Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
At the height of midsummer, the rays of the sun beat down relentlessly. A patch of grass made the heat a little more bearable with the coolness it brought. As the wind blew, the grass swayed romantically.
A silhouette appeared from afar. With her gown floating, she resembled a fairy descending onto earth. Her steps slowed as she neared and a delicate and charming face appeared. At about twenty years old, she was beaming with youthful energy and her charming face demanded attention. She wore a simple lotus-colored dress with minimal frills, looking comfortable and natural. Her every gesture was elegant and seemed to move the skies.
She rounded a mountain and after confirming that nobody was following her, her body flashed and she leapt on to the middle of two rocks. Splitting through the long weeds, she entered a hidden cave.
In the cave sat two people. The first looked matured, aged roughly around thirty to forty years old. His hair was in a mess and his face a pale white. Streaks of blood could be seen around the corners of his mouth. A white fog seemed to linger around his head, while sinister energy overflowed from his body. He was in the midst of recuperation. The other guy was well-dressed, donning bright clothes and even a jade belt. He looked to be only slightly older than the woman. He had neat facial features but lacked steadiness.
Seeing that the lady had returned, the well-dressed guy stood up frantically to welcome her. A subconscious smile made it onto his face, “Lady Yun Le, did you notice anything?”
Lady Yun Le looked at the injured man and lowered her voice, “Just a few thieves, no sign of the seekers.”
Her manner of speech was calm but held an air of arrogance. This confident manner was built upon her numerous wins and successes. At this age, only this attitude of arrogance beyond the skies showed.
The well-dressed guy breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good, that’s good.”
“How is Senior Liang’s injury?” Lady Yun Le asked as she held a plain long blade. At her young age, she already had a chivalrous and noble attitude.
The well-dressed guy answered, “Senior Liang has just taken the Miraculous Elixir. He would need about an hour more to stabilise himself.”
Lady Yun Le nodded and sat down cross-legged at the entrance of the cave, she half monitored the situation outside the cave and half took a rest.
After a few breaths, she took out a few pieces of paper and smiled sweetly to the well-dressed man, “I never thought that a few thieves would also worry about the Heaven and Earth Man List.”
“Ha ha, the change in the Heaven and Earth Man List would also change the overall power, who would not be concerned?” the well-dressed man replied with a fawning smile, “Is it the latest edition?”
Lady Yun Le shook her head and a stray strand of hair fell out of her neatly combed black hair to brush her cheek, “I will know after I see it.”
The well-dressed guy was momentarily dazzled as he said, “Lady Yun Le, you use the meadows to travel around and step into nature such that if you fight with Huamei Heights, you are sure to rank first!”
The full name of Lady Yun Le was actually Mu Yun Le. In the Connection between Man and Nature, using her sword abilities, actually ranked among the first five in the Man List. No doubt now that if she has improved, she would surely rank first.
Mu Yun Le smiled a small smile, her dimples showing lightly on her snow white face, “Senior Fei, it has been three years since the Connection between Man and Nature, if I wanted to follow my seniors and become successful, I would already have been halfway there. Also, the sword technique must be under the guidance of Mister Luda and he is not any worse than me. If I were to compare to him, Number One on the Man List, I am still lacking heat control and zen.”
That one sentence of Mister Luda’s sword technique not being any worse than hers already showed her inner pride.
The well-dressed man gazed at her face with infatuation, completely admiring her smile that successfully won multiple challenges. He lightly breathed out, “Mister Luda’s zen is larger than yours by a full five years, if he were your age, you would probably be more successful.”
Mu Yun Le’s mouth pinched into a smile as she accepted the compliment without an ounce of shyness, she was confident and at ease. Starting to say something she suddenly paused for a moment, staring blankly, and sighed, “Speaking of Senior Fei reminds me of Mister Luda. The only regret is the ten year promise between him and Senior Su Wu Ming. There is still three years to go in the battle of the two strongest in Sword Fairy…”
This has been something that every single swordsman has been looking forward to and the only regret is that she could not watch it.
“Yes, Senior Su became an Earth Fairy eight years ago and has been living in the same realm as Lord Lu. A pity that in the recent two years, so many things have happened, the Devil Master’s return, the appearance of Dharmaraja, and they all entered the realm of the Earth Fairy. Moreover, because of Dharmakaya, the Xuan Tian Sect guardian and Grandmother of the Clan of Xiahou were frequently defeated. The Demon race also often met with troubles, being the cornerstone of the two Righteous sects, they had to push any decisions to be made after five years,” the well-dressed man agreed.
Mu Yun Le flipped through heaven’s list and realised that there were minimal changes to two years ago. She immediately compared it to the Terrestrial Rankings.
Looking at them, she glowed and said, “Senior Jiang has made it to the top in the Terrestrial Rankings!”
“Hero Jiang, Jiang Zhi Wei?” the well-dressed man was also astonished.
Mu Yun Le could not contain her smile as her eyes were filled with admiration. Her eyes scanned the page quickly as she said, “Senior Jiang is currently in the meadow with the Western border meeting with an expert on the Half-step of Living Buddha of Rotary. Using whatever damage she had inflicted, she will move up to the top in the Terrestrial Rankings. Ah, Xi Jian Pavilion has been repeatedly successful, for two generations, making other houses seem inferior.”
“Killing Oracle Feng Dian, defeating the Frenzied Wanderer of the Six Seas and inflicting severe damage on the Living Buddha of Rotary. Senior Jiang’s top ranking in the Terrestrial ranking is really deserved,” the well-dressed man exclaimed, half out of sincerity and half just to agree. This was because the beautiful woman in front of him had always admired Legendary Swordswoman Jiang Zhi Wei and treated her as a goal.
After being listed on the Terrestrial Rankings, Jiang Zhi Wei’s nickname had gradually changed. After remarkable military success in the recent ten years, her nickname had changed from Invincible Sword Fairy to Legendary Swordswoman.
“First in Terrestrial Rankings, first in the Dharmakaya…” Mu Yun Le’s eyes were dazzling in admiration of Senior Jiang’s achievements.
“Who is second?” the well-dressed man was also very interested in the Terrestrial Rankings and proceeded to ask.
Mu Yun Le looked down and her face suddenly became down casted as she bit into her lip.
Oh no, it’s him? The well-dressed man already knew who was second in the Terrestrial Rankings.
The Demon Emperor Qi Zhengyan!
Mu Yun Le was a disciple of Huan Hua and her master was the Green Lotus Prince Liu Su. Qi Zhengyan was her master’s brother, born in Huan Hua, he was ordinary at birth but slowly excelled and the sect had put a lot of effort into grooming him. But ten years ago, he mysteriously disappeared and was rumored to have entered the Nine Levels of Underground and only appeared four years ago. Unfortunately, he was said to have become a member of the Devil’s Claws and was actually their leader, Dharmakaya of Half-Step. Although he had not done any truly evil deed, his actions made many sects across the world look at him with horror. He was ousted at the biggest devil and repeated attempts to kill him has always resulted in failure and that fear was what gave him the nickname Demon Emperor.
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Huan Hua felt deeply humiliated and announced their expulsion of Qi Zhengyan. Due to irreconcilable differences, they even sent Master Liu Su, an expert, to lead the Heavenly Troops to kill Qi Zhengyan. But Qi Zhengyan retreated, refusing to go to battle and become enemies.
Therefore, whenever the name Demon Emperor Qi Zhengyan is mentioned in Huan Hua, the mood would always be ruined.
Mu Yun Le stared blankly for a while before sighing, “Qi Zhengyan was not that outstanding when he was in the sect, who knew that now when he is not in the sect, he is the strongest figure related to Huan Hua.”
“Yeah, he used to be the main support for Ye Du; my fourth uncle used to have dealings with him and never thought he was anyone outstanding,” the well-dressed man was named Wang Tong, from the Wang Family from Zhou Jun. His fourth uncle was the Guardian Sword Wang Zai, who in the last year broke the Wang Family’s record for youngest guru.
The atmosphere in the cave slowly became grave, Mu Yun Le subconsciously looked down at the ranking list and saw the Life Master Wang Siyuan, the Invisible Sword He Jiu, Gao Lan’s daughter, the Wu Wang Earth Fairy, Yan Chong, Qing Yu, Shangguan Heng, Ruan Shuyu, her own master Liu Su. They were all the top hundred in the rankings, even the top thirty and twenty!
The rankings dozens of years ago were filled with such bright people, surpassing all their predecessors with worry that no one would be able to match their brilliance in the future.
At that time, there was still a master above them, like a comet shining in the sky, the true talent surpassing the others… Wu Tong suddenly sighed, his fourth uncle frequently drowned his sorrows alone, missing his good friend from ten years ago.
If only he were alive now, who would be his competitor in the rankings? Or would the rankings even be possible to change?
In the silence, the middle aged man named Liang suddenly made a cry of pain and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, opening his eyes.
“Senior Liang, are you okay?” Mu Yun Le regained her senses and quickly asked.
Liang Jiu Zhou spat a few times and said, “My injury has stabilized, I just can’t use my powers for the time being, I have to quickly get going, being late may result in fearful changes.”
Mu Yun Le said resolutely, “Senior Liang, let us send you!”
“This trip is dangerous and you all do not know the details, how can you all just simply trust me like this?” Liang Jiu Zhou attempted to dissuade them.
Mu Yun Le smiled like a river and said, “Middle State Master Gu Changqing, the couple is famous across the world, junior has always respected them, if Senior Liang is brothers with Master Gu and he trusts you, we would naturally trust you, too!”
These group of people were all skilled and well-known figures, especially Gu Changqing who was said to have crossed the first level of the Heavenly Stairs.
“Good!” Liang Jiu Zhou approved, “I found traces of the reappearance of the Longevity Sect in the meadow and there has also been the appearance of numerous experts. I suspect that the Longevity Sect is about to return and we must quickly report this news back.”
“Senior Liang, there is no time to lose, we must be on our way quickly,” Mu Yun Le and Wang Tong locked gazes and quickly agreed harmoniously.
The trio left the secretive cave and went back in the South direction. As night fell, they reached the boundary and stepped into a lonely mountain range.
At this point, the sky was pitch black with no moon or stars. The days in the sixth month changed drastically without warning as a heavy rain suddenly poured from the skies.
“Senior Liang, the night is dark, and the rain is heavy, it may be hard to proceed. Maybe we should find a place to spend the night,” Mu Yun Le suggested.
In the past ten years, the mountain ranges often have sightings of demons from the Demon race. With the heavy rain and darkness, it would be easy to fall into trouble.
Liang Jiu Zhou nodded in agreement and scouted in front of him. Suddenly he pointed to somewhere not too far away and said, “There is a light there.”
Mu Yun Le and Wang Tong looked where he pointed simultaneously and only saw that among the descending darkness, a weak yellow light emitting circles of light rays and could somewhat make out a temple.
“The Green Light Temple…” Mu Yun Le thought, “that must be a place built by a devoted monk for passersby to rest and escape danger, we can go there to take a look.”
Liang Jiuzhou and Wang Tong agreed and they slowly proceeded forward.
Once they were near their destination, they saw the disheveled state of the temple. The cave door was crooked and a broken lamp glowed softly. Only the main hall appeared in a good state where a small pond lay near it.
Dong, dong, dong… in the depths of the night at the temple, a single, repeating percussion tune echoed through the rain.
Instantaneously, Wang Tong, Liang Jiuzhou, and Mu Yun Le were filled with emotion and they immediately fell silent as they soaked in the tune.
Dong, dong, dong. The percussion tune traveled far through the rain. There was a sense of silence and peace with it.
Mu Yun Le sighed in a long breath before he walked towards the door and knocked on it.
Once she got closer to it, her eyes brightened. Through the crooked gates, she could see the few lotuses floating calmly in the pond. It glowed under the soft light of the broken lamp.
The deep jade green of the lotus leaf made the lotus flower look especially red.
As the rain poured, the wooden fish was far.
…
In the world of gods.
A young man that looked approximately 30 years old calmly stared at the student in front of him.