Ye Xuan led Shen Tong away in a flash, and soon they arrived at a sprawling square teeming with people.
Ye Xuan looked ahead. On a distant stone platform, he spotted a familiar figure!
Tian Yan!
He hadn’t expected to run into Tian Yan here in the Daylit Realm!
What was this woman doing in this place?
At that moment, Tian Yan seemed to sense something. She glanced into the crowd and, upon seeing Ye Xuan, froze, her eyes wide with shock.
Clearly, she hadn’t anticipated meeting him here either!
After a brief hesitation, Tian Yan stood and, in an instant, appeared before Ye Xuan, “What are you doing here?”
Ye Xuan grinned, “I wandered around a bit and ended up here!”
Tian Yan frowned, “Just wandering?”
Ye Xuan nodded.
Tian Yan paused, then asked, “Do you know what this place is?”
Ye Xuan replied, “The Daylit Realm!”
Tian Yan nodded.
Ye Xuan suddenly asked, “What about you? Why are you here?”
Tian Yan glanced around, “How about we move somewhere else?”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Sure!”
He genuinely wanted to understand this Daylit Realm better.
As the three prepared to leave, a man suddenly appeared beside Tian Yan. He glanced at Ye Xuan and Shen Tong, then smiled, “Tian Yan, who are these two?”
Tian Yan turned to the man and, without warning, slapped him hard across the face.
*Smack!*
Before the man could react, he was sent flying.
Ye Xuan and Shen Tong were dumbfounded.
Tian Yan shot a cold glance at the man she’d struck, “Tian Yan? Are we that close?”
With that, she turned to Ye Xuan, “Let’s go!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
In the distance, the man glared at Tian Yan with venomous resentment, his thoughts unreadable.
Elsewhere, Ye Xuan hesitated, then asked, “Tian Yan, who was that?”
Tian Yan replied coolly, “The son of an elder in Daylit City. He tries to hit on every woman he sees—kind of like you!”
Ye Xuan hurriedly protested, “Tian Yan, don’t talk nonsense! What do you mean ‘like me’? Damn it, I, Ye Xuan—”
Tian Yan cut him off, “I meant he’s a second-generation type like you!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Soon, Tian Yan led them to a tavern.
She grabbed a bowl of wine from the table, downed it in one gulp, and looked at Ye Xuan, “Are you here to wreak havoc on the Daylit Realm now?”
Ye Xuan’s face darkened, “What kind of talk is that?”
Tian Yan said flatly, “Then what are you doing here?”
Ye Xuan thought for a moment, then asked, “Tian Yan, what exactly is this Daylit Realm?”
After a brief silence, Tian Yan began to explain.
This universe was called the Tianji Cosmos.
Within it were two superpowers: Eternal Night City and Daylit City.
These two factions had been bitter enemies for ages, their grudge so deep it defied description. Whenever they crossed paths, a fight was inevitable.
Ye Xuan asked gravely, “You’ve joined Daylit?”
Tian Yan nodded, “I need cultivation resources—specifically, a star vein!”
Ye Xuan pressed, “What realm are you at now?”
He asked because he couldn’t see through her cultivation.
Tian Yan replied calmly, “Dao Clarity!”
“What the—!”
Ye Xuan jumped up, “You’re already at Dao Clarity? Are you kidding me?”
Tian Yan looked at him, “Am I that useless in your eyes?”
Ye Xuan gave an awkward laugh, “Of course not! It’s just… isn’t this too fast? When we parted, you were only at Inner Circle…”
Tian Yan downed another bowl of wine, “Haven’t you grown fast too?”
Ye Xuan said seriously, “You joined Daylit for a star vein?”
Tian Yan nodded, “Yes!”
Ye Xuan quickly asked, “Did you get one?”
Tian Yan shook her head, “It’s tough!”
Ye Xuan frowned, “You’re this much of a genius, and Daylit City still won’t fully support you?”
Tian Yan looked at him, “Do you know how many Dao Clarity cultivators are in Daylit City?”
Ye Xuan shook his head.
Tian Yan held up one finger, “Over a hundred! And all of them want a star vein! But right now, Daylit City only has nine star veins left. For a Dao Clarity cultivator to reach Manifested Freedom, the bare minimum is one star vein’s worth of spiritual energy—some even need two. And even then, success isn’t guaranteed!”
She shook her head slightly, “Under these conditions, getting a star vein is incredibly, incredibly harsh.”
Shen Tong couldn’t help but ask, “How harsh?”
Tian Yan explained, “First condition: you must kill ten Dao Clarity cultivators from Eternal Night. Second: you have to be number one on the Divine List—a tournament among the hundred-plus Dao Clarity cultivators. Only the top winner gets a shot at a star vein! Third: you must swear an oath with your soul and consciousness to serve Daylit Realm forever. If you break it, your soul gets obliterated.”
Shen Tong’s face darkened at her words.
Ye Xuan murmured, “That does sound tricky!”
Tian Yan said dryly, “Tricky? It’s downright despairing. But there’s no other way! Actually, there’s one more path to a star vein.”
Ye Xuan perked up, “What’s that?”
Tian Yan replied, “A prodigy! A true, supreme prodigy—one so astonishing that Daylit City itself is shaken. For someone like that, they’ll open a back door!”
Ye Xuan asked gravely, “I heard Yu Tian Shen gathered his own star vein back in the day. Why can’t you?”
Tian Yan said, “I know a bit about this Yu Tian Shen—there are legends about him here too. But how he actually condensed a star vein, no one knows. Some say it wasn’t even his own doing—that he just got lucky. The truth? Who knows!”
Ye Xuan turned to Shen Tong, who shook his head, “My master’s legacy has nothing about star veins!”
Ye Xuan fell silent. He hadn’t realized star veins were *this* hard to come by!
Then Tian Yan suddenly looked at him, “King of Connections, can I borrow a star vein from you?”
Ye Xuan stared at her, “Where would I get a star vein? I’ve got nothing!”
Tian Yan said, “You could ask your dad! He’s got to have one!”
Ye Xuan replied coolly, “My dad’s off somewhere—I don’t even know where he is!”
Tian Yan’s brows furrowed slightly.
Ye Xuan laughed, “Don’t pin your hopes on me! I’ve got to rely on myself too.”
Tian Yan pursed her lips, saying nothing.
Ye Xuan glanced at Shen Tong, “Looks like your path to Manifested Freedom just got rocky!”
Shen Tong paused, then said, “Big Bro, I’m sticking with you—figure it out for me!”
Ye Xuan’s face darkened, “Figure out what? You think I’m some miracle worker?”
Shen Tong said gravely, “Anyway, I’m following you!”
Ye Xuan: “…”
Tian Yan suddenly spoke, “If you want to join Daylit, think it over carefully. Once you do, you’re tangled in the feud with Eternal Night. Even if you don’t kill their people, they’ll come for you! Decide for yourselves!”
Ye Xuan turned to Shen Tong, “What do you think?”
Shen Tong hesitated, “What about you?”
Ye Xuan shook his head, “I don’t need a star vein. My goal isn’t Manifested Freedom!”
Shen Tong blinked, “Why not?”
Ye Xuan smiled, “I’ve got my own path to walk!”
Shen Tong hesitated, then said, “Then I guess I’ll have to join Daylit City!”
Ye Xuan said seriously, “Think it through!”
Shen Tong gave a bitter smile, “There’s no other choice, right?”
Ye Xuan looked at Tian Yan, who said flatly, “He’s at Dao Clarity—joining Daylit City won’t be hard. But getting a star vein? That’s the tough part!”
Ye Xuan nodded, “Guess joining comes first!”
Tian Yan turned to Ye Xuan, “What about you? Any interest in Daylit City?”
Ye Xuan shook his head.
Tian Yan nodded, saying no more.
Shen Tong suddenly piped up, “Brother Ye, why not join Daylit with us? Get in early, work hard—maybe you’ll snag a star vein down the line!”
Tian Yan glanced at Shen Tong, “You’re not that close to this King of Connections, are you?”
Shen Tong frowned, “Why do you ask, miss?”
Tian Yan shook her head, “It’s you who needs to struggle, not him! Don’t believe me? Ask him—has he ever worried about cultivation resources?”
Shen Tong looked at Ye Xuan, who rubbed his nose, “Uh… not really!”
Along his journey, though it’d been rough, he’d never fretted over resources or techniques!
Shen Tong: “…”
Just then, a man stepped into the tavern—the same one Tian Yan had slapped earlier!
Seeing him, Tian Yan’s brows furrowed.
Beside him stood an old man.
The old man approached the trio, looking at Tian Yan, “May I ask, Miss Tian Yan, how did my son offend you to warrant such public humiliation?”
Tian Yan took a sip from her bowl, “Ask your son. Didn’t I tell him from the start to leave me alone?”
The old man stared at her, “A love of beauty is human nature. He just wanted to befriend you—what’s wrong with that?”
Tian Yan met his gaze, “You’re right. But I don’t want to befriend him. He kept pestering me, and I got annoyed. Clear enough?”
The old man glared at her.
Tian Yan abruptly stood, locking eyes with him, “If you’re not convinced, let’s settle it one-on-one in the Life-and-Death Arena—no holds barred, to the death. Just say the word, and we’ll go right now! Once we’re there, I’ll kill you first, then your son!”
The old man’s eyes narrowed, “Are you that confident, Miss Tian Yan?”
Before she could reply, the man beside the old man cut in, “If I can’t call you Tian Yan, why can he?”
He pointed at Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan: “…”
Tian Yan glanced at the man, “His dad’s tougher than yours. Got it?”
Ye Xuan: “…”
