And among them were the junior officials who had stumbled upon Xie Lian’s failed robbery!
When they saw Xie Lian, their faces subtly changed. They tugged at and elbowed each other, whispering amongst themselves under their breath.
And when Xie Lian saw them, his hands immediately started trembling.
Both parties stared at each other in dismay. It was some time before one of the heavenly officials cleared his throat.
“What a coincidence that we’d run into Your Royal Highness here.”
“Indeed. Why has Your Royal Highness come here as well?”
Xie Lian gave a light nod, forcing himself to be calm and composed. He responded with neither haughtiness nor humility. “…I’m here to train.”
Even though he was a different person now, Xie Lian still tried his best to speak with the same tone of voice he’d used before he was banished, refusing to allow himself to sound anxious or agitated.
The heavenly official smiled. “An even greater coincidence. We’ve come to train too.”
“Yeah, yeah. Who knew that we’d run into each other here? Ho ho ho…”
As it turned out, Xie Lian wasn’t the only one who’d spotted this blessed land—this group of heavenly officials had targeted it too.
Faced with this situation, Xie Lian hesitated. Would he have to cultivate alongside all these heavenly officials? Honestly, he despised the idea. He had come here to close himself off from the world and cultivate quietly—there’d no doubt be disturbances; he couldn’t achieve solitude around this many people. Some people liked to cultivate in groups so they could take care of one another, but Xie Lian had always cultivated quietly on his own.
Furthermore, ever since the robbery incident, he became anxious whenever he saw heavenly officials he’d once known. Other people’s eyes felt as piercing as needles, and the stares tormented him. He was perpetually gripped by the delusional feeling that they were all secretly watching and judging him. He wouldn’t be able to focus on cultivation in such a state.
When it came to laying claim to blessed lands, there was a “first come, first served” rule. If Xie Lian was strong enough, he could simply state that he was there first and request they find somewhere else to train. However, the junior officials who had witnessed the robbery incident were right there, so he couldn’t act too forcefully. Besides, it’d seem overbearing if he chased away so many heavenly officials to keep this blessed land all for himself. Even if Xie Lian didn’t want to train with other heavenly officials nearby, he had no choice. He would never be able to find another cultivation place with such plentiful spiritual energy, at least not quickly. Xie Lian could only nod.
“Yeah, what a coincidence. I’ll head in first. Please do as you will, everyone.”
He began to hurry off to find the quietest cave to hide, yet a heavenly official behind him spoke up as he turned to go.
“Hold on.”
Xie Lian paused and turned his head back, puzzled. “What is it?”
Some of the thirty-or-so heavenly officials exchanged looks, and some exchanged whispers. A moment later, one stepped forward with a smile.
“Your Highness took over many blessed lands in the past. Why don’t you let us have this one?”
Xie Lian was stunned for a long while before he understood. They were going to force him to leave entirely!
How baffling…what bullies!
A rush of blood ran to his head. I was here first, but I didn’t ask you to go, Xie Lian thought angrily. Why are you all ganging up and trying to force me to leave?
But he didn’t dare act out. After a moment of silence, he slowly gripped the strap of his satchel tighter.
“What do you mean by this?” Xie Lian demanded, his voice hard.
One of the heavenly officials began to explain. “Well…didn’t we just say…? Your Highness has claimed many blessed lands in the past—”
Xie Lian cut him off. “What does then have to do with now? Are you saying that since I’ve trained in spiritual lands before, I’m barred from doing it going forward?”
The heavenly official was stumped into silence, looking embarrassed.
Xie Lian tried to remain calm. “Also, I don’t quite understand. It’s not like the rest of you can’t cultivate because I’m here. Isn’t it common to share spiritual land when cultivating? Why can’t we all just keep to ourselves? Why must you ask me to leave?”
Just then, he heard someone grumble, “Stop playing dumb… There are already more than thirty of us. What progress can we make if you’re cultivating here too…?”
The man was instantly hushed by the rest of his group, but Xie Lian immediately understood. So that was it!
A blessed land’s spiritual energy was limited. If someone took half when cultivating, then anyone who came afterward would have to share the other half. If someone took eighty percent of it, then only the remaining twenty could be parceled out. And a person with a greater ability to absorb spiritual energy would leave even less for others to use.
The heavenly officials were afraid that Xie Lian would absorb most of the spiritual energy if he was there to cultivate. Anything that remained would have to be shared among the thirty of them—barely a sliver for each!
Realizing this, the boiling blood in Xie Lian’s head began to roil even more aggressively. He clenched his fists and stated coldly, “…I will cultivate here.”
Another heavenly official spoke up. “Your Highness, we’re only calling you ‘Your Highness’ out of respect. You’re nothing more than mortal right now. Why must you fight with us over this spiritual land?”
“Since I’m a mortal and you’re all heavenly officials, then what are you afraid of if I’m here to train?” Xie Lian said. “If I don’t leave, are you going to chase me away by force?”
Of course they couldn’t do any such thing—heavenly officials were not allowed to attack a mortal who hadn’t committed any major sins lest they be punished. These heavenly officials couldn’t do anything to him.
However, Xie Lian had forgotten one thing.
As he stubbornly faced those thirty-some heavenly officials, a voice broke in to say, “It seems Your Highness has grown more of a backbone after being banished to the Mortal Realm. Not only will you rob mortals, you’ll even offend heavenly officials! Ha ha ha ha!”
It felt like Xie Lian had suddenly plunged into an icy cellar. He whipped his head up and saw that the one who had spoken was an unremarkable lower-ranking official…but not one who’d been among the group that had caught him red-handed during the robbery incident!
As Xie Lian had suspected, they had already gossiped about it! It hadn’t all been in Xie Lian’s head; everyone really had been staring at him with judgment in their gazes. Everyone knew. All of these heavenly officials—they all knew!
In an instant, Xie Lian felt like all of his bones had been pulled out. The fire burning in his veins was extinguished and his eyes turned red. He stiffly looked at the junior officials who had seen him that night.
“You said you wouldn’t tell anyone…” he rasped.
Perhaps his burning stare pierced them too deeply, but the junior officials pinned under his gaze quickly waved their hands.
“We didn’t tell any outsiders!”
His eyes burning red, Xie Lian demanded, “Then how did they know?!”
None of the thirty-some heavenly officials looked surprised when they heard his question. If so many of these heavenly officials already knew, how much of the Upper Court had been told?
His question stumped the officials for a moment, but they quickly argued back. “Well, it’s not like they’re outsiders! We’re all close friends here, with no secrets between us—so this doesn’t count as telling! But we won’t say anything to anyone besides the officials here—”
Xie Lian didn’t wait for him to finish before he cried out sharply. “Lies! What a bunch of lies! I don’t believe you!”
