Chapter 677: Leaving the Mountain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Ling’er,” Ye Futian raised his head and called out to the delicate figure in the air, a pale expression on his face. Although the teenage girl still looked weak, she stood there firmly, allowing the rampaging wind to billow on her body. Her clothes fluttered and her hair blew wildly while the youthful girl’s face had tears streaking down it. Evidently, she was scared. She was not even 19; how could she not fear death? However, even though she was scared, she still stood there, like a duckweed in the wind that could be blown apart easily.
As the figure burned itself into Ye Futian’s head, at that moment, Ye Futian suddenly remembered the time they first met. At that time, Long Ling’er had been willful and unruly, and he could barely stop himself from beating her up. However, after more interaction with her, he found out that she was simply too lonely. Although she was the only daughter of the West Mountain Dragon Clan, her young heart had many worries that she could not tell anyone. He remembered the little girl crying under the moonlight as she thought of her uncle. Now, she had finally grown up and had come to the Holy Zhi Palace to cultivate. However, such a calamity had befallen her because she had come to send him off today.
As the Light of Punishment descended, time felt like it had stopped. Ye Futian had tears falling from the corner of his eyes. He had thought that he would never cry again, but many things were beyond his control. As he watched the destructive light about to devour Long Ling’er, Ye Futian watched all this unfold in pain, but he was powerless to stop it. Not only Long Ling’er, he, but Yu Sheng and Jieyu would also become victims of this calamity.
However, at this moment, a mysterious power descended upon the area. Time really stopped and a Light of Punishment landed on the dragon-shaped jade. The pendant suddenly let out a brilliant glow and an imposing matrix appeared in the sky above Long Ling’er’s head. The matrix was formed by countless lines interweaving and there appeared to be a dimension within the matrix. A terrifying aura emanated from the dimension. Next, rays of brilliant light glowed and a divine Purple-Gold Dragon emerged from the pendant’s matrix under everyone’s astounded gazes. The Purple-Gold Dragon was humongous and its gaze was imposing as it stared at the Vermillion Bird in the air.
“Dragon Soul,” the Magi’s expression changed as he uttered. This sudden reversal stunned Ye Futian as well. He did not expect that the jade pendant that Ling’er wore had a dragon soul within it.
The giant Purple Gold Dragon had a dominant aura and on its head. They could faintly see a middle-aged man with his hands behind his back. This caused a huge visual impact on the onlookers. Long Ling’er was equally stunned as she raised her head and looked at the dragon.
“Uncle Long,” Long Ling’er mumbled as her heart raced. This was her uncle’s dragon. She often rode on it when she was younger. As she looked further up the Purple-Gold Dragon, Long Ling’er could no longer hold in her tears as they streaked down her face. She shouted out softly, “Uncle, have you returned?”
The middle-aged figure turned and looked at Long Ling’er. He was dressed in green robes and had hair that was black like ink. His expressive eyes appeared to have the galaxy in them, and he looked at Long Ling’er with a doting gaze, then smiled and said, “Ling’er, you’ve already grown this big.”
“Uncle.” Long Ling’er could not stop her tears as she replied, “I’m not dreaming, am I?”
“Uncle promised to protect you,” the middle-aged man smiled and replied. He then turned around and looked at the three Sage Plane experts in the air, his expression turning cold abruptly and his eyes filled with killing intent.
“Senior, this is a misunderstanding,” the Magi in the air explained. He could already guess who the person who had appeared in front of them was. He was the prodigy who had once appeared in the top ranks of the Barren Sky Ranking like a shooting star, the previous Clan Leader of the Barren State’s West Mountain Dragon Clan—Long Yitian.
“You dare touch my Dragon Clan’s little princess.” Long Yitian stood with his hands behind his back and his tone was stone-cold. The Purple-Gold Dragon flew into the air towards the Vermillion Bird and opened its mouth, swallowing the Vermillion Bird.
The three Sages expressions’ turned pale and the person at the front shouted, “Retreat!”
Long Yitian’s expression was cold as an ancient Guqin appeared. He strummed the Guqin’s strings and the heavens resonated with it. The dragon he was on resonated with the heavens as well and in an instant, there were three large dragon shadows rushing towards the three Sage Plane cultivators.
The three Sage Plane cultivators were shocked and they turned around to unleash their strongest defenses. However, what awaited them was the dragon shadow rushing directly into their heads and shattering their Spiritual Wills. The three of them then fell to the ground powerlessly. Three Sage Plane cultivators, one of them who was a Magi, were killed in one blow.
Although it was unknown how much of his peak battle ability Long Yitian could unleash now, he must have been an elite Sage Plane cultivator. The difference between him and the three people was probably the same as Ye Futian and a fresh Noble Plane cultivator.
The ancient Guqin disappeared and Long Yitian turned around to look at Long Ling’er. Long Ling’er descended directly onto the Purple-Gold Dragon and walked to Long Yitian’s side.
“Uncle, I missed you so much.” Long Ling’er pounced into Long Yitian’s embrace and he rubbed her head with a doting expression.
“What a silly lass, you’re already so big. Why are you still crying?” Long Yitian asked gently. The demeanor he had when he killed the three Sage Plane experts was all gone and he now looked just like a kindly elder.
“Then, will uncle stay from now on?” Long Ling’er raised her head and looked at Long Yitian in anticipation.
Long Yitian rubbed her head and replied, “Uncle needs to go into slumber, but I will always be beside you.”
“Uncle, what is going on here?” Long Ling’er asked.
“Go back and ask your father,” Long Yitian smiled and replied, then turned to Ye Futian’s group.
Ye Futian also raised his head and looked at the legendary figure and said, “Ye Futian thanks elder for saving my life.”
Long Yitian nodded his head lightly and replied, “Help me take care of Ling’er.”
As he said, he raised his head and looked in the air. Could it be his mistake?
A dragon’s roar sounded and Long Yitian and his Purple-Gold Dragon started to fade to nothingness. The matrix’s light glowed again and the illusory figure dove into the pendant.
“Uncle.” Long Ling’er’s expression was filled with longing, but she could only watch as Long Yitian disappeared. The light on the pendant darkened, but it was evidently more than a normal jade pendant.
“Ling’er, we have to go,” Ye Futian said.
“Okay.” Long Ling’er cried as she nodded. After barely surviving the calamity, she knew that it was not the time to be sad.
“Let’s go,” Ye Futian said, and the demonized Black Wind Condor took to the skies, carrying them and leaving like a flash of black lightning. Ye Futian, Yu Sheng, Hua Jieyu, and the others all had weak auras. If another Sage Plane cultivator came, it would definitely be their end.
This time, he did not let Ling’er go back to the Palace, for fear that she might run into something on the way back.
After they had left for a period of time, a few figures approached the area that they had left from. These were the cultivators from the Palace’s edge, the Thousand Holy Islands. They saw the corpse on the ground and had curious expressions, what on earth had happened here?
“It’s Ning Yuen,” someone exclaimed. One of the Sage Plane cultivators who had been killed had been recognized, it was one of the disciples who had previously cultivated in the Palace; the Ning Clan’s Ning Yuen.
“Let’s go and report this to the Palace,” one of the persons suggested. They knew that it was not a small matter and they could not make the decision.
At that moment, in the White Cloud City, the Gongsun Clan.
The Gongsun Clan Leader stared at the shattered jade totems in front of him with a grim expression. The Sage Plane cultivators they had sent out had died. Did this mean that they had failed?
To kill Ye Futian, they had even sent a Magi, how could they have failed? This was already after considering the greatest extent of Ye Futian’s abilities and even factoring in unexpected circumstances. Moreover, the assassination was not planned solely by the Gongsun Clan; it had people from within the Palace participating in the planning, so the plan should have been perfect.
It was not just the Gongsun Clan. At the same time, in the Zhongzhou City’s eastern region, the same scene happened in the Ning Clan. The Ning Clan Leader held the broken jade totems in his hand with a steely expression.
They were all waiting for news, what on earth had happened?
…
A few days later, news had spread in the Barren State. On the day Ye Futian and his friends had left the Palace, there had been a fierce battle in the mountain ranges outside the Thousand Holy Islands. A few Sage Plane cultivators had died, including a disciple of the Palace, the Ning Clan’s Ning Yuen. The other Sage Plane cultivators were rumored to be the Gongsun Clan’s Sage Plane figures.
The news spread quickly throughout the Barren State and caused a huge uproar. Many people guessed that Ye Futian might have been the target of an assassination. There were people who walked the Holy Road with Ye Futian claiming that back then, Ye Futian and Yu Sheng had killed the Ning Clan’s genius, Ning Huang. Ning Huang was reputed to be the elite genius of the Ning Clan in the current generation. However, he died a tragic death before he had even entered the Palace. Similarly, the Gongsun Clan’s number one in the younger generation and the first in the Alchemy Conference, Gongsun Ye, was also killed by Ye Futian. So, it was not surprising that the Ning Clan and Gongsun Clan would take revenge on Ye Futian after he had been expelled by the Palace. However, why were the five Sage Plane cultivators who carried out the assassination dead?
Three of them even had their Spiritual Wills shattered and were forcefully killed. This evidently could not have been done by Ye Futian; it had to be someone especially strong who specialized in Spiritual Will attacks.
Who had protected Ye Futian and his friends? Where were Ye Futian and his friends now?
It was like they had disappeared from the Barren State. There was no news about them and they had not returned to the Zhuge Family.
In the Zhuge Family, Zhuge Mingyue was worried sick and enraged. Her Little Brother had just left the Palace and something like this immediately happened to him. This was outrageous.
In the Battle Sage Palace, Sage Douzhan was equally infuriated when he heard the news and he ordered the people in the Battle Sage Palace to investigate the matter. Evidently, there was a mastermind behind this.
At that moment, in the Zhongzhou City’s eastern region, on the boundless Taihang Mountain.
Ye Futian and Yu Sheng sat at the edge of the cliff cultivating. The Spiritual Qi in the air rushed into their bodies and they slowly recovered their vitality.
Thump, thump, thump… At the same time, the Taihang Mountain shuddered as though a terrifying earthquake was happening. Ye Futian opened his eyes and saw many Golden Apes in the distance, landing in the same area. In front of them, the king of Taihang Mountain. Ye Futian stood there like a golden mountain.
Crash. With a thunderous sound, Yuan Hong stepped on the ground and cracks appeared in the mountain ranges. He flew into the air and with multiple crackling sounds, the other Golden Apes all flew into the air out of Taihang Mountain. The Ape Clan was leaving the mountain!