Chapter 1271: The Audacity To Challenge Storms With His Life

In a heavenly palace high above the sky, a woman was floating in the middle of a sea of clouds and moving wherever the wind carried her.

Suddenly, a single cloud appeared from the horizon. It leisurely made its way toward the woman.

The cloud had a face and thin, slender arms. There were faint, dark red colors around its cheeks. It looked cute and comely.

The cloud was a Disaster-class Stranger called the Cloud Boy.

After the Cloud Boy floated to the woman’s side, it asked, “Lil Ling’er, Lil Ling’er, there are rumors saying that the Mad Lord is setting up a heroes’ arena at the East Radiance Mountain to challenge all heroes under the heavens. Are you going? Are you going?”

The Cloud Boy’s voice was as crisp, soft, and cute as its appearance.

“East Radiance Mountain, heroes’ arena?”

The woman opened her eyes. Where there were pupils and whites, there was only gray.

It was clear that the woman was blind.

The woman’s voice was soft like the wind, gentle like the clouds, and spiritual like the moon though. It was overflowing with beautiful vigor and vitality.

“Are you going, Lil Ling’er?” The Cloud Boy asked again.

“Do you think I should go?” Smiling, the woman returned the question to the Cloud Boy while stroking it.

“You should go! You should go! It’s been a long time since Cloud Boy left the mountains, and many people will be attending the heroes’ arena! It will be so much fun!” Cloud Boy pleaded sweetly.

“Very well then. We will go,” The woman replied gently. “I want to see how strong that Mad Lord is myself.”

The woman held out her hand after saying this. The sea of clouds immediately started flowing toward her, impressive and grandiose.

Soon, the sea of clouds had transformed into a sword covered by a scabbard. It landed squarely in her hands.

Now, there was neither wind nor clouds in the sky.

The woman simply stood in the air as if it was ground.

“Let’s go then. Let us meet that Mad Lord.”

“Let’s go! To East Radiance Mountain we go!”

......

There was a storm happening at the Eastern Shore right now. Dark clouds covered the sky, the howling wind deafened the ears, and the rain poured like a waterfall.

The violent storm kicked up billows of waves that were easily hundreds or thousands of meters tall. It almost looked like they were on the same height as the sky.

The waves were crashing down on a cliff where a man wielding a spear was standing. Compared to the titanic waves, the man looked positively frail and puny.

And yet, no matter how hard the gale blew, no matter how powerful the sea billowed, the man’s back remained as straight as his spear. Not a sliver of fear could be found in his eyes.

The waves were now very close to him. They were so tall it felt like they came from the heavens themselves.

It was at this moment the man thrust his spear forward. It was a dragon-like spear thrust that would not be deterred by anyone or anything.

ROAAARRRRR!!!

A deafening dragon’s roar deafened heaven and earth, and a cyan dragon hundreds of meters long shattered the waves and ripped the waters in half with unstoppable power. It would continue soaring all the way up to the nine heavens.

“It’s time to head to the East Radiance Mountain...”

The man put away his spear. When he turned away, the sky was clear, and the sea was calm.

......

“Have you heard? The Mad Lord is setting up a heroes’ arena at East Radiance Mountain to challenge all heroes under the heavens!”

“Of course I know! Everyone’s talking about it! The Mad Lord is a real man, don’t you think?”

“I think he’s just a fool who overestimated his power.”

“Hehe, who cares if he’s a real man or an ignorant fool? The important thing is that we got a show!”

“True. I can hardly wait.”

“Me too!”

Inside a restaurant, a thin middle-aged man wearing a fox fur coat cracked a cold smile as he watched the passersby and listened to their conversation.

“He did so much harm to my Westwind, and he dares to set up a heroes’ arena at East Radiance Mountain? How interesting!”

The middle-aged man felt kind and gentle like the sun when he wasn’t smiling. When he smiled though, his aura turned as cold and sharp as a sword.

“Should this old servant go and kill him, Boss?”

An extremely old man standing next to the middle-aged man asked in a hushed voice.

“It’s fine. This time, I’ll meet him myself.”

The middle-aged man slowly rose to his feet. The moment he did this, the travelers, merchants, hawkers, townspeople and more busying themselves in the town suddenly froze as if someone had cast a spell on them. Then, the light in their eyes faded into nothing.

When the middle-aged man walked out of the restaurant and walked on the streets, anyone he passed through would slowly lose their forms and gradually transform into shadows. The shadows then merged with the middle-aged man’s shadows.

Slowly, the number of people in the town decreased. On the other hand, the middle-aged man’s shadow was growing bigger and darker.

At some point, it was so dark that it resembled the abyss; so big that it was like a mountain.

Although there was no sun in the sky right now, the middle-aged man’s shadow was still clearly visible.

By the time the middle-aged man walked out of the town, not a single soul was left in it.

The middle-aged man looked back and waved his sleeve, and the entire town crumbled into dust just like that.

“I will let the entire

jianghu

know that Westwind is still here!”

......

Rumble...

On a lightless black peak covered in dark clouds, black lightning bolts were descending from the sky and striking all the plants, animals, and stones into powder.

There was one object that stood strong against this devastation, however. It was a man surrounded by layers upon layers of yin qi. The yin qi seemed to be protecting him from the deadly lightning above.

Over time though, the lightning was slowly but surely peeling away the layers of yin qi like onions, revealing the man’s true form.

The man looked old and decrepit. His face was covered in wrinkles, and he smelled like he had one and a half feet in the grave. It would not be surprising if he fell dead the next moment.

Strangely, the black lightning strong enough to shatter metal and stone did no damage to the man.

In fact, the man was visibly growing younger with every lightning bolt that struck him.

In just a dozen breaths or so, the man had transformed from a decrepit old man to a handsome, vigorous youngster.

“Ah!!!”

The next moment, the youngster rose to his feet and let out a shout. It sounded like the wail of a ghost, tragic and horrifying.

The sky of lightning and the black clouds were also scattered by the shout.

“You have now officially grasped the ‘Fate Defying Profound Canon’ and healed all of your injuries. In the short term, you no longer need to worry about your lifespan or your tribulation either.”

A solemn, dignified voice suddenly rang beside the youngster’s ears.

“It is all thanks to your guidance, Celestial Sovereign,” the youngster said reservedly, though his heart was pounding with excitement.

“I have solved your problems for you. But have you fulfilled your promise to me?” The dignified voice asked.

“Do not worry, Celestial Sovereign. This time, I’ll be entering the battlefield myself,” the youngster declared with confidence and certainty.

“That best be the case,” The dignified voice replied. “You know what will happen if you fail again.”

“I understand.” Fear flickered in the youngster’s eyes as he recalled a memory. “I will personally capture Ye Qing at East Radiance Mountain. I will not disappoint you.”

“Very good.”

A hint of delight and urgency entered the dignified voice. “If I succeed in my endeavors, you will be rewarded handsomely.”

“Thank you, Celestial Sovereign. I will meet your expectations.”

The youngster performed a salute before taking a step forward. After he broke out of the space he was in, his voice resounded throughout heaven and earth.

“All units, heed my call! We will travel to East Radiance Mountain right now!”

......

With White Jade Capital and Jade Capital Teahouse sparing no effort to promote the fact that Ye Qing was setting up a heroes’ arena at East Radiance Mountain and challenging all heroes under the heavens to a fight, it took only several hours for the news to spread throughout the

jianghu

,

wulin

, and the four nations. Soon, everyone from the highest Sons of Heaven to the lowest peasant child had heard about it.

As a result, the renowned geniuses of famous sects, the braves of the

wulin

, the terrifying titans of the Dark Ways, the evil warriors who behaved like monsters; the nameless small fries of the

jianghu

, the wanderers and drifters, the hidden masters in the mountains, the nobodies with a hero’s heart inside their chest; the admirers, the envious, the jealous, the schemers, the psychopaths; everyone was traveling to East Radiance Mountain no matter the distance.

For obvious reasons, everyone had a different opinion regarding Ye Qing’s challenge.

Some people were impressed by it. Some people were scornful and disdainful. Some people were ecstatic. Some people suspected that it was a trap. Some people worried for Ye Qing’s safety. Some people were already predicting and mourning the inevitable death of a hero. Some people were uncaring. Some people could not wait for the day to begin. Some people were eager to test their blade...

The emotions were myriad, and the reactions even more so. But whatever the people thought, Ye Qing’s actions had once again astounded the world and showed them his courage, audacity, and fearlessness.

Once upon a time, there was a hero.

Who dared to challenge the storms with his life.