Realms In The Firmament

It seemed that people in the crowd on the street were all waiting for the arrival of a man named Master Xiao.

It seemed to the people that it was such a great honor to have a close look at that Master Xiao.

All of a sudden, there was a scent in the air coming from the gate of the City of Chaos. It smelled like some special flower.

After that, Ye Xiao saw some men in white clothes walking over slowly from far away. Twenty-four young men in white clothes were walking in front of the others. They were all wearing white and long clothes, with their swords, and red braids on the handles of their swords. They walked on the street with their heads up, like straight and strong spears. None of them had a facial expression on the face. Each of them was young and pretty.

After the twenty-four young man, there were twenty-four young ladies, walking slowly ahead, who were all in perfect body shape—looking gorgeous. The twenty-four girls walked together just like twenty-four tea flowers blossoming in the air. What a beautiful scene!

The two groups of young cultivators walked over the street, leaving flowers everywhere.

The red rose petals fell on the floor and covered every corner.

The street became a long red carpet all of a sudden.

The wonderful scent of the flowers spread ten miles away.

After the twenty-four young ladies walked over, there were five people walking casually over.

Hmm. In fact, only the man in the middle seemed to be casual. The four others of them were standing around him, wearing black clothes like they were all soaked by ink. When they stepped on the floor, no dust flew up. It was dawn and the sky was bright, but these people made Ye Xiao felt like this was a world of ghosts!

The four men who were like ghosts actually made the man in the middle shine in gloss!

The man in the middle was a young man in white clothes; who had a pretty and clean face, two big bright eyes, who was tall and strong. He was walking straight up with his perfect body. What an extremely handsome man.

The man was beautiful. He wasn’t angry but didn’t seem to be happy either. He just walked ahead without facial expression.

In another’s eyes, there was no room for the other four men who were in black clothes.

The young man alone was like a fairy among the flowers; coming alongside the wind flow, dancing among the sea of flowers, and pacing around the flowers. Everything was perfect around him. His every step landed on the red petals on the floor. Everything seemed to be so natural.

His dark hair was fluttering in the air over the collar of his white clothes. His eyes were profound like there was an ocean of stars inside them, and he just walked over step by step.

About a hundred feet behind him, there were over ten young men and young ladies following him in lines.

The crowd was suddenly simmering with excitement.

“Master Xiao!”

“Master Xiao!”

“Master Xiao has come! It is true!”

“Oh, my heavens… Finally, I see Master Xiao with my own eyes… I am so happy…”

“It seems Master Xiao is going to play a song in the City of Chaos, isn’t he?”

“That will be such a blessing to us…”

“The sound of the song from heavens…”

“I am so looking forward to it.”

“I am not leaving. I am absolutely staying. I will wait here, no matter what happens. I will follow Master Xiao to wherever he goes. I have to listen to the music he plays.”

“Me too.”

The group of people in white clothes were moving slowly forward. They acted like they couldn’t hear any of the noisy sounds on the street. They just ignored the people in fever.

It seemed they were used to such a situation.

When they walked over somewhere, people near them would become silent. Nobody made any sound. When they left, people would start whispering, and then returned to chaos again…

“Master Xiao…” Ye Xiao frowned.

When the young man who was called Master Xiao walked over the inn in which Ye Xiao stayed, Ye Xiao finally had a clear sight of the man’s face.

He was young, handsome, peaceful, with a mysterious look on his face.

It was definitely a favorable face to most of the people in the world. He was definitely a perfect man to marry for many young ladies.

However, when Ye Xiao saw that pretty face, he frowned.

He felt that he didn’t like that Master Xiao.

He just didn’t like him, and he couldn’t think of a reason.

He just disliked the man out of his instinct!

For Ye Xiao, it was such a weird feeling. In the old days, when he saw Master Bai, who was always wearing a profound and mysterious expression on his face when he saw Ling Wuxie, who always looked lazy and indifferent. Ye Xiao only felt the hostility. He even liked the two arrogant men at some point. All in all, he barely disliked somebody just for the first sight.

However, he was sure he disliked the young man—Master Xiao, and this was his first time to see that man!

In fact, he hated that man from the bottom of his heart! He was disgusted!

When he saw that face, he felt sick. He had that cold feeling in his heart that aroused a chill that hit him… He felt like there was a poisonous snake that moved below him, waiting to attack at any second. He felt like under a fatal danger. It just didn’t feel right.

“Master Xiao…” Ye Xiao humphed and murmured in his head, ‘He actually has a similar name to me…’

‘Look at him, swaggering through the street…’

“Master Xiao is here.”

The entire morning, everybody was talking about one thing in the City of Chaos.

Master Xiao came to the City of Chaos to look for a metal. He had made a reward for it.

He was going to pay one thousand purple spirit coins for that metal.

That was it, a message about the reward.

Master Xiao’s vertical bamboo flute was broken in an accident, so he had to make a new flute for himself.

Not all metals were good enough for Master Xiao.

The metals he wanted were all those that only existed in the old stories.

One thousand purple spirit coins was definitely a fortune to most people in the world. Some people were known as wealthy people in the world, but most of them did not have one thousand purple spirit coins.

Master Xiao offered so much money just to find the metal he wanted, to make his vertical bamboo flute!

It took less than half a day for such a message of a breaking news to spread to the entire City of Chaos!

As it was told, Master Xiao’s people had already contacted all the salesroom and galleries… They had asked all possible forces for help.

When Ye Xiao heard the news, he hesitated and then got lost in thoughts.

Brocade Steel, Cosmos Iron, and Feather Bronze.

The man, Master Xiao is looking for these three metals. Every one of them was legendary metals, which was extremely rare.

That afternoon, the Dark Evil Spirit returned from collecting information.

“Young Master, Master Xiao’s surprising arrival and his surprising reward could be a perfect opportunity for us to make a fortune.” The Dark Evil Spirit said.

“Old Dark, what is this Master Xiao? Who is he? What is his background?” Ye Xiao asked.

“…” The Dark Evil Spirit was wordless. After thinking for a while, he said, “Master Xiao is a famous musician in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, who is good at playing a vertical bamboo flute. When he plays a song with his vertical bamboo flute, the world seems to float in the smoke. He is the best vertical bamboo flute player in the Human Realm Upon Heavens for sure.

“As for his background… Well, I just know that his family name is Xiao. Nobody knows what is his given name. His great technique in vertical bamboo flute playing is peerless in the Human Realm Upon Heavens for sure. If he claims to be the second best vertical bamboo flute player in the world, nobody dares to claim the first.

“If he is just a musician, he wouldn’t be so famous among the superior cultivators. As it is told, Master Xiao can use his pure spiritual power to play his song. When he does that, the audience will sense the greatness of the cosmos, and some may even have a breakthrough in cultivation…

“That is why Master Xiao becomes the recognized world’s most powerful vertical bamboo flute musician in the Human Realm Upon Heavens. No matter where he goes, people greet him with enthusiasm. Everybody likes him. However, it is a shame to people like us, because he always only traveled to the royal cities and great cities in the world… It is quite shocking that he actually comes to the City of Chaos in the Limitless Ocean. This is quite weird.”

The Dark Evil Spirit paused and frowned, and then continued saying, “Well, there is one thing I don’t understand… How come Master Xiao’s vertical bamboo flute was suddenly broken? Who on earth dares to break Master Xiao’s vertical bamboo flute? Master Xiao’s followers are going to rip him into pieces. Isn’t he afraid?”

Ye Xiao just kept listening to the Dark Evil Spirit and said nothing to respond.

The Dark Evil Spirit thought that Ye Xiao would give him some reaction after all the words he said.

After all, Master Xiao was such a legendary figure in the world. Only those who had reached the top of the world would neglect such an influential figure.

How many people had reached the top of the martial world in the Human Realm Upon Heavens?

The rest of the people in the world were never able to neglect the attraction of the chance to see the greatness in cosmos!

Ye Xiao thought for a while and said, “He must be capable of something to be this famous in the world. There is something I don’t understand though. I mean the way he shows himself… It is just a bit…”

He shook his head and continued saying, “Isn’t it too intentional… Isn’t it too… luxurious?”

The Dark Evil Spirit was relieved and said, “Well, that is just what Master Xiao does. Since he became famous, he never missed a chance to be high-profile. No matter where he goes, where he is going to live for a while, he will use a lot of flowers to decorate the streets. It is always a bit of a scene. After all, deep in Master Xiao’s heart, he is a man on stage. It is understandable that he uses all methods to play a big scene in the public…”

Ye Xiao was in thoughts, shaking his head and saying, “It can’t be this simple. Men on stage perform for a living. Master Xiao is rich. He doesn’t need to earn money. He can even offer one thousand purple spirit coins for the materials. He just does this for something special! Maybe he is after some great works of the musicians in history, or some extremely valuable instruments that are from ancient times. We don’t know…”

And then he shook his head, smiled and said, “Forget it. It isn’t our business anyway. Let’s get back on the serious business. Now, what do you think? Which salesroom should we choose to put our things on sale?”

“In the City of Chaos, all the forces have their branches here. Hall of Returning Nature, number one, the most influential force. The Brotherhood Alliance, number two. The House of Chaotic Storms, number three. I think we should choose one of these three.”

The Dark Evil Spirit gave three options.

“These three forces can make sure not to expose us if we don’t want to be exposed. Besides, as long as we got the metals in a proper way—that the metals didn’t stir up any disturbance in the martial world before, we don’t even have to show ourselves.”

The Dark Evil Spirit’s words had given Ye Xiao quite a clear thought. After thinking for a while, Ye Xiao made a decision.

“Well, then we should give it to the Brotherhood Alliance.”

The Dark Evil Spirit was surprised.

“That’s it. It’s decided.” Ye Xiao waved his hand and made a call for the final decision.

“Okay.” The Dark Evil Spirit said, “Well, I can’t help wondering. When are you going to sell the metals? Should we just show everything Master Xiao needs?”

“No. Master Xiao wants three things. We will take out only the Feather Bronze and the Brocade Steel. If we suddenly show them exactly what Master Xiao asks for, people may start to have negative thoughts about us.”

Ye Xiao frowned and said slowly, “Other than the two metals, we should also put one piece of the Star Trace Iron, one piece of the Great Dao Gold, and one piece of the Chaos Silver on sale.”

The Dark Evil Spirit got all the muscles on his face twisting…

‘The Great Dao Gold? The Chaos Silver?’

‘Oh my heavens… How many treasures does this young master have?’

He was shocked, and said, “Really? We are selling the Great Dao Gold and the Chaos Silver? That is… That is world-shocking…”

The Great Dao Gold could be made into all kinds of weapons, and some other things like horsetail whisks, bracelets, rings, and headdress. When a man contacted the Great Dao Gold for long enough, the metal would have a resonance to the man’s activities. At that moment, the man would have a special feeling which gave him the chance to feel the greatness of Dao. That was why the metal was called the Great Dao Gold.

One could more easily reach the greatness of Dao after touching the metal for long enough. That made the metal such a valuable treasure.

The Chaos Silver was a metal that could nourish the cultivator. High-level cultivators always liked to hold something that was made from the Chaos Silver, because the inner power of the cultivators could activate the chaotic qi inside the Chaos Silver. When the chaotic qi was activated, it would cover up the owner’s body and enhanced it. It could also recover the exhausted body very quickly…

For cultivators, fast recovery in a fight was incredibly useful!

Everybody knew what it meant for a cultivator.

The chaotic qi in the Chaos Silver had a limitation. It was unable to recover one’s energy with no ends, but in a fight that decided life and death, having something that was made from the Chaos Silver meant having a bigger chance to win the fight. Besides, after the chaotic qi was used up, the Chaos Silver could be refilled when it was put between the Yin energy flow and Yang energy flow.

“Valuable or not, I don’t care. I just need it to work. I just want things to develop as I plan.” Ye Xiao smiled and said, “If we can’t make the entire world hear our message, how can we possibly recruit as many good men as we want?”

“Ahem. You are right, Young Master.” The Dark Evil Spirit was sweating heavily.

He had a new acquaintance with the young lord that he had recently decided to follow.

‘What a scheme!’

‘We throw out these extremely valuable treasures out to the world, and make sure it will arouse a chaos in the Limitless Ocean. The powerful cultivators in the Limitless Ocean will definitely gather over to fight for these treasure. There will be fights and bloods.’

‘Where there is a fight, there is a wound. Those who die in the fights should be gone, but those who got injured will be our targets…’

‘Young Master has a great capability of dan-making. He can easily cure those wounded men and save their lives…’

“I understand now, Young Master.” The Dark Evil Spirit said, “But… Master Xiao wants three metals. Why do we just give two of them out to the salesroom? If we show all the three metals, it will bring us the biggest advantage, will it not?”

The three kinds of metals were all rare and special metals in the world. Among the three, the Cosmos Iron was definitely the most valuable.

Ye Xiao was keeping the Cosmos Iron.

Ye Xiao smiled blandly and significantly said, “It won’t bring us the biggest interest if we show them all at one time. We must make sure we have one thing that the opponent is extremely eager for. We will give this thing out when the timing is perfect for us, so we can make sure it brings us the biggest return… We are keeping it. Maybe it will be the most powerful weapon in our hands. We don’t know yet.”

The Dark Evil Spirit still didn’t understand, but he didn’t ask any more questions.

He was such an experienced cultivator in the martial world, so asking questions like a child was too embarrassing for him after all.

Most importantly, Ye Xiao apparently didn’t want to say it clearly…

When it was time to show the Cosmos Iron, Ye Xiao would just do it. The Dark Evil Spirit didn’t need to know much about it.

“Old Dark, how much do you think we can get from these things?” Ye Xiao asked.

“These things… If we sell them all, I mean if we sell them all in the auction…” The Dark Evil Spirit thought for a while and said, “At the very least, Young Master, it is enough to make you one of the ten most wealthy people in the City of Chaos.”

“Hmm. That would be enough, at least for now.” Ye Xiao nodded. He was pleased.

“In fact, we can take a further step and make you the most wealthy man in the Limitless Ocean… It won’t be difficult…” The Dark Evil Spirit didn’t understand why Ye Xiao only sell a few blocks of the metals this time, because he had seen how many blocks of metals Ye Xiao actually had, such as the Star Trace Iron.

“Idiot! I think you have spent way too much time on cultivation. Don’t you know at least some natural rules in doing business? Can’t you tell this is just a simple marketing strategy?”

Ye Xiao wasn’t trying to be polite at all. “If I take them all out, will it still be rare? If it isn’t rare, will it still be that valuable? Besides, we haven’t prepared much for this auction. How do we make sure people in the auction all have enough money to buy our things? We have to give them time to prepare or to earn more money, don’t we? Now, do not tell me your foolish theory of income maximizing. You are disgracing the art of income maximization. You are not the material for marketing!”

“Urh…” The Dark Evil Spirit was sweating because of embarrassment.

‘Young Master, you are being nice to me… I am not the material for marketing. In fact, I am not even a material for making decisions… I can’t go too far against my conscience… I just can’t…’

‘Old Dark can’t do it!’

The Dark Evil Spirit was leaving the room.

Suddenly, he turned around and asked Ye Xiao, “Young Master, what is the name of our organization? We need to have a name, so it will be more convenient and efficient!”

‘The name of the organization shows how big the plan in Young Master’s heart could be.’

The Dark Evil Spirit abruptly asked the question, because he cared about it very much.

“The Monarch’s Hall.” Ye Xiao casually said. The answer just slipped out. It seemed he had decided it for a long time. It reminded him of the Ling-Bao Hall and the Cold Moon Palace. It seemed he was quite destined to connect with the halls and palaces!

‘It seems great in my dear Young Master’s big heart… It is huge… That ambition is unbelievably big…’ The Dark Evil Spirit was shocked.

‘Does he really want to be a monarch?’

‘That is…’

For the Dark Evil Spirit, he surely wanted Ye Xiao—the master he served, to have a bigger plan in the heart, because it gave him a better chance to become more influential in the future…

However, he never expected the young lord would make such a high-profile name for the organization!

As Ye Xiao spoke out the name—Monarch’s Hall, the Dark Evil Spirit was frightened.

‘Isn’t it… Isn’t it too big…?’