Realms In The Firmament

When Ye Xiao left the place, his heart was still filled with the indescribable indignation and grief.

When Yue Changtian became a mass of glaring light before Ye Xiao’s eyes, the only thought Ye Xiao had was to kill a way into the Demon Soul Dao and put on a massacre inside the organization.

He felt like he couldn’t breathe no matter how he tried to open his mouth. The grief and sorrow took his breath away. The extreme anger had etched deep into his soul!

He didn’t stop any longer and just flew up the mountain.

Xuan Bing and the others had been waiting by the cliff. When they saw Ye Xiao return, before they were ready to ask him about what had happened, they sensed the cold murderous intent that was filling his aura and the raging fury of him.

They were all shocked.

[What the hell happened?]

[Did he got ambushed down the cliff? Did he get hurt? It doesn’t look like so. Although he is all filled up with the horrible murderous intent, his hands don’t seem to have traces of any energy flow. He didn’t operate martial arts down there. Where does this horrible murderous intent come from?]

The next moment, all of a sudden, Ye Xiao coldly said, “Everybody get back to the base. There is nothing here. Nothing to worry about.”

His voice was cold like ice, emotionless.

The others heard him and they were all shocked. They had no idea what had happened and what was happening. Ye Xiao was the leader indeed, but he was always outgoing and nice, with that warm smile all the time. He was such a thoughtful man for everyone. They had no idea what was going on. It was… It was abnormal, wasn’t it?

When everybody was thinking, being confused, they could clearly feel the indifference and coldness in Ye Xiao’s inviolable words.

Almost all unknowingly, they started to follow the order to turn around.

When they had moved for a long distance…

Suddenly, they heard a long shrill shout sounding behind their backs, which seemed like tearing the entire world into halves. They were all shocked and frightened, so they looked back, only to see a stream of bright light shooting up through the sky into the heavens!

That shocking scene was definitely the most unforgettable thing they had ever seen in their lives!

Ye Xiao moved so fast. His movement made a long glaring rainbow light across the sky. The weapon in his hand was shining like all the lights in the world were gathering on that sword. In the speed of light, he moved past a thousand miles within one second!

Two ten-thousand miles high mountains were cracked when he moved past them!

The mountains that were piercing through the clouds started to fall down slowly after he went by.

The mountains fell down on the cliff where he had just returned from!

The cliff was shielded by the Life Cage, which meant if the blast came from inside the cage would break the shield, but the mountains falling onto it would not crack it. Ye Xiao was making a bit scene there, making two huge mountains fall onto the cliff. The mountains were tens of thousands of feet higher than the cliff!

Two mountains cracked down!

The entire land was shaken by the blast. Within a thousand miles, there were long tens of feet that deeply cracked the ground…

It was an extremely destructive power that nobody had ever seen!

The cliff was totally covered and gone! No traces of the cliff could be found!

On the cliff, there was a new big mountain of rocks!

No matter what secrets there were under the cliff, everything was buried below the new mountain!

Ye Xiao waved his sword and made another long shout. His grieved sound pierced through the night sky like a thunder cracking, shaking the entire land. The clouds in the sky were all scattered.

Everyone who had witnessed the horrible power got frightened.

[What is wrong with Xiao Monarch? Why did he put on such a big scene? Did he have to?]

Everybody could hear the anger and grief in the two shouts. There was that deep hatred!

[What happened down below the cliff? What on earth happened?]

[What was it, that made the Xiao Monarch, Ye Xiao behave so unreasonably?]

Lei Dadi and the other two great elders were standing right in front of their camp, staring up at the strange changes in the sky.

When Ye Xiao’s shouts cracked the sky twice, the three great elders sensitively noticed something different from Ye Xiao’s voice—the deep grief and anger. The three old men were all shocked. Their faces turned pale for a while and then returned to being calm and peaceful. However, they were still dejected.

Ye Xiao’s sword had collapsed two mountains by one move. As he returned to the base with his aura full of murderous intent, the first thing he did was to call for a meeting of all superior cultivators.

Lei Dadi and the other two old men came earlier than any others. The three of them all looked angry. Lei Dadi grabbed Ye Xiao and frankly asked, “Was it? How was it?”

Ye Xiao stayed silent for a while and then said, “Nothing. It was not him.”

His eyes twinkled with avoidance though.

Lei Dadi was such an experienced cultivator in the world. Even though he asked like he needed the answer, he actually just wanted a console from Ye Xiao. He knew what happened. Holding back the tears in his eyes, he was shaking, nodded weakly and said, “That’s right. it wasn’t him! He is still alive. We should keep searching for him.”

Ye Xiao sadly closed his eyes and said, “That’s right. Whenever the disciples of the Cold Moon Palace go out, they should go look for our prime master. Everybody should try their best to find our prime master. No exception!”

Lei Dadi and the other two old men heard it and their eyes turned red in tears again. He fiercely said, “Chongxiao, this time when we fight against the demons, we three old brothers must be fighting in the front line!”

Ye Xiao was quiet for a while—then he took a long breath and said, “Well, that…”

“This and that, there is nothing else to say! It is a deal!” Lei Dadi’s hairs were all silver. Eyes staring like two bolts of lightning and he said, “What is happening is a great disgrace to the entire Qing-Yun Realm. It is something we all have responsibility for… We want revenge! We are going to take revenge with our own hands!”

Revenge!

Ye Xiao slowly said, “Three masters, you are all stronger than anybody could imagine. It surely won’t be a problem to have you fighting at the front line. However, you have to promise me one thing. I am sure it will be more persuasive.”

“We won’t eat that thing!”

Lei Dadi and the other two old men frankly turned it down.

They knew what Ye Xiao wanted them to do. When the three old men arrived at this place, Ye Xiao showed the three old men those fruits that could improve them greatly. If the three old men could eat the fruits, they could get rid of the restraining wounds from the fight against Wu Fa in the old days. However, unexpectedly, they all turned down the chance to become stronger.

“We know what we are. We are old. Our bodies are almost wasted. The fights from the old days have left us great damages. Even though we were mostly cured, thanks to you, our energy was too over consumed. Even if we eat those fruits and get fully cured—even if we become stronger, we won’t be able to make it to the greatness of martial arts!”

“I think you should just keep the fruits for those who truly need them.”

“It will be a waste to give them to us!”

Ye Xiao was helpless for the current situation.

Any one of the fruits was valuable enough for the entire Qing-Yun Realm to riot, let alone those were some fruits after Erhuo’s purifying work. Now as he gave them to the three old men, none of the great elders accepted it!

“My great masters, if you don’t eat these fruits, how do you think I can put you on the front line to fight those demons?” Ye Xiao frowned and said, “The demons we are fighting have tremendously vicious methods. No matter who on our side becoming stronger will increase our chance to win the war… How is that a waste?”

Before Ye Xiao finished the talking, Yun Piaoliu interrupted and said, “Hahaha… Are you serious, kid? Do you think we are too weak to kill in the battle if we don’t eat your fruits? My dear disciple, you are underestimating us three.”

Ye Xiao frowned and said, “Masters, the only way to victory is to become stronger…”

“Of course, it is absolutely most important to obtain stronger power… Nobody can deny that… However…” Lei Dadi tapped on Ye Xiao’s shoulder and said, “First of all, we are three old men, who barely have the chance to get up to an upper realm… Second, even if we do luckily have a chance to ascend, we won’t go. After all, the Cold Moon Palace needs us here. After this war, I don’t think many of our best disciples can survive… We won’t just ascend to the upper world leaving our people behind.”

“A great sect needs some influential figures to hold the responsibility… Even if we will die in the battle, our death can at least save some younger people in our sect… Do you understand?”

“Chongxiao, you have a great future ahead. When the war is over here, you will leave for a greater realm, won’t you? You don’t belong to this world. We know it. We would surely like you to raise our sect up higher in the martial world, but there is not much we can shamelessly ask. It is not your duty to protect our sect. We won’t let the sect become a restraint to you.”

“Therefore, we won’t eat that magical fruits. You will leave the Qing-Yun Realm and go to the Human Realm Upon Heavens one day. It is passing through from the lower realm to the higher one. You need as much power as possible.”

In all sincerity, Lei Dadi said, “Kid, you should use these fruits to train more people that are loyal to you… You should prepare yourself a team… Take the good ones with you up to the upper realm. I know you will worry about us, but we worry more about you.”

“All we need is to survive this war. I believe under the sky of the Qing-Yun Realm, nobody could kill us… It is just impossible.” Lei Dadi looked at Ye Xiao nicely and said, “After you enter the Human Realm Upon Heavens, at least in the beginning, you will be treated like you are nothing by those really strong figures. You will be nothing… Perhaps, you don’t think it necessary to worry about it, but as your masters, we shall worry about it for you.”

Ye Xiao felt the warmth inside and he said, “That is about the future. What I am thinking is all about the battles to come soon…”

“There is no need to talk more.” Lei Dadi waved his hand and said, “Not only us, but also your Disciple Brother Zhan… I don’t mind if you gave him dan beads to increase their cultivation. However, do not give them the fruits.”

Ye Xiao didn’t understand. “Why?”

“Everybody had his own destiny. Zhan Yunfei and Zhu Jiutian are not like you and Li Wuliang… You two are unattached to any sects, but you have gone through so much more than others. How many miseries have you been through?”

Lei Dadi bitterly smiled and said, “Your mindsets are solid like rocks… What about them? They are far below the league… They grew up in the Cold Moon Palace, and certainly experienced more or less something from the martial world. However, their lives were still too easy… Their mindsets are only at their current cultivation level. If you let them rise to the top of the world all of a sudden, even to the point that reaches the upper realm… I am afraid they will not make it alive through the ascending.”

Ye Xiao heard that answer and got shocked.

It was truly a serious problem.

It was a problem Ye Xiao couldn’t ignore, that he had to face!

That was right. When they broke through the limitation and ascended to the Human Realm Upon Heavens, they had to get through the heavenly tribulation.

If their mindsets were strong enough, if they were experienced enough, they wouldn’t be able to complete their greatness in cultivation. If they went through the heavenly tribulation in a flawed condition, it would be difficult to survive the tribulation.

The Qing-Yun Realm had a long history. In the history of the Qing-Yun Realm, countless cultivators had once reached the top of the cultivation level to ascend to the upper realm. However, most of them were killed by the heavenly tribulation.

Lei Dadi’s white hairs made him look lonely. He deeply said, “Over ninety-five percent of the cultivators who tried to transcend the tribulation died eventually… Only a few people successfully reached the great Human Realm Upon Heavens. In fact, there are only seven people known to us.”

“Seven!” Ye Xiao was shocked. The number didn’t seem right to him since he knew a different number. As he knew, there were only three people who successfully made it.

It was obvious that the great sects did have a lot more records of history.

“That’s right. Seven people made it up to the Human Realm Upon Heavens. However, three of them were from the great sects. The other four were all unattached cultivators.” Lei Dadi sighed and said, “Do you know why things were like that?”

Ye Xiao slightly bowed and said, “Please inspire me, master.”

“Environment.” Lei Dadi lowered his eyebrows and said, “That is it. Environment. The independent cultivators live in such a terrible environment… Most of the cultivators are self-governing in the martial world. Every one of them has to search for opportunities by all means alone. They look forward to the greatness in cultivation more than those who cultivate as disciples of some sects.

“For the self-ruling cultivators, the biggest shortage they have comparing to the disciples of the sects is their martial art.”

“They don’t have enough martial arts. They need martial arts that match their conditions. Disciples of a sect, especially disciples of a great sect, would get a test by the sects when they are recruited. They have their martial arts perfectly designed for them. It should be their advantage truly, but while that gives them advantages—it also set up the restraint on them. The best they could do is to reach the limitation of their martial arts. They are impossible to break through and surpass the people who created the martial arts they were cultivating! How are they going to reach greatness in cultivation?”

“The independent cultivators are quite different. They don’t have many martial arts to learn. No matter what martial arts they learn, they treat martial arts as the most valuable things in the world. They would read the books, again and again, practice as much as they can. The path to success is a lot more difficult for them, but they just won’t give up on any bit of hope to get stronger. When they get one martial art, it is more likely they will cultivate the martial art to a level that is higher than the creator could ever reach.”

“Independent cultivators are moving on a difficult and painful path to the greatness of martial arts. They only have a few options. Some have no options at all. However, disciples in the sects always have their martial arts to learn, as long as they enter a certain level. They have a lot of martial arts to pick. Even if they have picked a wrong martial art, they can very possibly stop to pick another one right away.”

“Independent cultivators do not have such chances. In fact, when they realize the martial art doesn’t fit them, they had to keep cultivating, hoping they can defeat all difficulties and finally reach success. From example, some people are born with a body in fire attribution, but they may get a martial art that is in water attribution. The martial art is definitely not a good option for them, but would they give up? No! Absolutely not! They will try everything they can think of to make themselves match the martial art.”

“Some would torture themselves for it; some would rob all kinds of medical materials that may help them change their body attribution; some will keep cultivating the water attributed martial art, being patient to the slow progress—they could go crazy while cultivating like that. They did everything, but never be scared by the difficulties.”

“In such an environment, most of them have to stop in the middle of the path to the great martial art. However, the ones who succeed in the end will become great cultivators who have stronger will power and mindsets. In fact, the independent cultivators have stronger mindsets and will power than the disciples of the sects. The disciples absolutely have much better martial arts, but the independent cultivators work much harder on studying martial arts!”

At this moment, the Moon Queen, Xuan Bing, Xue Danru, and Jun Yinglian all gathered over.

As they heard Lei Dadi speaking about cultivators’ difference, they all quieted down and just listened.

Lei Dadi had opened a gate to talk, so he couldn’t stop, not even more people have come over to listen.

“Attitude is the second reason… Those who are qualified to be disciples in a big sect must be outstanding among the others. Some disciples have miserable childhoods because of poverty, only got recruited by luck, but since they are able to win the selection, they are good. They are definitely talented people.”

“No matter how poor they used to be, how tough life was for them when they are successfully recruited and become a member of a great sect, all that they have been through only brings them confidence and power… However, it also brings them arrogance.”

“Living in the martial world could be truly difficult for many independent cultivators. The disciples of a sect could solve a problem by telling people the name of their sect some times. That is why people in a great sect are always arrogant.”

“That is why a disciple of a sect and an independent cultivator are always so different… Even though they have been through the same much practical fights, they have different attitudes to the fights. The disciple has his sect as his support, so he is confident. The independent cultivator never stops feeling the danger around. Every move they make, they are cautious like walking on the frozen lake. In fact, the independent cultivators definitely pay more time training themselves than the disciples of some big sects.”

“As time goes by, the men who come through the other independent cultivators are always to become some great cultivators in the world. There aren’t many of them though. Perhaps only one will show up within hundreds of years among a billion people. However, whoever is one of them, he must be like a conqueror to the world.”

Lei Dadi blandly said, “Let’s not reach far. Let’s see the most powerful cultivator in the world, Wu Fa, or Zong Yuankai, another famous champion. Think about these people, the Fierce Blade, Li Wuliang, and the Xiao Monarch, Ye Xiao…

“Wu Fa was an independent cultivator back to the first few years. He didn’t belong to any sects. Before Zong Yuankai founded the West Hall, he was a disciple of a small sect, which was destroyed afterward, and he became an independent cultivator in the end…”

“Wu Fa, Zong Yuankai, and Ye Xiao—three cultivators, who have sat on the chair of the most powerful cultivator in the world. If you think about it, you will find no disciples of any sects ever sat on that chair.”

When Lei Dadi talked about this, he spoke in a casual tone. However, what he said was like thunder striking on the others who were leaders of different sects.

Xuan Bing, Xue Danru, and the Moon Queen all had the same thought. [That is true. Disciples in a sect obviously have much more resources and advantages in cultivation than independent cultivators. They are cultivating in such favorable circumstances. However, none of any disciples in any sects ever became the world’s most powerful cultivator!]

Ye Xiao felt a little bit ashamed though. His mindset will power, and strength was beyond all other disciples in the sect. He never doubted that. However, he didn’t work that hard to get what he had. What gave him the extraordinary power was the East-rising Purple Qi, and the defined Divine Yin Yang Fruits from Erhuo. In fact, Zong Yuankai and Wu Fa also became that powerful for the Divine Yin Yang Fruits!

What made them great cultivators was their good luck. A good fortune was known as part of one’s power, but Ye Xiao still blushed when Lei Dadi praised him like that!

One thing was sure. Lei Dadi was telling the truth.

Fate and fortune treated everybody equally.

In fact, the disciples from those sects had advantages.

If independent cultivators could get good luck, then they deserved good luck.

Lei Dadi made a sigh and said, “More and more superior cultivators keep showing up from all the great sects. The most powerful one is Xuan Bing, the great elder of the Misty Cloud Palace… She is so close to the chair of the most powerful cultivator, but always one step below it.

“We must think deeper about it. We must reflect on our mistakes.”

The Moon Queen frowned and said, “Elder Lei, do you mean… Do you mean disciples like us are worse than independent cultivators? Do you mean… Do you mean all that we have been supporting our disciples with are wasted? Are we wrong?”

She was not questioning. Instead, she was humbly seeking for the truth.

Lei Dadi was such an experienced cultivator, so he was smart enough to tell the difference. He thought for a while on how to bring it up right and then said, “Well, it would be exaggerated to say that it is wrong… Perhaps, we should say that it is limited. One thing is for sure though. All sects have chosen a few wrong steps.”

“Please, I would love to hear more.” The Moon Queen humbly said.

“Well, if you want me to say what exactly it is, I can’t. I have no idea what it is. Moon Queen, please don’t think I am being sensitive. I do have the feeling, but I just don’t know how to express it. I don’t even think you can feel what I feel. It is ambiguous inside my head.”

Lei Dadi bitterly smiled and said, “If I can figure it out and point out exactly what it is, I won’t say these words to you. Why not keep it a secret to myself and raise up the Cold Moon Palace to the top of the world. We might rule the world for it.”

The others all laughed.

Lei Dadi was being honest and reasonable.

“If you want me to share the thoughts I have, I can tell you what I learned. I think it is reasonable that the sects do their best to support their disciples, but sometimes when you protect the kids too hard, you are restraining them at the same time. The name of the sects protects them well when they walk in the martial world… However, that is why our disciples never feel the hidden threats and dangers like independent cultivators. Those people, they are cultivating anywhere anytime, because they have to face all kinds of challenges all the time… The crisis pushes them up.”

“No matter what, I am telling the truth. In fact, only people like us—this powerful—in this position, can think of what I said. The fear of the hidden dangers is what makes a cultivator great. That is the true taste of the martial world that all cultivators should taste.”

“At the same time… The difficulties were essential for cultivators to get through so that they can become great.”

“If iron isn’t smelted, no matter how good the material is, it won’t become great. When a piece of iron is thrown into the furnace, it had no rights to choose what is going to happen. It only accepts whatever is going to happen. Refining, smelting, polishing… Only after all those difficulties, it can become a stunning weapon. Likewise, it is the same—that cultivator has to get through all kinds of sufferings and difficulties before he becomes great!”

Lei Dadi continued and said, “This is how I think of why there has never been a disciple of a sect who can sit on the chair of the most powerful cultivator. For so many years, among the seven people who made it reach the upper realm, only three are disciples of sects—while the other four are all independent cultivators.”

Xue Danru frowned and said, “Doesn’t it mean we don’t need sects? Did our ancestors waste their time building all these things for us?”

“No. Prime Master Xue, you are going to the other extreme end here. We naturally need sects, but… the problem relies on education… The way we train our disciples must be improved…”

Lei Dadi said, “That is what we should do to make our disciples better cultivators.”

The others were also clever people. They all understood what Lei Dadi meant, but they still frowned.

What Lei Dadi said seemed to be reasonable, but it was not practical. It was easy to speak but impossible to do.

Even if a sect didn’t try to protect the disciples, the fame of the sect will always protect the disciples no matter when. The power of the great names of the sects is invisible but powerful, and overwhelming.

“It is good that we found the problem. There must be one or more ways to solve a problem. It only takes time. There will be some day that we have a solution for that.” The Moon Queen spoke.”

She was right. The problems with training disciples were going to be solved in a short time. The calamity was right ahead of the entire martial world. It would be quite a waste of time to keep digging in such a problem.

Ye Xiao rubbed his own head. [There are many people here, which means I don’t have the chance to make the three old men eat the fruits anymore…] In a deep voice, he said, “Now we know what we should be dealing with on the education issue. That aside, let’s talk about the serious business right now.”

“What serious business?” The others asked.

Ye Xiao said it was a serious business, which meant it was an important matter to all. The others all stopped digging the topic Lei Dadi had brought about. They certainly knew what they should pay attention to first.

It didn’t mean they all forgot what they had been discussing. They just kept that in their minds and tried to solve the problem someday afterward. Lei Dadi had revealed a big problem that all the sects had at the same time, which was also a shame to all of them.

After all, the sects had a lot of talented disciples. They gave the disciples all kinds of supports, including resources, tutorials, martial arts, and medicines… However, no matter how much they had done for the disciples, their people could not go as far as the independent cultivators did…

That was the truth.

Lei Dadi gave a hint to Ye Xiao by eye contact. In his eyes, there was hope and concern.

Ye Xiao knew exactly what Lei Dadi’s hint meant.

[Use those fruits on the people you can trust. Build your own army. Take the happiness with you… to the Human Realm Upon Heavens!]

[We would love to see it. We hope that you can make it!]

Lei Dadi did not say anything about that, but he expressed it clearly through that hint through eye contact.

Ye Xiao felt warm in his heart.

He took a deep breath to calm down.

“Today, there is something important—I need you to come and discuss with me.” Ye Xiao said, “The business about your sects is important. I agree with that. However, it is something that can’t be late to solve after the war is over. What we have to face soon is something that concerns our life and death.”

The others all looked at Ye Xiao.

Ye Xiao half closed his eyes, which made him look cold and fierce. He blandly said, “I have done something secretly, which now has helped me figure out everything about the secret organization. Now I am going to share the information with you, and we can make a plan about it afterward.”

The others were all shocked. They looked at Ye Xiao and said, “Really?”

They surely were stunned. These people were eighty percent of the most powerful people in the Qing-Yun Realm. In the earlier months, these people had tried everything they could to collect the information about the secret organization, yet there was not much they had obtained. Their understanding of the secret organization was still superficial. They all knew how important intelligence was. That was why they had a headache about the issue. However, there was nothing they could do. Now as Ye Xiao told them he knew everything, they surely were inspired and shocked!

“I am telling the truth!” Ye Xiao waved one hand, and two men walked into the camp.

They were Ning Biluo and Zhao Piantian.

“Guys, these two fellows are my good friends, my brothers. Years ago, I sent them into the secret organization, and I lost contact with them for some time. Now we are together again. It is interesting that the secret organization actually sent them back to me to do their undercover works while they didn’t know they are my people!”

Ye Xiao sneered and said, “I would never agree to the people who say the heavens bless the nice ones. However, the secret organization actually sent back the men who turn out to be my men. I have to admit that fate is ruling everything! We are the blessed side of this war!”

People all started to laugh.

After a while, everybody cast their hasty look at Zhao Pingtian and Ning Biluo.

Ning Biluo started to tell everything he learned slowly, trying not to miss any details. However, there was something he decided not to tell—things about Rou’er. He also lied about the time when he entered the secret organization. He got in only one year earlier, but he said he had stayed in the organization for a few years.

He had to lie about the time, because, after all, he knew too much to collect within one year. He had to tell things he knew, and also things that Ye Xiao learned from Yue Changtian too.

Yue Changtian decided to die and build the Life Cage to keep his true identity a secret to the world. Ye Xiao could not go against the man’s wish!

In fact, the information Rou’er collected was more than precious to the people. If Ning Biluo told the people that he got all the information within just one year, people might not believe him. In fact, people might suspect that he and Zhao Pingtian were still on an undercover mission for the organization!

At first, Ning Biluo did not agree to do this job. He did not want to take the credit. However, after Ye Xiao told him the story about Yue Changtian’s sacrifice, Ye Xiao talked to Ning Biluo and said, “Ning, do you want Prime Master Yue’s name get stained? If you don’t want to do this job, I won’t force you.”

Ning Biluo changed his mind when he heard so.

“What a hero to the world! It is a shame that he can’t be remembered as a hero forever! How can I let his name get stained?” That was what Ning Biluo said in the end.

Ning Biluo kept telling everybody everything, and the people who were listening became more and more frustrated.

They had imagined how horrible the secret organization could be!

However, they still could not believe how powerful and vicious the organization could actually be! They were shocked!

The organization was not only powerful itself, but also tightly connected to the East Hall and the West Hall.

The nine training bases were also something terrifying to the others.

The altars, the manipulation, the massacre, and the inhumanity…

The well-known most powerful cultivator Wu Fa turned out to be a member of this organization, not even an important one.

That was all.

They were simply sharing the information, yet the truth had stricken everybody in the heart. They were all taking a cold breath.

“For now, this is it. I have said everything we know… The locations of those training bases are undefined… We wanted to stay among them for a longer time, but after the mole-cleansing issue, we don’t think we can go back now.”

After the talk, Ning Biluo looked at the people in concern and said, “We are all on the same side. I won’t waste time on making polite remarks. We seem to have a lot of good people, but comparing to them, we are… quite weak.”

“We may have as many top-level cultivators as they do, but as for the middle-level ones… We lost them a big one.”

After a few seconds of silence, the Moon Queen abruptly looked up—sharply stared at Ning Biluo and said, “Thank you for sharing the information, Ning. We appreciate it. However, I have one question for you. I hope you don’t mind. According to what you just said, you should be manipulated by the Demon Soul Dao’s special martial art too. How did you…”

Before he finished the question, the others all knew what she was going to say.

[You said that all those heroes lost their minds after getting into the organization and became killing tools for the organization. What makes you two an exception?]

That was a question that stayed in everybody’s mind. It was a critical moment before the war started, so they surely would not dare to be careless. Even though Ning Biluo and Zhao Pingtian did bring a lot of secret information to them, they could not just ignore the questionable point for it!

They knew it might hurt the two guys, but they had to ask!

Ning Biluo looked at Zhao Pingtian. He felt sorry about it because he had to mention Rou’er to explain the truth.

Ye Xiao, Ning Biluo, and Zhao Pingtian had discussed it earlier. They would not expose Rou’er if they did not have to. That was why Ning Biluo avoided mentioning Rou’er in the previous talk. However, since the Moon Queen had asked such a question, and the others all wanted to know the answer, Ning Biluo had to tell the truth!

He had to expose Rou’er, or he would lose the trust of these people.

He had to make the decision!

Zhao Pingtian took a breath and blandly said, “We got rid of their manipulation because of my wife.”

“Your wife?” The others all asked.

They were all experienced cultivators in the martial world, so they knew that there must be something this man did not want to share if he kept from mentioning his wife previously. However, his wife must be the key role to get rid of the manipulation. It meant there might be a way to manipulate the demons with some reverse method. Everybody wanted to know the truth about this part and so they had to ask!

They knew it was pushing Zhao Pingtian, but they had to do it!

Zhao Pingtian did not speak. He thought for a while and then said, “Rou’er, please show yourself.”

In the air, some energy flows and waved in the void. A soft voice answered, “I am here. I haven’t left.”

The others were all shocked. They all looked over and saw a shadow showing up from nothing, slowly becoming a lady.

Rou’er had shown her beautiful body, but she was still not physically a person, only like smoke or mist in the shape of a lady.

Zhao Pingtian’s face looked painful. In a hoarse voice, he said, “This is my wife, Rou’er. Her physical body was ruined in an accident. By some great luck, she became a cultivating ghost. She helped us get rid of the manipulation. She also helped us collect all the information that Ning Biluo just shared to you…”

He turned around and looked at his wife. Rou’er was looking at him too. Zhao Pingtian’s voice sounded hoarse and he said, “This is a pity of my life…”

Nobody talked. It was silent.

They were all top-class cultivators in the Qing-Yun Realm. They all had sharp eyes that were much more profound than ordinary people. They had never seen a cultivating ghost, but they knew it was possible for a ghost to cultivate. When Rou’er showed up, they did not feel any energy wave at all. They were just confused about it.

Rou’er said that she was there all the time, which meant that these cultivators all failed to sense her existence. It was impressive already.

The cultivating ghost was indeed incredible!

“My apology.” The Moon Queen felt sorry for what she had to do.

No matter who she was, she was a woman. What she admired the most was the pure love between a lucky couple. Zhao Pingtian and Rou’er had been with each other, but could not actually touch each other. Even so, they had not left each other ever. The Moon Queen, even all women, were jealous of such a romantic love story.

The Moon Queen had to force Zhao Pingtian to tell everybody this unspoken truth, so she felt guilt filling inside her heart!

In fact, the Moon Queen was not alone, because Xue Danru, Yue Shuang, and Yue Han—all the female elders felt the same!

Zhao Pingtian blandly said, “I understand. It is a serious issue, which concerns the future of the entire Qing-Yun Realm. I know that it cannot only depend on our words to start a war against the East Hall and the West Hall… We two are not that trustworthy. It is a business concerning billions of people’s lives. We understand.”

Everybody nodded but said nothing.

When Rou’er showed up, they all had the answer in their hearts.

It was true that only the high-level cultivating ghost that only existed in myth could enter and leave the Demon Soul Hall freely!

Now that the information was proved to be true, what left to do was to face the problem!

“The East Hall! The West Hall!”

“The Demon Soul Dao!”

“The nine bases!”

“The nine altars!”

“The countless high-level cultivators! Over one million middle-level cultivators!”

Every piece of information was like a bolt of unendurable lightning striking on everybody’s heart!

…