"Vast Heaven Young Master?" Tianyi said, his voice confused. He recalled that his most famous moniker was Junior Tribulation Lord. Where did this Vast Heaven Young Master come from?
The aura around Bing Huoyuan immediately changed from that of a desolate drunken man to an upright and dignified man. Even his disheveled clothes became clean and bright, causing him to appear all radiant in complete contrast to his previous appearance. It was to the point that the previous fairy maidens who disdained his drunken persona completely revised their previous opinion.
They made excuses as to why the man appeared so slovenly. Maybe he was down in the dumps, or a family member died, or maybe even heartbreak. Even Tianyi was frozen momentarily by the disparity to the sudden change of image.
"Vast Heaven Young Master, that is the name that the title decided for you by the participants of Heavenly Connection Gathering." Bing Huoyuan said calmly, his face impassive but giving Tianyi a feeling of goodwill. He made a gesture towards the seat, and Tianyi made a "please" gesture.
Once Bing Huoyuan sat down, he observed the mysterious youth before him. He had heard from his friends within the sect of the massive upset during the most recent Heavenly Connection Meeting, as well as Xi Tianyi, who grandly made his fame and stood out even with the five leaders who appeared, completely eclipsing them in fame. At least to the participants. Compared to the rumors, Bing Huoyuan couldn't feel the vastness of Tianyi's aura. In fact, Tianyi only appeared to be an ordinary Nascent Soul Grandmaster to him. That alone spoke of a big problem, how could Sword Empress Xi's son be ordinary?
Tianyi courteously poured a cup of tea. Before going to the main topic, he wanted to learn more first. "I was unaware of such a title. From what I recall, Boundless Mountain was not a participant in this Heavenly Connection Gathering. I'm surprised you would have heard of me."
"Vast Heaven Young Master is too humble." Bing Huoyuan said as he sipped the tea. It was nothing close to what he was used to, but the refreshingly bitter taste contrasted nicely against all the wine he had been chugging. "Even if Boundless Mountain was invited, I would not have been able to appear. Although, I made some achievements in the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering."
"Oh?" Tianyi said, raising his voice in curiosity. "I am not well informed of the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering. Might you inform me of your title?"
"Compared to Vast Heaven Young Master, my title as the Frost Flame Young Master is nothing much." Bing Houfeng said self-deprecatingly.
Tianyi's eyes brightened. He recalled Su Bojing mentioning it to him during the journey towards Ocean Lake City. "So it is Frost Flame Young Master, I have long heard of your fame, only I didn't know your esteemed name."
"Haha, what esteemed name?" Bing Huoyuan chuckled bitterly. "The titles are something we gave ourselves for fun. Compared to the wider world, who else knows of my title as Frost Flame Young Master. Unlike you, Junior Tribulation Lord."
Tianyi thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. Vast Heaven Young Master, Frost Flame Young Master, both these titles contained the words: young master. What did call someone young master mean? It meant they were part of the bourgeois class of people, born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Not many people would use such a title. Only people of the same circle did.
There are only wrong names, no wrong titles.*
"But your title as Vast Heaven Young Master might be different." Bing Huoyuan continued with a slight smile.
"How so?" Tianyi imagined people calling him Vast Heaven Young Master, especially those that looked like old folks. The scene formed in Tianyi's mind was too beautiful to be put in words. It was like everyone was his servant calling him young master.
"The recent Heavenly Connection Gathering was by no means ordinary. Deaths had never occurred before, and were it not you who displayed your might and chased off the scourge? Not to mention words of your accomplishments have been spread by eyewitnesses, such as your temporal methods and your incredible learning abilities. The heaven in Vast Heaven Young Master refers to your supremacy over those in the same generation, while vast refers to the numerous disciplines you have shown and yet to display."
Hearing Bing Huoyuan praise him like this, Tianyi felt a little embarrassed. Especially with Xi Chen's eyes of worship. "You overpraise me. I am still not worthy of such a name. I let the culprit escape, after all."
"Not necessarily so. I heard the culprit was in possession of three Immortal Realm Artifacts. And even before that, when Longwei was besieged by tens of Nascent Soul Realm disciples, none were able to deal with him until you singlehandedly defeated him." Bing Huoyuan continued.
"Longwei was already besieged for quite some time. I just came at an opportune time to deal with him." Tianyi said, still feeling slightly embarrassed. "But what brings Frost Flame Young Master here? Surely this place isn't vast enough to contain a young dragon like you."
Bing Huoyuan didn't point out Tianyi's brutish method of changing the subject. And instead, he shook his head bitterly. "Just a little trouble, I wanted to clear my mind. Let's talk about the main matter first."
Tianyi likewise didn't point at Bing Huoyuan's attempt at diverting the topic. And it wasn't like the conversation between the two didn't have any meaning. While the two conversed, the previously heated atmosphere settled down.
"Miss Yu, how about you explain to Frost Flame Young Master your situation first?" Tianyi said, asking Beauty Yu Hua to speak first gave her the initiative and gave her the advantage over Wei'er. But Bing Huoyuan didn't say anything.
Beauty Yu Hua had already recomposed herself when the two young masters had been conversing. And so with an eloquent tongue, she spoke of how Wei'er had appeared before them and her circumstance. She didn't add any bias or how she affected One Jade Flower Pavillion's business, except how customers would be angry seek compensation for Wei'er poor performance. Thus they no longer allowed her to entertain customers. It was a completely subjective narration of the situation.
While she was talking, Xi Chen began to feel out of place. While the fairy maidens and Beauty Yu Hua were standing, he was sitting. Normally, he wouldn't have minded, but currently, he was sitting between two Nascent Soul Grandmasters!
Previously, the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster he interacted with was his father. And Tianyi was relatively relaxed and informal around him, giving him a sense of calmness. But now, the atmosphere between the two was too much for him. It wasn't like there was a tense atmosphere of enemies, but the formality was cranked up several notches, making him feel stifled.
When Beauty Yu Hua was done, Tianyi directly looked at Wei'er and asked for her perspective. He didn't ask any of the fairy maidens, from what he had seen before, Beauty Yu Hua was the absolute leader, and thus, her words accounted for their views as well.
"I...I..." Wei'er stuttered a bit before she looked directly at Tianyi as if finally working up her courage. It was obvious she was deathly fearful, yet she courageously faced him head-on. It incited the image of a weak girl who pretended to be brave, causing most men's hearts to soften.
But Tianyi could only feel his eyes twitching. If he didn't twitch his eyes, his lips would have twitched, exposing his true feelings. This appearance, he had seen so many times in the shoujo manga he had read. What's next? Would he develop an interest in her and protect her too?
Then without realizing it, those protective feelings of his would develop into love. But how could his mother allow such a thing? She would disrupt their feelings, but Tianyi and Wei'er would remain together no matter what until Mengfei relented and recognized their love. Wait, his mother would probably agree as long as wished it, Tianyi thought. Then the villainess naturally became Daoyi, who, after Tianyi began to grow closer to Wei'er, would show jealousy and purposely create trouble for them.
Tianyi almost laughed out loud at his sudden absurd thoughts. With great trouble, Tianyi only allowed a slight tremble to run through his body. Instead, he secretly observed Bing Huoyuan to keep his thoughts straight.
"I didn't want this!" Wei'er's crisp and clear voice sounded. It was full of conviction. "I only planned her to stay here for a little while. When I was young, my Bai Clan was attacked by devilish cultivators resulting in the loss of my parents."
Teardrops started to appear at the corner of Wei'er's eyes, but not dropping. This gave her the appearance of a young girl trying to remain strong in dark times. "I can still remember my parent's last words. They said, "Ningwei, you are the eldest sister. When we are gone, you have to protect your baby sister, Qingwei." But I'm not a good daughter. But on the journey towards safety, we were attacked by devilish cultivators, and I lost my sister years ago. Even now, I'm still trying to find her."
Tianyi felt himself being stunned. Not stunned by Ningwei's sob story, but how the topic changed. He was originally asking for her perspective of the events that led to this moment, certainly not her sob story! Tianyi was about to speak, but Bing Huoyuan spoke faster than him.
"...is your sister's name, Bai Weiwei?" Bing Huoyuan asked, causing Tianyi to furrow his brows as he felt the name was very familiar. His eyes widened when he recalled where he had heard it. It was the name of the girl those two disciples from Bright Ascension Sect were having a cockfight over. There was no way, right?
Tianyi looked at Bai Ningwei, furrowing her brows. Now that he looked closer, there seemed to be some similarities between the two ladies. Especially the pure and innocent aura they both had.
"No, her name is Qingwei." Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something. "We were separated when she was very young, but her nickname was Weiwei!"
Tianyi looked at Bing Huoyung. How did Bing Huoyuan know Bai Weiwei, or was it Bai Qingwei now? Tianyi felt his interest light up as he continued watching.
"Did she have a jade pendant with the character for Bai (白)?" And it seemed that the relationship wasn't simple if Bing Huoyuan even knew of such a matter.
"She did!" Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something and took something from inside her clothes. It was a pendant made of white jade with the character for Bai on it. "Where did senior see her? Please tell me. I'm willing to do anything!"
"Frost Flame Young Master, the person you are speaking of, is it Bai Weiwei of Bright Ascension Sect?" Tianyi asked, causing Bing Huoyuan to raise his guard.
"Indeed, I'm surprised the esteemed Vast Heaven Young Master would know of such a disciple." Bing Huoyuan said, a question within his words.
"She caught my eye at the Heavenly Connection Gathering," Tianyi said, deliberately making his situation with Bai Weiwei ambiguous. "I wonder what Frost Flame Young Master's relationship with miss Bai is?"
"We had a fortuitous encounter when I was out tempering myself. After experiencing life and death together, our relationship is quite close." Tianyi smiled at Bing Huoyuan's words. He said, "I see," while nodding his head.
Bing Huoyuan felt confused at Tianyi's reply. The reason he was here was that he had heard that Bai Weiwei found a potential Dao companion. He had the heart to oppose this, but the two were from different sects, and such a thing was impossible unless he reached a point that no one would oppose. In other words, a True Immortal.
He originally wanted to bless Bai Weiwei's future, but now he found hope. The hope is known as Bai Ningwei, Bai Weiwei's elder sister.
"Forgive me for interjecting." Tianyi and Bing Huoyuan both looked at Beauty Yu Hua. "Little Sister Wei'er has constantly mentioned the matter of finding her younger sister. It is her good fortune to meet Vast Heaven Young Master and Frost Flame Young Master. It is this lowly girl's one-sided request, but I implore you to please fulfill Little Sister Wei'er's wish."
In Tianyi's eyes, this was Beauty Yu Hua's method of ditching Bai Ningwei. From her earlier words, he got the distinct feeling of Bai Ningwei being viewed as a parasite by the members of One Jade Flower Pavillion. Bing Huoyuan was naturally elated at Beauty Yu Hua's request. He unconsciously ignored Beauty Yu Hua's abnormal sentence. Even Bai Ningwei gave Beauty Yu Hua a grateful look.
Tianyi felt that Beauty Yu Hua would be angered to death the more grateful Bai Ningwei was. Bai Ningwei was a parasitic person, subconsciously draining the resources of others through her actions. Not only that, but she was also incredibly shallow and stupid too.
"If Miss Bai is willing to trust me, I will bring you to meet your sister as soon as possible." Bing Huoyuan said with a dependable look.
"Willing, willing, as long as I can see my sister again, I'm willing to do anything!" With Bai Ningwei's intelligence, she wouldn't even know if she was sold by a liar or not. In fact, she would probably help her traffickers count the money!
Not long after, Bing Huoyuan brought Bai Ningwei away as if afraid Tianyi would interject and steal away his chance. Tianyi just watched all this with amusement in his eyes. After this, Tianyi lost all interest in watching the beauties of One Jade Flower Pavillion perform. There was a better show to be watched.
But since One Jade Flower Pavillion allowed him to see such a good show, he wouldn't be stingy with his tip as he brought Xi Chen back into the palace. However, never would have Tianyi thought that his mother would appear before and give him a lecture.
------
*Phrase taken from Reverend Insanity. Not sure if it originated there, though.
白 - white
"Vast Heaven Young Master?" Tianyi said, his voice confused. He recalled that his most famous moniker was Junior Tribulation Lord. Where did this Vast Heaven Young Master come from?
The aura around Bing Huoyuan immediately changed from that of a desolate drunken man to an upright and dignified man. Even his disheveled clothes became clean and bright, causing him to appear all radiant in complete contrast to his previous appearance. It was to the point that the previous fairy maidens who disdained his drunken persona completely revised their previous opinion.
They made excuses as to why the man appeared so slovenly. Maybe he was down in the dumps, or a family member died, or maybe even heartbreak. Even Tianyi was frozen momentarily by the disparity to the sudden change of image.
"Vast Heaven Young Master, that is the name that the title decided for you by the participants of Heavenly Connection Gathering." Bing Huoyuan said calmly, his face impassive but giving Tianyi a feeling of goodwill. He made a gesture towards the seat, and Tianyi made a "please" gesture.
Once Bing Huoyuan sat down, he observed the mysterious youth before him. He had heard from his friends within the sect of the massive upset during the most recent Heavenly Connection Meeting, as well as Xi Tianyi, who grandly made his fame and stood out even with the five leaders who appeared, completely eclipsing them in fame. At least to the participants. Compared to the rumors, Bing Huoyuan couldn't feel the vastness of Tianyi's aura. In fact, Tianyi only appeared to be an ordinary Nascent Soul Grandmaster to him. That alone spoke of a big problem, how could Sword Empress Xi's son be ordinary?
Tianyi courteously poured a cup of tea. Before going to the main topic, he wanted to learn more first. "I was unaware of such a title. From what I recall, Boundless Mountain was not a participant in this Heavenly Connection Gathering. I'm surprised you would have heard of me."
"Vast Heaven Young Master is too humble." Bing Huoyuan said as he sipped the tea. It was nothing close to what he was used to, but the refreshingly bitter taste contrasted nicely against all the wine he had been chugging. "Even if Boundless Mountain was invited, I would not have been able to appear. Although, I made some achievements in the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering."
"Oh?" Tianyi said, raising his voice in curiosity. "I am not well informed of the previous Heavenly Connection Gathering. Might you inform me of your title?"
"Compared to Vast Heaven Young Master, my title as the Frost Flame Young Master is nothing much." Bing Houfeng said self-deprecatingly.
Tianyi's eyes brightened. He recalled Su Bojing mentioning it to him during the journey towards Ocean Lake City. "So it is Frost Flame Young Master, I have long heard of your fame, only I didn't know your esteemed name."
"Haha, what esteemed name?" Bing Huoyuan chuckled bitterly. "The titles are something we gave ourselves for fun. Compared to the wider world, who else knows of my title as Frost Flame Young Master. Unlike you, Junior Tribulation Lord."
Tianyi thought about it for a moment before nodding in agreement. Vast Heaven Young Master, Frost Flame Young Master, both these titles contained the words: young master. What did call someone young master mean? It meant they were part of the bourgeois class of people, born with a silver spoon in the mouth. Not many people would use such a title. Only people of the same circle did.
There are only wrong names, no wrong titles.*
"But your title as Vast Heaven Young Master might be different." Bing Huoyuan continued with a slight smile.
"How so?" Tianyi imagined people calling him Vast Heaven Young Master, especially those that looked like old folks. The scene formed in Tianyi's mind was too beautiful to be put in words. It was like everyone was his servant calling him young master.
"The recent Heavenly Connection Gathering was by no means ordinary. Deaths had never occurred before, and were it not you who displayed your might and chased off the scourge? Not to mention words of your accomplishments have been spread by eyewitnesses, such as your temporal methods and your incredible learning abilities. The heaven in Vast Heaven Young Master refers to your supremacy over those in the same generation, while vast refers to the numerous disciplines you have shown and yet to display."
Hearing Bing Huoyuan praise him like this, Tianyi felt a little embarrassed. Especially with Xi Chen's eyes of worship. "You overpraise me. I am still not worthy of such a name. I let the culprit escape, after all."
"Not necessarily so. I heard the culprit was in possession of three Immortal Realm Artifacts. And even before that, when Longwei was besieged by tens of Nascent Soul Realm disciples, none were able to deal with him until you singlehandedly defeated him." Bing Huoyuan continued.
"Longwei was already besieged for quite some time. I just came at an opportune time to deal with him." Tianyi said, still feeling slightly embarrassed. "But what brings Frost Flame Young Master here? Surely this place isn't vast enough to contain a young dragon like you."
Bing Huoyuan didn't point out Tianyi's brutish method of changing the subject. And instead, he shook his head bitterly. "Just a little trouble, I wanted to clear my mind. Let's talk about the main matter first."
Tianyi likewise didn't point at Bing Huoyuan's attempt at diverting the topic. And it wasn't like the conversation between the two didn't have any meaning. While the two conversed, the previously heated atmosphere settled down.
"Miss Yu, how about you explain to Frost Flame Young Master your situation first?" Tianyi said, asking Beauty Yu Hua to speak first gave her the initiative and gave her the advantage over Wei'er. But Bing Huoyuan didn't say anything.
Beauty Yu Hua had already recomposed herself when the two young masters had been conversing. And so with an eloquent tongue, she spoke of how Wei'er had appeared before them and her circumstance. She didn't add any bias or how she affected One Jade Flower Pavillion's business, except how customers would be angry seek compensation for Wei'er poor performance. Thus they no longer allowed her to entertain customers. It was a completely subjective narration of the situation.
While she was talking, Xi Chen began to feel out of place. While the fairy maidens and Beauty Yu Hua were standing, he was sitting. Normally, he wouldn't have minded, but currently, he was sitting between two Nascent Soul Grandmasters!
Previously, the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster he interacted with was his father. And Tianyi was relatively relaxed and informal around him, giving him a sense of calmness. But now, the atmosphere between the two was too much for him. It wasn't like there was a tense atmosphere of enemies, but the formality was cranked up several notches, making him feel stifled.
When Beauty Yu Hua was done, Tianyi directly looked at Wei'er and asked for her perspective. He didn't ask any of the fairy maidens, from what he had seen before, Beauty Yu Hua was the absolute leader, and thus, her words accounted for their views as well.
"I...I..." Wei'er stuttered a bit before she looked directly at Tianyi as if finally working up her courage. It was obvious she was deathly fearful, yet she courageously faced him head-on. It incited the image of a weak girl who pretended to be brave, causing most men's hearts to soften.
But Tianyi could only feel his eyes twitching. If he didn't twitch his eyes, his lips would have twitched, exposing his true feelings. This appearance, he had seen so many times in the shoujo manga he had read. What's next? Would he develop an interest in her and protect her too?
Then without realizing it, those protective feelings of his would develop into love. But how could his mother allow such a thing? She would disrupt their feelings, but Tianyi and Wei'er would remain together no matter what until Mengfei relented and recognized their love. Wait, his mother would probably agree as long as wished it, Tianyi thought. Then the villainess naturally became Daoyi, who, after Tianyi began to grow closer to Wei'er, would show jealousy and purposely create trouble for them.
Tianyi almost laughed out loud at his sudden absurd thoughts. With great trouble, Tianyi only allowed a slight tremble to run through his body. Instead, he secretly observed Bing Huoyuan to keep his thoughts straight.
"I didn't want this!" Wei'er's crisp and clear voice sounded. It was full of conviction. "I only planned her to stay here for a little while. When I was young, my Bai Clan was attacked by devilish cultivators resulting in the loss of my parents."
Teardrops started to appear at the corner of Wei'er's eyes, but not dropping. This gave her the appearance of a young girl trying to remain strong in dark times. "I can still remember my parent's last words. They said, "Ningwei, you are the eldest sister. When we are gone, you have to protect your baby sister, Qingwei." But I'm not a good daughter. But on the journey towards safety, we were attacked by devilish cultivators, and I lost my sister years ago. Even now, I'm still trying to find her."
Tianyi felt himself being stunned. Not stunned by Ningwei's sob story, but how the topic changed. He was originally asking for her perspective of the events that led to this moment, certainly not her sob story! Tianyi was about to speak, but Bing Huoyuan spoke faster than him.
"...is your sister's name, Bai Weiwei?" Bing Huoyuan asked, causing Tianyi to furrow his brows as he felt the name was very familiar. His eyes widened when he recalled where he had heard it. It was the name of the girl those two disciples from Bright Ascension Sect were having a cockfight over. There was no way, right?
Tianyi looked at Bai Ningwei, furrowing her brows. Now that he looked closer, there seemed to be some similarities between the two ladies. Especially the pure and innocent aura they both had.
"No, her name is Qingwei." Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something. "We were separated when she was very young, but her nickname was Weiwei!"
Tianyi looked at Bing Huoyung. How did Bing Huoyuan know Bai Weiwei, or was it Bai Qingwei now? Tianyi felt his interest light up as he continued watching.
"Did she have a jade pendant with the character for Bai (白)?" And it seemed that the relationship wasn't simple if Bing Huoyuan even knew of such a matter.
"She did!" Bai Ningwei said before she thought of something and took something from inside her clothes. It was a pendant made of white jade with the character for Bai on it. "Where did senior see her? Please tell me. I'm willing to do anything!"
"Frost Flame Young Master, the person you are speaking of, is it Bai Weiwei of Bright Ascension Sect?" Tianyi asked, causing Bing Huoyuan to raise his guard.
"Indeed, I'm surprised the esteemed Vast Heaven Young Master would know of such a disciple." Bing Huoyuan said, a question within his words.
"She caught my eye at the Heavenly Connection Gathering," Tianyi said, deliberately making his situation with Bai Weiwei ambiguous. "I wonder what Frost Flame Young Master's relationship with miss Bai is?"
"We had a fortuitous encounter when I was out tempering myself. After experiencing life and death together, our relationship is quite close." Tianyi smiled at Bing Huoyuan's words. He said, "I see," while nodding his head.
Bing Huoyuan felt confused at Tianyi's reply. The reason he was here was that he had heard that Bai Weiwei found a potential Dao companion. He had the heart to oppose this, but the two were from different sects, and such a thing was impossible unless he reached a point that no one would oppose. In other words, a True Immortal.
He originally wanted to bless Bai Weiwei's future, but now he found hope. The hope is known as Bai Ningwei, Bai Weiwei's elder sister.
"Forgive me for interjecting." Tianyi and Bing Huoyuan both looked at Beauty Yu Hua. "Little Sister Wei'er has constantly mentioned the matter of finding her younger sister. It is her good fortune to meet Vast Heaven Young Master and Frost Flame Young Master. It is this lowly girl's one-sided request, but I implore you to please fulfill Little Sister Wei'er's wish."
In Tianyi's eyes, this was Beauty Yu Hua's method of ditching Bai Ningwei. From her earlier words, he got the distinct feeling of Bai Ningwei being viewed as a parasite by the members of One Jade Flower Pavillion. Bing Huoyuan was naturally elated at Beauty Yu Hua's request. He unconsciously ignored Beauty Yu Hua's abnormal sentence. Even Bai Ningwei gave Beauty Yu Hua a grateful look.
Tianyi felt that Beauty Yu Hua would be angered to death the more grateful Bai Ningwei was. Bai Ningwei was a parasitic person, subconsciously draining the resources of others through her actions. Not only that, but she was also incredibly shallow and stupid too.
"If Miss Bai is willing to trust me, I will bring you to meet your sister as soon as possible." Bing Huoyuan said with a dependable look.
"Willing, willing, as long as I can see my sister again, I'm willing to do anything!" With Bai Ningwei's intelligence, she wouldn't even know if she was sold by a liar or not. In fact, she would probably help her traffickers count the money!
Not long after, Bing Huoyuan brought Bai Ningwei away as if afraid Tianyi would interject and steal away his chance. Tianyi just watched all this with amusement in his eyes. After this, Tianyi lost all interest in watching the beauties of One Jade Flower Pavillion perform. There was a better show to be watched.
But since One Jade Flower Pavillion allowed him to see such a good show, he wouldn't be stingy with his tip as he brought Xi Chen back into the palace. However, never would have Tianyi thought that his mother would appear before and give him a lecture.
------
*Phrase taken from Reverend Insanity. Not sure if it originated there, though.
白 - white
