Cultivators must always observe hierarchy, seniority, and order in their cultivation.
Emperor Capital's lowered attitude now meant that Chen Xia was superior, and he was inferior.
Qiu Li, sitting on the high platform, naturally saw through the hierarchy between the two at a glance. However, he didn't believe it and thought Emperor Capital was deliberately scheming to make him afraid.
So Qiu Li remained outwardly calm and asked indifferently, "May I ask what brings you two here?"
Emperor Capital sneered and pointed at Qiu Li's nose, cursing, "You bastard, you don't have a single good thought in you. How dare you manipulate me to scheme against Brother Chen? We're here today to settle accounts with you!"
Qiu Li frowned, glancing at the calm young Chen Xia beside him, then at the angry Emperor Capital, and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with me? Weren't you the one who told me first?"
"Sowing discord!" Emperor Capital shouted angrily, then turned to Chen Xia with righteous indignation, "Brother, this person is trying to drive a wedge between us!"
He seemed extremely angry, veins popping on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and said, "How dare he try to ruin our brotherly relationship? This guy is cunning and manipulative, he must not be allowed to live!"
"But... you..." Qiu Li was bewildered. He had only said one sentence, yet Emperor Capital had already sentenced him to death.
Chen Xia could barely keep a straight face. Seeing Emperor Capital's implacable attitude, he couldn't help but ask, "Are we really that close?"
"As high as the heavens, as strong as divine weapons, as heavy as the stars! You're my brother, and you'll always be my brother!" Emperor Capital shouted emotionally, even shedding a few tears.
It was all emotion, without any technique.
Both Chen Xia and Qiu Li couldn't help but laugh. Chen Xia even commented directly, "You have a talent for acting."
He naturally wouldn't believe Emperor Capital, so he didn't respond further. Instead, he nodded slightly at Qiu Li and said with a light smile, "Emperor Capital said he had business with you, so I came along."
Qiu Li also ignored Emperor Capital and started chatting with Chen Xia, replying, "This bastard is no good. When he comes to find me, it's never for anything good. Last time he said he had detected you, and he was going on about how times have changed and how he wanted to avenge past humiliations."
"Slander!" Emperor Capital roared, pointing at Qiu Li's nose, "This is pure slander, trying to drive a wedge between us. I'm going to get angry!"
"When have you ever come here without getting angry?" Qiu Li retorted, and couldn't help but continue to berate him.
"I've been struggling with you in the star realm for twenty thousand years. If it weren't for you, I might have become a Great Saint by now. You're good for nothing but causing trouble!"
At this point, Emperor Capital's indignant voice inexplicably weakened as he asked, "Really?"
The fact that even his voice had weakened meant it was indeed true.
Chen Xia found this quite interesting and turned his gaze back to Qiu Li.
Qiu Li continued to scold, "Eight thousand years ago, when you first became a Quasi-Saint, you were lawless. Not only did you beat up a Great Saint's offspring, but you even dared to go wild on a Great Saint's star, saying things like 'I am the Quasi-Saint Emperor Capital, the future Quasi-Great Emperor.'"
"As a result, we had to give up more than half of our fortune to gain the Great Saint's forgiveness. It was because of this incident that we parted ways. Have you forgotten all about that?!"
"Haha," Emperor Capital chuckled, rubbing his head. "It was just youthful recklessness."
"You were twenty-four thousand years old then. Still youthful recklessness?"
Emperor Capital pointed at Chen Xia and said, "Brother Chen is over thirty thousand years old and he's still young, isn't he?"
"He looks young, you just don't grow a brain!" Qiu Li scolded again.
Mainly because Emperor Capital was really too outrageous, not like a normal person at all.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Emperor Capital didn't dwell on these past events. He put his hands on his hips and boasted arrogantly, "Anyway, we're definitely going to beat you up today. Whatever you say won't make a difference!"
Qiu Li's temper flared up too. He stood up from his seat and said to Chen Xia, "Whatever you need my help with, I'll agree to it, as long as you don't get involved in the fight between Emperor Capital and me later."
"Hey, that won't do!" Emperor Capital hurriedly shook his head, while righteously declaring, "My brother and I are here to beat you up today!"
"You don't dare to fight one-on-one? After all these years, not only have you made no progress, but you've become even more cowardly?" Qiu Li taunted again.
"That's none of your business. Just wait to get beaten up," Emperor Capital refused to admit defeat.
If there were bystanders watching, they would never have imagined this was a conversation between two Saints.
Chen Xia was watching with great interest, standing aside with his hands behind his back. Since Qiu Li had already agreed to help him, he decided not to interfere.
Emperor Capital and Qiu Li were quite peculiar. They argued fiercely, but neither of them made the first move to fight, each waiting for the other to strike first.
The situation continued until dusk, with the two having nothing left to say to each other, their faces ashen.
Seeing this, Chen Xia slowly walked over and said with a light smile, "Since everything has been said, it seems we've officially reached an agreement. I'll come to you for help in the future if needed."
Emperor Capital just stared blankly at Qiu Li, ignoring what Chen Xia said.
Qiu Li, however, came to his senses and asked, "What exactly do you need?"
Chen Xia didn't respond immediately. The river of time began to flicker in his eyes as he gently pointed at the space in front of him. Ripples appeared in the void, and a picture slowly unfolded.
In it was a vast sea, with a giant sword above the sea surface, and the sky above the sword.
As soon as this image appeared, Emperor Capital and Qiu Li instantly recognized it.
Chen Xia stood before the sea, sword, and sky. His blue robe fluttered slightly, his youthful face seeming to pull time back to a much earlier era. He smiled lightly and said,
"I want to trace back the Blue Sky Sword Sea."
The expressions of Emperor Capital and Qiu Li immediately darkened.
The key was in the words "trace back" rather than "rebuild."
This meant that Chen Xia wanted to forcibly bring back the Blue Sky Sword Sea using the Law of Time. The matters involved were far too numerous, so much so that even Emperor Capital and Qiu Li, both Saints, dared not think too much about it.
"Can't it be rebuilt instead?" Qiu Li asked in a deep voice.
"If rebuilt, it wouldn't be the Blue Sky Sword Sea anymore," Chen Xia shook his head slightly, then paused before candidly smiling and saying,
"I've comprehended the Time Dao, but my skills and abilities alone are not enough to fully understand it. So I need to find the cultivators from the former Blue Sky Sword Sea to join me, to gain the recognition of the Way of Heaven during the tracing back process."
The scene fell silent, with no one responding.
After a while, Qiu Li finally spoke up and asked, "So the recent disturbances in the Blue Sky Sword Sea were also because of you?"
As Saints, they naturally knew about the events that had occurred in the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
"Yes," Chen Xia nodded.
"What if I don't want to go?" Qiu Li asked again, maintaining a calm exterior while his heart lake had already condensed the great Dao.
He definitely wouldn't be willing to directly confront the Way of Heaven.
"You've misunderstood," Chen Xia smiled lightly, suddenly beckoning with his hand.
In just a moment, the hall was filled with black mist. An avatar appeared shoulder to shoulder with Qiu Li, its hand already on his neck.
It was an irresistible killing intent!
Cold sweat poured down Qiu Li's back, his pupils slightly dilated, truly terrified.
Chen Xia continued, "I'm not giving you a choice."
He spoke very calmly.
After a long while, Qiu Li finally replied slowly, "Indeed, only your appearance remains young."
"But my thoughts are no longer like before, right?" Chen Xia helped him complete the other half of the sentence, then smiled lightly.
"People always change, and I'm no exception."
He stepped towards the outside of the hall, saying at the same time,
"I will personally find the others. You should prepare yourselves too. When the time is right, I will come to gather you all."
"It's not really a big deal. You just need to stand by and watch me do my thing. What's so difficult about that?"
He walked to the entrance of the hall, suddenly turning his head. With his back to all the starlight, he smiled lightly again and said,
"I will bring back the Blue Sky Sword Sea."
He spoke with absolute certainty.
No one present dared to doubt him.
Long after he had left, and the avatar had dissipated,
Qiu Li collapsed into his seat as if drained of all strength, muttering to himself,
"So this is Chen Xia."
As domineering as he was in the Blue Sky Sword Sea.
All geniuses could only see his back.
Even now, it remained so.