Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
16 hours later, two figures appeared above the Lost Ruins.
One of them kept their hands behind their back and simply hovered in the sky above the waters, yet they emanated immense power and authority. Their eyes were incredibly terrifying as they looked at the ocean surface. It was as if they were able to see through the water and could gaze at the ocean floor.
The strange phenomenon in the surrounding waters subsided and everything was calm again. The place was not any different from the other areas of the Endless Ocean. If there was anything different about the place, it was how there was not a single demonic beast to be found within the hundreds of miles radius within the area. Furthermore, not even common sea life, like fish and shrimp, were found anywhere nearby. The place was eerily clean. Other than all that, there was a broken palace lying at the bottom of the ocean. Besides the sound of a breeze blowing through the ocean surface, there was nothing else. The waters were frighteningly quiet.
Of the two who stood far above the waters, one was a sage from the Ocean Palace while the other was someone who went back to deliver the report that day. He met the saint on the way back to the Ocean Palace and ended up bringing the saint here without returning to the Ocean Palace. There was no way he could have brought him there so quickly otherwise.
Cultivators of the Ocean Palace found the Jade Scroll of Life of their mighty ones, who ventured broken one after another. They all thought it was something that happened due to crashing into ruins, as the same phenomenon happened the last time they did sol. However, one day later, the living ones, whom the broken jade scrolls belonged to, all perished in an instant, and they finally found something was wrong, which prompted them to report to their superiors, and that led to a saint personally venturing outside.
“What happened?” That sage’s mind was shuddering violently. The ruins were gone and there were no signs of life found within hundreds of miles radius. The sage turned his eyes to the saint. The saint closed his eyes and then said, “We’ll wait.”
If everyone had indeed perished, he believed that saints from the other two holy lands would also be there soon enough. As speculated, saints from the North Deep and the Celestial Cliffs were there as well.
Mighty ones from three holy lands had all perished. Not a single person who went on that expedition survived.
“What do you all think about this?” the saint from the Ocean Palace asked.
“That statue was broken, and we’ve all experienced the power of the statue first hand. Looking at the entire Nine States as they are now, this kind of phenomenon could have only happened with the top two saints on the Saint Ranking being present, but it was obvious that they didn’t show up.” The saint from the Celestial Cliffs elaborated, “There is another possibility. The Jiuying within broke the seal and the statue collapsed from the pressure within.”
“According to those who ventured inside, the seal that was put in place by the Ocean King is extremely powerful. How could the Jiuying have been able to escape?” the saint from the North Deep asked.
“Perhaps the Jiuying had made a breakthrough,” the saint from the Ocean Palace answered. There was nothing but silence for a while after that, as if there were no other possibilities than that.
“Even if there were other possibilities, we can’t find out just by standing here and speculating. If the ruins are gone and the Halberd of Time and Space was taken away, that means that the one who is responsible will appear sooner or later, be it the Jiuying or someone else,” the saint from the Ocean Palace added. The others nodded in acknowledgment. They had no choice but to wait for the halberd to appear again. By then, they would know who w took the divine implement that ranked third throughout the Nine States.
“We’ll take our leave then.” The saint from the North Deep turned around and left. The saint from the Celestial Cliffs followed suit shortly after.
“There were people from the Cliff State City’s Liu clan on this trip as well. Should we go ask?” the sage from the Ocean Palace asked.
“No need for that. If not even the people from all three holy lands were able to survive this, how could people from a small clan like that make it through? They would go to the Ocean Palace themselves,” the saint answered plainly and the sage nodded in agreement.
The people from the Liu clan had actually paid a visit to the Ocean Palace. The clan leader informed them that three young geniuses of the clan actually survived, knowing that all others on the trip had perished, hoping the Ocean Palace would continue to look into the matter in order to save Liu Zixuan. After all, Liu Zixuan was the hope of their clan.
The saint asked the clan leader to keep their hopes low after hearing the news. Of the three who survived, two were beautiful young women and the other was the little brother of the most beautiful woman in the clan. It affirmed the saint’s speculation about the Jiuying breaking its seal. The evil beast, Jiuying, probably took a liking to beautiful women and wanted to vent all its evil fire from being imprisoned all those years. The two beautiful women were probably beyond saving. But then again, the saint from the Ocean Palace would not have bothered about it much.
The clan leader returned in a dejected manner. As for the common sage, who had appeared in the Liu clan, no one would have paid any attention to him. Not even the clan leader would have known about Ye Huang’s existence.
…
The Endless Ocean was vast and seemingly endless, per its namesake. There were countless island cities and many more uninhabited islands. At that moment, a white-robed figure was seen training on a huge rock at the side of an uninhabited island. The winds blew and the waves crashed. He was seen holding a halberd and launched one attack after another, with every strike harboring terrifying might. A boom after another was heard, and the surrounding rocks blew up one after another.
Three figures stood not far behind the one who was training and they looked at him train. The three were none other than Liu Zixuan and the other two from the Liu clan. The white-robed figure was Ye Futian.
A boundlessly huge black dragon was seen coming their way from far above the ocean. There were many other monsters besides the black dragon, and they were all at the pinnacle of the Sage Plane.
Ye Futian had spent the past three months at the Endless Ocean. He spent his time taming beasts when he was not training. He no longer even needed to do so himself. He simply had to tell the black dragon and the other monsters to go hunt for top-notch demonic beasts in the surrounding waters, which were then brought to him to be put under his control. He was a beastmaster, and all beasts who had been branded with a spiritual branding could not rebel; they had no choice but to follow his orders.
The reason why he did so was to prepare himself further for the Sacred War. While the sages of the Holy Zhi Palace were no longer inferior to the sages of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, they nonetheless lacked a decisive edge. They were more or less equal in terms of might. However, if they had an army of powerful demonic beasts lying in wait that could be deployed at any moment, it would turn the tables in their favor.
The very reason why he dared to brandish the Halberd of Time and Space and train in the open was that the surrounding areas were filled with his beast informants, be it in the sky or on the ground.
At that moment, Ye Futian came to subdue yet another monster. He patted the black dragon’s head and said, “Good work. Are there any top-class demonic beasts in any other areas of the Endless Ocean? I’m thinking of getting out there myself.”
“The Endless Ocean is too vast. Not even I get to know everything,” the black dragon answered while shaking its head. It had been at the area of the Lost Ruins all the while before.
“Well then.” Ye Futian nodded and continued, “How about we take a spin somewhere else then?” However, a message from the Black Wind Condor popped up in Ye Futian’s mind, which made him frown.
The Holy Zhi Palace caught wind of a piece of news, saying that Liu Zong of Xihua Sacred Mountain had finished his pilgrimage and returned to Xihua Sacred Mountain. However, the ones from the Barren State had yet to return.
Ye Futian looked up at the blue sky and thought he needed to head home earlier than expected, as he was rather concerned about the news. He turned around and came before Liu Zixuan and the others.
“Brother Ye,” Liu Yu called. While Ye Futian had killed someone from the Liu clan, it had been someone from the clan who had been acting against her, per Liu Shi’s orders. As such, Liu Yu had little thoughts about what Ye Futian did and harbored no resentment against him.
“I’m going home.” Ye Futian then said to all three of them, “But the three of you can’t head back to Cliff State City just yet.”
“I understand.” Liu Yu nodded.
Liu Zixuan’s eyes were fixed on Ye Futian and her expression looked rather complicated. The legendary figure was more exceptional than she had anticipated. However, those who were killed by Ye Futian were still the people of the clan.
“You’ve got two choices here: one, you stay in the Endless Ocean and continue training, but you need to stay further away from Cliff State City, and I’ll have the demonic beasts keep a close eye on you.” Ye Futian then looked at Liu Zixuan and the others, saying, “Two, you all train in the Holy Zhi Palace, but you won’t be able to head out for the time being.”
The Holy Zhi Palace was still at war with the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and he did not want to jeopardize his relations with the three holy lands of the Ocean State. It would endanger the Holy Zhi Palace’s position.
If Liu Zixuan and the others were to return to Cliff State City, all parties involved, be it the Liu clan or the three holy lands, would definitely look into the matter. Liu Zixuan and the others would have had to talk even if they did not want to. It was something that Ye Futian knew for sure that the three holy lands would pull. But if Liu Zixuan and the others were to simply go missing, even if they were not dead, no one would pay any attention to Ye Huang, his alter ego.
“To the Holy Zhi Palace then.” Liu Yu did not hesitate. The Holy Zhi Palace was a holy land after all.
“Sis.” Liu Han turned to look at Liu Zixuan.
Liu Zixuan turned to look at Ye Futian with complicated eyes. She was struggling inside. If Ye Futian had not killed someone from her family, he would have been someone near perfection, and being able to watch him grow as she trained, would have been a dream come true. She eventually came to a decision and her eyes looked determined as she said, “I’m going to the Holy Zhi Palace with you.”
Ye Futian looked at Liu Zixuan and said, “You should know very well that if the Liu clan or Lin Yu were to give the order, those people would have had no qualms about killing me to preserve their clan’s interests. Them taking Liu Yu back then was a good enough proof, as such, there is no need for you to hate me.”
“I don’t hate you.” Liu Zixuan replied in a gentle voice, “It’s just that, I don’t feel good inside.”
“Yeah.” Ye Futian nodded and said, “Let’s go then.”
They then turned around and walked towards the sea. They stepped onto the black dragon, who then took to the skies, and all of the monsters around them headed in the same direction. It was a magnificent sight to behold on the water.
…
Many felt restless for quite a while back in the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State. They found out later from their scouts that Liu Zong of Xihua Sacred Mountain was not the only one who returned; Lin Shubai, Tong He, and the others of the Nine State College returned as well. Mighty ones of other holy lands had returned to their respective holy lands one after another.
The whereabouts of the ones from the Holy Zhi Palace, who left with Xia Qingyuan, however, remained unknown. The elders of those who left, Huang Xi, Xu Shang, and the others, were still back in the Holy Zhi Palace. They were all worried sick. Relationships aside, their descendants were the most powerful and talented bunch from the Holy Zhi Palace, other than Ye Futian and Yu Sheng. They were the future of the place.
While Huang Xi and You Chi were still holding on with the Sacred War, the future remained with those who had left. Furthermore, Ye Futian had been training outside all that while, and even Qin Zhuang was ordered to return first by Ye Futian himself. Without the backbone of the Holy Zhi Palace around, everyone grew restless easily.
A bird-type demonic beast zipped past above the Holy Zhi Palace at the moment. The Holy Zhi Palace turned rowdy all of a sudden. Their Palace Lord had returned. One figure after another took to the air, and many others walked out, all of them were heading towards the direction where Ye Futian made his appearance.
Ye Futian landed in the Holy Sage Pavilion. You Chi, Huang Xi, Yun Shang, the Sword Demon, and the others came up and cupped their hands at Ye Futian. “Palace Lord.” They found that Ye Futian looked even more refined. The time he had spent training outside had definitely yielded considerable results. Ye Futian had also brought several people back, but no one paid any attention to them.
“How many from the holy lands have returned?” Ye Futian asked. While he got to know a thing or two from his bird friend, he still saw the need to ask for further details.
“There was news just a while ago that almost all members of the holy lands have returned to their respective holy lands,” Qin Zhuang answered.
Ye Futian nodded slightly and said, “My big brother and Jieyu are on this trip out there after all. If the others were able to return safe and sound, there is no way big brother and the others would be in trouble. Something must be holding them up. There is no need to worry for the time being. We’ll await further news.”
“Will do.” Everyone nodded, but they all understood that Ye Futian was probably more worried than they were.
“Futian.” Douzhan came to his side at that moment.
“Teacher,” Ye Futian called.
“Is there anything you need of me?” Douzhan asked.
“Please make a trip to the War State and bring Yu Sheng home,” Ye Futian said. Yu Sheng had been training for more than three years outside.
“Alright.” Douzhan nodded and said, “I’ll be off then.” He then turned around and walked right after that!
