The Xiao clan's residence in Emperor Xia's Realm.
Xiao Sheng was cultivating quietly when someone came. Xiao Sheng opened his eyes and saw that it was his father, Xiao Qianhe.
Xiao Qianhe looked at his son. He had once had high hopes for Xiao Sheng, hoping that one day he would be able to take charge of the Xiao clan.
As such, he had paved the way for him, hoping that he would enter Emperor Xia's Palace and serve Xia Qingyuan so that he could get close to the center of power.
But everything changed when Ye Futian appeared at Xia Qingyuan's side. Xiao Sheng had done something stupid in the Battle of Empty Realm. It would have been fine if Ye Futian had died, but the people of Emperor Li's Realm had not been able to kill Ye Futian, and he had even ruined his own future.
Later, in a conversation, Xiao Sheng seemed to have guessed where Ye Futian had gone. Then something happened in Emperor Xia's Realm.
The people of the Xiao clan did not know about this, but he knew a little.
As such, Xiao Qianhe knew that Xiao Sheng must have been involved in this and could not escape responsibility.
"Ye Futian is back," said Xiao Qianhe. Xiao Sheng's eyelids twitched.
Had he actually come back alive?
It seemed that they had not been able to kill him.
But it did not matter. This matter was not over yet.
"The Princess received him personally outside the palace, and she had sent people to the Lower Worlds," continued Xiao Qianhe. Now that Ye Futian had returned, there was no need to hide anything anymore. Everything could be made public, and Xiao Qianhe naturally knew.
"Why are you telling me this, father?" asked Xiao Sheng.
"Who is helping you?" Xiao Qianhe stared at Xiao Sheng.
No one knew a son better than a father. As Xiao Sheng's father, he knew Xiao Sheng very well. Based on what he knew, Xiao Sheng would not be able to do it. With the resources that Xiao Sheng had after that incident, he would not be able to complete such a meticulous plan.
If he had really done it, others would not have been able to find out, but he would have.
As such, someone must have been helping Xiao Sheng.
"I don't understand what you are talking about, father." Xiao Sheng looked at Xiao Qianhe. Even his father did not know what he had done.
The last incident had taught him a deep lesson. Now, he trusted no one.
The Xiao clan was a clan, and a prominent one at that. If giving up Xiao Sheng in exchange for the clan's prosperity, the old man would not have hesitated.
Therefore, after that incident, his status plummeted, and the marriage with Divine Cloud Valley was dropped.
He took all of this to heart.
"Perhaps there is still a way to turn back now, as long as the person carrying out all of this isn't you," Xiao Qianhe added.
Xiao Sheng smiled at Xiao Qianhe's words and said, "Father, are you concerned about me? But I really don't know what you're talking about."
The way back?
There was no turning back.
Furthermore, it was true that he had not participated in this matter. Was Xia Qingyuan really going to come to her mother's family without any evidence, take her cousin away, and force him to talk?
Then, this would be interesting.
Xiao Qianhe took a good look at Xiao Sheng. He realized that he was finding it harder and harder to understand his son.
Perhaps it was because of the previous incident that he was agitated.
"You've been at the pinnacle of Sage Plane for some years now, and Wang Chuan has already broken into Saint Plane. You're also known as someone at the Pinnacle below Saint Plane, but you still haven't been able to enter Saint Plane. Perhaps you're troubled by your state of mind. Perhaps I shouldn't have paved the way for you to Emperor Xia's Palace, and should have let you cultivate in peace." Xiao Qianhe sighed.
Xiao Sheng did not say anything. Wang Chuan had become a Saint Plane for two years.
Back then, he was considered to be on par with Wang Chuan of Lihen Heaven, and they were both at the Pinnacle below Saint Plane.
However, the Saint Plane was a threshold, and it caused many people of the same level to break through at different times, and there might even be a difference of many years.
At that moment, someone came in from outside. Xiao Qianhe frowned and asked, "Who let you in?"
"Sir, Ye Futian has come to visit. He wants to see the young master," the person said. Hearing his words, Xiao Qianhe was stunned, and an extremely cold glint flashed in Xiao Sheng's eyes.
Ye Futian has come to visit me?
What does this Ye Futian mean?
"Who else?" Xiao Qianhe asked.
Did Princess Xia Qingyuan not come?
"Other than Ye Futian, there is only one other swordsman," the person reported. Xiao Qianhe nodded, guessing that it was the sword servant of the Sword Saint of the Void who had sent Ye Futian.
This meant that Ye Futian had come to visit the Xiao clan on this trip.
He looked at Xiao Sheng and said, "You deal with it yourself."
He left right away after saying that.
Xiao Sheng smiled, stood up and walked outside. Is Ye Futian here to visit?
At that moment, he suddenly wanted to see Ye Futian.
That person who had made him go from being in high spirits to being at rock bottom, the person who had not been able to kill him twice.
It did not take long for Xiao Sheng to see that handsome, white-haired young man in the courtyard. His bearing was as outstanding as ever, and he stepped into the Xiao clan's residence as if he was walking in his own home. He was relaxed and at ease, without any inhibitions.
Ye Futian came, and the two of them stood facing each other. They stared at each other, neither avoiding each other's eyes.
"Are you disappointed?" Ye Futian asked Xiao Sheng.
Xiao Sheng's lips curled into a smile, but he did not say anything. If Ye Futian thought that he would be able to make him admit it by coming personally, he was obviously wrong.
"I heard that you are very interested in me going to Dali?" Ye Futian continued when he saw that Xiao Sheng did not say anything. "I went to Dali Dynasty as a swordsman and entered the Imperial Advisor's Residence to cultivate. I became the Imperial Advisor's disciple and became friends with Li Yao. Li Yao personally gave me cultivation methods, and Emperor Li wanted to betroth the princess to me, but I refused."
Xiao Sheng's heart twitched, and the smile on his face faded bit by bit. He seemed to be somewhat jealous.
Even though he was in Dali Dynasty, his life was no worse than it had been in Emperor Xia's Realm. He became the Imperial Advisor's disciple, became friends with Li Yao, and refused Emperor Li's offer of marriage.
Did that mean that as long as he nodded, he would become the Emperor's son-in-law?
"Very interesting." Xiao Sheng's voice was rather cold. "However, I am not interested in your affairs."
"Is that so? I thought you would be very interested. " Ye Futian smiled and said, "I heard that you have been confined here all this time, and your movements are restricted. You are not allowed to take a step outside, and you are not even allowed to see anyone."
"After what happened last time, Queen Xiao summoned me and allowed me to freely enter the Golden Hall of the Lotus to cultivate. She also allowed me to choose ten steps of cultivation methods to be taught to outsiders. At the same time, she had Divine Cloud Valley forge divine implements for the people around me in exchange for your life. While you are still the young master of the Xiao clan, you can only live in the shadows. I feel sorry for you."
"Did you come here just to humiliate me?" Xiao Sheng looked at Ye Futian and said.
"Of course not. I just wanted to tell you something. Perhaps you think that as long as you refuse to admit it and have no evidence, I will not be able to do anything to you. But you have to understand that most of the time, there is no need for evidence at all." Ye Futian continued, "Even if I don't kill you now, ten or twenty years from now, what do you think my position in Emperor Xia's Realm will be? From now on, I will keep my eyes on you. If I want to kill you, how will you live? "
The smile on Xiao Sheng's face disappeared completely. He stared at Ye Futian coldly. He knew that Ye Futian was telling the truth.
What was Ye Futian's current position, and what would he be in the future?
If Ye Futian were to really keep his eyes on him, would he be able to escape?
Xia Qingyuan was keeping her eyes on him at the moment.
Xiao Sheng seemed to have thought of something all of a sudden and smiled. His smile was exceptionally cold and he said, "You'll have to be able to live until then."
"The person behind you?" Ye Futian stared at Xiao Sheng and said, "If you tell me yourself, I might have shown you mercy."
Xiao Sheng stared at Ye Futian. Did he come here just to scare me?
"Someone," Xiao Sheng said. Someone came. Xiao Sheng looked at Ye Futian and said, "See our guest out."
Ye Futian turned around and left right away. He had gotten what he wanted to know and had verified some things.
He had been certain that Xiao Sheng was involved and that he was definitely involved in it.
However, he had come to see Xiao Sheng personally in order to verify his suspicions. Xiao Sheng had indeed been involved in it.
There was no evidence, no reason. Xiao Sheng's attitude, as well as everything that had happened before, was enough to verify it.
Xiao Sheng did not deliberately pretend. Other than not admitting to it, he did not try to hide his indifferent attitude at all.
Everything was much simpler now that he had confirmed it.
…
After Ye Futian left, Ye Futian walked to the training ground and sat cross-legged, looking up at the sky.
Entering Emperor Li's Realm, he could become a disciple of the Imperial Advisor of Dali and be married to Emperor Li.
In Emperor Xia's Realm, Emperor Xia favored him and the princess trusted him. He was even more protected than his mother's family.
Although he was just a valet of the princess, he could freely enter the palace, the princess' residence, and the Golden Hall of the Lotus. What kind of status was that?
And what about Xiao Sheng?
Ye Futian was right. He could only stay in a dark corner and set up a plan to kill Ye Futian, but he still failed. Ye Futian's status was getting higher and higher, while his movements were restricted. It was such an irony.
"Maybe I was wrong." Xiao Sheng sighed. It was as if Ye Futian's sarcasm had woken him up.
He had been wrong from the very beginning.
He should not have pursued that illusory power and status. He should not have wanted to marry Divine Cloud Valley, to go to Emperor Xia's Palace and become the number one person by Xia Qingyuan's side, so that he could get a higher status and more resources for training.
What Ye Futian did was the exact opposite of what he had done. He never pursued it, but it was all within his reach. Even his relationship with Xia Qingyuan was far inferior to Ye Futian's status.
Why was it like this?
Now, it could be said that he had lost everything. The status and reputation of the Xiao clan were far away from him.
But then again, what did all of this matter?
Power and status were like fleeting clouds, illusory and ethereal. When one pursued it, one often could not get it. On the contrary, if one's state of mind was pure and only focused on training, all of this would be within reach.
Everything was like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, and a shadow.
At that moment, Xiao Sheng seemed to have let go of everything. His state of mind was clear!
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