"What the hell is happening?" Ye Futian looked startled. It was the first time something like this had happened to him.
Feixue was able to sense the emotions of others, so it was only natural that she was able to detect the puzzlement and curiosity that Ye Futian was feeling at the moment.
However, she thought all of that stemmed from him being curious about her. She then explained gently, "I have monstrous beings inside me; one that had once taken many lives, and it would have been able to take mine as well. The being could only be suppressed through sleep. If it had not been for father, I'd have liked to resign myself to fate instead."
Ye Futian looked at Feixue. She lowered her head. While her tone remained gentle, it was unable to mask her sorrow.
So that's the reason, huh? Ye Futian thought.
One such gentle girl and yet, not only did she possess eyes that were unable to see, but she was even robbed of her right to live, keeping herself alive only through sleep. What is the point of spending your life asleep? Ye Futian wondered.
Isn't sleep just like death throughout the process?
Probably just a way to lie to oneself, then.
The imperial advisor is reluctant to let go of her.
Ye Futian extended his hand, seemingly want to touch her hair, but then he hesitated.
Feixue raised her head somewhat. While she was unable to see, she nonetheless seemed to have been able to sense Ye Futian's movements, just like how she would have if she were to be able to see him.
Ye Futian rested his hand on her shoulder and smiled warmly, saying, "Well, who is to say that that thing inside you is a monster? While I have no idea what it is, I feel that it's something extremely precious; maybe a gift from the heavens, something that you could only obtain after going through some bit of suffering."
Feixue twitched somewhat, sensing his kindness. She smiled as well and said, "Thank you for comforting me, Seventh Swordsman."
"I'm not saying that to comfort you. That's the truth. You need to believe the intuition of a swordsman who has a pure mind of the sword," Ye Futian said with a smile.
"Yeah, I believe you…" Feixue smiled. A swordsman who has a pure mind of the sword, eh?
Somehow she felt that it was anything but pure.
She had no idea how he managed to deceive her father, but none of that mattered. She did not sense any ill intent from him. He had experienced confusion, calmness, and a faint sense of respect and then letting go from the start of the gathering until the end. When he was talking to her, she was able to sense sympathy, sadness, and a bit of kindness from him.
Ye Futian looked at Feixue's expression and knew that he was unable to fool her. Someone being able to read other people's emotions is indeed terrifying, he thought. Good thing I don't hold any hostility towards the imperial advisor.
But then again, Lu Chuan and Feixue chose to tell him honestly instead of merely resorting to observing him in silence. That enabled Ye Futian to feel the beauty of trust.
It was evident that the people of the Imperial Advisor's Residence had taken him as one of their own, and they had no intention of observing him. They would have chosen to keep that a secret from him and kept watching him otherwise.
Ye Futian did not lie to Feixue as well. Something that was able to cause his Life Spirit to react would not have been some monstrosity like she claimed. He believed what was inside Feixue's body to be something incredibly precious instead.
Feixue had probably chosen to refer to it as a monstrosity due to it invoking the greedy nature of people.
The mistress was not around, and the imperial advisor had been taking care of Feixue in Dali all this time. After learning something about them, Ye Futian naturally came to speculate that the imperial advisor had some complicated past.
However, Ye Futian did not keep asking. None of that mattered anyway. He witnessed Lu Chuan put Feixue back to sleep. She peacefully went back to sleep in a dazzling sealing matrix.
…
Xia Qingyuan was still looking into the people that Xiao Sheng came into contact with for a long time in Emperor Xia's Realm. However, all signs indicated that Xiao Sheng had not done anything.
It seemed as if he had nothing to do with the incident.
If it had not been for the fact that Xiao Sheng remained the most suspicious person, Xia Qingyuan might not even have bothered looking into it any further.
As for things in Emperor Li's Realm, Li Yao extended an official invitation to Ye Futian to join the Royal Hunt.
Ye Futian had agreed to it before, and so he attended the event as planned.
Many mighty ones gathered that day at the most extravagant, towering drill ground in all of the royal palace's vicinity in Dali Imperial City.
Many members of the younger generation in the royal family arrived. There were also many senior members around who would be the ones taking the lead.
The royalty of Dali Dynasty was an extremely prestigious family and had many descendants. They were the most renowned clan in all of Dali.
The extended family was massive, and it was more than just the bloodline of the current Emperor Li that had many members. There were also many great branches other than that of the emperor.
Branch families aside, Emperor Li himself had 12 offspring. Nine being princes and three being princesses.
Li Yao was the youngest among the nine princes.
At that moment, other than the many members of the younger generations of the royal family, there were also their guards present at the drill ground. As such, the entire drill ground looked grand, and golden robes were billowing everywhere, looking magnificent.
The hunt that was held every year at the western mountains of Dali Dynasty was a test for the younger royal members. It was a tradition that was carried out throughout the ages as a way of nurturing their temperament as well as their abilities at doing battle.
All demonic beasts sealed in the west mountain were at least of the sage level. There were even demonic saints who were capable of taking human form, and their intellect was on par with that of humans. They knew of their fate—that they were but tools meant to be killed by the royal members for training. As such, all of them were extremely ferocious. They would bring out their all to attack any who went to the west mountain to train as soon as they seized the opportunity.
The higher the kill count, the better.
Many did end up dead during the test at the west mountain every year, and many more injured.
Of course, the princes and the core members were comparatively safe, as they were high on the priority list of protected people. Even so, however, there were still princes who ended up grievously injured nonetheless. It was such ferocity that encouraged the royal members of Dali Dynasty to continue to hone their minds at furthering martial art training.
Ye Futian came to the drill ground together with Li Yao. He took a look at the massive crowd before him. The royalty of Emperor Li's Realm indeed appeared to be far more powerful than the ones in Emperor Xia's Realm.
Emperor Xia was considered the founder of his extended family. It was different in the case of Emperor Li, as the extended family had been around for many, many years, and they were extravagant people. There would not have been the title of Prince Regent otherwise.
"Seventh Swordsman." A voice was heard from someone at the front of the drill ground. It was Li Xun, whom he met at the Dali Academy before.
Li Xun was the fifth child among the nine princes. He and Li Yao were born of the same mother, making them full-blooded brothers.
"Greetings, Your Highness." Ye Futian cupped his hands slightly as he went up to the prince.
"Li Yao said a while ago that he invited you to train here. The west mountain indeed suits you," Li Xun said with a smile.
Ye Futian nodded and said nothing.
"Brother, so this is Seventh Swordsman?" Someone walked past, and Ye Futian turned around to find a handsome, dashing young man of the royal family looking at him. It was apparent that he was another prince.
"Yeah," Li Xun nodded and said to Ye Futian, "the eighth among us brothers."
"Greetings, Your Highness," Ye Futian said.
"No need for formalities. You, Seventh Swordsman, have been the most renowned figure of the younger generations for the past year; invincible below Saint Plane and taken in by the imperial advisor as his student. You do indeed live up to the hype," the eighth prince smiled and said. Ye Futian sensed cold stares from behind the eight prince. Li Xuan was seen there, and there were also many of the royal family present.
"You're too kind, Your Highness," Ye Futian cupped his hands and said. He had read through the profiles of the princes. The eighth prince was very socially adept and had amicable relations with many of the royal members of Dali. He and the incredibly renowned third prince of Dali Dynasty shared the same mother.
"Invincible below Saint Plane, huh? I wonder, did anyone bother asking about my opinion?"
A crisp voice was heard, and someone walked towards them. It was a woman who emanated an overwhelming sense of extravagance and looked incredibly pompous. As a female member of the royal family, there was little need to say much about her appearance, which was, without a doubt, on par with that of Li You.
Her eyes stopped at Ye Futian. She said, "Seventh Swordsman, show me what you've got."
"Li Xiao, I don't think that bit of power of yours would be much compared to that of the Seventh Swordsman," Li Xun smiled and said. The woman was almost the youngest among the three princesses. She was at the pinnacle of Sage Plane in terms of powers and was of the same age as Li Yao, and her powers were comparable to his.
The Seventh Swordsman was a widely acknowledged number one below Saint Plane in Dali Imperial City by then. Li Xiao might have been a princess, but she still would not have been much if she intended to take on the Seventh Swordsman.
"I'm sorry, Princess. My sword is not something for show," Ye Futian said to Li Xiao.
"What do you mean?" Li Xiao's expression was cold. What she meant by 'show me" naturally referred to sparring with her. The Seventh Swordsman answered in a manner that suggested that he had no interest in fighting her.
"It would be bad if I ended up hurting you, Princess," Ye Futian said plainly. The Seventh Swordsman had a brazen, unruly personality, and he was a student of the imperial city. He did not see the need to behave subserviently to a princess of Dali Imperial City.
Many turned towards the drill ground. So the Seventh Swordsman is just as arrogant as he is rumored to be then, daring to treat a princess like this, many thought.
"How insolent. Seventh Swordsman, are you insulting the Princess?" Li Xuan berated him coldly right there and then, intending to slap labels on him.
Ye Futian glanced coldly at Li Xuan.
"Draw your sword." Li Xiao stood tall in the sky. Powerful aura emanated from her body, pressing onto Ye Futian.
"If you insist that I draw my sword, I'm afraid that you won't be able to take it, Princess," Ye Futian replied without care.
"You…" Li Xiao's eyes were cold. It was the first time someone dared to behave so insolently in front of her.
Li Yang and Li You were in the midst of the crowd. Li You pouted for a bit. This guy hasn't changed, they thought.
Li Xiao was the youngest among the children of Emperor Li. As such, she was spoiled by the people around her. Coupled that with her status, there was no one who dared to get on her bad side.
The Seventh Swordsman was the only one who did not bother to give her any face.
"I'm ordering you to draw your sword as the Princess," Li Xiao said coldly.
The princes around them were speechless, but they did nothing to stop her. Li Xun then said telepathically to the Seventh Swordsman, "Just give her a lesson that she'll never forget."
Ye Futian nodded slightly and stepped out. Sword will circled her and rang. An extremely dazzling sword coalesced before him, which was as thin as the wing of cicadas. It was none other than the Sword of Kasyapa.
Li Xiao burst with brimming aura as she stepped forward. Her hair billowed as she went.
Voom. A bolt of lightning zipped past at speeds difficult for the naked eye to follow. The aura on Li Xiao was frightening. There were only high pitched noises heard before her attack and defense were punched through right there and then. The dazzling light about her seemed to be torn to the sides.
She was unable to even gather strength before sensing sword will zipping past, and the Sword of Kasyapa appeared right before her eyes.
"You asked to see my sword, and I'd like to know if you're ready to take what you asked for," Ye Futian said, without bothering to give her any face at all.