Chapter 1165: Bewildering

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

People have passions and desires—a fact that stays true to all regardless of their level of training.

Not even sages and saints were capable of completely severing their own passions and desires.

The thought of bettering oneself was a desire, the want for power was a desire, and the lust for women was a desire as well.

The song seemed to be able to amplify people’s desires and bring them to the forefront completely, swaying the emotions of cultivators, robbing people of their self-control, thrusting them into the depths of desires. It even gave birth an elusive realm woven in the minds of the enchanted, rendering them completely under the song’s thrall.

In the illusion conjured by Ye Futian, not just Jieyu was there. Xia Qingyuan, Yao Xi, and the Glass Saint were present. That was not due to Ye Futian harboring feelings for any of those women, but because of the lust sparked deep within him. No one was able to prevent themselves from having thoughts about beautiful things and matters, but what differed was the intensity of those desires. Those were not things that would have been brought to the fore in one’s daily life, as those thoughts could have also been easily suppressed.

However, under the thrall of the song, those desires seemed to have manifested in the form of illusions.

In Ye Futian’s mind, he found the silhouettes of Yao Xi and the Glass Saint to be somewhat stronger. Yao Xi had two sides to her—gentle and alluring, or elegant and regal. The Glass Saint, on the other hand, appeared cold and aloof. At that moment, those two extreme beauties seemed to be dancing around him with alluring moves.

That was not due to him yearning for Yao Xi and the Glass Saint more than for Jieyu. His feelings for Jieyu were more than love. In comparison, his thoughts for Yao Xi and the Glass Saint were probably of another unspeakable nature.

The reason why Yao Xi had manifested was that she had left a lasting impression on him for the past two days. The Glass Saint’s appearance was probably due to both of them having experienced something extraordinary before.

Xia Qingyuan, on the other hand, had always been unusually cold and aloof to him and never dressed in women’s clothing around him. As such, he had few thoughts about her.

The illusions created by the song had musical notes that constantly seeped into his mind, forming beautiful works of art that made it difficult for the listener to contain themselves.

Those notes seemed to have enchanting powers in and of themselves, connecting to the great path and constantly eroding a person’s self-control. Ye Futian knew very well that as soon as he gave up resisting and surrendered himself, he would be placed completely under the song’s thrall. His demons in the forms of desires would be unleashed and amplified, preventing him from getting out.

He looked ahead. His state of mind was clear and untainted. He kept a tight leash of his mental state and appeared unmoved in the illusion.

However, the dancing notes continued to make him shudder deep down. The dazzling dance before him was being translated into alluring dance in his illusions.

Cough. Cough.

Someone coughed a little bit in the feast at the moment. They were standing up, their body slightly shaking. They cupped their hands and said, “Please excuse me.”

The person turned around and left right away at blinding speeds. The demonic sound continued to coil around their minds, making it imperative for them to leave as quickly as possible.

If that person had stayed around, they might have ended up embarrassing themselves. Those who were present that day were all notable figures in Emperor Xia’s Realm. There was no way they would willingly embarrass themselves while they still had a measure of control over themselves.

Others stood up one after another. Their faces were reddened from the struggle to resist the temptations. All of them rose from the tables before they lost control over themselves and left. They needed to keep their composure and leave with dignity instead of as disheveled clowns.

None of them harbored any resentment after they left. They had come to the palace and yet they were unable to stomach a single song. They had no one to fault but themselves.

There were perhaps some who were reluctant to leave, giving up resisting altogether under the spell of the song, succumbing to it and letting themselves lose altogether. None of them seemed to have made buffoons out of themselves. Rather, they felt unprecedented ease during the process of letting themselves loose.

The effects of the song continued to work. They surrendered themselves completely and were gradually immersed in the experience as if they have forgotten who and where they were.

Despite being of Saint Plane training, none of them had been able to resist the song easily. Some had chosen to leave while some had chosen to succumb.

Furthermore, there were some who, while completely capable of leaving, let themselves loose all the same. They wanted to see just how much power the song held, and what would happen if they were to continue losing themselves in it.

None of them were worried that the invitation from the Yaotai Divine Palace had been a setup. From their perspective, what was happening at the moment was a rare experience in itself.

Hours passed before they knew it. In truth, other than the sound of the song from the guqin and the dance, the event was an unusually quiet one.

Those who left had left, while those who succumbed had succumbed. There was a handful of those who were still capable of keeping a leash over themselves, maintaining their clarity of self—those who had not left and had yet to succumb.

Yao Xi continued sitting where she was, looking elegant and alluring. Her beautiful eyes smiled while she spoke.

“I invited all of you to the Yaotai Divine Feast because I wanted you to hear the Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires. Such a beautiful song should have been savored leisurely. Why the hurry to leave?” Yao Xi’s voice was alluring and mesmerizing.

Ye Futian opened his eyes. There seemed to be two dazzling beams shooting out of his eyes, enabling him to see through the illusions and break through the spell of the song. He then looked at Yao Xi and said, “The song is indeed an intricate one, capable of swaying the will of the listeners. What are your intentions of inviting people to hear the Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires, Yao Xi?”

Xia Lun, who was beside Ye Futian, burst with brimming light. There seemed to be pure light of the lotus glimmering off it him, with whiffs of the will of the Renhuang emanating from it. As a descendant of the Renhuang, he’d inherited the lineage of Emperor Xia.

He turned his eyes to Yao Xi and said, “Goddess Yao Xi, it seems like there are people who do not wish to hear you play the Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires.”

“Is that so?” Yao Xi turned to look at Xia Lun and asked, “Who might that person you speak of be, Your Highness?”

“You know who it is,” Xia Lun said.

“Pardon me, your highness, but I do not know indeed,” Yao Xi said with a smile.

None of the others reacted much when the three of them talked. Only a handful opened their eyes in response.

Chu Xi, the young palace lord of the Asura Palace, the dashing Master of the Hundred Flowers, Qin Bai from the Qin Palace, and Gu Ran from the Jiutian Temple, whose brother has had scuffled with Ye Futian before, all opened their eyes. He took a look at Gu Mu, who had obviously succumbed.

Gu Mu was not the only one. Sages who had been present had either left or succumbed, not knowing where they were at the moment.

There was only one of the sages who had stayed—Mo Li of Tianji Pavilion, who was trained in special abilities. There seemed to be constellations shining in his eyes as he opened them. Even so, it seemed that he was struggling with his urges, on the verge of giving in at any given moment. However, he still wanted to keep himself awake, just to see what else would happen.

What was Yao Xi up to?

While he had been able to speculate on some things, he nonetheless wanted to verify his speculations.

Back all those years ago, Yao Xi had deliberately put herself at odds with Xia Qingyuan at the birthday banquet of Old Man Xiao of the Xiao clan.

No one knew what had happened back then, but he was able to guess some things nonetheless.

Ye Futian was surprised to hear the conversation between Yao Xi and Xia Lun. Was Xia Lun here for some specific objective?

Who was it that Xia Lun was talking about here?

He felt all of a sudden that there was something no one knew about going on in all of that.

He remembered that Xia Qingyuan had always found Yao Xi irksome, and Yao Xi did not seem to be on good terms with Xia Qingyuan. But then again, the two had never duked it out.

The two of them had never been seen going at each other’s throats. He thought that all might have only been due to their differences in status. From the looks of things at present however, it seemed that things were more complex than he’d anticipated them to be.

Ye Futian recalled that, before he’d left, Xia Qingyuan had sent someone to the Cottage Villa to have him train at the Golden Hall of the Lotus. That should have been meant to prevent him from attending the feast.

However, since he had promised Yao Xi first and had given his word to the messenger of the Yaotai Divine Palace, he’d pretended that he did not know anything about it and came to the feast all the same.

From the current looks of things however, there seemed to be something going on indeed.

Yao Xi turned her eyes around and looked at Ye Futian, saying with a smile, “Sir Ye here is someone who is versed in the art of the guqin, which means that you should be able to understand the extraordinary nature of the song. The very reason I invited you here, Sir Ye, is in hopes that you and I will be able to look into the complete Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires together.”

“Goddess Yao Xi, you’re saying that there is a chance for us both to do so?” Chu Xi asked.

Yao Xi looked at him and nodded lightly, answering, “Indeed.”

“If there is a chance to train in the Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires, I’m fully willing to succumb myself to it, even if it means that I shall be dragged to hell,” Chu Xi added.

Mo Li smirked deep down when he heard what Chu Xi said. Get dragged to hell, eh?

There had been rumors that there were methods for two cultivators to train in tandem in the Yaotai Divine Palace. Yao Xi might have been out to choose her Path Companion. Getting chosen by Yao Xi would never be like getting dragged to hell. It would be more like going to paradise.

Yao Xi grinned uncaringly. The song continued to be heard and all who were still present had intense urges raging inside them as they looked at the woman of immense beauty before them. Even Ye Futian was not spared from having such urges rising inside him, but he was able to hold it back better than most.

And that was because he did not want to do it.

However, others yearned for it.

Xia Lun sighed deep down. He was able to keep himself in check well enough and he continued, “Yao Xi, it’s best to just let go.”

Yao Xi smiled and rose without paying heed to Xia Lun’s words. She turned around and walked to the back. The wall at the rear of the stage was seen being pulled to the sides, revealing the scene behind. There was a pool before them and the place looked like paradise.

There was an island further forward. Yao Xi’s body floated and took to the air. Her dress billowed in the air. She turned around and smiled as she made for that island. She then said, “If there is one who can cross the Fairy Pool by boat, then I shall train in the complete version Heavenly Demon Song of the Six Desires with him.”

Her eyes looked exceptionally alluring and mesmerizing as she turned them around.

The seven goddesses rose at the same time and took to the air, rising above the Fairy Pool as they continued to play above it. The song sounded even more rushed by then.

Someone rose immediately and headed straight for the Fairy Pool. It was none other than Chu Xi. He took one step and landed on a boat, crossing the pool and heading for Yao Xi.

All the others who were still awake rose as well and headed to the pool. However, there were only several of them who did so.

Ye Futian took a look at Xia Lun. He vaguely sensed that something was off at the moment and asked Xia Lun, “Should I or should I not go, Your Highness?”

Xia Lun had sent someone to remind him to not touch Yao Xi, which puzzled him. He was unable to tell Xia Lun’s intentions of doing so.

From the looks of things at the moment, Xia Lun had not been doing so to intimidate him. The prince had other agendas.

Xia Lun took one look at Ye Futian and then at the ones who had stepped into the Fairy Pool. He then said, “Go.”