"She needs my death to prove something..."
A curtain of rain veiled the mountain gate of the Tianyuan Sword Sect. Sitting by the latticed window of a small hilltop pavilion, Xu Yuan murmured to himself, drinking alone in silence.
He found, however, that humans were truly gluttons for punishment. One of his reasons for coming to the Tianyuan Mountain Range had been to help both the big and little ice blocks make up their minds. Yet now that they truly had, his own chest had started to ache again.
The pavilion stood on a slope of the Sword Sect's Formation Peak, offering a sweeping view upward at the majesty of the main peak. Across the unending rain, nine flights of verdant jade steps wound upward, terminating at a colossal cliff face half-shrouded in mist and clouds. Upon it, the weathered characters "Tianyuan" spoke to its storied history, though by now emerald-green moss had already grown over the sharp edge of the final stroke.
Glancing sideways at the vista outside, Xu Yuan muttered again, as if comforting himself:
"Sigh... Honestly, I should be happy."
"Yeah, I definitely should be happy.
"Cold-bloodedness is always better than indecision, whether for me or for her. Besides, purely looking at raw strength, that idiot can't kill me anyway. Ha, ha..."
"The Big Ice Block will probably be tricky, though. After making such a huge commotion that day, she still didn't show her face. She most likely just doesn't want to see me."
"Of course, it could also be the elders' doing."
"After all, the Big Ice Block is so simple-minded. It's only natural they'd worry I'd talk her in circles."
"Still, it's damn annoying. At this rate, there's no way to give her a heads-up on a lot of things. That girl's probably going to suffer the whole time..."
Muttering his grievances, Xu Yuan eventually reined in his wandering thoughts and regained his calm.
The mountain rain cascaded from the upturned eaves like silver threads. Three days had already passed since he first arrived at the Tianyuan Sword Sect. After Tianyan appeared to "intercede" that day, Ran Qingmo's master's wife had ultimately allowed Xu Yuan to stay within the Sword Sect's gate for the time being—though, in exchange, he had lost a measure of his freedom.
To "protect" the safety of this legitimate son of the Prime Minister's Manor while on sect grounds, the Sword Sect had gone out of its way to deploy a full battalion of Formation Peak disciples to station themselves at the foot of his pavilion's hill.
And on top of that,
two Transcendent Realm Sword Masters were permanently on guard.
If it were anyone else, such a level of "security" would have been utterly terrifying, but Xu Yuan couldn't care less.
He had already perfected his Void Flash and turned it into a constant passive. Even if Wen Xinyun, who was beyond the Saint Realm, launched a sneak attack, it would be impossible to kill him in a single strike. And as long as the first blow failed to kill him on the spot, with his life-death Dao charm and Void-Stepping Slash, no one in this world could stop Xu Yuan if he wanted to run.
Pondering these matters, Xu Yuan poured and drank his own wine in the rainy night.
Who knew how much time slipped by before he suddenly lifted his eyes toward the brightly lit Tianyuan main peak, a smile curling at the corner of his lips:
"The people in the main hall must be frantic, aren't they?"
"Frantic indeed. One could even call it panic."
An abrupt voice drifted out from the shadows cast by the candlelight, like an apparition: "Your arrival has plunged my Tianyuan Sword Sect into a state of total combat readiness."
Xu Yuan did not look back, seemingly aware of the arrival long before. He calmly retrieved a bronze wine cup from his Sumeru ring, filled it, and pushed it across the table toward the opposite side:
"Afraid I brought bodyguards behind me?"
A handsome, white-bearded elder materialized from the darkness and took a seat. His eyes, keen as swords, locked onto the youth across from him as he spoke word by word:
"Xu Changtian, what exactly are you trying to do?"
"Second Elder, what I want to do isn't important. What matters is what you want to do."
Liu Wenzhou did not make a sound, nor did he pick up the thread.
Only after locking eyes for a dozen breaths did Liu Wenzhou slowly say:
"Word came from the hidden sects. The Prime Minister's Manor's military encampment in the Hongnong region is now empty. Where did those troops go?"
"Wen Xinyun told you?"
"Yes."
"A troublesome old fossil."
Xu Yuan spat softly.
At times, one truly had to admit that this woman's spirit-possession art was nearly impossible to defend against.
Had the Prime Minister's Manor not captured a batch of possessed individuals during their time at Zhenxi Manor and sent them back to the capital to reverse-engineer her technique—temporarily cobbling together some simple detection methods—the Manor's current movements would likely have been in an even more passive state.
"It seems the report is true."
The warm yellow candlelight reflected in the amber liquor, casting the reflections of the two men sitting across the low table.
Xu Yuan chuckled softly and did not deny it:
"Train troops for a thousand days to use them for an hour. When war approaches, troops trained for battle are naturally deployed to fight. Still, your Sword Sect is truly useless. You couldn't even detect my Prime Minister's Manor mobilizing troops, having to rely on the hidden sects to bring you word."
"..." Liu Wenzhou remained silent.
Xu Yuan fixed his gaze on the elder before him, smiling faintly:
"Looks like you weren't lying to me either. The people on the main peak truly are panicking."
"An elite force of a hundred thousand suddenly vanishes—anyone would panic. So I want to know, Xu Changtian, why on earth did you come to my Sword Sect?"
"That depends on you."
"The Sword Sect has no choice."
"Yet I have already given you one. Otherwise, why would you come looking for me tonight?"
The wind chimes hanging from the pavilion's upturned eaves chimed crisply in the rain.
Xu Yuan's words were measured and unhurried, stating a simple fact:
"Liu Wenzhou, you Sword Masters and elders have already done well enough in this struggle of the great age. Having you is the Sword Sect's fortune, and the fortune of the forty thousand disciples within your gates. No offense intended, but as a matter of fact, the Sword Sect's decline is already irreversible. Even if the Imperial Preceptor hadn't been assassinated by the hidden sects, you would still have lost the qualifications to sit as players placing stones on the board. This isn't because you are too weak, but because your opponents are too strong.
"Whether it is the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion or Wen Xinyun, whether it is the Chancellor's Manor or the imperial Li family, not one of them is an adversary you can stand against. I believe you, of all people, must understand this far better than an outsider like me."
"..."
A hint of chagrin surfaced on Liu Wenzhou's somber face.
For the Sword Sect, it was truly a tragedy born of no fault in their waging of war.
They were united, fearless, and rushed forward wave after wave.
In theory, a faction possessing such qualities should have been on the rise. Through the efforts of this generation, the Sword Sect ought to have marched toward an even more prosperous future. Yet regrettably, they had crashed headlong into a cataclysmic era crawling with monsters.
Seeing the elder's helplessness, Xu Yuan sighed inwardly, yet he continued in a low voice:
"Let me share a bit more news you don't know—information concerning those beyond the Saint Realm. Leaving Wen Xinyun and my father aside for the moment, besides the two of them, the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion also has someone beyond the Saint Realm, and that dying emperor of the royal house may well have touched that realm as well.
"The Sword Sect was simply born at the wrong time.
"So, Second Elder...
"Cutting off your tail to survive is better than leaving not a dog or chicken alive, isn't it?"
"..."
Liu Wenzhou remained silent. Amid that silence, he stood up quietly and cupped his hands to Xu Yuan. "My thanks to the Third Young Master for these words."
Xu Yuan slowly closed his eyes and leaned back against his chair. Hearing the elder's departing footsteps, he murmured with a trace of weariness:
"Still choosing to be stubborn, then...?"
"One must always try. The ancestors of the Sword Sect have never left a precedent of surrendering without a fight."
"In that case, please remember the way out I've offered you."
"Thank you."
"It's only for Ran Qingmo's sake. You're just along for the ride."
"Third Young Master, you... are not suited for the imperial throne."
"Heh."
Listening to the whistling sound of someone fleeing through the air outside the pavilion, Xu Yuan chuckled softly:
"Hey, I never said I wanted to be an emperor in the first place..."
"Open the door."
The world was never short of examples proving blessings never come in pairs, while misfortunes never walk alone. After several days of leisure, tonight's visitors clearly wouldn't end with Liu Wenzhou.
Just as he cleared away the wine cup the old man had left untouched, a clear, chilly voice drifted down from the clouds.
When Xu Changtian looked up at the sound, he saw Tianyan descending barefoot along a trail of starlight. The Saintess of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion was draped in raw silk woven from the curtain of rain, resembling a celestial maiden tumbling into the mortal realm.
The golden-eyed girl's arrival truly caught Xu Yuan somewhat off guard. Even so, he had no intention of moving an inch. He simply jutted his chin through the window curtain toward the open window frame:
"Don't you have hands, or do you not have legs?"
Stripped of emotional ripples, her memories nonetheless remained.
Seeing that Xu Yuan offered no hospitality, Tianyan showed no trace of annoyance. She flashed inside the pavilion and settled in, saying flatly:
"As insolent as ever."
"I don't have the State of Godlessness. Naturally, old habits die hard."
Looking at the girl's familiar, flawless face, Xu Yuan suppressed the itchy urge to step forward and caress it. Smiling, he teased, "Coming to see me this late at night—are you here to reminisce, or to ask me to show you mercy?"
Tianyan had not taken a seat at the table, simply standing suspended in the void. Her elaborate saintess gown drifted gently without any wind, and her clear golden eyes fixed upon his face without the slightest ripple:
"I came here to conspire with you on a matter."
"Sure. Beg me."
"This matter concerns Wen Xinyun."
"Beg me first."
"The Overseeing Heaven Pavilion—"
"I said, beg me first."
"..." Tianyan fell silent.
Tianyan didn't say another word. Her pair of golden eyes silently watched the smiling, blood-robed man. She judged that Xu Yuan currently showed no sign of wishing to negotiate seriously.
With his smile unchanged, Xu Yuan crossed his legs and leaned back against the chair, saying slowly:
"I don't really like the way you keep a cold face. Smile first, and then we'll keep talking."
Pondering for a moment,
Tianyan's thin, rosy lips tugged into a smile uglier than crying.
Seeing that she had actually complied, Xu Yuan took a deep breath and said with a smile:
"You explained the State of Godlessness to me before. You said its purpose was to strip away emotions so that each Overseeing Heaven Pavilion Master could make the most rational choice, right?"
Tianyan didn't understand why Xu Yuan had suddenly brought this up, but she still nodded, her voice crisp as a silver bell:
"What of it?"
"Act."
"What?"
"Act out how you originally were in front of me."
Tianyan fell silent for a moment before speaking the truth:
"I do not know how to act."
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes halfway, his expression softening:
"You don't even know how to act as yourself?"
Tianyan looked down upon the lounging man. "Is there any meaning in such trivial falsehoods? I do not recall you being such an infantile person."
Xu Yuan fell silent for a few moments, then smiled:
"But you should remember that I'm a sentimental man."
Without the slightest hesitation, Tianyan refuted:
"Yet in my memories, you were utterly callous."
"..."
Xu Yuan was struck speechless for a moment, but then laughed:
"Being sentimental and callous aren't mutually exclusive. Regardless, honey traps have always worked best on me. Something involving an old fossil like Wen Xinyun can't be small. For the sake of the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion, isn't it only reasonable for you to make a small sacrifice?"
Chapter 767