Chapter 820: Preparations for Battle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Countless people from the Holy Zhi Palace raised their head and looked at the figure disappearing into the air. The Nine States Supervising Inspector was a term that was unfamiliar to the majority of them. The Barren State had very little interaction with the Nine States and was nearly forgotten in the past. It was only until Ye Futian stepped out of the Barren State that they entered the vision of the Nine States again.
However, they also understood that the Nine States Supervising Inspector was the subordinate of Emperor Xia, the ruler of the Nine States.
Battles between holy lands needed the approval of Emperor Xia and for him to set the rules before it could begin.
Emperor Xia had approved the battle between the two holy lands, but to prevent those of higher cultivation indiscriminately killing those of lower cultivation level, he had set this rule to prevent harm from coming to the loved ones of those in battle. This was a tacit agreement in the cultivation world.
Ye Futian stood in the air above the Sage Palace, looking at the disappearing figure with a serious expression.
The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was once the ruler of the Eastern State and had a strong heritage of ruling over boundless regions.
The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was different from the Holy Zhi Palace. The Holy Zhi Palace was more devoted to imparting knowledge and skills while the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was an imperial faction, so it would naturally have stricter control over regions under its dominion.
For example, even though Ye Futian was the Palace Lord, he was unable to command the Barren State’s elite factions to battle for him. However, the Great Zhou Sacred King could. With a single command, he could assemble a huge army from all the factions in the regions under his control.
Coupled with the fact that the Barren State had been weakened for many years, even though their performance in the Nine State Forum was brilliant, their overall strength was definitely inferior to the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, no matter which cultivation level they considered.
The start of the Sacred War was a matter of life and death for the Barren State.
Moreover, once the Sacred War started, any methods could be used, assassinations and interceptions for example.
This also meant that from the moment the Supervising Inspector had announced the start of the Sacred War, the people from the Palace could be attacked at any moment.
Ye Futian looked at the ground and said in a clear voice, “From now on, the Holy Zhi Palace will enter a state of battle. All disciples cultivating in the Palace are to be on alert and no one will leave without orders.”
As his voice sounded, everyone felt the tension in the air.
In this period of time, about one-third of the disciples in the Holy Zhi Palace had left. After all, to many people, they had only come to the Palace to cultivate and did not have too much emotional attachment to it. Since Ye Futian had given them a choice, they would naturally leave.
Among those who left, the majority were under the Sage Plane. Their wills were not firm and had only come to the Palace in pursuit of higher cultivation level and were unwilling to fight for the Palace to the death.
“Apart from that, the Palace will now have Sage Hall disciples. As the name suggests, they will be the core of the Palace. In this Sacred War, those who have achieved feats will be promoted to Sage Hall disciples and can enter the Sage Hall to cultivate,” Ye Futian continued. Seeing the serious expressions on the faces of the disciples below, he had an astute expression as he delivered the rest of his speech.
“When I brought the Palace’s disciples to participate in the Nine State Forum, we suffered the cold shoulder from many holy lands. However, the Palace’s disciples had the most outstanding performance in the Nine State Forum. As such, although this Sacred War may be a crisis, it is also an opportunity. If the Holy Zhi Palace can stand tall after the Sacred War, from then on, nobody can stop the Palace’s uprising in the Nine States. All the disciples that participate in this Sacred War will shake the Nine States alongside me in the future.”
Many people felt their blood boil as they heard Ye Futian’s words. Ye Futian had already done what they had thought to be impossible in the past. The group that followed Ye Futian, namely Yu Sheng, Ye Wuchen, Xu Que, and the rest had shone brightly in the Nine State Forum.
They also hoped that they would one day be able to head out towards the Nine States.
“Relay the news to the various factions,” Ye Futian looked towards the people beside him and said. Sage Douzhan and the rest nodded. They knew Ye Futian’s intentions. Although he did not say it, he was asking for assistance from the rest of the Barren State’s factions.
Relying on the Holy Zhi Palace’s strength alone was insufficient to stop the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty’s army. There were too few experts in the Palace.
However, this was a matter of life and death. Ye Futian could not force the other factions in the Barren State to participate, so he could only let them choose. Even if they were unwilling to participate in the war, Ye Futian would not hold a grudge against them.
“Holy Elder, Palace Lord Yang, let us formulate a few battle matrices for group battles.” Ye Futian looked at the Village Chief and Yang Xiao. In a battle between armies, battle matrices would be very important as it could increase one party’s strength drastically.
“Okay.” The two of them nodded. In a Sacred War, battle matrices were essential. Moreover, they needed other matrices to adapt to different circumstances.
“Okay, let’s all make preparations for battle,” Ye Futian said and the crowd started to disperse. The Holy Zhi Palace started to become busy.
Ye Futian looked into the air. At that moment, he felt as though he could understand why Liu Chan was so radical back then. The Barren State was weak, so if it could not rise up, it would face destruction in the face of these kinds of situations.
…
At the same time the Supervising Inspector descended upon the Holy Zhi Palace, another Supervising Inspector also descended upon the capital of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, where countless factions had gathered.
The Great Zhou Sacred King had an overbearing personality. With his character, he would not give Ye Futian the luxury of time. He evidently had no plans to fight a drawn-out fight against the Holy Zhi Palace, but instead, he had planned to lead his army towards the Barren State and take down the Holy Zhi Palace in one fell swoop.
Ye Futian would pay for his actions.
All the holy lands in the Nine States were paying close attention to the Sacred War. After the news had spread, some factions in the Nine States had already started making their way towards the Battle Sage Palace. They knew that the first battle in the Sacred War would take place in the Barren State. The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty’s army would directly descend from the air. For someone of the Great Zhou Sacred King’s stature, Ye Futian had not given him any face when he had killed his underling in front of him that day, so he would definitely not allow Ye Futian to live.
No matter how outstanding Ye Futian was or how likely he was to enter the Divine Path, once he was killed, all of that would no longer matter.
It was rumored that he had entered the Sage Plane not long ago and was still at the lowest level of the Sage Plane. Under these circumstances, Ye Futian would pose no threat in the Sage Plane’s battles and would even need the protection of others.
Xihua Sacred Mountain and Zhisheng Cliffs were the first to reach the Barren State.
At that moment, in a restaurant in the Barren State’s Zhongzhou City, a group of experts from Zhisheng Cliffs had arrived. Kong Yao had come personally and was drinking wine in the restaurant.
Everything that had happened in the Nine State Forum and in the Nether Sword Mound had made Zhisheng Cliffs feel threatened by the Barren State’s existence. However, before they had the chance to do anything, the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty had already initiated the Sacred War. This had saved the Zhisheng Cliffs much effort.
Now, they only needed to watch the unfolding war in silence.
There had been no Sacred War in the Nine States for a long time. Hopefully, this Sacred War would not be disappointing.
At the same time, the Barren State’s factions had also received the news.
Alchemy City’s City Lord Office, Armorer Pavilion.
You Chi was personally creating a ritual implement. As he was topless, the muscles on his body were scorched by the flames. Not just him, but many elite experts from the City Lord Office were creating ritual implements with him.
At that moment, a middle-aged figure walked in and said, “Father, why are you doing this? Just leave this to the Uncle-Masters.”
“In armory, if I claim to be second in the Barren State, nobody will dare to claim to be first. If we want to create elite Sage ritual implements as soon as possible, I will definitely need to do it personally,” You Chi said. The middle-aged person he was replying to was his eldest son, You Mu.
“Father, you have decided to participate in this time’s Sacred War?” You Mu asked.
“Your younger sister and that *sshole Xue Ye are still in the Palace, how can I sit around?” You Chi glared at him and replied. He then stopped the actions on his hand and ordered, “You all will finish the final step of creating the ritual implement.” As he said that, he turned around and left, casually putting on a shirt that was drenched in his sweat and walking out of the Armorer Pavilion.
“Order some men to gather all the best ritual implements in Alchemy City,” You Chi said to You Mu. A glint appeared in You Mu’s eyes, and he asked, “It seems like father is preparing to muster all our forces. What if we lose the Sacred War?”
“With Alchemy City’s current position, even if the Holy Zhi Palace and all the other factions in the Barren State are replaced, Alchemy City will continue to stand tall,” You Chi said with confidence. Because they specialized in armory, there would be no faction that would not welcome strong armorers with open arms.
“However, it is also our limiter. After cultivating for a long period of time, we start to lack the passion that youngsters have. Look at many of the older people in the Barren State, they don’t even dare to participate in the Sacred War. Aren’t they just waiting to die? Look at Ye Futian, he brought the Barren State out and obtained first in the Nine State Forum. Do you understand what that means?” You Chi looked at You Mu and asked.
“Ye Futian is indeed an extraordinary genius. If given enough time, he will definitely be able to enter the Divine Path,” You Mu replied.
“Someone who dares to stand proudly in front of Saints and kill the Great Zhou Sacred King’s descendants in front of him will definitely enter the Divine Path. Not just him, Yu Sheng, even Ye Wuchen and the others will also have a chance,” You Chi continued coolly. “When things reach an extreme, they can only continue in the opposite direction. The Barren State has had no Saints for many years. Now, we have ushered in an explosive era. This will be a huge era, if we are able to overcome these obstacles, the Barren State’s future will be limitless.
“Ye Futian was sent up to the position of Palace Lord by the entire Barren State. Then, let us escort him this time.” You Chi continued, “Also, go and inform the citizens of Alchemy City to gather their families’ elites from each Plane.”
“Father.” You Mu was stunned. He was preparing to make all the families and factions of Alchemy City participate in the Sacred War?
“What if they do not agree?” You Mu asked. After all, the opponent was after the Holy Zhi Palace; it was a Sacred War.
“Even I, the City Lord will participate. If they want to stay out of it, I’ll kill them first,” You Chi said nonchalantly. “Send people to the Fire Emperor Palace and Goddess Pavilion as well. I do not have control over the other regions of the Barren State, but in the southwest region, I have the final say.”
“Okay.” You Mu nodded as he replied. It seemed like his father was serious this time.
At the same time, in the Barren State’s eastern region, the Divine Sky City’s Top Three Schools had already been unified and were under Chen Yuan’s control. When news of the Sacred War reached them, Chen Yuan had also gathered the experts from the Top Three Schools and the Divine Sky City’s forces. He gathered the experts from each Plane and prepared to head towards the Palace to participate in the war.
The current leader of the Barren State was the Son from his Starry School!