Fifty Years of Seasons

Time flew by, and another fifty years of winter and summer passed.

For mortals, this was more than half a lifetime. But for cultivators, it was merely an instant in a long, endless passage of time.

In these fifty years, Ye Jiuzhou and Ye Xuan were almost inseparable.

From the shores of the Eastern Sea to the barren wastelands of the Western Desert, from the glaciers of the Northern Frontier to the dense jungles of the Southern Border, their footsteps traversed every inch of the Nine Domains of the Middle Continent.

They explored ancient ruins together, slayed primordial beasts together, watched the sunrise on the peaks of snow-capped mountains together, and roasted fish by underground magma rivers together.

Ye Jiuzhou's cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds during these fifty years.

The baptism of the Phoenix Blood completely activated his Heavenly Phoenix Sword Bone, and his cultivation soared with irresistible force, climbing from the mid Void Refinement stage to the late Void Refinement stage, and then to the peak Void Refinement stage. He was only one step away from stepping into the Body Integration stage. When that time came, looking across the entire Middle Continent, those who could fight him could be counted on one hand.

The title of the number one young sword cultivator in the world was no longer an empty claim.

And Ye Xuan had also created another miracle in the cultivation world.

His aptitude underwent an earth-shattering transformation after awakening the Flawless Dao Body. The trash physique that everyone had once scoffed at had now become the most coveted supreme Dao Body in the cultivation world.

The purest spiritual energy in heaven and earth was automatically filtered, absorbed, and refined by his body. The efficiency was so high that it even surpassed Ye Jiuzhou's Heavenly Phoenix Sword Bone.

Coupled with Ye Jiuzhou's unsparing pile-up of resources—eating ten-thousand-year spiritual herbs like meals, chewing peerless pills like snacks, and even having ancient inheritances scavenged by Ye Jiuzhou and stuffed into him—Ye Xuan actually forcibly leaped all the way from the early Nascent Soul stage to the Void Refinement stage.

Void Refinement stage.

Placed sixty years ago, this was a realm Ye Xuan would not even dare to dream of.

Now, he stood here.

Their relationship grew even closer over these fifty years, so close that the entire cultivation world viewed them as one entity.

Behind the Sword God Palace was a secret realm called the "Sword Washing Pool." The water in the pool was condensed from the sword intent of ten thousand swords by an ancient Sword Immortal. Soaking in it could temper one's sword intent and polish one's divine sense.

Successive generations of Sword God Palace disciples all regarded entering the Sword Washing Pool as the highest honor. As the Young Palace Master, Ye Jiuzhou had unlimited access to it.

He shared half of this privilege with Ye Xuan.

The two often went into seclusion together in the Sword Washing Pool. The pool water was as deep blue as jade, and sword intent swam on the surface like fine silk threads, emitting a faint hum.

Ye Jiuzhou sat cross-legged in the center of the pool, his white robes soaked in the water, his long hair floating like ink-colored aquatic plants. Ye Xuan sat thirty feet opposite him, also meditating with closed eyes, his brow slightly furrowed.

Rumors outside said that the Young Palace Master of the Sword God Palace and his sworn brother were as close as real brothers, a beautiful tale in the cultivation world.

"Young Palace Master Ye's cultivation of Ye Xuan is arguably the most generous favor in the cultivation world over the past five thousand years," someone commented.

"Ye Xuan is indeed worthy of it. Back in the battle at the Fallen Phoenix Secret Realm, he used his Nascent Soul body to block three killing blows for the Young Palace Master, almost losing his life. This loyalty is witnessed by heaven and earth," another said.

As close as brothers.

Deep grace and loyalty.

A beautiful tale of brotherhood.

Only Ye Jiuzhou himself knew how agonizing the words "as close as brothers" were to him.

Whenever Ye Xuan closed his eyes to cultivate in the Sword Washing Pool, Ye Jiuzhou would involuntarily open his eyes.

His gaze would cross the thirty feet of water and land on Ye Xuan's face, on his slightly furrowed brow, on his lightly pursed lips, on his eyelashes that occasionally twitched from comprehending sword intent.

Fifty years.

Enough time for a seed to grow into a towering tree.

The seed in his heart was no longer a tree. It had become a forest, a boundless, sky-blotting dense jungle that enveloped his entire soul.

The growth rings of every tree were carved with the same name, and the veins of every leaf flowed with the same emotion.

This emotion was so intense that it almost suffocated him.

But he could only watch.

Watching Ye Xuan cultivate in the pool, watching Ye Xuan practice swordplay in the back mountain, watching Ye Xuan clumsily cook in the kitchen.

Yes, sixty years had passed, and Ye Xuan's cooking skills, aside from roasting chicken, were still a complete mess.

He watched Ye Xuan chase a squirrel that had stolen a spiritual fruit all over the courtyard, watched Ye Xuan's slightly absent-minded profile as he drank alone under the moonlight.

He watched.

Just watched.

With the identity of an older brother, with the distance of a brother.

So close.

Yet worlds apart.

The day of parting arrived without warning.

That day, the communication jade slip of the Sword God Palace exploded in Ye Jiuzhou's sea of consciousness:

The Old Palace Master, Ye Qingtian, was critically ill.

It wasn't a regression in cultivation, nor a relapse of old injuries, but a backlash from the Heavenly Tribulation.

He failed to cross the Heavenly Tribulation three years ago, and the lingering echoes of the lightning tribulation invaded his divine soul. For the past three years, he had been relying on the spiritual energy of the sect's protective grand array to sustain his life. Now, the array's spiritual energy was exhausted, and his life was like a candle in the wind.

There was also a command in the jade slip.

A command that made Ye Jiuzhou's whole body run cold...

"Return immediately to be married. Marry Shen Qingshuang, the eldest daughter of the Shen family. Succeed the position of Palace Master."

Ye Jiuzhou crushed the jade slip. The shards pierced his palm, and blood seeped through his fingers, dripping onto his pristine white sleeves, blooming into several shocking red flowers.

He sat alone in his room for a night.

The next morning, he told Ye Xuan the news.

Ye Xuan was gnawing on a roasted chicken leg. Hearing the news, his chewing paused for a moment, and then he continued chewing.

"Oh," he said. "When are you leaving, big brother?"

Ye Jiuzhou stared at him for a long time, so long that Ye Xuan finally looked up, staring back in confusion.

"What? Is there something on my face?"

"...Tomorrow." Ye Jiuzhou looked away, his voice very light. "I set off tomorrow."

"Then I'll roast two more chickens tonight for you to eat on the road."

After saying this, Ye Xuan lowered his head and continued gnawing on his chicken leg.

The chicken leg was roasted golden and crispy, the sweet fragrance of honey mixing with the smoky scent of charcoal in the air. He ate seriously and attentively, as if this chicken leg was the most important thing in the world.

Ye Jiuzhou stood there.

Watching Ye Xuan lower his head to gnaw on the chicken leg, his hair had grown long again, the broken strands hanging over his forehead, swaying slightly with his chewing motions. His lips were stained with oil, glistening in the sunlight.

Ye Jiuzhou watched all this.

A suffocating pain seized his heart.

"I'm going to get married."

This thought was like a red-hot branding iron, pressed ruthlessly onto his soul.

"If I don't say it now..."

"I'm afraid I'll never have the chance in this life."

The day before departure.

The setting sun was like blood.

Moon Reflection Lake lay quietly in the valley.

Ye Xuan stood on the surface of the lake.

His feet stepped on the water, and ripples spread out from the soles of his feet circle by circle, like transparent flowers blooming with him at the center.

His white robes were edged with a faint golden-red rim by the setting sun, his long hair fluttering slightly in the evening breeze, a few broken strands brushing past his cheek.

He was looking down, watching the swimming fish in the lake.

These fish were only the size of a thumb, entirely silver-white, their tail fins glowing with a faint blue luminescence. They swam in schools beneath Ye Xuan's feet, occasionally leaping out of the water, splashing small droplets that refracted arcs of seven-colored light in the setting sun.

Ye Xuan's lips curled into his signature smile. A gentle, languid smile, as if steeped in the hues of twilight.

He bent over slightly, his index finger tracing light circles on the surface of the water, teasing the little fishes.

Ye Jiuzhou stood on the shore.

He watched this scene.

His heart pounded like a beating drum.

He watched for a long time.

Long enough for the setting sun to slide from the zenith of the sky to the edge of the horizon.

Long enough for the golden-red glow on the lake to gradually dim, swallowed inch by inch by the deepening twilight. Long enough for the shadow at his feet to stretch from short to long, trailing into a black river that extended to the very end of the lakeshore.

Sixty years.

Sixty years of time had led to this moment.

Sixty years of being together day and night, sixty years of fighting side by side as brothers, sixty years of suppression and endurance.

Every glance he dared not linger on over the past sixty years, every gaze he dared not hold for too long, every word that reached his lips only to be swallowed back down, every time a name was muffled into his pillow in the dead of night...

They all piled up in Ye Jiuzhou's chest, aching faintly.

Speak.

A voice cried out in Ye Jiuzhou's heart.

This voice was shrill and desperate, like a caged bird frantically battering its wings against the iron bars.

Say it.

Just this once.

Even if you are rejected.

Even if you are despised.

Even if we can never be brothers again.

You must say it.

Because if you don't...

You will go mad.

Ye Jiuzhou took a deep breath.

Ye Xuan.

He spoke.

Ye Xuan did not turn around.

He still stood upon the lake, still looking down at the little fishes.

The evening breeze lifted the edge of his robe, brushing it gently across the water and stirring up a patch of fine ripples.

Big brother, you will be setting off tomorrow, won't you?

Yes.

Ye Jiuzhou took a step forward.

A blush spread across his face.

The redness was not a reflection of the setting sun, but seeped from deep within his skin. It started from the base of his ears, climbed up his neck to his cheeks, and burned all the way to the tip of his nose.

His complexion was naturally fair, making this flush exceptionally striking, like a splash of glaze blossoming on white porcelain.

A grand and peerless mighty figure at the peak of the Void Refinement realm.

The number one sword cultivator in the world.

Decisive in slaughter, with a heart as firm as a boulder.

Yet at this moment, the hand holding his Heaven-Severing Divine Sword was trembling slightly.

This tremor spread from his fingertips to his wrist, and from his wrist to his forearm.

He gripped the hilt tightly, his knuckles turning white, attempting to use this method to counteract the shudder sweeping through his entire body.

But it was useless.

He could even hear his own teeth chattering faintly.

Not because of the cold. Not because of fear. It was an entirely unfamiliar agitation rising from the depths of his soul, one that could not be suppressed by his cultivation base or willpower.

In his life, he had faced the siege of tens of thousands of people alone.

In his life, he had cleaved apart boundless heavenly tribulation lightning with a single sword strike.

He had never retreated. Never hesitated. Never shown the slightest hint of cowardice.

But right now.

Facing the man standing on the lake teasing the fish.

He was scared to death.

I have something...

His voice was tight, and his whole body was trembling.

I want to tell you.

This matter, I have hidden in my heart... for a very long time.

When the last sentence was squeezed through his teeth, it was almost a whisper. So light that it dispersed as soon as it was wrapped by the evening breeze, so light that Ye Xuan shouldn't have been able to hear it.

But he did hear it.

Ye Xuan's finger, which had been teasing the little fishes, paused in mid-air.

His back stiffened slightly, his expression indescribably complex.

After a long time, Ye Xuan spoke.

Big brother, you want to talk about... the fact that you like me, right?

Ye Jiuzhou froze.

His body felt as if it had been struck by the highest-tier immobilization spell. From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, every bone, every meridian, every wisp of spiritual energy solidified in place.

A long time passed.

A very, very long time.

Long enough that the swimming fishes on the lake grew impatient and swam away in swarms.

Only then did Ye Jiuzhou find his voice again.

You...

His throat was tight. His tongue was stiff. Every syllable felt as though it was painstakingly squeezed out of his throat.

You could tell?

After asking this, he felt his face burning.

Ye Xuan slowly turned around.

His eyes were clear. Open and candid. Like a pool of spring water without any impurities.

Ye Jiuzhou saw many things in those eyes. He saw understanding, he saw tolerance, and he saw a profound, compassionate tenderness.

The only thing missing was the one thing he desired the most.

I'm not an idiot.

Ye Xuan tilted his head slightly. This movement carried his unique, casual, and free-spirited aura, like a cat lazily squinting in the sunlight.

Spending day and night together all these years, the way big brother looks at me has long crossed the boundaries of brotherhood.

Naturally, I could tell.

As the last sentence fell, the corners of his lips curved up.

This upward curve was extremely slight. It wasn't a smile, but an indescribable expression caught somewhere between smiling and not smiling.