Chapter 1822


    Thud!


    Following their lead, the sea of white fell onto their knees in a deafening anthem of reverence that


    echoed through the mountains.


    “We are allplicit in the failure of defending Dragon Master, Mrs. Chu!”


    “Please punish us as you see fit!”


    The wails for forgiveness permeated the air, suddenly thick with despair.


    Atop Mount Yunding, the crowd who had gathered in anticipation for Ye Fan''s triumphant return


    looked as if they had been struck by lightning.


    Ye Fan did return, all right. But not in a way we expected.


    The wails and shrieks of grief sounding from atop Mount Yunding, which echoed throughout the city


    below, apanied the citywide mourning that day.


    Many were unable to ept the fact that the man from their city with such a meteoric rise would


    meet


    such a premature and unexpected end.


    As torn with grief as Qiu Mucheng and Ye Ximei were, they were obligated to put on a brave front


    for the sake of the city.


    After a discussion with the elders of the Ye family, members of the Dragon God Hall came to the


    decision to have the funeral service three dayster.


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    The news of Ye Fan''s demise spread quickly throughout Jiangdong.


    The day of the funeral was a cloudy and gloomy one as if reflective of the city''s residents'' mood.


    Throughout the grayish day, the grounds were flecked with white from the asional snowfall.


    On that day, inhabitants from every corner of the city flocked to the cemetery toy a flower on his


    grave, which was soon hidden under a bed of flowers and fresh snow.


    He Lanshan, Li Er, and Lu Tianhe were d in suits with their mourning attire draped over their


    arms. They stood forlornly, silently paying theirst respects as they watched the casket lowered


    into the earth.


    Ye Fan''s body did not lie within the casket. Rather, it was the Sword of Yunyang that he had used in


    life.


    Li Er and the rest watched Ye Fan fall before their very eyes, but the body was taken away before


    they could recover it.


    It was the only way they could think of to hold a burial for Ye Fan while still preserving his dignity.


    There was a suggestion before about having the funeral after recovering his body, but Li Er and


    Chen Ao objected to it at once.


    If they were unable to recover the body, that might mean never having the funeral.


    Ye Fan''s suicide had been made known throughout the martial arts world.


    They did not want Ye Fan to be ridiculed in death for not even having the ceremony to acknowledge


    it.


    Li Er knew that Ye Fan was a proud man.


    As he was fond of living in style, we should respect his wishes and let him leave this earth in style.


    Of course, Li Er and the others vowed to continue the search for his body.


    The elders have said that the deceased will be a ghost trapped in the mortal realm, destined


    to haunt the earth for all eternity if he is not given a proper burial. Mr. Chu was forced to kill himself


    to protect us. We must respect him just as we would if he were still alive. It is our duty to see his


    burial through.


    On that day, Li Er, Chan Ao, Wang Jiexi, and the rest of theirrades from Jiangdong, Xue


    Renyang on behalf of Yanjing, Lu Tianhe and Wu Yang on behalf of the military, Chiike Shizuka on


    behalf of Japan, and thousands of Dragon Gods disciples gathered to pay theirst respects.


    Every single one of the mourners who was once graced with Ye Fan''s kindness orthose who had


    followed him for years knelt for a full day.


    Once thest shovelful of earth is thrown over the casket, Ye Fan will have officially ceased to exist


    in the world. The glorious conquests under Chu Tian fan''s leadership might one day all be forgotten,


    but not if we can help it. Today is thest day we will be able to apany Mr. Chu. Jiangdong will


    not have a leader from tomorrow onward!


    At that harrowing thought, Li Er burst into tears duringthe vigil.


    “It''s time to go home.”


    Li Er gazed out of the window and realized that it was already the break of dawn.


    The vast sky was starting to lighten up in a milky white over the horizon.


    Most of thoseing to pay theirst respects had already left. The ones who remained behind


    were Ye Fan''s closest friends and the members of the Dragon God Hall.


    Li Er was already frail. After being on his knees for an entire night, in addition to the immense


    emotional toil, his face had be extremely pale.


    Li Xueqi, his sister, could bear it no longer. She stepped forward to pull him to his feet.


    Li Er burst into a fresh bout of tears.


    “Xueqi,” he gasped, turning his bloodshot eyes up at her. “Mr. Chu is gone! Who am I supposed to


    rely on now?”


    Though it looked as though Li Er was the one working for Ye Fan, the former knew very well that it


    was actually the other way around. It was Ye Fan''s support and protection that had allowed Li Er to


    thrive.


    As long as Ye Fan backed him, Li Er''s influence and prestige overYunzhou and Jiangdong were


    unshakeable.


    Though Ye Fan was in the habit of disappearing to carry out reckless solo missions on his own, he


    was also the one defending Jiangdong against invading storms.


    Li Er was not the only one to be left vulnerable at Ye Fan''s demise. Without him, the entire


    Jiangdong became vulnerable to regional powers.


    What if tyrants like Wu Herong or Lu Hua show up here at Jiangdong again? Who is going to defend


    us from them?


    Though unwilling, Li Er and the other fervent mourners were forced to leave due to fatigue.


    Under the arrangements made by Li Er''s family, the members of Dragon God Hall were situated in


    hotels.


    Before departing, they were expected to convene once more to make arrangements for the future of


    their organization.


    Xue Renyang and the others unanimously rmended Han to lead Dragon God Hall to avoid a


    power vacuum.


    The only other people whose ranks within the organization were high enough to be considered were


    Han, who had remained behind in Jiangdong, and Junie.


    As Junie had departed Yunzhou after the funeral, Han remained behind.


    Thousands of members of Dragon God Hall were gathered at the appointed hour. Despite the size


    of the crowd, it was unusually silent.


    The only voice was Xue Renyang''s as he reported the entire incident to Han.


    When he had arrived at the part where Ye Fan was forced to kill himself, the decrepit old man gave


    an almighty shudder before tears rolled down his cheeks.


    “After much difficulty in arriving at the country''s borders, he must have felt safe to have finally


    arrived back. How ironic that it was within sovereign borders where he fell.” Han''s voice shook


    though his lips wore a sad little smile.


    As Ye Fan''s butler, he stood by his master''s side longer than anybody else. Knowing him as well as


    he did, Han could almost perceive Ye Fan''s sadness at how thetter must have felt upon arrival


    outside the country only to be denied entry.


    The pain of being abandoned by your own country must hurt more than a stab through the heart.


    How can I man represent a country that doesn''t even represent him?


    Han let out another sigh, more weary this time.


    As if forgetting that he sat before thousands of Dragon God Hall disciples, Han took out aptop


    and logged into a forum for the martial artists of China.


    The servers were jammed as almost everybody was logged in at the same moment.


    Even on other uneventful days, the banter and exchange of knowledge taking ce made it a lively,


    albeit virtual, space to be in.


    War God and Sword Saint were veterans of the forum, while the Six pirs of China served as


    moderators.


    The founder of the forum was somebody called “Mortal Spark,” who had amassed arge following.


    Despite the popr opinion that Mortal Spark was a reclusive master in China, Han was the only


    one to know that Ye Fan was behind that username.


    Over the decade since the forum''s inception, Ye Fan would share details for free on the forum


    whenever he had a breakthrough in his training.


    In the course of his studies of the Book of Celestial Cloud, he discovered several training methods


    that were suitable for martial artists in China.


    Though they were not as powerful as Invoke the Celestial Cloud, it was still far more advanced than


    the current standards within China.


    Even War God felt a pang of regret when he had first encountered the treasure trove of knowledge.


    I would have elerated my progress to be a Supreme by five years if such resources had


    been made known to me when I first began training!


    Underthe shroud of his pseudonym, Ye Fan had distributed the priceless knowledge online without


    charge. asionally, he would even find the time to address messages sent to him by his


    followers.


    It had been many years since a breakthrough urred in China''s martial arts scene.


    Aside from the attitude of the practitioners, the other factor was the technique employed.


    Chu family members like Chu Yuan were able to outlive most mortals because of the practice of


    Invoke the Celestial Cloud.


    Ye Fan had modified the training pathway that wasmon in China toward one more suited for


    progress.


    Though it might take more than five or ten years to truly see the results, the same might not be said


    for fifty years down the line.


    By then, the next few generations of practitioners would have adapted to the superior sybus


    designed by Ye Fan and raised the standards collectively as a nation.