Realms In The Firmament

BOOOOM!!! It sounded as if the entire world was shaking.

A large mountain was crushed into pieces and countless broken rocks flew into the air creating clouds of dust obscuring everything.

Suddenly, with a shout, a figure broke out from the dust clouds. This figure, emmiting a dazzling light like thunder and lightning in a stormy night, was quickly flying forward. His tremendous speed led to a long streak of dust trailing him with the shape of a Chinese dragon crawling forward.

Immediately after that, a crowd of figures flew through the clouds creating countless long streaks of dust, hurriedly chasing after the person in front, as if possessed!

“The three largest factions had ganged together, and totalled 3496 cultivators, chasing me through thirty-seven thousand miles! Aha… you guys are really taking great efforts to eliminate me!”

With a tremendous noise, Ye Xiao - the man flying in front, suddenly stopped on a flying rock, before quickly turning around with a wild laugh. The sharp light from a sword flew out of his hand at full speed, like a flashing streak of lightning of the firmament.

It was the last of the power he contained!

The light flew into the crowd like a lightning strike, causing pitiful cries to burst out. But, as one fell, another rose. Some of them bled in the skies before falling to the ground, all the while swinging their hands and feet!

Ye Xiao was now bleeding profusely because of his previous strike which had rendered him unable to fly.

坐如山岳岿然，站似通天长虹；动有风云涌动，行则霹雳随身！

(Sitting like a lofty mountain, standing like a great rainbow; acting like a storm surging, moving like a thunderbolt.)

Sitting, standing, acting, moving, the four lines are excellent descriptions about the cultivators who have reached the Grade of Daoyuan [1].

Although Ye Xiao had been the best of all the Daoyuan cultivators, after this last amazing sword strike, he was just a spent bullet. At the moment, he was like a lamp out of oil – he had no more energy left for flying. When he landed, the rocks under his feet had quickly become stained with his blood!

Panting heavily, Ye Xiao still had the scorn in his eyes, and he sneered, “Humph, I may have reached the end with no chance to get out and I may not be able to survive this, but even if I will die here today, I can assure you that most of you guys will die with me today!”

The rock he was standing on, was on the peak of a huge mountain.

When Ye Xiao looked back, he was like a king in the sky looking down with imperceptible stateliness even in this imminent predicament!

Fearing his aggression, hundreds of the cultivators stood still in front of Ye Xiao! They were looking at him with misgivings in their eyes. Far behind them, beyond the limits of one’s eyesight, there was a path. It was the path they had travelled which was currently made of countless dead bodies. An unexpected howling wind was coming over. A few decapitated heads with open eyes were blown and were sent rolling.

The cost they paid for Ye Xiao’s death was obviously shown by this path of death built of flesh and blood covering thousands of miles over mountains and rivers!

Although this Xiao Monarch was clearly at the end of his rope and they knew that he would find it impossible to get away, for the moment, they still didn’t dare to take a step forward!

They all knew clearly that whoever dared to get closer at this moment, would instantly get killed and be buried with the dead and go to hell with Ye Xiao!

No matter who, there would be no exception!

It was a clear point with no room for any doubt.

Because the guy standing in front of them, was the Xiao Monarch!

Laughing out loud at all the heroes under the firmament, he was the monarch of the universe!

The Xiao Monarch was a legend in the realms in the firmament!

The 3496 cultivators from the three factions had set up huge traps and used countless approaches trying to hunt down Ye Xiao, travelled thirty-seven thousand miles and destroyed nearly every mountain and river they had passed. However, Ye Xiao on his own, had unexpectedly killed almost all the 3496 cultivators behind him, leaving countless broken lands and piles of dead cultivator’s bodies wherever he went!

Who could dare to look down upon such a formidable man?

Even when he had reached his end, nobody would dare to challenge his sword!

“Xiao Monarch! We wouldn’t have ganged together to hunt you down like this if it were not for your perverseness against us.” A sage-like old man in the crowd sighed, completely exhausted, “I just don’t understand why… our well known Xiao Monarch would suddenly declare war against us and try to kill us. What you did has led to losses on both sides. Since it won’t do you any good, why are you doing this?”

Although the three factions finally had the chance to slaughter their shared enemy, Ye Xiao, the cost they had paid for it was totally unbearable. They had lost almost ninety percent of their warriors in this battle. The losses they had suffered were so massive, that they would find it impossible to revitalize themselves within the next one thousand years.

The three factions would lose their top factions status in the Qing-Yun[2] realm once there were other factions rising – it must be the worst situation for them. Besides, there were still the Palace and the Temple aiming for their heads like tigers stalking their prey!

After everything, they were still muddle-headed. They still couldn’t understand what the problem was with this horrible Xiao Monarch?! This was truly to harm others without benefiting himself!

Had the domineering Xiao Monarch, who persisted his old ways and had never cared about anything, gone crazy?

Ye Xiao sneered, “So you don’t get it? You really don’t get it? Aha…”

He looked down at the huge pit on his chest through which his entrails could be seen and actually stretched his wounded body. He chillingly said, “No matter what dirty business you three factions did, I didn’t give a damn about it. Except you forcibly occupied all the resources for cultivating, changed the energy sources and monopolized all valuable practice materials! You kept other people from cultivating themselves so that only you three factions could practice in the Qing-Yun Realm… You acted so overbearingly, even going as far as breaking people’s futures. I just detested this! Since I detested it, I must discipline it!”

“No, Xiao Monarch! You are wrong! Only the virtuous should own the treasures in this world. Those who want to cultivate themselves should follow the law of the jungle. We did nothing wrong!”

“What -hah!” Ye Xiao laughed out coughing, “The virtuous you were saying? That is right. The treasures in the world belong to anyone. No matter who, the one who seizes them has the right to own them. On that I agree. However, you slaughtered millions of innocent people just because you wanted to control the miraculous mountains, using those souls of the dead as sacrificial offerings to build the power vein! You made large wealthy towns turn into wastelands filled with death and cold. Then you would cover your crime up with a claim that those places were suffering with pestilences and you had to do that to save the rest of the realm… How many times did you mindlessly murder a whole town and distort facts in these years? How dare you claim to be virtuous? Such bloody virtuous! HAHAHAHA!!”

He laughed wildly with an undisguised tone that was full of taunt.

“All cultivation resources are yours. Anyone who dares to take some will get no mercy and all his relatives will be killed - no one lives! You guys acted excessively first, I am just fighting back the same way. How difficult could it be to understand?”

He bended his mouth and smiled sarcastically.

After Ye Xiao spoke, the three leaders of the crowd - the heads of the three factions, had ungainly expressions.

“So that’s it… The reason you fought against us is simply to fight for justice… to defend cultivators against our injustice? Aha, what a noble man, Xiao Monarch! Even so, after your death today, who on earth would stand up and face us? We three factions may have suffered a great loss, but we are not destroyed. After no more than a thousand years, we will fully recover! What a pity. After today, there will no longer be a famous Xiao Monarch!” The sage-like old man sneered.

“As long as I am still alive, I will never let you proceed with it! If I die… the world would have nothing to do with me.” Ye Xiao smiled indifferently, “As long as I can still breathe, the only thing I would like to do, is to wipe you bastards all out!”

Even though he was talking with disdain, he felt sorry in his heart that he could not wipe out the three factions as a revenge for his brother!

It was his life’s greatest regret!

“I see. We get it.” The old man nodded slowly with a crazy murderous look, “Enough talking, we will end your life! We won’t let you stay alive!”

He waved his hand; grinding his teeth, “Go! Kill him! Whatever the cost!”

All the warriors attacked at the same time with their full power! Hundreds of the warriors risked their lives by using all of their power in this final attack. Countless lights and noises mixed together with countless strong powers, striking Ye Xiao like a huge storm!

The power created by the three factions together had really shook the earth and the sky. All that could be seen was dust flying up in the air as the land underneath seemed to crack. The mountains on which Ye Xiao had stood on top of previously were instantly crushed into pieces and dust now covered everything. With countless broken rocks flying up, the mountains in between them were completely destroyed all at once.

Ye Xiao laughed out loud. After this one-month long battle, he was truly too exhausted. Even moving a single step felt like climbing the highest of mountains. He could do nothing to defend himself against all these destructive attacks, so he looked carelessly at his enemies with a smile on his face.

Instantly, he and the mountain below his feet were about to be hit by this immense tidal wave of attacks!

His voice boomed through the air right before he was hit.

“It is to be regretted that I was fighting alone and failed to kill all of you! If I am given a second chance, I promise, I will cut down all your heads… Fighting alone and letting you bastards get away with your lives is my lifelong regret!”

At the last moment of his life, the unbeatable loner Xiao Monarch finally realized his greatest weakness!

He was solitary!

Even though he had already become one of the supreme masters in this world, when facing the force of the three largest factions, he himself was simply not enough!

BOOOM! An extreme explosion turned the entire sky-high solid mountain into a dust cloaked rain of pebbles and rocks.

Dust overflowed and rocks rolled.

The Xiao Monarch left his last words with his last breath,

“无悔此生路艰险，唯恨无力斩凶顽；若得来生重倚剑，屠尽奸邪笑苍天！”

(I don’t regret my life even though it was so tough, but I hate that I couldn’t wipe the evil out. If only I had an afterlife, with my sword in my hand, I would remove all the evil so that I could laugh out loud in the world.)

In the mist, the sage-like old man looked at the mess, while murmuring with a sullen face, “Even if you had realized… You wouldn’t even stand a chance… and now, you will never know of the truth…”

He sneered, “If only I had an afterlife with my sword in my hand, I would remove all the evil so that I could laugh out loud in the world… Humph, what a pity, Xiao Monarch, there is no such thing as an afterlife!”

“Off we go!” The old man waved his hand. All the warriors turned back and left.

No one had noticed that the moment when Ye Xiao died, a thin purple light had flashed briefly in the sky.

As the wild wind was howling, all the dust was blown away. There were only the broken rocks on the ground. The mountain had already disappeared.

Only in the air, there was the faintly discernible voice.

“If only I had an afterlife with my sword in my hand, I would remove all the evil so that I could laugh out loud in the world…”

……

Ye Xiao suddenly woke up!

His entire body was screaming in agony. But while he was focusing on the pain; his mind fell into the endless confusion!

“What is going on? Wasn’t I fighting against the three factions? Didn’t I die? My body was destroyed and my spirit extinguished. My soul was gone. How could I still survive after facing that destructive attack…” He opened his eyes and a luxurious room entered his vision, and he felt like he was lying on a soft bed…

“I didn’t die?”

He had suffered such immensely powerful attacks while having absolutely no power to fight back or even resist. He was surely smashed to pieces. How could he not be dead?

Ye Xiao couldn’t help but scratch his head, “Oh right, my body… Wait a second!”

His eyes almost fell out of their sockets as he stared in shock at his stretched out arms.

Hands with white skin, long bony fingers, even lovelier than those beautiful hands a girl possesses…

“WTF…These are not my hands!” Ye Xiao was in a daze, while staring at his hands.

The next moment, he quickly sat up and grabbed the mirror beside the bed and lifted it up to his face, then cried out.

In the mirror he saw an unknown youth who was about 16 years old, with white skin and sharp eyebrows. It was a handsome guy with red lips that looked as pretty as a lady’s .

“Beautiful…”

He stopped with a click of his tongue. Realizing it was not the right word to describe a guy and decided to correct himself.

“Very handsome…” He nodded, “That’s better… But what the hell’s going on?”

Then he felt an excruciating pain in his head. A memory was flowing forcefully into his mind like a tidal wave, making him almost lose his consciousness yet again.

Ye Xiao was grasping his head and he was gasping for air until he had finally absorbed the whole memory.

“Oh, I see…”

———————————————

[1] Grade of Daoyuan: There are nine Grades in the level system of Realms of the Firmament.

From low to high- Grade of Renyuan, Grade of Diyuan, Grade of Tianyuan, Grade of Lingyuan, Grade of Mengyuan, Grade of Daoyuan, Grade of Xianyuan, Grade of Shenyuan, Grade of Shengyuan.

There are nine levels in each Grade, which makes it 81 levels in total.

[2] Qing-Yun Realm: One of the realms that lie in the sky above the mortal world, where Ye Xiao lived in his prior life.