Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 499 - 13 Conciliation

Almost simultaneously with Li Yan’s last word, a thick, sweet, fishy smell suddenly surged up his throat, his bones and innards creaked distressingly under an indescribable crushing pain,

Li Yan’s five fingers pressed hard against the tea-colored tabletop, unable to suppress a muffled grunt of either pain or anger. But his upper body violently arched, like a fierce beast about to pounce.

At that moment, only the span of two arms separated Li Yan from Si Wenji!

Si Wenji, sitting opposite, noticed nothing amiss. She was just about to lean on her elbow and say something with a cold sneer when she met Li Yan’s gaze.

It was a pair of incredibly turbid eyes. The dusty pupils conveyed a lifetimes’ worth of desolation, yet they couldn’t hide a hint of disdain and indifference to everything.

Unbidden, a phrase popped into Si Wenji’s mind, "The tumultuous waves crash down, standing alone steadfast amidst the turbulent stream like an unwavering pillar, towering and majestic."

She felt a sudden panic, her mind racing, and unconsciously, a gigantic fox tail unraveled from beneath her white leather jacket, sweeping towards Li Yan’s head while Li Yan drew and swung the Jumu Great Sword horizontally!

Bang!

The office desk and leather chair snapped in two, liquor, ice cubes, papers, and wood chips scattered like a whirlwind of dust, trembling and wailing under Li Yan’s Jumu Great Sword.

From the black and white contrasting scenery, emerged a flesh-colored palm holding a paper cup. Emblazoned on the cup in shining letters were four words: "Heaven and Earth Useless."

Clang!

The Jumu Great Sword struck the paper cup’s owner on the fingers, and the white fox tail slammed down, landing right on the paper cup owner’s head.

A cool breeze wafted through, utterly silent.

Tap tap.

Si Wenji took two steps back, biting her lower lip with an ugly expression on her face.

Li Yan’s eyes were tightly shut, his eyelids trembling incessantly as he quietly endured the terrible aftermath of using Qilian Swordsmanship.

The winery was a complete mess. Unbeknownst to them, Zhan Yuejin had positioned himself between the two. In his hand, he held a paper cup with a bobbing tuft of blue flame on the surface of the water. Zhan Yuejin exhaled lightly, and the flame extinguished with a pop, the steam from the hot water rising eagerly.

Zhan Yuejin drank the hot water from the paper cup with an expressionless face.

Si Wenji winced in pain as the fox tail struck Zhan Yuejin.

"You sure have timing!" Si Wenji said resentfully, "If you wanted to save him, you should have just taken him away. Why block me?"

Zhan Yuejin turned to Si Wenji and gave her a smile, subtly tucking in his pinky finger.

Crack~

A crack appeared on the Jumu Great Sword, followed by a spread of fractures, with the fragments falling off in a rush, leaving only the hilt in Li Yan’s hand.

Li Yan slowly opened his eyes and met Zhan Yuejin’s gaze, his heart tightening.

"Sorry about that. She’s used to having her way. It didn’t used to be this bad, but she probably still holds a grudge against you for your connections with Taishuai. You don’t know, in the past, Cao Yuanchao, oh, the current Feather Lord, went crazy pursuing Yu Shu," Zhan Yuejin said to Li Yan, flashing a toothy smile.

Suffocated with anger, Si Wenji opened her mouth as if to speak but ultimately remained silent.

Li Yan’s face dripped with sweat as he struggled to retreat two steps and plopped down onto the remaining half of a collapsed sofa, managing a weak smile, "Then I truly am innocent."

"I’ll compensate you for the sword. Let’s discuss the rest later somewhere else," Zhan Yuejin suggested.

"Alright."

Li Yan wiped his face.

Zhan Yuejin looked around, picked a wine vessel that was still intact from the collapsed cabinet, poured half a cup from his "Heaven and Earth Useless" paper cup, and handed it to Li Yan, "Follow me."

"What about her?"

Li Yan suddenly asked.

"Women will deal with women’s matters," Zhan Yuejin said with a glance at Li Yan.

"..."

Li Yan fell silent.

"Although our encounters haven’t been pleasant, I think I’ve conducted myself in a trustworthy manner," Zhan Yuejin placed his hand on Li Yan’s shoulder. Being shorter than Li Yan, the gesture didn’t look particularly friendly.

"Will you give me this courtesy?"

Li Yan downed the hot water from the wine vessel in one gulp.

From the start to finish, Li Yan knew full well he had the spirit to turn the table if necessary, but he lacked the confidence to get out unscathed; he couldn’t even consider mutual destruction.

The agents of the Long Night Base were certainly not limited to the Nine-tailed Fox and Peacock, and Li Yan, with all his skills, was no match for either of them!

The reach of Qilian Swordsmanship was only three feet in front of him; having failed the surprise attack on Si Wenji, it was unlikely to be effective again.

From this perspective, Zhan Yuejin’s arrival was not bad news for him, but good.

At this thought, Li Yan let out a sigh and turned to leave with Zhan Yuejin.

Si Wenji watched Zhan Yuejin and Li Yan walk down the stairs side by side. Her face turned pale, then flushed. After a long while, she picked up her cell phone and dialed a number.

"Si, what do you need?"

"Get someone to clean up this place. No, throw everything here away."

"Alright, Si, I’ll be right there."

"No, you come later. Wait for my call for the exact time."

"Uh, okay."

Si Wenji hung up the phone. She looked around; her own leather chair had been split in two by Li Yan, and the only one left intact was the one Li Yan had sat on.

Si Wenji sneered. She glared at the large leather chair turned away from her, and the chair turned toward her of its own accord.

A young and beautiful woman sat upon it, donning an oversized duckbill cap, a trendy sweatshirt with Chinese characters, and a simple ponytail for a homely look. Her delicate features and innate beauty made her look like both a red and a white rose on the edge of a cliff beside Si Wenji.

"Shall we talk?"

A green flame flickered at the woman’s fingertips.

————————————————

Zhan Yuejin led Li Yan to a man-made lake. Along the way, they occasionally encountered others who would respectfully stop to greet Zhan Yuejin with a "Chairman," and he would gently respond.

The two men boarded a motorboat, one after the other. Zhan Yuejin then spoke up:

"I still owe you an apology. Si Wenji acts too rashly."

Having just used "Qilian Swordsmanship," Li Yan showed no different color on his face; it was uncertain if it was the Renxian Jade he purchased or Zhan Yuejin’s warm water that had taken effect.

"Not at all. For the esteemed Jie Master to visit personally and even apologize over such a trivial matter, I am flattered."

Zhan Yuejin laughed heartily and waved his hand: "Cut it out. These days, even the heartless bosses of private enterprises know to hold a motivational meeting to encourage new employees. It’s called valuing the development of talent and caring about team-building. The old system of nobles and generals is outdated."

Li Yan neither agreed nor disagreed, offering no comment.

"As for Si Wenji, she is a veteran of Third Eye Global, but Third Eye Global has always been led by Cao Yuan Chao alone. After that incident with Sifan, Cao Yuan Chao didn’t follow our Ten Masters’ internal decision and forcefully used his own soul to restore that fruit to its original form."

Li Yan was surprised at this and asked, "No repercussions?"

"Yes, he has to be in a coma for two years, and it must happen while the Heaven Jiazi Nine Fruits is being restored, which is in the actual world. After all, this is the root of Yan Fu’s existence."

Pausing, Zhan Yuejin continued, "Originally, I had nothing to do with Third Eye Global. I took over as the Chairman of Third Eye Global only temporarily because Yuan Chao asked me to. My people are mostly not from around here."

He pointed down at his feet.

Li Yan replied, "I’ve met Zhao Jianzhong. I’m quite curious, what do the other Immortal and Insect Masters think of him?"

Zhan Yuejin laughed loudly: "He drove everyone to other fruits, how do you think they feel? Hongzhong Old Man is very dominant. Among the Ten Masters, only Human, Feather, and Naked have forces and hands here. The others are either wielding power in other fruits or simply loners. It’s tough."

Zhan Yuejin’s tone seemed jocular, and Li Yan couldn’t quite grasp the intricacies involved, but he vaguely sensed that the conflicts of interest among the Ten Masters were more complex than he had imagined.

"Let’s talk business."

Zhan Yuejin said to Li Yan.

"The establishment of Third Eye Global involves many common interests of those who wander in Yan Fu, as well as some explorations and developments about the nature of Yan Fu itself. When I first arrived in Yan Fu, it was completely different from now. There was no such thing as expanding skills, personal auction houses, nothing. Even the concept of Yan Fu points had only been explored. We put forward the idea that if Yan Fu were a tree, the three thousand worlds would be like fruits, establishing an economic system for Yan Fu. Those people who worked together back then are almost all dead now."

Seeing Li Yan lost in thought, Zhan Yuejin waved his hand: "I’ve gone off-topic. Let’s get back to Yang Sanjing."

"This person is rare. Among the three thousand fruits and the grand trees, those who can elevate mastery of a certain skill to triple digits are extremely rare. One hundred percent represents the limit of skill. Every step beyond that is an unimaginable elevation; even one percent is an insurmountable chasm."

"It’s hard to imagine what it might be like for a mortal to reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship in their teenage years and continue to break through over the next few decades. Such an individual might be ordinary in terms of strength due to their lifespan and physical limits, but they can achieve things that neither the Five Directions Elder nor the Four Emperors can."

"Such a person, even the Ten Masters can’t suppress their curiosity. We sent many people to find him, but there were no leads. Later, Hou Tu announced the escort of the Dragon Tiger Banner, and at the time, we couldn’t see what was significant about it. We just thought it was a good chance to find Yang Sanjing, so we sent Zhang Cai. You know the rest."

"With all due respect, with Zhang Cai’s abilities, even if he had met Yang Sanjing, he wouldn’t have achieved much."

Li Yan stated coldly.

"We naturally have our ways. Third Eye Global is an organization that values efficiency. It would not be like in the novels, seeking out a prodigy with extraordinary potential to pass on the mantle. That would take an eternity to find the right person."

Zhan Yuejin looked at Li Yan: "What I fear most is that Yang Sanjing would just die like that, leaving nothing behind, rendering all efforts in vain. Thankfully, you were there."

"What did you see in Yang Sanjing?"

Li Yan asked.

"What we saw in Yang Sanjing, we were supposed to figure out by meeting him. Like today, I finally understand what was in Yang Sanjing. How to put it—it’s not bad, but somewhat disappointing."

Li Yan was about to ask further, but Zhan Yuejin extended his hand openly.

A bloodstain emerged from Zhan Yuejin’s little finger, and with a soft sound, his finger fell off!

"Within three feet, the power of the Five Directions Elder, no, it approaches the level of the Four Emperors!"