Chapter 137: Invitation

At this moment, Lin Tong walked in from outside and whispered, "My Lord, Ye Ling and the others have arrived."

"Let's leave it at that," Ye Xin said, rising from his seat and walking out of the commander’s tent. He saw Ye Ling, Shen Miao, and Shao Xue already fully armored, chatting and laughing nearby.

"Where is Wen Rong?" Ye Xin asked.

"I knew you'd ask about her," Shen Miao said with a mischievous grin. "She originally wanted to join the army too, but the Sovereign issued a decree that he would personally preside over your wedding with Wen Rong at the end of the year. Uncle Ye has already gone to the southern front, and Aunt Ye is away as well; with Ye Ling following you, there’s no one left at the Ye residence to manage things. So, Wen Rong can't leave; there are too many matters that need to be prepared in advance."

"Actually, you don't have to go this time," Ye Xin said.

"How could that be?!" Shao Xue looked displeased. "Brother Xin, we are also members of the Wolf Cavalry. If we don't go, what would others think of us?"

"That’s right, Brother Xin. Don't worry, we won't drag you down," Shen Miao pouted.

"Very well, then prepare yourselves. We leave at noon," Ye Xin said.

At midday, the army was set to depart. Ye Xin took a moment to return to Nine Cauldrons City and visited Wen Rong at the Wen residence. They only chatted briefly; his purpose was simply to make his stance clear. Afterward, he left the Wen residence and returned to the military camp.

As he walked down the street, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Young man, wait a moment."

This form of address was unfamiliar, especially lately. People usually called him "Young Commander" or "Young Master Ye." The Unbounded Sky Wolf he rode, along with the armor personally bestowed upon him by Tie Xin Sheng, clearly signaled his status.

At first, Ye Xin didn't think the voice was calling him. However, the voice seemed to possess an inexplicable power. While the people nearby remained unaffected, he alone felt a faint, subtle impact. Alerted, he slowly turned around.

An old man in a gray robe was walking toward him at a leisurely pace. When their gazes met, Ye Xin’s eyes flickered. In that instant, it was as if he had caught a glimpse of a vast ocean of stars within the man's eyes.

"Old man, were you calling me?" Ye Xin asked, very respectfully.

The surrounding people’s gazes focused on Ye Xin and the old man. The old man frowned and then said, "Follow me. We shall speak over here."

The old man was surprisingly impolite to Ye Xin, even though Ye Xin was already a prominent figure in the Great Wei Kingdom.

Ye Xin pondered for a moment. Instead of dismounting, he slowly followed the old man toward the end of the alley.

Once they reached a deserted spot, the old man turned around. "Your name is Ye Xin, isn't it? Do you want to join our sect?"

Ye Xin was momentarily stunned. His first reaction was that the old man was insane. What did he think a sect was? Was it really that casual?

However, thinking of the sea of stars he had just seen in the old man's eyes, he dared not be impudent. He asked in a low voice, "May I ask, old man, what sect are you referring to?"

"The Star Hall," the old man said.

"Star Hall... I don't think I've heard of it..." Ye Xin murmured.

"There are many things you haven't heard of," the old man said with a tone full of mockery. "Since you are unwilling, then forget it." Having said that, the old man seemed to exhale a breath of relief, then turned and walked toward the other exit of the alley.

The old man was Ni Sheng. By now, he had resigned himself to his fate and had made up his mind to start his cultivation from scratch once more. He had managed to break into the Longevity Realm once before, and he believed he could do it again. As for Ye Xin, he was a burden. Although Ye Xin possessed the Star Sovereign’s Thunder Breath and a great inheritance, the path of cultivation was incomparably arduous. He did not believe Ye Xin could walk it to the end, so helping him now had become meaningless.

Coming to see Ye Xin this time was only to resolve a lingering knot in his heart. Once he finished his grueling cultivation and returned to the Star Palace, he would inevitably have to pass before the Mirror of Right and Wrong. If he hadn't found Ye Xin at all and had only focused on his own cultivation, he would certainly have faced the most severe punishment—perhaps even being reduced to dust.

If Ye Xin didn't want to join the Star Hall, it was naturally the best outcome. The world was vast, and he would be free to wander as he pleased.

"Old man, wait!" Ye Xin called out.

The old man acted as if he hadn't heard and continued walking forward.

"Old man, I am willing! I am willing to join the Star Hall!" Ye Xin shouted.

The old man’s face, hidden from Ye Xin, twitched violently. He took a few more steps, then thought of the Mirror of Right and Wrong hanging in the Star Palace. He was a bit afraid and turned around helplessly. "Didn't you just say you didn't want to join?"

"I just wanted to know if the Star Hall was actually here; I never said I didn't want to join," Ye Xin countered.

The situation had happened too suddenly to think clearly. He only knew that the old man before him genuinely did not want him to join the Star Hall, which conflicted with the earlier invitation. Therefore, he instinctively chose the answer that the old man would find difficult to accept. Since the other party didn't want him to join, he was determined to do so.

As for whether his judgment was right or wrong, he had no way of knowing, but he would have to take it one step at a time. The sight from earlier could not have been a delusion; the old man's pupils hid an endless sea of stars, and his strength was likely beyond anything Ye Xin could imagine.

However, the man seemed to loathe him, but that didn't matter; he could slowly change that.

"I know you are a naturally arrogant person. The rules of the Star Hall are numerous and overly complex. I worry you will cause trouble," the old man said.

"I can change," Ye Xin said, looking like a model student, his attitude humble to the extreme.

"The Star Hall has a strict hierarchy. Orders from above must be followed immediately. Even if it is a mission with a nine-in-ten chance of death, you cannot refuse!" the old man added.

This was practically a threat! Ye Xin’s resolve became even firmer.

"I can work hard," Ye Xin said.

"Are you not afraid of death?" the old man asked.

"I am not," Ye Xin immediately replied.

"Sigh..." The old man lowered his eyelids, looking troubled. Then his expression became solemn, perhaps having made a decision. "Very well. From today on, you are a disciple of the Star Hall."

"Old man, should I address you as Master?" Ye Xin asked.

"No, that will not do. Absolutely not," the old man immediately shook his head. Ye Xin possessed the Star Sovereign’s Thunder Breath; although it was unknown whether he could survive on this path for long, the inheritance was far more noble than his own.

"Then... where should I go to pay my respects to my fellow disciples?" Ye Xin asked again.

"In this desolate wilderness, where would you find the Star Hall's sect?" the old man said. "Wait until you can find your way out of here before you worry about that."

Are you sick? Ye Xin shouted this in his heart for the second time. Of course, he dared not say it aloud. He had been sought out to join a sect, only to find out after joining that it consisted of only one person? What kind of trick was this?!

"Or, you could establish a Star Hall here. That would count as a meritorious deed for the sect," the old man said.

"Me? I should establish it?!" If Ye Xin weren't wary of the sea of stars in the old man's eyes, he would have almost pounced on him to give him a sound thrashing. Wasn't this just playing games?

"What? You can't do it?" The old man glared.

If I say I can't, will you kick me out of the Star Hall immediately? Old man, do I annoy you that much?

Ye Xin felt helpless to the extreme, but he dared not say it directly. He had to change his approach. "Senior, I am worried that what I do will go against the principles of those above. I really should meet my fellow disciples. Let me learn their style. Please, rest assured, I learn things very quickly."

"What you say does make some sense..." The old man’s mood was actually just as conflicted as Ye Xin’s. He looked Ye Xin up and down. His task was to recruit and guide; finding Ye Xin, announcing that he was a disciple of the Star Hall, and then leaving him to fend for himself in the Nine Kingdoms would not count as completing the mission. He had to at least introduce Ye Xin to the sect, but after that... was his destiny to be entangled with this boy? He was truly unwilling.

"I hope you will grant my request, Senior," Ye Xin said. "Besides, I know nothing about how to establish a Star Hall. It wouldn't be much trouble for you to introduce me to a few fellow disciples. I can learn from them myself."

"Very well. I will go to the Chengfa Empire and bring a few people here to teach you," the old man said, flicking his sleeves. "In two or three months, I will return."

Then, the old man turned and walked toward the other exit of the alley. His pace was not fast, but each step covered seven or eight meters. In a few strides, he was gone, disappearing from sight.

Ye Xin watched the old man’s back vanish and remained dazed for a long time. What had just happened felt like a dream, or perhaps a farce—a very absurd farce.

Ye Xin had too many questions in his heart. What was the old man's background? What did the Star Hall represent? Why did the old man, who clearly came to invite him to join, harbor such strong resentment toward him joining?

Now, he knew nothing about the old man, and there was no way to analyze it. Perhaps the old man would return in two months, or perhaps he would never be seen again.

Ye Xin turned around, left the alley, and rode along the street toward the outskirts of the city.

Upon entering the military camp, the instructors of each battalion were already beating the war drums. The soldiers formed their battle arrays, and one battalion after another marched out of the camp, heading south.

The city defense troops were only a minority; most soldiers had not trained for long, and their morale was worrisome. However, Ye Xin did not care about them, nor did he pin his hopes on them. Controlling the Wolf Cavalry was his foundation.

The army was too large, and since everyone was wearing armor, the marching speed was slow. They could only cover sixty or seventy miles a day. After stopping and starting, five days later, they finally reached Flying Rainbow Bridge.

The army set up camp on the other side of the bridge. The inspection station that Ye Xin had once tricked Han Yuanzi and Han Yunzi into setting up here had long since fallen into ruin. Looking at the broken bricks and scattered tiles, Ye Xin felt a strange bitterness in his heart. At the time, even he hadn't imagined that the alliance between the Great Yu Kingdom and the Great Wei Kingdom would be destroyed so thoroughly and so quickly.

As the army began to set up camp, a major event occurred in Nine Cauldrons City.