Chapter 1727 - 1035: Not Dead After All

Ice Gleam High Wall.

Xue Piao Ling watched Green Bean packing her luggage, ready to go to Purple Sky to watch the Academy Tournament. Leaning against the window, she softly said, "Little Green Bean, do you really want to go to Purple Sky?"

Green Bean couldn’t harden her heart when she heard that ethereal and gentle voice, but when she thought of Sister Yi and Sister Sui being there, she was resolute again.

"Sister Yi is competing, I must cheer for her... She’s really amazing and very smart, there’s no potion she can’t master... You’d definitely like her if you saw her."

"Ah... how could anyone by Sister Sui’s side be a fool... You’re the only silly one."

She teased, but Green Bean nodded earnestly, "It’s true, whether it’s Brother Xu or the two sisters, they’re all much smarter than me... But I’ll work really, really hard."

"Focusing on pharmacognosy?"

Xue Piao Ling gently asked.

"Yes, I can make many potions to help them..."

"Don’t you want to break through the void, ascend to the clouds, or even fall with the stars... surpass Starfall?"

Green Bean was taken aback, looking at Xue Piao Ling’s face, which was so stunning it seemed ethereal. She tilted her head, "I do want to, but it’s just wishful thinking... I know many superpowers are predestined at birth, wishing doesn’t help."

"Besides, Sister Sui mentioned that in life, doing things to the fullest might yield limited returns, but if one finds even a sliver of happiness, it’s enough... Fearing things done to perfection yield total returns yet bring no happiness..."

"Right now... I’m very happy."

"Perfectly happy."

Her radiant smile, simply adorable yet unremarkable, inexplicably left Xue Piao Ling dazed.

Perhaps... they were... mistaken?

As Xue Piao Ling was lost in thought, her expression suddenly changed.

"Stop!"

Xue Piao Ling acted, yet was a step too slow. An appearing hand pressed on Green Bean’s head, and within a second, a green flash on her forehead made Green Bean faint.

Xue Piao Ling stared at the tall man holding Green Bean, the entire room filled with eerie and evil dark green power. The man’s face was clear yet faintly discernible before her.

"Ah Ling... you’ve become foolish."

Xue Piao Ling took a deep breath and said, "You truly didn’t die."

————————

Purple Sky Heavenly Valley, ethereal and peerless, reaches the heavens above and descends into the earth below.

Curious?

Because the geographic elevation of Purple Sky Heavenly Valley is at the highest point in the Dragon Ape territory.

Standing there, one can overlook the entire Purple Sky District.

But despite being at the highest point, the valley is concave, with considerable depth.

Thus creating a unique environment of touching the heavens and descending into the earth.

On this day, numerous cultivators from various administrative regions came from afar, including students from outside the Four Major Administrative Regions who, though unable to participate in the Academy Tournament, revere the Four Major Academies as the highest sanctuaries. Their victories and losses directly represent this world’s highest cultivation levels, and it’s the gathering ground of the young elite, how could one not watch?

And they could compare themselves to those elite...

However, upon reaching Heavenly Valley and observing the students from the Four Academies...

Every time they saw someone, they presumed them to be one of the chief students. When informed that the person was just an ordinary student from one academy, they were dumbfounded.

Heavens, people their age had already broken through the void, and yet were just ordinary students?

To reach Heavenly Valley, there are many ways to go, but flying is not one of them.

Because the valley is linked to the Dragon Ape’s earth veins, possessing a terrifying suction force akin to earth’s gravity—the higher one flies, the more terrifying the gravity. Flying to the mountainside can exhaust a Cloud Ascendant’s strength, and only Starfall can fly to the peak; thus, those below Starfall can only steadily climb the mountain.

Different paths include walking the ordinary serpentine mountain path or the "water ground sky" walkway.

The so-called "water ground sky" walkway features sky tracks, ground paths, and flowing water.

"Entering Heavenly Valley requires climbing and wading through water, so it seems..."

Shi Qingxuan held her shoes and walked barefoot upstream in the water from the mountain top, ascending while feeling the refreshing ice-cold calmness.

Many women choose this path, likely because the water is so clear and cool.

And women typically enjoy playing in the water, unlike men who find this path too girly...

— Just imagine a man, holding shoes and draft clothes, stepping in the water with splashes... Romantic scenery?

It’s more like swamp gas.

So this path is known as the Beautiful Waterway, beauties like water form natural scenery.

Shi Qingxuan is one of the delightful beauties.

Of course, some gentlemen are too.

"If my two friends were here, they’d surely say this path is meant for women’s foot baths."

Sui Yi’s statement made Shi Qingxuan smile, "Is it that Miss Gong and Miss Hua?"

Miss Hua?

Sui Yi chuckled; this name truly is universally recognized. Flower Demon Yaofei, it’s not me who made it famous.

The two chatted freely and pleasantly.

Yan Jingyan had matters to attend to, which Sui Yi didn’t ask about. Later, Shi Qingxuan found her, bringing back a message saying Yan Jingyan initially went to handle something reported by her intelligence department, discovering a small secret realm inside with intriguing things. Originally, she intended them two to check out the usable things, but surprisingly the realm seemed to possess a special power prompting Shi Feixuan to directly sit and gain instant insight...

Yan Jingyan felt the secret realm was mysterious, suggesting Sui Yi visit, though midway she gave up, aware Sui Yi attracts too much attention, with eyes on her everywhere, clearly not suitable to go... Hence why she requested Sui Yi to send clothes, as a form of subtle hint.

Even the little turtle wasn’t signaled, letting Shi Qingxuan return and orally convey the message.

Sui Yi was surprised, yet indeed couldn’t go, so she only examined the realm diagram brought by Shi Qingxuan, drawn by Yan Jingyan.

One look.

"That should be a secret realm of a Sword Dao civilization, it doesn’t seem large in scale, but its standards are quite high... Also, it allowed Shi Feixuan to sit and directly realize enlightenment, if it’s not due to the secret script contained in these Sword Dao thoughts, then perhaps there is an ultimate treasure of the Sword Dao inside... But I think even if I don’t say anything, Yan Jingan knows how to handle it..."

Shi Qingxuan nodded, recalling the scene where Shi Feixuan sat and realized enlightenment before.

"I think whatever is inside, maybe when Feixuan wakes up, she will be able to tell us."

Sui Yi initially didn’t think too much, just walking along, suddenly looking up at the waterway shaped like a straight sword, suddenly recalling that Jhiang Chenyu sought out the Ancestor of Thousand Buddhas not for abstinence, but for...

A sword?

Whose sword?

————————

The Heavenly Valley arrived, Sui Yi stood on the edge of the platform of the Heavenly Valley looking down, it truly was a spiral-shaped gigantic valley.

At the bottom was the martial arts platform, among the terraces of the valley’s rotational heights stood various buildings, one patch located at the deepest, with a serene bamboo forest.

Was that where the Dragon Ape Stone was hidden inside Heavenly Valley?

On either side were the residences of the Imperial Family of the Dragon Apes...

Descend the steps further.

Encountered more and more people, because the mouth of the valley was continuously shrinking.

"So this is the Purple Sky Heavenly Valley..."

"Look, that’s Starshine’s Bei Dou."

"Ice Gleam’s Han Fei Gong, it’s said she can kill Cloud Ascendant!"

"Iron Tower... Wow, so tall."

Sui Yi quickly met Yi.

After all, the group of Chief Students from Ice Gleam Academy was still quite noticeable, because the number of female Chief Students was equal to males, which was unlike other academies where male dominance was prevalent.

Yi was relatively isolated, not sitting with the others, but rather on the side...

Only when she saw Sui Yi coming down did she stand up.

"Mr. Sui."

Most Ice Gleam Academy students bowed to Sui Yi.

The Frost King Seo Qingfeng guarded the Ice Gleam headquarters, the Snow Lord accompanied these students, considered as a form of shelter, upon seeing Sui Yi, slightly nodded, didn’t say anything, but gave Shi Qingxuan a few more glances.

Not because Shi Qingxuan’s appearance and demeanour were extraordinarily outstanding or special, but because he felt this woman wasn’t native to the Dragon Ape World—such a demeanor could not be nurtured within the Dragon Ape World.

"Xie Han, Du Zhi."

Suddenly someone called out, turning their heads to look, people from Starshine Academy.

Just happening, five people together.

Sui Yi’s mind surfaced five names.

Poison Fang, Bei Dou, Krait, Bright Sun, Zhang Li.

The most conspicuous was Poison Fang.

Poison Fang looked very thin, but his skeletal structure was large, thus appearing like skin wrapped around bones, eye sockets deeply set, a head of tangled hair.

But gave people a very sinister feeling.

However, people from Starshine had a feeling of either sinister chill or defiance, as if stemming from the line of the Greedy Wolf Star.

"It’s said Starshine went through learning internally, previously students close to the government army led by the former Star Emperor were assassinated, supporting those favored by the Greedy Wolf Star Corps..."

So, do these five look more in line with the aesthetic of the Greedy Wolf Star?

Clearly they’re here to cause trouble.

Sui Yi and Shi Qingxuan stood aside watching.

Obviously, five against five.

Xie Han, Du Zhi, Han Fei Gong, Seo Xinyan, Chang Jun stepped forward.

5VS5.

Unknowingly, it gave a sense of cold and hot confrontation?

For students from the two academies, such a scene was tense, a large crowd flooded in, swords drawn and ready.

Naturally, such commotion also caught the attention of people from Golden Shine and Purple Sky.

It’s worth mentioning that, people from Golden Shine and Starshine were also incompatible, however internal divisions weren’t as unanimous, while people from Purple Sky watched from the sidelines, their stance too aloof, causing people from Golden Shine to shift hostilities towards Purple Sky instead.

Because Golden Shine’s Iron Tower and Zhao Yong had an old feud, meeting would result in immediate conflict.

Moreover, Iron Tower was domineering, usually not considering Dragon Ape positions, whoever he disliked, he truly expressed strong dislike, hence displayed hostility...

Therefore, Iron Tower clashed with Zhao Yong.

Being from the same academy, there was no reason not to help.

Bai Mang, Xia Guang, Han Xun, Hai Yu also followed behind...

On Purple Sky’s side, Zhao Yong was originally with Han Han and Wu Yong, 5VS3?

Yun Liu, not far away, upon seeing such a situation merely gripped his slender sword, Qi Mechanism locked—evidently, this was the true man of action.

This act angered Golden Shine’s people, but also made those from Starshine aware.

Krait gave Yun Liu a sinister smile.