The sacred mountains of KunLun, its origins though ferocious and holy, was first and foremost a school. To be a disciple here, albeit under the tutelage of the Legendary God of War, High God Mo Yuan is one of extreme blessing and virtue. Though a school for several thousand's of years, its habitants were always very few. 

There are many facets to KunLun besides being a school. The divine energy within the mountains was not only pure enough to lock the Three poisons of Miao Hua realm, but its caves  also acted a chamber for recovery. Within its largest and perhaps the most deepest caves with divine energy swirling through the air, sat the reverend God in deep meditation. 

Mo Yuan has been taking these regular meditative seclusions quite often. Re-patching his soul, that stayed shattered for over 70,000 years definitely took its toll.  He needed to regain as much of his cultivation possible quickly, especially in the light of current situation. 

He opened his eyes and surveyed a good improvement in his cultivation, though not by much, he frowned. The reason perhaps lay beside him, as he reached to take another look at the missive from Dong Hua Dijun 10 days ago.

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Mo Yuan, perhaps you heard the news and are aware.  Usually I stay detached from matter unbecoming of mine, but when it concerns Xaio Bai. 

Tianjun is getting restless and The Crown Prince is your mirror when it comes to matters of the heart. 

QingQiu will prefer to handle it their own way, which I hope you would make sure to avoid.

Join me sometime for a game of Go.

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One might assume that the missive is written in code, but its as straightforward as the man himself. Dong Hua Dijun is a man of few words, yet Mo Yuan chuckled, after being saddled with the young fox queen, his vocabulary has indeed risen.

Mo Yuan sighed, he expected this but its happening sooner that he wished. By soon marrying the former Lord of the Eight Realms into their household; the QingQiu fox clan will invariably become the most powerful clan in existence. Even though both of QingQiu's sons-in-laws belong to the Heavenly Clan; they are just too besotted with their respective wives, and that does not help the current Heavenly Lord one bit. Tianjun was bound to do something to ensure his power and hold remained. Mo Yuan suspected the move that was to come and was sure Ye Hua would adamantly refuse. 

Sighing he rose and left the confines of the meditative cave. Walking through the hallways of the school he couldn't help but reminisce about Little Seventeenth. A soft smile formed in his lips as he recalled how she would moan and look bored during several lessons but would always be ready to cause mayhem. Being the only girl among sixteen men worked in her favor immensely. 

The ache that used to form when he remembers her, has reduced to a dull pain. As it should, for Mo Yuan now realized that his affection for Seventeenth was solely due to the other untouched matters deep in his heart. She was now the true love of his beloved brother; and as the elder sibling he had new responsibilities to uphold. He looked to the lush forest expanse that surrounded the school; and right at its edge was the Lotus pond. It was time to meet Ye Hua.

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Xiwu Palace 

Ye Hua cloud jumped inside his chamber and closed the door simultaneously throwing a privacy barrier. He was seething and had to do deep breathing to reduce his temper. He did not want Qian Qian to find out his anger or the reason for it. 

Ever since he was a child, he knew his Grandfather, the currently Heavenly Lord was a temperamental, cold man. He valued power and name more than anything and was utter devoid of any emotion closely resembling affection. Yet he carried a little fondness for Ye Hua, the other son of the Heavenly Father, the Crown Prince of the Heavens. 

Or so he thought, if today's meeting was anything to go by. His grandfather's insistence of a second marriage was getting out of control. He was relentlessly dogged with proposals from several prominent households, all with varying degrees of power which if He agreed to the marriage will only strengthen the Heavenly clan. 

It did not matter to anyone that he wished to only have Bai Qian as his consort and no one else. He knew he was fighting this alone and his family save for his Third Uncle only tolerated Bai Qian because of the matters of the past. Ye Hua sighed he needed a miracle from the Buddha to manage this. 

A soft knock broke his thoughts. He opened his door to see his general holding a missive. He took one look at the seal of KunLun and smiled. His miracle has come. 

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The disciples of KunLun had just finished their meal and were clearing up to retire. But there was a faint excitment in the air. Dei Feng let it slip that a missive was sent to the Celestial Palace , and the Crown Prince Ye Hua was expected tonight at KunLun.

To say they were waiting on bated breath to see not one but two versions of their Shifu would not be an exaggeration. They were finding all sorts of ways to dawdle time just to get a peek of this rare sight. 

Mo Yuan knew about their thoughts and merely chuckled. They deserved some fun after spending a long time apart and the mountains could use this renewed enthusiasm after being deserted till now. A brief change in the surrounding aura announced his arrival and standing next to the lotus pond that was once his home, Mo Yuan looked up to see his twin walking towards him. 

It always amazed and soothed him to see his only brother, whose soul he nourished for several hundreds of thousands of years, in a human form living and breathing. He swore on the promise made to his father that he will do whatever it takes to establish the bond that ought to be.

For his part, Ye Hua was both thrilled and anxious meeting High God Mo Yuan. It wasn't his first time but seeing the Legendary God in flesh and blood, his own brother ,brought out a reverence and familiarity that he only had for Qian Qian and A Li. Family he mused, spread its tendrils to keep them closer.

" Ye Hua greets High God Mo Yuan" he bowed.

'Rise Ye Hua and please call me brother. You are in our home, and propriety is not needed" smiled Mo Yuan. Ye Hua rose and saw that the genuinity in his eyes and returned with his own smile, "Yes Dague"

"Come join me for tea" Mo Yuan summoned a small table filled with tea and sweets and placed it on the stone steps near the lotus pond. As they both sat down and refilled their cups a soft comfortable silence filled the air.

Ye Hua placed his cup down and asked, " I take tea was not the reason you called me Dague"

Mo Yuan smiled before placing his own cup, "No, but I don't want to break their fun just yet" He directed with his eyes and Ye Hua turned to see all fifteen disciples of KunLun trying their best to look inconspicuous. Ye Hua could feel their amazed gaze filled with reverence and turned back to his bother in amusement, " Indeed, Kun Lun must lack severely in matters of excitement"

Mo Yuan let out a rich laugh before signaling for his Second Disciple to clear the plates. A stern look sent the others scattering and finally the brothers were alone. 

Ye Hua sensed rather than saw the sudden shift in the mood. Mo Yuan all barely changed his expression but his demeanor spoke volumes. 

"Ye Hua, I want you to send A Li to train under my tutelage"

"Pardon, A Li? But he is very young, not even of 1000 years of age, surely you..."

"Its not a request"

Ye Hua stilled. He did not expect this. "Dague, I don't understand"

"  I suspect The Heavenly Lord to make his move soon. Since he knows you will never agree to a second marriage, he plans to bring A Li under his control so that he can use him to secure his foothold in the throne." 

All the breath left Ye Hua. To even consider this was unprecedented, but Mo Yuan had no reason to lie. Gathering his calm, he took a sip of his tea as he collected his thoughts.

Mo Yuan waited a beat before continuing, " You seemed shocked to trust my asking of this?. Do you worry I will steal A Li from you ? " 

Ye Hua almost choked on his tea but managed to school his gaze. He realized he was being tested at the same time assisted. The enormity of the title of God of War fell on him and Ye Hua decided to tackle the one constant plague of his mind.

" Qian Qian's loyalty towards you is as honorable as its threatening to me. I fear one day she will leave me to stay at your side. So forgive me if I hesitate to send A Li down the same path, for those two are all I have left. I am ready to share them with you, but will fight if you choose to steal" 

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I know its a long chapter but I wanted to explore the dynamics between these two. Besides Bai Qian, is there anything that connects them as brothers?  It will continue for a few more chapters. Stay tuned. 

I firmly believe Mo Yuan affection for Bai Qian was not love but rather a deep fondness, especially after knowing about the one true OTP Mo Yuan and Shao Wan.

*waiting expectantly for Bodhi's Fate"