Realms In The Firmament

The fish didn’t swim away far. Among the dozens of fish, only a few truly swam away and left the group.

Most of the fish stayed after being alerted. They just kept swimming around, as if they were waiting for something. After a while, they all looked at the spot where the bait had been hanging. They just didn’t want to leave.

Apparently, they knew how dangerous it was, but they still wanted to eat the bait. They couldn’t even leave.

Ye Xiao sighed when he saw it.

The greedy fish were exactly like the people who were crowding in Heaven’s Terrace, having the same look in the eyes!

They knew what it might cost to take the bait, they knew they might die for it, yet they still kept scrambling for it!

After a while, with a sound of something dropping into water, another bait came down again. It wasn’t at the exact spot this time, but quite close.

The fish was swimming over the bait and hesitating for a while, and then swam slowly to the bait in the end…

Some just kept moving around the bait; some used their tails to touch it… some even hit the bait with their heads…

However, no matter what they did, they did it gently. Apparently, they had the lesson of some fish being caught…

The man who was holding the bait was calm and steady. No matter how the fish kept touching the bait in different ways, he just stayed still. No matter what, he just wouldn’t pull the string.

After a while, a big fish seemed to be sure that there was no danger anymore, so it rushed over and bit the bait with its big mouth…

However, when it took the bait, the string was tensed. The hook tightly held its mouth. The big fish painfully twisted itself, trying to get away, but it only got itself pulled up by the string soon…

It was impossible for the fish to fight the power of the fisherman!

The group of fish started to spread out in panic again. This time, they all went far away. They even stirred up the dust on the bottom of the lake. The water became blurred…

When the water became clear again, another bait was hanging right there, waiting for the next fish to fail in resisting the lure…

The fish gathered together again, moving around the bait… They were more cautious now, but still couldn’t truly leave this spot…

It seemed there were more fish in this group now…

Apparently, some new fish joined them…

Ye Xiao quietly observed everything, watching the fish go away and gather up again. He watched them blur the water, touch the bait, bite the bait, get hooked, spread out again, and gather up again… Another fish got caught…

Again and again, it was a loop. Everything repeated…

Ye Xiao showed a bitter smile.

[Fish?]

[Men?]

[What is the difference?]

[What is to be hooked? And who is fishing?]

[Maybe… in the eyes of the man who put down the fruits… we are just like these fish… Aren’t we?]

[Are we just a dish?]

[That’s all!]

[Before coming to Heaven’s Terrace, one will never realize how insignificant we are; nor will one know what we are in the real powerful people’s eyes.] Ye Xiao was lost in thoughts while staying under the water.

He felt… furious.

[What does he want? Nobody knows how far he is from us.]

[What does he treat us as?]

[Does he see us as a bunch of stupid fish with only greediness?]

He was touched. Suddenly, he was like a fallen leaf, flowing up in the water.

He did it out of his instinct. Even the small fish around him didn’t notice there was something not belonging to this environment. After a while, he had risen up to the surface of the water. - Puff! - He left the water and stood back on the lakefront.

He looked down to watch the clear water again, while his mind was deep in thoughts.

[Who knows how many fish are there in the water?]

[Who knows how many cultivators are there in Qing-Yun Realm?]

[There is the Land of Han-Yang below Qing-Yun Realm. People in Qing-Yun Realm see those in the Land of Han-Yang as ants.]

[That’s right. Ants.]

[They look down arrogantly from a much higher position to the lower depths.]

[The wars between kingdoms, between different forces... are merely jokes in Qing-Yun Realm people’s eyes. One after another. It is a loop. Everything is the same!]

[However, there was Human Realm Upon Heavens beyond Qing-Yun Realm.]

[Those who live in Human Realm Upon Heavens, how do they see us as?]

[What does it mean?]

[Do they look down upon us arrogantly in just the same way?]

Ye Xiao half closed his eyes. Suddenly, he raised his head up, looking into the void with a pair of cold eyes.

[Is there a stronger world beyond Human Realm Upon Heavens?]

[When you treat people like fish, are there anybody treating you as another fish? Or an ant?]

…

A white shadow with white clothes flicking the air showed up.

A mass of cold qi showed up in Heaven’s Terrace!

Frost Sword Han Bingxue!

The Unique of the World!

He naturally showed up with his real face.

The unique flow of the Frost Sword.

However, no matter how famous he was, those men in this place just took a look at him. That was all.

He was Han Bingxue. So what?

Nobody among these men could defeat him. However, no matter how dominant he was, he might not be able to get the fruits!

He would probably die, just like the others, if he dared to grab the fruits!

Countless level nine Dao Origin Stage cultivators died in this place!

Han Bingxue showed and pretended that he knew nobody in this place. He walked straight ahead arrogantly just like usual. Wherever he walked to, people stepped aside to make way to him.

Even though everybody knew that most people would die attempting to get the fruits, they still didn’t dare to mess with people like Han Bingxue.

After all, he might not be able to get the fruits, but he could quickly kill them all before he tried.

Even though they knew he was just like a dead man, they wouldn’t take the risk to get themselves killed, also to get beaten before touching the fruits!

[We… We shall not fight a man who is going to die!]

…