Chapter 466 A Hero's Price

"It seems we are thinking about the same thing."

Ye Ming smiled and nodded, then flicked his sleeves towards the peach tree. As if by some divine power, a stone table appeared under the tree, with a pot of wine and several wine cups on it. He said, "Although the matter is urgent, we must discuss it carefully."

"Empress Di, since it's about Da Yi, would you like to listen..."

Wei Yuan turned his head and looked at the Di Empress, who, although transformed into an ordinary woman, still possessed a cold and aloof aura.

The latter's eyes showed extreme disgust, and she said, "Da Yi?"

"Hmph, do as you please."

Chang Xi turned around and walked into the house, then slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

Even the Buzhou Mountain God shrunk his neck in shock.

Ye Ming closed his eyes, yet it seemed that everything outside was within his perception. He said, "It's normal for Empress Di not to want to mention Da Yi. After all, there were many entanglements in the past, and it's difficult to explain everything clearly..."

He pointed to the stone table, and Wei Yuan frankly sat down on one side.

Ye Ming took a sip of wine and said, "Da Yi's true body has naturally dissipated, and the one who came with you was defeated, an undeniable defeat. The Golden Crow only used ten percent of its strength, which was similar to Da Yi's current state. The decisive battle took place in the east of the wilderness, and finally, a victor was decided."

Wei Yuan's movements paused, and he said slowly:

"That's because Da Yi wasn't in good condition."

"That's not the case. In fact, you know it, but you're just unwilling to believe it, aren't you?"

Ye Ming said, "There's a story in the human world about carving a mark on a boat to find a lost sword. If you still look at your past enemies with the eyes of five thousand years ago, then you're no different from that foolish person. But, but ah..."

His voice contained some hidden sighs for some reason:

"Da Yi's time, however, has forever stopped five thousand years ago, and he can no longer move forward."

"Even if he was incredibly talented, he can't improve any further..."

"He once went very far, but he will eventually be surpassed."

Ye Ming's voice paused, then he shook his head, his voice gentle and calm, and changed the subject:

"Besides, although the ten suns in the sky are said to be magnificent."

"But that is also a kind of limitation, dividing an extremely powerful force into ten parts, so each part is not the same level as the original. Da Yi killed nine suns back then, and the aura of the nine suns merged into one, and the foundation's strength has increased more than tenfold."

"In addition to five thousand years of hard cultivation under hatred, his strength has improved by leaps and bounds."

"But Da Yi has wasted five thousand years after his death."

"And another point, Da Yi does not have the heart to fight to the death."

The Heavenly Emperor's deputy said, "If he had the heart to fight to the death, the Golden Crow could win, but he would be injured."

Wei Yuan squeezed the wine cup: "No heart to fight to the death..."

He recalled what Da Yi had said at the time: 'This is also the karma and destiny that must be completed, the reason why I came here.' He didn't quite understand, but he remembered Chang Xi's reaction just now, and subconsciously turned his head to look over. The door of the house was tightly closed, and even a formation had been set up, and it was obvious that the latter was really angry and unwilling to hear about Da Yi.

Could it be that Chang Xi is Chang'e?

No, that's not right, the timeline doesn't match...

Ye Ming twirled the wine cup and said, "You should have heard of the legend of Da Yi."

"Not the ones from the human race, but the parts about him being abandoned by his parents in the wilderness."

Wei Yuan nodded—'When Yi was five years old, his parents took him into the mountains. His mother left him under a big tree, waiting for the cicadas to sing before returning to fetch him. The cicadas all sang together, so she abandoned him. Yi was raised in the mountains.'

This is what is recorded in the ancient books of China.

Parents took the five-year-old Da Yi into the barren mountains, and then planned to take him away when the cicadas sang.

But the cicadas were too loud, so they left him in the mountains. In the end, Da Yi was raised by all things in the mountains.

Ye Ming smiled and said:

"It's good that you know, and Da Yi's bow and arrows were also bestowed by the Emperor."

"The Emperor bestowed upon Yi a vermillion bow and white feathered arrows, to support the lower kingdoms. Yi was the first to go and relieve the hundred difficulties of the lower lands. This is exactly what is written in your *Shan Hai Jing*. Therefore, Da Yi helped the human kingdom to eliminate many evil gods, not at Yao's request, but at the Emperor's command."

"His war bow and his arrows were all used by the Emperor back then."

"The purpose was to have Da Yi support the hundred people of the lower kingdoms."

"So, at this time, I want to test you, Wei Yuan. What kind of identity would make the Emperor bestow his weapons from his youth upon him, and for what purpose would the Emperor send Da Yi to the human world to support the people of the lower lands?"

"And where did he live that he would be recorded as 'to support the lower kingdoms'?"

Wei Yuan's pupils constricted.

The legends that had been ignored in the past, the layers of fog of the past.

Da Yi's past seemed to be unveiled before his eyes—it must be an extremely close relationship to bestow weapons from the past; and the words "to support the lower kingdoms" naturally represent that this person originally lived in the upper kingdom, that is, the Celestial Realm.

And to relieve the hundred difficulties of the lower lands.

This is undoubtedly, simply, letting Da Yi accumulate prestige.

Wei Yuan said slowly, "...Da Yi and Di Jun..."

Ye Ming did not answer, stretched out his hand, and a piece of ice crystal slid across the stone table and landed beside Wei Yuan's hand.

Signaling Wei Yuan to see for himself.

Wei Yuan was silent for a moment, then his fingers touched the ice crystal.

A series of images appeared before his eyes, a child crying and running in the mountains, calling out.

'Mom!'

'Dad!'

'Dad, Mom, where are you? Where are you!'

After resting for a while, he found that his parents were gone. The child was panicked and exhausted, and fell asleep. When he woke up, he found several beasts lying around him. The fur of these beasts warmed the five-year-old child.

The young child who was abandoned by his parents survived under the feeding of wild beasts. He almost ate raw meat and fruits and lived like a beast. Suddenly, one day, he heard the melodious sound of a flute coming from the clouds.

The beast-like child followed the sound and saw a handsome god in black clothes with gold patterns. After a flute song, the Emperor from the sky left, and the beast-like child guarded here. Several days later, when the Emperor came again, he brought him clothes.

The young man looked warily at the Emperor like a beast.

Suddenly,

A girl with dangling hair popped out from behind the handsome man, her face full of curiosity.

The beast-like boy was startled.

"Wow, he really looks like a savage."

The girl smiled and stepped forward: "Hey, my name is Heng'e, what's yours?"

The boy was so frightened that he ran away, but the girl chased after him playfully.

This child who grew up in the mountains couldn't escape even when he ran all over the mountains and fields.

Over time, this child became a teenager, his body cleansed by the sound of the flute.

Occasionally, this girl would come along.

And occasionally, there would be some naughty boys.

That girl felt that her younger brothers were very boring, so she occasionally liked to tease this human boy instead. She brought the moon dew from the Taiyin Star (the moon), and in the end, the boy who grew up in the mountains grew into a handsome young man. It was also because he grew up in the mountains that he was not good at communicating.

That girl, who called herself Su'e, also known as Heng'e, taught him human language and knowledge.

And the Emperor would teach him archery and swordsmanship.

At the age of twenty, Yi shot an arrow from the Great Wilderness, and the arrow directly entered the human world, directly piercing through his parents' door. 'Because he shot to defend, the arrow rubbed against the ground and cut the grass, passing through Yi's door, following the arrow.' Therefore, this young man severed his karma with the past.

He asked his master to give him a name.

The Emperor looked at him calmly and said, "Humans are like trees on the earth, all things grow, but you were abandoned by your parents like turning into fallen leaves, but remember, even if you have no relatives and only yourself, fallen leaves do not necessarily have to rot on the earth, they can still rely on the strong wind to rise up with a whirlwind."

"The state of rising up with a whirlwind is Yi. From now on, you will be Yi."

"As long as you don't let go of this thought in your heart, you will not be that abandoned child."

"If the heart does not fall, rise up with a whirlwind."

The picture slowly disappeared.

Wei Yuan fell silent.

Ye Ming played with the wine glass in his hand:

"If I say that Da Yi's martial arts skills were personally taught by the Emperor."

"Back then, it was the Emperor who discovered him abandoned in the barren mountains and brought him back to Heavenly Emperor Mountain; the nine Golden Crows that he killed once called him brothers, and Chang'e, who abandoned him, did not fly to the Taiyin Star, but was originally the largest of the twelve Taiyin."

"Wei Yuan, will you understand what Da Yi means by the words 'settling karma'?"

Wei Yuan slowly raised his head.

"The evil gods that Da Yi killed."

Ye Ming said, "The Emperor originally let him hold an arrow and descend to the mortal world to support the kingdoms of the lower realm."

"The part of the *Shan Hai Jing* written by King Yu has already made it very clear."

"Zao Chi is a personal grudge."

"However, he ultimately chose to kill the nine evil Golden Crows as well."

"Chang Xi drove the ten suns to fly in the sky, and there was a reason for it, but being in the situation back then, they had no choice. No matter what the difficulties were, it was true that the Great Wilderness, Kunlun, and even the human world almost turned into scorched earth back then. It is true that Da Yi, who grew up in the mountains, killed the nine suns for the sake of righteousness."

"It is also true that the Taiyin Star could no longer accept Da Yi, so she left."

"The price of a hero is nothing more than this."

Wei Yuan did not answer, just drank wine.

He thought of that shy young man who would never answer questions about Chang'e.

Ye Ming drank wine and said calmly, "At that time, Da Yi was faced with only two choices, whether to save the common people and kill his relatives for the sake of righteousness, or to be willing to be an enemy of the world for the sake of friendship; and Taiyin Heng'e... she, in any case, who can accept that the person next to her pillow killed her nine younger brothers?"

"That so-called era of heroes and legends is always so ruthless, always forcing everyone onto the battlefield where swords face each other. Wei Yuan, can you kill the person closest to you for the sake of all living beings in the world?"

Wei Yuan drank wine.

Ye Ming did not press him, but changed the subject and said, "As for Da Yi's cause of death back then."

Wei Yuan said, "Did the Emperor kill him?"

"No, after he completed his achievements, he went to the Great Wilderness, and then committed suicide in the wilderness."

Ye Ming said softly, "He still maintained his undefeated body until his death, just as the Emperor told him."

"Those who do not let go of this thought in their hearts, those who rise up with a whirlwind, are Yi."

"The only one who can kill him is himself."

Ye Ming said, "Therefore, he is not ashamed of the common people, he repays his teacher with his life, he leaves the legend to the Great Wilderness and the common people of the human world, he returns his life, soul, and weapons to his teacher, evil should be punished, and no mercy should be shown, but..."

The beautiful and gentle Ye Ming said in a calm tone, "He is worthy of the Emperor, worthy of the common people, worthy of the creatures who raised him, and worthy of his friends, worthy of everything in later generations, but, Wei Yuan, do you think Da Yi is worthy of himself, worthy of Heng'e?"

"What did he do wrong to experience such a fate, and what did Heng'e do wrong?"

Wei Yuan could not answer.

So the god sighed:

"People who have to carry an entire era on their shoulders have always been like this."

Ye Ming said, "As for Da Yi, when you held Chang Xi hostage and left, the twelve Taiyin were also there at the time, so he finally met Heng'e once, and then returned his life to the Golden Crow again, but the Golden Crow, in order to let you return Chang Xi, took action and directly froze Da Yi's soul."

"Eh?!"

Wei Yuan, who was immersed in Da Yi's past, was stunned, and then reacted and suddenly raised his head.

"Yes, as you thought..."

Ye Ming said, "At this moment, Da Yi, although defeated, has had his illusions broken by the power of the Great Sun and Yin and Yang, and has broken free from the body of the battle soul memory and transformed into a true remnant soul."

True Soul!

Wei Yuan suddenly stood up, his heart surging.

That almost represents, represents another concept of turning death into life.

Ye Ming's tone was cold, pointing out the crisis and hidden death calamity ahead:

"But, you only have three days!"

"Go alone with Chang Xi to exchange."