Chương 424: Chapter 368: Tilting

~~~"I am a little disappointed." Feng Zhuo's words are met with a glare and a burst of Qi. Both are completely expected. Others might have felt intimidated, but a friend—a best friend, some might say—will never let such things stop him.

"There is something to be said about letting the people of this country handle their own affairs, but this was clearly your moment. There was no need to let either of those old men take the leading part, my friend," Feng Zhuo says, nodding seriously.

"I was half-convinced you had done it on purpose, but looking at you now, you really can't do it, huh? That's disappointing, but have no fear! This Feng Zhuo is here to help through this dark time! You may bask in my shining presence!" As Feng Zhuo spreads his arms, Xiao Nan looks at him and takes a long, deep breath. His fist smashes into Feng Zhuo's face a fraction of a second later. The punch is a work of art. From start to finish, not a single motion is wasted.

Even as the attack is happening, Xiao Nan's aura does not broadcast any ill intent whatsoever. Feng Zhuo is not just incapable of reacting. It is doubtful he even realizes the attack is happening. As Feng Zhuo's nose is broken with shattering finesse, several people all over the continent feel an inexplicable burst of joy. Even Bai Wen, who is in the middle of a rather tense situation, suddenly feels like smiling.

Only the guards in Cloudburst Arena feel nervous, but that passes quickly when it becomes clear the Renegade they are in charge of has no intention of doing any more violence. It takes two hours for Feng Zhuo to regain consciousness.

"You punched me in the face!" Feng Zhuo yells as he leaps to his feet.

"I can't believe you punched me in the face! Ow! You broke my nose." Feng Zhuo flinches as he fights the urge to touch his broken nose. His expression twists with disbelief as he directs his Qi to the injury, but is unable to mend it.

"You used your Dao to increase its permanence!" He yells at him.

"How petty can you be? Truly, the Renegade Realm has you deep in its grasp!"

"I merely calculated my odds," Xiao Nan says.

"I am in an indisputable position of power over you. It would be foolish of me not to take advantage of it."

"The rationalization of the Renegade Realm is truly fearsome," Feng Zhuo says, putting a hand over his broken nose.

"There is no way you could ever harbor negative feelings towards me. This Feng Zhuo is like a ray of sunshine, bringing joy and laughter wherever he goes. Even babies will stop crying at the sight of my face—except Feng Zhi. He peed on me the first time I tried to hold him. The second as well. I suspect that one might have been on purpose." Xiao Nan shakes his head.

"Why are you here?"

"To help my best friend, of course!" Feng Zhuo says. When Xiao Nan fails to be moved, he adds, "Also, a visitor of the Divine Frozen Palace is going to arrive soon. I never know how things are going to turn out with that lot, so I thought it'd be best to be away from the palace for a while. Thanks to that, you can enjoy my presence in your time of impotence!"

"I can punch you again," Xiao Nan warns.

"I am completely fine with continuing this conversation after you regain consciousness." Far from being threatened, Feng Zhuo shakes his head and clicks his tongue softly.

"See, you are proving my point," he says.

"Xiao Nan of the Xiao Sect is a staggering talent that knows no fear. He would not run away from this conversation."

"Are you trying to imply a conversation with you is something that requires courage?"

"I am a very intimidating man, my friend. Talent and good looks such as mine obviously cause unease in others," Feng Zhou says, smiling brightly. The effect is ruined by his bleeding nose.

"However, it is not me you fear facing. It's my words. You know I am right. It should be a shining Emperor before me, not a brooding Renegade."

"Do not speak of things you know nothing about," Xiao Nan says.

"You are right," Feng Zhuo says, his voice suddenly serious.

"I have done what is expected of me and remained in the Heaven Realm. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to be forced into becoming a Renegade. However, I do know one thing. The Xiao Nan I knew faced me despite his weakness. The Xiao Nan I see now hides behind his power." Xiao Nan's Qi spikes. And deflates. He exhales and allows his muscles to relax. His menacing intent vanishes from the air, making the guards around the arena sigh in relief.

The urge to punch Feng Zhuo is still there, but Xiao Nan resists it.

"My siblings are in danger," he says. Feng Zhuo's face softens.

"My family situation is complicated, but I can somewhat relate," he says.

"Little Hao is too gifted. My sister has positioned herself too well for her own good. Feng Zhi is the only one I can feel at ease about, which is very surprising, but don't let him know I said that. He's terribly sensitive."

"I have no time for your jokes!" Xiao Nan shouts at him.

"Xiao Fang has gone off to some foolhardy mission, and I'm here!" A light shines in Feng Zhuo's golden eyes.

"Ah, I see the issue now," he says.

"It's not worry." He raises a finger and points it at Xiao Nan.

"It's guilt," he says.

"It's not that your family needs you. It's that you are not sure which family member to help. You don't want to choose."

"That's not it at all!"

"It was easy to focus on some grand goal when you were in the Dead Plains, but now you're here," Feng Zhuo continues.

"It is messy. It is complex. That makes you doubt, but that's no good, friend. Doubt is the greatest poison there is for people like us. It binds us. It paralyzes us. It makes us weak. The thing that should be making you strong is keeping you from the step that should be natural for you."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Xiao Nan yells. His Qi stomps on the land around them, sending a cloud of dust throughout the arena. Feng Zhuo remains unmoved. Stolen story; please report.

"My friend," Feng Zhuo says.

"There is no one who can possibly understand better than I. Have you seen my family? Do you have any idea how much trouble they are? My father and uncle wanted to kill each other until recently. My mother would kill my sister if she could get away with it. My aunt could go either way on that, but only because she'd enjoy either aftermath. They are all very difficult people!" Xiao Nan opens and closes his mouth a few times.

"That's… I suddenly feel a lot better."

"Naturally, you are speaking with your best friend."

"That's not it," Xiao Nan says.

"I just know that no matter what I do, my family will always be better than yours."

"Then rejoice," Feng Zhuo says.

"On this one thing, you are superior to me. No matter what you choose, you will be loved. Laugh and hold it over my head as much as you wish. Just don't forget to take action." For once, Xiao Nan has nothing to say. ~~~ Weeks ago, the Divine Frozen Palace sent a letter confirming Lady Meng Yue's arrival. Minister Chu has been hard at work ever since, organizing all the entertainment for the event and personally approving of every single meal for the banquet.

He has also prepared several gifts for the occasion and meticulously arranged the seating order. If all goes as planned, it will be his greatest event yet. Unfortunately for him, Lady Meng Yue shows up in the skies of Grand Storm City a full day ahead of schedule. There is no grand procession accompanying her, and she makes no effort to impress her presence on others. However, not a single noble or important official fails to sense her Qi.

Minister Chu is soon running through the palace, calling all the cooks and trying to assemble an orchestra in the limited time he has. It is all for naught. Lady Meng Yue lands in the courtyard of the Storm Dragon Palace before he can get anything done. A group of soldiers has already gathered there, but she pays them no mind. Her gaze is fixed on the palace. She waits for a second. The Emperor's Qi answers her unspoken request, and a burst of speed takes her all the way to the throne room.

Two people wait for her there. One of them is the Emperor of the Storm Dragon Empire. The other is General Nie Dan. He tries to stand tall in front of her, but Meng Yue does not fail to notice the bandages under his clothes or the wounds in his aura. Fighting a fellow Emperor has taken its toll on him. Meng Yue cannot help but feel a little envious.

"Lady Meng Yue," he says. Somehow, he makes it sound like he is chastising her just by saying her name. It reminds Meng Yue of her sisters, so she immediately warms up to him.

"You were supposed to arrive tomorrow."

"I was bored," Meng Yue replies.

"Why wait till tomorrow when I could be here today?"

"For such a reason! That's-""General Nie Dan, that's quite enough," interrupts Emperor Qing Jin.

"Lady Meng Yue has no doubt been troubled by recent events. She might have been in the Crimson Cloud Empire, but someone like her could not have possibly failed to notice your battle. It is surely concern for her disciple that brings her here." He meets her gaze without flinching, and Meng Yue marvels at how quickly time goes by. She still remembers the little boy she met so many years ago. The one in front of her is already a man in the Heaven Realm.

"It is as you say," she replies. There is more she wants to add, but she refrains. Annoying as social norms can be, it wouldn't be fair to Xiao Shuang's husband if she said more. He already knows that it would have been a simple matter for someone like her to fly all the way to the Storm Dragon Empire as soon as she sensed the battle. The truth is, she really wanted to. Not just to ensure Xiao Shuang's safety, but also because it is not often that she gets the chance to fight a fellow Emperor.

However, her sister stopped her. She claimed that it was important to know what the Storm Dragon Empire could do on its own. Foolishness, yet everyone acted under that same foolishness. Feng Gui and Feng Shang of the Eternal Clan surely did the same thing. Emperor Qing Jin knows that, too.

"I brought a gift," she says, suddenly remembering. It appears with a flick of her wrist.

"You already have its twin, but you can never have enough weapons."

"A knife," Liu Jin says, looking at the bone-white weapon in her hands.

"Ravenous Silver Wolf." As expected, he remembers. He holds out his hand, and she throws it at him. Sister Bai would disapprove, but Meng Yue knows the young Emperor does not care for propriety all that much.

"I thank you for your gift," he says.

"We had prepared something for you, but you arrived a little too early. Of course, such things must matter little compared with the prospect of seeing your disciple again."

"Very much so," she replies, nodding.

"Before I call her, I suppose I should be a little blunt. Lady Meng Yue, can I trust you to lend us your aid for the duration of your stay?"

"I'll kill any Emperor that attacks," she replies without hesitation. General Nie Dan's hand meets his forehead. Meng Yue is reminded of home yet again.

"I'll call Xiao Shuang," Qing Jin says, smiling. A few minutes later, Meng Yue is happily hugging her disciple. Little Shuang complains and tries to fight her off, but that's simply a little bit of rebellion caused by the teenage years. ~~~"They are still talking!" Firm Shadow says nothing as Alarming Shadow angrily paces up and down the hallway. He has been doing that for hours, only occasionally pausing to glare at the big red door at the end of the hallway.

Beyond that door is the Council of the Hundred, a collection of the most powerful and influential members of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows.

"Damnation! How long is it going to take?!"

"It is a sensitive subject," Firm Shadow replies at last.

"It would be bad if the council rushed to a decision. Alarming Shadow snorts. He knows the words are a lie. Firm Shadow knows it too. Of all the problems the council has, rushing to a decision has never been one of them. It is all the fault of the Ten Shadows, the ones who stand at the very top of the council's hierarchy. They should be the ones leading the Temple, yet the Ten Shadows have not done anything in millennia. They are too caught up with their cultivation to pay attention to the material world.

At best, they might say something every other century.

"I cannot believe you two would dare to show your faces around here!" The booming voice heralds the arrival of a man who walks up to them with a confident swagger. His blue and gold robes billow as he moves, and the green belt around his waist gleams with a metallic sheen. His head is shaved bald, save for a long braid of black hair. The Hero of Shadow is rumored to have worn his hair the same way, so the style is popular among the disciples of the Temple of the Thousand Shadows.

"Green Shadow," Firm Shadow greets him.

"We are here because the message needed to be delivered. Nothing more. Nothing less."

"You needed to report your defeat, you mean," Green Shadow says. His green eyes shine with disdain.

"You went to some small country in the middle of nowhere and lost one of our Emperors! It's a disgrace! The two of you should quit as disciples and never return!"

"You dare!" Firm Shadow puts his hand on Alarming Shadow's shoulder, both to calm him and to hold him back should the need arise.

"We lost. There are no words we can say that would make our defeat lighter. However, that's all the more reason why we needed to be here. Things have escalated far beyond our initial assessment. The Storm Dragon Empire proved a worthier foe than anyone expected." Green Shadow scoffs.

"The Storm Dragon Empire is nothing. Speak the truth. It is the Death Fashioning Scripture's interference that tipped the scales! It's about time we did something about them!" Firm Shadow and Alarming Shadow share a look. They have not said anything to anyone since reporting to the council. That means someone in the council has already leaked the information. Most likely, they are trying to sway public opinion against the Death Fashioning Scripture to force a decision.

"You cannot say things like that lightly. The Storm Dragon Empire wants us to be in open war with the Death Fashioning Scripture. That's the only way they can win," Firm Shadow warns him.

"We'd be playing right into their hands if we started hostilities."

"Why should that matter?" Green Shadow asks.

"The Death Fashioning Scripture is a blight we have tolerated for far too long! Their profane practices are the ones that birthed this situation! Now, they're acting against us so that they might complete them. It's time they face the consequences!" Firm Shadow looks at Green Shadow and knows nothing he says will change his mind. It's not as if he's wrong. Many in the council will surely think the same. Everything is tilting. Things are moving as the Storm Dragon Empire wishes them to.

As Emperor Qing Jin wishes them to. And yet, Firm Shadow doubts Qing Jin understands what he is unleashing on the world. ~~~