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Chapter Three Because You Are Too Beautiful
writer:无罪      update:2022-07-21 15:26
  To a city who usually did not have much precipitation, the storm came without warning, hitting the banana trees, toppling the walls, causing the roofs to leak, and drowning the goods that hadn’t been transported away. It was frustrating.

  In an alley like Falling Parasol, according to the name, this was a place where many parasol trees were plants.

  In Changling, the destitute households were the collective name for the hawkers, travelling merchants, renters and servants who did not have their own land and residences. The environment of their residential surroundings was much worse and dirtier than normal streets.

  Other than the leaves that had fallen due to the wind and rain, some vegetable leaves and chicken excrement floated in the puddles formed from the uneven slate road.

  Ding Ning, whose feet were soaked and was covered in mud and dust, was rushing. The handmade yellow canvas umbrella he held was higher-quality than the ordinary ones on the market and also heavier. This created a great burden on him. He had to constantly switch hands on the umbrella and the oil bottle. He also had to guard against the umbrella being blown by the rain and wind to one side, and so he could not walk fast.

  The street-side shop up ahead was completely hidden in the shadow of the storm and the parasol trees. He could only see a blurry blue wine flag floating helplessly.

  Under the blue flag was a small wine shop. The decorations were like any other ordinary shop that made their own wine. The hall by the street had several thick and crude square tables. At the counter, other than wine bottles, there were crude pottery for holding peanuts, pickled vegetables and other dishes to go with the wine. Inside the shop was a wine-making space and a self-occupied residence.

  When he walked under the eaves of the wine shop, Ding Ning finally sighed in relief. He closed the heavy umbrella, shook his sore arms and roughly scraped the mud off the bottom of his shoes before he walked in.

  The wine shop was completely empty.

  It wasn’t that business was usually bad. From the round and shiny corners of the tables worn away by cloth sleeves, one would know that people would brush against these tables and chairs many times in a day.

  But wine customers with money and idleness may not be in the mood to come out on a day like this. And those customers without the free time were most likely dealing with their leaking houses due to the sudden storm.

  “Could you not scrape the mud off on the stone steps outside, why on the door sill?” A displeased female voice scolded from inside the courtyard, like a burst of cool autumn wind sweeping across the empty tables and chairs.

  Ding Ning smiled, unconcerned. ‘You don’t even want to do business. Even through the process of making wine has more than a dozen steps, you will randomly drop a few anyways. You are afraid of mud on the door sill?”


  The yard was silent for a few seconds. Then soft footsteps sounded and the curtain separating the inner courtyard from the outside was lifted.

  “If I knew that so many idlers would come to a wine shop in this place, I would never have listened to your idea.” The woman who lifted the curtain had a voice full of anger. “Also, whether or not the door sill is dirty is my personal feeling, it has nothing to do with business.”


  Ding Ning thought for a moment and said seriously, “I can apologize if it is personally offensive to you. But business being too good and having too many people has nothing to do with me, it is because you are too beautiful. Also, opening a wine shop is better than your initial idea of going to the red district to get information. When have you ever heard of a woman, born in a free family who could making a living, go to a brothel of their own accord? They might be born whores, but whores that only sold skill and not their bodies are remarkable people…… …… you think the people of the Astrology Bureau and Divinity Bureau are stupid?”


  The woman did not say anything because she knew each word Ding Ning said was the truth.

  Including the sentence that she was too beautiful.

  The beauty of most women came from their make-up and charm. They had many beautiful features or unique presences. Some women’s features were not beautiful, but when put together, they gave people an especially pleasing feeling.

  But this woman standing in the empty wine shop was beautiful everywhere.

  Her features, her body, whether one looked at a part or the whole, she was extremely beautiful.

  She could not be considered young, but she was perfectly at the age between youth and age. She had the charms of both. Even though her eyes were filled with anger, her expression cold, dressed in the most ordinary clothing, the feeling she gave others was one of great beauty.

  When she wore that normal hemp clothing, it seemed like the most beautiful and valuable clothes in the world.

  Anyone who saw this woman would believe that destructive beauty, the kind that would drain color out of the world, truly existed.

  She stood there coldly, wearing the most ordinary of clothing, but every part of her body seemed to shine, and could pull at people’s heartstrings.

  Her beauty was extraordinary, and the conversation between her and Ding Ning was also extraordinary.

  Because on the Divinity Bureau’s file, her name was Zhangsun Qianxue, and she was Ding Ning’s aunt. However, no aunt and nephew who depended on each other to survive would argue like this.

  The wine shop quieted and appeared cold.

  Ding Ning”s expression gradually turned grave. He thought of the five academians of Astrology Bureau who had surrounded Zhao Zhan’s courtyard, the little courtyard that had shattered into countless pieces in an instant. His bright eyes grew complicated.

  “Zhao Zhan is dead, Ye Celeng has returned,” he said softly.

  A long period of silence. The beautiful woman frowned and asked coldly, “Ye Celeng by herself?”


  Ding Ning guessed what the woman meant, and responded seriously, “Her alone. However, the five academians of the Astrology Bureau formed a formation outside which caused much of Zhao Zhan’s energies to vent into the sky. Also, Ye Celeng was wounded.”


  “She was wounded?” Zhangsun Qianxue’s brow furrowed slightly.

  “I couldn’t see the severity of her wounds, but definitely wounded.” Ding Ning looked at her eyes and said, “Ye Celeng comes from the Heavenly Prime Sword Pavilion, and cultivates the Fire-Water Divine Art. In this kind of storm, she is much stronger than usual. So while she was able to kill Zhao Zhan alone, she was wounded. This means that her strength is about par with Zhao Zhan.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue thought for a moment. “So Realm seven third class.”


  Her voice was extremely calm as she talked with D like they were just idly chatting. Yet if the officials of the Divinity Bureau from before could hear the conversation, they would be unimaginably shocked.

  Today, in that alleyway, dozens of cultivators had appeared together, and dozens of swordsmen had been forced into vomiting blood by the energy that had vented out. They had appeared extremely pitiful, unable to stand up. Yet usually, any of the swordsmen could completely flatten ten of those streets in the span of fifteen minutes.

  Only those with talent, opportunity and special physiques could enter the ranks of cultivators.

  The word cultivation was something untouchable to ordinary people. Cultivators that could reach Realm Six were fated to leave behind great passages on the books of history.

  Especially people as mysterious like Bureau Chief Ye. Her birth and cultivation method were all extremely mysterious. Even the academians of the Astrology Bureau might not know, but it wasn’t a secret to these people!

  And if the plainly-dressed old person and scholarly youth in that tower heard the conversation here, they would be even more shocked.

  They were some of the people with the best judgement in this city. But if they heard this conversation, they would find these two people were even more knowledgeable and insightful than they were!

  Wind blew into the wine shop and rustled Zhangsun Qianxue”s long hair.

  This beautiful woman casually gathered up her scattered hair. She said seriously in a commanding tone, “Go wash up, and then wait on the bed for me. I will close up the shop.”


  Even Ding Ning stilled, and then his expression twisted. “Now …… …… isn’t this too early?”


  Zhangsun Qianxue glanced at him and turned around coldly, “Maybe the cold energy of this storm is too heavy, my vital energy is slightly unstable.”


  Ding Ning”s relaxed expression disappeared. He said seriously, “This is extremely urgent.”


  Volume 3 3 - Vicious

  The silent youth had already discerned an unusual presence from this carriage; but when he heard the voice, he was slightly unaccustomed to it, thus his delayed response.

  It had been many years since someone called him by this name.

  The voice was young, and sounded familiar. A person who knew him could only be one of his childhood playmates. But he only had the most terrible memories of his playmates. In his memories, these people only counted as enemies; it was only because they were quite young, they had been placed together.

  “Who is it?” He just raised his head and asked coldly.

  “Back then, we had had a fight. You cannot even recognize my voice?” Meng Qihai, dressed in ordinary brocade robes, walked out of the carriage, his posture challenging, as he smiled at Li Xixing.

  As compared to childhood, his features had undergone a lot of changes. Li Xixing looked at Meng Qihai, listened to what he had to say before he recalled something. He smiled coldly, “I know who you are. You are the son of the Meng Marquessate Establishment.”


  Meng Qihai said with slight disdain, “What? You drank so much wine in Yuzhi, your tone is even more blunt than before.”


  Li Xixing was silent for a moment before saying coldly, “So according to you, after being forced into exile to Yuzhi because of all you people, I have to change my personality and return to fawn over you with smiles, even facing your insults?”


  Meng Qihai frowned. “It seems that your personality is hard to change. Li Xixing, back then, Duanmu Jingzong was a year younger than you. You were six, he was five. Could he understand? Even if he pulled out two of your tree seedlings, you could have just beaten him up. Don’t you feel it was too cruel to break two of his ribs? Everyone has grown up these years. You should understand principles better than before. Do you still feel that what you did was correct? Why do you think that no one liked you back then? Everybody was making a mistake?”


  Li Xixing suddenly erupted in anger and said, “You did not like me because you all feared me.”


  Meng Qihai sneered and asked, “Feared you?”


  Li Xixing sneered as well. “Because I was better than you in everything, reading, riding, swordsmanship, training, even hunting and recognizing medicine. I was much better than you. None of you could win a fight against me one-on-one. Of course you feared me.”


  Meng Qihai’s face turned flat, but before he spoke, Li Xixing’s visage turned cold. He continued. “Just like now, you still cannot win against me. So do not think that you can lecture me? Move aside. Otherwise, why do you think I came back to Changling?”


  “It must be because you are strong and performed well enough to enter a top tier sect of Changling for cultivation. Otherwise, it would be a waste of an exceptional young cultivator for the dynasty.” Fu Su pulled on Meng Qihai who was about to erupt and said gently, “But everybody has their strong points. Some people are skilled in fighting, others in reading and drawing, and even in understanding. Li Xixing, have you ever thought that you were better in all areas than those you played with was because they did not understand and find those things important to spend effort on?”


  “Of course!” At Fu Su’s words, Meng Qihai laughed coldly. “A young child would have a hard time supporting a tree seedling. When everybody was thinking about was eating candied hawthorn and flying kites, who would want to compete on planting trees? Who would feel that one had to put effort and energy into doing such things?”


  Li Xixing unconsciously frowned. He looked at Fu Su and seemed to find this person familiar.

  “Sometimes, when the time is wrong, and the wrong person is targeted, it is a mistake.” Fu Su looked at Li Xixing and said gently, “I was not in frequently with you during childhood, but I felt that it was too harsh for you to go to the border due to a childhood mistake for so many years. Albeit, everybody felt apologetic and hoped that, upon your return, your personality would have changed slightly. Perhaps then, you would find that everybody is very happy to be friends with you.”


  “So it is Imperial Son Fu Su.” Li Xixing finally recalled who this person was. His expression grew stern and he bowed.

  Fu Su nodded in return and said with a smile, “If you will not refuse, I can call our childhood playmates for a gathering.”


  After a moment of silence, Li Xixing shook his head and said, “Imperial Son Fu Su, thank you for your goodwill. But you are correct. People have their strong points. Some are skilled at making friends while others are not. I think that I am the kind of soldier suited for fighting in the battlefield. I have never accomplished making friends, and it is easy to make enemies after too much contact.”


  Hearing the resistance in the other’s words, Fu Su did not make any demands. He said gently, “You have just returned, and may be unaccustomed. How about staying for a while and watching? But the youth of Falling Parasol ……”


  He hesitated slightly. “He had done me a great favor, so I hope you will not make trouble for him.”


  Li Xixing bowed slightly again and said, “Since that is your intention, my father would agree. Before the Min Mountain Sword Trials, I will not appear here. But as per my father’s wishes, I will participate in the Min Mountain Sword Trials. If we meet in the Min Mountain Sword Trials, I will not hold back.”


  A smile of gratitude bloomed on Fu Su’s face as he said, “If you meet coincidentally, you are all future talents for the dynasty; so show mercy, if you are able.”


  Li Xixing responded positively in acknowledgement and without another word, bid farewell.

  Meng Qihai frowned at Li Xixing’s back. “It seems that he has turned worse.”


  Fu Su said calmly, “Anyone who is exceptional usually has strange tempers.”


  Meng Qihai said in slight sarcasm, “Because, the stranger the person, the more stubborn they are on their path?”


  Fu Su thought about it and said, “It could be put like that. The stranger the person, the more difficult it is for them to be influenced by others and the easier it is for them to persist in their way of thinking. Everyone has their uses. His father has a similar temper. While disliked by many, not many can truly rival him in fighting and war.”


  “Yes, in any case, they do not care if other people like them.” Meng Qihai glanced at Fu Su and said, “Let’s not talk about him …… have you thought of a way of becoming friends with the wine shop youth?”


  For Fu Su, helping Ding Ning by deflecting Li Xixing, was very simple. However,he did not know how to conceal his identity and get close to Ding Ning.

  He was lonely in the palace because he did not have friends.

  In his world, friends were a strange thing that he had no experience in.

  “Since his family sells wine, then we will go drink wine a few times and become good friends? Later, I will go in alone. You have seen him before, and he should have a memory of you.”


  After struggling for a while, Fu Su finally thought of a method he felt was plausible.

  —


  “You do not have many similarities to him.”


  In the wine shop, feeling the two youths come close, Zhangsun Qianxue looked at Ding Ning who had returned to the wine shop and coldly said, “Even though he has fate in his hand and the ability to decide battles a thousand miles ago, he would never use friends.”


  “So he died at the hands of friends,” Ding Ning said quietly. “One cannot be too pedantic at times.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue could not stop her anger from erupting because she felt that this was not that person’s mistake.

  Ding Ning’s words left her silent. “If he were not too much of a pendant, if he had not always been true to his word, if he had not trusted easily …… if he had changed earlier, perhaps, he would have seen people clearly much earlier. He would not have made so many mistakes and would have chosen to be with you long ago. So, I do not blame him …… I only hope that you do not blame him greatly.”


  “What is the use of blaming?” After a long moment, she replied coldly.

  Just then, footsteps sounded and Fu Su’s figure appeared in their sight.

  Ding Ning shot him a fleeting glance, like he was an ordinary customer. He whispered at a volume only he and Zhangsun Qianxue could hear, “Do you find him similar?”


  Zhangsun Qianxue only glanced at Fu Su and coldly said, “I can only see that whore’s features.”


  Ding Ning took a deep breath and spoke slowly in a low tone. “You should remember that person’s features very well …… if Fu Su comes frequently, could you slowly make him look more like that person?”


  Zhangsun Qianxue turned around and said, “Is that useful?”


  “It is.”


  Ding Ning said seriously and confidently, “You will not detect minute changes if you look at the same person daily. But after many days, this person would look different in other people’s eyes.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue said, “I am not speaking of that. I mean, will Emperor Yuanwu distrust that person because of this?”


  “This has to accumulate.” Ding Ning said, “Sometimes, a complete change just needs an opportunity.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue said in revulsion, “This is disgusting.”


  Ding Ning said, “I know you dislike doing something like this, but you must help me …… you see simply and only need to consider cultivation. For you, if your cultivation surpasses Emperor Yuanwu, you can kill him. But you know that Emperor Yuanwu is not an ordinary cultivator. Your goal is to only fight him alone. But I am going to fight an entire dynasty.”


  Zhangsun Qianxue did not say anything and walked into the courtyard.

  In the world of her and Ding Ning, this indicated silent agreement.

  “You want to buy wine?”


  Ding Ning raised his head and asked slowly when he saw Fu Su walking uneasily into the wine shop.

  Translator Ramblings: We are going to get into a whole new set of characters in this upcoming volume.

  Volume 6 3 - A New Big Player

  “Who is he?”


  After this cultivator left the camp, one of the officials of the Warden’s Office could not help but ask standing next to Sima Cuo.

  From Tang Mei’s display, everyone had underestimated his abilities in the past. Since Sima Cuo set the place of the final battle at Tianqi City, then Tang Mei had likely expected this, and there were powerful cultivators going to the city to help. Determining the possession of the city would be a fight between these powerful cultivators.

  Clearly, this ghostly cultivator who looked like a strategist cultivated the dark path of ghosts. Cultivators who did so usually had a hard time reaching realm seven than other cultivators, but once they did, their tactics were more strange and harder to deal with.

  During the Deer Mountain Conference, Yan Ying who had posed such a threat to Yuanwu was the best example.

  But from a certain point of view, the past of Yin energy and ghosts was unorthodox, and putting the key to victory on a person the Warden’s Office was not familiar with was not as reassuring as they were on a grand master that everyone knew.

  “There are not many who abandoned Ba Mountain Sword Field, but he is the one among them who has killed the most.” Sima Cuo looked at this official from the Warden’s Office and said, “He has not come here because of me.”


  “Ghost……”The expressions of many officials changed. The Warden’s Office official paled. He only said a word, but because he remembered who this was, he was unable to say the second word.

  **

  “What are these Chu people wanting to do?” Wei Wujiu walked out of the tent and looked darkly at the dust from the Chu border.

  There was a great distance between the Yin Mountain and the Yangshan Commandery. This meant that it was not possible to pass news quickly between the two battlefields. When the Chu army in the Yin Mountain area rode madly in the night and started the final battle, the Yangshan Commandery side had not received the military news.

  But if someone were to watch the entire situation, they would find before the Chu soldiers who were on the Yin Mountain border had not changed. The conflict between the Qin and Chu armies in the Yangshan Commandery area had started earlier than in the Yin Mountains.

  Most of the Qin troops in Yangshan Commandery were not far from the seventy thousand Chu people. The cavalry from the Chu who had been killed that night were one of the vanguards from the Chu non-army’s left flank. After that, the main Chu army on the border started to move towards the lake where the Chu people were. They seemed to plan to retreat and lure the Qin army to cross the border, but two days ago, the Chu army officially crossed the border, entered Yangshan Commandery, and then moved at many times their usual speed.

  Today, when the sun rose, Wei Wujiu sent the order for the entire army to advance at full speed to face the enemy. If the Chu army did not retreat, then at noon at the latest, the battle of Yangshan Commandery would absolutely start.

  The Qin army had been waiting and on guard for many days. Even when moving forward to face the enemy, they were like an enormous mouth, and their advantage in numbers formed a state where they were going to swallow their enemy.

  So no matter how much battle experience Wei Wujiu had, he could not understand why the Chu military was doing this. In his view, the only possibility was that there were major problems in the Chu court or the military.

  “Why would it be like this?”


  Wei Wujiu was not the only one who could not understand. Even Ji Xingbai could not understand. But unlike Wei Wujiu, he knew who to ask.

  “There is no reason.” Consort Zhao Xiang looked at the growing plumes of dust and said in a voice only he could hear. “This is something that was agreed on.”


  “Agreed on, so how to win?” Ji Xingbai could not understand.

  Consort Zhao Xiang did not answer, it was like she had not heard him. She looked silently at the sky above the Chu lands she was facing. The clouds formed, as heavy as cities, and then were torn apart by the primal energies of the universe into streams.

  The world started to tremble.

  No matter if they understood or not, tens of thousands of Chu soldiers and Qin soldiers collided together under the eyes of her and these seventy thousand people. The Chu Dynasty army formed an arrow shape that stabbed into the Qin army, while the Qin army used a winged formation like they wanted to surround the Chu army.

  Countless hooves stomped on the ground as smoke and dust danced madly. Swords and soldiers met. The air was filled with blood and limbs. The primal energies of the universe on the plains formed turbulent flows that swept up living horses and soldiers. even the heavy chariots, seal weapons, the arrows and the flying swords were caught up and swept into the sky.

  This was a battle so great it was unimaginable. Ordinary cultivators could not gather together primal energies of the universe in such a chaotic situation. They could only rely on their own vital energy and primal energies stored in their bodies to fight, and their power had decreased greatly compared to usual. The armies which had tangled together formed a bloody millstone, a true hell.

  When the two armies first made contact, they were thirty miles from the small lake where the seventy thousand were. But even so, gusts of wind brought along large metal pieces, bloody debris and even flying swords that fell into the lake.

  As time passed, the main battlefield grew closer and closer to the small lake. Bloody lines started to appear in the clear lake water. The soil of the battlefield was soaked in blood and so sticky that when powerful forces fell to the ground, no more dust billowed up, but waves of blood. The sun in the sky was shrouded by bloody clouds, and seemed to turn red as well, becoming a bloody sun in the sky.

  The cavalry on both sides seemed to be gone. Even the chariots had lost their original use, stuck in the blood and unable to form a perfect formation. There were zigzags of combat teams without any refined formations who just fought instinctively. Even as the light dimmed, the chaotic primal energies of the universe still swept the battlefield. Most of the dust had dissipated, so people could see the vast battle even more clearly.

  Ji Xingbai’s body was trembling from the start, and how, even his soul seemed to have left his body. His body was almost completely numb. He was not a general, but even he could see the direction the battle was taking.

  At the start of the battle, the Chu army had been able to advance and force the Qin army back. This meant that at the start, the Chu army had the advantage at the start. But now, he saw many of the enormous seal weapons of the Chu had fallen, but the Qin army flanks were still able to advance.

  The Chu army’s advantage was disappearing, and they seemed powerless to stop the Qin army from surrounding them. If there were no miracles, the victory of the battle would not be one side losing greatly, but the Chu army being completely slaughtered!

  He saw there seemed to be reserves at the rear of the Qin army, not truly on the battlefield. Some of the light cavalry were clearly for the final chase and slaughter.

  Ji Xingbai could not help but turn to Consort Zhao Xiang and hoped to see an answer from her eyes. The moment he turned, he saw that her eyes seemed to start burning. The feeling of flames came from the bright light in her eyes.

  She had been watching all this time, but now, she started to walk.

  Volume 2 3 - Before The Snowfall

  This chapter has been brought to you by me, and larkspur.

  Departure

  "Following Forefather to view an event like that will be of great benefit." Ding Ning said, after a moment of silence, "But even though I am cultivating outside, I am a student of Green Vine Sword School. If I am going far from Changling to Deer Mountain, I need the permission of my teachers."

  "If there are no mishaps, the Holy One will depart today." Forefather Zhou did not immediately answer Ding Ning and slowly said. Then he looked kindly at Ding Ning. "You naturally need permission from your teacher. But if you really want to come with me to watch, you have to be fast."

  "This junior understands," Ding Ning said as he respectfully bowed his head.

  Forefather Zhou smiled in satisfaction. "Then go. The Zhou carriages will wait here. If you are able to go, we can depart at any time."

  Meanwhile, Zhang Yi had been casting nervous glances at the alley entrance the entire time. Seeing Ding Ning return, he moved forward to ask softly, "Junior Sect Brother Ding Ning, What important matter caused Forefather Zhou to find you so early?"

  After a moment’s thought, Ding Ning said, "He wants me to accompany him to Deer Mountain."

  "Deer Mountain?"

  Though Zhang Yi’s had an overly benevolent personality, he possessed an intelligent mind as well. He immediately discerned what this meant and reacted gravely. "The Deer Mountain Conference is a gathering of the strongest cultivators in the world. It can be said to be the greatest cultivator event of the world. These powerful cultivator will fight. Even just sensing that kind of realm will be of great benefit to your future cultivation. Everyone knows this. However, no one knows how many cultivators from the Qin, Chu, Qi, and Yan dynasties will gather around Deer Mountain and what will happen."

  Pausing, Zhang Yi looked at Ding Ning and said with even more gravity, "Because never before has there been a conference like this, there are no examples to consult from."

  Before Ding Ning could respond, an old voice came from the small courtyard behind him. "You said so much. Your Junior Sect Brother Ding Ning must already know. It depends on what he thinks."

  Zhang Yi immediately turned around. "Cave Master, you are awake?"

  Xue Wangxu was sitting on the bed, slowly putting on his clothes as he said, "When you reach my age, you will learn even- if you want to sleep, any small noise will easily wake you up."

  Zhang Yi, who had reached the doorway, said shamefully in self-recrimination, "This disciple was too loud."

  "I am too old. It has nothing to do with you, come in." Xue Wangxu waited for the pair to enter the room before he looked at Ding Ning and asked, "There are no examples for Deer Mountain, it depends on what you think."

  Ding Ning glanced at him and simply said, "I want to go."

  "Since you have decided, then go." Xue Wangxu looked at Ding Ning and smiled. He said, "It seems that you only have to consider your safety."

  Ding Ning bowed deeply at Xue Wangxu and then also bowed to Zhang Yi with the same solemnity.

  "Little Sect Brother …… no, Junior Sect Brother Ding Ning, you are?" Ding Ning had rarely made such serious bows to Zhang Yi before, so he didn’t know what to do when he saw Ding Ning act like this.

  "During the time I am not in Changling, I will rely on you and Junior Sect Brother Shen Yi to take care of Cave Master. You have to take care of Cave Master until I return." Ding Ning looked at Zhang Yi and said calmly, "Deer Mountain is far. By the time the Deer Mountain Conference ends and I return, the Min Mountain Sword Trials would be due to start."

  Zhang Yi grasped Ding Ning’s meaning. He returned the bow with unusual gravity and said, "Junior Sect Brother Shen Yi and I will take good care of Cave Master Xue. We will wait for Junior Sect Brother Ding to return to shine at the Min Mountain Sword Trials and bring White Goat Cave true glory."

  "The sword essence of the Painting Remnant Scroll can rival any sword manual and the White Goat Sword Manual is also clever in its simplicity. I hope that Senior Sect Brother can advance." Ding Ning thought seriously for a moment and said to Zhang Yi, "I will tell Senior Sect Brother something. The Morning Rain Dampens the Dust. While the morning rain is gentle, it can cleanse away all. The White Goat Hanging Horn means to lock into a stalemate. The two’s true meanings may have similarities."

  Zhang Yi stilled. He could not understand Ding Ning’s words in this moment, but in his subconscious, he felt these words were extremely important. Thus these words were clearly etched on his mind.

  Xue Wangxu involuntarily frowned and then smiled as though he understood. He looked at Ding Ning and said, "It seems that I am not a grandmaster, you are."

  Ding Ning shook his head and said, "If this student is a grandmaster, than Teacher is a true grandmaster."

  Xue Wangxu laughed out loud.

  Zhang Yi looked in incomprehension at the pair. Xue Wangxu’s smile faded slightly as he looked at Zhang Yi and said, "Ponder this well."

  —


  Forefather Zhou had not moved too far from Falling Parasol. Since he had left Ink Garden, he could not easily return.

  In his view, Ding Ning would not refuse his suggestion.

  Since this wine shop youth had obtained a powerful method to condense the star fiendish energy, then the youth would naturally feel following him would have more benefits. This was a temptation that no cultivator could refuse.

  Yet, he did not know that Ding Ning understood his temperament well.

  Ding Ning walked out of Xue Wangxu’s small courtyard and went into a nearby shop to say a few words to a fellow inside.

  Then he returned to the wine shop as though nothing had happened.

  Zhangsun Qianxue was well-aware his intentions and ignored him.

  An hour later, a carriage stopped at the alley entrance. Fu Su walked out of the cabin and hurriedly entered the wine shop.

  "What is so interesting today that you had someone find me this early in the morning?" Fu Su asked Ding Ning with a smile upon seeing the other sitting in the wine shop.

  "Not something interesting, something dangerous."

  Ding Ning waited for Fu Su to come over and sit opposite him before saying, "You know the Zhou Family?"

  Fu Su frowned slightly, looked at him and said, "The Zhou Family you refer to should be the Zhou Family of the Ink Garden. You say it is something dangerous. Is the Zhou Family making trouble for you?"

  Ding Ning did not answer his question and asked calmly, "Do you know Forefather Zhou?"

  Fu Su did not answer. His expression grew slightly odd. "He hasn’t died?"

  Ding Ning shook his head and said, "He passed me a way to condense fiendish energy. Now, he has invited me to Deer Mountain."

  Fu Su was shocked. "Deer Mountain?"

  Ding Ning nodded and met his shocked gaze, saying, "You must also know that going to Deer Mountain is a dangerous matter. I found you because I wanted to ask if you want to go."

  Fu Su took a deep breath and said, "You want me to come along?"

  Ding Ning did not explain, only nodded.

  Fu Su was slightly moved.

  He was of the belief that those who could support one another in life and death were true friends. He felt that Ding Ning thought of him as a true friend.

  But then he said in a slight panic, his head hung low, "I do not know if my family will allow me to leave Changling for Deer Mountain."

  "Wait for me!"

  He immediately raised his head, looked at Ding Ning and said, "I will go home and ask. If my family agrees, I will come along."

  Ding Ning looked at him and nodded.

  Looking at Fu Su’s unusually clean features, he could not understand how complicated people like Emperor Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu could have a son so completely different from them.

  —


  Fu Su was going to ask his family. His question would naturally reach the study of the mistress of the palace.

  At this time, the empress’ fingers were not wrapped with threads of light but in her perception, the pale white flames that did not belong to this world wrapped happily around the charred small sword high in the sky.

  The seal scripts deep in the charred scrapped sword slowly absorbed the power in the pale white flames. Some of the damaged particles started to shine with pale white light as though rusty metal was going to turn into precious jewels.

  She thought coldly to herself upon hearing the report from the palace attendant in front of her.

  "Since Fu Su wants to go, then let him go," she said in the next moment, her features flawless.

  A palace attendant that could report to her naturally was not an ordinary one. So upon hearing the words, the palace attendant did not immediately leave with her orders and said hesitantly, "Your Highness, this seems to go against the Holy One …… would this be good?"

  "What do you know?"

  Though the empress reprimanded, she was not angry. An odd smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. "He takes along his people and he will not care about my arrangements. If I attempt to interfere with his arrangements, that would be not good. Also, Fu Su is too pure. It is good to let him see people’s maliciousness."

  The palace attendant did not understand anything except the last sentence.

  The empress glanced at her and said coolly, "You should know our most important connection is one of husband and wife. Only by putting this connection above all else will everything be good and Changling stable."

  After saying this, she looked towards the outside sky. She said slowly and with some pride, "The Holy One must be starting his journey by now."

  The palace attendant shook slightly. She involuntarily looked up at the sky behind her.

  The Holy One had departed. So the enormous Changling was absolutely in the hands of her mistress behind her.

  Translator Ramblings: My lack of Chinese history is coming back to haunt me. I’m not sure if there was ever a Warring States summit where kings from different countries met each other in person. Envoys did visit the courts of different countries but it seems too much of a risk for monarchs to ever travel to meet in person.

  Volume 5 4 - Care

  When the sword light flew out, the world in front of Ding Ning seemed to be cut out like a piece of paper.

  Everyone still maintained their previous position. The Last Flower remnant sword flew over Zhan Moke’s body and landed in the gold tower.

  There was a seven colored flower in the gold tower, growing on a pure white pebble. It had no roots but it was beautiful like it had just been rained on.

  When the Last Flower remnant sword landed on the flower, the vital energy contained in the sword started to burn and aroused more primal energies of the universe. With a boom, a ball of flame burned on Ding Ning’s remnant sword.

  The bright seven colored flower quickly withered, burnt to dust in a flash. When it did, the world in front of everyone disappeared.

  Shen Xuan found that he was standing just like before, everything back to usual, except that his face was covered in tears.

  “What really happened? Hu Jingjing reached out in disbelief with her hand and shouted when she saw her undiminished hand.

  “This is impossible.”


  Zhan Moke had not died yet. Time seemed to have stopped, or all of this had happened in a flash. He still had a breath left which he used to speak to Ding Ning.

  Then, he died.

  He died with unspeakable emotions that even he could not understand.

  “What was that?”


  Li Xixing looked at the returning Last Flower remnant sword and turned to Ding Ning.

  “Two Lifetime Flower.”


  Ding Ning coughed softly and said, “In many stories, this is also called the reincarnation flower. This is a flower used on the surface of senses and consciousness. It can make people sleep forever until they die.

  “But— ” Hu Jingjing could not help but speak.

  “You will see some events that have transpired in life.” Ding Ning interrupted her and said, “This is the magic of the flower.”


  “All of this was an illusion? I thought it was real.”


  Hu Jingjing thought back in shock to the feeling she had just had and could not help but ask Li Xixing, “Did you also feel like you were growing smaller?”


  Li Xixing glanced at her and said, “I beat that person up against and then threw him into the well.”


  “Which one?”


  Hu Jingjing stilled but then realized Li Xixing was speaking of the person who had killed Li Xixing’s dog in his childhood.

  “Thank you.”


  To her and Li Xixing’s surprise, and making them doubt their ears, Shen Xuan spoke seriously to Ding Ning. The pair looked in shock at Shen Xuan. To their greater shock, Shen Xuan’s appearance looked very different than before.

  The gloom and coldness that had shrouded his brows had disappeared. His expression was still cold, but a layer of dust seemed to have been washed away.

  Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing could not understand the meaning in Shen Xuan’s words, but Ding Ning nodded to Shen Xuan and said seriously, “You are welcome.”


  Then Ding Ning and Shen Xuan stopped speaking. Their gazes landed towards the same spot. Not the broken gold tower, but the dried spring.

  The bottom of the spring was fine clean sand. At this moment, the fine sand was slowly moving down like real water and disappearing.

  The power of the restriction which affected cultivators had completely disappeared as the sand disappeared. Even Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing could clearly feel something with an indescribable but powerful presence was being revealed from the sand.

  From Ding Ning and Shen Xuan’s gazes, Li Xixing and Hu Jingjing understood what was happening.

  The legendary elixir of life was not in the gold tower, but in the spring. Like stone being revealed from water, a dot of light was slowly coming out of the center of the white sand. The light grew until there was more and then all of it. A silver sphere silently floated at the center of the disappearing sand. Other than this silver crystal ball, there were many irregular silver crystals. These silver crystal pieces were like ice, constantly melting, shattering, and then reforming and changing.

  “This is like a true world.” Hu Jingjing looked dazedly at the silver crystal sphere the size of a pill and could not help but say.

  Everyone felt the same. This was a wondrous feeling as everyone was certain that this was the elixir of life from the legend.

  “I have interrogated countless criminals. While I cannot see through to the heart of a person, at least I can see that you are not greedy.” Shen Xuan turned to Ding Ning and asked, “You once asked me my thoughts towards the elixir of life. I said that I would leave it to you. But you are not greedy for this. Is it because your Nine Deaths Silkworm is too strong, far stronger than this elixir of life, or because you cannot agree with the elixir?”


  Ding Ning looked calmly at the silver sphere ball. He thought of the Two Lifetime Flower and said after a moment of silence, “If one does not live this life well, what is the use in living forever?”


  Shen Xuan gave a rare smile. Because his smile was so rare, it appeared stiff and ugly. But it was real.

  “Actually, you are more suitable to be the master of Great Floating Water Prison. No one sees other people’s hearts better than you,” he said sincerely with a smile.

  Ding Ning did not answer this question. He looked at the pure silver sphere at the center of the white sand and started to walk towards it.

  The moment he started to walk, a rustling sound reached everyone’s ears, like countless silkworms were moving in Ding Ning ‘s body.

  “Now, we all know his secret.”


  Li Xixing heard the sound and said softly to Hu Jingjing at a moment of silence.

  Hu Jingjing only said, “The empress killed my master.”


  Hu Jingjing turned to Li Xixing and asked him seriously, “What about you?”


  Li Xixing frowned slightly as though displeased and said, “He is my friend.”


  Hu Jingjing suddenly laughed sweetly. Some people did not care about right or wrong, just those who were close or distant. She knew, for Li Xixing, all of Changling could not compare to one of his friends.

  Li Xixing did not pay attention to Ding Ning and the elixir of life. Regardless of what the elixir of life was, as long as Ding Ning had confidence approaching it, then he must have thought of what to do.

  Right now, there was also another person present who knew Ding Ning’s Nine Death Silkworm secret.

  Wu Lianzi was leaning against the gold tower. The vitality of the plains youth was strong. He had been injured repeatedly, but had not even gone unconscious, much less died.

  He looked with shock and helplessness as Ding Ning walked to the center of the white sand.

  Volume 4 4 - Drift With The Tide

  Ordinary people only heard dull thunder and could not know what happened, but the cracking of the earth and the restless energies could not be concealed from powerful cultivators.

  “What happened?” The empress spoke from within the deep palace.

  Dozens of breaths after her voice sounded, a middle-aged man in yellow robes appeared outside of her study.

  “Zhang Shiwu wanted to assassinate Ye Xinhe. It happened abruptly. The Dongling army was sent there when I came to report, and should be fighting Zhang Shiwu right now.

  The yellow-robed middle-aged man hung his head slightly. But both his breathing and the energy vibrations coming off him were violent. He clearly had been in a hurry to report.

  “Zhang Shiwu?” The empress’s figure appeared not far from the yellow-robed middle-aged man. She looked expressionlessly towards the peach valley. “He’s still alive?”


  The yellow-robed middle-aged man did not answer her. After Palace Attendant Rong’s death, he was the person who understood the empress the most among her closest. So he knew he did not have to answer this question.

  “Since Zhang Shiwu is still alive, why has he appeared now? He wants to kill Ye Xinhe only because he just discovered where Ye Xinhe was recovering right now?” the empress said slowly.

  The yellow-robed middle-aged man hesitated slightly, wanting to speak. But then the empress continued to talk.

  “Previously, neither the Astrology Bureau or the Divinity Bureau sensed anything. This is not like Zhao Zhan where there were clues half a year before. Half a year was needed to finally find him in Changling.”


  The empress had no emotions on her perfect face. “Today, Zhang Shiwu is discovered to be alive, and the Warden’s Office was about to detect and send the Dongling Army. This all seems to be too much of a coincidence.”


  “If Zhang Shiwu dies in battle in the valley, then it is not a coincidence.If Zhang Shiwu does not die in battle and is captured alive by Ye Xinhe and the Dongling Army, then it is not a coincidence. If Zhang Shiwu does not die, then he will definitely be sent to the Great Floating Water Prison under the care of Shen Xuan.”


  The empress did not need him to answer. Her gaze retreated from afar onto the yellow-robed middle-aged man. Then she said in a cold and powerful tone, “Have Mo Shoucheng go to the Great Floating Water Prison. Order the Tiger-Wolf Army to surround the Great Floating Water Prison. Have General Bai lead the army towards the Great Floating Water Prison, and have Guo Dongshan to with them to deliver Zhang Shiwu there.”


  The yellow-robed middle-aged man nodded, turning immediately to walk out. His breathing was still hurried as were his footsteps. Yet when he turned, a different meaning appeared on the corners of his lips.

  The empress only suggested a theory. Yet the orders she gave created an enormous net.

  Today, if something happened in the Great Floating Water Prison, then this net would trap everyone going to Great Floating Water Prison. It would be difficult for anyone to escape.

  From her display, the yellow-robed middle-aged man felt that she was more terrifying than in the past. He did not know if the consecutive deaths of Palace Attendant Rong and the others had caused her to recover her cruelty or that she was familiar enough and understood her former enemies that she instantly became even more powerful than she had been three years before Emperor Yuanwu’s ascension.

  Regardless of how terrifying she was, how she could predict her enemies and how perfect her net was, the key was whether the net could form. He, at present, was the net maker.

  The empress could not see the meaning at the corners of his mouth.Even if the yellow-robed middle-aged man was facing her, she likely would not discover that this cultivator from the Jiaodong Commandery was any different than before.

  She was furious right now. As she turned around, her cold eyes flashed with the fires of fury.

  “Zhang Shiwu, even you are alive …… all you people who should have died long ago, how many of you are still alive!”


  A commander fell into the dust, blood and pieces of flesh spurting out of his mouth. His thick scaled armor was in pieces, many of which were embedded into his flesh. The parts under his waist had been torn apart by great power …… Pieces of metal and broken limbs were scattered all over the valley along with snapped swords and destroyed chariots.

  He was fated to die. Just as broken as his body was the army that had charged out of the white mist like a demon army.

  He was pained by all this. Yet at the moment of his death, his eyes were filled with comfort.

  Zhang Shiwu had not been killed. Zhang Shiwu was killed alive.

  Ye Xinhe sat on the ground. There was a terrifying wound on his left ribs so deep his inner organs could be made out. Even more frightening, a wave of energy was still rippling through his organs. It would take him a lot of time to suppress this power.

  He was covered in blood like the peach flowers of the valley were blooming on his body. He looked at the dust column outside of the mountain valley with an unpleasant expression. Not because of his wounds, but because he discovered, even if he had not been wounded in the Deer Mountain Conference, Zhang Shiwu would not have been weaker than him.

  A swordsman completely not a match for him, now, was above him. He was emotional.

  “Your cultivation reached such a degree after hiding from the world for more than a decade …… strong enough to change the result of the Deer Mountain Conference But people like you were not willing to appear at the Deer Mountain Conference, but are willing to appear now due to the news of the Nine Death Silkworm!”


  “Even if that person cultivated the Nine Death Silkworm to that level, he died in Changling. Zheng Xiu and Yuanwu are more powerful than back then. The Changling they control is stronger than back then. What are you all thinking about! Do you not feel stupid!”


  “Zhang Shiwu …… You are still alive. Then Nie Yin! Mao Qiceng? Are they all still alive!”


  After the emotional disturbance was terror. If the former Zhang Shiwu was enough to threaten his Peach Divine Sword, then those people who had hid away when Ba Mountain Sword Field was destroyed may not be strong enough to kill him.

  When he finally suppressed the chaotic sword essence that had charged into his body, Ye Xinhe’s body grew unusually cold.

  He thought of Liang Lian’s death. Nine Death Silkworm in Changling brought some people hope and confidence, and some others death and terror.

  **

  The yellow-robed middle-aged man walked out of the imperial palace.

  When he left, multiple cultivators in azure robes quickly started to fly towards the various turrets. Numerous black eagles flew around the yellow-robed man towards the clouds and different parts of Changling.

  Everything looked the same as usual, but only he knew that the messages delivered to some key people would be slightly delayed, and some of the contents would have slight deviations. Just like the tactic the empress had once been best at using.

  But today, her most skilled tactics would not be for the result she wanted, but what he wanted. He continued to walk forward.

  His surname was Wang, so Yuanwu disliked him. His name was Qicheng, the start of a journey. But back in Jiaodong, he served the eldest miss of the Zheng Family, Zheng Xiu, and never truly travelled.

  But during the Min Mountain Sword Trials, he had made a bet with himself. So today, he decided to start a true journey. He quickly walked towards the outskirts of the city.

  On the other side of Changling, Shen Xuan walked out of the Great Floating Water Prison. When the heavy doors opened, he appeared under the sunlight, hands behind his back. Today’s sunlight seemed exceptionally dazzling.

  He looked at the white paths in the distance, and narrowed his eyes into a line. Not just the empress, today, even he had a strong feeling.

  So he was not waiting for someone now, but watching his own path forward, making his last reflections and pondering which path to walk.

  Translator Ramblings: Disliking someone because of their surname is pretty petty.