Nudge-nudge!
Ye Xuan’s face darkened. Damn it, this old man’s mind was filthy!
And what about him—was he some kind of impure guy?
To recommend that kind of book—unbelievable!
A moment later, Gu Yi led Ye Xuan to a pavilion. “Little friend Ye Xuan, there are plenty of ancient texts here. Feel free to browse! But there aren’t any cultivation techniques or martial skills.”
Ye Xuan nodded. “That’s fine!”
Gu Yi smiled. “I oversee the inner sect. If you need anything, just let me know!”
Ye Xuan returned a slight smile. “Thank you, Elder Gu!”
Gu Yi chuckled. “No need to be so polite!”
With a clasped-hand salute, he retreated.
At that moment, Little Tower suddenly spoke up. “Little Master, you’ve changed!”
Ye Xuan was puzzled. “Changed how?”
Little Tower said gravely, “Back in the day, if that woman dared talk to you like that, you’d have gone head-to-head with her! Then slashed her with one sword and dropped a line like, ‘Send out your sect’s best fighter—I’m invincible, do what you want!’…”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Little Tower pressed on. “Little Master, joining this sect—do you have some ulterior motive?”
Ye Xuan grinned. “Just getting a feel for this cosmic civilization first!”
With that, he stepped into the pavilion, sweeping his gaze around. His divine sense plunged into the ancient texts, and soon, a flood of information surged into his mind.
A short while later, Ye Xuan sorted through the data in his head.
The Great Motian Domain!
This cosmic region he’d landed in was called the Great Motian Domain. Within it, only two superpowers reigned!
One was the sect he now stood in—Holy Vein!
The other was Demon Vein!
The Ancient Emperor hailed from Demon Vein!
In this universe, the top-tier powerhouses were Circle Drawers, but here, Circle Drawers weren’t just split into inner and outer—they had greater distinctions: three major realms above that—‘Thought Clarity,’ ‘Path Illumination,’ and ‘Transformative Freedom.’
These three realms were profound. Reaching Thought Clarity meant understanding the myriad changes of the world in a single thought. Such powerhouses could not only foresee fortune and calamity but also seek blessings and avoid disaster, forging wide-reaching goodwill.
Notably, Mu Shen was at the Thought Clarity realm!
Path Illumination was even more mysterious. Legends said those who attained it could unravel cause and effect, destiny, and fortune. From a single leaf, they could deduce an entire forest. Simply put, before acting, they could foresee countless outcomes.
Such beings were, as of now, mere legends in the Great Motian Domain.
Whether they truly existed, no one knew.
As for Transformative Freedom, the ancient texts offered no description!
It was an unknown realm, though its existence was certain. But only top-tier figures like Mu Shen might know a thing or two about it!
Ye Xuan closed the text, falling silent.
Why had Mu Shen brought him to Holy Vein?
Just because he’d complimented her beauty?
It couldn’t be that simple!
Worth noting—the Ancient Emperor was half a step into Thought Clarity, but that half-step left him in an awkward spot!
Foreseeing fortune and calamity!
Even powerhouses below that realm—like those at the Formless level—could sense such things, though with distinctions.
For instance, when facing Ye Xuan, some couldn’t sense danger—like the Ancient Emperor—because Ye Xuan’s strength didn’t threaten someone of that caliber! Same with Tian Yan back then; Tian Yan wanted to kill him because, to her, Ye Xuan posed no threat!
As for those who could sense the Plain-Skirted Woman and the Man in Green through him, they existed—but were exceedingly rare. Most detected Qing’er via the Qingxuan Sword.
Of course, that had nothing to do with Ye Xuan himself. The Plain-Skirted Woman and the Man in Green were simply too overwhelmingly powerful—ordinary folk couldn’t deduce them through Ye Xuan. By the time they met those two, it was already too late. Take the Ancient Emperor: when he saw the Man in Green, unease crept in—a premonition of disaster. But by then, it was far too late.
Destiny?
Ye Xuan’s eyes slowly closed. At that moment, countless thoughts swirled in his mind.
Many proclaimed, *“My fate is mine, not the heavens’!”* Yet few in this world could truly achieve that. Even mighty cultivators understood this, so they stopped defying fate and instead flowed with it—like Thought Clarity and Path Illumination!
Defying the heavens was hard, but aligning with them wasn’t. Following destiny to seek greater fortune!
*If I can’t beat you, I’ll go along with you—within these rules, I’ll be the one who knows and follows them.*
At this thought, Ye Xuan shook his head with a sigh. Truly breaking the circle and crafting new rules? So far, only Qing’er, Dad, and Big Brother could pull that off.
Those three might have transcended everything.
Whether it was Thought Clarity, Path Illumination, or Transformative Freedom—they were all still *inside* the circle!
Plus, Sister Nian had once said Qing’er kept drawing circles and breaking them… Who knows how many she’d drawn or shattered by now?
Every circle drawn was a fresh start; every circle broken meant surpassing the grand laws she’d established herself…
Ye Xuan sighed inwardly. “Just how strong is Qing’er?”
Little Tower piped up. “Little Master, I might know!”
Ye Xuan’s face darkened. “We’re family—stop showing off!”
Little Tower said earnestly, “Little Master, I might actually know!”
Ye Xuan hesitated, then said, “Alright, let’s hear it!”
He’d noticed that while Little Tower was usually useless, some of its ramblings held a shred of truth.
Little Tower began, “Sister Destiny’s terrifying cycle of drawing and breaking circles reminds me of an ancient tale!”
Ye Xuan grew curious. “What tale?”
Little Tower explained, “It’s about a farmer who saved an emperor. The emperor asked what reward he wanted. The farmer said, ‘Put one grain of rice in the first square, two in the second, four in the third, eight in the fourth, and so on—doubling each time—until all sixty-four squares are filled. That’s all the rice I want.’”
Ye Xuan blinked. “That’s simple, right? A sack of rice would do?”
Little Tower paused, then said, “Little Master, can I insult your intelligence?”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Little Tower sighed softly. “Think harder—is it really that simple?”
Ye Xuan pondered, and soon his pupils shrank. He shot to his feet—he’d grasped it.
It seemed so trivial!
But in reality?
The entire kingdom’s rice wouldn’t suffice!
Little Tower continued, “Sister Destiny’s strength is like placing rice on that chessboard. Drawing a circle is like putting one grain in the first square. Breaking it is like two grains in the second. Drawing again is four in the third… Simply put, each time she draws and breaks a circle, her power doubles… To gauge her strength, we just need to know how many squares her mental chessboard has!”
Ye Xuan suddenly asked, “What if her squares are infinite?”
The room fell silent.
After a moment, Little Tower said gravely, “Little Master, now that you mention it, I think my brain’s short-circuiting!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Little Tower sighed again. “Little Master, catching up to Sister Destiny might be a *tiny* bit tough!”
Ye Xuan nodded. “Yeah, a *tiny* bit tough!”
Little Tower added, “But I’ve got faith in us!”
Ye Xuan was curious. “Why?”
Little Tower chuckled. “Because you’ve got a halo! From my experience, halo-bearers always have a big breakout at the critical moment. Take Master—he got thrashed by Sister Destiny at first, nearly wiped out! But then he erupted, flipped the tables… I think you can too!”
Ye Xuan hesitated, then asked, “Did Dad used to get beaten up by Qing’er real bad?”
Little Tower thought, then said, “Let’s not talk about that!”
Ye Xuan blinked. “Little Tower, why’re you suddenly acting scared? That’s not like you!”
Little Tower sighed softly. “Little Master, sometimes I feel like I’m wasted on you! How about… you let me be the master instead?”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Little Tower went on, “When Master left, didn’t he swing that sword? It slashed through spacetime, and blood spilled out. Know what that means?”
Ye Xuan shook his head.
Little Tower’s tone grew heavy. “That was a sword cutting the future! Meaning, not long after we left, someone showed up there and tried rewinding time to replay what happened. But Master sensed it! And that’s not even the wildest part—he swung a sword *now* and killed someone in the *future*! How terrifying is that?”
Ye Xuan thought, then said, “It’s alright, I guess!”
“Alright?!”
Little Tower said gravely, “Little Master, can you tone down the bravado? Your showing off is starting to scare me! And don’t badmouth Master behind his back—or provoke him about getting beaten by Sister Destiny… When you activate your bloodline, it’s like you’re tipsy. But if Master activates his… I’m scared he’ll chop you up! And maybe me too… Sometimes even I wonder if you’re really his kid…”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Ouch. That stung.
