"My, my, my... Look what we have here. The outcast dares to return!"

Visiting a city as a tourist, it is normal for one to expect a warm welcome. Basil and the group were no different, so they were extremely bewildered when they heard the hostile yet polite remark.

They took a good look at the Young Master of Wei, wondering if he was someone they had unintentionally offended. They found that they didn't even know him, so they became even more bemused.

It wasn't until they noticed where his eyes were planted on did they know whom he was gazing at. Turning their eyes to Xiu Li, they immediately understood why he had been quiet ever since they departed Wanhei province.

Paying his big brother respect, Xiu Li softly said, "Greetings, Big Brother Ye Xiu. It has been five years. I am glad that you are as healthy as always."

Scoffing coldly, Ye Xiu didn't even bother to return the greeting. "It is very unfortunate to know that you are still alive, Xiu Li. You should have stayed in the West—a place for worthless dogs, which is where you belong."

"As you have already heard. My stay over there is already over," Xiu Li replied calmly with a soft smile, indicating that he was already used to being treated this way.

"Ah, you are playing criminal in the West, aren't you? Well, I guess you made a good choice by running away here. Those dogs won't dare to seek you here. Still, don't come near our manor. A disgrace shall forever remain a disgrace—your presence will tarnish our reputation."

Ending his words with another disdainful scoff, Ye Xiu turned to the amused Tian Long. His face softened as his tense facial muscles relaxed.

A smile bloomed on his face as he paid Tian Long respect. "Greetings, Great Daoist Tian Long. It is a very honourable opportunity to meet you here. Welcome to our city, Great Daoist—we hope you will still find it as fun as it was five decades ago."

"That would have been the case if you didn't suddenly make such an aggressive remark earlier," Tian Long replied neutrally.

"I am extremely sorry for that, Great Daoist. My blood instantly boiled the moment I saw the trash who brought shame upon our family."

Immediately, the people who had been watching the scene silently whispered amongst themselves. They made remarks that were not less cruel than everything Ye Xiu had said toward Xiu Li.

"That is the disgrace of the Wei Family."

"Oh, he is the one who was born with faulty meridians, huh?"

"A cripple from a prestigious family? Does he even have the Wei blood in him?"

"A lot of resources have been spent on him—I heard it was even enough to turn inept into adept—but he remained unable to cultivate."

"What a poor lad... He was born into a wrong family."

"I heard he was good at Magic, though."

"Magic? What!? That is a disgrace to our country!"

"It is indeed."

"Disgrace!"

Xiu Li's head was full of the people's comments. Each of them strongly reverberated in his head, shaking his world and making him feel sick. He wanted to crouch and covered his ears. He wanted to lock himself in his own world; however, a hand on his shoulder stopped him from diving into the darkness.

"Big Brother.." he looked up and then found Basil looking at him with a quirked eyebrow as if asking why he was acting stupid. "I..this is—"

Ignoring Xiu Li, Basil remarked, "Such a foul mouth! So much for a Young Master of a prominent family."

Frowning, Ye Xiu turned to Basil. "Who are you?" He was slightly surprised by the fact that Basil was a foreigner despite his flawless Hua Dialect.

"Your father," Basil answered with a sneer.

historical

"This bastard..do you know who I am?"

"My son. Are you stupid?"

"Watch your mouth, you damn bastard!" Ye Xiu shouted furiously.

"Oh, my..look at how foul his mouth. What a shame. What a shame," Basil remarked in mock lamentation.

Ye Xiu wanted to curse again but managed to regain his composure. He exhaled lightly and then faced Basil with grace.

Walking in Basil's direction, he spoke, "On this beautiful land of ours, millions of people live. Low-levelled as they are, millions of them are Daoists. Those who are not barely amount to one hundred thousand people. The statistics should have shown you clearly what these less than a hundred thousand people are—failures." He stopped three steps before Xiu Li.

With a chin lifted highly, he looked up at Basil—since he was shorter—in disdain. Basil quirked his eyebrow at that and smiled in amusement as he stepped forward. He stopped half a step before Ye Xiu. He refused to look down at Ye Xiu to meet his eyes as he looked around as if looking for someone.

The lasses could barely suppress their mirthful chortle as they looked at the scene. Ye Xiu had his pride, so he obviously couldn't take that.

He was about to grab Basil's shirt when Basil spoke, "Using Dao as your way of life, surely, you know how fate works. There are only two kinds of great people. Those who are fated to be one and those who go against their fate."

Squashing his urge to hit Basil, Ye Xiu frowned deeply. He wondered what kind of nonsense Basil was trying to convey.

Uncaring to Ye Xiu's apparent disagreement, Basil continued, "Xiu Li wasn't gifted like you; however, he goes against his fate and tries to be just as great if not greater. In my opinion, he is better than someone who is bathed in his fortune like you."

"Hmph! You do have a peculiar way of thinking, don't you, ghost?" Ye Xiu scoffed, using Hua Dialect's derogatory term for foreigners.

"You calling people a disgrace is way more peculiar, I am sure."

"Those who are fated to be trash will remain trash. Heaven is absolute. The moment the world gives birth to them, Heaven decides their fate. They are bound to it and they can't go against it. Your speech is but utter twaddle, lunatic ghost."

"Learning Dao, becoming a Daoist—you all do it because you want to unshackle yourself from the world's shackle, no? You are going against your fate of being eternally shackled to the world, which means you are going against Heaven, no? Don't you find your reasoning contradictory to your belief?"

Ye Xiu was stunned for a couple of seconds before firing back. "You talk about fate but you forgot that there are also people who are fated to be unbound from the shackle of the world. You said it yourself but you forgot it? Hmph! So much for acting intelligent."

"I said there were people who are fated to be great. I didn't say anything about them being Heaven's favourite," Basil corrected.

He continued, "To be completely unbound from the world's shackle, one has to go through a Tribulation. Heaven is obstructing you with Tribulation because you are not supposed to unshackle yourself from the world. Some people succeed regardless and that is enough proof to me that fate is not absolute and so is heaven. Don't you think so too, Ye Xiu?"

Expecting a battle of insults, the people watching were as astonished as they were bewildered when they were presented with Dao discussion. What was talked about was very basic; however, none of them had ever seen it from the perspective that Basil provided.

It was enlightening and eye-opening for a lot of them; they couldn't help nodding their heads as Basil kept speaking, agreeing with every point Basil pointed out. Basil might look like a foreigner but they suspected that Basil was a Daoist after they heard his opinion.

"Tsk..these people. They change sides as easily as flipping a coin," noticing that he no longer had the upper hand in the discussion, Ye Xiu scoffed. "You and I are seeing a different thing.."

"You still have no right to know my name."

"Hmph! Here I am trying to be respectful. Very well, ghost. Good luck in keeping that bubble of yours. Just hope that no one will burst it for you."

Ye Xiu quickly left without even glancing at Xiu Li, followed by his retainers who were glaring at Basil threateningly. Uncaring to the care, of course, Basil said some parting words.

"Jump out of your well and you shall see the real sky."

Ye Xiu heard it loud and clear; however, he kept walking. The retainers, this time, glared even more fiercely than before, forcing Basil to scare them with his absurdly terrifying killing intent.

Of course, he didn't fully blast them with his killing intent, lest he killed them all. He didn't want to cause a problem, so he was moderate in his prank.

"Uwah! S-Spare me!"

"Spare this lowly vermin, great lord! This one has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai!"

Still, it was terrifying for the retainers.

Ye Xiu stopped in his tracks for a moment to look at what was going on but did nothing in the end. He ignored his kowtowing retainers and then left with the only pair of retainers who weren't caught in Basil's "prank."

Ignoring the three people kowtowing before him, Basil turned to Xiu Li. The latter wanted to bow immediately but the former stopped the latter even before the latter could lean his spine forward.

Basil put his hand on Xiu Li's shoulder and patted it twice. Xiu Li clenched his fist at that and then held his tears that were threatening to come out.

"Heh..he is a brother to many people, huh?" Tian Long remarked, looking at the scene.

"He does what he deems just. He has his own definition of just; however, it has always been for the good," Danzel replied with a smile. "Ah, Basil hates attention," he looked around, "so it is better to leave now."

"Nah, we'll wait here."

"Huh? What are you talking about? Shouldn't we meet your friend?"

Smiling wryly, Tian Long gestured ahead with his head. Turning his head in the direction Tian Long was pointing, Danzel found someone walking toward Basil.

It was a black-haired woman in a simple yet gorgeous blue dress. Her face was half-covered with a veil, yet her beauty shone through. She had a figure like a model, yet she walked graciously like a warrior. The ends of her shawl floated a few centimetres above the ground, giving a mystical aura to her.

Everyone knew who she was, so they bowed respectfully like what they did to Tian Long. Uncaring to the people, just like Tian Long was, she focused on Basil. She stood before Basil and then stared at him silently. It was not until ten seconds passed did she say something.

"I like you. Let's get married."

Surely, no one had expected it to come out of her mouth.