Stirrings in the Three Great Dynasties

Ye Qingyun's disciple?

Dongfang Su and Guyue were both rather surprised.

The master had actually taken a disciple?

Anyone such a master favored and accepted as a disciple was certainly no ordinary person, but surely a heaven's chosen of stunning talent.

For a moment, Dongfang Su and Guyue both quietly sized up Guo Xiaoyun, wanting to see what was exceptional about this child.

"Brother Ye, these are gifts His Majesty brought for you. You must accept them. Please don't refuse."

Guyue presented the two lavish gifts and spoke with great earnestness.

These were truly lavish gifts.

Dongfang Su had personally selected both from the imperial treasury.

Each could be called one in a hundred.

"Why stand on such ceremony?"

Ye Qingyun smiled and accepted the gifts Guyue offered without making a fuss.

"Then I'll open them right away."

"Please, Brother Ye."

And so.

Ye Qingyun opened both gifts.

Guo Xiaoyun also stood on tiptoe and leaned over to look.

A longsword.

A suit of soft armor.

"Very nice, very nice. Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Ye Qingyun nodded to Dongfang Su in acknowledgment.

Seeing Ye Qingyun accept them, Dongfang Su breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

It seems this master is still willing to accept this favor from me. With this, our Heavenly Martial Dynasty effectively has a mighty backer.

As long as we remain on good terms with this master, our Heavenly Martial Dynasty will surely be able to sleep soundly without a worry!

Dongfang Su could no longer resist imagining the Heavenly Martial Dynasty's bright future.

In truth.

Ye Qingyun had no interest in these two things.

You're giving me a sword and a suit of soft armor?

What can I do with them?

Wear them out to fight someone?

Rather than giving me these, you might as well give me some local specialties.

At least local specialties are edible.

Yet Ye Qingyun knew nothing of these two treasures' origins.

This sword was the Heaven-Plundering Sword, one of the three famed swords of the Southern Wilderness, crafted by Ou Yezi, a master artificer whose fame had spread far and wide two thousand years ago.

Ou Yezi had forged the Three Swords of the Southern Wilderness, stirring up turmoil throughout the Southern Wilderness at the time.

In the end, all three swords had found their owners.

Among them, the Heaven-Plundering Sword had been acquired by the Heavenly Martial Dynasty and preserved to this day.

Now Dongfang Su had given the Heaven-Plundering Sword directly to Ye Qingyun, showing just how deeply he respected Ye Qingyun.

The soft armor also had extraordinary origins.

This soft armor came from the Eastern Lands, from a super empire called Great Tang.

Unlike the situation here in the Southern Wilderness.

The Eastern Lands were vast and rich in resources, stretching across an immense territory.

Originally, the Eastern Lands had also been plagued by constant strife, with over a hundred small states standing side by side.

But eight hundred years ago, the Eastern Lands had been unified.

The nation that unified the Eastern Lands was the Great Tang Empire.

Dongfang Su had once sent envoys to the Great Tang Empire, who subsequently brought back this suit of soft armor.

Both treasures were incomparably precious.

Ye Qingyun was uninterested, but Guo Xiaoyun's eyes shone beside him. He seemed very fond of and curious about both the Heaven-Plundering Sword and the soft armor.

"Do you like them?"

Ye Qingyun looked at Guo Xiaoyun and asked.

"Yes!"

Guo Xiaoyun nodded vigorously, as though stars were sparkling in his eyes.

"Then you can have them. Just don't go playing around with them."

Ye Qingyun placed both treasures directly into Guo Xiaoyun's hands.

This sight.

Left both Dongfang Su and Guyue stunned.

These were two national treasures.

He had simply given them to that child?

Wasn't that far too generous?

The corner of Dongfang Su's mouth twitched, though it was not that he objected.

After all, he had given these two treasures to Ye Qingyun, so how to dispose of them was Ye Qingyun's business.

He merely felt that Ye Qingyun seemed a little too good to this disciple.

He had so readily given away even such precious treasures.

It showed that this disciple's place in Ye Qingyun's heart was beyond comparison with any treasure.

It seems I'll also have to find a way to build a good relationship with the master's disciple in the future.

Dongfang Su muttered inwardly.

"Oh, right, Your Majesty. An army attacked earlier. Thankfully, the monks at the foot of my mountain drove the enemy back."

Ye Qingyun suddenly spoke.

"Your Majesty, you must remember to reward them."

Dongfang Su did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But then a deep sense of admiration welled up within him.

This was a true master.

Even after rendering a service as great as the heavens, he remained as untroubled as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, and even passed the credit to others.

What noble character was this?

So moving.

So noble.

Had Dongfang Su not been an emperor, he would truly have wanted to offer Ye Qingyun a deep bow at that moment.

"Rest assured, Young Master Ye. I will certainly reward them handsomely."

Dongfang Su spoke with an earnest expression.

Since the master says to reward those monks, I need only play along.

Dongfang Su did not stay long and soon left with Guyue.

After returning to the capital, Dongfang Su immediately gave orders to send numerous rewards to Floating Cloud Mountain.

These rewards were all for Huikong and the other monks.

Huikong and the others had initially wanted to decline, but upon hearing that Ye Qingyun had requested the rewards for them, they all accepted.

They could not refuse rewards the Holy Son had requested for them.

Otherwise, they would be squandering the Holy Son's kindness.

Meanwhile.

News of the three great dynasties' defeat also reached their respective dynasties.

For a time.

The three great dynasties were shaken from top to bottom.

Unacceptable!

This was an outcome they simply could not accept!

"This is a complete joke! The combined million-strong army of our three great dynasties suffered a crushing defeat?"

"I'd like to ask just how this million-strong army was defeated!"

"How many troops does the Heavenly Martial Dynasty even have in total? How could they possibly defeat a million-strong army so easily?"

At first, no one believed that the Heavenly Martial Dynasty had defeated their three great dynasties.

They all suspected that the commander of the million-strong army had ulterior motives and had deliberately lost.

But as more and more reports came back.

The three great dynasties gradually went from angry disbelief to utter bewilderment.

Everyone now knew.

The million-strong allied army had not been defeated by the Heavenly Martial Dynasty's army.

Instead, it had been defeated by a true dragon.

The Heavenly Martial Dynasty actually had a true dragon?

This gave the people of the three great dynasties quite a fright.

After all, the Heavenly Martial Dynasty was the strongest of the Seven Kingdoms of the Southern Wilderness, and the other six kingdoms all knew it well.

The Heavenly Martial Dynasty was powerful, but surely not to the point of having a true dragon?

It did have a flood dragon, right in its capital.

But a true dragon?

That was far too outrageous.

"Have you heard? A mysterious master has appeared in the Heavenly Martial Dynasty. That true dragon is one he raises."

"What? That can't be possible, can it?"

"Raising a true dragon? What kind of ability is that?"

"It's absolutely true! And supposedly, that master has ties to the Buddhists of the Western Realm. Buddhist temples are already being established within the Heavenly Martial Dynasty."

"A Buddhist master? That is rather frightening."

"Now the martial arts circles of our three great dynasties can no longer sit still. Experts from all sides intend to visit the Heavenly Martial Dynasty and meet this so-called master."

"That's bound to be quite a lively affair."

Discussion ran rampant throughout the three great dynasties.

And just as the rumors said, the martial arts circles of the three great dynasties truly could no longer sit still.

Powerful figures from all sides moved at the news.

They all hurried toward the Heavenly Martial Dynasty.

To see the true face of that so-called master!