Chapter 523: One Man Ascending the Heavens, Opening a Path Through the Starry Night!


    Themotion of Divine Dawn''s rebirth was so great that even Miss Yu was roused from her sleep. She stepped out of her room, sensing only Yun Xiao’s presence, and asked, “Where’s Lil Xi?”


    Yun Xiao replied with a helpless tone, “Mother, my wife has run away.”


    “Run away?” Miss Yu staggered, nearly falling to the ground, her face a mask of confusion. “On the grand day of you bing an Arbiter, how could she run off? I was thinking when your big brother returns, we’d throw you a wedding.”


    “It was my fault; I angered her, made her sad,” Yun Xiao said,ing to steady Miss Yu, then added, “But it''s alright. We love each other. Once she cools off, she’ll speak to me again.”


    “That’s good, then,” Miss Yu said, settling onto a stone bench in the courtyard. She lowered her voice, “Lil Yao, I still haven''t asked you yet—what’s Lil Xi’s family background?”


    “Does background matter when our hearts are aligned?” Yun Xiao asked.


    Miss Yu shook her head. “I didn’t mean it that way. I just want to know a bit about her family—who they are, what they do, if they agree with your union. Should you need my help, I’d be ready.”


    “Her background,” Yun Xiao murmured, looking in the direction she’d left, “after tonight, will be of the highest in the Celestial Court.”


    “The highest? Don’t speak nonsense,” Miss Yu scolded, her face stern. Liu Mumu had already been a great pressure for her; could her younger son’s situation be even more so?The events of the night added to Yun Xiao’s burdens—a pressure not only from Divine Dawn but from the entire Celestial Court and the looming destruction of the myriad worlds.


    “Mother, I''m going to cultivate,” Yun Xiao announced. After bing an Arbiter, the issue of his status was resolved for the time being. Now, he had to focus on getting stronger for the challenges thaty ahead.


    “She’s advancing too; I can’t fall behind her!” Though the resources were not equal, Yun Xiao was confident.


    ?ι══????????══ι?


    Aste night set in, Sky Soaring City finally quieted. Yun Xiao secluded himself away to cultivate, and Miss Yu returned to her room.


    In the courtyard, several little celestial pigs, their eyes round and wide, were rooting around in the dirt.


    Suddenly, a pair of muddy iron boots stepped onto the courtyard soil.


    The celestial pigs, startled, squealed and scurried into a corner, huddling together, daring not to stir.


    In the night, the owner of the iron boots made his way, step by step, to stand before the Lu Family''s ancestral hall.


    This was a man in a yellow robe, a bearded drunkard! He staggered as he walked, his robe stained with spills of liquor, his face flushed red from drink.


    Between his beard and disheveled hair, a pair of dull, murky eyes were hidden.


    As he walked, his gaze swept over every corner of the courtyard—the vegetable garden, the seats, the pavilion—watching silently.


    A faint glimmer of light began to appear in his cloudy eyes.


    With a creak, he gently pushed open the grand doors of the ancestral hall and lurched inside, his murky eyes searching the tombstones.


    Finally, his gaze settled on a particr tomb que.


    「<em>Tomb of Rank 9, Lu Bufan</em>」


    Below was also some smaller text.


    「<em>His beloved wife, Su Yu</em>」


    The yellow-robed drunkard stared at the que, motionless for a long time, his face twitching slightly as a sardonic smile curled at the corners of his mouth.


    "Bufan, self-proimed extraordinary, yet as mundane as dust." The man shook his head with a bitterugh, reached out, and took the que into his hands, rubbing his fingers over the character <em>Bu</em> in the middle of <em>Lu Bufan.</em>


    After a few rubs, he abruptly stopped, his gaze intensifying. He returned the que, closed his eyes, and clenched his fist. "It''s all in the past, let not the heart wander needlessly."


    After speaking, he tilted his head back, took arge swig of liquor, then poured the rest of the golden jade wine from his sk onto the ground in front of the que.


    <em>SIZZLE! SIZZLE! SIZZLE! </em>The golden jade wine formed a shallow golden puddle on the ground, like ayer of gold sand.


    After pouring, he raised his sk towards the que and said, "To you, Lu Bufan."


    With that, he smiled ruefully.


    "Who are you?" At the doorway, a woman in in clothes stood trembling, her hands on the doorframe, her eyes as vacant as charred wood, staring at the yellow-robed drunkard.


    The drunkard turned, his gaze calm, eyes like solid amber as he met the vacant gaze of Miss Yu.


    "Who are you, and why do you trespass in the Lu Family''s ancestral hall?" Miss Yu shook her head, tapping gently on the door frame, "Do not disturb the peace of a family of martyrs, please leave."


    Hearing this, the yellow-robed drunkard looked back at the other ques, his face twisting into a warped, ironic smile. Without another word, he turned and walked away.


    As he passed by Miss Yu at the doorway, the man in the yellow robe paused again to look at the woman in in clothes, her eyes as burnt and broken as charcoal.


    "Please leave!" Miss Yu said sternly.


    The yellow-robed drunkard pulled out another sk and tipped it back, taking arge gulp.


    Golden liquor sshed down, wetting his robe.


    He gritted his teeth and stepped forward, not looking back.


    After he left the tomb, Miss Yu hurried inside and found the tomb que of Lu Bufan. She clutched it to her chest, her tense expression finally rxing.


    "Bufan, it''s alright, it''s alright..." she hugged the que tightly, her charred eyes slowly moistening.


    Outside, the yellow-robed drunkard heard her words and shuddered.


    <em>SMACK! </em>He suddenly pped himself, his face twisting into a smile, then he hurried away.


    Just out of the courtyard, he nced to his left, where a young man in white leaned against the wall, his gaze cold as he asked, "What are you doing?"


    The yellow-robed drunkard looked him over and asked, "What''s your name?"


    Yun Xiao raised an eyebrow and responded coolly, "Lu Yao."


    "Lu Yao..." The drunkard''s murky gaze trembled slightly. He suddenlyughed. "Distance tests a horse''s strength; time reveals a person''s heart."


    With that, he soared into the sky, rising towards the boiling heavens.


    <em>BOOM! </em>Yun Xiao''s eyes widened. As the yellow-robed drunkard ascended, the dark night sky suddenly burst into a myriad of stars, the dense clusters parting ways around his flight.


    This dazzling disy of starlight shed momentarily, then vanished into the cosmos.


    By the time Yun Xiao realized what had happened, the sky was dark once more, a ck canopy stretched over the world, with no sign of the man or the river of stars.


    Just then, the little ck creature emerged from Yun Xiao''s embrace.


    Blue Star''s eyes widened, his fur bristling as he growled, "There’s something strange about that fellow!"


    "What kind of strange?" Yun Xiao asked.


    "He''s carrying something with him!" Blue Star asserted confidently.


    "What does he carry?" Yun Xiao pressed.


    "Something simr to the Divine Cosmic Sword and Cosmic Pagoda. A one-of-a-kind treasure, perhaps even more advanced!" Blue Star eximed, amazed.


    "Oh?" Yun Xiao furrowed his brow. "Can you determine what it is?"


    "For now, all I can tell is that the soul power within it is extremely potent, likely a vessel for a soul," Blue Star exined.


    "A soul vessel?" Yun Xiao had little concept of what that entailed. He gazed in the direction the yellow-robed drunkard had left. "You mean, he''s very powerful?"


    "He could be ranked among the top ten in the Great Dao Celestial Realm, at least," Blue Star said casually.


    "What?" Yun Xiao was stunned. He knew how vast the Great Dao Celestial Realm was, how immense the gap between a Dao Immortal and a regr True Immortal.


    Such a vast Celestial Sourcecore was nurturing countless powerful immortals! And this yellow-robed drunkard was possibly among the top ten? Or even the top two?


    "Who exactly is he? Why would he enter the Lu Family''s tomb?" Yun Xiao frowned.


    "Who knows!" Blue Star shrugged, then added, "But based on my judgment, his soul is in a state of extreme chaos, filled with too many distorted elements."


    "So, you''re saying he can pose a danger to me?" Yun Xiao asked coldly.


    "Yes. He''s extremely dangerous! A thousand times more dangerous than the Three Immortals," Blue Star assessed.


    "Alright, I have an idea now." Yun Xiao looked once more at the sky. Who was that man, really?


    ?ι══????????══ι?


    Above Sky Soaring City, the celestial fog in the dark sky was pitch ck. It was a world painted in ink. Through the swirling ck celestial fog, suddenly, the sound of dragon chants echoed!


    Seen amidst the rolling mist were nine golden dragons. With five ws on each arm, their golden scales shimmered beautifully. They were lined up side by side, swallowing clouds and breathing fog!


    These were no demons, but rather the most exalted of celestial beasts! Their divine might suppressed thend for miles, and where their golden light touched, it seemed as though golden mes were scorching the earth.


    Most striking of all, these nine golden dragons were wrapped in white-gold chains. These chains were tethered to a massive ck chariot.


    This chariot, floating amidst the dark mist, resembled a moving pce in the sky, embroidered with various dragon patterns, majestic and solemn.


    The chariot was constructed from primordial fragrant wood, resting on four wheels. Each wheel bore a golden lotus that, when the wheels turned, instantaneously illuminated the universe with myriad golden lotuses!


    The roaring of the nine dragons and the turning of the golden lotus wheels heralded the return of the chariot’s master.


    Astride this chariot was that yellow-robed drunkard! Upon his arrival, his murky eyes shone with a nonchnt arrogance. He strode forward with amanding presence,ughing loudly as the doors of the chariot burst open.


    A melody of celestial music yed, and the air was thick with the scent of wine.


    Amidst a cloud of pink mist, a procession of young, heavenly maidens stepped out. They were delicate yet fiery, d only in light silks that made their graceful figures shimmer tantalizingly through the swirling fog.


    Their faces were noble and pure, like saviors from the clouds, but their movements and expressions revealed them as the enticing flowers at the side of the yellow-robed drunkard. Each nce and smile was beguiling and strikingly bold.


    They giggled, whispered, and hummed, clustering around the yellow-robed drunkard, who naturally reached out, embracing them while his hands, expert and yful, added to his beaming smile.


    "This is truly the life!" The yellow-robed drunkard''sughter provoked more giggles from the celestial maidens.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Together, they entered the spacious carriage. Inside, it was a feast of delicacies and fine wines—a garden of earthly delights with only the yellow-robed drunkard as the sole male amidst countless beautiful fairies.


    <em>SLAM! </em>The carriage doors closed behind them, and from inside came sounds of indulgence, soft moans, and murmurs that never ceased.