Realms In The Firmament

The man in black clothes didn’t sound as calm as earlier. It seemed he was begging, begging painfully.

It seemed the name Prime Master Yue was giving him an unbearable pain!

Ye Xiao’s eyes looked painful too.

He nodded and said, “I see. I understand. I will remember!”

The man in black clothes made a long sigh of relief as if he had finally gotten something he wanted for a long time. “Good. Good. Great!”

He quietly turned around and walked aside toward somewhere a man in black clothes landed.

As he walked over step by step, he saw a suit of black clothes on the floor. A strange look filled his eyes, sadness, relief, console, desperation…

The black clothes were the only things left.

The blood and fresh inside the clothes were all gone.

The dead body was melted into nothing at the moment when the man landed on the floor.

Ye Xiao was stunned. It wasn’t until this moment that he realized how overwhelming the Life Cage could be. After the cultivators performed this technique, they had given up everything of themselves, including their blood, soul, and flesh. Everything of them had become the purest energy in the world.

Not even a hair of them was left!

It was indeed the ultimate restraint technique, the legendary martial art!

The man in black clothes was quiet, but he didn’t stop moving. He kept walking ahead, while Ye Xiao was following after step by step. He saw all the twelve sets of black clothes that were lying on the floor at different spots.

Twelve sets of clothes were all that had left, nothing lively anymore!

“Hah hah hah…” The man in black clothes suddenly burst into an extremely sorrowful laugh.

Ye Xiao made a long helpless sigh.

As Ye Xiao could remember, Yue Changtian was such an elegant gentleman, who was powerful and also righteous. He had never seen Yue Changtian being so awkward. That was why he felt so sorry about it, but also realized Yue Changtian’s determination to what he was going to do and the loyalty to his own sect!

The next moment, the man in black clothes raised up his hand. Two chairs and a table showed up from nothing all of a sudden. In a familiar tone, he talked to Ye Xiao, said, “Now, it is time for you and I to have a good talk about it.

“Hmm. Not to talk about it… You just listen to me. I will do all the talking.”

He said, “Just listen. When I am speaking, please do not interrupt.”

Ye Xiao’s eyes were full of complicated emotion.

“Have a seat.” The man in black clothes seemed to be casual and polite now. As he pointed at a chair, he took a seat on the other chair. After that, he took out a set of teacups and teapot, started to make tea.

He really was casual and leisure. When he was making tea, he was so concentrated, elegant, and gentle.

“This tea meeting must be the last time for me to make some tea and have some tea.” He said, gently in a low voice.

“Life is just like a tea meeting.

“A meeting always goes to an end.

“My meeting is going to end.

“Yesterday, even just now, I felt regret that there were so many things that I yet have done. However, at this very moment, everything naturally took a place. Perhaps you don’t know. Maybe you don’t believe it. I assure you, that I can’t be more peaceful and calm at the moment.”

Ye Xiao quietly sat opposite to him, silently listening to him.

He didn’t speak, not only because Yue Changtian didn’t want him to… He just didn’t want to interrupt.

This was very likely the last time Yue Changtian talked.

He understood how Yue Changtian felt, so he just listened, quietly and patiently listened.

“With your brilliant sight, I believe you could see that the twelve men in black clothes just now were not all disciples of the Cold Moon Palace.” Yue Changtian, the man in black clothes with mask, slowly said, “What happened that day… We were invited to the West Hall to discuss about the great plan of fighting against the secret organization—at least we thought it was a great plan…

“What a surprise! When we arrived, we got restrained for no reason… When we woke up, we were already deeply under their control. It was impossible to get away from the manipulation. As we all had lost our freedom, we finally realized that the West Hall, the world’s most influential sect, is the main base of the secret organization.

“The Master they call, the biggest demon of the secret organization, is very likely a member of the West Hall too. In my opinion, that head demon is in all probability the first prime master of the West Hall, the world’s most powerful cultivator in the old days, Zong Yuankai!

“However, it was done. There were nothing we could do anymore. We were regretful, but we couldn’t stop.

“What happened to us… It was not only physical, also mental. Our minds were under their control. We, the superior figures who were high upon ordinary cultivators, suddenly became slaves to some demonic creatures!

“As superior cultivators in different influential sects, we all have our bottom lines. Most of us have thought about killing ourselves, to avoid bring shame and disgrace to our own sects. However, under the head demon’s control, we can’t do as we wish. We couldn’t even kill ourselves… Under that circumstance, some were forced, some lost their conscience. Many people have caved to the organization, become tools to the demonic creatures. We ourselves have become demonic creatures already.

“Even people like me, we changed. We didn’t cooperate this much in the beginning, but then we had to do as they say. In the end, we were totally their dogs. I believe we were trying to earn their trust. That is why we did those things. We tried to complete the missions as fast as we could… We have to send the message out to tell the world the information we got.

“There is nothing we didn’t do… No matter how disgusting it was, how brutal or inhuman it was… we did what they asked. In fact, sometimes we did more than they asked us to do to earn their trust… I don’t think I can ever speak of what they were.”

Yue Changtian shook his head. In his eyes, there was indescribable extreme pain. He couldn’t endure remembering those things he had done.

“It didn’t waste our efforts after all. This time, we are assigned to this mission.

“Even at this moment, the organization still put their full trust on us. They sent us out to create panic. More than that, they want one of us to reveal our real face, because that will lead to discord among the sects in the martial world… All the forces in the Qing-Yun Realm that were against the organization would be suspicious of each other…

“When the suspicion and panic spread, the organization will make good use of it and set up a lot of traps everywhere as a start of invading the martial world. They will build altars for the head demon, make massacres in the world!

“Nearly three hundred of us fell into the organization. Some brothers were respectably stubborn, who didn’t cave or submit for greater purpose. The organization tortured them in all kinds of inhuman methods. About eighty of us died.

“Many of us have become demonic creatures because they didn’t have pure hearts in the beginning. They are now a part of the Demonic Soul Hall, complete monsters.

“Over fifty were left to send out on different missions, to kill. Some of these people were sent here.

“Thirty-six people in total were sent here.

“These black clothes, you see, belong to the twelve men among the thirty-six.”

Yue Changtian’s eyes were filled with anger. He said, “We… Some said we were enduring humiliation for the sake of a higher objective. Some said we were clever, submitting for a greater goal. Some said we were afraid of the painful tortures. Anyway, the fourteen men, including these twelve brothers, and Tian Laojiu, who killed Yun Xiran and died, have been fighting together. We were trapped together. We were tortured together. We planned together, and acted together. We did those evil things together… We are brothers!

“We have been lingering on with our last breath. The only thing we want to do has always been sacrificing our lives to make an absolutely safe area. All we want is to have a conversation with you at least for once, to earn us the chance to bring you all the information we learned. We just want to bring some hope for the people who are guarding the Qing-Yun Realm.”

Yue Changtian continued in a low voice, said, “I believe the conversation here today will do a great job after we are gone…

“Perhaps this is the only thing we can do for this world with our lives!

“We must not fail to live as human beings!”

He bitterly smiled and said, “Maybe this is why we could still live up to the present.”

Ye Xiao stayed silent.

The only thing he felt was the sincere respect in his heart.

Ye Xiao didn’t know what had happened to these people, but he could imagine how hard it was.

How much did these men have to suffer, how disgraced and ashamed did they have to feel to survive the place where was surrounded by crowds of demonic monsters? How much did they have to compromise to earn that little trust from the demons to come this this place?

He could imagine. He could guess. However, he didn’t want to.

Because… For these men who didn’t fear to end their own lives, those things were nightmares that they would never want to remember.

They had suffered so much, compromised so much, but all they wanted was to come out and die in this place, bringing hope to Ye Xiao before it ended.

A chance to do this seemed to be such a little to ask for, yet they had to pay everything they had to get the chance!

Now they finally got it. They finally died in this place as they wished.

All those top-level superior cultivators died to seize the chance to send the message!

Ye Xiao felt like a mountain suppressing on his heart.

The suppression nearly took his breath. As he looked at those black clothes in the shadow of the grasses, all he could do was to make a long sigh with endless grief.

Because of people like these men in black clothes, the martial world in the Qing-Yun Realm had always been a place with justice and honor. The heritage was the dignity of these cultivators.

“What I am going to tell you have cost us too much. We have paid more than we could to collect the information bit by bit. I am sure it will bring you great help.”

Yue Changtian’s eyes focused again. He stared at Ye Xiao with fever in the eyes, and said, “Even though you already knew some and I have told you a little earlier, I think I should take the time to tell you everything from the start to the end. After all, it took all our lives to gather all the information together. I have to make sure you get everything.

“For these messages, many people died. Sometimes, we have to make mistakes on purpose just to get ourselves into that torture room, and collect information from inside.”

Yue Changtian continued, slowly said, “Ye Xiao, listen up.”

Ye Xiao was touched. He sat straight up and solemnly said, “Please, dont’ worry. I know how precious the intelligence is. I won’t miss a word of it!”

Yue Changtian stayed quiet for a while. It seemed he was thinking about how to proceed with the speaking. After a while, he said, “First of all, this secret organization has a name, Demon Soul Dao. Their great leader, the Honor Demon, is very likely the first prime master in the history of the West Hall, the world’s most powerful cultivator in the past, Zong Yuankai! He has been recognized as the best cultivator in the history of the Qing-Yun Realm… Hmm. We don’t have solid evidence to prove this point, but I think it is ninety percent true.”

Ye Xiao took a deep breath.

“The West Hall is the base of the Demon Soul Dao. That aside, the West Hall, which is known as a force that is as powerful as the West Hall, turns out to be just a subbranch of the West Hall. The West Hall has done such a great plan. How horrible and shocking!”

Ye Xiao was shaken up, and he widely opened his eyes in shock.

“About the West Hall, the power they have shown the world is not all they have got. Their true power is mostly hidden under the table. Under the base of the West Hall, there is a huge underground palace which is more than a thousand miles wide. Around the palace, there are strong energy shields, which can absorb the energy from the sky, the earth, the sun, and the moon. They are a natural system. Human power is never powerful enough to break though. Whoever wants to break through the shield must be prepared to give up their lives.”

Yue Changtian was talking more and more solemnly, and he said, “That is not all. There are nine other bases of the Demon Soul Dao. Three of the nine bases are used to train their superior cultivators. All the demonic cultivators in the Demon Soul Dao will gather in the three bases for training. These places are called… the Death Trains!

“Whoever is sent to the Death Trains must reach at least level seven of Dao Origin Stage to get out and be sent for missions. Or else they had to die inside. They either come out with superior cultivation level, or die inside!

“I don’t know how many people are in the three bases, but I know there are some people working in the three places as the Mentors. Each of them is an extraordinary cultivator, who is at least level nine of Dao Origin Stage. Mentors are in four grades, first, second, third, and fourth. The Mentors in the weakest grade are already level nine of Dao Origin Stage. I have no idea how many of them there are in total… There are four first-grade Mentors, and three super-grade Mentors. Wu Fa, the well known world’s most powerful cultivator is one of the three super-grade Mentors!”

Hearing that, Ye Xiao felt like his head was going to explode in shock.

Wu Fa, the man who was though defeated, but still had much stronger cultivation power than Ye Xiao, was actually just one of the three super-grade Mentors in the organization!