The atmosphere changed in an instant!
Ling Tian could not help but pause for a while, before laughing, "Mister’s eyes are just like a torch in the darkness, Ling Tian cannot help but be full of admiration. However," he paused at this. Since the other party had already gotten a grasp on his true strength, and with his character, he was worth to befriend with. Ling Tian was unwilling to put on an act, for it would not be worth it if he were to lose this friendship. He continued, "to wish for the rains and wind to heed my command, I definitely do not have the capability, nor do I have the ability. I can only support from the side lines, taking advantage of the crisis to obtain some small benefits. That would satisfy me."
Ye QingChen let out a smile which seemed to carry a hidden meaning and did not continue with the topic. Some things were better left as it was. To be able to have Ling Tian speak out some of his ambitions, it was already a huge show of trust, based on his years of experience!
"There’s something that I don’t understand, may I request for Mister’s help in this?" Ling Tian was naturally clear that it was inappropriate to dwell on such matters, and changed the topic to ask a question which had been in his heart for quite a while.
"Haha, how can there still be a problem which can stump our Young Noble? Why don’t you share it? Maybe this Ye knows the answer." Ye QingChen smiled, but did not guarantee that he would be able to help. With Ling Tian’s status as well as his top-notch skills, there were not many things that could pose trouble for him. If there really something like that he, who live in solitude, would find it even harder!
"Haha, actually, this matter may appear to be insignificant to Mister, as simple as speaking; however, it is worlds apart for me. In your eyes, what does this world of martial arts look like? Are there any tiers for the practitioners? And how many of people with similar strength as you exist?" Ling Tian’s gaze sharpened at the final question, staring intensely at Ye QingChen.
"Oh? So Young Noble is actually distressed over this. Few people are aware of such matters but it actually isn’t considered a secret at all. This old man here actually am able to help you with this problem." Ye QingChen felt more at ease after hearing the question. This was merely a question after all and, although it could be considered as top-class information in the Heavenly Star Continent, he could at least talk about this.
To a person which is not privy to the information circles of any great martial clans, such information was naturally as difficult as trying to feel an entire mountain by your hands. However, for those in the loop, it was merely a piece of information, and by their standards, it was nothing much to be kept tightly guarded. The fortune teller happened to be one of them in the loop.
"If that’s so, then I would like to hear the details. Could Mister please advise?" Ling Tian smiled, and raising his voice, he continued, "Ling Chen, ask the shopkeeper to bring out a few of their best dishes. Then, return to the courtyard to bring a jar of Azure Bamboo Leaf over. I’m planning to treat Mister Ye to a round of drinks here."
On the outside, the clear sound of acknowledgement was heard from her, and in only a moment of time, she appeared, carefully carrying a small wine jar. Mister Ye was originally nonchalant, but upon catching a whiff of the scent, his expression changed. It reverted in an instant, however that split change had been noted of by Ling Tian, who was grinning to himself.
Not a moment later, a table of exquisite snacks was sent by the waiter to their door. Ling Chen took it from the waiter and delivered it over personally, placing them one by one on the table. She then broke open the seal of the wine, pouring a cup for both before bowing and taking her leave.
Seated in another room, Yu BingYan was in a daze, her eyes betraying bitterness. Ling Tian obviously had something important, but had chosen to hide it from her; that meant that he still did not trust her enough! Her excited mood of going outdoors had been completely swept clean, the corners of her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
However, she asked herself this, if her family head, Yu ManLou, were to question her regarding any of Ling Tian’s secrets, should she speak up or keep it hidden? After thinking for such a long time, she could only let out a sigh. Trapped between a rock and a hard wall, she might as well be thankful that she remained ignorant. By thinking in this manner, she would also feel better in her heart.
Seeing Ling Chen retreat from the room, Ye QingChen let out a laugh, "Young Noble, your maidservant is obedient and yet highly talented. You have such good fortune!"
Ling Tian also laughed, raising his wine cup in a salute, "This is junior’s take on fermenting my own wine. If this doesn’t pass Senior’s taste, please do not take offense!"
Ye QingChen snorted in laughter, "This old man has tasted quite a few wines from every country. Young Noble’s wine is mellow and rich and it’s definitely a good wine. This old man shall not stand on ceremony any longer!" He then downed the cup in one go.
The moment he downed the cup, Ye QingChen’s expression underwent another change and hurriedly poured himself another cup. Observing the wine, he could not help but slap the table in astonishment, "Good wine, this is really good wine! The wine sits in the cup like the jade waters of a pool, seemingly bottomless. The kick from the alcohol is also fast yet heavy, to have both at the same time is dependent on an exceptional fermentation, how is this, in any way, inferior?"
Ling Tian smiled, but declined to speak.
Ye QingChen suddenly raised his head, "Young Noble mentioned that this wine was fermented by yours truly?"
Ling Tian spoke leisurely, "This was indeed made using my inferior recipes. Is the wine to your liking?"
A look of surprise flashed past Ye QingChen’s face as he exclaimed, "Young Noble is indeed a genius, even having a talent in fermenting wines. This is amazing, a wine of this calibre, even if one were to search around the entire continent, he would be hard pressed to find a comparison. This is an exceptional wine indeed!"
Ling Tian grinned in reply, "Senior is too accommodating of junior, since Senior is so appreciative of this wine, then when Senior is leaving, this Junior here will personally give you another jar!"
Ye QingChen’s face turned red in embarrassment, "That’s too polite of you, let me explain in detail the sequence of the top martial arts skills in Heavenly Star Continent. After drinking such good wine, if I don’t even make the effort to repay you, it will weigh on my conscience!"
Ling Tian did not urge him, but instead refilled his cup, silently awaiting him to continue.
"In Heavenly Star Continent, outstanding heroes rise from all directions; this has been the norm for quite a while. In the recent century, only seven heroes existed simultaneously and another eight great families with influence. They are the DongFang, NanGong, XiMen, BeiMing four major families, followed by the Lei, Yang and Ling three minor families. There is also the family in the shadows, with the greatest strength and influence, the Yu Family. All seven families are each attached to an Empire, with only the strongest Yu Family not involving themselves with such political matters. Other than those seven spoken above, there is also influential merchant family, the Xiao Family, with power that does not lose out to any of the Empires or Families." Ye QingChen spoke in a composed manner, before slowly sipping a mouth of the Azure Bamboo Leaf, exclaiming, "Such a good wine!"
Ling Tian was a little depressed, he thought to himself, ‘How could I be unaware about such things? What I want to know is regarding the pugilistic world, why are you mentioning the political powers? How could I, a person of nobility, not be aware? Are you actually drunk over my strong wine?’ However, he did not dare to tally, instead refilling Ye QingChen’s cup once he was done.
"Haha, this old man roams freely under the heavens and had never owed someone anything. Unexpectedly, I ended up having owe this young noble three huge favours, now that Young Noble has enquiries to make, how can I cut a long story short? Explaining it clearly would count as a favour to you, how would I dare to dally?" Although Ye QingChen laughed lightly, his face was actually very distressed.
Ling Tian pondered for a while, and understood why he suddenly obtained three promised favours. The first was the latter blaming himself for underestimating Ling Tian himself, hence he felt that he owed Ling Tian for that. The second was Ling Tian not taking advantage of him at the final juncture when they were competing in internal strength, while it was because of the circumstances, it was still created by Ye QingChen himself, and with his status, he could even say that he owed his life to Ling Tian. The last was because he accepted the exceptional Azure Bamboo Leaf wine from Ling Tian.
After this flash of understanding, Ling Tian beamed, "Since Mister has mentioned it, it should be the other way around; Ling Tian should owe Mister for the first two favours, don’t tell me that Mister feels that Ling Tian isn’t aware of the subtleties behind the incident previously? As for the third favour, if for a few cups of inferior self-fermented wine, you insist on repaying it, you must be trying to kill me. Mister must be joking if I would want it…"
Ye QingChen retorted, "One must uphold his words, if one has no trust in him, how can he still stand straight and walk below the heavens? This Ye has roamed the world unhindered, if I say that I owe you a favour, how can I go back on my word? If Young Noble does not care for my favour, that’s up to you. But, I will not go back on my words!"
Ling Tian retracted his playful expression, and replied solemnly, "Mister is a person of integrity and righteousness, Ling Tian meant no disrespect to you."
Hearing his praise, Ye QingChen was extremely gratified and raised his cup again in glee to down his wine. Only after draining the current cup did he continue talking, "Speaking about the martial arts under the heavens, one definitely has to talk about the calamity a millennium ago!"
Ling Tian’s expression changed at that sentence. Standing up to pour another cup of wine for him, Ling Tian said, "Please let me hear the details."
Ye QingChen closed his eyes in reminisce, as though sorting through his memories. Only after a while did he speak in a slow and leisure manner, "A millennia ago, all under the heavens were embroiled in a vicious war. Out of the three great continents, there were a few exceptional people, each with their own ambition to rule the world! At that period of time, martial arts cultivators appeared in succession without ceasing, and between continents, empires, sects, and even individuals, the struggle for dominance never ceased. Peace was a foreign word! Every day was filled with bloodshed and corpses littered the ground. Finally, under the lead of three heroes that appeared from each continent, they managed to unify each continent. However, no one would have thought that this unification would be the start of a worldwide calamity!" Ye QingChen spoke with lidded eyes, stretching out his hands for the winecup, but found it bereft of wine. Ling Tian smiled sheepishly and took up the jar to refill his cup.
"The heart is never satisfied, after conquering a continent, the three heroes each set their sights on monopolising the heavens!" As such, between the three continents, they started with probing attacks, and escalated until they finally ripped off all masks of pretence and launched all out wars with each other. Continents warring against each other, how often do you see such a scene? Originally, when the empires were warring, the various sects could still remain unruffled. But when the entire continent was threatened, they could no longer hold back! Each sect took their stance with a continent and sent their disciples to the battlefield, or to assassinate the various generals of the camps. Some even chose to wage war with another sect! In this scenario, the world was covered with blood, the flames of war hiding the sky and covering the earth!"
The atmosphere changed in an instant!
Ling Tian could not help but pause for a while, before laughing, "Mister’s eyes are just like a torch in the darkness, Ling Tian cannot help but be full of admiration. However," he paused at this. Since the other party had already gotten a grasp on his true strength, and with his character, he was worth to befriend with. Ling Tian was unwilling to put on an act, for it would not be worth it if he were to lose this friendship. He continued, "to wish for the rains and wind to heed my command, I definitely do not have the capability, nor do I have the ability. I can only support from the side lines, taking advantage of the crisis to obtain some small benefits. That would satisfy me."
Ye QingChen let out a smile which seemed to carry a hidden meaning and did not continue with the topic. Some things were better left as it was. To be able to have Ling Tian speak out some of his ambitions, it was already a huge show of trust, based on his years of experience!
"There’s something that I don’t understand, may I request for Mister’s help in this?" Ling Tian was naturally clear that it was inappropriate to dwell on such matters, and changed the topic to ask a question which had been in his heart for quite a while.
"Haha, how can there still be a problem which can stump our Young Noble? Why don’t you share it? Maybe this Ye knows the answer." Ye QingChen smiled, but did not guarantee that he would be able to help. With Ling Tian’s status as well as his top-notch skills, there were not many things that could pose trouble for him. If there really something like that he, who live in solitude, would find it even harder!
"Haha, actually, this matter may appear to be insignificant to Mister, as simple as speaking; however, it is worlds apart for me. In your eyes, what does this world of martial arts look like? Are there any tiers for the practitioners? And how many of people with similar strength as you exist?" Ling Tian’s gaze sharpened at the final question, staring intensely at Ye QingChen.
"Oh? So Young Noble is actually distressed over this. Few people are aware of such matters but it actually isn’t considered a secret at all. This old man here actually am able to help you with this problem." Ye QingChen felt more at ease after hearing the question. This was merely a question after all and, although it could be considered as top-class information in the Heavenly Star Continent, he could at least talk about this.
To a person which is not privy to the information circles of any great martial clans, such information was naturally as difficult as trying to feel an entire mountain by your hands. However, for those in the loop, it was merely a piece of information, and by their standards, it was nothing much to be kept tightly guarded. The fortune teller happened to be one of them in the loop.
"If that’s so, then I would like to hear the details. Could Mister please advise?" Ling Tian smiled, and raising his voice, he continued, "Ling Chen, ask the shopkeeper to bring out a few of their best dishes. Then, return to the courtyard to bring a jar of Azure Bamboo Leaf over. I’m planning to treat Mister Ye to a round of drinks here."
On the outside, the clear sound of acknowledgement was heard from her, and in only a moment of time, she appeared, carefully carrying a small wine jar. Mister Ye was originally nonchalant, but upon catching a whiff of the scent, his expression changed. It reverted in an instant, however that split change had been noted of by Ling Tian, who was grinning to himself.
Not a moment later, a table of exquisite snacks was sent by the waiter to their door. Ling Chen took it from the waiter and delivered it over personally, placing them one by one on the table. She then broke open the seal of the wine, pouring a cup for both before bowing and taking her leave.
Seated in another room, Yu BingYan was in a daze, her eyes betraying bitterness. Ling Tian obviously had something important, but had chosen to hide it from her; that meant that he still did not trust her enough! Her excited mood of going outdoors had been completely swept clean, the corners of her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
However, she asked herself this, if her family head, Yu ManLou, were to question her regarding any of Ling Tian’s secrets, should she speak up or keep it hidden? After thinking for such a long time, she could only let out a sigh. Trapped between a rock and a hard wall, she might as well be thankful that she remained ignorant. By thinking in this manner, she would also feel better in her heart.
Seeing Ling Chen retreat from the room, Ye QingChen let out a laugh, "Young Noble, your maidservant is obedient and yet highly talented. You have such good fortune!"
Ling Tian also laughed, raising his wine cup in a salute, "This is junior’s take on fermenting my own wine. If this doesn’t pass Senior’s taste, please do not take offense!"
Ye QingChen snorted in laughter, "This old man has tasted quite a few wines from every country. Young Noble’s wine is mellow and rich and it’s definitely a good wine. This old man shall not stand on ceremony any longer!" He then downed the cup in one go.
The moment he downed the cup, Ye QingChen’s expression underwent another change and hurriedly poured himself another cup. Observing the wine, he could not help but slap the table in astonishment, "Good wine, this is really good wine! The wine sits in the cup like the jade waters of a pool, seemingly bottomless. The kick from the alcohol is also fast yet heavy, to have both at the same time is dependent on an exceptional fermentation, how is this, in any way, inferior?"
Ling Tian smiled, but declined to speak.
Ye QingChen suddenly raised his head, "Young Noble mentioned that this wine was fermented by yours truly?"
Ling Tian spoke leisurely, "This was indeed made using my inferior recipes. Is the wine to your liking?"
A look of surprise flashed past Ye QingChen’s face as he exclaimed, "Young Noble is indeed a genius, even having a talent in fermenting wines. This is amazing, a wine of this calibre, even if one were to search around the entire continent, he would be hard pressed to find a comparison. This is an exceptional wine indeed!"
Ling Tian grinned in reply, "Senior is too accommodating of junior, since Senior is so appreciative of this wine, then when Senior is leaving, this Junior here will personally give you another jar!"
Ye QingChen’s face turned red in embarrassment, "That’s too polite of you, let me explain in detail the sequence of the top martial arts skills in Heavenly Star Continent. After drinking such good wine, if I don’t even make the effort to repay you, it will weigh on my conscience!"
Ling Tian did not urge him, but instead refilled his cup, silently awaiting him to continue.
"In Heavenly Star Continent, outstanding heroes rise from all directions; this has been the norm for quite a while. In the recent century, only seven heroes existed simultaneously and another eight great families with influence. They are the DongFang, NanGong, XiMen, BeiMing four major families, followed by the Lei, Yang and Ling three minor families. There is also the family in the shadows, with the greatest strength and influence, the Yu Family. All seven families are each attached to an Empire, with only the strongest Yu Family not involving themselves with such political matters. Other than those seven spoken above, there is also influential merchant family, the Xiao Family, with power that does not lose out to any of the Empires or Families." Ye QingChen spoke in a composed manner, before slowly sipping a mouth of the Azure Bamboo Leaf, exclaiming, "Such a good wine!"
Ling Tian was a little depressed, he thought to himself, ‘How could I be unaware about such things? What I want to know is regarding the pugilistic world, why are you mentioning the political powers? How could I, a person of nobility, not be aware? Are you actually drunk over my strong wine?’ However, he did not dare to tally, instead refilling Ye QingChen’s cup once he was done.
"Haha, this old man roams freely under the heavens and had never owed someone anything. Unexpectedly, I ended up having owe this young noble three huge favours, now that Young Noble has enquiries to make, how can I cut a long story short? Explaining it clearly would count as a favour to you, how would I dare to dally?" Although Ye QingChen laughed lightly, his face was actually very distressed.
Ling Tian pondered for a while, and understood why he suddenly obtained three promised favours. The first was the latter blaming himself for underestimating Ling Tian himself, hence he felt that he owed Ling Tian for that. The second was Ling Tian not taking advantage of him at the final juncture when they were competing in internal strength, while it was because of the circumstances, it was still created by Ye QingChen himself, and with his status, he could even say that he owed his life to Ling Tian. The last was because he accepted the exceptional Azure Bamboo Leaf wine from Ling Tian.
After this flash of understanding, Ling Tian beamed, "Since Mister has mentioned it, it should be the other way around; Ling Tian should owe Mister for the first two favours, don’t tell me that Mister feels that Ling Tian isn’t aware of the subtleties behind the incident previously? As for the third favour, if for a few cups of inferior self-fermented wine, you insist on repaying it, you must be trying to kill me. Mister must be joking if I would want it…"
Ye QingChen retorted, "One must uphold his words, if one has no trust in him, how can he still stand straight and walk below the heavens? This Ye has roamed the world unhindered, if I say that I owe you a favour, how can I go back on my word? If Young Noble does not care for my favour, that’s up to you. But, I will not go back on my words!"
Ling Tian retracted his playful expression, and replied solemnly, "Mister is a person of integrity and righteousness, Ling Tian meant no disrespect to you."
Hearing his praise, Ye QingChen was extremely gratified and raised his cup again in glee to down his wine. Only after draining the current cup did he continue talking, "Speaking about the martial arts under the heavens, one definitely has to talk about the calamity a millennium ago!"
Ling Tian’s expression changed at that sentence. Standing up to pour another cup of wine for him, Ling Tian said, "Please let me hear the details."
Ye QingChen closed his eyes in reminisce, as though sorting through his memories. Only after a while did he speak in a slow and leisure manner, "A millennia ago, all under the heavens were embroiled in a vicious war. Out of the three great continents, there were a few exceptional people, each with their own ambition to rule the world! At that period of time, martial arts cultivators appeared in succession without ceasing, and between continents, empires, sects, and even individuals, the struggle for dominance never ceased. Peace was a foreign word! Every day was filled with bloodshed and corpses littered the ground. Finally, under the lead of three heroes that appeared from each continent, they managed to unify each continent. However, no one would have thought that this unification would be the start of a worldwide calamity!" Ye QingChen spoke with lidded eyes, stretching out his hands for the winecup, but found it bereft of wine. Ling Tian smiled sheepishly and took up the jar to refill his cup.
"The heart is never satisfied, after conquering a continent, the three heroes each set their sights on monopolising the heavens!" As such, between the three continents, they started with probing attacks, and escalated until they finally ripped off all masks of pretence and launched all out wars with each other. Continents warring against each other, how often do you see such a scene? Originally, when the empires were warring, the various sects could still remain unruffled. But when the entire continent was threatened, they could no longer hold back! Each sect took their stance with a continent and sent their disciples to the battlefield, or to assassinate the various generals of the camps. Some even chose to wage war with another sect! In this scenario, the world was covered with blood, the flames of war hiding the sky and covering the earth!"
