Realms In The Firmament

Ye Xiao wasn’t worried about whether the rest of the people of the Monarch’s Hall would leave or not.

In fact, he didn’t care!

For him, those who could resist the lure and chose to stay were the men he truly needed.

What happened at the moment was a severe competition, so he could select those he needed the best!

The Seven Golden Lotuses gave him the biggest support, but Ye Xiao had never seen it as a part of the Monarch’s Hall. After all, the power came from others, and he never truly relied on it!

Those who chose to leave him easily meant nothing to him. How could he put his trust in people like that?

What Ye Yunduan was doing actually helped Ye Xiao select the good ones from the masses. Ye Xiao wouldn’t try to stop it. Why would he?

Even if all the people of the Monarch’s Hall were gone, he wouldn’t be any more frustrated.

At the very least, he could start over again, with his own hands. If one thing didn’t work, he would find another!

Ye Yunduan had finished his speech, but people of the Monarch’s Hall were still in silence.

Bu Xiangfeng, the Dark Evil Spirit, Bai Long, Qiu Luo, and Meng Youjiang all showed a dark and sullen face. They were staring at Ye Yunduan. They wanted to kill this guy, and they were holding the impulse down!

As the descendant of the Great Ye Clan, it was understandable that he would go against the Monarch’s Hall and Ye Xiao. After all, he had to take back the four clans of the Seven Golden Lotuses!

However, he had taken them back now. He won the conflict, and he had brought hostility to the Monarch’s Hall. He should stop now, but he didn’t. He kept making further moves, trying to take over the rest of the people of the Monarch’s Hall. That went too far.

‘You talked like you are so sincere and kind, but we are not blind. Look at your gloating eyes. We can clearly see it! Look how you keep looking at our Monarch, trying to provoke him! That is disgusting!’

‘You have taken what you wanted. Why do you have to humiliate people like this?’

‘We can’t follow a man like this. He may sell us immediately someday!’

Ye Yunduan was surprised that nobody responded. He thought the men felt embarrassed to leave, so he said again, “Aren’t you interested? I can give you more things to show sincerity. Whoever leaves with me today will be a member of the team under my direct leadership. Each of them will get three dan beads that can save them from death. Other than that, each of them gets a divine weapon. How about that?”

As he was speaking, he raised up his wrist and turned over his hand. A saber was in his hand, and it created a glittering stream of light that drew an image of a lotus. The light glittered in the air like a rainbow.

The guards who stood around Ye Yunduan took out their iron rod and threw them into the lights. As the rods touched the saber lights, they became pieces of scraps.

“This is one of the divine weapons that I promise you. You won’t get a weaker one. You have my word.” Ye Yunduan was so friendly and humble, but it didn’t deny the fact that he was trying to buy people’s loyalty.”

The men of the Monarch’s Hall were still in silence, but some of them started to be moved.

“I am patient. I can wait.” Ye Yunduan sincerely said, “As long as you can be absolutely loyal to me, and join me to the greatness in the martial world, I can wait. I can wait as long as you need. A fine bird chooses a solid tree to perch in. A good man chooses the right leader to follow. I would like to spend more time on the right ones.”

At this moment, a big tough guy abruptly stood out and said in a deep voice, “I am only at level three of the Divinity Origin Stage. Will you accept me?”

Ye Yunduan was delighted. He just wanted somebody to step out and be the first. The guy was at level three of the Divinity Origin Stage, and even if he was at the Faery Origin Stage, Ye Yunduan would be glad to accept him. “Brother, I am grateful for your approval. Of course, I accept you! Come over, join us, and we are brothers!”

That man nodded and then walked ahead.

However, the man who stood right in front of him did not make way. In fact, the man even moved a bit to stand in his way.

“Please. Excuse me.” The tough guy said.

“What? Who do you think you are?” Several men who stood in front of him turned around. One of them was Du Qingkuang, who disdainfully said, “You? A disgusting man like you? How dare you ask me to make way? One more word and I will kill you right here, right now!”

“Pah!”

He spat on the tough guy’s face. Du Qingkuang kept talking disdainfully, “Ungrateful piece of sh*t! F*cking traitor! How dare you speak to me?”

The tough guy was so awkward. His face turned red and he didn’t know what to say.

“Qingkuang, move aside. Let him go.” Ye Xiao calmly said, “Let him leave! Do you want to keep a man like this around us?”

Du Qingkuang was enlightened and said, “That’s true. I should have seen it. What an idiot I am! Sorry, that was my fault. Please, go now. Move!”

The tough guy walked out of the crowd then staggered to Ye Xiao. He said with embarrassment, “Master, I am sorry… I… I dream of a divine weapon that belongs to me… I… Well…”

Ye Xiao blandly said, “Go now. You don’t owe me anything. All men fight for themselves. Just keep the words that you gave me in the beginning. There is nothing else I want from you. Go now.”

Li Erleng, the tough guy, bowed and ran to Ye Yunduan, with his head low.

Li Erleng was the first, and it was only the beginning. Over one hundred men of the Monarch’s Hall went to Ye Xiao, bowed, and ran to Ye Yunduan with their heads low.

People kept coming to join him, and Ye Yunduan was more and more delighted.

The Monarch’s Hall people were shouting abusive words. Some of them even attacked those who chose to leave.

“Bastard! You ungrateful dogs! How could you do this?”

“Son of a b*tch! Are you a man? Does your vow not count?”

“Lord Monarch saved your life, and yet you do this to him? How dare you?”

“Lord Monarch taught us not to hurt those who turn away from us. You and I are no longer friends anymore. I would like to call you a bastard, and I hope we will meet again because I will beat you up to death whenever I meet you! Wait for me!”

“I am going to kill you now! You ungrateful son of a b*tch!”

…

Ye Yunduan watched those men running over to join him. He was so happy, enjoying the moment and stared at Ye Xiao. That was obviously provoking!

However, Ye Xiao was calm, standing there without moving a bit. In fact, he seemed to feel relieved while watching those people go. He truly wasn’t annoyed at all.

“Why are you happy about this? I have no idea what is it that amuses you. Could you share it with me?” Ye Yunduan asked with a smile.

“Oh, you got me. I thought nobody could tell I was glad. I guess I am still too young, so I am not good at covering my true feelings. This is delightful, what is happening now. How can I not feel happy?” Ye Xiao seriously said, “A righteous man has nothing to hide from the public. Since you asked, I would love to answer. Thank you for what you did, Brother Ye. It is always difficult to tell the disloyal follower from the loyal ones. When the wind blows strong enough, the gold under the sand will come out. Brother Ye, what you are doing is helping me a lot. This helps me select the men I truly need. However, you do not ask for the credit. What an honorable man! What a shame we are not at the table with drinks. I should drink for this!”

Ye Yunduan’s face was twisted. His delighted face froze immediately.

It was so awkward as if he had just realized what he had been enjoying turned out to be a piece of sh*t in his mouth.

Ye Xiao was right. What he did helped him select the loyal ones!

What did Ye Yunduan need those disloyal men for?

Ye Yunduan was mad, and he loudly said, “Meng Youjiang, you are clever enough to see the truth. I would love to have you on my side to reach greatness in the future! What do you think?”

The hostility was obvious now. Ye Yunduan decided not to pretend to be humble anymore. In order to recruit some powerful cultivators of the Monarch’s Hall, he directly talked to Meng Youjiang.

Meng Youjiang was the head of the Department of Battle and the most powerful man under Ye Xiao’s leadership. He used to be the leader of the Dark Wind Mountain, and it made him famous.

The Monarch’s Hall had lost the four clans, and most of its men were gone. Over ten percent of the people who stayed were from the Dark Wind Mountain. Other than that, the Dark Wind Mountain was a sub branch of the Monarch’s Hall, in which all the people followed Meng Youjiang’s command!

If Meng Youjiang joined Ye Yunduan, most of the Monarch’s Hall people would leave with him. It must be a severe strike in Ye Xiao’s heart, and it might cause the collapse of the Monarch’s Hall immediately!

If Meng Youjiang left for Ye Yunduan, this was not a selection to Ye Xiao anymore!

Ye Yunduan was confident that Meng Youjiang would join him because he had given Meng Youjiang three great dan beads, a hundred thousand purple spirit coins, and a chance to have a breakthrough in cultivation. He had promised to give whoever joined him more great things, and he thought nobody could resist it.

At least, he thought that Meng Youjiang couldn’t resist it, because he was just a leader of a second-class local force!

Meng Youjiang stepped forward and said loudly, “Thank you for your invitation, but I don’t think I am good enough to join you. I am weak and foolish. I don’t want to be a sandbag to your Saint Origin Stage cultivators.”

He laughed and then said, “In my opinion, it is always better to be the head of a group of weaklings, than to be the bottom of a group of strongest. I am nobody. I believe you agree with me!”

“I can’t say that I am an honorable man, but I am definitely not a contemptible person. I don’t think I can do this!”

“Besides… I have my own principle…” Meng Youjiang looked around and suddenly spoke loudly, “I would rather die with honor than live with shame! I would rather die with my brothers than live alone!”

“Well said!” Over one thousand and six hundred men of the Monarch’s Hall, who decided to stay, shouted at the same time to support him.

That shook the entire world.

Those who had left for Ye Yunduan kept their heads down and didn’t dare to look at the others in the eyes.

“Let them go. Let them leave!” Meng Youjiang said, “People like that are dishonorable! They are traitors! How can we trust them with our lives? How can we let them stay with us in the Monarch’s Hall? It is a good thing to let them leave! Whoever wants to go, move now!”

“That is correct! Those who want to go must go now!”

People cheered.

Master Ju, Master Yun, and Master Song realized that the Monarch’s Hall was still spirited up, yet those who left and came to join them were frustrated. The three old men sighed.

Ye Yunduan was a young lord of a great clan. He was excellent in many parts when compared to ordinary people. However, when compared to Ye Xiao, he couldn’t win.

The three old men were experienced and cunning, so they could see what Ye Xiao was doing. Ye Yunduan was a lot worse than Ye Xiao at playing schemes.

The three old men sighed.

If they hadn’t met Ye Xiao, Ye Yunduan would be good enough to impress them. However, Ye Xiao was right opposite to them now. Ye Yunduan insisted to compare himself with Ye Xiao, trying to oppress Ye Xiao. That was awkward because he only got to humiliate himself in the end.

It was a difference between the clouds and the mud!

It was a difference between the sky and the earth!

Ye Yunduan made his promise, trying to take over most of Ye Xiao’s people. However, in the end, he got only one hundred and forty-three. It meant nothing for the Monarch’s Hall because they had over two thousand Divinity Origin Stage cultivators.

Li Erleng was an example. The one hundred and forty-three men were all weak cultivators who did not have a strong will.

These men were useless!

The outcome was not as Ye Yunduan expected, and that pissed him off. He felt disgraceful, and he had an impulse to destroy the Monarch’s Hall immediately. However, he kept pressing down the impulse, because it was not a good time to do this yet.

The Seven Golden Lotuses had finally gathered together to stand on his side. Master Guan of the Guan Clan left with anger.

If Ye Yunduan killed the Monarch’s Hall right now in front of the four clans, what would happen?

Ye Yunduan wasn’t sure. He couldn’t take the risk.

It was never too late to kill. He was going to have the opportunity to kill Ye Xiao and the Monarch’s Hall someday!

When Ye Yunduan was going to give the order to retreat, Bu Xiangfeng suddenly stepped out. He walked to Ye Xiao and bowed.

Ye Yunduan was excited. ‘Is Bu Xiangfeng going to join me? If he comes to my side, it will be such a pleasant surprise!’

…