Realms In The Firmament

Zong Xingyu quietly stood in the same place, with his chest rising and falling; his face red, and the veins on his forehead popping out. He was gasping heavily, and his face looked extremely evil and fierce.

He stood calmly for a while, but all of a sudden, he rushed over to those altars like a crazy man. He shouted to the sixty-three people who were silently sitting around the altars.

“Uncle Wang San! Uncle Wang San! Look at me! Please look at me! I am Xingyu! I am Xingyu…”

The man he was shouting at still sat like a machine with two full gray eyes. He didn’t move as if he could hear nothing.

“Uncle Li! Uncle Li…”

“Uncle Dao… Uncle Dao…”

“Uncle Qian, Uncle Qian, please…”

Zong Xingyu shouted at those people one by one, yet he got no response at all.

He looked at those people who sat there like bronze sculptures. Those were all elders who used to be so thoughtful and caring for him. His heart was filled with feelings of powerlessness. Suddenly, he raised up his head and shouted furiously to the sky. “What the hell is going on!”

“What is going on! Why? Why is this happening to us?”

“Talk to me, guys! Please, say something! Say anything! Just say a word… Speak…”

“Look at me! I am Xingyu… I am Zong Xingyu…”

He ran over to an old man, held him from behind, and started to shake him. “Uncle Wu! Uncle Wu… Look at me. Please, look at me! I am Xingyu… You liked me the most… Don’t you remember…”

The old man didn’t respond.

Zong Xingyu moved around to face that old man, shouted in a hoarse voice, and said, “Uncle Wu… Do you… You are not…”

As he moved over to the front of the old man, he stood in the middle of the old man and the altar, which meant he had stopped the old man from pouring energy into the altar. The old man finally raised his head slowly. He then turned to Zong Xingyu. He stared at him with a pair of gray eyes. His eyeballs actually moved. Zong Xingyu was surprised, so he gladly said, “Uncle Wu… It is me… I am Xingyu…”

However, before he finished talking, the old man abruptly attacked. One heavy palm attack hit Zong Xingyu’s chest.

“Bang!”

The attack was unexpected. Zong Xingyu got smashed on the chest so bad that almost all of his internal organs were broken. He got hit and flew far away, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Zong Xingyu was luckily a top-level superior cultivator, who had an extremely powerful energy shield protecting him even when he was absentminded. If not, this man, the current prime master of the West Hall would die a mysterious death in this place!

Even though he was hit pretty badly, he didn’t feel angry at all. He just couldn’t believe what just happened. When he looked at his Uncle Wu again, he looked at that old man with pain in this eyes.

After the old man—Uncle Wu—hit Zong Xingyu away in one blow, he turned over and continued pouring his energy from the center of his hands into the altar.

The old man became a sculpture again.

If the old man didn’t stop, with that power he had in his palms, he could have killed Zong Xingyu with one more palm attack. Zong Xingyu would have died in that second palm attack for sure!

At the moment, Zong Xingyu was spitting out a lot of blood to the floor. His blood was bright red. Suddenly, some dark smoke flew up from the altar. The blood on the floor immediately turned into a mist; it then shot into the altar. No blood stain was left on the floor anymore.

“Cough, cough, cough, cough…” Zong Xingyu was coughing. He tried to stand up while both of his hands were holding the floor. He was dispirited, not only because of the physical damage on his body, but also the mental pain in his heart! What struck him worst was the pain in his heart!

He stared at those people and didn’t know what to do anymore.

After a while, he shouted loudly and cried while laughing at the same time. He then said, “Why? Tell me why…”

Yet he didn’t know whom he was asking!

Was he asking somebody among those men? Was he asking himself? Was he asking his father? Or was he asking the demons?

Perhaps, he was asking the heavens?

The heavens always fooled people around!

Zong Xingyu sounded extremely frustrated and in pain, and he seemed to be in a trance.

He staggered slowly forward. He walked out of that place step by step. Every step he took, he spat some blood. However, he kept staring at those people.

If any of them showed a hint of any emotion on their faces, if any of them just moved their eyeballs a bit, if any of them showed even a bit of softness and care, he might be able to sense the warmth that he used to have in the old days.

Back in the old days, if he spat out blood, even if he just had a little bit of scratch, not to mention bleeding, these uncles would get crazy about it. However, nobody ever cared about him anymore…

He didn’t stop stepping backward bit by bit until he finally lost sight of those old men, and he finally made it to the exit.

None of the sixty-three people moved a bit. None of them reacted to the changes in that place.

Nobody turned their heads around. Nobody showed any expression on their face. Nobody even moved their eyeballs even for a bit.

On the floor, the blood kept turning into a mist and flew into the altars just like it had happened earlier.

This place was still creepy and ghastly.

Zong Xingyu eventually lost hope for these people and for this place. He laughed bitterly, and suddenly turned around, staggering out fast without looking back.

Ye Xiao and his people had already arrived at the periphery of the West Hall.

This time, Ye Xiao had a weird feeling—something was wrong. He had this extremely undesirable feeling.

“Something is wrong. It doesn’t feel right.” The Moon Queen was the first one to speak.

Cultivators, especially those who used to be the most influential figures in the old times and were now weaker than Ye Xiao, always had sharp sensations for their surroundings. They always felt it when something was wrong.

On the way to the West Hall, Ye Xiao realized that the Moon Queen was becoming more and more friendly and soft to him. In fact, he thought that the Moon Queen had been staying around and watching him on purpose.

No matter what happened, she would speak out her ideas. As long as it was related to Ye Xiao, she would definitely express her points about it.

The three great elders including Lei Dadi had noticed it too.

“What is wrong with that woman? How could she do this? Chongxiao is our disciple! What does she think she is doing? Why does she have to care for our disciple so much? Does she have a crush on the kid? Does she want to get the young man? That old cow wants to eat some young grass…”

“No, it can’t be. Chongxiao is a good-looking guy. That I have to admit. However, the Moon Queen has no reason to do that. Besides, from my point of view, when she looked at Chongxiao, she was like a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law…”

“That doesn’t make it any better. Our good disciple doesn’t have any wife who is from the Qiong-Hua Palace. Why is she looking at him like that? She has no right to look at him like a mother-in-law!” Lei Dadi was pretty angry about it.

Feng Wuying was rather angry about it too. “That’s right. That old woman… She is stretching out her hands too far. She is going to take over our position… I am wondering if she is planning to let Chongxiao marry one of her young disciples… That is why she started to show Chongxiao kindness… No, we can’t let it happen…”

“That’s right. We can’t let it happen…”

While the three old men were in their own absurd imagination, Ye Xiao and the Moon Queen were having a conversation.

Ye Xiao frowned and said, “That is correct. Something doesn’t feel right around us. It seems like something has happened here.”

The Moon Queen nodded and said, “That’s right. Something has gone wrong.”

Ye Xiao said, “Hmm. In fact, when we first set our feet on the land of the West Hall, I already felt it. Every further step we took, the murderous intent and the murderous qi became a little bit denser.”

He stared at the forests in front of them with a pair of profound eyes. He took a deep breath and said, “Somehow, I have a preview. I am not so sure, but it seems like the West Hall… The West Hall is going to fight us for the last time.”

“However, according to all the information we have collected, as we saw, the Honor Demon would not do this so soon. At least he wouldn’t do it now, because he needs us to kill more people for him… Otherwise, he won’t be able to get enough souls to complete the nine altars.”

“However, we do have this oppressive feeling right now…” Ye Xiao frowned and said, “There must be something that none of us has ever thought of. Whatever happens, will surely not be favorable for us, and it doesn’t seem to be what the Honor Demon wants either. What is about to happen will affect both sides in this war. I am interested. I truly want to know who has such capabilities to make things go to an unexpected way for both of us!”

The Moon Queen half closed her eyes and said, “If it is not the Honor Demon, then maybe it is the second most important figure in the West Hall… Is it Zong Xingyu?”

Ye Xiao stayed quiet for a while and then said, “I won’t make that judgment so soon. We will see later.”

“There is one other possibility… Maybe they have collected enough energy for the altars. Starting the final fight as soon as possible would be a good plan for them as well if they did collect enough energy!” The Moon Queen frowned and said.

“That is impossible!” Ye Xiao shook his head and said, “If they have collected enough energy, the West Hall should have been destroyed… The West Hall would have been sacrificed to complete the demonic fire of the altars!”

The Moon Queen was shocked. She couldn’t believe what Ye Xiao just said. “How is that possible? Zong Xingyu is Zong Yuankai’s son. I understand that Zong Yuankai would sacrifice anybody, but he will never kill his own son, will he?”

Ye Xiao blandly said, “Sometimes there is something more important for some people. Under some difficult circumstances, people can deny their own sons. People in the Qing-Yun Realm care about their own authorities more than anything else. When I was living in the Land of Han-Yang, I saw too many fathers who had killed their own children, and sons who had killed their own parents. Men with ambition could always sacrifice their own blood for power. If a human being can do that, why can’t a demonic creature? How much humanity do you think Zong Yuankai still has in him?”

The Moon Queen was shocked.

From what Ye Xiao just said, she heard something that aroused an extreme pain in her. Her heart twitched because of severe pain.

She knew that Ye Xiao was also in pain. She could feel that under his pretty face, his heart was suffering unimaginable pain. At this moment, the Moon Queen wanted to hold him in her arms and console him so much.

…

Ye Xiao and his people were about seven hundred miles away from the main area of the West Hall.

Even though they were still seven hundred miles away, they had already encountered the craziest attacks they had ever been through in this war.

That was right. They were currently defending themselves against some crazy attacks from the enemies.

The enemies were attacking in extreme ways, with no scruples or hesitation at all. They were savagely crazy for blood in this battle.

People from the West Hall were all risking their lives to strike their most powerful attacks.

They fought like they were the ones who had been hurt in this world. They fought with their lives and blood as if they were desperately protecting their rights to live, putting on a big scene of some grievous and indignant warriors.

“What the hell is going on? Do they have to do it like this? Do they have to give up their lives on this?” Ye Xiao was shocked.

The Honor Demon was Zong Yuankai and the West Hall was the Demon Soul Dao’s supreme headquarters. It was the truth that nobody could deny!

The West Hall was the source of all the evil that brought disaster to the Qing-Yun Realm! Nobody could deny that either!

‘Then why would you all act so indignant? Ironically, you make me feel like we are the one who did the bullying into this world…’

‘Come on… It does not make any sense! Don’t you think?’

‘You guys are the ones who pushed the entire Qing-Yun Realm to its end! Aren’t you?’

‘Aren’t you?’

‘Come on!’

One wave after another, the attacks kept hitting them. The enemies used all kinds of sneaky strategy in the fight. They ambushed, made a surprise attack, and started one on one combats. They also resorted to poisoning their enemies, setting up traps, and assassination…

Some times, the army of the union would encounter hundreds of different kinds of battles that were sneakily started by their enemies within a single day!

The various attacks of the enemy made Ye Xiao and Xuan Bing felt something. They realized that the leaders of the West Hall seemed to be provoked, and perhaps turned crazy.

‘But… What made them go crazy? What is it?’

‘They brought such a calamity to the Qing-Yun Realm… Come on! What is it in this world that they cannot bear!’

…

On the highest point of all the buildings in the West Hall, which was called the Ultimate Heaven’s Top. Zong Xingyu sat alone at the top. His eyes were cold, and his face was colorless. He looked unruly.

‘You took away all the love and care I have been longing for, then I should do the same on you!’

‘You let them in, then I will do whatever I can to stop them from getting in!’

‘You want the West Hall to die in silence, then I will try everything I can to save it! I am going to fight a wonderful fight!’

‘Even though I am falling into the demon’s path, even though the West Hall is meant to be destroyed, I can’t let it end so frustratingly. I must show the world the spectacular scenery of this war!’

‘If you can’t bear watching all this, if you blame me for violating your order, you can come and beat me! Come and beat me if you dare!’

Zong Xingyu had just been hit by a palm attack, so he was still injured. However, his eyes were filled with the flames of madness.

Perhaps, even he didn’t know why he would do all this. He was an old man himself, who had been through many years in this world. The days of youth’s impulsion had been far behind him.

The emotion, that grief, and that obstinacy hadn’t been in him for at least ten thousand years…

However, at this moment, those emotions were burning inside of him—boiling up like wildfire.

Maybe he didn’t realize it yet, but deep in his heart, he was hoping that his father would come over to beat him up really hard after he disobeyed his order. He hoped that his father would come to him and scold him for not being an obedient son. It frustrated him that all he got was this coldness in his heart. Nobody came to him. Everything was cold.

It felt like nothing in the world was warm.

‘I have been following the rules for a long time. I have pretended to be the man he needs for years after years. This time, before the West Hall is destroyed, I am going to follow my own rules. I want to see if my father still has feelings. I wonder if he still has human feelings after entering the demon’s path!’

‘Does he really not have a little bit of humanity left in him anymore? Not even a tiny bit? Really?’

“Doesn’t he?” He stood up and shouted to the sky.

All he felt was that the grief and frustration in his chest could explode at any second.

…