Chapter 28: Time Till The Tournament (2)
Xia Ye's feet skid across the black stone floor as both his hands were placed on Ao Qin's upper and lower jaw. "You've gotten a lot stronger, Ao Qin. Still predictable though." Smiling Xia, Ye let go of Ao Qin before launching out a kick. She was launched in the air slightly before landing.
He was clearly holding back, lowering his strength to her level. "That hurt!" Ao Qin yelled as, with a single flap of her wing's she rushed towards Xia Ye. Holding out his hand Ruyi Jingu Bang flew to him. Opening her mouth, the flame's erupted in front of her as she flew.
The color of everything around Xia Ye turned orange as he smiled. "Ha!" Jumping into the air, he swung Ruyi Jingu Bang down as he fell. Flowing through his body to the tip of his staff, an overwhelming cold was released.
Freezing the ground and frightening the air, it clashed with the orange flames. An explosion erupted as the two opposing forces mixed and repelled one another. In the end, crystals and ice pillars were left on the ground as the flame's burned the air. Having her vision blocked by the explosion, Ao Qin retreated as she looked around.
'Where did he go? It's not fair he can take advantage of the fact he has no Profound Energy...' Something gold caught her eye in the midst of thinking. Flying through the residue of the explosion was Ruyi Jingu Bang. "Eh!" Turning her body, her tail acted as a whip as it clashed with the staff.
At the same time, a secondary figure was falling through the air. 'Got her.' Ruyi Jingu Bang was repelled as it was flung away. Xia Ye, on the other hand, who had gained a lot of momentum, fell directly on top of Ao Qin, slamming her into the ground. "Ow…" Ao Qin whined as Xia Ye sat on top of her head, chuckling.
"Not bad that round. Even if that is your one hundred and forty third loss you've improved a lot in two months." Xia Ye's tail sprung him through the air as he landed on the ground next to her. [You've improved as well. Focusing on Mastery over strength was a good call.]
Thanks to Xia Ye taking the time to communicate better with his body and Qi, his overall proficiency had risen. If purely relying on his body and Qi before gave him a sixty to seventy percent increase, then now he could reach ninety. At the same time controlling his abilities was a lot smoother.
Of course, with all this time to practice, he was taking the time to improve on all of the basics he had learned from Sun Wukong. He had pointed out before cultivators in this world rely heavily on their Profound Skills and Arts lacking in true close-range combat. If he could become more proficient at it could become a reliable edge.
"Looks like you two have been training hard." The sound of a door opening was coupled with a familiar voice. Xia Yuanba spotted Xia Ye covered in sweat and bruises as they walked over to them. "Oh hey Yuanba." Ao Qin finally raised her head after being crushed by Xia Ye. "Yuanba! Oh I've missed you! Did you bring me food?"
Xia Ye shook his head, seeing her reaction. She knows he can't hear him, right?' Xia Yuanba had been dropping by every once in and while. Although he and Ao Qin didn't need to eat, often he made a habit of bringing food for all three of them. Of course, being so lazy and gluttonous, Ao Qin loved him for it.
Seeing Ao Qin run at him, Xia Yaunba hugged her as she rubbed against him. "Hey Ao Qin, Brother Ye's been treating you nicely right?"
"No! Master's been hitting me all day. I'm bruised everywhere under my scales." Of course, her words just sounded like whimpers to Xia Yuanba as he smiled and took out a bunch of food from his Spatial Ring. All kinds of foods, including Exotic Profound Beast Meat, delectable fruits, and drinks, were prepared on plates and put onto the floor.
Ao QIn immediately began gorging herself on the large portion set aside for her as Xia Ye sat down with Xia Yuanba. His tail moved, and he grabbed one of the apple-like fruits, throwing it to his hand. "You really don't like eating meat do you? Even back at home you liked fruit more."
Xia Ye shrugged. "Sadly something I was born with." Biting into the fruit Xia Ye and Xia Yuanba began talking with one another. "Anyway things have calmed down a lot outside. Although practically everyone knows about your fight with Fairy Chu Yuechan. Still though, I'm worried..."
"Why?" Xia Yuanba looked down as he answered, "You know that the Crown Prince has been interested in meeting you. But every time he sends a messenger you turn them down. Don't you think that's risky?" Hearing the reason Xia Ye, biting into the fruit again. "You're really worried about that?"
Xia Yuanba was right; he had gotten a lot of attention due to the incident with Chu Yuechan. Messengers and invitations from all kinds of sects within the Imperial City came to him, including some from the Crown Prince. Of course, he either ignored them or just straight up turned them down.
"Of course I am!" In Xia Yuanba's eyes, he found it strange that Xia Ye wasn't taking the situation seriously. "It's the Royal Family! What if he gets mad or something?" He knew Xia Ye had gotten stronger, much stronger than he ever thought. But at the same time, in a world of cultivation, offending those higher than you could only be seen as folly.
Noticing how worried he was, Xia Ye sighed. "If you're that worried then I promise Ill deal with it ok?" Xia Yuanba's face eased up from hearing Xia Ye's words. "Really?" Xia Ye nodded. "Sure." Xia Yuanba let out a sigh of relief as he suddenly remembered something. "Oh right, I almost forgot. The receptionist told me to give this to you next time we met."
Taking out a piece of paper, Xia Yuanba handed it to Xia Ye. "Hmm?" Taking the paper Xia Ye opened it and read its contents. "Oh, it's the invitation for the tournament. It's finally arrived." Clearly, it was from Qing Huanying who said she would work to get him in. 'The official date of the tournament starting is around seven months from now.'
"Well anyway I'll be leaving now, by Brother Ye." Standing up, Xia Yuanba left the cultivation room as Xia Ye waved him off. Finishing off the rest of the fruit, Xia Ye saw Ao Qin had basically licked all the other plates clean. "Well I hope you enjoyed that because now it's time to get back to it."
Jumping up to his feet, he heard Ao Qin as her reptilian tongue licked the remaining sauce off her face. "This time I'm going to break my losing streak."
"Sure, and to give you a chance I won't use Ruyi Jingu Bang. I've been slacking on fighting bare handed." Xia Ye took a fighting stance as he said that. 'Heh without that stupid staff I defeneitly got him this time.' Ao Qin's eyes had flames as she readied herself to attack.
And so the two of them got back at it. With no more interruptions, time began to pass once more. Flying by without any regard or worry. Soon another month had passed by, bringing the tournament even closer. During that period, two men could be seen walking through the city. They were dressed in clothes that showed relation to the Imperial Palace.
Despite their low cultivation at the 1st Level of the Spirit Profound Realm, people didn't go out of their way to annoy them. That was because they were messengers of the Crown Prince. Working at her desk, the receptionist Xia Ye had talked to before glancing up. 'These guys again. How many times are they going to bother coming here...'
The two messengers made their way into the building as the receptionist came from behind her desk. Putting on a fake smile, she walked up to them. "Gentlemen, I assume you are here for the same reason as before?" The two messengers had depressed looks on their faces as they nodded.
Honestly, at this point, they didn't even want to bother. At first, they were rather confident due to their positions. However, each time Xia Ye turned them down or just ignored them, that confidence was chipped away. At this point, they had no hope and were simply doing it under the Crown Prince's orders. "Yes."
Hearing that, the receptionist nodded. "Alright then Ill be right back." Stating for them to wait there, she turned around and began making her way deeper into the building. As she approached Xia Ye's cultivation room, she began touching upon her appearance. 'Well at least it gives me a chance to see Xia Ye.'
Reaching the door to Xia Ye's cultivation room, she went in. Immediately the sound of howling winds, lightning, and fire filled her ears. Looking up, she saw Xia Ye in the sky fighting with Ao Qin. The Nimbus had turned dark, covering the cultivation room's roof as intense winds resembling a storm created a hurricane.
Ao Qin's flames mixed with the wind's, creating a storm of fire. At the same time, Xia Ye was continuously calling down lightning as the sounds of thunder echoed about. But despite the fighting, the receptionist didn't seem surprised by this scene due to the fact she had accidentally seen a lot of things due to how many times she needed to speak to Xia Ye.
"Huh?" Xia Ye's eyes glanced towards the cultivation room's entrance as he fell to the ground. "Ao Qin held on for a second." Ao Qin nodded as she flew down to the ground, pausing their fight. At the same time, Xia Ye ran over towards the room's entrance. "Hey Xie Fen, another invitation?"
The receptionist named Xie Fen sighed inwardly as she looked at Xia Ye. 'Ah youth… His body is so much nicer to look at compared to those pretty boys at the Brothel.' Xia Ye was ignorant to what Xie Fen was thinking as she replied after a moment. "Yes, the Crown Prince again. He's really persistent, you know. Want me to send them off like usual?"
Xia Ye was about to nod as he suddenly remembered what Xia Yuanba said. "Eh, I might as well get it over with now." Xie Fen looked surprised. "Wait, you're actually going?"
"Ya they're going to keep bothering me. Let me change first and then you can take me to them." After a few minutes still waiting in the main area, the two messengers spotted Xie Fen. 'The Crown Prince is probably going to get annoyed again.' They were about to simply turn around and leave however stopped when they saw Xia Ye following behind her.
"You two are the Crown Prince's messengers right?" Xia Ye spoke to them plainly as they woke up. "Yes we are!"
"Alright then take me to him. He's wanted to meet me, right?" Xia Ye's words were like a god sent to them. The number of times the Crown Prince had gotten angry at them was larger than they wanted to count. They almost felt like dancing but didn't want to miss this chance. "Of course please follow us."
"Hey, is that Xia Ye over there?"
"I think so? But why is he with the Crown Prince's men?"
"Looks like something interesting is going to happen."
Some cultivators outside and in the lobby recognized Xia Ye as he left with the two messengers. It quickly led to news spreading of the possibility that Xia Ye would be working for the Crown Prince. It was a dangerous implication especially considering what Xia Ye was capable of. Or, more specifically, the artifact he wielded.
That also led to news of Xia Ye coming to the Imperial Palace to reach the Crown Prince's ears before he arrived. "Tch so that bastard's finally accepted my invitation. Even better is he's walking directly into my territory. Perfect…" Sitting in his chair, the Crown Prince had a malicious look on his face. At the same time, an old voice came from the darkness behind him.
"As long as you get that Gourd, your succession to the throne will be guaranteed." The voice sounded frail and weak; however, the Profound Strength hidden in it spoke a different story. The Crown Prince addressed the voice, asking a question. "And you're positive we'll be able to kill him and take it? Even the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace's Fairy could not."
"Of course. The artifact is powerful beyond belief, but it has its weaknesses. Everything is prepared, just leave it to me."
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