Ye Ru

Under the night sky, hazy moonlight fell over Green Moon Mountain, draping it in a thin veil. A gentle breeze stirred, setting shadows dancing.

At the summit, Ye Qiu and the Grand Law Enforcer sat facing each other. Their eyes met, and silence settled between them.

After a long while, the Grand Law Enforcer blinked. "The Ye Clan is Royal Family, after all. King Ye once did the Academy some favors. With Lu Yatou acting like this, where does that leave the Ye Clan's dignity? It puts the Academy in a difficult position!"

"And today was the Ye Clan's Young Master ceremony, no less. This... really wasn't right."

Ye Qiu remained calm, neither arrogant nor impatient, his clear eyes undisturbed. "What does that have to do with me?"

The Grand Law Enforcer drew a deep breath. "You can't tell me you don't know why Lu Yatou is targeting the Ye Clan."

Ye Qiu glanced at him. "You don't think I told Lu Li to do it, do you?"

The Grand Law Enforcer looked at him. Even if you didn't, this was definitely because of you!

He said, "Who in the Academy doesn't know how Lu Yatou feels about you by now?"

At first, everyone had thought someone like Lu Li could never have feelings for an Abandoned Son.

They were in entirely different leagues. They could never even end up in the same world.

Yet reality had left everyone's jaws on the floor.

For Ye Qiu, she had hacked down more than a dozen disciples in the Academy and even beaten a Super Mentor. She had gone to Saber Cliff to draw the saber for him, staking her life on it.

This time, she had hacked Ye Rudí down at the Ye Clan. That, too, had to be because of Ye Qiu's peculiar relationship with the clan.

Ye Qiu said, "And?"

The Grand Law Enforcer looked at him earnestly. "Could you talk to Lu Yatou? There are only a few months left. Could we... hold back a little? Or if we must strike, at least find somewhere nobody's around, and go a little easier... Don't actually beat someone to death!"

As he spoke, deep helplessness showed on his face, along with a bitter ache.

He was the Grand Law Enforcer, the man who passed judgment across all Southern State. His word was law, and he could act first and report later. Yet here he was, reduced to pleading like this.

But... what could he do about feeling wronged?

He couldn't afford to provoke her!

Besides, the Academy's future depended on asking her for help!

He looked at Ye Qiu, only to find that Ye Qiu looked even more bitter than he did.

"Grand Law Enforcer, you don't actually think Lu Li would listen to me, do you?"

The Grand Law Enforcer fell silent, then said, "Or should I have the Academy Head speak to you again?"

Ye Qiu looked up. Sir, you're getting on in years. Why are you still throwing your weight around?

I'm a good, law-abiding student! I haven't done anything to bother you!

The Grand Law Enforcer sighed. "Honestly, I'm at my wit's end! Things are very, very difficult for me right now!"

Ye Qiu looked at him with a sense of shared misery. "To tell you the truth, I'm even more helpless than you are. Do you know that when Lu Li hacks at me, she's trying to kill me too...?"

The Grand Law Enforcer gave him a sidelong glance. "Then stop going to brothels."

Ye Qiu: "..."

The Grand Law Enforcer thought for a moment, then opened his Storage Ring and took out a full hundred thousand Spirit Crystals.

In the past, nothing had disgusted him more than this sort of under-the-table bribe. If he caught someone at it, he would break their legs at the very least!

But now he felt that some personal dealings just weren't the same without money.

Silently, he pushed the hundred thousand Spirit Crystals toward Ye Qiu, a faint plea in his eyes.

Ye Qiu fell silent. Then he looked up at the Grand Law Enforcer. "Do you have a million?"

The Grand Law Enforcer lowered his voice. "No."

Ye Qiu: "..."

Nan Qingyue's trick isn't working.

After a moment's thought, he quietly put away the hundred thousand Spirit Crystals. "I'll try, but I really can't promise it'll work."

The Grand Law Enforcer said, "As long as you stop going to brothels, it'll work."

Ye Qiu's expression darkened. "I didn't go."

The Grand Law Enforcer stood, giving him a meaningful look. "I understand!"

Ye Qiu: "..."

The Grand Law Enforcer headed down the mountain and ran into the tall, broad Wu Xiaokai hurrying up the slope.

He called out to him. Wu Xiaokai immediately stiffened, lowered his head, and cupped his fists. "Grand Law Enforcer."

He hadn't been here long, but he knew exactly whom he ought to fear most in the Academy!

The Grand Law Enforcer didn't hold back when he struck!

Wu Xiaokai had learned that on his very first day.

"Your name is Wu Xiaokai?" the Grand Law Enforcer asked.

Wu Xiaokai nodded obediently, then raised a finger and swore that he had behaved himself these past few days and had absolutely not violated the Academy Laws.

The Grand Law Enforcer said sternly, "Stay away from brothels from now on."

Wu Xiaokai: "...I'm in love."

The Grand Law Enforcer glanced at him, then continued on his way.

Wu Xiaokai silently wiped the sweat from his brow and hurried up Green Moon Mountain to Ye Qiu's side.

"Brother Ye, you heard, right?" He looked excited.

Ye Qiu nodded.

Wu Xiaokai grinned. "You should've seen it today. It was... absolutely brutal!"

"I'm telling you, Ye Rudí got beaten like a dog..."

He couldn't help laughing as he spoke.

Sister-in-law is incredible!

Ye Qiu smiled too. He had never thought much of Ye Rudí. The man could certainly put on airs.

Back when they were in the Ye Clan, that brat had thrown more than half the mud that stained Ye Qiu's name.

And Ye Jiangshan had believed him every time.

Back then, Ye Qiu hadn't understood.

Now he did.

It wasn't that Ye Jiangshan hadn't known better. He had made his choice... Ye Rudí had a Heavenly King Body! His potential was immense! There was so much to gain from backing him!

And Ye Qiu, motherless and born with a Mortal Body—what did he count for?

After chatting a while longer, Wu Xiaokai hurried down the mountain. He was afraid Nan Qingyue and Lu Li might return. After all, he was afraid of pain too!

Ye Qiu went back to his room and slept until dawn the next day.

The sky was still dim.

A pale, fish-belly glow rose in the east.

Ye Qiu sat cross-legged on the summit, facing east as he practiced the Great Dragon Breath Technique.

The day's work began in the morning. As the sun rose and all things stirred back to life, the world's vital essence was at its purest and richest.

Of course, it was nowhere near as pure as the energy inside the Cultivation Tower. But Brother Snake had told him he needed to learn to become part of this world.

If he always relied on "outside help," a divide would gradually grow between him and the world, doing his future Cultivation no good.

Besides, Cultivation had to proceed step by step, with a sense of balance. Chasing speed blindly made it all too easy to lose oneself.

Half an hour later, the sky was bright. The morning sun rose, bathing everything in rosy light.

Ye Qiu breathed out stale air, stood, and drew the Broken Saber, beginning once more to familiarize himself with the blade.

Another hour passed before he stopped, drenched in sweat. He put away the Broken Saber, plunged into his Consciousness Space, and resumed absorbing knowledge.

He still hadn't fully absorbed the basics of Medicine Dao and the Pill Dao.

By noon, however, all of that knowledge had entered his mind.

Next, he needed to sort through it, read it closely, ponder it, and make it his own...

Only once he understood those foundations could he begin practicing. He had to study medicine first; only after he understood healing and knew the properties and principles of herbs could he move on to Alchemy.

That afternoon, Ye Qiu rose, rubbed his aching forehead, and headed down the mountain.

He hadn't gone far when he encountered a group of disciples. They watched him with cold faces.

Some of them were familiar to him.

That day at the Listening Wind Tower, he had beaten up half of South Capital!

But they only dared watch from a distance. With Lu Li holding the line, and Ye Rudí's fate fresh in their minds, how could they risk troubling Ye Qiu?

Ye Qiu ignored them and kept walking. Just then, another group strode toward him.

Ye Qiu looked their way.

Their expressions grew colder.

The Ye Clan!

Ye Qiu kept his face blank and was about to leave when a woman in a green robe stepped out from among them.

"Little brother Ye Qiu," she called.

Ye Qiu looked again, his gaze flickering. He hadn't seen her in ten years, but he remembered her clearly.

Ye Ru!

She was one of the few people he had gotten along with back then.

When he had left the Ye Clan, Ye Ru had even run after him, crying, to see him off...

"Can we talk?" Ye Ru stepped forward and looked at him.

Ye Qiu thought for a moment, then nodded.