Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Everyone was dumbfounded at Yu Sheng’s antics, who returned to sit behind Ye Futian. He was completely unfazed by all the invitations thrown at him.
The scene made everyone understand that Yu Sheng shared a very deep bond with Ye Futian. Despite all the invitations from the sacred grounds of the nine states, there was not the slightest hint of interest seen on his face. His attitude said it all—all of them had no hopes of roping him in.
“Such a pity.” Many thought that Yu Sheng had a surreal fate in being able to train in such unreal demonic methods. It would have done him a lot of good if he were to be able to train in other sacred grounds, such as the Vajra Region and the Nine State College. At the very least, he would have been able to grow faster and set his path on becoming a saint sooner.
Many turned to look at Ye Futian, who simply shrugged, a gesture telling them that he had nothing to do with Yu Sheng’s decision.
“That brat…” Everyone glared at Ye Futian, knowing that he had full confidence that there was simply no way Yu Sheng would have left the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State.
“Xu Que.” Another voice was heard at that moment. It was from the Si clan of Feng State’s corner.
An elder with a dark complexion from Si clan, who looked rather spooky, looked at Xu Que and said, “The arts you train it fit what we do at Si clan very well. If you’d be willing to train under us, I’d be happy to recommend you to our leader, the Si Saint, and have you study under him.”
Many turned to look at the elder from Si clan. It seemed that someone had extended an invitation to Xu Que of the Barren State after being unable to get Yu Sheng to join them.
Xu Que was versed the power of rules of darkness. While he was unable to make it to the top ten, he was nonetheless an incredibly talented student, especially as his training fit that of the Si clan very well, which made him eligible to be a personal student of the Saint of Killers. It was deemed the best path for Xu Que to take.
Xu Que’s eyes sparkled as he turned to look at the one speaking to him. As someone who came from the Tingxue House, it was a given that he knew of the Saint of Killers. The figure was like a manifestation of his people’s faith, so he would have been lying if he said that he was uninterested. It was a dream opportunity for a cultivator like him to train under the Saint of Killers.
He turned his eyes to Ye Futian, shrugged and asked, “What do you think?”
“Have it your way,” Ye Futian smiled and said.
“Shouldn’t you at least try to keep me?” Xu Que looked at Ye Futian, feeling rather speechless. He actually didn’t try to hold me back.
“Get lost.” Ye Futian rolled his eyes at Xu Que.
“…” It was the people of all nine states’ turn to be speechless at their antics.
Xu Que scoffed at Ye Futian and gestured exasperatingly at the elder at Si clan, saying, “You can see for yourself, elder. Somebody here is already getting upset here. If I were to leave right now, I’d break his heart. As such, I’ll be staying back at the Holy Zhi Palace to train for the time being. I’ll pay Elder Si Saint at Feng State a visit, should the opportunity presents itself in the future.”
Ye Futian was completely baffled. Me? Getting upset? Breaking my heart if you leave? Gosh, this guy is shameless!
Everyone else from the other states was speechless yet again. Another refusal.
Furthermore, the conversation between Xu Que and Ye Futian felt like friendly jabs and banter with one another. While their relationship was that of a palace lord and a student, they were of the same generation, and it would seem that they had trained together before Ye Futian took over as the Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace.
Yu Sheng and Xu Que both declined offers of becoming students of saints. Does Ye Futian have that much charisma about him? Are there really things in the Barren State that they deem worthy of staying behind for?
However, everyone else from the Holy Zhi Palace, such as Sage Wanxiang, felt rather impressed, and the scene had them thinking. Ye Futian had caused dissatisfaction among many when he listed the candidates to train with him in the Sage Hall. Back then, Ye Futian had said that the ones needed to be nurtured in the Barren State then had to be more than just those with exceptional talents; there were other factors to be taken into consideration.
What he said was proven at that very moment. If students like Ximen Hanjiang were in Xu Que’s shoes, would they have just taken the offer of other sacred grounds right there and then?
After all, it would have been overwhelmingly easy to choose a path that would have suited one’s interests best at times like that, and that would have been joining a more power sacred ground and learning under a true saint.
“Very well.” The elder from the Feng State nodded and did not pursue the matter further. While a talented one like Xu Que was indeed rare, it was not exceptionally so. The Nine State Forum was held once in three years, and the ones participating in the event were simply the most talented at the pinnacle of Noble Plane. There were other top-notch talented ones in other planes.
But then again, the ones like Yu Sheng and Yaya were truly, exceptionally rare people. The talents of those two were probably some of the best ever seen for the past several decades throughout all of the nine states, let alone the event that was held once in three years. Zhuge Yi was known to be a genius that appeared once in a hundred years in Jixia Holy Palace, but he was beaten by those two nonetheless, a feat which spoke volumes of their talents. However, both of them were completely unfazed by the invitations of the many sacred ground representatives present.
“The people of the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State sure have an attitude,” the Zhou Sacred King said nonchalantly. His somewhat golden eyes turned to Ye Futian of the Barren State’s direction and said, “On the path of cultivation, there are those who are born with uncommon talents, there are those who train and know much but reveal little, and there are those who move indomitably forward with a firm mind. It is a good thing to have an attitude, just so long as it doesn’t get in the way of developing one’s talents.”
“Thank you for your guidance, elder.” Ye Futian nodded at the Zhou Sacred King. The king turned his eyes away, his expression cold, without saying anything more.
Zhou Ya, who was standing behind the king, said, “I heard that the previous Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace gave his life and called upon Emperor Xia to have you, Palace Lord Ye, take your current position. He went through all that just to keep you safe from Zhisheng Cliffs. Under such a background and you taking the students of the Holy Zhi Palace outside the Barren State, showing everyone from the states your mettle, it would be safe to assume that your talents are even more exceptional than those of the students of the Barren State, which is why you were chosen as the successor.”
Countless eyes turned to look at Ye Futian as soon as Zhou Ya finished.
Everyone was curious about Ye Futian’s background. After all, Ye Futian’s status at his place was different from the other sacred grounds. He was peers with Yu Sheng and the rest of the students. It was also said that he was but a noble when he was chosen to take the place of Palace Lord. If he were chosen under such circumstances, it would then be within reason that his talents were more immense than that of his peers.
“Yu Sheng was crowned champion of the Nine State Forum. As the Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, shouldn’t your talents be even more exceptional than Yu Sheng’s, Palace Lord Ye?” a mighty one from the Hall of Holy Light asked. Since someone started the topic, everyone became eager to see what the young palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace was truly made of.
“Our students at Zhisheng Cliffs have had firsthand experience with Palace Lord Ye’s talents, and they might actually be more exceptional than what many expected of him,” Kong Yao of the Zhisheng Cliffs said nonchalantly, showering praise to Ye Futian without reserve. Kong Yao was up to something, and he did not mind Ye Futian displaying his talent in front of the crowd.
“Is that so? Are Palace Lord Ye’s talents peerless in all of the nine states then?” Many had gotten even more curious. Everyone in the grandstands behind Ye Futian all looked the handsome figure sitting before them.
Saint Xihua, the Sky Saint, and other saints from the Eastern State did not do anything to stop them. They simply sat back and watched the fiasco instead. Even the Glass Saint turned to smile at Ye Futian.
They too were curious.
The Barren State’s participation that year had given them too many surprises, after all.
The Barren State’s corner in the grandstands became the focus of everyone present in that vast space, and Ye Futian, who was sitting at the forefront, became the very center of attention.
Ye Futian smiled and looked completely composed as he addressed everyone present, “I’m truly flattered by all the praises you shower me with. While I do admittedly have decent talent, I dare not claim to be peerless in all of the nine states. Furthermore, in today’s event, Yu Sheng, a student of ours from the Holy Zhi Palace, truly displayed that his physical prowess is indeed peerless, while I’m nothing close that. Yaya is capable of taking care of her opponents using space manipulation, while I’m utterly incapable of such feats. Zhuge Yi was born with complete five elements, and his manipulation of said elements is truly perfect, while I do not have such abilities. There is simply no way to say that my talents are peerless in all of the nine states.”
“You’re being too humble, Palace Lord Ye. Yu Sheng’s case aside, I’d like to know why it was you who was chosen to take the place of Palace Lord instead of Yu Sheng and the others then,” Zhou Ya continued.
“Perhaps it was due to my luck, having many of my elders have high expectations of me,” Ye Futian simply smiled and said.
“You are indeed humble, Palace Lord Ye.” Zhou Ya continued calmly, “As it is the Nine State Forum today and there are so many geniuses hailing from all nine states, with top-class figures from even the Sage Plane present instead of just nobles, how about you take the opportunity to show a thing or two to everyone from all nine states, Palace Lord Ye?” Zhou Ya’s voice was heard all over the place, and countless eyes stared at Ye Futian. Zhou Ya was attempting to get Ye Futian to make a move.
Most from the other states were perhaps displeased at how Yu Sheng of the Barren State ended up as the champion of that year’s Nine State Forum. As such, they wanted to know what Ye Futian was capable of.
“If you’d like to see a spar between sages, we’ve got quite a number of sages from the Barren State as well. If anyone from the other states would like to try us out, we from the Barren State would be happy to oblige,” Zhuge Mingyue, who was beside Ye Futian, smiled and said. Zhou Ya or even the prince of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty might have been immensely talented, but they were not the king himself. There is no way Ye Futian, the palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, will act just because someone told him to. Does Ye Futian have to fight all of the genius sages from the other states?
“I’m addressing Palace Lord Ye, you…” Zhou Ya turned his eyes at Zhuge Mingyue. While he was still smiling, his words turned rather sharp. What he truly meant was someone like Zhuge Mingyue had no place interrupting the conversation. He was talking to Ye Futian, not her.
Countless in the grandstands turned to look at Zhou Ya.
Zhou Ya was no ordinary figure in the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. He was hailed to be the successor of the Great Zhou Sacred King. Even Zhou You was deemed below him in the sacred dynasty. Zhou Ya’s status and talents made him worthy of addressing Ye Futian, the Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, directly.
At the moment, Zhou Ya was showing his forceful side. Zhuge Mingyue’s smile turned rather stiff, and the eyes of Gu Dongliu, who was sitting right beside her, turned cold.
But then, Ye Futian said, “What my second sister said was what I meant.” He glared at Zhou Ya with sharp eyes. He was without a doubt, able to sense Zhou Ya’s pride, but there were simply people Ye Futian would not tolerate being insulted by anyone.
“Is that so?” Zhou Ya stood and walked out. He then looked at Ye Futian and said, “I, Zhou Ya, would like to spar with you, Palace Lord Ye, just so to learn a thing or two.” Zhou Ya shone brilliantly. Countless eyes from the geniuses of the sacred dynasty fell onto him. Zhou Ya walked out and was asking for a friendly match in name, but what he meant to do was simply to challenge Ye Futian, the Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace.
The place where the event was held was dead silent once again. Everyone’s eyes turned to look at Ye Futian.
Will he accept the challenge?
At that moment, everyone saw a faint smile appearing on Ye Futian’s face. He stood up and looked at Zhou Ya, saying, “Since you’d like to have a friendly spar, Prince, I, as the Palace Lord, would be happy to teach you a thing or two!”
