Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Up on the holy mountain, Saint Xihua looked at the holy land that had been passed down for many years and sighed in his heart.
“I wanted to let Xihua Sacred Mountain reach the peak of all Eastern State before leaving to cultivate. Now it seems that this wish will never be fulfilled,” Saint Xihua whispered as if talking to himself.
“Senior brother has worked hard for the foundation of Xihua Sacred Mountain for many years and single-handedly made Xihua Sacred Mountain an unofficial number one holy place in the Eastern State. Liu Zong’s talent was outstanding, and he had the potential to be the one to unify the Eastern State. But what men plan, the heavens must bless. Ye Futian of the Barren State caused today’s situation. It is not your fault,” beside Saint Xihua, a tall and massive man said.
This person was the number two saint of the Xihua Sacred Mountain, the junior brother of Saint Xihua, Mad Saint. This moniker came from his fighting style, as he was the fighting madman of Xihua Sacred Mountain. The two brothers had laid the foundation for Xihua Sacred Mountain. However, no one had thought that things could have changed so fast. The Holy Zhi Palace of Barren State had risen at an unstoppable speed, even growing in chaos, facing annihilation more than once. But today, it stood firmly atop all the lands in the Nine States.
During the time Ye Futian returned to Qingzhou City, all the saints dared not to invade the Holy Zhi Palace. The returning Sword Saint of the Void and Saint Jiang were all great threats. Under the circumstances of Saint Ji being under house arrest, none of them had enough confidence to act.
Saint Xihua looked up at the sky and sighed in his heart. They grew up on Xihua Sacred Mountain and had deep feelings for this sacred mountain. All they had wanted was to let Xihua Sacred Mountain stand on the top of Nine States with a firm foundation, which they could pass down from generation to generation. After all, in the world of cultivation, they all knew that once you were weak, it was easy to be replaced or destroyed. If you didn’t move forward, you would disappear in the torrent of history.
And now, the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was just such a fitting example.
And now, it seemed it was Xihua Sacred Mountain’s time.
No one could stop the march of time.
Suddenly, he remembered the Nine State Forum that year. Who then, among all the holy lands of Nine States, would look at Ye Futian from the Barren State? After Nine State Forum, after Yu Sheng took first place, their attention was somewhat aroused, but those from the Noble Plane could never affect the overall situation of Nine States. And then at the Nether Sword Mound, because of what he and Liu Zong wanted to do, they caused a direct confrontation with Ye Futian that was doomed to be irreconcilable. Therefore, they had wanted to make the Holy Zhi Palace disappear for good. But at that time, they thought that the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was enough. They never expected that the outcome of the first Sacred War would cause everything that happened later.
“It’s hard to let go,” Saint Xihua whispered.
“Master, do what is wise,” the Rain Saint said, to which Saint Xihua gently nodded. Now that they were at an absolute disadvantage, the Moon Saint might come over and join in the fight, but under such circumstances, even the saint from the Hall of Holy Light may not be of much use. Especially now that Saint Ji was under house arrest and the Hall of Holy Light itself was well-protected by natural barriers, there was not much chance that anyone there would want to venture out.
If they insisted on staying to battle, they would face the same consequences as the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. The Great Zhou Sacred King and Zhou Yanwang were an example that ought to be hearkened. That was the reason for him to reprimand the Great Zhou Sacred King as an idiot who did not know when to leave the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty behind before it was too late. But it was all for the best, and they were reminded early to have time to make a decision.
Since a decision was made, Saint Xihua hesitated no more. He levitated slowly, and a faint pressure shrouded all of Xihua Sacred Mountain. In front of all the palaces of the Sacred Mountain, the army stood solemnly, fully taking advantage of its geographical location, waiting to launch the matrix, preparing for war. Feeling the pressure, they all looked up above the void and saw Saint Xihua.
Saint Xihua looked at the sacred mountain. Liu Zong had died in battle, along with the other two sages who also died in the same battle. In the previous battle, Xihua Sacred Mountain had suffered great losses, and many hopefuls from the next generation were killed. Although today’s Xihua Sacred Mountain had many powerful sages, in fact, they could no longer support Xihua Sacred Mountain as a holy land.
“Our Xihua Sacred Mountain has stood in the Eastern State for many years and has produced many generations of cultivators. Many of you have been cultivating at Xihua Sacred Mountain for many years to reach your achievements today. Now, Xihua Sacred Mountain is at the crossroad of life and death, but saints cannot touch you at all. Mad Saint, Rain Saint, and I will leave so that other saints will not make a move against you, not even in successive waves of attacks. Xihua Sacred Mountain is now relying on you to protect it.” Saint Xihua spoke clearly and sounded tragic, but everyone who was listening closely understood the hidden meaning—Saint Xihua and the Three Saints were ready to abandon Xihua Sacred Mountain.
Suddenly, many people were pale, and they did not look well. Even the Lord of Xihua Sacred Mountain had given up?
“At one point, the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State faced the same situation as you. That was the reason why the Holy Zhi Palace is where it is today. I am hoping that our disciples of Xihua Sacred Mountain can do the same,” Saint Xihua continued. Originally, the saints of the Holy Zhi Palace did not dare to return precisely because they wished to avoid the ire of Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. But even when Saint Xihua said this, the hearts of many cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain were still shaken.
“Ye Futian, palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace of Barren State, always guarded the palace with the resolve to live and die with the palace. If the palace lived, so would he, and if the palace perished, then he would too. What do you have that can be compared to that?” When Douzhan heard that Saint Xihua was ready to run he could not help but make this sarcastic comment.
Even at this time, Saint Xihua still wanted to incentivize the disciples of Xihua Sacred Mountain to fight to the death, not hesitating to sacrifice the lives of everyone at Xihua Sacred Mountain just to inflict deaths and injuries of those at the Holy Zhi Palace. It was extremely despicable.
Clearly, Saint Xihua himself realized that the truth of the matter was that he could no longer keep Xihua Sacred Mountain safe and it was irreversible. Therefore, he decided that it was better to sacrifice the disciples of Xihua Sacred Mountain in exchange for an epic battle. To him, the cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain were like chess pieces.
Douzhan’s voice sounded throughout Xihua Sacred Mountain. The hearts of many were stirred up, and there was no longer any motivation to fight. If it was indeed like Douzhan stated. When the Holy Zhi Palace was the one retreating back then, the person who really decided the life or death of the palace was not them, but Ye Futian.
Ye Futian, the palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, had always fought side by side with the palace. In contrast, the words of Saint Xihua appeared particularly hypocritical.
“Xihua Sacred Mountain has the help of the matrix. It’s enough to allow our disciples of Xihua Sacred Mountain to have the power to battle. If you choose to listen to the lies of these people from the Holy Zhi Palace, you are responsible for the outcome.” Saint Xihua snorted and continued, “This battle is controlled by you, and your destiny is in your own hands.” When he finished, Saint Xihua rose up, and beside him, the Mad Saint and the Rain Saint followed suit, standing on either side of him. Their eyes glanced at Saint Jiang and Douzhan, ready to leave.
“When you announced to join the Sacred War, what posture you had, but now you are no better than a dog that has no master, abandoning Xihua Sacred Mountain. How worthy you are.” Yu Sheng looked up at Saint Xihua who was above the firmament, his voice was extremely cold. Saint Xihua was rebuked by a youngster, but he looked indifferently at Yu Sheng.
“After you and Ye Futian became saints, remember not to walk around where you don’t belong,” Saint Xihua said coldly, and then the three flashed away in retreat.
Saint Jiang and Douzhan did not give chase. They had three saints. While Saint Xihua and Mad Saint were of the same realm as Saint Jiang, and although they ranked behind Saint Jiang, clearly, the two of them could not have stopped the retreat of all three of them.
“If you knew that they would be sanctified sooner or later, where are you going?” Saint Jiang asked casually. They would not be able to walk out of Emperor Xia’s Realm. Emperor Xia would not tolerate betrayal. In this case, Ye Futian would grow to the point where he could kill him.
Saint Xihua snorted, and the three saints left in the air. Outside of the sacred mountain, countless cultivators of Huatian City, who had witnessed this scene, only felt a sense of sarcasm. Saint Xihua, the master of Xihua Sacred Mountain, had, in fact, abandoned the sacred mountain and fled.
Looking at the sacred mountain that was still standing in the sky, everyone in Huatian City understood one thing—the era that belonged to Xihua Sacred Mountain was over. The three saints had left. Xihua Sacred Mountain effectively had no leader, not even someone who could command the rest. At the moment, there were whispers among the cultivators. Their hearts were scattered.
Even among cultivators, how many of them were not afraid of death? Now, even the Lord of the sacred mountain had escaped. It could be seen that the ending of Xihua Sacred Mountain had been determined, and how could there still be the will to fight?
Their convictions had collapsed.
Xihua Mountain was in a sad atmosphere.
Just then, a person stepped out and said to Saint Jiang and Douzhan, “Revered elders, the Sacred War was initiated by Saint Xihua. We were just following orders. Now that Saint Xihua has abandoned Xihua Sacred Mountain, Xihua Sacred Mountain is in name only and we are willing to surrender.” As he finished speaking, many figures levitated and looked at the sacred mountain, saying, “We would also like to surrender.”
“Not accepted,” an indifferent and blunt voice interrupted the people of Xihua Sacred Mountain. Everyone looked at Yu Sheng, who was on the outset of the holy mountain. His body, like a demon god, his cold eyes swept to those who belonged to Xihua Sacred Mountain. When they were strong, they had wanted to exterminate the Holy Zhi Palace. How many disciples perished had perished in that battle, including Hua Jieyu? Ye Futian and him had also faced the crisis of life and death. Now, it was their turn to be under siege, and they wanted to surrender?
Countless people of the Xihua Sacred Mountain looked ashen. Was battling the only way? An elder looked at everyone from Xihua Sacred Mountain and sighed. “If they want to fight, then with the support of our matrix, let them pay.” Although their hope was gone, he was a sage after all. The state of mind was still stable. Since the situation was already desperate, then it would be a fight to the death.
“The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty is now just a memory; its palace smoldering in ashes. Ye Futian and the cultivators of the Yue Clan are on their way here. Who are you going to make pay for all this?” Douzhan said coldly, and his words extinguished any motivation the cultivators of Xihua Sacred Mountain had.
Had the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty indeed been exterminated? Ye Futian was not here, so he must have gone to the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. Now, he would invade Xihua Sacred Mountain, along with the cultivators of the Yue Clan.
Fight to the death? With what?
It was only waiting for death to come.
“Fight our way out. However, many people can still escape,” some said desperately, not prepared to employ the matrix any longer. Instead of waiting to die, it was far better to fight their way out, which, at the very least, offered a chance of survival!
