It Had Nothing to Do with Me

"More or less."

Di Yi hid nothing. In truth, it had been a misunderstanding. The white-haired, youthful-faced elder had chosen not to believe him at first, so he could only follow the elder's train of thought to "explain."

"So that's how it was... Then do you think there's a chance you really are from our Fire Kingdom?" Huo Yun'e asked. "Our Fire Kingdom's supreme Precious Technique has never been passed to outsiders. Across all these long years, even a great sect like the Heaven Mending Pavilion has never managed to obtain it."

Though they had not spoken for long, she had roughly figured out Di Yi's temperament.

He seemed to have only just come to know this world. He answered whatever he was asked, like a blank sheet of paper, and treated everyone gently, without putting on airs or losing his temper.

"That's impossible. You and I aren't from the same world." Di Yi shook his head. He knew very well where he had come from. That place was filled with desolation and death, an entirely different world from this one.

Never mind the Fire Kingdom-even this world's earliest people or legacies could not possibly have any connection to him.

For this world, his presence was an abrupt intrusion, something wholly at odds with it. He was merely a passerby.

"Really? Then how did you learn that Precious Technique? There must have been a legacy, right?" Huo Yun'e actually knew Di Yi could not be from the Fire Kingdom, but what did that matter? Just because he had not been one of them before did not mean he could not become one later.

"A legacy?" Di Yi murmured.

He thought it over. That Precious Technique did seem to have come from a legacy. He had gained it through true understanding of the great black cauldron in Stone Village, rather than "stealing" it as he had from the Mottled Tiger or during the battle in Cloud-Rushing Town.

Strictly speaking, Huo Yun'e was right.

But that was Stone Village's cauldron. If anything, it should have been Stone Village's legacy, or perhaps the Stone Kingdom's, with nothing to do with the Fire Kingdom.

Could that great black cauldron have some other origin?

After all, the people of Stone Village had said it had been handed down by their ancestors, but they had never said who those ancestors were. They were only a vague notion.

Perhaps it really did have some connection to the Fire Kingdom.

"There was a legacy, wasn't there?" Seeing Di Yi fall into thought, Huo Yun'e assumed she had guessed correctly and continued, "See? You really might be one of our Fire Kingdom's people, from a branch founded by a member of the imperial family who traveled far away."

"That legacy might be connected to your Fire Kingdom, but it has nothing to do with me. I only happened to arrive there," Di Yi said. Reaching Stone Village had indeed been a coincidence, and obtaining that Precious Technique had been a coincidence within a coincidence.

"There are no coincidences in this world. What we call chance is always tied together by hidden threads of cause and effect." Huo Yun'e did not want Di Yi to sever every connection so completely. Whether for herself or for the Fire Kingdom as a whole, she did not want to let a man like him slip away, so she began spouting lofty principles.

"Hmm, what you're saying... does seem to make a little sense." Di Yi murmured. At a cursory glance, it did sound somewhat persuasive.

But that did not shake him.

He had a vague feeling that the threads of cause and effect Huo Yun'e spoke of could not bind him. Every step he took was his own decision.

"Right? So-" Huo Yun'e was about to strike while the iron was hot, but Di Yi interrupted her.

"This has nothing to do with me," Di Yi said. Though he was fairly easygoing, he could sense that this woman had come with another purpose in mind. Her intentions were not pure.

"But..." Huo Yun'e had not given up and wanted to say more, but when she saw that Di Yi was no longer looking at her and had turned his gaze back toward the Third Primordial Battlefield, she could only let it drop.

Still, she had no intention of giving up. This matter was far too important, after all, and had to be handled properly no matter what.

"Royal Sister, judging by that look on your face, your beauty trap didn't pass muster."

"There's plenty of time ahead." Huo Yun'e flicked her younger brother on the forehead. Her eyes shone all the more brightly as she looked at Di Yi. As the old saying went, even heroes struggled to pass the trial of a beauty's charms.

Likewise, beauties struggled to resist heroes. Di Yi gave her a very special feeling: powerful, easygoing, and, most importantly, incredibly handsome. Compared with him, all the so-called young talents she had met were nothing but frogs at the bottom of a well.

Within the Third Primordial Battlefield, the competition for places was nearing its end. At its exit, other people began to appear one after another besides the white-haired, youthful-faced elder from before. Their clothing made their lofty status plain.

"This batch of children is exceptionally strong, the best we've seen in ten years. Our Heaven Mending Pavilion will gain more extraordinary disciples."

"Indeed. The Blazing Sun Marquis's daughter has surging blood and vital energy, and her voice is like a dragon's cry. Who knows how a girl like her endured training that even boys cannot bear? She is destined to shine brilliantly in the future."

"That child from the Wood Clan is also quite good. Defeating a Three-Legged Dragon Bird in battle is an extraordinary achievement at that age."

The elders of the Heaven Mending Pavilion wore broad smiles. The more outstanding these disciples proved, the stronger the Heaven Mending Pavilion would become. Even if they returned to their homes and tribes in the future, they would still be a great source of support for the pavilion.

Finally, once everyone had emerged, the people from the powerful clans and great sects standing on the mountains outside the primordial battlefield began to move as well.

They had come to observe the ceremony in the first place. Now that the trial was over, they naturally had to go lend their descendants their backing.

After all, although the places had been won through competition, the areas they would occupy upon entering the Ancient Sacred Academy had yet to be assigned. They needed to secure the best resources for their descendants.

Of course, another reason was to prevent the children from getting into quarrels out of wounded pride.

Some children might have failed the trial not because they lacked strength, but because they had been unlucky. Battles elsewhere could have affected the overall conditions in their own areas, causing them to miss out on a place.

Faced with such circumstances, those children would surely refuse to accept the result. An argument might well turn into a duel.

Winning would be fine, but losing could cost them their places. The people from the powerful clans and great sects certainly did not want to see that happen.

"Uncle, that man... Didn't you say we should try to win him over?" a young man asked in confusion amid the group from one great clan.

There were priorities to consider. The places in the Ancient Sacred Academy certainly mattered, but they should not give up on winning that man over either.

"Have you no sense at all? Didn't you see that even the Fire Kingdom's people were turned away at the door?" An elder smacked the young man on the back of the head. "If even the Fire Kingdom's people hit a wall, what chance do we have?"

Similar exchanges played out among the other powerful clans and great sects, but with different hearts and ways of thinking, their final conclusions were entirely different.

Some powerful clans and great sects felt the matter was hopeless. Others, however, believed that with enough effort, an iron pestle could be ground into a needle. Even if they could not win him over, becoming a familiar face would be enough.

"Royal Sister, aren't you staying there? This is a perfect chance to get close to him."

"I'm not that oblivious. Besides, didn't I already say there's plenty of time ahead?" Huo Yun'e seemed to bicker with her younger brother often and took no offense at teasing like this.

"Forget having plenty of time ahead. Once this ceremony settles the places for the Ancient Sacred Academy, we'll have to return to the Fire Kingdom."

"That's fine. Just because we leave doesn't mean there won't be anyone from the Fire Kingdom here. Those little ones are newborn calves unafraid of tigers. They'll be excellent candidates."

"What good will that do? Our younger brothers and sisters probably won't even get to see him."

"Don't worry. Your royal sister has a clever plan of her own."