Donghuang the Great had decided not to take action against Ye Futian, which meant that the Imperial Palace of the Divine Prefecture would no longer pose a threat to Ye Futian.
Everyone had thought that Ye Futian was a dead man for sure, but they never expected such a dramatic turn of events.
What would Princess Donghuang do next?
Ye Futian was considered very powerful in the Original Realm. Although he was far from capable of contending alone with the many forces in the Divine Prefecture, in one-on-one situations, there was no single force below the level of Ancient God Clan that Ye Futian couldn’t overcome.
Counting in the strength from the Lost Clan, then even the Ancient God Clan was no competition. No one was off-limit, given the power controlled by Ye Futian. Even the Ancient God Clan might even be suppressed.
Ye Futian had been confirmed as the successor of Emperor Ye Qing, thus making him an enemy of the Imperial Palace in Divine Prefecture by default. Would Princess Donghuang allow him to continue developing his own power freely?
But Donghuang the Great had already said that he wanted to see where Ye Futian could go in the future. Clearly, he didn’t care.
How could a Great Emperor, unparalleled in the world, possibly be afraid of a young lad?
In the many years that had passed, how many Great Emperors, such as Donghuang the Great, had come to pass in this world?
Everyone’s attention was fixed on Princess Donghuang. She was looking at Ye Futian above the firmament right now and proclaimed, “From this day forward, principalities belonging to Ye Futian will no longer be ruled by the Divine Prefecture. Ziwei Segmentum may make a choice, same as the various forces currently under the rule of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. As for the Lost Clan which had already agreed to submit under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Palace, it may no longer be involved with Ye Futian henceforth.”
Once, when all the forces laid siege upon the Lost Clan, she came forward and saved them. The agreement was for the Lost Clan to accept the Imperial Palace in Divine Prefecture and submit to its rule. Given this condition, they could no longer ally with Ye Futian. If the alliance with Ye Futian were to continue, they would lose protection from the Imperial Palace.
As for the Ziwei Segmentum, it was left by Ziwei the Grea and was never intended as a principality that belonged to the Divine Prefecture. Likewise, the Heavenly Mandate Academy consisted mostly of relationships developed by Ye Futian. Therefore, Princess Donghuang allowed them to make their own choices.
However, among the two forces outside of the Lost Clan, the will of Ziwei the Great had long resonated with Ye Futian, and because of that, the Ziwei Segmentum would probably never escape his control. The Heavenly Mandate Academy was one with Ye Futian for so long that it was simply impossible for it ever to betray him.
“We have been entrusted by Ziwei the Great to do his bidding. The Palace Lord, once obtained the inheritance of Ziwei the Great, became the Palace Lord of the Ziwei Imperial Palace and took charge of the Ziwei Segmentum. This is the will of Ziwei the Great, and those who cultivate in the Ziwei Segmentum must heed it. We hope the Princess will understand,” Renhuang Chen explained.
“The Heavenly Mandate Academy was built by Ye Futian single-handedly. Without Ye Futian, the Heavenly Mandate Academy would not have been possible; I hope the Princess will forgive us.” Lord Taixuan of the Heavenly Mandate Academy also spoke up. There was no doubt that they were willing to stand by Ye Futian.
“We were never part of the Heavenly Mandate Academy; we ended up there only after being threatened by Ye Futian to submit. Now, we are willing to serve the Princess,” said a dissenting voice. It was none other than the College Chief of the former Tianshen Academy, Jian Ao.
“That’s right, we were forced by Ye Futian to be part of the Heavenly Mandate Academy, and now we are willing to serve the Princess,” said another voice. All those remnant forces from the Nine Realms that had surrendered to the Heavenly Mandate Academy now seized their chance to rebel.
The current situation was turbulent, to say the least. Following Princess Donghuang and serving the Imperial Palace directly was the way to survive in these troubled times. Ye Futian had now offended the Imperial Palace in the Divine Prefecture beyond repair. His own safety was in jeopardy, and he would have to watch his back at all times. They were no fools, so they knew how to choose.
“Shameless beasts,” Sky River Great Elder rebuked coldly. Instead of killing them back then, their lives had been spared, and they were given a chance to surrender. They never expected them to change their tunes so quickly and decisively now.
But Ye Futian, who was still above the sky, didn’t feel quite that way. Betrayal was commonplace for these people, and he didn’t really care.
Emperor Ye Qing was once his greatest secret. Now that it had been revealed, it was fortunate for him to be able to survive the revelation of such news. He had been worried about a day like this for a very long time and didn’t know what outcome to expect. The situation at the moment was far better than what he had ever imagined.
This was supposed to be a catastrophe.
“Very good.” Princess Donghuang nodded and continued, “After you return, report to the Empty Imperial Palace.”
“Yes, Princess.” Everyone bowed and nodded, greatly overjoyed in their hearts. It was a stroke of good luck to be rid of Ye Futian and follow the Imperial Palace.
“The teacher and my father are old acquaintances. For the sake of the teacher, I will no longer pursue the matters from today.” Princess Donghuang looked at Ye Futian, who was high above the sky. She then turned around and looked into the distance as she continued, “From this day forward, Ye Futian is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Palace in the Divine Prefecture. All your grievances are yours to resolve independently. In addition, the teacher has already made his stance known today. Since my father has decided not to interfere with his affairs, the teacher will no longer interfere with ours in the future.”
The words of Princess Donghuang couldn’t be more clear to those cultivators from the various forces of the Divine Prefecture. Those who had been enemies with Ye Futian snickered in their hearts and understood the significance of the Princess’s words. This was no less than a declaration of open season on Ye Futian. What she meant was that the teacher from Four Corner Village could no longer stop them.
It seemed that the Princess was pretty upset about what has transpired today. After all, Ye Futian openly resisted the imperial order and defied her. In addition, as the only daughter of Donghuang the Great, and with Ye Futian being the successor of Emperor Ye Qing, the two of them were destined to be enemies, fateful opponents.
Therefore, it was completely reasonable for Princess Donghuang to harbor some grudges toward Ye Futian.
The cultivators from the Heavenly Mandate Academy did not look so good. From now on, the cultivators from the Divine Prefecture would have no more worries about the future. Now, without the Lost Clan, Ye Futian’s strength would be greatly reduced. Once he left the Ziwei Segmentum, he might be hunted by the forces from the Divine Prefecture.
Ye Futian was still in control of the Ziwei Cultivation Court, as well as the inheritance of several Great Emperors. Now, there was Emperor Ye Qing on top of everything else. So there was no telling how many others would covet what was in Ye Futian’s possession.
“Let’s go.” After having said that, Princess Donghuang gave the order to leave. The cultivators from the Imperial Palace of Divine Prefecture left with her just as suddenly as she had spoken.
People from other top principalities in the Divine Prefecture left with her as well. Without Princess Donghuang here, none of them dared to dawdle any longer in the Ziwei Segmentum. After all, this was the territory controlled by Ye Futian, and in it, even those who had survived the second Divine Tribulation of the Great Path couldn’t best him. If Ye Futian wished to hurt them, it could be very bad for them.
With shining rays of light, cultivators from all sides withdrew.
Soon, those who cultivated in the Divine Prefecture disappeared altogether.
Cultivators from the Human Realm left along with them as well.
However, the cultivators from the Dark World and the Empty Divine Realm were still there.
At this time, the leader of the Dark World looked at Ye Futian and said, “Although there were some grievances between Renhuang Ye and us, if Renhuang Ye is willing to enter the Dark Court to cultivate, we will not take any action. Instead, we will protect Renhuang Ye from the persecution of the Divine Prefecture.”
“The Empty Divine Realm welcomes you as well.”
The cultivators from two major worlds were not just actively recruiting Ye Futian but were offering to put aside the many grievances that had appeared between them over the years. This was in spite of the fact that Ye Futian had killed many cultivators of the Dark World.
He was the successor of Emperor Ye Qing. He was tremendously talented, and he had a Great Emperor standing behind him to boot. He was way too valuable of an asset.
The point was that Ye Futian and the Imperial Palace in the Divine Prefecture were now on opposing sides. And because of Emperor Ye Qing, they would be mortal enemies with no possibility of reconciliation. If Ye Futian could be groomed as a weapon to be used against the Divine Prefecture one day, why pass up such a great opportunity?
Future prospects aside, even Ye Futian now was already a prize with the strength he possessed and the power he controlled.
Ye Futian glanced briefly at the cultivators from these two major worlds. Obviously, he understood their intentions quite well, so he responded without hesitation. “Both of you have spoken up for me today. If something unforeseen happens in the future, I will remember what occurred today.”
Clearly, this was a soft letdown.
“In that case, we will be leaving now.” They didn’t say anything more. They would be watching how Ye Futian planned to engage with the principalities from the Divine Prefecture!
