Chapter 704: A Bloody Sunset
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What’s going on?” Zhan Xiao felt the rule power of the external world as well. It was an invisible power, yet it seemed to be everywhere. His every move was affected—his blade was slowed down, and the movement of his arm became sluggish as well. This was far from the full potential of the Void Tearing Blade Techniques.
“There’s rule power, mature laws, and they’re even…” Zhan Xiao’s expression immediately turned ugly. Right now, he could clearly perceive the type of laws these were, and it made his heart beat wildly. How could there be rule power of this magnitude?
In the previous face-off, Ye Futian had continuously tried to use his Spiritual Will to freeze the space. However, his power then had been that of a Noble. It didn’t become a law, and as such had no effect on Zhan Xiao at all. But this time, Ye Futian’s power had reached an even higher level and evolved into laws. Furthermore, those laws were to do with spatial rule power, which was terrifyingly powerful.
There were many classes of cultivators in this world. But while cultivators embarked on different paths, the ultimate goal of their journey was the same. At the Sage Plane, one had to realize their own laws, whether they were a Spirit Elementalist, a Full Attribute Sorcerer, or a martial arts cultivator. And for those who were skilled in different sorts of domains, they applied their own perception to the various elemental energies in order to have them evolve into brand new laws.
Amidst the various rule powers attainable by a Sage, spatial rule power was definitely one of the higher-level ones. Space was a concept, and it was different from the elemental energies of wind, fire, thunder, and lightning. It did not exist in this world in the truest sense of the word. There was wind, fire, water, and earth in this world, visible to the human eye, and the world itself was filled with Spiritual Qi. But “space” was a vague, invisible thing. Only at the level of laws would one be able to even come into contact with this sort of power.
It was within the current Sage and Saint Ranking of the Nine States that there were individuals of the best caliber who had realized this power. Those who could realize spatial rules were all peerless individuals. Yet today, this sort of power was emanating from the hands of Ye Futian, a Noble who had not entered the Sage Plane.
As far as Zhan Xiao could remember, there did not seem to be a precedent for this in the history of the Nine States. Even that one individual whose name was renowned only managed to realize this sort of laws at the Sage Plane. Someone who had realized this at the Noble Plane would be destined to be great in the future. There would be no way Zhan Xiao had not heard of them if that was the case. The implication of this was that Ye Futian was possibly setting a new precedent within the history of the Nine States.
No wonder Younger Brother Qin Zhong had tasted defeat at Ye Futian’s hands. At the thought of this, a troubled expression crossed Zhan Xiao’s face. With a loud explosion, a giant stone man appeared behind him. With two types of laws being activated, Zhan Xiao’s power was at a terrifyingly vast capacity.
The blade in his hands continued to swing downwards at Ye Futian. It was true that spatial rules were laws of a higher level. But Zhan Xiao was still an upper-level Sage, and though he may not be at the level of a magi or an archmagi, there was no way the laws he spent years realizing would be weaker than the ones his opponent had just realized.
But Ye Futian did not seem to notice. At this moment, he was completely immersed in his own world. The world as he perceived it seemed to have changed. He could see everything with great clarity, and his Spiritual Will had completely been detached from his body. It was as if his Spiritual Will no longer just belonged to himself, but to this world as well. Endless streams of energy coursed through the world, and though they were vague and invisible, they could be controlled and made tangible through Spiritual Will. Ye Futian knew that these truly were laws.
Right now, the strength of Ye Futian’s Spiritual Energy was increasing exponentially as well. As it evolved, it directly broke through to the next plane, which was the Grade One Noble Plane. With Emperor Will burning within Ye Futian, the strength of his Spiritual Will could perhaps only be perceived by Zhan Xiao then.
“Slash,” Zhan Xiao hissed, as he sensed that Ye Futian’s rule power was growing stronger still. Everything in the space seemed as though they were about to stop moving, and an ominous feeling descended upon Zhan Xiao.
Before the battle, he had not anticipated that he would face this sort of situation. It seemed implausible that a Grade Two Noble would be able to pose a threat to someone like him. But right now, Zhan Xiao could acutely feel a real sense of danger. At the Grade One Noble Plane, along with the increase in Emperor-like power brought about by a secret technique, Ye Futian’s power had already surpassed that of someone who had just newly transcended into the Sage Plane. Furthermore, with his maturing ability to realize laws, Ye Futian was not too different from an actual Sage. If anything, he could be said to even have reached the level of a mid-level Sage.
At this point, even as an upper-level Sage, Zhan Xiao seemed to only be a plane higher than Ye Futian, with not much difference between their power and abilities. Besides, the rule power that Ye Futian had realized was spatial rule power.
Ye Futian stood up, his eyes filled with icy murderous intent. The World Tree within his Life Palace rustled, and the world in Ye Futian’s Life Palace seemed to resonate with the external world. It was as if Ye Futian was in complete control of this space.
Zhan Xiao’s blade was still powerful, and since he was also using rule power, even Ye Futian’s realization of spatial rule power was not enough to halt him completely. But even if Ye Futian didn’t manage to stop him completely, slowing him down alone was enough.
To Ye Futian, Zhan Xiao’s blade technique was absolutely clear and played out before his eyes. A step forward and Zhan Xiao’s blade came slashing towards him. However, the blade began to move at a sluggish speed. Ye Futian dodged the slashes before sending a fist flying towards Zhan Xiao, the savage force of which landed squarely on Zhan Xiao’s arm and sent him plummeting through the sky like a dying star.
The blade fell, and Zhan Xiao’s expression was incredulous. Frightening gravity laws manifested, exerting great pressure upon Ye Futian before Zhan Xiao swung his left arm towards him. But then, spatial rule power descended upon the space once again, and Zhan Xiao’s movements remained slow. Burning with Emperor Will and emanating an unbeatable power, Ye Futian’s fist shot out towards Zhan Xiao’s throat, where his defenses were the weakest
Zhan Xiao wanted to avoid the attack, and his body made to avoid the attack as well, but to no avail. The Meteor Punch, reinforced by starry laws, slammed into Zhan Xiao’s throat and tore through it, causing bright red blood spurt out and stain Ye Futian’s fist.
Zhan Xiao’s body shook violently and his eyes bulged. He wanted to make a sound, but his throat had been torn apart and there was no way he would be able to speak anymore. He trembled and an endless fear gripped him as he stared fixedly at the figure before him. He was going to die at the hands of a Noble. He had come to Taihang Mountain for revenge, to make Ye Futian regret his actions. Never had he even dreamed that Taihang Mountain of the Barren State would be where he breathed his last.
As a person of the Yu State, and one of the Nine Warriors of Zhisheng Cliffs, he was supposed to eventually become one of the prominent figures in the Sage and Saint Ranking of the Nine States. How could he die here? Why was Ye Futian able to kill him? How dare Ye Futian kill him?
Ye Futian did not care at all about whatever Zhan Xiao was thinking about. Lifting his fist, he swung at Zhan Xiao again, causing blood to spurt continuously onto his face. But Ye Futian did not seem to notice. There was only endless murderous intent within his cold gaze. He would not have gone this far if it had not been for Zhan Xiao’s despicable ways.
Third Older Brother and Second Older Sister were supposed to spend their lives together. Ye Futian was going to head out to train and break through into higher planes, and Taihang Mountain would remain firmly within its position of power. But this had all changed because of Zhan Xiao, who had led a party into Taihang Mountain, massacred many of the Apes, and put the Zhuge Family in a life-threatening situation.
All this translated into the cold murderous rage Ye Futian felt, making him punch Zhan Xiao again and again until the latter’s throat was completely destroyed and he collapsed in pain, death eventually overcoming him.
Over where Gu Dongliu was, the two who were currently battling him witnessed Zhan Xiao’s death at Ye Futian’s hands. They then frantically began to try and escape the battlefield. The shift in circumstances had caught them absolutely by surprise. Furthermore, they had also sensed that what Ye Futian had was the power of spatial rule power. This had come as a huge shock to them and disrupted the situation in their own battle as well.
Gu Dongliu had seized the opportunity then to kill a lower-level Sage. Right now, he successfully launched another attack, and his blade ran straight through the throat of his other opponent, a mid-level Sage, killing him on the spot. The two men’s bodies fell to the ground, indicating the end of the battle.
At this very moment, Ye Futian felt incredibly weak. It felt like he had used up all the energy in his body, and he sank to the ground. Hua Jieyu held him, her eyes wet with tears. At the back, Yi Qingxuan was holding on to Yu Sheng as well, tears rolling down her face silently. It was as if they had already experienced death once. But they had miraculously managed to survive. If Ye Futian hadn’t killed Zhan Xiao, the battle on Gu Dongliu’s end probably would not have been concluded as quickly.
Gu Dongliu came over to Ye Futian’s side, observing Zhan Xiao’s corpse with a cool expression. Zhan Xiao was one of the Nine Warriors of Zhisheng Cliffs. Before this battle, this entire affair had just been a tussle over a treasure. But now that Zhan Xiao had died, the situation was no longer simply a fight to hold on to the treasure. A Son of Zhisheng Cliffs, the holy grounds of the Yu State had been killed. And Gu Dongliu knew all too well just what the implications of that would be.
But Gu Dongliu was not too affected by it. Looking at Ye Futian, he commented, “Spatial rule power? Youngest Brother, you are going to achieve a miracle in the future.”
“Third Older Brother,” Ye Futian called out weakly, lifting his head to look at Gu Dongliu. While he had managed to kill Zhan Xiao, he felt no joy. There was nothing to be joyous about anyway.
“Don’t think too much about it. Just sleep, and have a good rest,” Gu Dongliu said gently. A huge surge of Spiritual Will emanated from him and rushed into Ye Futian’s mind.
“Third Older Brother,” Ye Futian called out again, feeling the immense heaviness of the Spiritual Will. He then saw Gu Dongliu lift his hand and strike straight at his neck. At this, Ye Futian, who was incredibly exhausted, was struck unconscious and collapsed into Hua Jieyu’s embrace.
Hua Jieyu lifted her head to look at Gu Dongliu, who said to her, “Take him away to anywhere that’s not here, and don’t let him come back.”
Hua Jieyu stared at Gu Dongliu, before glancing at Ye Futian. She then nodded and replied, “Third Older Brother, please take care of yourself.”
As she spoke, she held onto Ye Futian’s body and turned to Yi Qingxuan. “Qingxuan, let’s go.”
With Loulan Xue and Yi Qingxuan, who was holding on to Yu Sheng, the party disappeared into the distance in a flash.
At the sight of the sun setting, red as blood, Hua Jieyu could no longer hold back her tears, and she wept. “Second Older Sister, I’m so sorry.”
Of course, she understood why Gu Dongliu had sent her away. She knew what his intentions were as well. But she followed his instructions still. If it had been just her, she would not have left. But now Ye Futian was involved. She would forsake everyone around her if it meant Ye Futian could live well.
Gu Dongliu turned to look at the blood-red sky. This had all happened because of him, and he had come to Taihang Mountain for the exact purpose of killing Zhan Xiao.
What difference did it make whether it was him or Ye Futian who had killed Zhan Xiao?