Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ye Futian went to train in isolation as soon as he returned to Qianye City. The mighty ones staying in the city lord’s office all got busy as well. Xia Qingyuan ordered some men to head to the nine tribes in the western region of Crimson Dragon Realm, getting ready to gather the mighty ones from those tribes.
Ancient Imperial City and Qianye City had butted heads in that battle in Crimson Dragon City, officially making them enemies. The two city lords had been involved in the conflict, with the Ninth Servant borrowing Xing Kai’s body to fight Ye Futian.
The battle meant that the two strongest cities other than Crimson Dragon City had declared war on each other. Under such circumstances, Qianye City had to put all its effort into getting ready for war.
While their opponents this time were only from one city instead of an entire region or a realm, it seemed that they were still at a disadvantage compared to their past battles. In the world of cultivators, a figure who was truly at the pinnacle of a plane symbolized far more than what could be measured through sheer numbers alone.
The threat from the Ninth Servant, who was known as the number one figure outside of Crimson Dragon City, posed a far greater threat alone than all of the mighty figures from past conflicts combined. The people of Qianye City had to get ready for war under these circumstances.
The news of what had happened at the Peach Banquet and the battle in Crimson Dragon City spread far and wide soon enough. The names of Ye Futian and Yu Sheng became known throughout Crimson Dragon Realm. Countless people were talking about them.
Those two men from Qianye City had exhibited tremendous talents and combat prowess in that one battle. Even if one were to judge from their performance in the Peach Banquet, they had ruled over everyone else then too.
Xing Kai had probably gotten jealous of all the glory he was supposedly robbed of, which made him want to kill Ye Futian.
The future of Qianye City might turn incredibly grim.
As City Lord of Qianye City, Ye Futian’s powers became known to all. He became the master of the nine tribes left behind by Emperor Kua, uniting them all under one banner. He’d also inherited the lineage of Emperor Kua. Xia Qingyuan, princess of Emperor Xia’s Realm, seemed to have paid close attention to him in those two battles, witnessing how he’d tapped into powers that were not his.
All of that, coupled with what had happened at the Peach Banquet, made it certain that if the City Lord of Qianye City could make it out of the altercation with Ancient Imperial City in one piece, his success in the future would be immeasurable.
As had been expected by many, more news came after that. News from the Regional Palace said that Ye Futian was to be ranked on the Regional King Rankings. Furthermore, there was no waiting. An exception had been made and he was being ranked without due process.
With the talent and combat prowess he’d showcased at the Peach Banquet and the battle in Crimson Dragon City, there was no doubt that he would make it into the rankings.
He’d managed to overwhelm many legendary figures who were ranked on the Regional King Rankings, as well as defeat Xing Kai, who was a Saint of True Self, by joining hands with Yu Sheng, forcing the Ninth Servant to save Xing Kai.
There was little need to elaborate on the significance of that battle. The difference in planes was obvious, yet the two had been able to bridge the gap and defeat Xing Kai. If all three of them had been on the same plane, both Yu Sheng and Ye Futian would have probably been able to defeat Xing Kai on their own.
Xing Kai was already quite a legend. He was ranked on the Regional King Rankings. As such, it was only natural for Ye Futian to be ranked as well. However, Ye Futian did not know about anything going on in the outside world at that moment. He had been training in isolation in the city lord’s office ever since he’d returned.
Ye Futian was sitting cross-legged in a sealed-off training ground. The jade-green leaves and branches of the World Tree enveloped him. The will of life coursed through him, repairing any damages his body had sustained.
While he had not been going all out in terms of tapping into foreign powers during that battle in Crimson Dragon City, he had nonetheless activated the Fire Spirit Orb in his Life Palace, wielding combat prowess exceeding his own plane. As such, it was only natural that his body had taken a huge toll from the action, requiring a certain amount of time to recuperate.
Fortunately, Ye Futian’s special constitution was one that was capable of self-repair. Furthermore, his physical constitution had always been extremely strong, meaning that the extent of the injuries he’d sustained was not particularly concerning.
At the moment, he was steeped in training.
The injuries on both the outside and the inside of his body were being repaired. The scenery within his Life Palace, on the other hand, was something else altogether.
A figure conjured by will appeared within the world in his Life Palace, training and digesting what had been learned. He’d gained quite a lot of knowledge from the Peach Banquet. While he couldn’t use the Magic Zither at the moment, the Thousand Character Proverb and Starry Stele nonetheless proved extremely useful. He had to devote some time to digest them, melding what he’d learned with his existing powers.
Be it the Thousand Character Proverb or the Starry Stele, both of them were Renhuang-Class ways of learning, which would enhance his combat prowess a great deal.
Furthermore, both abilities were different from one another and were even able to complement each other, melding into a single entity and creating even greater power.
Ancient symbols circled Ye Futian. The symbols resonated with the surrounding great path. Every symbol contained powers of the great path, which were then imbued within his will. Any of the symbols contained the extremely powerful aura of the great path.
Training with the Thousand Character Proverb did not allow him to wield his complete powers in combat due to the limitations of his current plane. He was only able to get the symbols ready prior. Such a method of fighting was akin to burning through consumables. However, the powers of the great path that were brought about when the symbols attacked were worth comprehending. If his comprehension was profound enough, he would be able to harness such powers at any given moment.
He speculated that he would need to get near the Renhuang Plane before he would be able to bring the powers of the Thousand Character Proverb to bear at will. Doing so would practically allow him to wrap powers in symbols and get the powers of the great path to burst whenever a symbol appeared in his mind.
The offensive techniques on the Starry Stele shared some similarities with the one on the Thousand Character Proverb, yet there were differences nonetheless. Saleen saw most of what it was able to do on the Divine Martial Road. It was truly a tablet of the great path that was able to summon the stars, overwhelming everything before it.
That was probably not something saints were capable of doing, making it so that he needed to take his time to comprehend and train. The inherent powers of Renhuang level methods were naturally things that no one at the Saint Plane was able to fully access after all.
After training for some time, the shadow conjured by his will arose. A staff appeared in his hand and he began to work on his staff techniques. His moves with the staff did not have any earth-shattering force in them, yet every single stroke contained the power of the great path. The moves melded well with the great path itself.
The Nine Heavenly Attacks were something that he had acquired from close observation. After training with them for many years, they were no longer just the moves that had been imparted to him by the snow ape anymore. The moves themselves had been incorporated with all that he’d come to understand over his years of training. The moves were ever-changing. While the move sets might not be as powerful as those wielded by the snow ape all those years ago, the sets were nonetheless the most suitable for his use in his current state.
Rumbles were heard within his Life Palace. Ye Futian stopped after working with the staff for some time. He then moved on to train with his halberd. The move sets with the halberd were something he’d created himself using references from the Nine Heavenly Strikes and many other methods. This helped to complete his way with the halberd.
One could see the training methods of the staff in the way he moved with the halberd, yet his way of wielding the halberd remained different nonetheless. His way with the staff was fierce and overbearing, while his way with the halberd looked to be imbued with a sharpness capable of tearing anything down. The similarities between the two were that they were both very offensive-focused. This similarity strengthened as he went on to complete them.
The battle he’d fought with Xing Kai in Crimson Dragon City had brought his way of the halberd to the very extreme. Each strike grew stronger than the strike before, making it so that Xing Kai was no longer able to withstand his blows.
Ye Futian, who was still working in his Life Palace, continued to play around with the halberd. The force of his moves was natural and continued to grow stronger as the will of the great path imbued within.
He then thrust with the weapon. The air around him shook and then stopped altogether. He stood quietly, seemingly having developed something.
He repeated the moves several times as if he was trying to grasp something which was proving difficult. He finally stopped and resorted to thinking quietly instead.
Ye Futian’s eyes opened in the quiet training ground. He stood up and extended his hand. A halberd appeared in his hand immediately. Raging currents howled around his body as he stepped forward. His arms went into action and moved forward, thrusting the weapon out right before him.
Boom… a stifling rumbled was heard. Terrifying, space-shredding powers were felt right in front of the halberd. It contained the heaviness of the stars and overwhelmed the entire place.
“Something is not right,” Ye Futian muttered to himself. He was still unable to find the feeling he was looking for.
He sidestepped and moved his body forward as he lashed out with another thrust with his arms. It looked as if the powerful will of the great path was all being condensed into a single point, forming a devastating whirlpool.
Ye Futian looked as if he was in trance afterward, repeating the moves over and over. He did this so many times that he seemed to have forgotten about his injuries altogether.
After many attempts at the attacks, the Deed of Thorough Comprehension activated without him realizing it. The will of the great path flowed within the cauldron of the great path of his body. The force burst through the halberd, growing increasingly powerful.
Slivers of holy light shrouded his entire body. He thrust yet another time. At that moment, a beam of dazzling light burst through the air, lashing out like a straight line.
Boom!
A rumble was heard as the space around him crumbled. The matrix isolating the training ground shattered in an instant as if it had been reduced to nothing in a split second.
Ye Futian finally stopped. He looked at the halberd in his hand and reached out to sense the power he felt. He extended his left hand. A powerful aura emanated from it.
Dazzling beams calamity and lightning glittered, shooting out faraway. At that moment, every single bolt of lightning burst like thunder as they shot forward, tearing down every single thing they crossed.
That will of the great path seemed to be everywhere in the sky.
Ye Futian looked up at the sky and saw something joyful.
He had unexpectedly developed yet another mystical will of the great path while trying to train with the mystical methods he’d learned. The new will was something that was not of his own.
That will of the great path contained powerful space-tearing powers. At the same time, it was imbued with very frightening powers of the stars and suppressing powers.
The force that burst from the attack could have been considered a product of melding several of the powerful wills of the great path.
“Entropy,” Ye Futian muttered to himself. The will of the great path was named entropy, which was an offensive power. Such will of the great path would enhance every attack it was imbued with, making them overwhelming and fearsome. One attack was all it would take to reduce everything to nothing.
Ye Futian glittered with holy light after he developed the new will of the great path. The light from the Deed of Thorough Comprehension became even more blindingly brilliant.
His aura had also strengthened, melding naturally with the great path. His comprehension of the great path had deepened, He had reached the pinnacle of Proving Holiness level without even realizing it.
