Peace Under Heaven

The withering and flourishing of Eastern Mountain had cycled through several springs and autumns.

Xie Yuan returned to Chen Commandery once more.

From afar, he saw that familiar place of tolling bells and steaming cauldrons, and myriad emotions welled in his heart. Then he descended directly from the sky to the entrance of the tallest building without alerting anyone.

With his current methods, he did have ways to infiltrate the heartland of a great clan such as the Chen Commandery Xie, but it would still take some effort.

Yet he had entered so easily because the defensive grand array here still recognized him.

Xie Yuan entered the Martial Repository and found it deathly quiet, with no guards in sight. His brows drew together slightly.

Even from the sky, he had noticed that the Xie Family Clan Land was no longer as prosperous as it had been in years past. The roads running through the clan land were far more deserted.

With a soft sigh, Xie Yuan revealed himself and openly began leafing through the manuals and collections on the first floor.

The eighth floor of the Martial Repository.

A woman in a long azure dress trailing along the ground was seated cross-legged in meditation. Suddenly, she moved, her eyes flying wide open.

"Who dares break into the Martial Repository?"

Her figure flashed, and she vanished directly. In an instant, she arrived on the first floor.

With a sharp ring, her Soft Sword flew from its sheath.

Xie Lingyun did not dare lower her guard against an outsider who had infiltrated this place without a sound.

Yet when she saw that figure holding a book and reading intently, her beautiful eyes widened to their limit, filled with utter disbelief.

Xie Yuan closed the volume in his hand and glanced aside. He froze for a moment, then said with a smile, "Lingyun, why are you here? I thought Elder Fu would be the first to come."

Silence filled the room.

Seeing Xie Lingyun's graceful figure seemingly turned into a clay statue, her pretty face utterly devoid of expression, Xie Yuan could not help waving a hand before her face. Softly, he said, "Lingyun, don't look as though you've seen a ghost. I'm back."

Xie Lingyun's body jolted violently. In a hoarse voice, she said, "You... you aren't dead?"

"I was dead, then I came back to life... huh?"

Before Xie Yuan could finish, Xie Lingyun suddenly threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.

Feeling the agitation and grief of the girl in his embrace, Xie Yuan's heart also ached. He slowly stroked her silky hair.

After a long while, Xie Lingyun gradually stopped weeping, and only then did Xie Yuan have a chance to speak with her.

A moment later.

Xie Yuan's face darkened. "You said... Elder Fu passed away? You... became the Martial Guardian Elder?"

Xie Lingyun's eyes were red as she nodded. "After you... after something happened to you, the world was shaken and the winds and clouds shifted... We joined forces with the Cui Family and the Chu King's faction, fighting several great battles against the Xue Clan. Only then did we force out their true strength. Among the imperial clan and royal relatives, the princely estates in every region, there truly were many hidden masters and grandmasters who had never revealed themselves. The three families fought the Xue Clan together, and both sides were left battered and broken.

"Later, no one had recovered their strength when the Xue Clan seized the chance to make trouble. Relying on their last breath, they actually attacked Chen Commandery first, seeking to seize the Martial Repository. The family suffered many casualties. Fortunately, the Cui Family came to our aid in time and drove back the Xue Clan. But... Elder Fu, Elder Zhi, and several other elders all died on the spot in that battle...

"Afterward, once we had reorganized, we wished to unite the three families and enter the Capital City. Yet we discovered that the Xue Clan not only had many grandmasters—their foremost experts were even more formidable. Apart from the Chu King, who remained at his peak, that emperor's strength had actually advanced by leaps and bounds, rivaling a grandmaster at the pinnacle!

"After discussing it and consulting the records, we finally understood. It seemed the Xue Clan was willing to give up the whole world merely to deal with the great clans because they sought to reclaim the fortune of destiny that had been divided back when 'the imperial house and the great clans ruled the world together.' Taking advantage of the current leakage of heavenly spiritual opportunity, the Xue Clan wished to enact the Human Emperor method once more, turning the emperor into a peerless powerhouse. After unifying the mortal world, he would ascend into the blue firmament and contend for the opportunity of the heavenly beings.

"Yet though we finally understood the Xue Clan's scheme, we had no way to stop it. We could only resist with difficulty and slow the imperial house's advance. Another two years have now passed. The world is in chaos, and many powers among the great clans and sects have suffered losses. No one knows what level the emperor has reached now..."

After hearing everything, Xie Yuan closed his eyes slightly and let out a long sigh.

He recalled that Martial Guardian Elder, who so cherished talent. He had shown boundless care for Xie Yuan, his "junior," teaching him everything without holding anything back. It could be said that Xie Yuan's Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear had been taught to him hand by hand by Xie Fu.

He had never imagined that upon returning to the clan land, he would never again see that elder.

There was also Xie Zhi. Though he had once made things difficult for Xie Yuan and possessed towering ambition, in the end he had died on the battlefield defending the family. And there were so many other names Xie Yuan knew well...

He sighed faintly and said in a low voice, "I understand."

Seeing Xie Yuan's expression, Xie Lingyun's heart still pounded wildly. "Are you really all right? You... what do you plan to do next?"

"I'll remain in the Martial Repository for a time and increase my strength."

The moment Xie Yuan finished speaking, Xie Lingyun's eyes widened. "You're staying in the clan land? You aren't leaving?"

Xie Yuan nodded. Looking at Xie Lingyun, he hesitated briefly before asking, "How did you become the Martial Guardian Elder? There are several experts in the clan capable of holding this post. Why would they let a young girl like you..."

"I requested it myself."

Xie Lingyun shook her head and said softly, "Back then, I thought you were gone. I hated myself for not being strong enough, and I also felt that... there was no longer anything interesting outside."

She paused and did not continue.

There was another reason as well: this was the place where Xie Yuan had stayed the longest within the clan land.

Especially the eighth floor. Whenever Xie Yuan was in Chen Commandery, he would come to the eighth floor almost every day to seek Xie Fu's guidance in spear arts. It was as if his presence still lingered here.

So Xie Lingyun had accepted the post of Martial Guardian Elder and shut herself away on the top floor of the Martial Repository.

At that time, she had only just passed twenty.

Xie Yuan felt a tumult of emotions as he listened. With a sigh, he said, "I'll stay here for some time. We'll talk again after I've finished reading every book in the Martial Repository."

"Really?"

Xie Lingyun's eyes first widened, then she could not help smiling.

Finish all the books in the Martial Repository? Didn't that mean he would stay behind with her all this time?

After paying respects to those departed, Xie Yuan began living in seclusion within the Xie Family Martial Repository.

Xie Lingyun personally accompanied Xie Yuan as he read.

Whenever Xie Yuan grew tired from reading, she would bring him tea. Whenever he became so absorbed that he forgot mealtime, she would prepare food for him and remind him to eat.

Serving tea and pouring water, following at his side—she was almost like a little maidservant.

Whenever Xie Yuan came across something marvelous, he would happily discuss it with Xie Lingyun. She would either offer her own views or listen obediently. Each day, they discussed the Dao, nearly inseparable as shadow and form.

Such days left them both deeply content.

With every additional cultivation method Xie Yuan read, he felt the Supreme Purity Moral Scripture grow a little richer, and his own strength rise another step.

As for Xie Lingyun, accompanying Xie Yuan, who had returned from the dead, she felt that her days had almost never been so joyful.

The only thing she found somewhat difficult to accept was that Xie Yuan learned cultivation methods far too quickly—so quickly it was nearly unbelievable.

For many methods, he needed only to flip through them once before he had completely mastered them. Though he had always possessed exceptional comprehension, and though his cultivation was now high enough to overlook the whole structure from above, making the first-floor methods truly easy for him, it still should not have been possible for him to grasp them at a glance as though he had practiced them for years.

It was not just one or two methods. Every single one he read on that floor was like this. Even in his prime, he had never possessed such ability!

Xie Lingyun felt both admiration and an indescribable melancholy.

So Xie Yuan had truly meant it when he said he would read all the books in the Xie Family Martial Repository. He had not merely wanted to keep her company.

The first floor held the greatest number of books, vast as the sea, but Xie Yuan read quickly and finished them all in a month.

There were fewer books on the second and third floors, and their difficulty seemed much the same to Xie Yuan. In just over another month, he had committed them all to heart.

The fourth and fifth floors had even fewer cultivation methods, while their difficulty was neither too high nor too low, so he read through them fastest. In less than a month, Xie Yuan climbed to the sixth floor.

The sixth floor no longer had many cultivation methods, yet Xie Yuan spent half a month before setting foot on the stairs to the next floor.

The seventh-floor methods were even scarcer, yet Xie Yuan spent more time there. Nearly a month later, he finally finished learning them.

At last, he reached the eighth floor.

"Heaven Burning World Destroying Spear, Noon Decapitating God Saber, Mountains and Seas Divine Fist, Heavenly Defense Scripture..."

Looking at these famed scriptures, Xie Yuan sighed and bent his head to study.

The ten heaven-reaching cultivation methods took Xie Yuan a little more time. Only after more than three months had he fully mastered them all.

More than half a year had passed when Xie Yuan finally stored every book from top to bottom of the Xie Family Martial Repository within the Supreme Purity Moral Scripture.

Standing by the railing on the eighth floor, Xie Yuan gazed across the Xie Family's four-thousand-year-old clan land and remained silent for a long time.

Xie Lingyun stood shoulder to shoulder with him, wanting to speak but holding back. In the end, she said faintly, "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Xie Yuan nodded. "I'm going to the Capital City first, to make life a little easier for the people of this world."

His tone was calm, no different from saying he was going to the market to buy provisions, yet Xie Lingyun did not doubt him in the least.

After watching Xie Yuan comprehend the methods of all eight floors in three months, then demonstrate one earthshaking, peerless cultivation method after another, Xie Lingyun felt that even if he declared he was about to ascend beyond the blue heavens and end the great chaos, it would be no great feat.

He was simply too powerful. Why did he have to be so powerful...

A trace of loneliness appeared on Xie Lingyun's face when she suddenly heard Xie Yuan say, "Will you come with me?"

"What?"

Xie Lingyun froze, and her heart instantly leaped. Yet conflict appeared on her face. After hesitating for a long while, she finally said quietly, "I have my duties. I cannot let down the family."

Xie Yuan smiled faintly, took out Array Flags and an ink brush from who knew where, and began setting up an array around the Martial Repository.

There were also texts on the Dao of arrays within the Martial Repository. Xie Yuan had already learned them by heart and placed them upon the scripture.

Of the eight methods and eight arts of the Martial Repository, he had reached the mortal world's pinnacle in every one of them, and gone beyond it.

At this moment, Xie Yuan needed only to trace ordinary arrays with a finger. An array that still required such methods to lay down could be called an immortal array.

A moment later, Xie Yuan completed the final stroke. He clapped his hands, then smiled at Xie Lingyun. "This array is more useful than you are. Come with me? I promised you that even if I went to the ends of the world, I would take you along."

Xie Lingyun's eyes slowly widened.

Great Li's Holy Capital.

The imperial palace, Golden Luan Hall.

The court assembly was underway, except there was now no trace of anyone from the great clans in court.

The emperor wore a jeweled crown with hanging jade beads and a golden dragon robe. Sitting high upon the dragon throne, he listened to the officials' reports.

"Another rebellion has broken out in Jiang Province..."

The emperor's expression remained calm as he listened to reports of rebellion.

Over the years, his ears had nearly grown calluses from hearing them.

Beyond being accustomed to it, the crucial point was that these rebellions were not important. So long as the capital region and the Central Plains Heartland remained firmly in his grasp, the overall situation would not change. Once he eliminated the great clans and ascended to the position of Human Emperor, sweeping through all beneath heaven, peace under heaven would merely be a matter of time.

The only variable now was that the matter above had ended too soon—so soon that a result had emerged before he could unify the mortal world. Once he became the Human Emperor in both name and reality, he could wield the power of the human world to ascend into the blue firmament and contend for the final fruit...

So he needed to move faster.

The emperor sat upright, yet raised his head slightly. His gaze pierced through the gold-inlaid, jade-embedded vaulted ceiling of the Golden Luan Hall and looked toward the endless blue firmament. He had long ceased to care about the officials' discussions; his spirit had already wandered beyond the heavens.

After a moment, he suddenly sensed that it had become quiet below. Only then did he return to himself.

He saw all the officials staring in unison toward the entrance, where two figures stood.

The morning sun rose, illuminating heaven and earth from behind them. Their outlines blazed with radiance, like divine beings clad in golden armor standing at the main gate.

Their faces could not be seen clearly. Only their long shadows pierced into the resplendent Golden Luan Hall.

The emperor narrowed his eyes and discovered that even he could not see them clearly.

"Impudent madmen! How dare you break into the Golden Luan Hall! Protect His Majesty!"

The commander of the palace guards was startled, having no idea where these people had come from.

But he reacted swiftly. With a furious roar, he rushed forward, drew his saber, and slashed wildly!

Boom!

The grandmaster commander flew backward faster than he had charged forward. He smashed straight through the Golden Luan Hall's defensive array and broke a purple-gold beam.

In an instant, the Golden Luan Hall fell silent as a graveyard.

Every official present knew the guard commander's strength. Since he was responsible for the court assembly's security, he was naturally a peak grandmaster, one of the imperial palace's few foremost experts.

Yet in an instant, he had been defeated as helplessly as an ordinary man facing an invincible martial artist.

From the dust and smoke, Xie Yuan slowly stepped out.

The emperor's pupils contracted as he slowly rose to his feet. "It's you... You actually didn't die?"

Xie Yuan looked at the emperor and said calmly, "Had I known this day would come, I should have killed you first back then."

Hearing such treasonous words, the officials fell even more silent.

They knew each other? This madman was truly arrogant beyond measure!

Yet no matter how opportunistic they might be, none of those capable of standing here were fools. With Xie Yuan so close at hand, none dared utter even a single word of rebuke. They could only pray that reinforcements would arrive quickly.

Some sharp-eyed and perceptive officials, however, looked at Xie Yuan with their hearts in turmoil, seemingly already having guessed something.

The emperor merely narrowed his eyes and said blandly, "Your life is certainly tough... Why have you come here today?"

Xie Yuan looked at the emperor standing high atop the jade steps, clasped his hands behind his back, and said, "Naturally, to execute the fatuous ruler, destroy injustice, and restore peace under heaven."

The emperor was not angered. He merely smiled faintly. "Naive."

The instant his words fell, a figure streaking with golden light suddenly flashed into the Golden Luan Hall from behind.

That person held a glittering golden sword, and with a single slash, the blade had reached Xie Yuan!

The power of that sword was enough to split the entire Imperial City in two, yet it was all condensed upon the blade, covering only the three-foot space around Xie Yuan!

Whoosh—

A storm of ultimate power had already compressed and erupted around Xie Yuan!

Xie Yuan looked at the sword, then at the man before him, and lifted a hand slightly.

Boom—

That invincible sword strike was shattered outright. The newcomer flew backward and crashed heavily into the jade steps, smashing a huge crater into steps built from the finest materials. Clutching his chest, the man struggled twice, then his head lolled to one side. He died on the spot.

Xie Yuan withdrew his hand and shook his head. "If you hadn't run so fast, you should have died five years ago."

The Emperor stared at the Chu King at his feet, his eyes still wide with fury though he had already drawn his last breath, and remained silent for a long time.

Slowly, he bent down and picked up the glittering golden longsword, then looked at Xie Yuan. "It seems you found another opportunity."

Xie Yuan did not answer. With a flick of his hand, he directly drew a spear from the hands of an Imperial Guard outside the hall.

Holding the divine Son of Heaven Sword, the Emperor's eyes gleamed coldly. "Had you been a little more patient, perhaps you truly could have ruined my plans. Yet you dared to trespass into the imperial palace, into my territory. You are courting death.

"Xie Yuan, I am no longer the man I was, and this world is no longer the world it was when you walked within it. Let me show you what it means to possess the majesty of the Human Emperor!"

He raised the golden Son of Heaven Sword high, and the entire Imperial City—even the whole Capital City—burst into radiant light.

Countless streams of golden energy surged forth from every corner and gathered upon his sword, making the Son of Heaven Sword blaze with golden brilliance, like a sun held in his hand!

"The first move Elder Fu taught me was Peace in the Mortal Realm."

Xie Yuan suddenly spoke, his voice clear and distinct, drowning out the tumult of the Son of Heaven Sword gathering power.

He moved. His spear thrust forward, piercing through the hall and directly into the golden light.

The Emperor's eyes widened. With an angry roar, he raised the Son of Heaven Sword and slashed it down.

In an instant, the entire Imperial City shook, as though an earth dragon had turned beneath their feet; as though a true dragon had flown into a rage and brought down Heavenly Punishment!

Yet just as the commotion began, it came to an abrupt halt.

Xie Yuan's spear directly pierced through the sword force and touched the Son of Heaven's heart.

The Emperor's sword froze in midair. He did not dare move an inch. Without even lowering his head, he could feel that the spear was only a hair's breadth from his heart, held steady, restrained and yet ready to strike.

No matter how hard he tried, he could not understand it. He was already half a Human Emperor. In this world without Great Grandmasters, his strength even surpassed that of ordinary Great Grandmasters. How could he have been defeated by Xie Yuan in a single move?

From the moment Xie Yuan entered the Golden Luan Hall until now, he had used only three moves in total! Only one had been for himself, and that one move had defeated him.

Looking at the Emperor, whose entire body had gone rigid, Xie Yuan said calmly, "Since ancient times, there has never been a Human Emperor who sought to sacrifice the world to fulfill himself. The Xue Imperial Family's Emperor is truly the greatest joke under heaven."

With a light motion, he withdrew his spear. He watched as the breathless corpse slowly slumped onto the dragon throne and gradually lowered its head.

Xie Lingyun had witnessed everything. Now that it was over and the Golden Luan Hall was silent as a grave, she could not help blinking.

She had known Xie Yuan would succeed, but she had never expected it to be this easy.

This guy was practically an immortal now... I wonder if immortals have sisters. Could they get married?

Xie Lingyun's thoughts were lively, and in an instant, they had drifted far away.

Though Xie Yuan had killed the Emperor, he had no intention of stopping. His gaze shifted, locking onto an unremarkable-looking scholar deep within the imperial palace.

He sneered. "Covered in ghostly aura—where do you think you're running?"

Grasping Xie Lingyun's hand, Xie Yuan flashed and appeared before the scholar.

The scholar had been fleeing. At the sight of Xie Yuan's sudden appearance, he stiffened at once. He wanted to say something, but Xie Yuan simply lifted him into the air from afar, leaving him utterly unable to move.

"Wu Daoji, how will you escape this time?"

Wu Daoji's entire body turned ice-cold as he said hoarsely, "I think I can still be of use to you."

"If you die, you will be of the greatest use to me."

With a wave of Xie Yuan's hand, blazing flames suddenly rose from Wu Daoji's body.

He let out a shrill scream and tried to use his cultivation technique to extinguish them, only to discover that the flames were directly burning his True Spirit. There was no way to resist them.

He shrieked, "Xie Yuan, stop! If you truly mean to kill me, then do not blame this old man for taking you down with me!"

Xie Yuan remained unmoved and merely said indifferently, "Even at the height of your power a thousand years ago, you would not have been my match now, much less as a mere lone ghost?"

Over the past five years, Wu Daoji had actually found another path, seized the opportunity of the leak in Heaven, and recovered most of his strength. Yet before Xie Yuan, he still had no power to resist. Even the countless methods he had once prided himself on proved utterly useless.

Compared to Xie Yuan, Wu Daoji's methods were nothing more than a petty witch before a great sorcerer.

Xie Yuan had long guessed that the Xue Imperial Family's scheme, its methods, and its so-called path of the Human Emperor all concealed something sinister.

How could bringing calamity upon the world possibly create a true Human Emperor?

Once he reached the Imperial City and sensed Wu Daoji's aura, Xie Yuan understood everything.

This time, Wu Daoji had no chance of escaping alive. Every backdoor method he had left behind was seen through by Xie Yuan, whose power surrounded him from every direction. This Samadhi True Fire completely burned away every trace of Wu Daoji's existence in the world, leaving not the slightest remnant behind.

After casually wiping out this thousand-year-old ghost that had brought disaster upon the world, Xie Yuan did not waste time dealing with the mess in the Imperial City.

Destruction was easy; rebuilding demanded thought and effort. Xie Yuan still left it to the professionals.

Wang Qiwen and Cui Lei had already led the elites of their respective families to the outskirts of the Imperial City and begun taking control of everything. With Xie Yuan holding the fort, the Xue Imperial Family could hardly mount any effective resistance.

During this transitional period, the three great families would each send forth capable people to jointly deliberate over the affairs of the realm. The Xie Family would oversee military force, the Wang Family political affairs, and the Cui Family laws and decrees—this was the tone Xie Yuan had set. If all went smoothly, perhaps this could lay the foundation for the changes to come.

Yet here, the key to everything lay above. This might not mean much after all.

Still, no matter what, with a stable and powerful ruling class, the people who remained alive could at least live a little better.

Xie Yuan tilted his head back and stared wordlessly for a long time at the dark void in the sky above.

"Where are we going next?"

Standing behind Xie Yuan's backside, Xie Lingyun asked.

Xie Yuan paused, withdrew his gaze, and replied in a somewhat distant, complicated tone, "To Heaven Beyond Heaven."

"Oh..."

Xie Lingyun gave an "oh," its meaning impossible to discern.