Soaring the Heavens

Given her status, it wouldn’t look good if she talked to Miao Yi for too long or even asked him to return to the Celestial Nation’s camp. All she needed to do was to get her point across.

The meaning behind her words was obvious— ’Simply put, if you don’t return right now, there will no longer be a place for you in the Celestial Nation!’

"Oh wow! How dare that woman threaten you!?" Yun Feiyang said, in an attempt to sow discord. He then slapped on his chest and continued, "Don’t pay any attention to her. So what if you don’t return? It’s just a Manor Head’s post anyway. Come with me to the Devil Nation, and I’ll recommend you to a Hall Master’s post."

Yan Beihong inwardly sighed as he thought, ’Fairy Yue Yao has even personally stepped out for him. How could Miao Yi not go with her? Thinking back, this Little Brother sure is a ruthless character. I can tell just from the way he wanted to quickly kill off Song Zeming and the others right after setting them up. But, the moment he’s up against his little sister, he turns completely soft.’

And just like Yan Beihong had expected, right after he watched Yue Yao leave, Miao Yi said, "Young Master Yang, in the end, I am still a Celestial Nation cultivator!"

"What are you saying?" Yun Feiyang’s eyes widened as he continued, "Don’t tell me you want to go back to the Celestial Nation and become my enemy?"

"Rest assured, Young Master Yang! As long as the Devil Nation’s participants don’t try and challenge me, I will not stand in their way as well!" As he said this, Miao Yi noticed the displeasure on Yun Feiyang’s face, and he sighed. "Young Master Yang, if someone were to betray your Devil Nation, what would you do?"

"..." Yun Feiyang didn’t know how to respond to the question.

Miao Yi cupped his hands and said, "Young Master Yang, out of respect for Brother Luo, I hope you’ll give my free pass over to Big Brother Yan!"

Yan Beihong asked in surprise, "You want me to stay here by myself?"

Miao Yi smiled bitterly and replied, "I am Yan Beihong right now!"

Yun Feiyang and the others might not know what his words meant, but Yan Beihong instantly understood—if the real Yan Beihong didn’t show himself, then the fake one wouldn’t be so easily exposed.

"Little Brother, even if you manage to fool everyone now, have you thought about what you’re going to do once we’re at the Western Constellations Palace?" Yan Beihong sighed and asked.

"I’ll see what I can do when the time comes. There are a few things I still wish to confirm. Once I’ve managed to do that, then I’ll make my decision!" Miao Yi said glumly.

"What exactly do you wish to confirm?" As he said this, Yan Beihong transmitted his voice over, "Little Brother, is your little sister the one you don’t have faith in, or is it yourself? I hope you’ll forgive me for speaking out of turn, but if she was really your blood-related sister, I believe you would’ve chosen to reunite with her a long time ago. The reason you’re afraid to do so... I think it’s because she’s not your sister by blood at all. It’s made you hesitate, fearful even, and it’s made you lose the courage to do something as simple as reuniting with your long-lost sister!"

Miao Yi trembled at Yan Beihong’s words, and he immediately felt stifled. All this time, he had been giving himself various excuses to hide the truth that he didn’t wish to face, but Yan Beihong mercilessly tore down his facade.

Miao Yi hastily turned around and left, as though he was running away.

"Hey hey hey! Hold up!" No matter how many times Yun Feiyang shouted, Miao Yi didn’t turn back. In his rage, he placed both hands on his waist and bellowed, "You ungrateful bastard! Fine! Go, then! And don’t you dare come back!"

If Yun Feiyang weren’t afraid of Luo Shuangfei, he would’ve just tied Miao Yi up and given him a good beating.

At the edge of the cliff, Miao Yi lay perched on top of Charcoal. Looking down, he caught sight of the figure waiting at the foot of the mountain, seated on her Jade Lion.

Charcoal then abruptly beat his hooves and charged down. As she heard the noise coming from behind her, Yue Yao turned around to look, revealing a gentle smile when she saw Miao Yi approaching. She figured it had been worth making this trip personally after all.

Truth be told, given her status and position, she didn’t need to humble herself to look for ’Yan Beihong’, much less make such a trip in the middle of the night just for one man. However, she couldn’t simply act according to her whims when it came to certain things. She was here as the Realm Beyond Heaven’s representative. None of her senior brothers and sisters were around to act on her behalf. Hence, she had to temporarily put aside her thoughts and feelings on the matter for the benefit of the Realm Beyond Heaven.

Yue Yao and Miao Yi faced each other, the former sizing up the latter as she nodded and said, "Let’s go then!"

"Please wait!" Miao Yi raised his hand to stop her.

Yue Yao frowned and asked, "Are you not here to follow me back?"

"There are a few things I wish to make clear to you first, Lord Sixth." Miao Yi then switched to voice transmission and continued, "Although that one attack I showed today might seem powerful, the truth is it took all of my strength to execute. My stamina and transcendence energy are all completely drained right now, and I’m completely running on fumes. I doubt I’ll be able to fight anyone for the time being. To put it bluntly, I’m no better than a handicapped person right now. Are you still willing to take me back to the Celestial Nation’s camp, Lord Sixth?"

He hadn’t told this secret to Yun Feiyang, and even Yan Beihong didn’t know about it. However, he was now revealing it to Yue Yao.

’There was even something like this?’ Yue Yao was taken aback. She then turned the Jade Lion around and said, "Let’s go then!"

’She’s not even going to check if I’m lying?’ Miao Yi was briefly surprised. He then quickly hurried after the other party as they left.

When they were halfway up the Celestial Nation’s mountain, someone suddenly called out, "Brother Mia— Yan!"

Miao Yi turned around and was pleasantly surprised when he saw that it was Sikong Wuwei calling out to him. Zhao Fei, Gu Sanzheng, and the others were all alive as well. Miao Yi nodded at them, gesturing for them to wait for now.

Yue Yao turned back to look as well, surprised to see that there were still people who were acquainted with ’Yan Beihong’ in her own camp.

Sikong Wuwei and the others were happy to see Miao Yi as well, and they waited for him in place as they watched him go up the mountain alongside Yue Yao.

Once they reached the peak of the mountain, everyone got off their mounts. Lan Ruo then followed Yue Yao into the house while the others waited outside. Miao Yi was called in as well.

There were no outsiders around now. Yue Yao was walking in front of them when she abruptly turned around, then awkwardly reached out her hand to Miao Yi and said, "Show me your hand!"

’And I thought she really wasn’t going to check if I was lying!’ Miao Yi gently smiled. He could roughly guess why Yue Yao was doing this now. After all, if a woman were to do anything to a man in public that could potentially raise a few eyebrows, she would undoubtedly have a great deal of trouble explaining herself.

Miao Yi extended his arm out, and Yue Yao’s slender fingers slowly grabbed his wrist. She then turned her head to the side and began invoking her arts to examine his body.

Truth be told, Yue Yao was a little nervous. Ever since she started living in the Realm Beyond Heaven, she had never touched a man’s body, much less taken the initiative to do so. As such, her heartbeat slightly increased, and she found it difficult to look Miao Yi in the eye, so she turned her head away to hide her bashfulness.

The moment Yue Yao’s fingers touched his wrist, Miao Yi could vaguely feel them trembling. However, he didn’t think too much about it, and he freely allowed her to examine his body.

He was not a timid person after all. After interacting with Yue Yao on several occasions, he had gradually grown accustomed to being around her.

Lan Ruo’s jaw widened slightly as she watched, clueless as to what Yue Yao was trying to do. She was very surprised to see Yue Yao grabbing onto a man’s wrist. However, she quickly realized that it wasn’t for the reasons she’d initially assumed.

Despite that, Lan Ruo couldn’t conceal the awkward expression on her face. After all, there were plenty of men who had taken a liking to Yue Yao, and all of them were highly esteemed and powerful individuals in the entire cultivation realm. If they were to see what was happening right now, this ’Yan Beihong’ would probably end up dead before he even knew it.

Yue Yao, still feeling a little awkward and unnatural, was suddenly shocked by what she found. She abruptly turned to look at Miao Yi, and slowly released her grip on his wrist.

It was just as Miao Yi said. She found out that his body was in an abnormally debilitated state. His physiological response to the infiltration of a foreign transcendence energy signature was incredibly slow, signifying the severe depletion of his stamina. Furthermore, even the flow of blood in his body was extremely stagnant. It was completely through the use of transcendence energy that he had been able to make himself look fine.

She found it a little difficult to fathom that a single attack could weaken a person’s body to such a state!

Miao Yi sighed. "Does Lord Sixth still think there’s a need for me to return to your camp?"

Yue Yao didn’t answer his question. Instead, she asked, "Does Yun Feiyang or anyone else know about this?"

Miao Yi shook his head and replied, "No, I’ve only told you."

Yue Yao was taken aback, but she soon thought about the common disease that plagued all men who saw her, and she guessed that this guy was probably just infatuated with her beauty. She immediately felt regret for grabbing his wrist just now.

Beside them, Lan Ruo was utterly confused. She couldn’t understand what the two of them were talking about at all.

"Then that’s good enough! Rest up for now. Tomorrow morning, you just need to stay beside me and show your face. I won’t ask you to do anything else." Yue Yao quickly made up her mind. Regardless of whether or not she regretted holding the other party’s hand, now was not the time for her to act as she pleased. Ensuring the benefit of the Realm Beyond Heaven was her top priority right now. "Lan Ruo, find him a place to stay nearby."

As he exited the house, Miao Yi followed after Lan Ruo and found a place to settle down. After which, he rode down the mountain on top of Charcoal, meeting Zhao Fei and the others at the midway point...

The next morning, all the participants from the six nations gathered around the arena once more.

Zhao Fei, Sikong Wuwei, Gu Sanzheng, Tan Lao, Ye Xin, Tao Yongchun, and Pi Junzi had a renewed sense of vigor on their faces, and they excitedly formed a line behind Miao Yi. They no longer had to hide at the back of the Celestial Nation’s camp anymore.

Sikong Wuwei was even looking around excitedly, and when he met the surprised gazes of Hong Jian and the others, who had previously rejected forming a party with them, he chuckled merrily.

Meanwhile, at the head of the group, Miao Yi stood publicly beside Yue Yao. He was firmly seated on Charcoal, his eyes shut as he continued refining Orbs of Will to replenish his energy.

Meanwhile, in the Devil Nation’s camp, Yun Feiyang’s expression was incredibly dark. He snuck a glance at Miao Yi, but since the latter wouldn’t so much as look at him, Yun Feiyang cast his gaze at Yue Yao instead. Gnashing his teeth in hatred, he cursed, "That vile woman!"

At first, he was attracted by Yue Yao’s beauty. Now he felt no love for this woman at all. Not only did she humiliate him, but she was also stealing his thunder at this point. Truly appalling.

Miao Yi was one of the focal points of the competition to begin with, so everyone quickly noticed his whereabouts. When they saw how Miao Yi was in the Celestial Nation’s camp instead of the Devil Nation’s, whispers of gossip immediately broke out among the crowd.

"So it turns out he’s just a lecherous fellow!" Feng Ruxiu of the Boundless Nation stared at Miao Yi and scoffed.

Within the Buddha Nation’s camp, Ba Jie clicked his tongue and said, "Poor Yun Feiyang. He just had to be born as a man. There’s no way he could outmatch that beautiful woman, Yue Yao."

The world was a vast place, and most of these people normally just stayed in the domains of their respective nations. Furthermore, as their cultivations had yet to reach the Red Lotus realm, it was highly difficult for them to cross into one another’s borders, making it highly unlikely for someone of one nation to be acquainted with someone from another. As such, no one knew that Miao Yi was a Celestial Nation cultivator to begin with, and they simply assumed he was a Devil Nation cultivator.

When the crowd saw how Miao Yi had defected from Yun Feiyang’s camp over to Yue Yao’s side, it was hard to believe that he hadn’t been attracted by her beauty.

Once again, the carnage resumed on the arena. The presence of Miao Yi had a prominent effect on the Celestial Nation’s camp. As the overwhelming might of his spear was still vivid in everyone’s minds, none of the other nations dared to challenge the Celestial Nation. They were all afraid that Yue Yao would send Miao Yi out if she were pissed.

As no one came to challenge them, while they had free pick over who to fight against, the Celestial Nation participants all felt as though a great load was off their chest.

Yue Yao was also secretly filled with joy that she had humbled herself last night to pull Miao Yi over. As their forces were small to begin with, it would be a great joke if everyone else in the entire Celestial Nation camp were to die except for those with free passes. As Mu Fanjun’s dearest and final disciple, she couldn’t bring such shame to the Realm Beyond Heaven.