Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Ye Futian spent his time in the library when he was not training, during the days when the herbs were being prepared. There were quite a number of books regarding training methods, as well as rules and spells, which proved useful for his training.
Due to him often spending his time with Little Butterfly, many in the College saw him as a walking disaster of sorts. However, given how the most exceptional ones from the College had departed, there was no one who went to look for trouble with Ye Futian, as they all knew where they stood compared to him.
At that day, Ye Futian came to the pools again after several years. He sat near a pool and gazed forward. The pool was still filled with liquid, yet a ring of mist surrounded the pool itself. He was more than aware of the insanely destructive aura emanating from the pool just from sitting beside it. He actually felt restless and insecure just being around it, which was an apparent sign that he knew trouble was coming.
The second round of medical tests was performed over the same duration as the first round—81 days. It was the first day he was to enter the pool, and he looked very grim. The memory of his first try several years ago was still fresh in his mind.
“The herbs that I was asked to prepare this time were ones meant to attack the spiritual will, which makes it different from the previous round,” Little Butterfly explained with a gentle voice. While she had often joked about the tests with Ye Futian before, when the time came for the tests to be performed, she was still very nervous. As she was the one who prepared the herbs, she knew exactly what was in the pool.
“I get it, Little Butterfly. This is the seventh time you reminded me about it,” Ye Futian replied with a smile in a seemingly nonchalant manner.
“Begin then.” Little Butterfly did not bother saying anything else afterward.
Ye Futian nodded and took a deep breath before walking to the pool with his shirt off and then stepping right into it. He was completely submerged shortly after.
A low grunt was heard and Little Butterfly clenched her fists tightly as she looked at Ye Futian in the pool. He was tilting his head up slightly with his eyes closed as if he was experiencing immense pain.
Ye Futian felt his soul shudder at the moment. His spiritual will seemed to be drowned by a terrifying power. He seemed to have lost possession of his entire body and became transparent. He was stripped of any defense and was laid bare before the onslaught of the terrifying power.
It was just as Little Butterfly had reminded him. The tests this time were not meant to attack the body; they were tests meant to attack one’s spiritual will.
He felt as if his spiritual will was being thoroughly torn apart, corroded, and crushed. The light of his Life Spirit gleamed, and his spiritual will took the form of a stout, magnificent, and godly ape. The light of the stars coursed around him, protecting him. However, the dark aura simply drowned the ape in its entirety, gradually eroding it as continuous streams of the dark aura continued to encroach his mind.
…
In the place within the Herb Garden where Saint Jiang lived, he came before that statue once again and sat there quietly, staring at the beautiful silhouette and spacing out.
It was the day when Ye Futian’s second round of medicine tests began, and it was anyone’s guess if he would be able to withstand it. None who took the tests before had been able to make it to the very end, but he had faith in Ye Futian. As someone who was of incredible renown throughout the Nine States and of supreme talents, if even he were to fail, then there would be little meaning to the tests after that, and that meant that his thoughts had been erroneous from the very beginning.
Saint Jiang moved after spending quite some time standing around doing nothing. He turned around and walked outside. The test should have been over by then. He came before the hall and stood there quietly. Two figures were seen walking in his direction shortly after.
“Teacher,” Little Butterfly called with a smile, and she seemed to be in a good mood. Ye Futian, who had just finished the test, was right beside her. However, he felt rather ill at the moment and very exhausted, as if his spiritual powers had been completely used up. His head felt like it was going to crack open, and the experience proved to be more terrifying than any of the previous rounds.
Saint Jiang laid his eyes on Ye Futian and looked rather calm. He then asked, “How do you feel?”
“Not good.” Ye Futian looked at Saint Jiang and wore a bitter smile on his face. “Why are you doing all those tests, senior, if I may ask?” He had become quite familiar with Saint Jiang after spending so many days around him, and as such, he went straight to the point with his question. He was not quite sure of the objectives of the tests.
“I’ll tell if you’re able to make it through all of them,” Saint Jiang replied.
“Yeah, well, I’ll go get some rest then,” Ye Futian replied curtly and left. If Saint Jiang was reluctant to tell him, there was simply nothing he could do to make the saint talk.
Ye Futian trained for a bit after returning and restored his powers for a bit. When the sky turned dark, he took out the guqin and began practicing. The flowing sound of his tune reverberated about the Herb Garden, and it sounded rather lonesome.
Ye Futian stopped after playing for quite a bit, and it was only then that he felt his spiritual powers were restored. He closed his eyes and expanded his spiritual powers outwards and felt immediately that everything around him seemed to be clearer than before. He was able to sense minute changes in the wind and the fragrances of herbs planted faraway.
Ye Futian’s brow twitched and he opened his eyes, looking rather puzzled. While his spiritual powers had indeed improved somewhat, the improvement was considerable. However, he was nonetheless able to feel that his spiritual powers had become sharper, enabling him to better immerse himself in his surroundings.
“This is something,” Ye Futian mumbled to himself quietly before continuing to train. He went for tests again on the very next day. It marked the day when his days spent doing medical tests in the Herb Garden truly began. Every day was an excruciating one for the entire 81 days.
There were still quite a lot of people talking about his relationship with Little Butterfly. He spent some of his time in the College’s library to read up on training methods. As such, most of his time was spent in tranquility. Other than Little Butterfly being tense during the test processes, there was little stimulation to his days.
Ye Futian finished the excruciating 81-day ordeal before he knew it. With that, the second round of tests was cleared.
When Ye Futian walked out of the pool unscathed, Little Butterfly hung her head low. The hair on her forehead seemed wet from the surrounding mist. When she looked up at Ye Futian, there was a smile in her beautiful eyes. She looked less sacred and more pure at that moment.
“Put this on.” Little Butterfly smiled and went to put a coat on Ye Futian.
“I’ll do it myself,” Ye Futian smiled and replied.
“Don’t go having thoughts about this. It’s just a present for making it through the tests,” she said as she put the coat on him. Her smile was pure and flawless. There was nothing else on her mind.
“Even if you had some thoughts, I guess you came too late. I’m a married man after all.” Ye Futian looked relaxed and joked with her. It made her blush somewhat and she glared at him, “You said it as if I am the one taking advantage of you.”
“That’s a given,” Ye Futian replied seriously. Little Butterfly kicked his leg lightly in response before turning around and saying, “I’ll go report to my teacher.”
“I’ll go with you.” Ye Futian rushed up to her.
The two rounds of tests enabled Ye Futian and Little Butterfly to become very familiar with each other. Other than matters pertaining to the tests, they would also spend their time talking about other things. They were good friends and knew each other well, which was why they were able to joke like that with each other.
“Do you know what I was thinking when you came up?” Little Butterfly asked gently.
Ye Futian shook his head and asked, “What were you thinking then?”
“You survived.” Little Butterfly then added, “It kind of felt like I had just been through a life and death situation with you and came back.”
“Is it that terrifying?” Ye Futian shrugged casually although the 81-day ordeal had indeed been rather terrifying.
“Yeah.” Little Butterfly nodded. Her head hung low and she did not seem excited. She knew well what he had gone through.
“It’s fine. Everything is in the past now. I have one last round to go and I’ll make it,” Ye Futian said, as if he was sure of himself.
Little Butterfly lifted her head and looked forward. A gleam was seen in her eyes. He had made it through the last two rounds of medicine tests and he would definitely make it through the last one.
Before both of them reached Saint Jiang’s residence, a voice was heard from far away. “I know. Come to me again when you’re at an Archmage level, and a middle-level one to boot.”
Ye Futian stopped dead in his tracks and bowed slightly in Saint Jiang’s direction, before turning around and leaving.
“Where are you going?” Little Butterfly turned around and asked.
“Back to my place,” Ye Futian answered.
“Yeah.” She looked puzzled at the answer. She then glared at him after seeing him smiling rather sheepishly at her.
“Relax, I’m not going to leave before saying my goodbyes,” Ye Futian said and took his leave, waving at her for a bit.
Ye Futian did not leave the Nine State College immediately after the medical tests were done. Instead, he spent some more time training in the College. He developed some realizations after spending days doing the tests, and he needed some more time to regain his peace through training.
Another month passed and Ye Futian was seen sitting cross-legged at his place in the Herb Garden. His spiritual powers expanded through his surroundings. The wind blew and there were slivers of currents flowing around him. Swishing sounds were heard within Ye Futian’s Life Spirit, enabling his body to shine with a holy sheen, as though his spiritual powers had melded with his surroundings.
In the space where his spiritual powers permeated, everything looked crystal clear, as if he was able to control everything within with just one thought. A formless Rules of Wind flowed, and pieces of rocks in the compound he was in were lifted into the air. Minute pieces seemed to have been lifted in the air as well.
Ye Futian willed and a formless power of rules washed throughout the entire space. Everything seemed to have been rendered motionless. The wind was no longer around, yet the rocks and minute pieces remained hovering mid-air.
“Split.” Ye Futian’s lips moved and a word was heard. The hovering rocks and pieces were crushed right then and there. All of them were destroyed by some unseen power at the same time, turning to dust. A terrifying aura continued to shroud the entire place. Ye Futian opened his eyes and they shimmered as if they held powers capable of tearing space apart.
A silhouette appeared without making a sound, and it was none other than Qin Zhuang. While there had not been a war breaking out between the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the Holy Zhi Palace for the past several years, they were gathering their forces and amassing power in whatever form. However, there was no way Ye Futian would have ventured anywhere far without escorts. Qin Zhuang had been by his side all that while.
Qin Zhuang’s expression was sharp and solemn as he felt the power of rules in the air. He turned around to look at Ye Futian and said, “Space-tearing.” Qin Zhuang was versed in Space Rules as well.
Ye Futian stood and nodded lightly. Space-tearing was a type of Space Rules. He had developed Space-freezing before and through his training in the College, he finally developed the power of Space-tearing, which sharpened his offensive powers somewhat. Space-tearing shared some similarities with Shredding Rules, but Space-tearing was stronger. Furthermore, he was able to imbue that power into both rule spells and martial powers.
He became a mid-level Magi after spending three years in training. The 81 days spent doing medicine tests enabled his spiritual will to grow stronger, as well as augmenting his comprehension abilities. He became able to even fight against lower-level Archmage as he was then. If he were to stack something more on top of all he had at the moment, he could become even stronger!
