Ze Tian Ji

Edited by: Michyrr

Although contending against millions, I will press forward.1

Xuanyuan Po thought that he could try such a thing out.

But what if things really did turn out as the archbishop said, with millions of people dying? Xuanyuan Po became somewhat doubtful of the idea. Moreover, with his understanding of Princess Luoluo, if the princess knew that such a massive price needed to be paid, she would probably prepare her dowry overnight and then marry herself off on the morning of the next day.

The archbishop went on his tiptoes to pat Xuanyuan Po on the shoulder, gave him a meaningful glance, then departed with the Tang clan’s stewards.

At the mouth of the alley, the Bear tribe leader, who had been waiting for a very long time, gave Xuanyuan Po a profound gaze, then patted him on the shoulder.

He did not need to stand on tiptoes, as he had an even larger physique than Xuanyuan Po.

"The ambassador of the Great Zhou went to the Imperial City, but not to here, signifying that the Imperial Court does not care if Her Highness marries that second prince of the Great Western Continent."

The Bear tribe leader asked, "Just what does His Holiness the Pope think?"

Xuanyuan Po answered, "He probably does not know of this matter."

The Bear tribe leader asked, "Today was of your own volition?"

Xuanyuan Po grunted.

The Bear tribe leader sighed and said, "When I wanted you to return to the tribe, you weren’t willing. You insisted on remaining in White Emperor City, so there was nothing I could do."

Xuanyuan Po very seriously declared, "In the future, I will make an effort for the tribe."

"Talk of the future can be saved for later. What I want to say now is that you already won in the Pine Paths, so why did you go to the two other fighting platforms? This already breaks the rules of the Heavenly Selection ceremony."

The Bear tribe leader gestured two numbers, then went on, "If not for these two protecting you, the Empress would have been fully capable of stopping you from entering the Celestial Tree tomorrow."

Seeing the tribe leader’s hand, Xuanyuan Po was rather astonished. Just why did two influential figures like the Xiang clan leader and the Shi clan leader speak up for me?

He said, "I wasn’t thinking about that much, nor was I deliberately breaking the rules. It’s just that whenever I thought about someone who had ambitions on Her Highness, I wanted to knock them down."

The Bear tribe leader recalled Xuanyuan Po’s words in front of the Imperial City and couldn’t help but arch his brows. "You’re quite bold, but do you think you can defeat Xiaode?"

Xuanyuan Po earnestly considered this, obtaining a most certain conclusion: "I can’t."

The Bear tribe leader’s thick brows which had just risen dropped back down as he sighed, "Then what meaning do your words have?"

Xuanyuan Po said, "I want to try, to at least persist until the end."

The Bear tribe leader understood what he meant. By persisting to the end, all he meant was delaying for time.

If he could delay for another day, the probability of the Orthodoxy responding would be a little greater, even though such hopes seemed rather insignificant right now.

White Emperor City was separated from the human capital by eighty thousand li of mountains and rivers, and the seal from the battle between the Divine the day before yesterday had severed any connection between the two sides.

The Bear tribe leader thought for a while, then suddenly said, "Xiaode is not guaranteed to persist until the end."

Xuanyuan Po was startled at these words, confused as to their meaning.

"You’ve participated in the Heavenly Selection ceremony wholeheartedly thinking of Her Highness’s marriage."

The Bear tribe leader stared into his eyes and warned, "But do not forget, their goal is to become the next White Emperor."

Xuanyuan Po was even more confused. Wasn’t it the case that if one won the Heavenly Selection and married Princess Luoluo, they would become the next White Emperor?

The Bear tribe leader left, leaving his words unexplained. However, he did leave behind a very sincere statement.

"Your current capability that lets you have these priests and Tang clan stewards protect you truly is because of the Orthodox Academy, but do not forget that it was the tribe that first sent you to the capital. Even if you insist on fighting on behalf of the Orthodox Academy, don’t let your butt sit too askew. You should also consider the benefits to the tribe in your actions."

Xuanyuan Po did not retort, remaining silent. He knew that these words were very reasonable. If he had not been selected and nurtured by the tribe, he would not have had the chance to go to the capital, much less meet Chen Changsheng and Luoluo to eventually become the Orthodox Academy’s third student.

As he watched the Bear tribe leader’s stalwart body gradually vanish into the darkness, Xuanyuan Po suddenly thought of Tang Thirty-Six.

If Tang Thirty-Six had heard those words, he would definitely have teased, "Your butt is so big, one stool wouldn’t be enough."

Yes, why trouble himself over which side his butt should sit on? Why not just sit on two stools at the same time?

Xuanyuan Po instantly felt much lighter, and he turned and walked into the depths of the alley.

The soldiers of the Bear tribe guarded the perimeter, the Tang clan experts and several cultivators from the south occupied the high ground, and the priests of the Daoist Church of the Western Wastes stood guard outside the alley.

The small alley itself was very quiet, without a single sound.

The nearby temple to the Celestial Tree was abnormally quiet in the darkness, and he could faintly smell the odor of lantern oil.

In the deepest part of the alley was the small courtyard that Xuanyuan Po had lived in for several years.

He opened the gate and walked in. He crossed the yard of white stones and took off his shoes. After washing his feet in clean water, he stood on the wooden floorboards.

He glanced at the short pine against the white walls as he took in a deep breath to calm his mind, then walked into the room.

Though the small courtyard seemed quiet, it actually concealed many people. Besides those ordered to protect him, there were also many people watching him with cold gazes.

Those gazes came from various tribes, from the Council of Elders, from the Great Western Continent, and, of course, most of them came from the Demi-human Court.

If someone discovered that the two Divine Domain experts wanted by the court were living in this small courtyard...

Xuanyuan Po was sure that these tribal soldiers, priests, or cultivators would be able to prevent this courtyard from being crushed flat.

Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi’s wounds seemed to be... a bit better?

Xuanyuan Po did not understand the medical arts, so he could not be sure.

After losing her arm, Wuqiong Bi had lost a great deal of blood. Her face was still pale, but she had completely devoured the steamed buns from this morning.

Bie Yanghong was still sitting where he was last night, an easygoing expression on his face.

Xuanyuan Po noticed that the hue of the crystals on the floor had grown much fainter and the wooden pagodas had apparently moved.

"Is... Sir still okay?"

In the rather dim light of the room, he found it impossible to make out whether that aura of death on Bie Yanghong’s face had vanished or not.

Bie Yanghong gently replied, "It’s a little better, but I’m a little hungry."

Xuanyuan Po woke from his stupor and hurriedly turned to go and make dinner.

As he pushed at the paper door, he paused. Turning around, he bowed to Bie Yanghong and earnestly said, "Thank you, Sir."

He was thanking Bie Yanghong for their conversation this morning.

To any cultivator, the fighting experience of a supreme expert of the continent was a most precious harvest.

After leaving the room, he took out a few pieces of firewood from the pile to start a fire and begin cooking.

He had not kept many winter vegetables in the house, so he only made two simple vegetable dishes and a stew of dried meat and potatoes.

Bie Yanghong took the food and voiced his thanks.

Wuqiong Bi still had a nasty complexion, but she ultimately resisted the urge to say anything unpleasant, only grunting twice.

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1.This is a quote from the ’Mencius’, a collection of anecdotes from the famous Chinese philosopher Mencius.