Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The northwestern part of the Heavenly Mandate Realm was the turf of the Violet Heavenly Palace—the supreme force of the region. The eight orthodox forces of thunder of the Heavenly Mandate Realm were all found there.
The most renowned city in that region was no doubt the place where the Violet Heavenly Realm was at—Thunder Punishment City.
The City was right below the Violet Heavenly Palace, and the entire city was shrouded in lightning, making the will of the great path of lightning extremely thick there.
One only needed to look up to find flashes of lightning everywhere in that city. The Thunder Punishment City was named after the flashing lightning above.
When the ones below cast their gaze far away, they were able to easily see the floating city hovering high above in the sky right above Thunder Punishment City itself.
That floating city had boundless might of lightning all around it. It was as if that was where the will of the great path of lightning shrouding the entire Thunder Punishment City came from, and the floating city hung in the sky like some divine hall.
One would be able to see that on the edge of that floating city, there seemed to be a boundlessly huge platform, and many blurry figures were gathering on it.
That was where the supreme force of the region in the Heavenly Mandate Realm—the Violet Heavenly Palace—was found.
Many mighty ones gathered around the Violet Heavenly Palace to participate in the grand event. There were also many cultivators coming from afar. All of them headed in the direction of the Violet Heavenly Palace.
There were many extremely powerful beings found there for many days. They were all training in various places in the Heavenly Mandate Realm, and they had only been able to showcase their frightening talent due to such a grand event being held.
“I wonder just how many students the Violet Heavenly Palace will accept in this event. I’ve heard that exceptional students from the eight orthodox forces participated in the event this time, taking the opportunity to get into the palace. Furthermore, many cultivators practiced the way of lightning here as well.”
“I don’t care about any of that. There is only one thing in my mind: will the Palace Lord take any personal students, and will any of them be able to compare to the likes of Zhan Yuan?”
“While it is said that mighty ones are everywhere, but Zhan Yuan is of the supreme body of the great path. He was born with supreme talents in the ways of lightning. He is destined to become someone standing at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Mandate Realm. How could anyone compare to him? It’s extremely difficult to get someone who can get anywhere near him already.”
People talked and lauded the one who possessed the supreme body of the great path as unbelievably dazzling—the one who stood at the very tip of a pyramid. Few throughout all top forces in Heavenly Mandate were on par with him.
A top force could only foster one or two such figures. Getting yet another of such magnificent talents was deemed to be so unbelievably complicated that it was considered almost impossible.
They were, however, were able to compare with geniuses of top-notch forces who came to witness the event.
“But then again, it is said that geniuses of other pinnacle forces have shown up en masse as well. It is quite a pity that they are probably not going to fight one another,” that person who sang praises to Zhan Yuan earlier continued, feeling that such a situation was a pity.
“I’m rather curious though, how would the talents of that monster fostered by Gu Tianxing—the peerlessly extraordinary someone all those years ago—fare? Is he so powerful that the top-notch forces will begin fostering future generations just to prepare for what is to come?”
“Gu Tianxing was the type of person who emerges once in a thousand years. That, coupled with what happened in the Origin Mountains and the younger man being the son of Gu Jiangnan, means the last descendant of the Gu Clan probably can shoot for the skies right away.”
“Even so, I don’t think he’d be so powerful that he could compare to Zhan Yuan, who possesses a supreme body of the great path,” someone, who greatly admired the Violet Heavenly Palace, added.
“That remains to be seen. I have heard things from the Origin Mountains. That young man who messed up the Purple Underground and refused to join the Violet Heavenly Palace—Ye Futian—demonstrated unbelievable talent as well. He was able to even fight with top fighters of the Divine Elephants. He was capable of using Divine Elephant Stomping the Sky—a skill unique to the Divine Elephants. He is now with the Divine Elephant Emperor.”
“That guy who messed the Violet Heavenly Palace up?”
Someone said this but quickly scanned the place, feeling like what they said was a taboo of sorts.
The Violet Heavenly Palace was beaten in a challenge, and they had been allowed to pick anyone from their ranks, of any of four planes of sainthood, to fight people of corresponding planes. That naturally was not something to be proud of.
“Yeah, who would have thought that a member of the younger generation who was challenging the divine mountain to see the Emperor of Purple Underground would have such immense talent? There is now also the crown prince of Heavenly Mandate Dynasty getting into the world in the Heavenly Mandate Realm. That one guy from 10,000 Divine Mountain, the number one virgin of Brahma’s Pure Sky, and that descendant of Celestial Gate of Vast Sky. Who knows who among those people will be able to stand at the pinnacle of the Heavenly Mandate Realm in the end?”
The ones there were not the only ones who talked. Many mighty ones throughout Thunder Punishment City were talking about the grand event as well, so much so that even the cities below Thunder Punishment City were all talking.
Thunder Punishment City was where the Violet Heavenly Palace was located, and the city was below the palace, making it the number one city in that vast region.
There were many cities in the surrounding areas of Thunder Punishment City, circling around that main city housing the Violet Heavenly Palace. The people of those cities were all under direct rule by those from the Violet Heavenly Palace.
All of that was part of that region’s ruling power—the Violet Heavenly Palace.
Passages in the cities leading to Thunder Punishment City and the Violet Heavenly Palace saw massive traffic of great figures from faraway lands coming.
At that moment, there was a group of people zipping past in the air, intending to land directly inside Thunder Punishment City. They were stopped by a group of mighty ones right away, who then asked, “Mighty ones of the demons?”
“The Sky Demon Court, about to witness the event at the Violet Heavenly Palace,” an extremely sharp voice said in the air. Those people then burst through the barricade right away, and those who stopped them did not get in their way further, letting them inside Thunder Punishment City.
All manner of great figures appeared one after another for quite some time, and everyone had gotten very used to things like that happening.
That grand event at the Violet Heavenly Palace seemed to have become a reason for top-notch forces everywhere to gather around. After what happened back in Origin Mountains, that was the time that all of them were gathered in yet another region again.
The Sky Demon Court was a supreme force in the demon realm, and there was, of course, no one who would have stood in their way. They continued moving forward and headed straight for the sky stairwell leading to the Violet Heavenly Palace after getting into the city to get on that floating city that hung majestically in the sky.
The news of the arrival of the Sky Demon Court quickly spread everywhere. Supreme forces of the demon realm began to show up one after another. It looked as if things were about to get increasingly rowdy.
As more and more mighty ones arrived, news, including rumors of all kinds, spread everywhere in Thunder Punishment City as well.
It was said that the Divine Elephants were there as well. Furthermore, Ye Futian was not with them. Some said that Ye Futian might have had the bone of that ancestral Divine Elephant Emperor ripped out of him by the current Divine Elephant Emperor and that the Divine Elephants currently imprisoned him.
Some said that the Divine Elephant Emperor might have killed Ye Futian.
However, everyone was not actually all that concerned with Ye Futian. They were more concerned about the crown prince of Heavenly Mandate Realm, the number one virgin of Brahma’s Pure Sky, as well as that last descendant of the Gu Clan.
But then again, Ye Futian would have paid no heed to those rumors.
At that moment, a group of people appeared somewhere right outside Thunder Punishment City. That place was the entrance to the city, and only the ones permitted entry would have been allowed to step inside the city basking in the might of the great path of lightning.
The place was garrisoned by a massive army. Many came and reported their identities. They were then inspected before being permitted entry into the city. Despite what it looked like, that was actually considered rather lenient. In the past, getting inside Thunder Punishment City to train would have been very difficult.
“The Seventh Swordsman, here to witness the event in Thunder Punishment City,” a handsome swordsman clad in white said at that moment. His eyes shone with demonic grace, and he wore a sword on his back.
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The guard took a look at him. Countless people wanted entry into the city to witness the event, and that intention alone would not have sufficed.
Ye Futian unleashed his aura. At the same time, lightning flashed dazzlingly about him, and that was the Infernal Thunder of Wutu.
“I’m from somewhere under the rule of Purple Underground, and I’ve ventured into the divine mountain and gained the path of Infernal Thunder of Wutu,” Ye Futian continued. Only then did the guard allow him to pass.
Ye Futian had earned the right to enter the city.
“So you are from somewhere under the rule of the Purple Underground, then?” a group of people called at that moment. They were being inspected as well but were granted passage right away after their identities were verified.
“Indeed.” Ye Futian nodded.
“We are of the Purple Underground. If you ventured into the divine mountain and have gained the way of Infernal Thunder of Wutu, why haven’t you joined our ranks?” a young man asked.
“My training is not something worth mentioning, and I would have been an insult to the Purple Underground,” Ye Futian answered.
“I see that your will of the great path of the Infernal Thunder of Wutu is actually rather decent. You wouldn’t be anywhere near being an insult.” Another one in the group added, “Since we happened to meet here, let’s travel together then.”
“Very well.” Ye Futian smiled and nodded. He did not expect to run into cultivators of the Purple Underground there. It was quite a coincidence.
“You go by the name ‘Seventh Swordsman,’ then? So, you’re here to witness the event as well?” a young man of the Purple Underground smiled and asked. They continued moving forward as they talked, heading towards the Thunder Punishment City, which was basking in lightning.
“Indeed. It’s a grand event of the Violet Heavenly Palace, after all. I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Ye Futian smiled and answered.
“Well said. Such a grand event is an extremely rare opportunity, as well. While our teachers did not request that we participate in the event, we wanted to come anyway,” another at his side said. They were not the students at the core of the Purple Underground, or they would have come with their teachers instead of just showing up by themselves.
“Brother Changqing might have been able to train in the Violet Heavenly Palace this time. I’d, of course, want to take the opportunity to see for myself just how capable he would have been,” a female cultivator smiled and said.
“Zhang Changqing?” Ye Futian looked at her and asked.
“Is there another Brother Changqing in the Purple Underground?” The woman chuckled and continued, “It seems like you’ve heard of Brother Changqing.”
“I have; the one who withstood 900 lightning strikes.” Ye Futian nodded.
“You have ventured into the Divine Mountain of Wutu before, so you should know how great the pressure of that place was. I see that your ways of Infernal Thunder of Wutu are not weak. How many strikes were you been able to withstand when you were in there?” the woman smiled and asked.
“A thousand,” Ye Futian lowered his voice and said. The ones from the Purple Underground were all baffled.
A thousand?
A thousand strikes of the heavenly thunder meant that he had broken the limit, and there had only been one person capable of such a feat. That man was rather renowned all over Heavenly Mandate Realm at the moment. They had all seen what he was like in the Purple Underground. The man seemed humble but was extremely prideful, so much so that he had declined an invitation from the Violet Heavenly Palace.
That man was rumored to have messed up the Violet Heavenly Palace with his people later.
“Just kidding. A hundred,” Ye Futian smiled and said, after seeing how baffled those people were, looking carefree as he did so.
All of them chuckled. They thought a cultivator from a territory under the rule of the Purple Underground would have been tense seeing them, yet that Seventh Swordsman seemed to have a very powerful aura, and they deemed that he was anything but weak.
As for that man who withstood a thousand lightning strikes, some wondered if he had been even able to make it out of the Divine Elephants’ place alive.
