Above the clouds of the Nine Heavens, the gale-force winds had long since been blocked outside by an invisible barrier.
Mists curled through the air here, immortal aura lingering thickly, like a paradise beyond the dust and din of the mortal world.
A broad, cushioned couch carved from a single piece of flawless jade floated at the heart of the sea of clouds, emanating a gentle, auspicious glow.
Ye Xuan lounged against the couch, lightly swirling a cup of mutton-fat white jade in his hand.
The cup brimmed with amber-colored immortal brew. As he moved, strands of wine fragrance that refreshed the heart and delighted the spirit spread across the clouds.
If such fine wine were placed outside, it would be enough to make those so-called Sect Masters fight tooth and nail. Yet here with Ye Xuan, it was merely an ordinary drink to pass the time.
Beneath these tranquil clouds, on that desolate plain, a world-shaking melee that rattled the Three Thousand Provinces was erupting.
Deafening booms, the shattering crashes of colliding Magic Treasures, and the furious roars of the Upper Realm Giants melded into rolling soundwaves that relentlessly surged toward the Nine Heavens.
Yet when those soundwaves, powerful enough to shatter stars, neared this jade platform amid the clouds, they vanished like clay oxen sinking into the sea. They could not stir even the slightest ripple in Ye Xuan's robes.
Ye Xuan's expression had initially been utterly placid. Like a spectator seated high in the stands, he quietly looked down upon the mortal beings below, their eyes bloodshot as they slaughtered one another for profit.
However, when the mocking, icy laughter of the Undying Being Kunpeng Son broke through the clouds from the battlefield below and clearly reached Ye Xuan's ears, the fingers holding his jade cup paused