Chapter 287: Chapter 286: A Simple and Ordinary Departure
Translator: 549690339
“Sister Wu Lian, let’s eat hot pot,” Yu Feng suggested, holding two bottles of sesame sauce and six pieces of fermented bean curd in his hand, looking for his senior sister, Wu Lian.
Wu Lian was puzzled, wondering why Yu Feng was in such a good mood and why he had bought so much sesame sauce.
Ah, he must have noticed I’m down and is pretending to be optimistic to keep me company, she thought, feeling a warm sense of gratitude. “Okay.”
“Let’s add the lamb now.” The cast iron pot was bubbling away as Yu Feng added thinly sliced lamb to it.
Yu Feng really was in a good mood.
He had always thought that his biggest advantage was his ability to be reborn and know the future.
Now he believed that Jiang Li was his real support.
Jiang Li was skilled in everything except dating.
“The situation for the hundred thousand people in the Mysterious Kingdom looks grim.” Wu Lian voiced her worry, but she didn’t have any good solutions. It was the sovereign decision of the Blood River Ancestor.
Who could dissuade a powerful cultivator of the Body Integration Realm?
“Maybe the Blood River Ancestor will change his mind. Try some lamb,” Yu Feng offered with optimism.
Wu Lian smiled wryly; her junior brother was really optimistic.
Unless another cultivator at the God-transformation stage could persuade, the situation seemed impossible to change.
“Master of the Funeral Bell Tower, I demand an explanation from you.” The Blood River Ancestor stormed in with anger, feeling slighted by the Master’s actions.
“Believe it or not, I’ll report this to the Heavenly Monarch and accuse you of defying his decree, intentionally killing a cultivator in Divinity Transformation stage and destabilizing the fate of our kingdom!”
The celestial dynasty was not yet established, its destiny not yet formed, but that didn’t stop the Blood River Ancestor from placing blame.
He inflated the matter, hoping to scare the other off first.
“I’m doing this for your own good. Don’t be ungrateful!” Master of the Funeral Bell Tower retorted. Both were at the Body Integration Realm, who would fear whom? Let’s see who would win if they fought.
If it hadn’t been for the Heavenly Monarch’s order that those in the Body Integration Realm were not allowed to fight, he would have seriously considered it.
Master of the Funeral Bell Tower snorted coldly, “Destabilizing the country’s fate? I should be saying that.”
“The Heavenly Monarch only ordered you to gather commoners before the founding ceremony. He didn’t authorize you to claim his name or the name of the Celestial Dynasty to demand people from the Mysterious Kingdom.”
“I …,” the Blood River Ancestor was speechless.
“‘I’ what? Are you acting based on your personal whims?”
The Master of the Funeral Bell Tower was unrelenting, “Being the Minister of Rites, your every action represents the will of the Heavenly Monarch. Things the Heavenly Monarch didn’t authorize you to do, you shouldn’t. Or it would be disobedience—do you think this might affect the fate of the kingdom?”
He knew how to shift blame too. Living this long, he had not only relied on his stealthy assassination skills, but also his cunning ability to turn tables.
Ascendants had no idea what “kingdom’s fate” meant; they had only heard the Heavenly Monarch mention it a few times.
What it was, how it was formed, and its function were all mysteries to them.
The Heavenly Monarch wouldn’t enlighten them, and they could only speculate.
This was the reason whenever something happened, they would use “kingdom’s fate” as a pretext. Unless they took the dispute to the Heavenly Monarch, nobody could determine which matters would affect the fate of the kingdom.
They worried that these trifles might irritate the Heavenly Monarch and thus create losses outweighing gains.
“Fortunately, this matter doesn’t involve you directly. It was your nominal disciple Ma Pingfan who used your name to demand people from the Mysterious Kingdom. I noticed his errant ways and disrupted harmony, so I took care of it for you.”
The Master of the Funeral Bell Tower gave the Blood River Ancestor an out, saving his face.
“That rebellious Ma Pingfan was nothing but a swaggerer, he deserved to die. I thank my brother for lending a hand.”
Seeing it was a worthless nominal disciple who died, the Blood River Ancestor decided to let it go. He didn’t want to escalate the matter to the Heavenly Monarch, and left without a backward glance.
The death of Ma Pingfan in the Mysterious Kingdom struck fear into the heart of the monarch; he even had thoughts of suicide.
The Blood River Ancestor wanted to retaliate for the death of a far-off descendant by demanding a hundred thousand commoners. Now that his disciple died there, the Mysterious Kingdom was likely to be decimated.
Yu Feng, who knew the truth, had no intention of comforting the monarch. Instead, he returned to the mountain village with his senior sister to visit their parents.
Yu Feng’s parents were thrilled to hear that their son had been chosen by fate and he had found such a beautiful wife. They prepared a stew with an old hen to celebrate.
Wu Lian blushed and tried to negate, but Yu Feng’s parents just smiled and did not comment.
Aware of his doomed fate, Yu Feng didn’t stay long. He left some elixirs with his parents to prolong their lives and enhance their health before he left.
Teaching his parents the way of ascension under the present circumstances was to harm them. The waters of the Celestial Dynasty were too muddy to step into.
Yu Feng planned to take his parents to the Celestial Dynasty and teach them the way of ascension once he got more powerful.
Wu Lian noticed that Yu Feng’s eyes were red when he left.
A few days later, the monarch received a message from the Blood River Ancestor saying that he didn’t have to provide the hundred thousand people for now, and he was overjoyed.
The monarch was relieved to see that the Blood River Ancestor didn’t mention Ma Pingfan and had no intention of causing trouble. He planned to grant another amnesty.
Yu Feng was only in the initial stage of Golden Core, so no one connected Ma Pingfan’s death to him.
Even the Blood River Ancestor suspected it was the work of a wealthy rival whom Ma Pingfan had offended and who had hired the Master of the Funeral Bell Tower to kill him. He thought Ma Pingfan got what he deserved.
Just like his name, Ma Pingfan led an ordinary life and died an ordinary death, unable to create a single wave in his wake.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye. The Celestial Dynasty had taken shape, and the grand founding ceremony was approaching.
All ascenders had come to the Celestial Dynasty, either willingly or forcibly.
It was then they found out that the Ancient Continent had not just one or two cultivators in the Body Integration Realm, but a staggering six.
And that the Body Integration Realm wasn’t the peak. There was also the legendary Transcendence Tribulation Stage.
But these were just up for gossips. Even if there were more cultivators in Body Integration Realm and Transcendence Tribulation Stage, what did it matter? Not as if they could ascend to that level.
They didn’t possess even the Cultivation Techniques for the Body Integration Realm.
The Celestial Dynasty destroyed all the Cultivation Techniques for the Body Integration Realm, claiming they were dangerous and unfit for the cultivators in the Dynasty. Those possessing such techniques were forbidden from silently reciting or stating them, or face execution.
The cultivators felt that joining the Celestial Dynasty hadn’t brought them any benefits, only exploitation and threats.
During these three years, Yu Feng felt extremely unlucky.
The increased density of ascenders caused his death trials to become more frequent. He could be targeted by a raging beast while walking on the street, or a lascivious person could target his senior sister and wish him dead while they were out shopping.
Fortunately, he had his senior sister’s ample bosom to comfort his young soul.
Every time Yu Feng killed covertly, he felt emotionally scarred and he cried bitterly in the arms of his senior sister and Dao companion, Wu Lian.
Wu Lian had already become his Dao companion, but Yu Feng still preferred calling her senior sister.
Jiang Li kindly contacted Ma Zhuo and his wife to teach Yu Feng some techniques, including dual cultivation methods.
Yu Feng, his face flushed, quickly memorized the technique and practiced it at night.
Jiang Li, however, prided himself in his sense of propriety; every night, he would step away to give the young couple some privacy.
He really couldn’t give them any advice in this area.
Both their cultivation levels grew rapidly through dual cultivation. Wu Lian had reached the mid-stage of Nascent Soul and Yu Feng had achieved the stage of Nascent Soul.
As the inception of the founding grand ceremony was getting closer, they felt little to no excitement.