Realms In The Firmament

For Ye Xiao, the Human Realm Upon Heavens was essentially different from the Qing-Yun Realm. Qing-Yun Realm was his hometown, his motherland. When he ascended to the Qing-Yun Realm, he was just going home. However, this time as he was going to ascend to the Human Realm Upon Heavens, he was going to somewhere totally strange. Everything was new!

More importantly, he wondered if his brothers would still be alive when he returned from the Human Realm Upon Heavens.

Ye Xiao’s heart was full of thoughts.

After a long time, he made a sigh, quietly walked to Lan Langlang and Zuo Wuji. The two guys were drunk and fell asleep, but they didn’t stop murmuring something. It was difficult to tell what they were talking though.

Ye Xiao turned over one hand and took out a few dan beads. He fed each of the two brothers some dan beads.

“Brother, I truly hope that we can meet again someday, and we can drink like this wonderful night again.”

…

The days in the Land of Han-Yang had gone fast. It seemed to take only a few blinks, and over ten days had passed.

In the days back in this world, Ye Xiao had been hanging around with the two brothers; drinking liquors, making bets, listening to some plays, wandering around the gardens, chasing some dogs, and playing the rooster games… They had done everything the young lords would do in the world. They went high profile on it!

After the days Ye Xiao had spent back in this world, the King of the Kingdom of Chen had fallen into troubles. The royal court just couldn’t run without Zuo Wuji, but Zuo Wuji simply told the King he was sick. He turned down all the jobs the King needed him to do. Well, when one pretended to be sick, one should act like a man who was sick, but no, Zuo Wuij wouldn’t do it. Everybody knew that he spent all the days with a young man with a pretty face, and Great General Lan was with him too. It seemed there was nothing else mattered for these two important figures.

Officials in the Kingdom of Chen were all surprised.

“What is wrong? Does that young man really have such kind of charm? Does he truly have conquered the two most important men in court?” Sometimes there was a story about the three of them. It said that Zuo Wuji and Lan Langlang always fought each other for the pretty young man, and the fight was terrible. However, as long as the pretty young man said something to calm them down, the fight would be ceased… It was such an unbelievable scene…

“Who is that pretty young man? How come he has such capability? Did he save the Land of Han-Yang or what? How come the two most important figures in the kingdom would be so obedient to him? This is unbelievably incredible!”

The entire kingdom knew that the man between Zuo Wuij and Lan Langlang was a pretty young man. Ye Xiao had disguised himself with the appearance of a young man. Zuo Wuji and Lan Langlang could see his real face, but the others only saw him as a young man with a pretty face!

Ye Xiao did care a lot about his own ugly face in the previous life. He didn’t want to be extraordinarily handsome, but he had to be good looking. Whenever he disguised himself, he had to be a good looking guy. After he left the Land of Han-Yang, the story of a pretty young man conquering the two most important men in the Kingdom of Chen was left behind. The story went so far and it kept being told in the history!

It was said whenever there were people from other countries visited Zuo Wuji and Lan Langlang, they would always send them some beautiful young men other than beautiful girls. They had obviously done some research on how to please the two people, but whenever those people did, Zuo Wuji and Lan Langlang would beat them out of their houses!

As the story went further, people started to say that the pretty young man was irreplaceable in Zuo Wuij and Lan Langlang’s hearts. They believed that the pretty young man must be the most beautiful man in history!

There were lots of rumors after Ye Xiao left! There is no point to keep telling them now!

Finally, one day, there seemed to be thunderclaps beyond the clouds in the sky…

“I think we are going to get the heavenly trial too.” Xuan Bing and Jun Yinglian sensitively looked at Ye Xiao, and said, “I guess it is our destiny to go up with you.”

Ye Xiao nodded, held the two ladies’ waists, and said, “We will stay together forever!”

“We will! For the rest of our lives, we will not be apart!”

The two ladies’ eyes shined, and they spoke like making vows.

The sign of a heavenly trial appeared, so they couldn’t stay in the Land of Han-Yang anymore. The heavenly trial thunders of the Dao Origin Stage could easily destroy the entire Land of Han-Yang. In fact, the appearance of the great thunders could have pushed the Land of Han-Yang to the dead end. That was not a joke.

Ye Xiao had to say goodbye to the two brothers and returned to the Qing-Yun Realm with the two ladies.

Three days after, the significant thunders appeared in the world again, and it shocked the realm!

Two heavenly trials happened at the same time, which meant it was epic. This must be even more powerful than the heavenly trial thunders on Ye Xiao. When the thunders were still accumulating beyond the clouds, the entire Qing-Yun Realm was shaking already.

Ye Xiao didn’t tell anybody about his return to the Qing-Yun Realm. He was guarding the two ladies for the heavenly trials that they were about to get through on top of the snow mountain.

It was a secret to the rest of the world.

Even Ye Xiao didn’t foresee the incredible power of the double heavenly trial thunders!

When the cultivators in the Qing-Yun Realm sensed the enormous power from up beyond the sky, they all got astonished. Everybody just stopped and stood silently.

Their faces all looked sincere, and they were praying.

They prayed to the heavens. They hoped whoever was going to get through the trial would get pass it successfully and ascend to the upper realm.

The heavenly trials lasted for one whole day.

When it was done, a colorful rainbow appeared in the sky. It started to rain in golden lights. Peaceful qi refilled the world. Cultivators who witnessed the success all cheered in joy.

“It is done! They did it!”

…

Ye Xiao was the only one who felt it wrong. In fact, he just felt weird.

He had a simple reason to feel weird about it. He found that the heavenly trials on the two ladies were totally different from the one on himself. In fact, the trial that the two ladies had received was totally a different trial from Ye Xiao’s.

The heavenly trial thunders that had struck on the two ladies were unbelievably powerful.

Ye Xiao had been through the trial before, so he clearly knew what it was like. The heavenly trial thunders on him earlier were not destructive at all. In fact, it was more like some power of recovery. The thunders kept fixing things while it was destroying. It fixed more than it destroyed. However, the heavenly trial thunders on Xuan Bing and Jun Yinglian were dangerous. It nearly killed the two ladies.

When the double heavenly trial thunders struck down, the powerful strike Jun Yinglian suffered was twice as powerful as Xuan Bing did!

Three people had three different trials. Ye Xiao was surprised and terrified at the same time.

The two ladies’ bodies were destroyed slowly by the thunders but then recovered fast afterwards. Ye Xiao had seen them recovering, but he just couldn’t stop feeling terrified by the scene of them being destroyed.

Bing’er was doing better than Jun Yinglian. When Jun Yinglian got through the thunders, Ye Xiao was scared to death. It was totally fatal… During the trial, Ye Xiao had thought of rushing over to save her several times.

Finally, when the heavenly trial was done, Ye Xiao rushed to Jun Yinglian in haste. When he held the lady in his arms tight, he felt like he had lost her to death just then.

Jun Yinglian stayed on Ye Xiao’s warm chest, and her heart was filled with satisfaction.

The heavenly trial thunders had put her to some extreme suffering, and she still felt utterly painful everywhere, but at this moment, all that she could feel was the happiness in her heart!

Sky Ice Palace.

The crowd burst into cheers!

All the disciples of the Sky Ice Palace were laughing sincerely. What had been depressing them in their hearts was finally loosened, and they were so happy about it.

Jun Yinglian’s spiritual mind arrived at the palace through thousands of mountains and rivers.

“I have been through the heavenly trial, and I will go up to the Human Realm Upon Heavens soon.”

It was such great news for the Sky Ice Palace.

Ye Xiao was the big hero who defeated the demons in the war. It was not a surprise that he could survive the thunders and ascend to the upper realm, because he was good. The second cultivator who was able to ascend to the upper realm turned out to be the former prime master of the Sky Ice Palace, and it cheered up all the people in the palace!

Their prime master Jun Yinglian actually ascended to the upper realm earlier than the legendary cultivators such as Xuan Bing, Xue danru, Li Wuliang, and Han Bingxue. The news surely cheered the entire Sky Ice Palace up!

The Misty Cloud Palace got similar news too.

“I have been through the trial. Soon I will be gone for the upper realm.”

The Misty Cloud Palace was also burst into cheers.

People in the Misty Cloud Palace all suspected that Xuan Bing and Bing’er were the same person, but there was no evidence for it after all. Now that their great elder had sent back the message with the good news, they all only felt inspired, confident, and happy. The Misty Cloud Palace was still the most powerful all-female sect in the Qing-Yun Realm! Nothing changed!

“Should we still wait?” Jun Yinglian looked at Ye Xiao.”

Ye Xiao frowned.

If he had a choice, he surely would wait for Li Wuliang, Han Bingxue, and Xue Danru. It would be better if they all ascended together. However, he had a deep feeling in his head. It seemed there was a restraint on him from the greatness of the heavens. The restraint was on the three of them, and it was getting stronger and stronger. They might not be able to fight it any longer, so they didn’t know whether they should stay or not now.

The three of them had already passed the limitation of cultivation in this world, and they had been through the trials, which meant they weren’t supposed to exist in this world. They were not cultivators in this world anymore. If they forcibly stayed, they would definitely get punished by the greatness of heavens.

The divine punishment in the Qing-Yun Realm was much more severe than the Land of Han-Yang. The Land of Han-Yang was a low-level realm, after all, so the punishment was weak. In fact, powerful cultivators could even destroy the divine punishment in the low-level realm. The Qing-Yun Realm was a high-level realm. Once the divine punishment was made, even Ye Xiao couldn’t easily resist it!

For now, because Ye Xiao cultivated a special martial art, he didn’t feel the restraint of the heavens so strongly. However, Xuan Bing and Jun Yinglian were different. They were feeling harder and harder to stay. They even felt that the heavens were urging them with raging anger…

The feeling in their hearts made them feel like they were going to rush up to the highest point in the sky immediately. They also felt that… that if they stayed for a long time, they would get the extreme punishment…

It was a clear feeling, which was so real in cultivators’ heads.

“Li Wuliang and Han Bingxue are able to break it through and draw down the heavenly trial thunders any time they want. Li Wuliang is waiting for Xue Danru to make the last step. Han Bingxue is staying with his families and making arrangement for them. They need more time. Ning Biluo and the other two guys are probably much slower than Xue Danru. I don’t think we can all make it at the same time…”

Ye Xiao thought for a while and said, “It is always too late to plan because things change so fast. I think we should go first.”

Ye Xiao made the decision, but the two ladies didn’t respond to it immediately. Ye Xiao was shocked, and he stared at the two ladies, who both looked worried. It seemed they were troubled.

Ye Xiao was surprised, and he asked loudly, “What is wrong with you? Why do you both look worried so much? What is happening?”

“Xiao Xiao, I am afraid I can’t go up to the Human Realm Upon Heavens with you. I have been thinking about it lately, and I think I have to return to the Sky Ice Palace and make the arrangement for my people. The Sky Ice Palace suddenly loses me, and it will be impacted. It is necessary to do precaution before I leave.” Jun Yinglian thought for a while and said.

Ye Xiao was a bit upset when he heard what she said, even though deep in his heart, he knew that she was being reasonable. However, this was not the most disappointing thing for him yet…

“I need to head back as well. There are things I need to do before leaving…” Xuan Bing talked in a low voice.

“What? You? Bing’er, what are you talking about…” Ye Xiao was confused, and he said, “Lian Lian is the prime master of the Sky Ice Palace, so I believe she does need to go back and make some arrangements for her sect… But you… Bing’er, sometimes it is not a good idea to follow other’s plan. What are you going to arrange after all? Oh, right… I always forgot to ask… What sect are you from?”

Before Xuan Bing answered, Jun Yinglian couldn’t help laughing out, even though she was feeling sorry for leaving Ye Xiao alone.

“What an erhuo! He actually does not recognize her real identity! What an unbelievably stupid erhuo!”

“Damn it… Somebody used my name to call somebody else again. How many times do I have to say this? My name is a good name, which represents noble and elegant. How can anybody casually use my name to abuse others? Oh, this time she used my name to call my stupid moron master… Well, I have to admit that my name fits the stupid master perfectly!”

Xuan Bing had hesitated for a long time, but she decided not to hide it anymore. She bravely stared at Ye Xiao—meeting him an eye to eye. After a while, she clearly said, “Master, I am not only Bing’er but also Xuan Bing!”

After the heavenly trial, her soul power was perfectly stable.

Although she was still crazily in love with Ye Xiao, her heart had never been stronger.

She was no longer the lady who kept changing her personality from one to another, contradictory to herself.

When Ye Xiao heard what she said, he couldn’t ease opening his eyes and mouth widely.

He looked at Bing’er and felt a little dizzy. No matter how powerful he was now in cultivation, he didn’t seem to take this fact very well. Stammeringly, he said, “Xuan Bing? Are you saying that you are the prime great elder of the Misty Cloud Palace, the Great Elder Xuan Bing?”

Xuan Bing nodded and her face turned red because of bashfulness. She said, “Please, master, forgive me. I have been lying to you for a long time…”

Even though Bing’er was apologizing, Ye Xiao still hadn’t accepted the truth yet.

‘What the hell is going on?’

He kept staring at Bing’er, who was standing right in front of him, but he just couldn’t imagine how this sweet girl could turn into the cold Elder Xuan Bing who was always wearing all black clothes.

‘This… This… Is this… Am I in my dream?’

‘Oh my god!’

Ye Xiao turned around and looked at Jun Yinglian, just like a desperate man trying anything that might help. However, Jun Yinglian just nodded to confirm what Xuan Bing said. She proved that Bing’er was telling the truth, and then bit her own lips, trying not to laugh it out.

“I… The reason I lied…” Xuan Bing explained everything from the beginning, and then said, “I just want to say… It doesn’t matter who I am… Bing’er or Xuan Bing… They are both just my names… I am only myself…”

She bravely looked at Ye Xiao and said, “I am only your woman!”

After saying these words, she rose up slowly and flew backward, with her eyes staring at Ye Xiao sentimentally.

Along with the deep feeling inside her heart, there was also fear and struggle!

Ye Xiao saw the struggle and fear deep inside Xuan Bing’s eyes, and he was shocked. He regained consciousness and shouted loudly to talk to Xuan Bing, who was flying away. “Yes, you are! I don’t care what your name is! You are my woman! You are my Bing’er!”

“No matter where you are, you are my woman!”

He shouted, “You are my woman!”

Xuan Bing cracked a beautiful smile on her face. Her voice sounded in the wind. “Master, I will find you as soon as I can when we are up in the Human Realm Upon Heavens!”

There came the sound of breaking the air. With a soft and sweet smile on her face, Xuan Bing had already disappeared.

She was the prime elder of the Misty Cloud Palace after all. She could not just leave with Ye Xiao for the Human Realm Upon Heavens. She had to ascend in the Misty Cloud Palace to the Human Realm Upon Heavens when her disciples were seeing her off!

It was Xuan Bing’s responsibility as the prime great elder of the Misty Cloud Palace!

It was something concerned about the future of the Misty Cloud Palace! They finally had someone who was going to be a goddess in the upper world!

The Misty Cloud Palace had to seize the honor.

Jun Yinglian was the same. She had to ascend in the Sky Ice Palace so that the honor could be kept to the sect.

Ye Xiao had to ascend in the Cold Moon Palace as well.

It was the last and the most important thing they could have left for their sects!

It was the great legacy they could leave for the sects!

“Bing’er is gone. I am off now.” Jun Yinglian looked at Ye Xiao in the eyes with love.

“I was planning… I thought I would marry you in the Qing-Yun Realm. I thought I would give you a wedding that I have promised you.” Ye Xiao seemed to be regretful, and he said, “What a pity. I guess we have to do it after ascending to the Human Realm Upon Heavens.”

Jun Yinglian blushed, squinted at Ye Xiao with a smile, and said, “You wish! Do you think I would just easily marry you? Ye Xiao, when you conquer a land in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, you can ask to marry me! Hah hah hah…”

As she laughed, she slowly rose up in the air. Her eyes were full of emotions, and she said, “Ye Xiao, we will meet in the Human Realm Upon Heavens again! When we meet again, I will never leave your side until death parts us!”

Ye Xiao laughed loudly and said, “Great! We will meet again in the Human Realm Upon Heavens! Lian Lian, when I become a conqueror of a land up in the Human Realm Upon Heavens, I will announce to the world, and invite the entire world to our great wedding!”

“I will be waiting for that day…”

Jun Yinglian’s voice had gone far, as well as herself.

The beautiful lady had gone!

Ye Xiao took a deep breath—looked at the sky with a determined look on his face, and then started to move toward the Cold Moon Palace at full speed.

The entire Qing-Yun Realm was boiling in fever!

The demons had been wiped out. The sects who fought for the union of all sects had been damaged severely in the war. Over seventy percent of the superior cultivators from all these sects were killed. However, now everybody alive could take a breath of relief.

As long as the demons were gone, and the sects remained, the heritage went on. The sects would rise again in the future. It was just a matter of time.

After that, something else had boiled up the entire Qing-Yun Realm in fever.

Three days after the double heavenly trial thunders appeared in the Qing-Yun Realm, something astonishing happened.

The honorable disciple of the Cold Moon Palace—Ye Chongxiao, known as the Xiao Monarch; Ye Xiao, ascended to the Human Realm Upon Heavens inside the Chongxiao Hall of the sect.

When he ascended, all clouds became colorful and the purple qi covered the sky and earth. A long heavenly bridge appeared in the sky like a great rainbow.

Xiao Monarch was moving up along the rainbow.

When he was on the halfway in the middle of the bridge, countless golden lotus flowers appeared in the sky, blossoming slowly. The entire Qing-Yun Realm was suddenly full of wonderful scent.

When Ye Xiao stepped on the heavenly bridge, he waved a hand in the sky. People saw it, but they didn’t know why he did so. At first, they thought he was waving to the people down on the ground, but what happened afterward made them realize that he wasn’t.

Suddenly, some cold lights appeared and shot fast into his hand from everywhere. A long and strange sword showed up in Ye Xiao’s hand.

The sword in Ye Xiao’s hand looked elegant. Normally, a long sword was in the color of iron steel; three point three feet long with the grip, a braid on the pommel, a cross-guard, the blade, the edge, and the point. A normal long sword should have all these parts.

However, the Xiao Monarch was holding a sword which was four feet long; glowing in purple light, with the grip, the blade, the edge, and the point, but there was no cross-guard or braid on the pommel.

The sword kept shining sharp and glaring lights as it appeared. It kept rotating in front of Xiao Monarch, making sharp sounds. The sword was naturally emitting the aura of a king.

Ye Xiao smiled and grabbed the sword tight in his hand. He laughed out loud and said, “My old friend! Just when I am leaving for the Human Realm Upon Heavens, you showed up again!”

Everybody was shocked when they recognized that sword.

The sword was apparently the famous unique weapon of the Xiao Monarch.

It was the Monarch’s Sword!

This sword meant so much to Ye Xiao. His title, Xiao Monarch, the names of his fist techniques, palm techniques, sword techniques, movement techniques were all named after the sword!

As people were saying, when the three factions end the Xiao Monarch’s life, the sword disappeared with him. Unexpectedly, this sword appeared again.

People were all shocked, but some started to think about the reason for its reappearance. When Ye Xiao waved his hand, he did it on purpose. When he was about to leave the world, he used his significant martial art to withdraw all the broken pieces of his great sword around the world. Only by casually waving his hand, he had repaired the broken Monarch’s Sword and bring it with a glorious glow.

Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose. He just happened to get the sword back when he was ascending. The sword had been broken, but it was still alive, so it automatically returned to Ye Xiao by itself with the power granted by the heavens. The sword must have been recovered by the power of the heavens, and it gained wisdom. This sword was now really a divine weapon with wisdom!

That was the wisdom of the Heavenly Dao!

Ye Xiao held the old sword in hand again, and he couldn’t be more excited and happy. He flicked the blade with his finger, and then the Monarch’s Sword started to make a wonderful sound.

– Clang! –

The Monarch Sword suddenly disappeared. In fact, it seemed the sword had become a part of Ye Xiao’s body now!

Ye Xiao stood on the heavenly bridge, looked down upon the Qing-Yun Realm, and he was emotional at this moment.

He had been through so much in this world, and there were so many memories of the past in this realm… There was love, and there was hope…

Now he was finally leaving.

Did he have anything he wanted to do but hadn’t done yet?

Was there any feeling deep in his heart that he couldn’t express yet?

Did he have regret in his heart?

He took a long breath and murmured. “So many years I have been struggling and traveling in the Qing-Yun Realm. Now I am going to leave for the Human Realm Upon Heavens. Today I am rising up through the clouds, towards the higher realm, and I hope the world beyond us won’t be too cold for me to live in!”