Ye Chen and Ye Feng immediately rejoiced. They quickly stood up and said, “Father, why are you here?”

“Haha! How can I not come when the Azure Dragon King personally came to visit? You two did not even bother telling me,” the new arrival scolded in a joking manner. This person appeared to be someone easy to get along with.

No wonder Xiao Chen did not detect him. The one who came was a Greater Heavenly Martial Emperor, a peak expert of the world known as an Emperor, the Northern Sea Alliance’s Alliance Chief, Ye Qing.

Xiao Chen was simply not used to being addressed as the Azure Dragon King. He quickly stood up, performed a cupped-fist salute, and said, “Senior is joking. Before Senior, how can I dare to be addressed as King?”

Ye Qing countered seriously, “Why not? This is the King title personally bestowed by the Martial God Palace’s Prime, the Thunder Sovereign. Which Martial Emperor would dare not to acknowledge that?”

“Senior can just address this little one by my name. I really don’t deserve this.”

Xiao Chen smiled bitterly. With the other party appearing so serious about it, he felt somewhat at a loss.

Ye Qing smiled and said, “Haha! I will not mess around with Little Friend anymore. Sit, sit. Have a seat.”

Ye Qing possessed a certain natural charm. His bearing and speech made him feel trustworthy.

After everyone sat down, Ye Qing continued, “The ‘many possibilities’ was something frequently mentioned by the orthodox Daoist Immortal Cultivators during the Immortal Epoch. This adage remains in use even until now. However, no one knows the original explanation. Even that group of people from the Penglai Sea have their own understanding of it.

“Speaking of which, why does Little Friend think that ‘forty-nine possibilities out of fifty, leaving only one’ refers to there always being a way out?”

Xiao Chen felt embarrassed. He really could not cite any great reasoning behind this.

It was just that he frequently saw this saying in all sorts of secret manuals and ancient books. Combining it with his Flawless saber Dao, this was the understanding he obtained, so he did not dare to show it off before this senior.

After Xiao Chen confessed the truth, Ye Qing smiled without minding it. “There are many controversies about and interpretations of this adage. What are the many possibilities? Why forty-nine out of fifty? There are many opinions. Little Friend, just share your opinions, and that will do.”

Ye Feng and the others all looked at Xiao Chen in curiosity, giving Xiao Chen a lot of pressure. So, Xiao Chen smiled and said, “In that case, I will just casually speak my thoughts. Hopefully, Senior will not laugh at them.

“In my opinion, the many possibilities refer to the variations of the Heavenly Dao. There are forty-nine out of fifty possible. This is how I understand it.

“As for the variations of the Heavenly Dao, it requires fifty to be perfect and flawless. However, the Heavenly Dao leaves out one variation. Hence, nothing can possibly be perfect. Nothing in the world is flawless.

“This leaves one variation, which is the path to life left by the Heavenly Dao. At any time, this one possibility will always exist. In life, we pursue this one. Once we obtain this one, there will be a new one.”

While the others were still feeling confused, Ye Qing’s eyes lit up. He smiled and said, “You mean that the great Dao is constant. Even if you catch hold of this one, the Heavenly Dao changes, and you will come to find that there are still forty-nine possibilities, and you need to search for a new one.”

After a while, Ye Qing thought of something and said with a sudden understanding, “I have long heard that you comprehended the Flawless saber Dao. I originally took exception to it. However, now that I’ve heard what you said, I am certain that you have managed to walk a Dao that belongs only to you.”

Xiao Chen got the feeling of meeting an intimate friend. He served Ye Qing a cup of wine and continued, “The great Dao is flawless, and yet there are flaws. Flawlessness only refers to a kind of pursuit, a kind of struggle. In life, there will always be a path to life. One should not give up until the very end.”

Ye Qing was deeply moved. Xiao Chen’s words happened to touch on his recent vexation. He drank his wine in one go and said, “Not bad. There is always a path to life. Who knows what the future holds?

“No matter what, I, Ye Qing, am definitely making friends with you, the Azure Dragon King. Five years hence, when you become a Martial Emperor, this Ye will send you a big present!”

Xiao Chen raised his wine cup and clinked it against Ye Qing’s. Then, he drained his wine in one go as well. This trip to the Northern Sea wasted a lot of time. It was not worth it in view of his time constraints.

However, it was all worth it to be able to meet his good friend Ye Chen and personally hand over the profoundness of the Massacre saber Dao to him, as well as make friends with a senior like Ye Qing.

This cup of wine was very pleasant, and he drank to his heart’s content.

Ye Qing smiled and said, “It is rare that we are in such a refined state of mind. Let me speak about my opinions about the many possibilities, the forty-nine out of fifty.”

After Ye Feng, Zi Ying, and Ye Chen carefully listened to Xiao Chen’s understanding, they were entranced and gained many comprehensions.

Hearing that Ye Qing was going to share his opinion as well, they could not help becoming even more excited. Ye Chen smiled until his eyes were reduced to slits as he stood up. “Old Dad, let me pour some more wine for you. Normally, when I ask you, you always deny all knowledge of it. Today, you have to tell us more.”

Ye Qing scolded, “You blockhead, even if I told you more, you would not understand. On the contrary, it would even harm you.

“On the topic of the many possibilities, my opinion is similar to Little Friend Xiao Chen’s. It is the variations of the Heavenly Dao. However, the missing one, in my opinion, is the Heavenly Dao’s original form. It cannot be pursued and cannot be found.

“One, two, three…”

Ye Qing started counting. At first, the four did not feel anything. However, they soon slowly discovered something odd.

As Ye Qing counted, the surrounding scenery started to change quickly. A small world suddenly formed.

With each count, the small world changed; it was like the world was returning to its original state. As the numbers increased, the small world slowly became perfect.

There were tall mountains, flowing rivers, the blue sky and white clouds, flowers, grass, and trees, and people coming and going.

Xiao Chen and the others unknowingly started counting together with Ye Qing in their hearts.

When the count reached forty-nine, the small world was completely formed. Ye Qing stopped counting and Xiao Chen felt stifled. When he tried to count to fifty in his heart, he could not do so, no matter what.

After that, the number fifty even disappeared from his mind. No matter how he tried, Xiao Chen could not recall it.

Ye Qing drank the wine that Ye Chen poured. Then, he smiled faintly and said, “Where is fifty? This is my world. I am the Heavenly Dao. The final variation is my own body. It is unthinkable and unseekable.”

When Ye Qing waved his hand and scattered his small world, the rest of the group, including Xiao Chen, all revealed expressions of incomprehension. They felt like a new door had opened up, boundlessly mysterious and unfathomable.

Xiao Chen thought about how he boldly spoke his opinion before Ye Qing and felt greatly embarrassed despite himself. This is the right understanding, the way of the great Dao.

Just at this moment, one of the four people who looked like guards that had come with Ye Qing ran over. He said quickly, “Big Brother, it is almost time. The Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor and the other eight big factions should have moved out already.”

Ye Qing stood up and looked at Ye Feng as he said, “Feng`er, go and get Mister Yuan over to leave with me. Chen`er, just stay here and entertain Little Brother Xiao Chen as well as this young lady from the Nine Cauldron Merchant Association. Take good care of them.”

A barely perceptible hint of depression flashed in Ye Feng’s eyes as he stood up to follow the order.

“Little Friend, don’t let your own Dao get influenced. There have always been hundreds of opinions on what the many possibilities are. There is no correct great Dao. My Dao might not be the only one,” Ye Qing said to Xiao Chen.

Then, he patted Xiao Chen’s shoulder and smiled. “It’s time for me to go. Now, I am going to the one that you talked about—the one chance at life. Until the very end, I cannot give up.”

With that, the current Alliance Chief of the Northern Sea Alliance left as quickly as he came, along with the four that accompanied him.

Xiao Chen entered deep thought. He felt very moved. After a while, he reacted and asked, “Ye Chen, what is your father going to do? Why does it felt like his heart was heavy?”

Ye Chen sighed and replied, “Recently, a dragon cave was found in the Northern Sea. It seems like there are many Holy Spirit Veins in there, even possibly a King Spirit Vein.

“My Big Brother set out to invite people over. Originally, he wanted to invite the publicly acknowledged strongest Geomaster, Jiang Tian. However, who knew, the Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor managed to invite him over instead. After he gave up on Jiang Tian to invite other Geomasters, all the relatively famous ones had already been invited by other factions. So, he only managed to invite a Geomaster of low ranking.”

Xiao Chen now understood. Although losing a Holy Spirit Vein was painful for a large faction like the Ye Clan, it was still acceptable.

However, if it was a King Spirit Vein snatched away by the Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor or another faction, the Ye Clan’s position as the top faction would eventually become shaky.

In such a fight over hidden Spirit Veins, the importance of a Geomaster went without saying.

Exposed Spirit Veins could be detected with one glance. The surging Spiritual Energy and the mysterious phenomenon it caused made it very easy to locate.

However, anyone could discover such Spirit Veins, and all of them had already been taken by the various Holy Lands. The moment a new Spirit Vein was found, many factions would fight over it.

Now, in this age, if one wanted to discover a new Spirit Vein, they could only go through Geomasters to seek dragons and fix veins.

Since the Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor managed to invite Jiang Tian, most of the hidden Spirit Veins in this dragon cave could be said to have been snatched by the Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor already.

The Ye Clan had lost the initiative. With a weak Geomaster fighting against the Sole Hegemon Mountain Manor, who had the strongest Geomaster, there was almost no chance of winning.

When Zi Ying heard this, her gaze immediately shifted to Xiao Chen. She smiled and said, “In that case, how about Brother Xiao go and try? He understands a bit about seeking dragons and fixing veins. I believe he will not cause problems for anyone.”

Ye Chen’s eyes lit up. He asked with anticipation, “Xiao Chen, you also know how to seek dragons and fix veins?”

Xiao Chen smiled bitterly to himself. He knew that this was Zi Ying’s revenge on him. After a sip of wine, he smiled and replied, “Don’t listen to her nonsense. I only have a very superficial knowledge of this field. Before a Geomaster, I’m not worth mentioning.”

Ye Chen could not care about it too much. He stood up and pulled Xiao Chen with him. “It’s fine. Come, you should follow me and take a look. You don’t need to do anything. Just watch.”

Zi Ying gave Xiao Chen a provocative look, then smiled faintly. Her meaning was clear: Since you don’t want to tell me anything, you now have no choice but to expose it.

Xiao Chen could not deal with Ye Chen’s enthusiasm. He said helplessly, “Very well, I’ll go and take a look. However, you really should not expect too much.”

Ye Chen smiled and said, “That’s fine. We are just taking a look. Just treat it as widening our horizons, to witness how these Geomasters subdue the dragons.”

He led the way, running quickly with Xiao Chen and Zi Ying in tow. Finally, they managed to catch up with Ye Qing and his group, who were about to leave, at the City Lord’s Residence’s entrance.

Xiao Chen casually sized the group up. Besides Ye Qing, there were at least three other Martial Emperors. The rest were quasi-Emperors. Of which, there were many peak Consummation quasi-Emperors, who already condensed a soul for their Heavenly Seal.

Aside from these people, the war chariots waiting in the air were filled with strong grandmaster-level Martial Sages. With them operating the war chariots in a formation, they would pose a threat to Martial Emperors.

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