It had been several days since Ye Tian arrived on this star. Compared to where he came from, this place was much chaotic… but one thing was different, Now he was not confined and had freedom. He can go anywhere his eyes wandered to. Of course he was still a little unsettled, A tiny bit as he still remembered how much granny yao and others loved him and taught him many things. But he recovered quickly as it's not the last time and they will meet again in the future.
As far back as he could remember, he had lived in a land that resembled a painting come to life,a world of floating hills suspended in the sky, rivers that danced from one mountain to the next, and unimaginably density of spiritual energy that nourished flocks of spirit birds and rare beasts and everything. It was a place anyone who see would call paradise, a miniature fairyland.
The elders called that place Fairyland of "Ten thousand dao sect". But for Ye Tian, it was a cage , a cage filled with opportunities.
He had no memory of how he came to be there. All he could remember was his parents face full affection and the day they sent him with someone who's face was covered in hazy fog. No one ever explained who he was. Ye Tian had always been different from others…He was free spirited, carefree. The elders loved him and the people in that realm revered him, though the people who were there… mostly were humanoid beasts and other lifeforms, nevertheless they treated him like someone of upmost respect, but whenever he asked why, they simply smiled in silence, as if the truth was a burden he wasn't meant to carry.
He spent thousands of years within those ethereal walls. Trapped in a beautiful illusion.
Until, at last, he escaped that heavenly prison.
That day, when Ye Tian and his companion Wu Liang tore open a space fissure to escape, things didn't go as planned. The unstable teleportation tossed them straight into the skies above this star after spiraling in the chaotic space storm. They crashed into the mountains like falling stars.
Ye Tian had pushed himself to the limit breaking through space and went unconscious after crossing the void. If it hadn't been for Wu Liang catching him mid-fall, he would've died from the impact alone.
Their sudden arrival caused a huge commotion. The noise and force of their landing didn't go unnoticed, surrounding ground and trees damaged as if dynamites were blasted there,people from nearby mountains quickly came to investigate.
Ye Tian still didn't know what kind of story Wu Liang told them, but somehow, they took the two in and brought them back to their palace.
When Ye Tian finally woke up, five days had already passed.
Apparently the land they crushed was called Coiling Mist Mountains,It was Ling family Young Miss's territory and now they are staying there.
Present,
The flying leaf boat stopped at the front gate. Ye Tian and Mu Chen landed on the ground.
"Sir Ye, you're back." Seeing Ye Tian enter through the gate, a man who looked to be in his thirties greeted him with a respectful smile. His name was Yu Feng.
"Yeah," Ye Tian replied with a polite nod.
Noticing Mu Chen beside him, Yu Feng asked curiously, "Sir Ye, this is...?"
"He is Grandmaster Wu Chen. I hired him for some work,he's proficient in refining."
"What,an artifact refiner?!" Yu Feng's eyes widened in shock. Hearing Ye Tian say that Wu Chen was an refiner, left him completely flustered.
"P-please forgive me, Grandmaster. This Yu acted disrespectfully!" he quickly lowered his head and apologized, his tone filled with nervousness.
It seems the prestige of a refiners is quite high here. The moment he heard that Wu Chen was a Refiner, his attitude changed instantly, and he apologized without hesitation.
"Fine, you guys talk , I'm going" ye tian left them and went to his way to his residence.
Ye tian's Residence stood quietly at the north wing of the Fragrant Mist Mountain. The roof curved upward as if birds stretching it's wings to the sky, Curved black tiles crowned its roof, and redwood beams framed its pale walls. A small stone path led to the front, flanked by swaying bamboo and glowing lanterns.
"A'h Wu , I'm back " Ye tian said smiling face while running to the house. Hearing his voice a cold beauty with fairy like elegance came out of the room.
Her long silver hair, streaked with cool undertones of blue, flowed down her back like silk spun from starlight. Slender, crystalline feather horns adorned her center and either side heads shaping like a natural crown, glinting faintly like a polished crystal. Matching shard-like ornaments nestled against her temples, Her golden eyes like sun-kissed dawn framing a face as delicate as porcelain,calm, unreadable, and utterly captivating.
She wore a soft, midnight-grey robe patterned in pale, shifting lines, its loose fabric draping gently around her. The robe looked simple at first glance, yet a second look revealed a quiet elegance.
The moment Ye Tian was about to hug her, she stopped him with her delicate hand pressed firmly against his forehead. Her gaze locked onto his as she asked, "Did you finish the things I asked you to arrange?"
"L-let's talk about it later," Ye Tian replied, his confident grin vanishing in an instant as he tried to dodge the question.
"So, you didn't… did you?" she said, her voice calm but piercing,like she already saw through his half-baked excuse.
"Who says I didn't?" he shot back quickly, trying to recover. "Listen, I found a really interesting guy. He's a Starlight grade refiner! I bought him with me; we can arrange those formation arrays through him," he added, a note of pride creeping into his voice.
Wu Liang's expression shifted, "I told you, there aren't any Starlight grade refiners on this star if there's any they are already joined a sect or clan. Are you sure you didn't get swindled?" she said, her tone turning sharp with concern.
"Believe me. You'll understand once you meet him," Ye Tian replied, trying to sound reassuring. "And besides, we need a refiner anyway. If he really is a Starlight grade, it's better for us."
Wu Liang looked at him for a moment, then exhaled quietly. "Fine… I'll trust you," she said at last, her voice softening as she gave in.
"A'h Wu… are you sure they didn't say anything about arranging formations around the mountain?" Ye Tian asked, a trace of concern lacing his voice.
"Don't worry," Wu Liang replied calmly. "I already discussed it with them. On this unknown star, we don't really have anyone to rely on. If we want to do anything, we'll need to temporarily settle somewhere."
She paused for a moment before continuing, her tone thoughtful. "And apparently, the young miss,Ling Yanyu, the one who saved us,doesn't get along with her family. This small piece of land and those few cultivators… it's all she has. So it actually works out for us, and she even provided funds to use."
Ye Tian's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you planning to get involved in her family's conflicts?" he asked with a serious tone.
"Not really," Wu Liang answered, brushing the thought aside. "She just said we could stay here. Maybe she's planning to use us for something,but even if that's the case, we can always leave. Still… I doubt we'll find another place like this."
Ye Tian fell silent for a moment before nodding. "Fine… let's go with it. If anything happens, we'll leave this place."
Wu Liang nodded, her expression thoughtful. Then, as if remembering something important, she added,
"Oh,don't forget to check the cave in other part of the mountain later. I've already started transforming it to suit our needs… but there's a bit of a problem."
Hearing her tone shift slightly, Ye Tian's brows furrowed and he asked without hesitation,"What problem?"
Wu Liang let out a small sigh, her voice turning matter-of-fact with a trace of helplessness.
"Don't be too shocked when you hear it,we're short on spirit stones, and we can't use the money we have in space ring . This planet is too backward for some reason and only spirit stones currency is available here.
When we escaped from the secret realm, did you made preparations? No! And you went ahead smashing the realm core and breaking the secret realms boundary alarming all people in the secret realm, I didn't even get the chance to prepare anything because of it. So… it's not exactly unexpected."
" So before we leave this star we have to think about ways to get money. So go and think about some ways to earn spirit stones the remaining ones won't last much longer "
Ye tian found himself dumbfounded. He can't refute any of the charges, he was labelled with. He somehow cleared his throat.
Cough!
Cough! And added,
"Why are you telling me this now? I just wanted to leave who knows when the realm gate would open itself, don't you followed me anyways" Ye Tian asked, raising an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth tugging in,as if he was stating the obvious and the issue had nothing to do with him.
Wu Liang's gaze sharpened the moment she saw his reaction. Her voice flared with irritation,laced with the kind of frustration only someone who is already accustomed with this type of stunts could stir, "Don't give me that look. If I don't tell you, then whom? You left everything to me,stop fooling around and do some work."
"What do you mean fooling around " ye tian asked inquiring her.
"Do I have to spit it out?" Wu Liang said looking at him with a scary smile.
Seeing wu Liang's smile ye tian quickly added "N-No nothing, I'll be going " ye tian felt that it's not good to press on this matter any further.
After leaving from there, Ye Tian went to check the cave. As he looked around, he froze for a moment,it was nothing like before. It felt like someone had taken the old cave and swapped it with a new, better one.
"Awesome… That little cave became like this?" he muttered in amazement.
The cave was now many times larger. The main entrance looked clean and well-built. A small mountain spring had even been drawn into the design. Multiple rooms had been carved out, each for a different purpose,one for forging, another for alchemy, and even a sitting room for rest and convenience.
As he walked deeper inside, he noticed several people still working busily.
"These guys… are working hard," Ye Tian thought, quietly impressed as he watched them.
He clasped his hands together and said, "Thank you for your hard work."
Some of the workers looked up and responded with chuckles. "Haha, don't worry. Young Miss instructed us to help you as much as we can. Feel free to call on us if anything comes up."
"Then, I'll have to trouble you," Ye Tian replied ,returning the gesture before leaving.
Everything went normal after that. Mu chen took over the refinery after wu Liang's give him all the formation related refining task for surrounding areas.
Apparently he and wu Liang talked out among themselves and wu chen decided to stay in the peak for the time being, it's like working untill a contracted period and if they break the contract there's ofcourse a penalty fee.
Ye tian helped setting up the array-formation through out the mountain, the area developed very fast. Within a few days the whole area transformed into blessed spiritual land with many arrays and formations.
After a month later;
Ye tian was training his basic hand to hand martial arts, even if his cultivation was sealed and his realm is fallen, training was important. As he was doing his training, Wu feng came running to him. Ye tian noticed dissatisfaction in his face that flashed through his eyes. he looked at him.
These days, Ye Tian had come to know all the cultivators on the mountain. With his free-spirited nature and easygoing attitude, he gradually built good relationships with them. Their cultivation levels weren't high, the strongest among them was only at the heavenly human Realm which was the lowest criteria for joining any clan or sects.
While their young miss, Ling Yanyu, was fairly higher realm, in the True Origin Realm. They were all servants of the main family, but when Miss Ling forced to exile herself here, they followed her without hesitation. They were like a small family.
Yu Feng with a frustrated and wronged face said, " Ye tian , I asked wu chen to make me a earth grade artifact and I even provided all the necessary materials but now why did he charge me fifty low-grade spirit stones. Isn't it straight up robary".
Ye tian put his hand around yu feng's shoulder and said,"it's only fifty spirit stones, what's there to be so worked up."
After finishing the sentence he paused for a moment realizing it's only natural for him not for you feng, but he still added "Just accept it, you took the initiative to ask him. So it's to late too regret now."
It was the truth, if he finalized everything when he asked wu chen to make the artifact. Than ye tian could mediate things but he didn't.
Wu chen was like a money graber, he don't miss a opportunity to earn extra money. Thanks to wu Liang he don't play tricks on us, though I heard from A'h Wu that the items I commissioned wasn't needed 500 mid-grade spirit stones even if the item grade is different and one grade higher.
Hearing ye tian's words, Yu Feng was helpless "If I knew earlier I would have gone to the refiner pavilion in cloud veil city, then the price would have only one-fourth of it" then he continued, " Sigh! I should be happy with the result, anyways it's my fault for not asking. But I tried the artifact it's quality was amazing, to think he didn't mad a name with this type of skills. Next time I'm still going to made artifact from him though after bargaining at the beginning."
He laughed drily with a awkward smile.
"Apparently I heard he prefers to craft some unknown type of artifact which is not mainstream here, so he was labelled as outcast and cast out from market, well I don't know why he didn't use his amazing skills there."