Not far away, a tall, graceful-looking woman frowned as she watched Si Yao show off her extraordinary talent to the crowd without a trace of modesty. Disgust flickered across her face.
She was Qian Min, a young member of the Yunhai Family and one of the few Planetary Level Fighters competing in today's tournament.
She didn't like Si Yao. Seeing how vain she was only made Qian Min dislike her more.
She made no effort to hide her gaze and didn't care whether Si Yao noticed.
Si Yao was sensitive to such looks and soon sensed Qian Min watching her. She turned to look through the crowd.
The undisguised disgust in Qian Min's eyes made her delicate brows furrow at once.
Who was she?
Did she know her?
Why was she looking at her like that?
A man beside Si Yao, who was clearly also from the Yunhai Family, followed her gaze and quickly spotted Qian Min's unfriendly expression. Seeing Si Yao's bewildered look, he kindly reminded her,
"She's Qian Min, the most talented member of the family born in the past ten thousand years. She's at the Planetary Level and has comprehended a Domain—the Fire Domain, no less."
"She's only thirty-two this year, right? She's already comprehended a Domain?" someone exclaimed in surprise.
"The Yunhai Family has produced quite a few exceptionally talented descendants in recent years. First Gui Jiao, and now Qian Min. There was another one in between, but unfortunately, he died ten thousand years ago. I heard he'd also comprehended a Domain at the Planetary Level."
With one genius after another appearing, along with World Lord Xunzhen on the verge of becoming an Immortal, some people nearby who clearly weren't from the Yunhai Family exchanged glances.
"I don't even know her. Why does she hate me?" Si Yao asked curiously. She'd been on Cloud Sea Planet for barely more than a month, not quite two. How could she have had a chance to offend her?
"It's normal that you don't know," said a red-haired Star Level youth nearby with a smile. "Qian Min has admired Gui Su since she was little. Gui is your teacher's friend, so of course she sees you as a rival." He meant a rival in the sense that both were talented and wanted to come out on top.
"She's always been proud, and with her talent, she's long wanted to become World Lord Ba Zhen's disciple and stand as Gui Jiao's peer."
Actually, many people on Cloud Sea Planet had heard rumors. For instance, Qian Min claimed she wanted to become World Lord Xunzhen's disciple, but in truth, she had other feelings for Gui Jiao.
But she and Gui Jiao belonged to the same family, with countless generations between them. Gui Jiao could practically be her ancestor. She wanted to become World Lord Xunzhen's disciple to bring herself closer to Gui Jiao in rank.
Of course, everyone only dared to discuss it in private. No one would say it out loud.
The man changed tack. "Qian Min's tried to become his disciple for years without success. Then you showed up, and World Lord Xunzhen personally said he wanted to take you on. She must resent—"
"Qian Min is simply proud and competitive. She doesn't like being second to anyone. Don't use your narrow-minded assumptions to guess what she's thinking." Ning Yu, a youth who had been sitting quietly beside Si Yao, cut him off. He looked at the man with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"Her failure to become his disciple had nothing to do with her talent. Her path of cultivation simply differs from World Lord Xunzhen's, and he didn't want to hold her back. That's why he didn't take her as a disciple." As Ning Yu spoke, he smiled faintly at Qian Min, who sat nearby. He was also competing in the tournament. He wasn't a member of the Yunhai Family, but he had Yunhai blood in his veins: both his grandmother and his mother were daughters of the family.
At his smile, Qian Min only glanced at him calmly before looking away. His smile stiffened, and a hint of bitterness surfaced in his eyes as his memories suddenly returned to ten years earlier.
He and Qian Min were about the same age—or, well, he was actually not yet twenty-eight, and Qian Min was five years older. But to their elders, who were often hundreds or even thousands of years old, that made no difference. They were naturally compared, and so they knew each other.
His grandmother had been reasonably talented when she was young, and beautiful too. His grandfather, passing through Cloud Sea Planet on a journey through the universe, had fallen for her at first sight.
His grandfather came from a people of Qiuman Planet, whose bloodline ranked fifth. They reached the Planetary Level as adults. His grandfather had been quite talented, and at the time, his strength had just advanced to the Universe Level. His grandmother admired the strong, and his grandfather was powerful and loved her. It was only natural that they fell for each other.
His father was his grandparents' only child and was doted on, but his grandparents loved adventure. Even having their only child couldn't stop them from exploring.
Not long after his father was born, they sent him back to live on Cloud Sea Planet. Every few years, his grandparents would return to check that their son was still alive and bring him cultivation resources. The rest of the time, they could only see one another in the Virtual Universe.
By the time his father had grown up, fallen in love with his mother, who was born into the Yunhai Family, married her, and had him, his grandparents had returned only three times.
He was born on Cloud Sea Planet. His mother and Qian Min's mother had been close friends since they were girls, so he and Qian Min had practically grown up together.
But they said two kings could not share one mountain. He and Qian Min had both inherited their elders' excellent bloodlines and talent, and both were doted on. Naturally, they couldn't stand each other, each believing the other had stolen their family's attention.
He'd inherited his grandfather's bloodline. From birth, he'd been at Apprentice Level Three, and before he was twelve, he'd reached the Planetary Level.
At the time, Qian Min was seventeen and had only just reached the Planetary Level.
She couldn't beat him.
Their first match came when they were both at Planetary Level One. It was the first time he defeated Qian Min.
A young man's pride could be so fierce. After years of being put down by Qian Min, who had always lorded her age over him, he naturally grew arrogant after beating her.
After defeating Qian Min, he pinned her to the ground and said proudly, "See? You're just not as good as me. You used to be stronger than I was only because you were older.
"Now I've beaten you. You'll never beat me again. I'm the strongest.
"Do you admit defeat?"
Qian Min didn't answer. She kept struggling. He was so caught up in the joy of finally beating his longtime rival that he couldn't possibly let her get free. He kept pressing down on her with all his strength until his mother came and pulled him away.
Only then did he see that her eyes were red-rimmed. Her hair had come loose from struggling, and she looked as disheveled as a madwoman. He hadn't understood at the time. He'd assumed she just couldn't accept being defeated and had felt guilty for being so careless that he'd hurt her and left her in such a state.
She was proud and always cared about her appearance. She'd never let her clothes get messy, let alone her hair.
He'd always wanted a chance to apologize to her. He'd even prepared a gift for her.
But in the following ten years, he never saw her again. The gift remained in his ring, unopened.
Ten years later, he finally saw her again.
It was her twenty-seventh birthday. The moment she appeared, she was already at Planetary Level Nine and had comprehended the Fire Domain.
He didn't know what she'd gone through to change so much, but he knew she must have endured a great deal.
But there was no longer any place for him in her heart.
She treated him as an ordinary member of her family. When they met, she even smiled and nodded hello, discussed cultivation problems with him, or mentioned some task on another planet that would be a good way to broaden his horizons—
They were ordinary, everyday topics, as if things had always been this way between them.
But she no longer came bursting out from some corner with all kinds of strange little bugs just to startle him. She no longer planted her sword and stood with her hands on her hips, imperiously telling him he had to listen to her. She no longer dragged him into a room to discuss their plans whenever she wanted to do something mischievous—
He shook his head, letting the memories drift away into the sea of his recollections. Unable to help himself, he raised his eyes once more to look at that familiar yet distant figure.
She sat quietly in her chair, waiting for the tournament to begin. There was no one on either side of her, making her already slender figure seem even lonelier.
Hadn't she always hated being alone? Why wasn't she sitting with her girlfriends?
He began to feel restless.
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