Текст книги "Благословение Небожителей. Том 6 (ЛП)"

Автор книги: Мосян Тунсю

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Feng Xin found this incredibly strange, but no matter how he questioned, Xie Lian refused to answer. As a servant, it wasn’t his place to push, so he could only ask in a whisper, “Do we still go busk tomorrow?”

“I’m not going out anymore,” Xie Lian replied.

His mind had been thrown into complete chaos, and his head was filled with impossible worries. What if he bumped into that middle-aged man? What if he was wanted all over the city?

Feng Xin noticed that he looked off. “Are you tired? Then why don’t you stay in, Your Highness? I’ll go myself. You just focus on training.”

He didn’t know that Xie Lian also couldn’t bring himself to train and cultivate.

Xie Lian had been focused on cultivation at first because that was the only chance they had to return to the Upper Court. But now he was terrified of the prospect of returning there—even though those junior officials had said they wouldn’t tell anyone, would they really? Had the affair already reached the ears of everyone in the Upper Court?

When he considered that possibility, Xie Lian couldn’t breathe. There was no way he could endure being tainted by such a stain, pointed at by the Upper and Lower Courts alike—even by the whole Mortal Realm!

Heavily exhausted, Xie Lian passed out, but his slumber was unsettled. He tossed back and forth, assailed by unknown nightmares. By the time he startled awake and looked outside the window, the skies were already dark.

Feng Xin wasn’t around—he must’ve gone out to busk on his own and hadn’t yet returned. From the room next to him, he heard the king and queen speaking in hushed voices, and a few quiet coughs.

Xie Lian lay on the floor. Now that he was awake, he couldn’t help but keep thinking about how his parents would react if word of the incident really got around and they found out. How shocked would they be? The king might stomp his feet in outrage, sputtering blood as he yelled that he was the shame of Xianle. The queen wouldn’t yell at him, but she would certainly be extremely anguished by her beloved child and the embarrassment he had brought them.

As his mind dwelled on this, Xie Lian began to have trouble breathing again. He needed to find somewhere where he could be alone and calm himself, so he rolled off the straw mat and dashed outside. He ran blindly for dozens of kilometers with the frigid winds blowing at his face.

He didn’t dare stop anywhere near other people—he always felt like they were staring at him and judging him for how unsightly he looked. He ran until he came upon a graveyard without a single soul present, and his midnight flight finally came to a stop.

That night was colder than the night before, and only after he arrived here did Xie Lian notice that his cheeks and hands were practically frozen stiff. His whole body was shivering, though that wasn’t just from the cold—it was also from terror. Xie Lian hugged his arms unconsciously and puffed out a few mouthfuls of hot air. As his eyes swept across the graveyard, he spotted two jugs of liquor that had been offered at a tombstone.

It seemed the owner of this tombstone used to be a lover of drink, so others brought them liquor when they came to sweep their grave. Xie Lian crouched at the tombstone. He had never drunk alcohol before, but he had heard people say that it could warm the body and help one forget. After a moment’s hesitation, he abruptly reached for a jug, yanked out the stopper, and started pouring the contents down his throat.

This was a large jug of cheap liquor, nothing fancy, and the taste was pungent and strong. Xie Lian chugged a few large mouthfuls and choked on it, breaking into coughs—however, he did seem to feel a bit warmer. Xie Lian wiped at his cheeks and sat on the ground hugging the jug, then continued to chug the liquor in large mouthfuls.

In his daze, he thought he saw a small ball of haunting ghost fire come flying over from nowhere. It circled around him, twirling about and looking quite anxious. Xie Lian was focused entirely on drinking and didn’t react at all. The ball of ghost fire appeared to be trying to get closer to him with all its might, but it was nothing but hollow flames—it passed right through his body every time it came near, forever unable to actually touch him.

One jug down and Xie Lian was already tipsy and groggy, his eyelids slack with drink. When he saw the ghost fire darting here and there, he found it rather pitiful but also rather funny. He couldn’t help but sputter a laugh as he rested his arm on the edge of the liquor jug.

“What are you doing?” Xie Lian asked.

The ball of ghost fire instantly froze in midair.

Chapter 98:

Thirty-Three Heavenly Officials Fight Over Blessed Land

“IS THIS YOUR GRAVE? Am I drinking your liquor?” Xie Lian asked.

He was a drunken mess and couldn’t hear clearly if the ghost fire said anything in reply. He just assumed the owner of the grave was upset and trying to chase him away.

“I get it. I’ll go,” he grumbled.

Xie Lian crawled upright, still hugging the jug in his arms, then took a few swaying, wobbly steps. He didn’t get very far before he lost his footing and fell all over himself with a thud.

As it turned out, there was a giant pit in the graveyard. It was probably dug to prepare for an upcoming burial, but the deceased hadn’t been buried yet, and Xie Lian went tumbling in instead.

Xie Lian’s forehead had smacked the outer edge of the pit when he fell. It hurt, and it only made the spinning of his head worse. He sat there feeling woozy for a while before struggling to get up. His hands were muddy and bloody, covered in scrapes and cuts.

He held out his hands and looked at them without really registering anything, then tried to climb out of the pit. However, he had just downed an entire jug of liquor—his limbs were limp, and he couldn’t exert any power. Every time he tried to climb out, he just went slipping back down. Xie Lian slumped back to the bottom of the pit and glared at the dismal, overcast night sky for a while, growing very angry.

This pit wasn’t even that deep. Why couldn’t he climb out of it no matter how hard he tried?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he started mumbling despite himself.

“…What the fuck.”

Xie Lian had never cursed before; this was the very first time such language had come out of his mouth. It was very curious—the stifling tension in his chest seemed to disperse instantly the moment he swore. Like a child who had just had his first taste of sweets, Xie Lian clung to the side walls of the burial pit and used all his strength to yell at a deafening volume.

“God fucking dammit!” He slapped at the ground and yelled, “Is anyone there? Is there anyone who can help pull me out?!”

Of course there wasn’t anyone. There was only a small ball of haunting ghost fire, blazing unceasingly as it flitted about. After Xie Lian fell into the pit, the ball of ghost fire rushed over, seeming to want to pull him up—but it would never be able to touch him.

Xie Lian didn’t bother with the ghost fire at all, just continued his angry rant. “Someone might as well just come and bury me!”

Cursing was one thing, but he still had to try to get out. Crssh, crssh. Xie Lian finally climbed out on his own, but the struggle had left him incredibly unkempt, and he lay on the ground huffing and panting laboriously. It took some time before he was able to turn onto his side to curl up, hugging himself.

“So cold,” Xie Lian whispered.

His voice was tiny, scared that someone would overhear. But the ghost fire did hear, and it came flying. It pressed itself against his body, its flames immediately burning much brighter than they had before. It was burning itself up with all it had.

Still, a ghost fire was cold. No matter how close it pressed, no matter whether it burned itself out, it still couldn’t bring even a sliver of warmth to the living.

In his daze, Xie Lian thought he could hear a tiny voice.

The voice seemed so close and yet so far, like it was coming from a waking dream. It cried in despair, “Oh God, please wait for me, just wait for me… Please give me a little more time… Let me… Let me…”

…God? Is it calling for me? Xie Lian wondered to himself.

But even if it was praying to him, it would be pointless.

He was already powerless as a god, and he was even less capable now that he wasn’t.

***

“Your Highness…? Your Highness? Your Highness!”

It was Feng Xin’s shoving that woke Xie Lian up.

Xie Lian blinked his eyes open laboriously and found himself lying in a narrow alleyway. Feng Xin’s face was hanging above him. He let out a breath of relief when he noticed Xie Lian was awake, but a moment later his relief was replaced with traces of anger.

“Your Highness! What’s going on with you, running off on your own for two days without a word?! If you don’t come back soon, I won’t be able to keep hiding it from Their Majesties!”

Xie Lian slowly sat up. “Two days?”

When he spoke, he found that his throat was dry and his voice hoarse. His temples throbbed, and his head ached like it was going to split. He sort of remembered what had happened, but not really.

Feng Xin crouched by his side. “That’s right! Two days! Where exactly did you go?! Why were you running around like a madman?”

Had he been drunk for two days? Why wasn’t he in some wild graveyard… Why was he lying here? Feng Xin’s tone made Xie Lian shiver with foreboding.

“What did I do?”

“You were possessed!” Feng Xin said gruffly. “Smashing stalls all over the place, beating people up. You even tried to confront some patrolling Yong’an soldiers! And I don’t know what else you did before that!”

When Xie Lian heard he had even gone after Yong’an soldiers, he was shocked. “I confronted the soldiers? Then…what happened to them?”

“Luckily, I found you and stopped you,” Feng Xin replied. “And since you look like this, they assumed you were just some crazy drunkard. They yelled at you but didn’t bother doing anything else, otherwise you’d be dead for sure. What happened to you? Why does it look like you were drinking?”

Xie Lian looked down at himself and found that he was filthy, covered from head to toe with mud and grime. He scratched his head, and his hair was as messy as that of a criminal being dragged to his execution. He certainly did resemble a crazy drunkard who slept on the streets all day.

Xie Lian was briefly silent before he crawled to his feet and replied vaguely, “Yeah…I drank a bit.”

Feng Xin couldn’t wrap his head around this. “Huh? How could you drink? And how much did you drink to be drunk for two days?”

Seeing Feng Xin’s look of disbelief irritated Xie Lian for no good reason, and he walked on ahead. “I already said I didn’t drink that much—just a bit. No big deal. Why can’t I drink?”

Feng Xin hadn’t expected him to answer like this and was stunned for a moment, then chased after him. “What do you mean, ‘no big deal’? Has Your Highness forgotten? Drinking breaks the precepts—you can’t break them! Otherwise, how can you cultivate? You have to ascend again.”

“…”

Xie Lian quickened his pace the moment he heard “cultivate” and “ascend.” He didn’t want to listen anymore.

“Your Highness!” Feng Xin called out. He caught up again, and after a moment’s hesitation, he tried, “Did something happen? Won’t you tell me?”

Hearing Feng Xin question him so cautiously, Xie Lian opened and closed his mouth, wanting to speak but unable to. He might break down if he didn’t tell someone soon, but he also wasn’t sure how Feng Xin would react if he told him.

He didn’t dare make that gamble.

Seeing him distracted, Feng Xin added, “Honestly, it’s not like you killed or robbed someone, so what is it that Your Highness can’t tell me?”

“It’s not like you killed or robbed someone”—those words threatened to suffocate him. Before, he might have wavered on the matter; he might have tried to tell the truth and trust his luck. But all such hopes were thoroughly shattered in that moment.

Xie Lian dipped his head and turned to keep walking. “It’s nothing… It’s just… I’m really tired. You…” he replied hazily. He was just about to make up an excuse when he noticed something on Feng Xin’s cheek and stopped in his tracks. “What happened to your face?”

Feng Xin felt his cheek, and his muscles tensed when he seemed to prod somewhere that hurt. There was a gash on his face, and one of his arms had been wrapped carefully with neatly layered bandages. Someone else had clearly taken care of them for him, but Xie Lian was primarily concerned about the injuries underneath the dressings.

“How did you get hurt?”

No mortal could easily harm someone with Feng Xin’s skill—and it was his shooting arm that had been injured, no less. But Feng Xin didn’t seem to care. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just some thugs trying to wreck my business, that’s all.”

Xie Lian was shocked and bewildered. “Was it the street performers from the other day?”

“Yeah, them,” Feng Xin replied.

“Why did they crash your show?” Xie Lian questioned, but then he understood. “Was it because you still went to busk after we admitted defeat that day, so they came to chase you out?”

That was pretty much the whole story. A sudden rage exploded in Xie Lian’s chest.

“Don’t go there anymore!” Xie Lian’s voice was hard.

However, Feng Xin brushed him off. “Who cares about them?! I’ll perform there whether they like it or not. You’re the one who admitted defeat, not me, so it doesn’t count as going back on my word. I’m gonna set up shop there and busk no matter what happens. Other than sneaking around and crashing the show, what can they do to me? I wasn’t prepared this time, but next time I will be. If it comes to fist fights, I’m not scared of them!”

The abrupt hostility that had rushed to Xie Lian’s head instantly dissipated as he listened, replaced by guilt. Feng Xin had been steadfast while Xie Lian was out wallowing in his own misery. How could he possibly face his loyal servant, this man who still hadn’t abandoned him despite everything?

Xie Lian sighed. “I’m sorry, Feng Xin.”

Feng Xin was taken aback, then waved hard. “Why is Your High-ness apologizing to me? What rubbish.”

“You were out earning money all by yourself for the past couple days. I’m sorry for the trouble,” Xie Lian said.

“As long as you focus on your cultivation and ascend again soon, it’ll be worth it!” Feng Xin replied.

There was the word “ascend” again. Xie Lian nodded heavily.

The king and queen believed Feng Xin’s lies and thought Xie Lian had spent the past few days training. When they saw him return, the queen happily cooked a meal as always. Xie Lian didn’t have the heart to make Feng Xin suffer, so he took his bowl and helped him eat the food. He didn’t sleep that night.

The next day, Feng Xin rose bright and early and headed out while Xie Lian remained behind to cultivate. Although he’d pulled himself together by that point and regathered his energy by a millionfold, he still couldn’t focus.

The only way to rise above the rest was to study and train diligently—that was just common sense. But was there even one in a million who had the ability to study and train to the extremely high level required? By the same logic, Xie Lian could tell himself to clear his mind a million times, but it wasn’t so easily achieved by just saying it.

His cultivation progress remained at a standstill for a dozen consecutive days. Xie Lian wasn’t accomplishing anything, and he couldn’t help feeling anxious—especially since every night, Feng Xin dragged his exhausted body back home, and he and the queen asked after Xie Lian’s progress. The pressure he felt was indescribably immense.

He didn’t dare tell them the truth, so he could only vaguely answer that yes, he was making progress, which made Feng Xin and the queen both very happy. Still, he knew this couldn’t last forever. After two months, Xie Lian finally couldn’t let it go on any longer.

One evening when Feng Xin had returned very late, he and Xie Lian sat at the table together eating the previous day’s leftovers. As they ate, Xie Lian suddenly turned to him.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to leave for a while.”

Feng Xin was taken aback, but he didn’t stop stuffing his face with rice. “Huh? Leave? Where are you going?”

“I’m going to search for a quiet land filled with spiritual energy where I can cultivate in seclusion,” Xie Lian said slowly.

A cultivation spot with abundant spiritual energy gave the cultivator significant benefits.

At first, Xie Lian hadn’t wanted to leave his parents and attendants behind, so he’d never left them to pursue seclusion. But now he’d changed his mind.

Feng Xin didn’t overthink it. “Great! Your Highness, you should’ve done this a long time ago! Cultivation is most effective in quiet seclusion, after all!”

Xie Lian nodded, paused, and then said, “I’ll have to trouble you to look after Father and Mother while I’m gone.”

Feng Xin was about to respond, but he hesitated. Although it was only for a moment, Xie Lian knew him very well—how could he miss that flash of uncertainty?

“If you must go, then go,” the king bellowed from the back room. “This king doesn’t need anyone to look after him.”

Feng Xin and Xie Lian lowered their bowls and chopsticks and looked toward the back room. It seemed the king wasn’t asleep yet and had overheard their exchange, then barged in on their conversation.

Xie Lian shook his head and whispered, “Acting tough again.”

Feng Xin smiled. “Don’t worry, Your Highness. Of course I’ll look after them.”

Well, that answer was completely straightforward. Still, Xie Lian didn’t forget how Feng Xin had seemed to hesitate for a moment before answering—like he had some other conflicting concern.

But when he thought about it, perhaps he was mistaken. Feng Xin didn’t know anyone outside their group and had no other attachments, so what other concerns could he have? Xie Lian stopped dwelling on it and moved on to planning what needed to be done before his departure.

The next day, Xie Lian packed a simple satchel and bid a temporary farewell to his parents and Feng Xin.

He walked on foot for dozens of kilometers, eating and sleeping in the wild for days. Finally, he found a place suitable for quiet cultivation within a thick, vast, remote mountain forest. Upon examining the area, Xie Lian was stunned at first, but soon his heart was filled with wild joy.

“Such luck… The feng shui here is excellent. I can’t believe I’ve found a rare piece of blessed land!”

Xie Lian could hardly believe it—his luck had turned around so unexpectedly after so much misfortune. He checked and rechecked until he was absolutely sure—but this area was indeed a sacred land brimming with spiritual energy. If he could immerse himself in training and focus on cultivation for the next few months, then surely he could achieve twice the result with half the effort. He could make exponential progress!

Xie Lian finally saw a ray of hope, and his gloomy feelings from recent days suddenly cleared. His heart leapt with joy.

“Father, Mother, Feng Xin, wait for me. I’ll be back very soon!”

He hiked the steep, perilous mountain path for many hours and finally entered the deepest recesses of the spiritual mountain just before sunset. As he moved through the dense forest, he could clearly sense that he was getting closer and closer to the source of the land’s spiritual energy. His steps grew quicker and lighter. But just as he was picking out a location for secluded cultivation, he was interrupted by the clamor of footsteps behind him.

How could there be so many feet on such a secluded mountain? Xie Lian glanced over, but he couldn’t have expected the sight that awaited him, and the smile on his face froze.

A number of people had arrived behind him, about thirty in total. They came in various shapes and sizes and all wore different styles of attire, but the one thing they had in common was that they were all heavenly officials. A few were officials of the lowest rank in the Upper Court, but most were officials from the Lower Court.

And among them were the junior officials who had stumbled upon Xie Lian’s failed robbery!

When they saw Xie Lian, their faces subtly changed. They tugged at and elbowed each other, whispering amongst themselves under their breath.

And when Xie Lian saw them, his hands immediately started trembling.

Both parties stared at each other in dismay. It was some time before one of the heavenly officials cleared his throat.

“What a coincidence that we’d run into Your Royal Highness here.”

“Indeed. Why has Your Royal Highness come here as well?”

Xie Lian gave a light nod, forcing himself to be calm and composed. He responded with neither haughtiness nor humility. “…I’m here to train.”

Even though he was a different person now, Xie Lian still tried his best to speak with the same tone of voice he’d used before he was banished, refusing to allow himself to sound anxious or agitated.

The heavenly official smiled. “An even greater coincidence. We’ve come to train too.”

“Yeah, yeah. Who knew that we’d run into each other here? Ho ho ho…”

As it turned out, Xie Lian wasn’t the only one who’d spotted this blessed land—this group of heavenly officials had targeted it too.

Faced with this situation, Xie Lian hesitated. Would he have to cultivate alongside all these heavenly officials? Honestly, he despised the idea. He had come here to close himself off from the world and cultivate quietly—there’d no doubt be disturbances; he couldn’t achieve solitude around this many people. Some people liked to cultivate in groups so they could take care of one another, but Xie Lian had always cultivated quietly on his own.

Furthermore, ever since the robbery incident, he became anxious whenever he saw heavenly officials he’d once known. Other people’s eyes felt as piercing as needles, and the stares tormented him. He was perpetually gripped by the delusional feeling that they were all secretly watching and judging him. He wouldn’t be able to focus on cultivation in such a state.

When it came to laying claim to blessed lands, there was a “first come, first served” rule. If Xie Lian was strong enough, he could simply state that he was there first and request they find somewhere else to train. However, the junior officials who had witnessed the robbery incident were right there, so he couldn’t act too forcefully. Besides, it’d seem overbearing if he chased away so many heavenly officials to keep this blessed land all for himself. Even if Xie Lian didn’t want to train with other heavenly officials nearby, he had no choice. He would never be able to find another cultivation place with such plentiful spiritual energy, at least not quickly. Xie Lian could only nod.

“Yeah, what a coincidence. I’ll head in first. Please do as you will, everyone.”

He began to hurry off to find the quietest cave to hide, yet a heavenly official behind him spoke up as he turned to go.

“Hold on.”

Xie Lian paused and turned his head back, puzzled. “What is it?”

Some of the thirty-or-so heavenly officials exchanged looks, and some exchanged whispers. A moment later, one stepped forward with a smile.

“Your Highness took over many blessed lands in the past. Why don’t you let us have this one?”

Xie Lian was stunned for a long while before he understood. They were going to force him to leave entirely!

How baffling…what bullies!

A rush of blood ran to his head. I was here first, but I didn’t ask you to go, Xie Lian thought angrily. Why are you all ganging up and trying to force me to leave?

But he didn’t dare act out. After a moment of silence, he slowly gripped the strap of his satchel tighter.

“What do you mean by this?” Xie Lian demanded, his voice hard.

One of the heavenly officials began to explain. “Well…didn’t we just say…? Your Highness has claimed many blessed lands in the past—”

Xie Lian cut him off. “What does then have to do with now? Are you saying that since I’ve trained in spiritual lands before, I’m barred from doing it going forward?”

The heavenly official was stumped into silence, looking embarrassed.

Xie Lian tried to remain calm. “Also, I don’t quite understand. It’s not like the rest of you can’t cultivate because I’m here. Isn’t it common to share spiritual land when cultivating? Why can’t we all just keep to ourselves? Why must you ask me to leave?”

Just then, he heard someone grumble, “Stop playing dumb… There are already more than thirty of us. What progress can we make if you’re cultivating here too…?”

The man was instantly hushed by the rest of his group, but Xie Lian immediately understood. So that was it!

A blessed land’s spiritual energy was limited. If someone took half when cultivating, then anyone who came afterward would have to share the other half. If someone took eighty percent of it, then only the remaining twenty could be parceled out. And a person with a greater ability to absorb spiritual energy would leave even less for others to use.

The heavenly officials were afraid that Xie Lian would absorb most of the spiritual energy if he was there to cultivate. Anything that remained would have to be shared among the thirty of them—barely a sliver for each!

Realizing this, the boiling blood in Xie Lian’s head began to roil even more aggressively. He clenched his fists and stated coldly, “…I will cultivate here.”

Another heavenly official spoke up. “Your Highness, we’re only calling you ‘Your Highness’ out of respect. You’re nothing more than mortal right now. Why must you fight with us over this spiritual land?”

“Since I’m a mortal and you’re all heavenly officials, then what are you afraid of if I’m here to train?” Xie Lian said. “If I don’t leave, are you going to chase me away by force?”

Of course they couldn’t do any such thing—heavenly officials were not allowed to attack a mortal who hadn’t committed any major sins lest they be punished. These heavenly officials couldn’t do anything to him.

However, Xie Lian had forgotten one thing.

As he stubbornly faced those thirty-some heavenly officials, a voice broke in to say, “It seems Your Highness has grown more of a backbone after being banished to the Mortal Realm. Not only will you rob mortals, you’ll even offend heavenly officials! Ha ha ha ha!”

It felt like Xie Lian had suddenly plunged into an icy cellar. He whipped his head up and saw that the one who had spoken was an unremarkable lower-ranking official…but not one who’d been among the group that had caught him red-handed during the robbery incident!

As Xie Lian had suspected, they had already gossiped about it! It hadn’t all been in Xie Lian’s head; everyone really had been staring at him with judgment in their gazes. Everyone knew. All of these heavenly officials—they all knew!

In an instant, Xie Lian felt like all of his bones had been pulled out. The fire burning in his veins was extinguished and his eyes turned red. He stiffly looked at the junior officials who had seen him that night.

“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone…” he rasped.

Perhaps his burning stare pierced them too deeply, but the junior officials pinned under his gaze quickly waved their hands.

“We didn’t tell any outsiders!”

His eyes burning red, Xie Lian demanded, “Then how did they know?!”

None of the thirty-some heavenly officials looked surprised when they heard his question. If so many of these heavenly officials already knew, how much of the Upper Court had been told?

His question stumped the officials for a moment, but they quickly argued back. “Well, it’s not like they’re outsiders! We’re all close friends here, with no secrets between us—so this doesn’t count as telling! But we won’t say anything to anyone besides the officials here—”

Xie Lian didn’t wait for him to finish before he cried out sharply. “Lies! What a bunch of lies! I don’t believe you!”

The junior officials were starting to feel a little embarrassed at being cut off so pointedly, and they shrank back into the crowd.

Just then, one of the heavenly officials spoke up, his voice booming. “What does it matter if you believe them or not?! You’re already lucky that no one has exposed all the fine deeds Your Highness has done here in the Mortal Realm, and you still ask them to keep a secret for you? Why are we obliged to keep your secrets? What a joke!”

It was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been thrown in Xie Lian’s face, followed by a blade piercing his heart. “No! I…”

Another heavenly official piped up. “You wouldn’t fear mere talk if you hadn’t done anything immoral. You’re the one who’s gone corrupt, and you blame others for not keeping their word? Keeping such unjust affairs under wraps would be the real crime!”

“No!” Xie Lian cried. “I…”

He wanted to say that he had his reasons, that he hadn’t wanted to do it. But deep down, he also knew that his reasons weren’t important. All that mattered was that he did indeed try to rob someone!

A stain like this was like a brand of shame on his face, and it made him feel infinitely small before these heavenly officials, too afraid to even raise his voice to defend himself. Seeing that his will was fading, one of the martial gods stepped forward.

“Your Highness, now do you understand why we don’t want you here to cultivate with us?”

Xie Lian lowered his head and tightened his fists.

The martial heavenly official continued, “We are not walking the same path, and travelers of different paths shall not meet. You should leave.”

The way he said that so presumptuously, understanding suddenly dawned on Xie Lian. At the end of the day, they were throwing around all these insults and accusations solely to make him give up this spiritual land!

His fists clenched so hard that his knuckles cracked, and a lump weighed heavy in his throat for a while before Xie Lian said darkly, “…I’m not leaving. I will stay here and train.”

Right now, his anger toward the thirty-some heavenly officials had surpassed his embarrassment. Now that things had gone this far, what did he have left to lose? He might as well go all out. Instead of running away with his tail between his legs, he’d rather stand his ground, thick-skinned and immune to their barbs, and keep them from getting their way.