Chapter 84: Worth It!

"This old official has been wronged!" Qiu Jianhan was speechless. You have to give me a reason if you are going to sentence me to something. "This old official has never hidden anything from Your Majesty... this old official dares not admit to Your Majesty's charge."

"Old thing! You're still not admitting your fault!" His Majesty the emperor was obviously impatient and anxious.

"The witness and evidence are right here!"

Qiu Jianhan was bewildered.

"Secret letter! Secret letter!" The emperor stretched his arm all the way under the old marshal's nose. "Give it! Let me see! If not, you would be committing treason!"

"What secret letter?"

"The secret letter that Tie Zheng has given to you! You said it yourself just now!" The emperor's menacing expression was tinged with triumph. "I knew you, master and disciple were colluding! Committing treason!"

The old marshal finally recalled what he said just now - "In addition, Tie Zheng's secret letter says that he felt that Supreme Wind and Flame's performance was much worse than he remembered."

This was not stated in the memorial he had presented to His Majesty.

His face soured at once. "How could I have been so careless?"

...

Both the emperor and his official were fooling around; the emperor knew that he was too whimsical just now too. He sighed and said, "Old Qiu, what is that child from Yun Family doing now?"

Old Marshal Qiu reported, "I've heard that he has not stepped out of his house for a few months now. He's taking care of cats at home."

"Taking care of cats?"

The emperor felt exasperated. "This bastard!"

Old Marshal Qiu pursed his lips.

After the meeting that night, His Majesty seemed to have left in disappointment but he had sent a secret decree over immediately - follow Yun Yang closely!

The old marshal had sent thirty of the military's spies out for this; the entire Residence of Yun could be considered as heavily guarded.

All the activities that went on there would be under their watchful eye.

"Is the Residence of Yun quiet as usual?" His Majesty asked.

"It's alright." The old marshal smiled helplessly. "His butler is an expert but he seemed to have a breakthrough recently, turning even stronger. This child then recruited another expert who's even stronger than that butler from god knows where some time ago."

"It is said that the mystical beast wager then..." Qiu Jianhan had investigated this matter long ago and explained it to the emperor. Even the emperor was puzzled. "Simply pick up a person? An expert at that? And so loyal from then on?"

His Majesty the emperor was perplexed, "Why didn't I pick up such a simple-minded, grateful and loyal person?"

The old marshal looked up to the heavens.

"About two months ago, Marquis Yun entered the palace. He had a short talk with me." His Majesty chuckled, a glint flashed across his eyes. "I asked him, you haven't gotten married all these years. When did such a grown son appear?"

Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan was interested. "What did Marquis Yun say?"

"This is the sixth time I've asked him this question." The emperor said, "Before this, he's been telling me not to bother about matters like this. But this time, his reply changed."

"He said that he wouldn't be revolting anyway, why did I keep asking?" His Majesty smiled without humor.

The corners of Old Marshal Qiu's lips jerked. That was actually this way of replying.

"But this answer made me understand." The emperor said faintly, "Yun Yang is not Marquis Yun's birth son."

Old Marshal Qiu really wanted to retort, "What does this have to do with you? Why are you so concerned about it?"

Then he immediately thought of it. This had everything to do with His Majesty... If Yun Yang was indeed Marquis Yun's birth son, he would be of royal lineage!"

Thank god he's not. Old Marshal Qiu exclaimed in relief in his heart.

His Majesty said, "It's always better to be more cautious."

"I keep feeling that the child is not as simple as we thought." The emperor frowned.

"I feel the same." The old marshal frowned as well.

Both the emperor and his official wore a look of deep thought.

"The Nine Supremes' blessed presence this time..." His Majesty snorted, obviously dissatisfied with the words 'blessed presence', and said, "Is there any activity with this child?"

Qiu Jianhan shook his head, "Not one bit of movement."

...

Great Young Master Yun who was purportedly not moving as reported by Old Marshal Qiu was indeed not moving a single bit right now!

He was currently laid on his bed lethargically; his face pale and cheeks sunken, he was more like a skeleton.

Yun Yang was completely exhausted. His physical and mental strength were both utterly expended.

For a continuous fifty days, Yun Yang had not slept a wink.

Mystique Wind Conjuration was not a challenge, wind and cloud were one, so Yun Yang had only spent ten days in the Residence of Nine Supremes before he opened Supreme Wind's door and retrieved the Art of Crimson Soul.

Bringing the Art of Crimson Soul home, he had used eight days to complete the cultivation with all the help Emmie could provide and the assistance from the two Pearls of the Flood Dragon, in addition to the multitude of good jades and refined Qi, as well as Emmie's continuous delivery of refined air of vitality. Only then could he open the door to seventh brother Supreme Blood's room.

Retrieving sixth brother's Thunder Crash Spell, its cultivation was even harder than cultivating the Art of Crimson Soul. Yun Yang had cultivated for twelve days without sleeping to complete the first stage and entered sixth brother Supreme Thunder's room. It was then that he got fifth brother's Fiery Charm.

From then on, it was only the beginning of endless cultivation.

The war news came like falling snowflakes. Tie Zheng was obviously not Han Sanhe's opponent. Han Sanhe had his way of deploying troops, he was at the top of his game in this era. Although Tie Zheng was also a mighty general, he was still a novice compared to a god of war of his time.

Defeat could happen anytime.

Yun Yang had to cultivate the first three stages of Mystique Wind Conjuration and first three stages of Fiery Charm before Tie Zheng's troops fell. This was the bare minimum! Otherwise, it would be useless even when he had gotten to the battlefield.

Yun Yang had cultivated as if crazed during that period of time; Emmie almost gave up working after being continuously exploited; both Pearls of the Flood Dragon's energy was almost sucked empty as well.

One and a half months later, Yun Yang finally broke through to the third stage of Fiery Charm.

He immediately rushed towards the battlefield, reaching it just in the nick of time!

After the war, he scurried home through the night, lying straight for days once he returned but he was still exhausted. The burnout this time had Yun Yang feeling that he was strolling along the fine line of death.

However, seeing the army celebrating with such joy, the people who cheered victoriously along the way, the countless veterans who returned gloriously, Yun Yang still felt that it was worth it!

It was absolutely worth it!

It was especially so when he watched the veteran troop disbanding outside of Tiantang City yesterday and running towards their families.

The tears of joy of the family reuniting, the countless relieved smiles.

Plenty of elders wore worry on their wrinkled faces but the smiles that came from the bottom of their hearts when they saw their family returning...

Watching these men who did not fear death laughing and throwing their children who ran to them high up in the air, they had the happy look of a harmonious family.

"This is exactly what I want to guard."

Yun Yang reminisced the scenes lying on his bed, smiling genuinely. He was so happy!

This was the first time Yun Yang felt his heart being full ever since his brothers had met with doom.

"Living in this world, there are things to do and never to be done!"

"Man of men, a hero when you do things within your power; a sinner when you don't even if it's within your power!"

"This is my homeland! These are my family!"

"I only want to have a clear conscience, it's enough for me!"

"But I've felt even more lonely since..."

...

After a severe war, the Empire of Yutang finally entered a peaceful stage of calm.

Yun Yang took a break for some time as well. He really could not handle it, the miles of the journey had entirely worn him out. In addition to that, he was forcefully using Mystique Wind Conjuration and Fiery Charm's power that only could be unleashed in the peak of the third or fourth stage.

He laid on the bed weakly for most of the month, recovering in slight increments.

When he could finally get off his bed, both of his legs felt like jelly.

Lao Mei and Fang Mofei were utterly stumped.

Young master's behavior was extremely strange during this entire period of time. They could feel an inexplicable atmosphere of breakthrough but it was cyclical.

The breakthrough went on for a dozen times and it quieted for a while. Then he had become this weak!

Both of them could not understand the situation no matter how much they thought about it.

Even Yun Yang did not expect to land himself in such severe aftermath upon giving his all for once. On the most serious days, he could not even cultivate his mystical Qi, not even move a single finger.

The entire time Yun Yang spent on his bed, Old Marshal Qiu Jianhan was overwhelmed with anxiety.

After the old marshal had ended his discussion with His Majesty, he returned home to find the atmosphere immensely strange. After a few days, the feeling grew stranger. He felt eyes on him no matter where he went.

The situation had only gotten increasingly dire.

The old marshal could distinctly tell that the eyes meant no harm though and that they were not murderous.

What was going on?

There was only one organization in the capital that could do this without malice - the Nine Heavens Dictum!

But why is the Nine Heavens Dictum following me so closely?

The situation had suddenly vanished one morning after ten days. Everything had gone back to normal. It was as if the inexplicable attention was all in the Old Marshal Qiu's imagination.

It was as if everything had never happened.

Old Marshal Qiu knew well in his heart but took no action.

One thing was sure - there must still be someone alive among the Nine Supremes!

The obvious falter in performance during the war had made the Nine Heavens Dictum immensely nervous during this period. Perhaps the Nine Heavens Dictum did not even know which of their lords had attacked and wanted to check from his side.

This conclusion made the old marshal very happy.

Although it did not feel good to be watched from the dark, the old marshal was drinking by himself cheerily almost every night. Each goblet he gulped had him sighing in contentment.

He did not know who was it that was still alive - but as long as someone was alive, he was beyond content!

...

Although Yun Yang could now move around, he was still very weak and powerless to continue striving against the Four Seasons Tower.

Therefore, he stayed home, not venturing out.

However, early this morning, the Residence of Yun received an invitation from the Cirrus House.

Yun Zuiyue had invited Young Master Yun to Cirrus House, citing that it was to show her newly choreographed performance to Young Master Yun.

When Lao Mei passed the invitation to Yun Yang, he could obviously see the flash of apprehensiveness on Yun Yang's sallow face. It was an instinctual sign of wanting to flee.

"I'll arrive on time," Yun Yang said closing his eyes.

...

Cirrus House.

Once Yun Yang arrived, he was pulled along by Yun Zuiyue to have a private conversation in the most secluded room of Yun Zuiyue's secret chambers.

"It was him! It was him, wasn't it! He's made a move, hasn't he!"

Yun Zuiyue's face was radiant!

The sparkle in her eyes was glimmering brightly like the stars in the night sky.

The orbs were full of hope, full of life, full of yearning!

"Supreme Wind and Flame assisted in the war! Didn't they?" Yun Zuiyue's face was flushed from her intense emotions yet fat tears dropped endlessly from her eyes. She was crying from happiness. "He's really fine... Thank god... thank god..."

Yun Yang was stupefied.

Watching Yun Zuiyue's euphoria, his throat choked up.

He could not let out even a word.