Chapter 319 She in Her Earlier Life
Tao Xian’er had exhibited amazing talents since she was two. She was doted on by her family. What followed was a rapid advancement. She became the most renowned Qi Artist of Tianyuan Continent.
When she was 16, she had such gorgeous looks that every man was besotted with her. Countless suitors lined up at her door. In the end, the Tao Family had to announce their final candidates.
The candidates selected were naturally from renowned clans of Tianyuan Continent. They were the young masters of the Bai, Xuan, Yun and Hua Families. They were all young, handsome and refined.
Of course, they had earned the approval of the older generation. But these young masters were not reconciled to accepting such arrangements. Although Tao Xian’er was rumored to be the foremost beauty of Tianyuan Continent, they had not seen her before.
So these four young masters came to a deal. They would pit their Qi Art against Tao Xian’er’s. If she lost or had proved unsatisfactory, they would go against their elders’ wish!
They did not expect Tao Xian’er to agree. The outcome too was unexpected. All four fell in love with Tao Xian’er and she could not quite make up her mind on who to choose. They were all in a quandary.
After all, these four young masters were all close friends. They had known each other since they were boys and were playmates.
Now that they had all fallen for the same girl— it was indeed a very serious problem.
They secretly agreed to put their marriage plans on hold for a few years. Tao Xian’er could take her time to decide. So, in those five years that ensued, they all treated Tao Xian’er with fervent ardor. But Tao Xian’er felt awful over such ardor.
She did not like these amorous young masters pestering her every day. So she left the Tao Family by herself and entered the famous Evil Beasts Forest of Tianyuan Continent.
These four young masters also went after her. But when they discovered Tao Xian’er half a year later, they found her in the company of a diabolically handsome man.
That man was Tianpi, conceived from the anima energy of the heaven and the earth.
Tianpi’s entry made these young masters very unhappy. But to win the favor of their beloved, they could not kill Tianpi. Besides, Tianpi was too powerful to be slain by the four of them.
At that time, Hua Zun was very infatuated with Tao Xian’er. When he saw her in a dilemma, he decided to become her bodyguard instead. He would not be involved in the contention to be her husband.
So these five men and one woman joined hands in the terrifying Evil Beasts Forest. They slew many evil beasts at the Heaven Realm.
Yes, evil beasts were not graded only into 10 levels, Above that, there was the Heaven Realm. An evil beast at the first level of the Heaven Realm was many times more ferocious than one at the tenth level of the Earth Realm.
At that time, these five people had turned the Evil Beasts Forest upside down. The more intelligent evil beasts and spirit animals all fled in terror upon hearing their names.
Their days continued in this manner for a long time. In the end, Tao Xian’er fell in love with Tianpi. Tianpi was born out of the heaven and the earth. His diabolically handsome features and nonchalant personality proved a great contrast to the crazy ardor of those four young masters.
So Tao Xian’er had fallen for a unique man— not a young master of those big clans.
Although these young masters were really quite outstanding.
These four young masters could not accept this fact. So they plotted to kill Tianpi.
But Tianpi’s strength exceeded theirs even combined. They could only find another way to defeat him. When they learned that the leader of the forest, the Eight-horned Demon Dragon, had two pearls brought down from heaven, they became very excited. Together with Tianpi, they subdued the Eight-horned Demon Dragon and seized its Hallucinatory Pearl and Purple Primordial Chaos Bead!
Hua Zun gave the Purple Primordial Chaos Bead to Tao Xian’er.
As for the Hallucinatory Pearl, the Eight-horned Demon Dragon warned them that after taking it, that person would degenerate into a devil in Devil’s Path.
Tianpi did not know this. So the four young masters pretended to be fearful of Tianpi and offered him the Hallucinatory Pearl.
At that time, all Tianpi could think about was his remaining life with Tao Xian’er. After Tao Xian’er took the Purple Primordial Chaos Bead, her powers exceeded Tianpi’s by many times.
So Tianpi could only take the Hallucinatory Pearl. He did not want Tao Xian’er to be more powerful than himself. If so, he would be the one getting “protected”.
She did not expect Tianpi to change completely after taking the Hallucinatory Pearl. He turned into a devil and would massacre living beings wantonly. Even Tao Xian’er could not stop his madness.
After slaying all the evil beasts in the Evil Beasts Forest, Tianpi continued to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people. Tao Xian’er and the four young masters were badly injured in their many fights with him. From then on, Tianpi overran and lorded over the world. He indulged in all kinds of evil, causing bloodbaths everywhere. Yet no one could defeat him.
Yes, during that time, Tianpi was utterly devoid of humanity. He even forgot Tao Xian’er was his true love.
The young masters knew that they had done wrong. But they could no longer contain the devil Tianpi.
When Tianpi learned that the Purple Primordial Chaos Bead was inside Tao Xian’er’s body, he brutally cleaved her chest apart to take the bead.
One must know that the Hallucinatory Pearl was as powerful as the Purple Primordial Chaos Bead. At that very instant when Tianpi took out her Purple Primordial Chaos Bead, Tao Xian’er suddenly released tremendous power. Together with the four young masters, she heavily injured Tianpi and seized his Hallucinatory Pearl instead.
Although the Hallucinatory Pearl was destroyed, Tianpi remained alive. And Tao Xian’er was so badly injured that she was about to die.
Tianpi was overwhelmed with grief and pain. The three young masters from the Bai, Xuan and Yun Families trapped Tianpi in the green jade gourd in an array.
Hua Zun carried Tao Xian’er in search of his elders, hoping that they could save her. Unfortunately, she was too badly injured. Since forbidden arts were not yet practiced then, Tao Xian’er only had two days to live.
Two days later, Tao Xian’er’s parents mastered 10% of the forbidden art and tried to revive their daughter. But they failed, only managing to retain her spirit. She left the world with a mark from that existence.
Hua Zun was overwhelmed with grief. He stood guard in the Ice Palace, firmly believing that Tao Xian’er would return.
And the other three young masters also departed. Left with the sole memory of Tao Xian’er, they all died lonely and old bachelors.
In other words, although Xuanji, Bai Qianxue and Yun Shimo were descendants of those families, they were not the direct descendants of those suitors.
Tianpi and Hua Zun sat for the whole night, watching over the simmering porridge. When the morning light streamed in, they lifted the cover of the pot. The aromatic smell of the porridge instantly wafted over.
Tianpi sat there, shutting his eyes. When he recalled his former self, he felt extreme guilt. Other than pain, there was only more pain.
Hua Zun squinted at Tianpi from the corners of his eyes. He drank the whole flagon of wine in one gulp. But when he thought about Hua Qiyue, he was somewhat astonished. He found a Ginseng with Nine Souls and chewed it to get rid of the smell of wine in his mouth.
“Don’t be so nervous. She won’t care about you.” Tianpi snorted coldly, his eyes full of sarcasm. “Qiyue already has a lover in this life. She only came here with me because of her previous life.”
He did not mention the relationship between Hua Qiyue and Yun Shimo, to keep Hua Zun sane.
Hua Zun paused and stared frostily at Tianpi. “Who’s that?”
In that life, she fell in love with Tianpi.
In this life, had she fallen for someone else?
“Not me anyway,” Tianpi said softly.
Hua Zun heard him and could not help but chuckle heartily. “Hahaha, what a delight. Luckily, she has not fallen for you. Humph, or I would surely not let you off!”
Tianpi swept him a quiet glance and started to ladle the porridge silently. When Hua Qiyue and her son woke, they could have tasty and fragrant evil beast porridge for breakfast.
Hua Zun seemed extremely agitated. He prowled the kitchen, appearing extremely anxious.
“Don’t you have any designs on her. Or I will pester you to the end!”
Tianpi squinted at the ecstatic Hua Zun from the corners of his eyes. He was scornful that Hua Zun was still the same scruffy man as 10,000 years ago.
Hua Zun disdainfully harrumphed. He rubbed his hands and tidied his attire. “Aren’t you having designs on her too? Tao’er will not love you. Don’t forget— you were the one who had killed her in her earlier life!”
Tianpi choked on his breath. His cold, inky eyes gradually dimmed. It was a hard fact, completely unalterable.
When Hua Qiyue awoke, she discovered that the sun had already risen. Her wedding the day before was really exhausting. Even Tianci had suffered so much that he slept uninterrupted until daybreak.
Hua Qiyue stared dazedly at the crystal clear ceiling. The scenes of yesterday replayed again and again in her mind.
She caressed her forehead in a headache. She had thought that they could have some peaceful days here, but that Hua Zun… seemed another tough nut to crack.
But with Tianpi around, he would not make things too difficult for her, would he?
Hua Qiyue sat up abstractedly and went down the bed lightly. She looked through the open blinds of the window and saw a snowy-white, unending chain of mountains.
The sun slowly rose, shining on the white snow. She could not sense any warmth at all.
So what happened yesterday was true…
The fortune-teller was right. She could not marry Yun Shimo in the following one to two years’ time.
Hua Qiyue’s heart started to ache dully. Her body went limp and she finally sat back on the jade bed.
“Mom, you’re awake?”
Tianci’s voice made Hua Qiyue start. She had not noticed the boy had awakened, staring at her with large, rotating eyes.
Hua Qiyue stretched out her hand and tenderly caressed his tousled hair. “I am. Are you hungry? Get up if you are. There’s a wood bordering the snowy mountains. If you’re bored, we can visit there to play.”
Hearing this, Tianci immediately sat up. Hua Qiyue took a comb from her Space Ring and started combing his hair.
When the two exited their room, they found Tianpi and Hua Zun waiting by the door. The moment they saw Hua Qiyue, their eyes lit up.
Hua Qiyue felt stifled. What kind of expression was in their eyes? Hadn’t they seen women before?
“Qiyue, you are awake?”
“Lass, you are up?” Tianpi asked with a grin. He sounded utterly lazy. Hua Zun gave Tianpi a displeased glare. This scoundrel should be as happy as a clam. He was the one who had killed Tao Xian’er, yet she had treated him so well in this life!
“Um, why are you guys standing here?” Hua Qiyue looked to her left and right. She was certain that there were only the four of them in this palace.
“Breakfast’s ready. Let’s go and eat. I will take you there.” Hua Zun immediately smiled. Hua Qiyue gave him an indifferent glance and said nothing.
“The porridge has been simmering for a night. The evil beast meat might have turned into soup,” Tianpi said with a smile. Only now did Hua Qiyue notice their bloodshot eyes.
“Why stay up the whole night over nothing?” Hua Qiyue rolled her eyes at Tianpi. She did not understand why they had to stay up the whole night to make breakfast.
Tianpi merely lowered his head. He did not look into Hua Qiyue’s eyes. Hua Zun seemed quite dejected when she did not turn to face him.
“Qiyue, you mean you really can’t remember me? I am Hua Zun… that man who had unconditionally withdrawn to protect you!”
Hua Zun was anxious. He immediately clarified his identity.
Hua Qiyue glanced astonishedly at him. “You really think I am that Tao Xian’er of 10,000 years ago?”