Chapter 941: Yue Lingshuang’s Visit
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Zhisheng Cliffs, under the cover of the night’s darkness, was desolate, and as the cold wind blew, it chilled Saint Zhi, who was just stepping into Zhisheng Cliffs. Those who had perished had completely disappeared, including their divine implements, which had been taken away. He had wild thoughts about capturing the sacred hall of the Holy Zhi Palace and their divine implements to fortify Zhisheng Cliffs, but Ye Futian had acted first and exterminated Zhisheng Cliffs. How many years would it take for them to recover?
50 years? A hundred years?
Or even longer.
And after this battle, who dared to enter Zhisheng Cliffs to cultivate? He, Saint Zhi, as the Head Saint had allowed Zhisheng Cliffs to suffer such catastrophe. Who would be willing to submit to him?
Of course, he could feel that even those in the Noble Plane did not regard him quite with as much fear as before, but he had no one to blame. He was the master of Zhisheng Cliffs, and this was a responsibility that he could not shirk. As he had enjoyed the supreme power and the status that came with it, the responsibility was also his. But he had pushed Zhisheng Cliffs to the abyss.
“Saint Xihua, Great Zhou Sacred King, could you immediately mobilize the army to the Barren State?” Saint Zhi looked up to the two men in the void and said, “Since Emperor Xia has re-established the rules for the Nine States Sacred War, participants in the Sacred War in the Nine States no longer need to report for permission. Therefore, the agreement between the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the Holy Zhi Palace is no longer valid, and Great Zhou Sacred King can strike back.”
“Saint Zhi, Ye Futian left Xihua Sacred Mountain but led the army to massacre Zhisheng Cliffs. It must have been premeditated. If so, he is extremely cunning and would never allow the two saints from Holy Zhi Palace to return for us to slaughter. Most likely, the saints have already escaped. As for those below Saint Plane yet dealing such a blow to Zhisheng Cliffs, their people must not be weaklings and we need to give the whole matter more consideration,” Saint Xihua replied.
Ye Futian was certainly not stupid. How could he not know to use the rules to his advantage? Would the saints of the Holy Zhi Palace wait for them to come for the kill?
As for the Sage Plane, seeing the outcome at Zhisheng Cliffs, it was most likely that both Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty would have to pour in all of their best to destroy the Holy Zhi Palace for good.
It was said that Yang Xiao had arranged many matrixes in the Holy Zhi Palace. It had geographical advantages, and even if they were able to annihilate the Holy Zhi Palace, it would probably be at the great expense of their own people, so rushing into action would do them no good at all. Previously, they had planned to pressure the Holy Zhi Palace with the forces of all three holy lands and let some cultivators leave on their own out of fear, thus lessening its resistance. But now, the sages of the Zhisheng Cliffs were swept away. In reality, Zhisheng Cliffs no longer held much value, and the remaining combative powers would probably come from Saint Zhi himself and Kong Yao.
When Saint Zhi heard what Saint Xihua had to say, he felt an extremely coldness, but he said nothing. The space seemed even more oppressed, and the saints all around looked on quietly.
Who would have thought? They were even wondering if Ye Futian had planned to use Flame Saint to call out Emperor Xia to mandate the rules so that the Holy Zhi Palace would avoid being hunted by all the saints.
As for the rules set by Emperor Xia, they were not surprised. Although Emperor Xia was not so concerned about the Nine States, it was ultimately under his jurisdiction. Each generation would yield some powerful figures. He had already opened up the Sacred War in the Nine States. If the saints were not prohibited from taking revenge on the people of lower planes, once the Nine States was mired in a state of chaos, the real end of days would come when people would slaughter each other without any fear or restrictions.
Under the rules, all the holy lands would inevitably be somewhat restrained. In fact, even without the rules from Emperor Xia, in the past, most saints would not attack people of lower planes from other holy lands, so it could be said to be an unwritten rule followed by all.
The reason why there was such a special case with the Barren State was that they had no saints in the past, so Zhisheng Cliffs thought that it could be bullied. Great Zhou Sacred King had thought so before as well.
“Understood,” Saint Zhi replied coolly.
“Saint Zhi,” Saint Xihua continued, “I can understand your anger at the moment. The cruelty and bloodthirst demonstrated by the Holy Zhi Palace gives everyone in the Nine States a right to judge them. However, under the rules, we still have to act according to the Emperor’s will. The Nine States is far too large and there are also endless territories outside of it. If saints deliberately evade us, who can find them? Not only couldn’t we, but even those in the Renhuang Plane would find it difficult.”
Those beautiful eyes of Glass Saint suddenly flashed a look of surprise; her eyes were directed at Xihua Sacred Mountain. This sentence seemed simple enough, but behind it, there was deep meaning.
Saint Xihua had thought deep and hard. Outside of the Nine States, there were endless territories. The saints could avoid them, and even those in the Renhuang Plane would deem them hard to find.
What did this mean? Saint Zhi needed to avoid it, so would it also be difficult for Emperor Xia to find it.
The other saints also raised their eyebrows. They were all crafty old souls who had been cultivating for many years. Naturally, they understood that this seemingly random sentence had a hidden meaning behind it, though on the surface nothing seemed to be amiss.
Now that Zhisheng Cliffs had been bathed in blood, if Saint Zhi was tough enough… However, this was equivalent to gambling with his own life. They did not really know just how much power Emperor Xia had, but in reality, there was a great possibility that Saint Zhi would never be able to walk out of the Nine States.
Such determination was not easy.
“Please, everyone, go back.” Saint Zhi did not respond to Saint Xihua but instead had asked everyone to leave. Everyone around said nothing more and started to move away, but there was turmoil in their hearts. After all, Zhisheng Cliff was a holy land in Yu State.
That handsome young man from the Barren State, who had seemed so harmless in the birthday banquet, was, in the end, quite ruthless.
Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King left as well, and they returned to Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty respectively. They were reminded by today’s event that Ye Futian, ruthless and tough, should never be underestimated. If they were not careful, they would be swallowed whole by this formidable opponent.
…
The Battle of Zhisheng Cliffs quickly spread throughout the territories of the Nine States and shocked countless people. Just as everyone was still thinking about the marriage between Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, another great event happened on the same day: Zhisheng Cliffs had suffered a bloodbath. Many people had forgotten about the focus of that day, Liu Zong and Zhou Ziyi, to whom the day should have belonged.
After all, Ye Futian was still Ye Futian within the land of the Nine States. No one seemed to be able to deprive him of the spotlight. It was rumored that on the day of the wedding banquet, Liu Zong and Ye Futian had a sparring session that had made Ye Futian retreat, and afterwards, there was the battle of Zhisheng Cliff.
Could this mean that Liu Zong was now stronger than Ye Futian within the same generation? Of course, there were also many who wondered if Ye Futian had withdrawn deliberately and had not exerted his full power.
At the battle of Zhisheng Cliffs, it was said that Ye Futian did not participate in the fight. Only the people from the Holy Zhi Palace in the Barren State were fighting. Was Ye Futian still unable to participate in this level of battle? There was also an army of demonic beasts in that battle. There was a powerful beastmaster at the Holy Zhi Palace.
Various rumors now spread throughout the Nine States, and the news had also entered into the Barren State and stirred up a storm there. When Zhisheng Cliffs was wreaking havoc in the Barren State, people in the Barren State knew. But in just a few years’ time, no one could have thought that the young man who was in the Noble Plane would now lead an army from Holy Zhi Palace to annihilate Zhisheng Cliffs. It was truly shocking. Many people felt their blood boiling and wanted to join the Holy Zhi Palace, even if the palace was now in the midst of a Sacred War. If they could survive this Sacred War, the land of the Nine States and the rise of the Holy Zhi Palace would be unstoppable.
At this time, at the Holy Zhi Palace in the Barren State, Ye Futian had ordered everyone to be fully prepared, ready to fight. At the same time, he had dispatched the demonic beasts to monitor the movements of Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. In the present situation, there was always the possibility that the opponent would send troops to the Holy Zhi Palace.
Ye Futian wanted to delay for as much time as possible. When he and Yu Sheng were both in the Sage Plane, the Sacred War would be a lot easier. There was also the third senior brother, Jieyu, Wuchen, and Jiuge, who all needed more time to become stronger.
Although in the battle with Zhisheng Cliffs he had destroyed them, Ye Futian was not proud and still had a very strong sense of crisis. Though Emperor Xia had declared the rules, there was no guarantee that the other party would abide by the agreement. If they were desperate, there was a definite possibility that the other party would violate Emperor Xia’s order. Therefore, the Holy Zhi Palace was constantly facing a crisis.
At this time, in the Holy Sage Pavilion, Ye Futian was cultivating, but someone came with a word.
“What is it?” Ye Futian asked the person.
“Palace Lord, someone from the Yue Clan of Summer State came to visit,” the person replied.
Ye Futian’s eyes flashed a strange color, and he said, “Who is the visitor?”
“A lady of the Yue Clan. Her name is Yue Lingshuang.”
Ye Futian looked surprised, and then walked out and said, “Let’s go see.” In a moment, Ye Futian saw that it was indeed Yue Lingshuang, along with some cultivators of the Yue Clan.
“Palace Lord Ye.” Everyone bowed in greeting.
“No need.” Ye Futian nodded in return, then looked at Yue Lingshuang and smiled. “To what do I owe Miss Lingshuang this visit?”
“Didn’t you invite me to visit the palace? Didn’t you mean it?” Yue Lingshuang smiled jokingly.
“Of course you are welcome to visit, it’s just that we are in the middle of a mess. I didn’t expect any visitors.” Ye Futian smiled and continued, “Let me order a feast for you.”
“No need, but could Palace Lord Ye take me to see the rest of the Holy Zhi Palace?” Yue Lingshuang smiled.
Ye Futian looked at her and saw that her beautiful eyes stared back at him. He nodded gently. “Very well, I will give you a tour.” As he was speaking, he walked forward, Yue Lingshuang following behind, not letting anyone else follow them.
The two levitated and came to the place above the Holy Zhi Palace. Ye Futian said to Yue Lingshuang, “This is the Holy Sage Pavilion, the place where palace lord resides. The Holy Zhi Palace is the holy land of cultivation in the Barren State. There used to be six palaces, but I have I added some more.”
“I know. And I heard that when Palace Lord Ye first entered the Holy Zhi Palace, he was not favored. The Holy Sage Pavilion chose Bai Ze, the son of the lord of White Cloud City, and Sage Douzhan of the Battle Sage Palace chose you as a disciple. And now, Sage Douzhan is already Saint Douzhan,” Yue Lingshuang said with a smile.
“It was so.” Ye Futian laughed. Apparently, Yue Lingshuang had learned some of his past and even knew things that happened when he entered the palace.
“You had also been exiled from the palace because of that thing with Zhisheng Cliffs. The previous palace lord saw your talent and sacrificed himself to pass on the position to you, even though you were only at the Nobel Plane at the time.” Yue Lingshuang continued, “And now that you have brought an army into Zhisheng Cliffs, it could be considered revenge for the two previous palace lords. Payback for all the wrongs that happened before. If the two palace lords knew now, they would be proud of their decision, same as your Master.”
“Even so, the Holy Zhi Palace is also facing a crisis of survival,” Ye Futian replied.
“You could resolve it,” Yue Lingshuang said. “Just as your Master and the two palace lords valued you, now, my clan feels the same way. I believe we are not wrong to believe this, so why did you not consider the proposal last time?”
Ye Futian looked at Yue Lingshuang and saw that this bright and attractive woman did not appear bashful. Her clear and beautiful eyes stared back at him. From her eyes, Ye Futian instinctively understood certain feelings, and could not help but give a forlorn smile.
“I don’t want to mess with people’s emotions, and besides, it would not be fair to you.” Ye Futian sighed.
“But I don’t mind,” Yue Lingshuang said, still looking at him. She smiled and continued, “Since I met Palace Lord Ye for the first time, I inquired a lot about him. The situation that currently faces the Holy Zhi Palace, you should know better than me. If Palace Lord Ye really does not want to accept me, I don’t mind acting in a play. Our family values the talent and potential of Palace Lord Ye, but in the end, we need a reason for our liaison, otherwise, it is impossible to take the risk, and I can give the family that reason to intervene, but also ease the crisis facing the Holy Zhi Palace. So why not do it? Wait until the Holy Zhi Palace gets through the crisis, and after everything has ended, you can declare that it was all just false. No one will care by then.”