“Since your side proposed some condition to us, we will accept that if you can at least fulfill ours.” That man just continued with his intention.
“And what is your request? Come on, just say it. Don't beat around the bush.” Said Yu Feng without minding her words.
“I can't believe you know him.” Ye Canghai was surprised to see Yu Feng talked so daring in front of him. That person was the sect leader of the Seven Color Sect and yet his wife knew him.
“He is actually hell-bent on searching one person. Do you know who your senior brother is chasing at that time, dear?” Yu Feng pinched Ye Canghai's waist and a realization came to his head.
“Simple. Just not meddle in our business and leave our people unhurt.” Said that person. But Ye Guhan clicked his tongue as if that could reduce his annoyance.
‘Damn it! Don't meddle in their damnable business he says. Good job at his glib tongue and looks like that is the reason why he is the one who will say the condition.’ As far as Ye Guhan could hear, he felt anger raising from his stomach and that felt like warm. But it raised to the head and heated it, starting to cloud the judgment. Fortunately, he was patience, something that already stemmed in his family's teaching and trait and instead smiled at that person.
“How about it, brother?” asked Ye Guhan to Ye Canghai with his transmission. Ye Canghai had a difficult face but his eyes betrayed that because he knew what Ye Guhan meant.
-
Back at the exit of the spatial cracks where there were numerous lights blocking the exit. There was a gigantic nest floating before the lights that formed colorful curtains.
“Yingyuan is a crybaby~.” That sound was reverberating across the nest. In that nest with a lot of yellow bees, a girl said that loud with her playful smile plastered on her face.
“Shut up! Shut up! I don't want to break my promise with my grandfather, that's all.” And there was a boy who always brought his sword on his waist.
The girl then moved to face the boy and when she did that, her face was full of worry but also anger. Even her long and straight hair fluttered as she released a bit of her strength. The boy realized that and sighed inwardly.
“Even so, you should not force yourself!” that girl was obviously worried as she looked at Ye Yingyuan with her eyes narrowed and her brows raised, questioning the boy's conduct.
“You won, you won. I'm in the wrong and you are right. Satisfied?” Ye Yingyuan answered weakly after he sighed in resignation. He then turned his head to look for Shan Rao and Wu Qing who were looking at the entrance of the nest.
Currently, they were ready to get out from the nest so they gathered near the nestle entrance. There were also some other people as well as some bees standby.
On another side, Ye Xiaobai was staring at his bow and glaive. He did create those two but he did not know what name that was suitable for the weapons. His eyes did not focus on the weapon as he searched for an epiphany, even went as far as remembering the past.
His hands started to tremble a bit but soon his gaze became much sharper as he looked at the glaive. He decided to name the glaive but sadly he still did not know what name he should give to the bow.
“Morning Star Glaive, for both me and you...”
Ye Xiaobai remembered a day where he and Jiang Zhen sparred at dawn. And that was also the first time he learned the move Flood Sweep. Hell, even that move was hard but his mastery was slightly above standard.
“Reminiscence about something?” when Ye Xiaobai heard that voice, he noticed that a pair of legs were right in front of him. He raised his head and expected to see the person he predicted it to be.
With her long, straight silver colored hair and a strange but unique triangular fox ears above her head as well as a tail between her legs, who else that person other than Yue.
Regarding her, Ye Xiaobai saw that she could use the move Flood Sweep as well with the glaive. And that was even better than him. But that was not the scariest thing because what Ye Xiaobai noticed about her was that her presence.
“Yeah. And I assume that your skill mainly involved stealth so are you an assassin before?” Ye Xiaobai asked back.
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Who knows?” answered Yue in an ambiguity as she smiled. She folded her arms in front of her bosom and glanced at Ye Xiaobai.
Ye Xiaobai scanned her from her feet to her head. She was truly a beauty if not the fact that Ye Xiaobai was once trapped in a serious matter just because of a woman, a beauty too. He did not have any desired gain, he was slightly afraid of this kind of thing now. Because of this, he was used and that almost caused his entire family to fall into chaos.
‘I...I am afraid. I don't want to see this kind of woman, a beautiful woman.’ Little did Ye Xiaobai know that his experienced and trauma started to form a defensive nature. This only happened whenever his desire started to flare up.
“What's wrong with you?” that change in Ye Xiaobai's eyes could not escape from Yue's eyes. She could see that his face started to redden but his eyes were showing sign of fear.
“Just keep your distance from me.” As his breathing became heavy and unstable, Ye Xiaobai opened his mouth. For the first time, he could not even face the opposite sex at such close distance when there were only both of them nearby.
“Clearly, you are still traumatized from that time.” Said Yue as her smile grew and her eyes narrowed. She continued, “That is why self-restraint is important for people like you with larger ‘desire’ inside your heart.”
Ye Xiaobai heard all of that but his body unconsciously moved backward until his back touched the yellowish wall. He bit his lower lips as his pupil dilated and his breath interchanged between slow and fast.
“Please don't make me remember that. Perhaps you dislike someone with personalities similar to me but...” at first he staggered when he said his word but then Ye Xiaobai calmed down. Only after that, he continued, “..no matter what, that is my character. That is what makes me as a person I am today.”
He said that while raising his head and directly stared at Yue. This time he did not have anything to hide nor did he had a burden to think.
“And..you know what I mean because, despite all of the little overboard request from your master, you still come here and even stay here with me.” This time Ye Xiaobai’s gaze became sharper as if it could see the depth of someone's heart.
“That is not your concern. This matter is for me to take care and whether I want to fulfill it, it's my decision to do it.” Answered Yue.
But Ye Xiaobai shook his head and cut in immediately, “No, you are doing this wholeheartedly. In fact, you can do less than what you did and still fulfill your duty. I know when someone put all their effort to do something and you definitely fit in that criteria.”
“Also, you don't have to worry about whether people will accept you or not just because of status.” Ye Xiaobai scratched his cheek, he felt that telling Yue this was rather embarrassing because he experienced it when he met with the citizen of Xuan City for the first time.
“You don't know anything about me yet you talk to me like this. Do you think you know me already just because we interact with each other?” despite saying that, Yue felt that the man in front of her could find the concern she had. Inside her mind, she was shocked to hear that actually. But since Ye Xiaobai had said the words from his mouth with confidence and assurance, Yue knew that the man in front of her was watching her actually. The edge of Yue's mouth rose, forming a smile that came from her heart.
“Fool.” Muttered Yue as she found the response Ye Xiaobai gave was rather interesting. Of course, even though her word were in a low voice but Ye Xiaobai could hear it and did not know the reason why.
“There's still no reaction whatsoever!?” a loud exclamation came from the entrance. The first reaction everyone had was to turn their head to the source of the voice.
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“What is going on?” Ye Yingyuan moved first before the rest of them followed.
“This is troublesome. The exit is blocked but the real problem lies within the exit itself.” Looking at the exit, even Theresa could not help but frown.
“The problem is, the exit is located somewhere in the city. If we forced our way through, I'm afraid the nearby environment would be destroyed in the process. That is the trouble if we use the spatial crack to move between place.” Shan Rao sighed in helplessness.
“What to do? We are just a step away from home but something like this to block us...” Ye Yingyuan could see a gigantic net in front of him. Usually, the place around the spatial crack was unstable but the net in front of him was able to find a harmony in the chaotic space.
“You don't have to worry, Cousin. I am sure that at most, we will spend a month here. We have the right person to open the exit.” After hearing the commotion, Ye Xiaobai moved himself to Ye Yingyuan.
“Really? Then for this matter, I can leave it to the other. But I truly worry about our home.” Ye Yingyuan said with uneasiness.
“I also feel the same, Yingyuan. I can't shake the feeling of uneasiness in my mind but what can we do now? We can only wait here.” Li Ling also felt the same about it and could only lower her head.
“You know that your fiancee is right.” Ye Xiaobai merrily laughed and elbowed him. This made Ye Yingyuan stared at Ye Xiaobai with a little anger rose from his heart.
And Ye Xiaobai realized that he was stared by not just Ye Yingyuan but also Li Ling as both of them hatefully looked at him. He gulped and said, “Is my word wrong? Even Auntie told me about it.”
Ye Yingyuan could not endure it any longer and then screamed in anguish, “Mother!”
Different from Ye Yingyuan, Li Ling's reaction could be described as bashful. She stomped her foot in embarrassment as she cupped her face with her hands, letting no one see her expression.
-
At the Underground Labyrinth near Xuan City. It was the place where Gong Teng was held and until this time, he could not find the way out.
“As expected of the Underground Labyrinth that becomes famous in Wutian Continent. Even I can't forcefully use my cultivation power to get out.” This time, Gong Teng knew he would miss out the negotiation time and he would just let it be, for now at least.
It was said that Underground Labyrinth was formed due to the excess energy a Ranked Treasure emitted but no one could verify this, even the Goddess of Artifact could only venture the entire labyrinth without finding anything.
Of course, Wang Yu knew that this place was far more mysterious than the top Ranked Treasure as he and Alice had searched the entire place. This time, Wang Yu was giving pointers to Hou Fei in a space inside the formation.
“Here, the part where you can grow all the other part of the body. The important things to create a new body is to make them suitable for even live a normal life just like living being.” Wang Yu pointed at a certain bone in human anatomy. The part he pointed at was actually coccyx.
“Is that really an important part? But how about that time when there is nothing for someone to create their body? Is it to use the soul?” Hou Fei was already at his late age so his understanding became much more limited compared to someone who was younger. That was why he had to remember one or two key points and this time it was about the method of body creation.
“Right and wrong.” Wang Yu answered calmly like it was expected to hear such reply.
“We cultivators can cultivate the energy around us to increase our strength, to get a better understanding of ourselves. Then when one reached the Nascent Soul Stage, they will cultivate something that we currently called Soulforce.” Wang Yu continued but he pointed to himself while facing Hou Fei.
“Soulforce is actually a small part of the larger book inside every one of us. It is just we cannot see it nor can we feel it despite our powerful sense. This book is in every part of our body, whether it is our skin, muscles, bones, as well as our internal organ every one of them has this book.” Wang Yu smiled wryly, he remembered that this topic was hard even for him when he learned it for the first time.
“Book? A book that presents in every single thing our body has, what is actually this book?” You Fei's interest was piqued. His old face was brimming with curiosity, like a kid with a new toy.
“A book that dictated our form, our body state and basic traits of our character, to put it simply a book which dictated our fate.” Wang Yu now was letting out a part of his understanding of this topic.
“But then how can one form their body after their fleshly body is destroyed completely? Wait a moment, Soulforce is a part of the large book of our body, does that mean we can still recreate body using our own soul as a template?” You Fei excitedly shouted.
From his understanding, the body was like a building while the soul would act as a blueprint. It was because cultivator had their soul nurtured that they could use their soul to recreate their new body with their own characteristic. This was used when Wang Yu and Alice had to form Manstein's body, using his own soul as a template and then forming it to their own preference.
“Yes, that's right. But sadly, the most problem we have to face for this is also resources. As such...” it was when Wang Yu wanted to explain the solution that he felt something coming to the Underground Labyrinth. He felt the sensation quite familiar so he knew that anything that came probably someone he recognized.
“That's it for now. There's one more thing, please keep monitoring the situation inside the city.” Then with a swept of his hand, Wang Yu brought the tools out of sight and all of it already disappeared from the space.
“Is there something wrong?” Hou Fei asked which made Wang Yu immediately reply, “Someone’s coming to fetch the bait. Do you recognize it now?”
The sensation was already at the range which even Hou Fei could detect. Wang Yu laughed softly before he waited for a reply.
“I have felt this somewhere. Just who is it?” Hou Fei had met numerous people thus he had to at least remember the unique sensation each person had. It would be definitely someone he had met if he could recognize the sensation but it took time to truly know who it was.
“I hope that you know just who it is because that person is not a good news.” After Wang Yu said those words, he left immediately.
-
“My sense is starting to change. Looks like I can hear things nearby.” At first, Manstein felt that his vision became clearer and sharper but as Alice had mentioned earlier, his body was adapting to the change that the unique energy brought to the body.
The first thing he heard was the buzzing sound of the fly in the outdoors. It felt like the constant and continuous sound of life as if they wanted to show their existence in the vast world where no one would even care for them.
The sound was delivered through the medium which was the air. But normally, it was very hard to catch the sound just relying on the hearing sense and organs. This was the phenomenon where the body would change totally, to be able to use Qi effectively and efficiently.
Then the voice of the crowd letting out their piece of minds could be heard even though it was faint.
‘Great, now even your sense of hearing is adapting as well. I started to forget the sensation myself you know.’ Commented Alice.
“No, compared to your sense and perception this is not worth to mention. For you this is fast but to me, the current me this is slow!” said Manstein in an annoyed tone. He felt that despite his new body was adapting fast but it was not fast enough.
Alice was stunned before she said, “Be patient! This is crucial and cannot be forced nor be hastened lest the very path you will take is a dead end, senior.”
Manstein had no argument on that. He even could not reply to it because it was all true. If he forced it, he would not be able to properly circulate qi to every part of his body. Forget about breaking through to Foundation Establishment stage, he would not reach the peak of Qi Condensation stage.
“Can you hear what they say about this event?” Manstein asked Alice. It was because he finally heard what they were saying and that was rather unpleasant at first because the quantity of the people in the surroundings was so much that his sense of hearing received multiple response.
“Why is the mayor bringing him here?”
“Don’t know but I think this is far from done. Just look at the expression of those elderly, they still looked tense even after an agreement has been acquired.”
About what some people had said, Manstein also agreed. No, he knew that the next thing they would speak was the people involved in the incident. Fortunately, this incident was not too glaring thus only the higher-ups of the powerhouses knew about this with their information network.
Nevertheless, even the involved people that came from numerous sects and powerhouses were brought in unintentionally. This was the problem because they were not supposed to be at this place.
‘They looked tense because their relationship is starting to get the light by coming to this place. It's a good sign that there is definitely something among them. It is also good that I am so weak they did not care about me at all.”
Manstein did not know whether his weak cultivation was a blessing or a potential danger. But one thing for sure, he would look the same as other people in Qi Condensation stage until the half competition of its stage.
‘I don’t know what to say either. But if Senior reached the seventh level from the total of twelfth at Qi Condensation stage, people will notice the level of your cultivation.’ Said Alice from the sideline.
“Do you still like calling me by ‘senior’ even after the difference in age?”
“It's because you are one. And I will always call you by that for all you care.” Answered Alice.
Initially, Manstein had waited for some time to pass and then discuss this again. But this did not work like what he had planned and he only found that the matter was already set from the very beginning. He could not change the way he called by Alice even if he felt discomfort.
“Alright. Thanks for your piece of mind. Anyway, why did you suggest that to the mayor? What are you aiming for?” there was another thing that bugged Manstein and since the condition allowed it, Manstein asked Alice.
“That matter, huh. It's because I find it interesting that among the disciple, there is someone with an unexpected gift. And you know what Senior? That disciple is treated poorly, barely as an outer disciple.” The blonde beauty chuckled and then she continued, “I want him at our side by this negotiation. Let's see what the elders from his sect will reply first.”
Manstein understood that Alice wanted someone to be her helper, someone with talent and potential. But he could not understand what she saw at that man beside the mayor. That person she talked about was no other than Luo Mang.
“In the future, you will know my reason. Just follow the flow.” Alice softly said.
Since she did not tell him, Manstein would find it out someday in the future. After both sides reluctantly agreed to the terms, they let out the steam from their head as the accumulated tension was released.
“Don’t forget, just words alone is not enough to measure a deed. That is why we will write this down.” The verbal agreement had been reached, therefore someone had to write this lest one or either side would not hold true their own words from their own mouth! Ouyang as a mediator and the people from the various sect put out a parchment and a brush.
“Senior Ouyang...” Ye Guhan was the first to respond as he felt the surrounding air pressured him. He knew what it was and he looked at the people of the city, looking at the middle-aged man whose hands now lightly touch the brush. He opened the parchment and instantly wrote something in it.
“Elder Ouyang, do you want to do this now?” even Bai Zhen was astonished by the sight. He remembered that Ouyang had wanted to partake in this farce if he personally went to the Xuan City and viewed the negotiation.
Other than that, he was the one who would write the terms and agreement both sides had accepted. For him to take part in this was both an honor and deterrence to them. They at least understood why this region was not touched by anyone even the major powerhouses but they, the elders and leaders from various sects felt it was lacking.
Their thoughts fluttered just like the brush on Ouyang's hand, stroking the blank scroll with elegance. At the same time, they could also feel something descend to their place.
“Hmm, this feeling. No doubt about it, it is the thing that controls and watch over our world.” While writing off every statement to the scroll, Ouyang stopped for a moment as he closed his eyes.
“This is...The Will of The World?” as someone who had interacted with it, of course, Ye Canghai could feel the familiarity in it.
“Why would it descend? There is no....” as far as he remembered, the only times it descends was when there were matters involving outsiders. And when he thought about it, there was indeed someone that fit the category of outsiders. The outsiders here referred to the ones that were not born in their world but entered their world.
And that category suited perfectly for that man whose position was on the highest floor in one of the buildings near the center of the city. That man stood there, watching the entire action that occurred. His expression was flat, but one could see that the most obvious characteristic this man had was his short hair.
Most people here usually had long hair that could reach more than their shoulders. But that man had short hair, black and red as the color of the hair and a white robe that slightly attracted attention.
‘Perhaps is it because of him or it is also because of her?’
But no matter what, once The Will of The World descend it would be recognized by everyone.
“This feeling is? Brother, are you fine?” Ye Guhan asked faintly. This made Ye Canghai laughed a little and said, “I am fine. But don't worry about me, this is just something it will do.”
“But Brother, you are the person who has the most contact with it during the battle and war in the past so I worry about that.” Replied Ye Guhan quickly. It was a fact that ever since Ye Canghai had met Yu Feng when he encountered his opponent he would feel it descend and supported him.
‘It is said that too much interference from it can cause the growth rate to be hindered greatly but aside from that time, Big Brother is not affected by it.’ The only thing that Ye Guhan pondered was why could Ye Canghai improve fast despite borrowing the power from the world numerous times?
And as for Manstein, he felt the abnormalities within his soul.
“This thing and that feeling just now, they are related!” realization came to his head. And the best thing was another person confirmed it!
“Yeah, they are related because their sources are the same.” From the consciousness, Alice commented. What they were feeling actually referred to their seal in their soul.
“You can also feel it? As expected from someone with the same circumstance as me.”
“When you think about it, isn't this quite romantic? You and I feel the same in this situation. Even our goal is similar as well as our condition with this seal in our soul. I hope that this can go on a long time...” said Alice as she felt that same sensation for a long time.