The Renhuang who defeated Yaya didn’t return to his team. Just like the swordsman before, he remained in the air and looked out on the Heavenly Mandate Academy.
Nonetheless, it was also possible for him to leave the battlefield after the Heavenly Mandate Academy sent another cultivator since that was what happened in the last round.
There was no written rule for this contest. The initiative was in the hands of whoever came out on top.
“Futian, there might be few people who could beat him,” Qi Xuangang transmitted his voice to Ye Futian. As a Lower Renhuang, he was at the same level as the opponent from the Holy Land of Taichu. Therefore, he could easily detect and assess the opponent’s intimidating strength.
Only a handful of people would be confident of defeating the man from the Holy Land of Taichu.
Even Dou Zhao could lose to him.
Ye Futian nodded. He already noticed that the man from the Holy Land of Taichu was proficient at several different kinds of power of the Great Path. Not only he comprehended the Gengjin and the Great Path of Water, but he had also mastered the Space Will of the Way. It was even more impressive that he understood these powers so thoroughly that he was able to combine them and develop the extremely potent Art of Supreme Attack.
“Let me go.” Dou Zhao stood next to Ye Futian and asked to be sent out again. He watched the Heavenly Mandate Academy lost two matches and couldn’t wait any longer.
Ye Futian looked at Dou Zhao. The man from the Holy Land of Taichu was exceptionally strong. Even Dou Zhao could be defeated by him.
However, sparring with a cultivator at this level was a valuable opportunity for Dou Zhao to gain some experience.
“Go ahead.” Ye Futian agreed to let Dou Zhao compete in the next match.
Dou Zhao grinned from ear to ear immediately upon hearing Ye Futian’s instruction. He stepped toward the man from the Holy Land of Taichu in long strides. A frightening burst of energy charged forward and made the void tremble when he was still walking.
“Why did you let Dou Zhao join the battle after all?” Qi Xuangang asked Ye Futian in a low voice. Ye Futian probably foresaw that Xiang Mang and Yaya would lose to their opponents in the first two matches, yet he still chose to send them up.
“We can’t win every single flight. The Holy Land of Taichu marched here with might, providing us a great chance to put our disciples to the test. It will also have a significant psychological impact on the cultivators in the Heavenly Mandate Realm. They will witness how strong and domineering the holy land of the Divine Prefecture is. But they will also see that the top forces in the Divine Prefecture are not invincible.”
Ye Futian looked ahead and transmitted his voice to Qi Xuangang.
Qi Xuangang was stunned. He cast Ye Futian a surprised glance, then cracked a smile. He didn’t expect that Ye Futian would have such a long-term plan that went far beyond the results of the sparring session. Instead, Ye Futian used this sparring session as an opportunity to educate and enlighten the Heavenly Mandate Academy, the Heavenly Mandate Realm, and the people in the Nine States.
They didn’t need to win every battle and didn’t mind letting everyone know how strong the Holy Land of Taichu was. They had no way of hiding their opponent’s ability anyway. Ye Futian never intended to conceal the truth.
On the contrary, he wanted to use the powerful rival to inspire and motivate people in the Heavenly Mandate Realm.
It looked like Qi Xuangang didn’t need to worry about his disciple anymore. Ye Futian was already looking at the full picture from a higher level.
Qi Xuangang reminisced about the time when he took Ye Futian in as his disciple and let him leave in defiance of Emperor Li. He remembered why he liked Ye Futian so much.
The great path knows no boundaries. Ye Futian was a real cultivator.
He would undoubtedly become a legend if he stayed on this track.
The battle already started on the other side. Dou Zhao and the man from the Holy Land of Taichu met head-on.
The man didn’t step back this time. He remained on the battlefield and continued to fight with Dou Zhao.
Dou Zhao activated the Will of the Fighting God and turned it up from fivefold to sevenfold. Nonetheless, he was still at a disadvantage.
Dou Zhao was like a war god when he achieved the eightfold Will of the Fighting God.
His opponent became stronger and fiercer. The True Will of Waves of the War God exploded and created an illusion that the sky had become a sea of the Great Path. Dou Zhao was powerful enough to punch through the void, yet he seemed inadequate when dashing against the man from the Holy Land of Taichu.
“The Heavenly Mandate Academy is going to lose again,” the old man from the Song Imperial Palace watched the battle and said, “That disciple from the Holy Land of Taichu indeed acquired the essence. He has a profound understanding of the True Will of Waves of the War God. The Renhuang representing the Heavenly Mandate Academy probably comes from the Dou tribe. He possesses great power, but his attack is weakened by the waves of the Great Path. It’s not threatening anymore by the time it reaches the guy from the Holy Land of Taichu.”
The woman sitting next to the old man knew he was guiding her and watched the fight intently. As the princess of the Song Imperial Palace, she was also an excellent cultivator. But she could still learn a great deal from a face-off at this level.
There were multiple ways to apply each type of power of the Great Path. The Great Path of Water was ideal for fending off attacks. How menacing could a punch be after dashing against the giant waves in the sea?
The man from the Holy Land of Taichu brought such apprehension of the Great Path to the real fight. The True Will of Waves of the War God not only mitigated the attack from the enemy but also contained tremendous force.
Dou Zhao, on the contrary, bore the real damage of his opponent’s violent strike.
Right now, the man rained blows on Dou Zhao. The True Will of Waves of the War God put Dou Zhao on the defensive.
“These people from the Holy Land of Taichu are so hard to beat.”
The cultivators from the Dou tribe were watching the battle as well. They sighed to themselves that the successor of the Dou tribe was probably going to lose the match.
It more or less discouraged them.
The holy land of the Divine Prefecture was surely intimidating.
A loud bang echoed in the air. Facing the constant brutal attack, Dou Zhao reached his peak condition and held out for as long as he could. Eventually, however, he was still blasted away. His war-god-like body was almost shattered, and his internal organs were damaged by the impact. He was caught by cultivators from the Dou tribe and spewed a lot of blood.
The Heavenly Mandate Academy lost all three matches with little suspense.
Dou Zhao refused help from the people who were holding him by his arms. He turned to Ye Futian with an embarrassed look on his face. He was so eager to fight, yet only suffered a humiliating loss in the end.
He felt like he brought shame to Ye Futian and the Academy.
Ye Futian moved forward and patted Dou Zhao on his shoulder, said, “Don’t worry too much. There is always someone better out there. It’s not a big deal to lose a fight when our entire world is called the Void Realm.”
“Yes,” Dou Zhao pulled himself together and nodded somberly, but his face was still glum. It was impossible for him to feel relieved right away.
Ye Futian didn’t speak further. Dou Zhao had to get over it himself.
Because of Dou Zhao’s upbeat personality, Ye Futian believed that the loss would only motivate him rather than crushing his spirit. Dou Zhao wasn’t dispirited when he lost to Yu Sheng back in the days. Instead, it made him more committed to becoming better.
“Do you want to continue?” A voice rang out.
Ye Futian raised his head and gazed into the distance. It was the white-robed leader of the Holy Land of Taichu. He stared at the direction of the Heavenly Mandate Academy and continued to speak, “We already had three matches. These two are among the best cultivators in the Holy Land of Taichu. But they are certainly not the only ones. There are plenty of powerful cultivators just like them, or even better than them, living in the holy land of the Divine Prefecture. The Void Realm has been sealed off and separated from the Divine Prefecture for many years. You have no idea how powerful the outside world can be.
“Perhaps some people think our Holy Land of Taichu has ulterior motives. Indeed, we have our objects. The Void Realm is home to many excellent cultivators with great potentials. As the best school in the Divine Prefecture, the Holy Land of Taichu naturally wants to raise more influential cultivators and have disciples spread around the world. In the future, the Holy Land of Taichu promises to bring any gifted cultivator we encountered here in the Heavenly Mandate Realm to the Divine Prefecture. We will never hold back anyone who has real talents.”
The white-robed man spoke loudly and eloquently, “Lord Taixuan, if the Heavenly Mandate Academy also seeks to impart knowledge, why would you refuse to let the Holy Land of Taichu in?”
To be honest, his argument was quite cogent and persuasive. Even the cultivators in the Heavenly Mandate City were influenced by his words and shifted their eyes to Lord Taixuan.
Winner takes it all; loser stands small. It had always been the case. The Holy Land of Taichu and its disciples displayed awe-inspiring strength and gained the upper hand. At the end of the day, cultivators in the Heavenly Mandate Realm cared more about becoming stronger. Even though they liked the Heavenly Mandate Academy better for now, their allegiance would change if the Heavenly Mandate Academy really lost its status. People in the Heavenly Mandate Realm would eventually accept the preaching of the Holy Land of Taichu. It was not a bad deal for them, after all.
Therefore, even the Song Imperial Palace had to acknowledge that the strategy of the Holy Land of Taichu was exceptionally effective, albeit overbearing and disrespectful. The Song Imperial Palace had trouble copying this exact approach since they were not an educational institution and couldn’t launch an attack without justifiable reasons.
Ye Futian raised his chin and looked at the man. He admitted that the man from the Holy Land of Taichu had a point. Nonetheless, he still believed that they didn’t have to attack the Heavenly Mandate Academy if they simply wished to spread their ideas and recruit disciples.
They only wanted to establish their presence in the Three Thousand Realms of the Great Path by conquering the Heavenly Mandate Academy.
“The Holy Land of Taichu surely deserves its reputation. It’s not strange for a top force in the Divine Prefecture to have such extraordinary cultivators,” Ye Futian replied, “Having said that, things are not as simple as you make it sound.”
He turned around and fixed his eyes on a man standing quietly by his side, then said in a low voice, “Yu Sheng, go ahead.”
Right now, he needed to back up his words with real strength.
…
