Realms In The Firmament

Ye Xiao felt a surge of motivation fill his heart.

“The crown princess? Who are you? Are you from the Mu Clan?” Ye Xiao asked.

“No… We are the guards of the east royal palace. The four of us…” The man spoke with great difficulty. He felt the pain intensify, so he groaned, “Please… spare me... a quick death…”

Ye Xiao’s eyes showed fierceness and spoke blandly, “The crown princess… The guards of the east royal palace…”

…

Ye Xiao questioned him three more times to make sure that he was not being lied to.

He walked out of the covert.

On the floor of the area he vacated, the guard silently lay. The corners of his mouth showed a smile which implied ‘final relief’.

There seemed to be a sense of gratitude…

It seemed that dying was a blessing to him.

It looked like nothing had happened. Not even a single trace of them could be found. However, a vigorous man just disappeared forever…

“The Crown Prince’s Palace. The crown princess.” Ye Xiao was walking casually with a beaming face, but these words were lingering inside his mind.

He suddenly came up with a bold idea: [Why not sneak into the Crown Prince’s Palace and kill the lousy couple?]

…

When he walked back to the street, he looked leisurely. He was pleased, as if he was enjoying the spring breeze. He acted like… he had been pacing around and had never left at all…

Even someone who had been trying to keep watch on him would have been fooled: [The young lord has been hanging around on this street buying stuff and has never left… Now he is still here…

But how did three of us die?

And most importantly, one is missing?

Is he alive or dead? Where is he?]

Soon, people from the government arrived. After some sort of investigation process, they took the three dead bodies and left. The other people who were involved were taken with them for interrogation. Among them, there were of course the shopkeepers around the crime scene.

After what happened, people on the street had already gotten away cleanly, except for people like these shopkeepers who had been forced to stay. Although they hadn’t even approached the bodies, they could not get away from it. Since people had died in front of their doorsteps, they were surely involved!

These men had their cheeks turned sour. The unexpected disaster was inexplicable for them; it was simply a sudden misfortune.

There were twelve people in the group of the Divine Arms Mill and six of them were taken to assist the investigation.

Because the Divine Arms Mill had great influence and wished to have some of their men to remain in order to guard the divine weapons, only six of them were taken. If it held slightly lesser influence, all the twelve of them would have been seized and even those weapons would have been confiscated. Well, as for how they would be confiscated, the opinions might differ…

Ye Xiao was still hanging around casually. Walking and walking, and after a while, he walked into the house of the Divine Arms Mill.

After the homicide case, people on the street disappeared immediately. In the Divine Arms Mill that used to be busier than the market, there was only one guest at the moment, the lord Ye!

The shopkeeper of the Divine Arms Mill was just lamenting about this misfortune. He had sent men to collect information from the government offices and tried to use some connections for this event to bribe people in power, but then he suddenly saw a guest come in, so he was stunned for a second. His professionalism made him instantly ask, “The… The young lord. What do you need?”

He had been through the shock of the government people, so he was somehow like a trembling bird at the moment. But unexpectedly, he saw a guest enter the house, so he was more or less surprised.

Ye Xiao waved his hand casually, “You are asking nonsense. Could I come to a weapon shop for a pen and paper? Any good blade? Good sword? Good weapon? Good iron? Take them all out.” When speaking, he patted himself on the chest, “You are lucky today. I am full of money!”

The shopkeeper who was stroking his beard was stunned.

All those who had ever seeked weapons in the Divine Arms Mill had always acted humbly. Even though the traces were fair, all the customers would say the word ‘please’ as if they were begging. Among those who were seeking divine weapons, this guy who spoke louder because of his wealth was truly rarely seen for the shopkeeper!

[Don’t you know that you may be overcharged by saying that? And despite of that, you might even fail to get the items that suits your desire?!]

“May I ask what exactly do you want? Is it a sword or a knife for self-defense, or is it a pike or a halberd that can be used in the big battles? Or maybe it is a small and delicate… weapon that could be hidden with you all the time?”

The shopkeeper saw him as a fool, so he had to guide Ye Xiao.

The other people were still in shock, so he had to do it himself this time.

“The big weapons are not my type, so I shall not take any. Give me two knives and two sword. I want the best. The ones that can chop iron like it was mud. And… those small ones like throwing knife and needle… give me some. Those that can also chop iron like mud.” Ye Xiao waved his hand.

The shopkeeper couldn’t help twitching his mouth. In his mind, he had a desire of kicking this guy out.

[Are you capable of purchasing or not?

Even though you are a moron, you are not supposed to let yourself be easily overcharged.

‘Chop irons like mud’, do you even know any sayings other than this? Do you think it could be used to describe the tiny throwing knife and needle? If those expendable weapons are not custom-made, do you think we would use special materials to make them?]

Suppressing the anger in his heart, he brought up two middle-class swords.

[He must be a foppish useless lord… It would be a waste to give him any real precious swords.]

“What the hell are these?” Ye Xiao picked up one sword. He held the nose of the sword with two fingers of one hand and the blade of the sword with two fingers of the other hand, and then he casually folded it.

The sword became bent. When the blade was bent, it started to make cracking sounds. Ye Xiao immediately loosened his grip and said, “This sword sucks! The other one must be of the same quality. The elasticity and the ductility are both below average. I just bent it slightly, and it turned out like that. What garbage!”

The shopkeeper was stunned.

[The swords I just took out are some middle-class swords indeed, but ordinary people can never do something like what he did. Bend the sword using only four fingers? He was actually a superior master?]

Thinking about that, the shopkeeper became flustered and started sweating. He then brought up some top-class weapons in a hurry.

Ye Xiao looked at one and shook his head, and then another and shook his head again. One after another, he kept rejecting the sword, with disappointment on his face.

“More?”

“No.”

“The name of the Divine Arms Mill shocks the capital. However, as I see today, you are not deserving of such a great reputation. Yet you claim to be the Divine Arms Mill?” Ye Xiao frowned and looked at him asquint with disdain, “Such scrap metal… They are only a little bit better than the kitchen knife of my house… They really dishonor the word ‘divine’!”

The shopkeeper was a bit pissed when hearing that, “Sir! All the weapons in my shop are made by the true Divine Arms Mill. Even though you are aiming very high and cannot appreciate them, my weapons have never disappointed anyone except you.”

The shopkeeper’s words were neither humble nor pushy. He didn’t offend Ye Xiao, but also didn’t depreciate himself. He was truly open-minded!

Ye Xiao curled his lips and picked up one sword casually, “Proper goods for distinguished

guests. There are some words I didn’t want to say. Let’s talk about this sword. There is the pattern of clouds engraved on it and spiritual lights hidden inside. It is made from well tempered steel. The blade itself gives off a scary aura. It shines in the light. To speak of the appearance of a weapon, it looks as if it is the king of weapons. I guess that this must be the favorite work of your shop, right?”

The shopkeeper raised his head and answered proudly, “Yes. The sword is named ‘The Sword of King’!”

“Pah!” Ye Xiao made the sound of spitting and said, “This sword holds too much focus on the appearance. Yet, its essence is flawed. It has been tempered hundreds of times, so it is very sharp indeed, but it has lost its essence and connotation as a sword. Against someone with an ordinary weapon, it would be fine to use this, as it would be able to chop through iron as if it were mud. However, if facing off against some real cultivators… The weapons of the cultivators, especially those well-known cultivators, could they be ordinary weapons? Within less than three times of crashing, this sword of yours will be rolled up on the edge. This is its first failing. Seeking sharpness recklessly has lead to its thin blade.”

“Second, seeking the pinnacle of lightness makes it too light. It nearly has no weight. Lightness is good for a sword, but even ‘four ounces yields 1000 catties’[1] requires four ounces at least. This sword obviously fails. When it is pushed to a certain extent, it will break. The sword is too fragile. That is its second failing.”

“Third, after too much tempering, there has been many impurity mixed into the metal. It looks perfect on the outside, but in fact, the impurity contained inside is impossible to be removed. How could such a sword be called a divine weapon!”

Ye Xiao sneered, “A sword with impurity, with the impurity completely mixed into the material of the sword, will never respond to the owner’s mind. No matter how much blood it will be fed, it will still be nothing!”

“This sword is nothing but a ‘pretty’ ordinary metal. Yet you actually call it a divine weapon…” Ye Xiao smiled blandly, “It really is unqualified! Every cultivator, especially a superior cultivator, when he wants to buy a weapon, prepares to carry it for his entire life. It will become his vital partner… Because they will grow bonds with their weapons…”

“That’s why there is a saying ‘to live when the sword rises; to die when the sword falls’.” Ye Xiao spoke, “That is… When a sword grows a bond with the soul of the man who holds it, if the sword could not bear the strike, neither could the man; he would die! So, it is not a simple oath, it is a fact!”

Ye Xiao smiled coldly with his hands on his back, “I have talked that much. I just want to tell you that if this sword is your best work… Then I can be sure that cultivators at the Grade of Tianyuan carry no weapons of yours!”

“Because at that very level, they no longer seek for the sharpness of the weapon, they seek for the bond between the weapons and their souls.”

Ye Xiao sighed disappointedly, “It turns out the well-known Divine Arms Mill is just of this level… It seems I have come to a wrong place today.”

After speaking, he shook his head and turned, preparing to leave.

“Hold on a second, sir!”

…

[1] ‘four ounces yields 1000 catties’（四两拨千斤), means a huge return for a very small investment; a big payoff for a small effort.

…

This is the first guaranteed chapter of the week.

Translated by: Yu Zhn

Edited by: Alpha, Arch