He felt the intense shockwaves even though he was standing in the outer region. Even the World Tree trembled and kept rustling as it swayed.
The Emperor’s light was no longer blinding. It was merely a speck of light in this world of shadows. It appeared insignificant and exceptionally miniscule.
However, it was also this speck of light that was supporting him. In this storm, it still remained unextinguished.
Otherwise, even the figures at the peak of the Realm would not have been able to withstand this storm. Their Great Paths would be sealed, their spiritual soul frozen and their flesh destroyed.
If his guess was correct, this Origin Stone was most likely the Source of the Shadow Realm before the collapse of the Heavenly Path. After the collapse, it formed a shadow Origin Stone and fell here. Gradually, it gave birth to the cultivation environment of the Shadow Realm.
The Solar Realm was exactly the opposite. The difference between the two Realms was like night and day. The Solar Divine Palace was located there. Sun God Mountain from the Divine Prefecture were believed to be the descendants of the Sun God. Currently, they had occupied the Solar Realm and they also claimed to only want the Solar Realm.
Ye Futian recalled the previous metamorphosis of Di Wu of the Solar Divine Palace. His Divine Wheel evolved and became even more powerful. That had occurred after the cultivators of Sun God Mountain arrived. This occurrence was most likely related to the Solar Realm. Di Wu had probably gone through a baptism.
However, Sun God Mountain was a force from the Divine Prefecture. They would not dare to destroy the Source of the Solar Realm. They also did not have the ability to do so. Only a top force like the Dark Court that stood at the peak of the Realms had such ambitions.
Ye Futian was once again hesitant. The divine item that caused the shadow storm was right in front of him. It could be the Origin Stone of the Great Path forged by the Source of the Shadow Realm. It was a divine item. Did he dare to retrieve it?
The World Tree could absorb the power of Yin and merge with it. This made Ye Futian feel that the power of Yin and the power of Yang might be able to make the World Tree even more complete.
Was he willing to bet on this?
If he truly gave it a try, there was the possibility of him being consumed instead. If he was the slightest bit careless, he would not survive the ordeal. Hence, Ye Futian was hesitant.
The youth who went before him had been able to borrow the power of the shadow storm to cultivate. He had even been able to control the power within it. However, he still had not been able to retrieve the Origin Stone of the Shadow Realm.
Was Ye Futian going to give it a try?
Ye Futian’s gaze was indecisive. He seemed to be hesitating.
Thinking about the correct isolation of the Nine Realms and the changes of the Original Realm, a ruthless look flashed past in his deep gaze. He needed to develop faster. This was a very good opportunity to do so. If he missed it, he might not have another chance like this next time.
He had already come all this way. Was he going to try again next time?
After he considered this, Ye Futian advanced towards the astonishing storm. Rustling could be heard. A towering giant tree of unparalleled divinity frenziedly extended outwards. The divine tree kept growing bigger and bigger. It seemed to grow endlessly and became an ancient World Tree that could encompass the entire world.
The aura that flowed in the World Tree merged with the power of Yin in the surroundings. Ye Futian’s body appeared to be on fire. His blood churned and bellowed, seemingly attempting to get rid of the corrosion of the power of Yin. Leaves from the ancient World Tree were swept into the storm.
The shadow storm swept out and rattled the leaves of the ancient World Tree. Endless rustling sounds could be heard. The leaves of the ancient World Tree kept changing. They seemed to freeze, wither and die. However, the life force of the ancient World Tree was unbelievably resilient. Its vigorous life force seemed endless. Every time it seemed to be at its end, it would reinvigorate itself and revive. The ancient World Tree even merged the power of Yin into itself.
Ye Futian’s body instantly turned white. The power of Yin flowed along the World Tree and invaded his body. It flowed into his blood, meridians, organs and even his spiritual soul.
Although he had not faced the storm head on, the power of Yin still flowed into his body in the end.
Everything then seemed to stop flowing. His meridians were frozen and his blood stopped circulating. His organs also ceased functioning. He also stopped breathing. His spiritual soul was trembling and he seemed to have stopped thinking.
His body appeared as though it had been completely frozen in ice and he had become a lifeless object.
However, the ancient World Tree was connected to him. A faint glow was still circulating within his body, stubbornly supporting his life and causing Ye Futian to not completely lose consciousness.
He felt himself descend into absolute quiet. Even time and space had halted. He could sense every fiber of his being as well as everything in the outside world.
This sensation was miraculous. Everything had stopped in their tracks.
This was the power of the Source of the Shadow Realm. If it wasn’t for the protection of the World Tree right now, Ye Futian would have dissipated into nothingness with just a whiff of wind.
Ye Futian seemed to have entered a frozen cocoon as he quietly lay there. However, the World Tree gradually enveloped the shadow storm. It penetrated the shadow storm and merged together with it.
Time and space inside the cocoon seemed to have grinded to a halt. Ye Futian’s life had also similarly come to a paused state. It was as though he had fallen into an eternal slumber. All signs of life gradually disappeared. If there were other people around, they would truly believe that he had already died.
The flowing divine halo of the ancient World Tree seemed to be the only proof that Ye Futian was still alive.
Outside, many people wanted to get closer and also enter into the storm. However, with the menacing shadow storm circulating, no one could enter. No one dared to do so either. Some of the top figures of the Heavenly Mandate Academy continued to search for Ye Futian’s whereabouts in various locations underground, but they still did not find him.
It was not just Ye Futian. Aside from those who had come after, all of the previous cultivators could not be found. It was as though they had been eradicated by the power of Yin.
Even Lord Taixuan was slowly accepting the fact that Ye Futian had perished.
Though it was difficult for that to happen.
However, Ye Futian was truly no longer here as the shadow storm disappeared. No one could withstand the shadow storm. It was the same for even Ye Futian. Even though he was a peerless genius, in the end, he was still only a lower-level Renhuang with a second tier Divine Wheel.
It might have been that because he had created so many miracles, many people believed that Ye Futian could make the impossible possible time and time again.
“The underground world is too large. Let us look elsewhere,” Emperor Nan said to Lord Taixuan and the others at that moment. His voice still remained calm. However, in reality, even he was slowly beginning to lose hope.
Emperor Nan had very high hopes for Ye Futian. He believed that Ye Futian was a figure that could launch a new era. The world was in utter chaos and the Divine Prefecture as well as the forces from the outside world had continued to descend upon the Nine Realms. From his point of view, the Original Realm needed someone to become the symbol of the Original Realm.
He believed that Ye Futian could be such a person.
Unfortunately, Ye Futian had disappeared in the storm of the Shadow Realm.
“Even Emperor Nan cannot accept the reality of the situation?” the clan leader of Shen clan spoke up at that moment. “He is dead, why do you still seek him? Emperor Nan rules Nantian Divine Kingdom and is one of the most powerful figures in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path. Why do you need to do all this?”
He could not understand why Emperor Nan wanted to get involved with helping Ye Futian. With Emperor Nan’s status and ability, there was no need for him to do so. Even if the world was in utter chaos, if Emperor Nan wanted some stability, he could just leave the chaos behind.
This was unless Emperor Nan had his eye on Ye Futian and was looking for his son-in-law.
After all, everyone knew that Emperor Nan doted on Nan Luoshen. However, very few people were worthy of Nan Luoshen in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path.
“You wouldn’t understand.”
Emperor Nan replied without explaining.
“It doesn’t matter whether I understand or not. Regardless, Ye Futian has already perished here. In the future, Emperor Nan will no longer be involved in the matters of the Heavenly Mandate Academy, right?” the clan leader of Shen clan continued. He still hoped that Emperor Nan would not interfere with the matters of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. After all, Emperor Nan’s existence itself was an extremely huge threat to Shen clan.
With Emperor Nan’s abilities, if he did not interfere, no one would dare touch him now.
Emperor Nan did not answer this time. He looked silently into the distance. Suddenly, he seemed to have sensed something. In a low voice, he said, “The power of Yin is weakening.”
Hmm?
When they heard what Emperor Nan said, the cultivators were stunned as they sensed their surroundings quietly. Very quickly, their expressions all changed.
Indeed, the power of Yin was weakening. They had also sensed it.
In front of them, the swirling shadow storm also gradually weakened. As the storm slowly returned to a peaceful calm, the power of Yin dissipated without any pattern. It was as though it would not rampage again.
What has happened?
Many people were astonished as they stared straight ahead. As time passed slowly, they discovered that the power of Yin was weakening. The shadow air flows dissipated and kept thinning out. It was as though no more new shadow air flows were being created.
As the shadow storm before them weakened, someone stepped forward and said, “Let’s go in and take a look.”
One by one, the top figures headed forward and walked into the encircling shadow storm. As expected, they did not face the previous corrosion. It was already very difficult for the shadow storm to affect these top figures.
When the people behind saw this, they also followed suit and all stepped forward.
There seemed to be changes occurring where the core was.
Princess Donghuang also stepped forward. A strange look flashed past in her beautiful eyes.
Buzz. Buzz.
The silhouettes were all extremely fast. Not long after, they arrived at the core underground. Here, the storm was also subsiding. Although there were still powerful shadow winds flowing about, they were already dissipating in various directions and were no longer as lethal as they were before.
Everyone’s gazes were staring inside. They all believed that there was certainly a divine item in the Shadow Realm. It might have been a divine item that was formed from the power of the Source of the Shadow Realm during the collapse of the Heavenly Path. Now that the power of Yin had dissipated, it seemed that the divine item no longer existed.
“That is…” someone said as he looked into the distance. His heart was slightly trembling.
Buzz. The speed of the figures were exceedingly fast. They dashed over in an instant. There, a silhouette dressed in white robes was lying, floating within the core. It was as though he no longer had any life aura and had fallen into an absolute deep slumber.
This person was Ye Futian who had vanished.
“Futian.” Lord Taixuan, Emperor Nan and the others exclaimed as they stepped forward. Their expressions all changed. Although they had found him, they actually could not sense him breathing. They could not even sense the existence of his life aura.
Could it be that he had still perished in the end?
“Why is he the only one here?” The other cultivators revealed bizarre expressions. The divine item was not here and the storm had also vanished.
What exactly had occurred here?
