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Falling Petal Mountain was in the Snow Province, one of the Great Xia’s thirteen provinces.
It was originally a perfectly ordinary mountain, and its name came from the numerous peach trees growing on its slopes.
Whenever spring arrived, the peach blossoms bloomed, scattering countless petals. It was a gloriously beautiful sight.
However, following the onset of the Radiant Epoch, this once ordinary mountain became a first-rate blessed ground.
Even the peach trees transformed; they now brimmed with indescribable spirituality. The fruits they produced were all spiritual materials rife with spiritual power.
When the first sunbeams of a new day shone upon the world, it illuminated Falling Petal Mountain and the branches laden with blooming peach blossoms, casting them in fiery red light.
Halfway up a mountain, beside a stream.
Ye Xiao wore clean, undyed robes, and he sat beneath a peach tree, atop a boulder. He rested his head on one hand, while the other held a scroll. His handsome face was quiet and focused.
A stream burbled not far away. Flower petals of all colors drifted through the air, and the birds sang.
The spring breeze and the gentle caress of the morning sunlight were picture-perfect. It was a scene out of a poem.
A woman in a feather coat stood not far away. Occasionally, she glanced at Ye Xiao, and when she did, her expression revealed her reverence and awe.
In the Mysterious Blue Realm, Ye Xiao was a famous homicidal maniac, and the people paled at the mere mention of his name. He was the leading figure of the Ye Family’s younger generation.
Within the Spirit Dao, he was practically invincible!
He’d forged his legend on countless bloodstained battlefields, and his name had already gone down in the annals of the Mysterious Blue Realm’s history.
Even those who loathed him to the bone had to admit that he was the pre-eminent figure among the Mysterious Blue Realm’s Spirit Dao cultivators!
The way the woman in the feather coat saw it, Su Yi had risen to prominence over the past two years. His name might have shaken the Azure Continent, but compared to Ye Xiao, he was small potatoes.
Suddenly, there was an uproar from the foot of the mountain.
The woman in the feather coat frowned in displeasure. Don’t these people realize that the young master is reading!?
Whatever happened to common decency?
“Su Yi’s here,” Ye Xiao said suddenly. His eyes were still focused on his book as he shook his head slightly. “And here I thought he’d show up three days from now. It seems he couldn’t keep his cool.”
The woman in the feather coat said, “Young master, do we need to prepare anything?”
Her eyes flashed, but Ye Xiao just said, “All you need to do is watch.”
Only then did he look away from his book and stare blankly at the distant skies. He muttered to himself, “It’s already difficult for me to find worthy foes amongst the Mysterious Blue Realm’s Spirit Dao cultivators. I finally found someone strong; I naturally have to treasure the opportunity.”
Here, he smiled, and plucked a flower petal from the air. He held it up to his eye and evaluated it. “Ancient poems say that it’s lonely at the top, and indeed, it is.”
The woman in the feather coat couldn’t help but feel emotional. She couldn’t understand his way of thinking, but she could tell that the young master’s mood improved upon learning of Su Yi’s arrival.
Perhaps it was the feeling of encountering a worthwhile opponent?
“Young master, Su Yi has arrived.”
A group of Ye Family experts appeared further down the mountain path. When they arrived, all of them averted their gazes, their movements suddenly careful and reserved.
As if afraid of provoking Ye Xiao’s ire.
“The mountains are covered in peach blossoms. They cannot withstand the destructive power of murderous intent. How about this? Have him meet me on the mountaintop, on Moonview Plateau.”
Ye Xiao rose from the boulder, flicked the petals off his clothes, then walked away. Before long, he’d disappeared from view.
……
The mountaintop. Misty clouds stretched out as far as the eye could see.
A nine-foot-tall jade platform stood on Moonview Plateau.
Lately, every day at nightfall, Ye Xiao had taken to coming here. He liked watching the moon and drinking alone atop the platform.
Now, as the misty light of dawn broke and a gentle mountain breeze blew past, Ye Xiao sat upright atop the platform.
The other Ye Family experts were dispersed throughout the surrounding area. Their ranks included at least ten people, a mix of men and women.
When Ye Jinzhi arrived leading Su Yi, everyone in the vicinity of Moonview Plateau saw it.
Whoosh!
All eyes were instantly on Su Yi, but all shone with a different light.
“That kid’s features really are somewhat similar to Ye Yufei’s,” someone whispered.
“Hmph. If not for the blood of the Ye Family flowing through his veins, how could that punk possibly have reached his current attainments in the Grand Dao?” someone said coldly.
Many others voiced their agreement.
In cultivation, one’s aptitude was extremely important.
Take Su Yi’s mother, Ye Yufei. She was once the matchless top genius of the Ye Family’s younger generation, an incomparable dazzling figure. At just sixteen years of age, she achieved Spiritual Manifestation. Her talent was so exceptional that almost no one could compare to her!
The way the Ye Family experts saw it, the Ye Family blood flowing through his veins had played an indispensable role in Su Yi’s accomplishments!
Su Yi turned up his nose at their conversations.
He was aware that top-level cultivation clans placed enormous emphasis on bloodlines and origins.
However, these Kunwu Mountain Ye Family experts were obviously just trying to make themselves look good. They were ignorant and shameless.
“You’re wrong. Although talent is important for cultivation, it’s useless without wisdom, courage, and perseverance,” said Ye Xiao, smiling from atop the nine-foot platform.
As he spoke, he gazed at Su Yi, who was walking toward the plateau. “Su Yi, please, have a seat.”
His voice was gentle, and he smiled.
Su Yi scanned Moonview Plateau. In the end, his gaze landed on an object not far away.
It was a single, solitary table. Ye Xiao’s nine-foot platform stood at its far end.
The table was laden with alcohol, cups, and refreshments.
However, if he sat there, he could only look up at the jade platform where Ye Xiao sat.
And Ye Xiao would look down at him from on high.
This setup was obviously intentional; it was a formless insult and expression of disdain.
More importantly, there was neither a chair nor a cushion at the table!
“Su Yi, our young master has invited you to sit down. Why haven’t you taken a seat yet?” Not far away, a thin man in black furrowed his brow.
A colorfully-dressed woman said, “Oh, it’s all my fault. I forgot to put a cushion there.”
As she spoke, she fixed her beautiful eyes on Su Yi and said apologetically, “Fellow Daoist Su, how about… you sit on your knees before the table?”
Sit on his knees!
When they heard that, the gathered Ye Family experts couldn’t help but laugh.
Su Yi’s expression remained as calm as ever. “As cultivators of the Kunwu Mountain Ye Family, you’d really resort to such low-class tricks? It’s truly disappointing.”
When Ye Xiao heard this, his eyes flashed, and he burst into laughter. “Fellow Daoist Su, you’re right. Such methods really are a disgrace to the Ye Family’s reputation."
The colorfully-dressed woman’s beautiful face paled, and she said in a quavering voice, “Young master, I just wanted to take Su Yi down a peg, that’s all. I didn’t think it would make you angry. I won’t ever do this again!”
The entire area fell completely silent.
The Ye Family experts were all as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Ye Xiao said calmly, his voice gentle, “It’s not a matter of me being angry, but that your behavior has brought shame to the Ye Family. You ought to be punished for this.”
Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he raised his hand and slapped from afar.
A whip-like streak of black lightning lashed into the colorfully-dressed woman, tearing open the flesh of her back and splattering fresh blood. She collapsed to the ground, her face pallid with agony as cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
But it seemed as if she dared not cry out in pain. Instead, she knelt on the ground and quivered. “Young master, you were right to chastise me! I’m willing to accept my punishment.”
Ye Xiao waved her away. “Go on. Don’t play such petty tricks going forward.”
“Understood!” She crawled to her feet and hurriedly retreated far away.
Ye Xiao faced Su Yi and smiled, “We’ve embarrassed ourselves, Fellow Daoist. Someone, prepare him a seat.”
“No need,” Su Yi said coolly. “I’m not here as a guest.”
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He then swept his gaze across the area. “Where is Ye Yunlan?”
Ye Xiao smiled, drained his cup, then turned to the nearby woman in the feather coat. “Bring him over.”
The woman in the feather coat went off to carry out her orders.
Ye Xiao laughed. “Relax; I disdain using a clansman’s life to threaten you. I called you to Falling Petal Mountain for one matter and one matter only.”
“The Seed of the Azure?” asked Su Yi.
Ye Xiao shook his head. “No. It might be a rare treasure, but in my eyes, it’s just an added bonus.”
As he spoke, he smiled faintly, his expression as warm and gentle as a spring breeze. “Simply put, throughout the Azure Continent, only you are worthy of my attention. Thus, what I wish to do most today is kill you.”
He smiled, and his tone was warm and friendly, but his words were enough to make one tremble.
His voice echoed throughout the plateau. It was a pleasant spring day, but suddenly, the air seemed cold, and a stifling and austere murderous intent permeated the air.
The nearby Ye Family experts felt chills course through their bodies.
However, Su Yi just said coolly, “It’s a pity.”
“What’s a pity?” Ye Xiao asked with great interest.
Su Yi said casually, “Someone like you is no longer worthy of my notice.”
There was a declaration amongst the Ye Family experts. They were dumbstruck; it seemed they dared not believe their ears.
The way they saw it, Ye Xiao’s praise and recognition were an enormous compliment to Su Yi.
Who’d have thought Su Yi would just turn around and say Ye Xiao was unworthy of his notice!?
Who wouldn’t have been flabbergasted?
“Arrogant!” Someone couldn’t help but snort.
“He’s about to die, yet he dares bark like a mad dog and boast so shamelessly? He really doesn’t know the meaning of the word death!” someone shouted.
The experts of the Ye Family were obviously infuriated.
Ye Xiao was stunned too, but a moment later, he burst into laughter. “In all my years of cultivation, this is the first time someone has treated me with such contempt. Haha, interesting. Truly interesting!”
He raised his jug of wine, threw back his head, and drank. His warm bearing changed, and his bearing was now prideful and unrestrained.
Especially his eyes. The depths of his gaze shone with bloodlust, giving his aura a terrifying ferocity.
“Let’s go settle this in the sea of clouds! If you win, you’re welcome to take Ye Yunlan with you. If you lose, leave your life behind!”
As his voice echoed through the air, Ye Xiao rose and stepped into the air, arriving beneath the dome of heaven in a flash.
His thin frame stood in the churning sea of clouds, his long hair fluttering around him. Intimidating black Dao light surged around him, throwing the surrounding skies into upheaval. Even the wind and clouds changed color.
From a distance, Ye Xiao seemed like a deity gazing down upon everything beneath the heavens!
The Ye Family experts practically boiled over. Their blood headed up, and their expressions filled with reverence and eagerness.