Realms In The Firmament

”Men all have ambitions. A man without ambition? Impossible. Don’t mention those great saints to me now. Even those saints in the myth have ambitions.” Song Jue blandly spoke, ”Somebody wants to be invincible. Some wants to be immortal. Some wants to be rich. Some wants power. Even saints have ambitions. They want their names to be written in the history, passing on their fames…

”The generals… The capable ones want to expand the territory for their kingdom and leave their names in the annals of history. Regular ones want to get promoted, marry a pretty woman and father some sons. Soldiers just want to get the money and feed their families, or maybe luckily get on the league of generals in the future.

”Everybody is fighting for personal interest.”

Song Jue said, ”I will say the same. Men in different positions have different perspectives. When a soldier becomes a general, he will want much more than just feed his families. He will want to be promoted and get more money. He will want power to rule an army. However, when he becomes a commander, a great general, he has a different goal to chase. He will want fame and to be remembered in the future.

”Sometimes, you have to be in a certain position to make judgement on certain things! A beggar can’t even eat. If he talked about serving the kingdom and creating a better world for people… even if it has that possibility, people would tease him! What do you have to better this world when you can barely keep yourself breathing?

”Goals show different ambitions in different phases of a man. Life may be boring for regular people, but such life is a dream to beggars. The rich think nothing special about their wealthy life, but regular people long for it. Officials live in a high position in the society, and that is exactly what the rich guys and the scholars want. Some influential officials in the court are living the dream of those who are eager for power… There are more like these!

”Ambition drives the world! It is the most valuable thing mankind has!

”When a man becomes a small official in a place, he may get bribes. When he climbs up to a certain position, say he is only holding less power than the king himself… would he even bother thinking about making money? What he longs for changes…”

He sneered, ”Now what? Will you think of me like you father does? He always said that my theories are extreme.”

Ye Xiao laughed. ”I will not! You have extreme thoughts, but you are right. I believe my father wouldn’t say you are wrong about this.”

Song Jue laughed. He was happy. He casually swayed his sword and over a dozen soldiers of the Kingdom of Lan-Feng were knocked off the wall. He continued talking, ”Martial artists like us have ambitions too. However, what we want, people in Land of Han-Yang wouldn’t understand. In fact, for the men in Human Realm Upon Heavens, what we want is just nothing.

”In their eyes, those who have reached the peak of Qing-Yun Realm, like Xue Danru, Xuan Bing and Xiao Monarch, no matter how marvelous they are in Qing-Yun Realm, they are weak. In their eyes, these figures were only a joke. Acting like they were conquerors with their lousy capability, that was arrogant overestimation for the men in Human Realm Upon Heavens.”

”Now think about it. Aren’t you just like those guys high in Human Realm Upon Heavens?” Song Jue said.

Ye Xiao was shocked. However, he didn’t seem so interested in the long speech. He said, ”Xue Danru? Xuan Bing? Are they both women? Xiao Monarch? Who is that?”

Ye Xiao asked while knowing the answer.

Song Jue humphed. ”Yes, women! So what? Can’t women be superior cultivators? Xue Danru and Xuan Bing, they both are the strongest figures in Qing-Yun Realm. Xiao Monarch… Hmm. His name is also Ye Xiao, the same as you!”

Ye Xiao spoke in a low voice, ”Xiao Monarch, Ye Xiao!”

Song Jue half closed his eyes. ”That’s it. Xiao Monarch, Ye Xiao. Does it make you feel proud? Well. Compared to him, you are weaker than an ant! He could kill you by blowing! He can kill you with a fart!”

Ye Xiao was happy to hear it. ”Really? Is he that good?”

Song Jue rolled up the eyes. He was a bit speechless now. ”Of course Xiao Monarch is good! Not like you! Arrogant! Stupid! What’s in your mind!”

Ye Xiao’s face twitched and he said ‘fxck’. He couldn’t help it.

[Okay. Now what should I say?]

”Oh, there is another Ye Xiao in Qing-Yun Realm…” he murmured.

”Humph. Xiao Monarch ruled the world! He is smart, handsome, brave, strong and generous. He is invincible! You are never going to be a match to him!”

Song Jue looked admiring. ”That year, Xiao Monarch traveled alone with one sword in the Qing-Yun Realm. He killed the evil guys and helped the nice people. He was arbitrary and he murdered a lot of lives, but he never did anything vile. He just killed those he had to kill.

”Xiao Monarch, Ye Xiao. What a hero. He seemed both righteous and evil. People praised him and also scolded him. Even his enemies never criticized his personality.”

Song Jue seemed thrilled talking about Xiao Monarch. However, at the end, he sighed. ”It is a pity. Such a heroic figure died without leaving a body!”

”Ah? He is dead? Pah. Xiao Monarch is dead? Wasn’t he such an invincible hero? How did he die?” Ye Xiao asked.

He knew exactly how he himself died. Song Jue shouldn’t know, nor should Ye Nantian. They both had been away from Qing-Yun Realm for so many years. Why would they know Ye Xiao’s death?

Song Jue held his breath and said, ”People of Ye Clan in Qing-Yun Realm came down and we had a conversation. They mentioned how Xiao Monarch fell into a trap and was hunted by those factions. He died. Such a heroic figure died in vile schemes! What a shame!”

Ye Xiao asked, ”Uncle Song, there was a famous man Ye Xiao, then why is my name Ye Xiao too? Does my father worship Xiao Monarch?”

Ye Xiao had this question in mind for a long time. Ye Nantian was from the Qing-Yun Realm. He surely knew about Xiao Monarch, the world-shocking figure in the Qing-Yun Realm. Why would he name his own son Ye Xiao? That was strange indeed.

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