Realms In The Firmament

Ye Xiao turned indifferent, too. “Bu Xiangfeng, do you really have to play this trick?” Bu Xiangfeng abruptly turned to Ye Xiao. He was surprised. “You know who I am?”

Ye Xiao coldly smiled and casually paced to the chair. He sat down and said, “Of course I know who you are. You put on a big show in the auction. I was there. I watched everything you did!”

Bu Xiangfeng laughed and said, “Kiddo, you are not stupid, but just audacious. You know who I am, yet you still do this to me. If your man didn’t show up just now, you might have done your trick!”

Ye Xiao laughed and said, “I did all this only because I know who you are! Do you think I should fear you?”

Bu Xiangfeng took a deep breath. When he was about to say something, Ye Xiao continued to say, “It is still the same situation. Maybe I will die, and maybe you will die after me. Nothing changed. Whether I know who you are or not, it won’t change what you have to face!”

“I knew, but I pretended not. I could get you killed. Now that we all know that I know who you are, why can’t I still get you killed? I can’t do things to hurt my own interests, can I?”

Ye Xiao coldly smiled and continued saying, “Who do you think you are scaring with your murderous qi? I know that you won’t let us live, because we have seen the most awkward side of you… Well, since we are going to die anyway, why would we fear your murderous qi? Hilarious!”

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked.

‘That’s right. They know who I am, but it doesn’t change anything!”I may have more to worry about, but they don’t!’

‘In fact, they can put down all disguises and be themselves!’

‘In the end, this is still the same awkward situation for me. Nothing gets better at all.’

‘Everything is on the table now, but it doesn’t seem to bring me any good.’

‘As this pretty boy said, they know who I am, so they are sure I can’t bear the humiliation. No matter what they do, I would have to kill them. Why wouldn’t they get me killed as an act of revenge?’

‘That is an easy choice for them!’

‘The appearance of the man in black clothes seems to reveal everything to everybody, but it gets me to a worse situation. If we pretend that he doesn’t know me, he may give me the chance to go away. Now he won’t.’

‘I don’t want to die!’

Bu Xiangfeng frowned.

‘I don’t want to die… I don’t want to get hurt either.”I have so many things to…’

“Pretty boy, I can see that you have a perfect solution in your smart head. I know you have it. Say it! How can we both survive this?” Bu Xiangfeng thought for a while, and couldn’t think of a way. Eventually, he sat down on the chair and asked for Ye Xiao’s help.

Ye Xiao didn’t shout immediately, because there was another way to get it through. Bu Xiangfeng just couldn’t get to an answer! He wondered how they could solve the problem perfectly!

‘Why would they believe me, even if I promise I won’t kill them?’

Bu Xiangfeng would choose to die together than to believe a man like himself!

‘This pretty boy seems to be a cunning man! Does he have a solution? Even if not, it is good to buy some time.’

Ye Xiao smiled and said, “Bu Xiangfeng, the Farewell Sword. You used to be Bu Gaofeng, from the Qianshan City of the Zhongyuan Area. You are from the East Sky. When you were a child, you became a disciple to a powerful man. When you learned everything he taught you, the village you lived in was infected by a pestilence. All the people in your family were killed.”

“You were heart-struck. Because you were sad about not being able to see your family again, you changed your name to Bu Xiangfeng, which means ‘never to meet’ . Bu is your family name. Xiangfeng, which means ‘to meet’ . It sounds like you don’t want to meet, but you actually dream for it. You want the reunion so bad… You want to get your family back… so you can meet them again.”

“Your weapon was named the Farewell Sword when you changed your name! That was a true farewell. When your sword appeared, people died!”

Ye Xiao spoke out everything about Bu Xiangfeng, slow and loud.

Bu Xiangfeng humphed and said, “There are not many people who know these things about me, but some people do. It doesn’t surprise me that much.”

Ye Xiao nodded and continued to say, “When you left the village, nobody knows whether you left alone or with other people. I know that you have taken some people with you.”

Bu Xiangfeng was indifferent, but he humphed.

“When a pestilence hits a village, it doesn’t mean everybody in the village dies. When you got home, the pestilence had just hit your hometown. There should be more than half of the people in the village who were alive.”

“According to the record, you have been living in thrift. No matter how much you earned, you never spent a lot… I have a question to a powerful and a decent man like you, what have you spent your money on?”

Ye Xiao coldly stared at Bu Xiangfeng and said, “I have thought about it… You never waste a coin, no matter how much you have earned. I think you have spent them on something mysterious… There must be a place, where you have some people or some things to take care of.”

“I guess a man can only defeat his own desire when the responsibility tells him to.” Ye Xiao was casually speaking, and Bu Xiangfeng was shocked. He was shocked. He was truly shocked!

‘What he said… It was not entirely the truth, but it was unbelievably close. Most of it was true.’

“In the auction that was held by the Brotherhood Alliance’s salesroom, everybody thought that you were intentionally provoking Master Xiao. I thought so too, but when you took out the Destiny Golden Lotus… I knew that you really wanted to have one of the two rare metals. It is known that the Destiny Golden Lotus is much more valuable than the two rare metals, but you still take it out for sale. You have your own reason to get one of the two rare metals!”

Bu Xiangfeng humphed and thought, ‘Why does he know so much about me?”Why does he know everything?’

“It is not difficult to know that the eighty thousand purple spirit coins were truly all you had…” Ye

Xiao blandly said, “You were going to spend all the money you have and give up one Destiny

Golden Lotus for the metal. I guess the metal must mean a lot to you. I think you need the

metal for something that is important to you. It must be your weapon, isn’t it?

The Farewell Sword.”

“Your weapon must be damaged, so you need the metal to repair it. If you can’t get it fixed, you will be a lot weaker than you should be. You don’t need your weapon when dealing with some small fights, but you definitely need it when fighting against some powerful opponents. If you have your sword fixed tonight, you wouldn’t have to negotiate with a weak shrimp like me, would you?”

Bu Xiangfeng nearly dropped his jaw on the floor. He really wanted to open Ye Xiao’s head and

saw what his brain looked like. He wondered how Ye Xiao figured out everything!

In fact, he didn’t know that he was just like another Ning Biluo to Ye Xiao. He was just like a Human Realm Upon Heavens version Ning Biluo. That was why it wasn’t difficult for Ye Xiao to figure out what was behind him. A superior cultivator needed the rare metal so much, then he must need it for his weapon!

The most important thing about a weapon was that it must fit the owner. Ye Xiao already had the divine weapon, Stars Sword, but when the Monarch’s Sword was back, it immediately became the prior choice, because the Monarch’s Sword fit Ye Xiao the most.

Bu Xiangfeng had the same weapon. The first thing he should do was to find a block of rare metal to fix his sword. If he changed a weapon, he would be at least twenty percent weaker. If a superior cultivator got weakened by twenty percent, it was serious. If Bu Xiangfeng still got his sword in good condition, he could have killed one of the enemies with one strike. If so, he wouldn’t have to do all these troublesome things afterward!

For a cultivator, power meant everything!

Ye Xiao said, “This is my thought. You are not in your full power, so you can’t protect the people you want to protect anymore. That is why you want to fix the sword soon. However, because of Master Xiao, you missed the rare metals… You have been acting shamelessly tonight because you want to live. You want to live because you want to keep protecting those people. If you die, they die! Am I right?”

Bu Xiangfeng looked cold, and said, “Do you think you are so clever that you can see everything?”

“Of course, I am smart.” Ye Xiao coldly smiled and said, “If I am not, I won’t waste time to figure out what is hidden in your head. I will just kneel before you and beg for life. I guess I would have been killed if I did so. You wanted to kill me from the beginning. How would you leave a problem behind you? If my man didn’t show up, I have no idea what would happen to me…”

Bu Xiangfeng humphed and said, “What else do you know? Just say it!”

Ye Xiao blandly said, “I know that there is a huge problem with your Farewell Sword.”

Bu Xiangfeng rolled up both eyes and said, “You said it before, didn’t you? Is this all you got? Are you going to keep repeating the same words again and again?”

Ye Xiao shook his head and said, “You are wrong. What I am going to say is the most important part. According to the record, when you got on the top three of the Itinerant Cultivator Power Ranking List, you were only at level nine of the Divinity Origin Stage. Your special martial art technique and your unknown power gave you that position. It was tricky.”

Ye Xiao lowered his head and said, “It was about… two hundred years ago.” Bu Xiangfeng humphed again like he didn’t care at all.

Ye Xiao said, “At least in the recent two hundred years, there was no record of your improvement. I think your sword wouldn’t be damaged if you didn’t get any improvement.

“When a cultivator breaks the limit of the Divinity Origin Stage to enter the Saint Origin Stage, he has to have a fight of life and death. Only after a battle like that, fighting between life and death, one will break through the limitation.”

“I think you have reached the top of the stage, so you found yourself a powerful opponent and put on a desperate fight.”

“I don’t know who your opponent was, but I am sure you didn’t get easy on that. You have once disappeared for fifty years in the world. That may prove my point.”

Ye Xiao blandly looked at Bu Xiangfeng and said, “Don’t deny it. I have read everything about you on the ranking lists. It must be correct.”

“I knew it! I knew those f*cking ranking lists would ruin something someday! You should mind your own business and focus on your own cultivation! Why don’t you just keep improving yourself instead of studying those stupid ranking lists? You are doing no decent works!” Bu Xiangfeng fiercely said.

“No decent works? What? You know what, if I didn’t do that, I might have died now. If that’s not decent work, at least it keeps me alive!” Ye Xiao said with a smile.

“You did get to know something, so what? I don’t think you know everything!” Bu Xiangfeng gritted his teeth.”

“There is the truth, and there are evidence, also some traces… I can definitely make a firm conjecture. For example, if you didn’t get severely wounded, and you did breakthrough to a new level… it wouldn’t take you fifty years to recover… In those fifty years…”

“What about the fifty years?” Bu Xiangfeng was a bit shocked by the young man’s deduction. He was not just shocked, but also terrified.”

“In those fifty years, you must be working on the Farewell Sword, weren’t you? After that great battle, you were improving fast.” Ye Xiao casually said.

“…” Bu Xiangfeng had no words to say. ‘Did you really just guess? Didn’t you follow me or something?’

“Other than that, I can be sure about two other things. First, you didn’t fix your Farewell Sword. Second, you have been improved greatly in those fifty years. You became level two of the Saint Origin Stage.”

Ye Xiao said, “That’s the biggest secret about you!”

Bu Xiangfeng abruptly raised up his head and looked at Ye Xiao. In his eyes, there was fear and murderous intent!

It was his biggest secret!

Bu Xiangfeng was sure that nobody else knew it! He believed no one knew his secret!

‘How? How did he… Is he a monster?’

‘No, if he is a member of a monster clan, he wouldn’t be this clever!’

“Why so shocked? I said it. There are truth and evidence. It isn’t difficult to dig deep enough to what is hidden behind the scene. Think about it. If you didn’t succeed in the improvement, you wouldn’t come to the City of Chaos so hastily, and you wouldn’t give up so much just to get the rare metal.”

Ye Xiao said, “Because you have too many things to care about, so you have to be powerful. You won’t spend the money like you did if you don’t have to. There are two possible reasons that you would do that. First, you can’t fix the Farewell Sword by yourself. Second, the sword does not fit you anymore. It is full of flaws after you reached a new level.”

“If the Farewell Sword didn’t get damaged, you might be able to improve it by refining it with

your own energy. However, it must be quite badly damaged. What you did could just recover it from the damage, but it didn’t fit you in the fight anymore… It is difficult to use its true power now. Hmm. You are so desperate, because you can’t use your Saint Origin Stage power on the sword, and it was going to break soon! Once you pour too much energy into the sword, it will break into pieces. The connection between the weapon and the owner was the most important.”

“The Farewell Sword has been fighting with you for so many years, and it fits you so well… You don’t want to give it up. That’s why you came.”

“You want to fix the Farewell Sword.”

“But you got disappointed. You didn’t get what you want! “You don’t have enough money!”

“You didn’t get the two rare metals because of Master Xiao, who also desperately needs the metals. You were angry about it. You knew that it was almost impossible to have the chance to get another Feather Bronze or Brocade Steel again. You were angry, and also in despair…”

“It looked like you were teasing Master Xiao, but the truth was… Master Xiao was so wealthy that he was definitely going to have the thing that you needed… Neither of you has done anything wrong. You both just wanted to get the things you needed! However, what you did brought you a horrible enemy! Master Xiao! He is just a vertical bamboo flute player, but in fact, he is unfathomable.”

“I wouldn’t bother to guess what happened tonight because it was obvious. The guardians came out because of a fight in the city. You were in the fight for sure, and you were fighting against the people of Master Xiao.”

“You came to this city and didn’t get what you wanted, but messed with a man who turned out to be so powerful. You have plunged yourself into big trouble.”

Ye Xiao’s cold eyes stared at Bu Xiangfeng, and he said, “You don’t want to die, so you are here… It is such a coincidence, but I never like it this way.”

“Don’t stare at me like that. I have thought through everything. I don’t fear what you might do to me in the City of Chaos. I don’t fear, so I do whatever I want to do.”

Ye Xiao smiled and said, “There are always accidents, no matter how confident I am. To make sure I will be safe, I did what I did. I realized that you really did not want to die. You fear death more than I do… You have a reason not to die. Even if you know that I won’t shout, you don’t want to take the risk. You will stop me! You will beg me! You will get down before me.”

Ye Xiao blandly looked at Bu Xiangfeng and said, “Why would I fear you? Especially when

everything is on the table, why would I fear? You should think about how to ask me for a chance to live!”

Bu Xiangfeng sat down on the chair.

He had gathered a strong murderous qi on him, but the murderous qi was weakened bit by bit. Now there was none left. Bu Xiangfeng was frustrated.

“I have never thought that there is actually somebody who can make such a conjecture with only a few traces… This is impressive…” Bu Xiangfeng made a long sigh. “You are just a young man.”

“I am impressed.” He meant it.

“Impressed? I believe you truly mean it. However, when this is over, you will kill us. Won’t you?” Ye Xiao said with a smile.

“Of course, I will.” Bu Xiangfeng took a breath and said, “I really don’t want to kill you if I have a choice, but you have to die.”

“Because you showed your face to us, and we have seen the disgraceful side of you? Because I know your secret? As long as we are alive, you won’t feel safe. I think that is a fair reason. I would do the same if I were you!” Ye Xiao said.

“It is good that you understand.” Bu Xiangfeng humphed and coldly said, “Living in the world, one has to do many things. No matter what he has done, he should do it for the first desire that is unchanged!”

“That’s honest.” Ye Xiao thought for a while and then nodded. “My first choice is to shout as loudly as I can to draw over the guardians, who will kill you immediately. It will get me and my man killed, but you will die too. That is at least what I can do. What do you think? Do I dare?”

Bu Xiangfeng seemed to be quite upset, and he said, “It is truly your best choice. Otherwise, you will only have peace for one night. After tonight, I will hunt you down and kill you. It is better to die while killing the enemy, rather than to wait for death! I can understand it! If I were you, I would make the same choice!”

“It is difficult to be friends, but it is also difficult to be enemies. I think that is exactly what we are!” Ye Xiao smiled.

“How can you smile? I, Bu Xiangfeng never admired anybody, but I have to admit that I do

admire you. If you can live, maybe you will stir some great disturbance in the world someday!

What a shame!” Bu Xiangfeng said in a deep voice.

It meant he had made up his mind to kill Ye Xiao after the crisis was over. No matter what Ye Xiao did, no matter he would call for the guardians or not, Bu Xiangfeng would kill him. In other words, Ye Xiao was dead! Bu Xiangfeng might escape the guardians, but Ye Xiao was surely going to die!

Ye Xiao suddenly said, “I know you are not a man without a conscience. I know you won’t twist the truth. You are quite humble to me, so I guess I should give you a chance.”

Bu Xiangfeng coldly humphed and said, “I can easily kill you. What makes you think that I need you to give me a chance? You have only one last second to make a choice! I am going to kill you now!”

“Wait!” Ye Xiao pointed two fingers up and said, “The longer it takes, the better situation it is to you. You know that, don’t you? As long as the guardians are gone, there is nothing I can do to hurt you. Since I don’t hurry, why do you? You don’t have to send us both to hell so soon!”

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked, and he said, “What do you mean? Are you going to give up the only chance that can get me killed? Will you wait for tomorrow and let me kill you?”

Ye Xiao smiled and said, “You are not the only one who wants to live a long life. I am too. I don’t want to do it now, because I am trying to figure out a solution that can save both of us!”

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked. He automatically withdrew the murderous qi. Apparently, he did want to have a solution to save both sides as well.

After all, he wasn’t in full power, so he was not sure he could escape the guardians after killing

Ye Xiao!

At the very least, even if Ye Xiao was just playing tricks, the longer it took, the better it was for

Bu Xiangfeng. No matter what happened next, Bu Xiangfeng could surely accept it.

Ye Xiao didn’t hesitate, so he said, “There is a simple way that can solve this problem. Just don’t kill me! Don’t think that I am bragging. I am not powerful, but I am rich. I can move. I can move to wherever I want to live. I can go and live around the guardians.

“I think you understand this. Money doesn’t mean anything, but sometimes money solves all problems. I can get somewhere to live under the protection of the guardians, and trust me, it won’t be difficult. You won’t get to kill me, but I may become the biggest problem that tortures you in your heart. You can’t kill me.”

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked.

After a while, he gritted his teeth and said, “You are terrible! Money does solve many things!”

“I don’t think I have a choice. I have to do it to save my life. Other than this, I can’t think of

another way. Your life doesn’t mean anything to me, so I won’t exchange my life just for your death. That is such a stupid deal for me!”

Ye Xiao put down one of his two fingers that were pointing up, and said, “Of course, it is not quite a satisfying solution for you. You may still want to kill me first. I can give you one thing in return if you keep me alive… I can give you one thing that you want.”

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked. He looked at Ye Xiao and said, “What? What could you give me?” “You want a perfect Farewell Sword, don’t you? I can fix it, and I can enhance it! It will become

the true divine weapon.” Ye Xiao sounded indifferent, but what he just said was explosive.

“…” Bu Xiangfeng started to breathe heavily.

He stared at Ye Xiao and couldn’t believe what the man just said.

“You don’t believe me, because you don’t think I have the power. Do you know why I am rich?” Ye Xiao blandly said, “Simple. The five rare metals that were sold in the auction of the Brotherhood Alliance’s salesroom belonged to me… I got all my money from the five metals!”

Bu Xiangfeng widely opened his eyes in shock and said, “You? Was it you?”

“Yes, I am the owner!” Ye Xiao smiled and said, “I got the rare metals, which means I know how to get more. We were enemies, and our lives are both in danger at the moment. I don’t need to lie. I hate liars, and I am definitely not one.”

Ye Xiao looked at Bu Xiangfeng with confidence. When he talked, he sounded so proud and certain.

Bu Xiangfeng was shocked again. This must be a special day for him because he was shocked so many times.

“What do you think you can do for me?” Bu Xiangfeng stayed quiet for a while and asked.

When Ye Xiao started talking, the Dark Evil Spirit started to have a weird expression on his

eyes.

It was admiration… It was obedience…

As the Dark Evil Spirit looked at Bu Xiangfeng, the expression changed too.

When Ye Xiao started to talk, the Dark Evil Spirit started to feel relieved when he looked at Bu Xiangfeng.

‘Just listen… Just keep listening to the young master… Listen to him, and we will all be safe…’

When Ye Xiao said half of the words, the Dark Evil Spirit felt totally relieved. When he looked at

Bu Xiangfeng, he thought, ‘We are safe now. What a horrible man!’

When Bu Xiangfeng showed his murderous qi, the Dark Evil Spirit was surprised. ‘How is this possible? The young master is good at persuasion. How could he fail this time? Was he too playful?’

When Ye Xiao started to talk about enhancing the Farewell Sword, the Dark Evil Spirit was thrilled up.

He thought, ‘He still got the great persuasion technique! He is invincible! This is not an exception! This man is going to be fooled! This is it…’

When he heard Bu Xiangfeng asked what Ye Xiao could do for him, the Dark Evil Spirit already thought that Bu Xiangfeng was not an enemy anymore. ‘Well, he is with us now. Boss Bu, please do take care of me…’

“It is easy to do this, but I need your word… and I need protection. Well, I need a guard.” Ye Xiao seriously looked at Bu Xiangfeng and sincerely said, “After what just happened, I realized I am insecure.”

“You…” Bu Xiangfeng jumped up and pointed at his own nose and said with uncertainty, “You… You… You young man… You… You are only at level three of the Faery Origin Stage! How dare you want me, the Farewell Sword, Bu Xiangfeng, to be your guard? Are you sure? Are you out of your mind? What is wrong with you?”

He seemed to be utterly humiliated and started to desperately fly into a rage.

…