Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
A woman sat quietly in Saint Jiang’s Herb Palace in the Holy Zhi Palace. She was wearing elegant, light clothing; very simple and clean but still beautiful enough to make one lose their breath. The only thing lacking was the expression on her pretty face, or rather her lack of expression. It was like still water without the slightest ripple. No joy or anger could be seen on her face, and thus, she looked extraordinarily lonely.
At that moment, there was the sound of footsteps as Little Butterfly approached. When she saw that calm figure, she was amazed even though she herself was a very beautiful woman. The foremost beauty in the Easter State’s disposition was different than before. It was as if she was completely divorced from the world, and completely supernatural. It was as she was no longer of this world.
“Senior Glass Saint, the people from Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple are still outside. They won’t leave,” said Little Butterfly.
“Let them come in,” said Glass Saint. Even her voice was flat and even. Little Butterfly nodded slightly then turned to leave. She called the people from Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple to come in, and then she waited outside.
At that moment, a figure came over to her and called, “Little Butterfly.”
“Have you come to see Glass Saint?” She smiled warmly as she saw Ye Futian walking towards her.
“How is she?” he asked.
“It seems that she’s not ready to rebuild Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple yet. Even though the people from there have begged her, she is still unmoved and indifferent. It’s just like the Master said, after the battle between Glass Saint and the Great Zhou Sacred King when she cut the Great Zhou Sacred King with Love Destroyer, she was wounded as well. She was put in a very difficult situation. She destroyed her own emotions, so she has no more feelings,” said Little Butterfly.
A strange look came over Ye Futian’s face. She had become emotionless? Glass Saint was obsessed with killing the Great Zhou Sacred King and destroying the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. Now that she had achieved vengeance, she probably did not know what she should pursue anymore. If a Saint had no convictions to hold onto, could they really be called a Saint?
There was once again the sound of footsteps. Ye Futian looked up and saw a line of women from Lapis Lazuli Holy Templecoming coming out. They could not hide the look of loss in their eyes. When they saw Ye Futian, one of them bowed and said, “Lord Ye, we have troubled you for so long. This is farewell.”
“Glass Saint is not going back with you?” asked Ye Futian.
They shook their heads. “We don’t know what happened to our mistress, but we will respect her choice. But we’ll still think of a way to rebuild Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple.”
“If you want, you can stay at the Holy Zhi Palace to cultivate. Maybe one day Glass Saint will change her mind,” said Ye Futian. They were all shocked and looked at each other in astonishment. They were clearly moved by his offer.
Things were different now. The Holy Zhi Palace of today was glorious and would grow even stronger in the future. Cultivating there would be extremely advantageous for them. But when they thought of themselves as people from Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple, the felt a bit lonely. The palace was rising while Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple would become history.
Perhaps their mistress would one day change her mind.
“We’ll discuss it,” one of them said.
“Alright.” Ye Futian nodded. They all bowed and then parted.
Ye Futian walked into the courtyard. Glass Saint was still sitting there calmly like before with her back to him. He walked over to her side and stood there quietly. With his white hair and white clothes, the two of them looked like immortals.
“I heard you’re not planning to leave the palace?” Ye Futian asked.
Glass Saint sat there quietly for a while. After a while, she said, “I just haven’t thought about where to go.”
“Why?” He turned to her and said, “You don’t want to kill me, do you?”
At the Imperial Mausoleum, Glass Saint and Zhou Zhiming had been oppressed by the Great Path. Ye Futian had been extremely flirtatious towards her, but because of Zhou Zhiming, she couldn’t break their alliance. She had even come to Qingzhou City to convince him to return. But now that Zhou Zhiming was dead, she probably hated him.
He looked at her beautiful profile. Her temperament seemed to have changed. Although she had cultivated the path of Destroying Love, and after removing her mask she became extremely cold, but after all, she still had the seven emotions and six desires, and they could not be completely cut off. But now she seemed to truly have no emotions.
There was a stir in Glass Saint’s still eyes as Ye Futian said this. Maybe it was because what Ye Futian had done to her had left such a deep impression, so deep that it touched her soul, and so there was actually a faint ripple in her heart. But her face was still as cold as before. She said nothing. She turned around and seemed about to leave.
“Where are you going?” asked Ye Futian.
“I haven’t decided,” said Glass Saint.
Ye Futian turned and said to her back, “Then why don’t you stay in the palace for a while?”
Glass Saint did not step away. She turned to look at Ye Futian, but she did not refuse his suggestion. Ye Futian sighed inwardly as he looked at her impassive face. Although he had been extremely dissatisfied with her actions in the Imperial Mausoleum, the enmity between her and Zhou Zhiming, Jiang Yuchan’s death, and her help in the Sacred War, no matter what her goal had been, all helped to settle his grudge against her. He no longer bore her any enmity. He even pitied her. He could feel her sorrow, maybe it was the feeling of fellow sufferers sharing in their misery.
He had paid a tragic price in the war.
Glass Saint seemed to be the winner, but what had she really won? Her obsession for many years had come to an end. Zhou Zhiming was dead, but Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple had been scattered. She herself had no more emotions. If her emotions had truly been destroyed, then how was she any different than a walking corpse? So, Ye Futian felt a bit sad. He would rather see a Glass Saint that hated him. Did she really not even hate him?
Humans’ seven emotions were happiness, anger, sorrow, pleasure, fear, love, and malice. Had the Love Destroyer cut through all seven of them?
“If you never decide, and stay in the palace, I’ll have someone build a Lapis Lazuli Palace,” said Ye Futian. He turned to leave.
Glass Saint watched his retreating figure. Her eyes were still as calm as still water.
…
The days passed, and the storm caused by the destruction of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and Xihua Sacred Mountain swept through the Nine States. For a long time, there was no way to calm things.
The cultivators from the Hall of Holy Light could not dare to go out whenever they pleased, as Yu Sheng from the Holy Zhi Palace was on guard outside, waiting to cut down any of them who came out. So they were shut up in the hall. The fifth-ranked holy land in the Nine States had been suppressed to this level. This showed the power of the Barren State.
Xia Qingyuan sent someone to the Holy Zhi Palace. This time, she did not go herself but sent someone to convey her message. The three great holy lands of the Endless Sea had agreed to her conditions, but they had a bottom line. Ye Futian must not have the Holy Zhi Palace replace them, and they must stay in the Endless Sea, passing down their teachings from generation to generation. But they were willing to have Ye Futian become the Ocean King, and they would submit to him. This would be equivalent to keeping the three great holy lands. They didn’t have to be scattered and hunted down. They could continue to pass on their teachings. Ye Futian would definitely leave one day. He couldn’t control them forever. Thus they were willing to take a step back and compromise.
The Saints were willing to bow their heads. Of course, they had done this unwillingly. Given the situation, if they didn’t bow their heads, who could ensure that they would survive? Instead, they were willing to pay a price.
Ye Futian accepted their conditions. He had never wanted to have the Holy Zhi Palace replace the three great holy lands of the Endless Sea, instead wanting to use them to grow the palace. But it was no problem.
After the two sides reached an agreement, the news spread throughout the Nine States. There was another uproar. Another piece of news circulated at the same time—the Nine States Forum would be held on the first day of the next year. If that was all, it would not be worth the people of the Nine States’ attention. But this time, the Nine States Forum would take place in the Barren State, in the Holy Zhi Palace.
This news instantly caused an uproar. In less than ten years, The Holy Zhi Palace had gone from not even having the right to participate in the Nine States forum and had been shut outside, to hosting it themselves. It was like a dream.
Many people thought that the fact that the Nine States Forum was being held at the Holy Zhi Palace symbolized their rise in the world and the fact that they could not be stopped.
This Nine States Forum would certainly have a special meaning.
The 10,018th year of the Divine Prefecture Calendar gradually came to a close. The Holy Zhi Palace became very busy. They summoned skilled laborers from the Barren State to completely rebuild the palace in order to prepare for the Nine States Forum.
It was not only the Holy Zhi Palace that was busy, but all of the Barren State was also uncharacteristically lively. All the cultivators from around the Nine States were gathering in Qingzhou City. For a time, all the eyes of the Nine States were on the Holy Zhi Palace.
After the events at the Imperial Mausoleum, the Barren State had once again attracted the attention of the Nine States. But at that previous time, the Barren State had seemed to be dispensable, and no one cared about it. But this time, the Barren State was an active participant.
At this time, many cultivators had gathered in a famous restaurant in Qingzhou City. They were talking about the Nine States Forum. Most of them had come specifically for the Forum.
“The palace has announced throughout the Barren State that anyone who can qualify for the Law Battles at the Nine States Forum can enter the Holy Zhi Palace to cultivate. It doesn’t matter what you achieve at the Nine States Forum, you have to seize your chance to enter the palace,” one of them said.
“I’ve heard that Lord Ye is heartbroken. His hair went white because he misses his wife, but now his appearance has become even more natural and unrestrained. If we get into the palace, maybe we’ll have a chance to get closer to the legend of the Barren State,” whispered a woman.
“You can’t be thinking of entering the palace as the wife of the Palace Lord,” someone said with a smile. “I urge you not to entertain this idea. Besides his late wife, who is there in the Nine States who could be a match for Lord Ye?”
The woman who had spoken had not cultivated to a high level yet. She was just fantasizing. When she heard the other criticizing her she turned red and bowed her head.
Elsewhere in the restaurant, a group of people was drinking wine in silence. One of them was a former disciple of the palace, Zhuge Xing. The rest of them were also of the Zhuge clan. Years ago the Zhuge clan had split into two factions. Zhuge Qingfeng’s faction had stayed with the palace to fight to the death, while Zhuge Xing’s faction stood on their own.
Now, Ye Futian stood at the peak of the Barren State, and the people looked at him as a god. Everyone in the Nine States knew of him, and those under the Saint-level followed his orders. If someone in this restaurant had disrespected him, everyone in the restaurant would attack them. Zhuge Qingfeng’s faction would definitely have a glorious future.
When they thought of this, they didn’t know how to feel!
