The lush garden that Ye Que resided in had undergone a complete makeover. The garden was gone, and the red pavilion was completely removed. Even the fish pond in front of Ye Que's room had been filled up overnight. Taking their places were three ponds of equal height. They were arranged in a triangular formation, and in its middle was a huge cauldron about the height of two people. Three bronze pipes led out of it into the ponds. The first batch of medicinal herbs, in the shopping list which Ye Que gav
The technique Ye Que used to create the herbal pools was modified from a basic method the Demon Race used to refine their bodies. It was a considerably brutal method of reversing one's undesirable physical attributes. On the first day, the temperature of the pools was only raised by a little. As time went on, the potency of the medicine would increase, and their willpower would be tested even more. Their bones would be hardened. Their tendons would be toughened up. One could imagine how much pain they had to go through. If one could withstand such torment for 30 days, the torture in prisons would be chicken feed. Of course, to Ye Que, the impact of the medicine on his body was negligible. His qi storage area and the pool of divine energy were many times larger than that of ordinary humans. There were many times when he felt that the herbs should have been more potent. With the help of t
"In times of trouble." "The daring will profit." "This may not be a bad thing." Ye Que said as he drank a sip of apricot wine, before turning toward Qian Shuxiao. "Don't look at me like that. Do you think that cultivation only applies to meditate deep in the mountains?" "Wrong!" "You're hugely mistaken!" "The real Cultivation World is filled with darkness and filth. Every place in it is filled with lies and violence. Let me tell you, nearly all of the largest sects were created with sword and dagger." "Both of you know very well how many herbs we've used up in the past month just to get you into the Pre-celestial Realm. Do you think that cultivation alone will bring you all the herbs we need? Breaking into the Post-celestial and Psychic Realms will take more than herbs. If you want to achieve that quickly and bec
In the pitch black forest. It was dark and obscured from sight. A murderous spider web appeared out of nowhere. The riders sped toward the web, and they were caught unawares. Their leader's horse was directly cut into two by the web, and it tumbled onto the ground, sending the leader flying. "An ambush!" The leader shouted as he drew his saber. The horses began neighing in fright. "You people can leave, but your items have to remain behind." A hoarse warning was issued from the woods. At the same time, an extremely thin strand of web flew silently toward the last rider's throat under cover of darkness and rain. The man had wanted to shout for help after being attacked, but it was too late. Eight brown limbs appeared behind the entire group of riders and pierced cleanly through the man's chest, before they flung his corpse out with great force, as if it
Chunyu's palace was located on the Taifeng Avenue of Luoyang city. It was also the house of the second prince in the dynasty. He Fei, the Right Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, just came on a visit by himself at daybreak. The second prince Li Chunyu was sitting at the owner's position of the main hall with a sulky face. How could he be not sulky when three full boxes of spirit stones disappeared overnight? He felt heartache though he was a prince. As arranged, the spirit stones should be delivered at Chunyu's palace before 21 o'clock yesterday. However, there was no spirit stone being delivered. If they had been in trouble, someone should come back to send a message, but there was not. "Your Highness. He Fei, the Right Vice Minister of Court of Judicial Review, is here asking for admission." The butler said cautiously, arching his back. "Let him in." Li Chunyu adjusted his emotion
The Salt Commission Square was completely silent, and the smell of blood pervading the air grew stronger. The burly man who was beheaded had completely bled out. Still, no one dared to come forward, and no one dared to moan in pain again. No one even dared to move a finger. Ye Que sat pristinely in front of them, and he looked indifferent as usual. He was grinning, but to the others, he looked as terrible as an evil demon. This was truly indiscriminate killing on his part; even demonic beasts would not smile when they feasted on humans. The lower the rank of ruffian, the more he would believe the theory of 'winner takes all'. The person who was the strongest had the right to lead. It was real, direct and effective. One hour passed by very quickly. When the door opened again, the group of burly men lying on the floor felt as if a huge stone was lifted off their backs; it was very obvious. They were ge
Ye Que spent three entire days and nights to consolidate all of the gangs in the entire Luoyang City under his wing. It was not huge news, but it did not go under the radar either. Some people or organizations were bound to find out, such as the Court of Judicial Review. The ruffians were originally under the jurisdiction of the Court of Judicial Review. It would allocate those sort of tasks that were unspeakable or did not require any technical expertise to them, and in turn, they would be somewhat protected by it if they stayed within the law. However, overnight, 80 percent of them had switched allegiance to another faction, and the Court of Judicial Review was paying considerable attention to the matter now. They felt as if someone had pulled the rug out from underneath their feet. Of course, the entire matter was settled very quickly. That very afternoon, Qian Shuxiao brought taels of silver to the Court to smooth things ov
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