Chapter 994: The Command of Emperor Xia
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Emperor Xia’s Realm, Upper World.
Emperor Xia’s Palace stood in the sky, above the clouds. Between the clouds, the palace seemed to be a fairyland on earth. A figure wearing a golden robe stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes looking forwards. Beside him, there was a handsome figure in man’s clothing who was extremely beautiful, and it was Xia Qingyuan.
Both of them had their eyes on the picture in front of them where there was a huge scene: a palace on top of a mountain, countless cultivators fighting a great battle, but a blood-stained youth sat alone in the void, playing the guqin as if between heaven and earth there existed only him alone. Cultivators around them were continually falling, and the youth had the brilliance of the emperor upon him, extremely radiant.
Seeing what happened in the picture, Xia Qingyuan’s extremely beautiful eyes showed a slight disturbance. It seemed to have reminded of her the words that Futian said to her that day in the imperial mausoleum. As if to say that she had secret weapons, it was not only her who had them.
At the time, she thought that it was just Ye Futian being ignorant and arrogant, but now it seemed that if he had really shown his cards, the loser would still be her. This battle was truly earth-shattering. She did not expect to have such a battle in the Lower Worlds.
“This one alone is better than all in the Nine States.” Emperor Xia looked at the battle, then waved his hand and the picture disappeared.
“Messenger,” he said casually, and as soon as his voice was heard, a figure appeared in front of him, kneeling on one knee in extreme piety. “First and foremost, send someone to investigate the past of the palace of the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State, Ye Futian. From the time he was born until now, what he has done, who has been around him, what ability has he cultivated, I want an account of everything.” Emperor Xia spoke in an indifferent voice, but there was an unquestionable authority behind it.
“Secondly, take people to the Lower Worlds and keep tabs on everyone who was observing the battles inside and outside of the Holy Palace today, and monitor all of them. Tell them they are to return to their respective holy lands. Unless they have permission, they are not allowed to leave. Violators of the order will be killed without exception.” The second instruction of Emperor Xia was equivalent to a total blockade of the news of the battle at the Holy Zhi Palace. Everyone inside and outside the palace would be put under lockdown.
“Third, ask the people of Nine State Guard what they were doing. Who gave Saint Zhi the audacity to do what he did?” Emperor Xia continued to order.
“Yes, Sir.” The man said, “When investigating Ye Futian, should we control him?”
“No need, just watch him.” Emperor Xia said, “Do it as soon as possible.”
“I will go too,” Xia Qingyuan said.
Emperor Xia nodded. “Might as well.”
Then, the man with the command left with Xia Qingyuan. Soon, a group of cultivators in Emperor Xia’s Palace initiated the Spatial Matrix in Emperor Xia’s Realm and went straight across the space to the Lower Worlds.
…
Outside the Holy Zhi Palace, there were countless cultivators on the outskirts, but they couldn’t see inside the battlefield and could only wait outside for the news. Only the top characters of the great holy lands could get closer to see something inside the battlefield.
At this point, the battle had not completely concluded, and there was a middle-aged man who quietly retreated and walked away from the crowd in a flash. His speed was incredibly fast, and he was obviously someone in the Saint Plane. However, when he was still in the area of Thousand Holy Islands, he stopped and frowned. “Who is it?” As he finished speaking, several figures appeared, and their eyes fell on him.
“Someone from Emperor Li’s Realm?” asked the person.
The eyes of the middle-aged man were like a knife, sweeping toward the newcomer.
“Where is Li Yao?” the other party continued to ask.
The middle-aged man rose to the sky in a flash, trying to escape. He did not flee in the direction of Li Yao but went in the opposite direction. A group of people chased in the void, and it didn’t take long before a quiet Sacred War broke out in Thousand Holy Islands of the Barren State, and someone in the Saint Plane had fallen on the spot and was killed.
In a bar, outside of Zhongzhou City, Li Yao was still drinking there. On the table in front of him were nine broken jade tokens. These nine people were the nine powerful cultivators who were the subordinates that were specially trained for his purpose. They were expert killers with great strength and were regarded as elite. For the inheritance of Renhuang, he used the nine powerful cultivators and the set of divine implements.
But today, all nine were dead.
In front of him, that beautiful woman was crying, but she did not seem to be inconsolably sad. As for the youth, he showed signs of great hatred. His father—Saint Zhi—had fallen.
“Your Royal Highness,” a cultivator came forward with a broken jade token in his hand and said, “something has gone wrong. Sir should withdraw.”
Li Yao immediately put the glass down, stood up, and made an executive decision, “Withdraw.” He didn’t know what had happened, but if it caused the attention of Emperor Xia, it would be more troublesome. He had intended to end things quickly and leave Emperor Xia’s Realm. But now it seemed that Saint Zhi had failed, and even the people he sent to observe the battle were dead as well. This time, the loss was not a small one, but judging from his status, it was not a big deal.
A top divine implement appeared, and a strong air of the void came out of it. It was a ship of the void. They stepped into it and suddenly, there was a light screen shining, wrapping them in it. It even covered up the atmosphere. Afterward, the ship crossed the void directly, disappearing right there in the bar, traveling through the air. There was no trace of them in the blink of an eye.
Not long after they left, several figures descended. After a quick look at the bar, they looked up into the void, and the look on their faces was not a good one. It seemed that he was one step too late. Of course, even if they were really arriving on time, there was no chance they could have kept the other party. After all, the power of the Nine States was limited. And this was only because Emperor Xia wanted to observe the battle, otherwise, even the saint would not be staying. After all, Emperor Xia did not pay much attention to the lands of the Nine States and had always held a casual attitude toward them.
…
At the Holy Palace, on the battlefield, with the Ukiyo song being played, almost all the cultivators of the Hall of Holy Light were terminated. Even as the music spread throughout the entire battlefield, people were constantly falling, and the cultivators of the six great holy lands were steadily killed. Under such circumstances, of course, the six holy lands were massacred by the powerful cultivators of the Holy Zhi Palace.
The Sacred War was now, without a doubt, over.
“Withdraw,” Saint Ji spat. Those from the Hall of Holy Light who were still alive tried to retreat. Those from the Temple of Light tried to evacuate, but the sound of the guqin played endlessly, and everywhere the sound passed, death followed. It intended to exterminate all the cultivators from the Hall of Holy light here today.
Of course, the Hall of Holy Light was controlled by the Qi clan, and many cultivators had returned to Qi State to guard, so they were not all here. But even so, Ji Ya had died, as well as many of the top figures from the Hall of Holy Light. One could only imagine what kind of mood Saint Ji was in at this moment.
“Withdraw,” Saint Xihua ordered.
“Withdraw.” Great Zhou Sacred King and the saints of the three holy lands of the Endless Ocean successively ordered the withdrawal of the army. Even though they were greatly reluctant to do so, they could not watch all their cultivators be slaughtered. Thus, withdrawal was the only option.
Today, the seven holy lands formed an alliance and came to the Holy Zhi Palace for war, but they did not capture Huang Jiuge, who owned the inheritance of Renhuang, they did not capture the Halberd of Time and Space, nor did not they kill Ye Futian. Instead, they left behind countless corpses.
Saint Zhi, the master of Zhisheng Cliffs had died, so had Ji Ya, Kong Yao, and Liu Zong. So many who were known throughout the land of the Nine States had died here. The people of the Holy Zhi Palace were still madly chasing and killing, wanting to eliminate all those who tried to retreat.
At this time, above the sky, a mighty authority of heaven descended. Countless eyes now watched the sky. It was as if the heavenly army had arrived and the hearts of many trembled.
Emperor Xia’s people had arrived. And they came fast. Clearly, Emperor Xia himself was personally keeping tabs on the Battle of the Holy Zhi Palace. No one had ever thought, and no one dared to think, that for many years, no matter what kind of battle, it had never caused such a situation where Emperor Xia ordered a great army to come to the Nine States, even for the likes of Saint Xia, whose heart was beating fast.
Was it because of the aura that was released by Ye Futian? How would Emperor Xia treat Ye Futian?
Clearly Ye Futian did not release the power before. Because it was not a last resort, he did not dare to release it. Although he did not know what secrets were hidden, he knew this secret was very likely to attract the attention of Emperor Xia. Therefore, Ye Futian did not dare to. But under the attack of Saint Zhi, under the threat of death, he had no choice but to release the power. However, since Emperor Xia had personally sent people to come, there was no need for him to go to the Upper Worlds for an explanation.
The great army descended, and the person who was out front was the Little Princess, Xia Qingyuan. Not long ago, his wife had also perished in this battle. Her gaze fell on Ye Futian and looked at the young man who was playing the Ukiyo.
“By the command of Emperor Xia, everyone of all the holy lands should return to their own holy land immediately to await further orders. They are not to take a step outside without permission. Anyone who violates the order will be executed,” next to Xia Qingyuan, a powerful cultivator of the Saint Plane said. His voice spread throughout the palace.
Emperor Xia wanted to control everyone because of Saint Zhi’s move? Or because of Ye Futian?
“Is it over?” Countless people looked up at the sky. At this moment, whether it was Saint Ji, Saint Xihua, or the Great Zhou Sacred King, they all understood that they were defeated and had been defeated thoroughly. They paid a great price for their failure. Even more frightening was that if Emperor Xia allowed Ye Futian to continue on his path, it would be their apocalypse one day.
“Yes.” Saint Ji nodded. Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King all nodded in agreement. Who dared to not obey Emperor Xia?
The sound of the guqin suddenly stopped, the spirit of guqin disappeared, and Ye Futian seemed to have exhausted all his power as his body fell from the sky. Several shadows flashed toward him. Gu Dongliu and Zhuge Mingyue arrived first because of, and the two caught Ye Futian.
“Second senior sister, third senior brother.” Ye Futian had tears in the corner of his eyes. Zhuge Mingyue, likewise, was also in tears. Looking at Ye Futian’s eyes, her heart hurt for him. Gu Dongliu held Ye Futian’s hand. He didn’t say anything, because any words at this moment would be useless. He had tried his best, and so did everyone else.
But who could have thought that Saint Zhi would intervene? And who could have stopped Saint Zhi? If it was not for Jieyu and Yaya, who fought without a thought for their lives, everyone there would have been doomed, including Ye Futian and Yu Sheng.
In the distance, inside the Holy Sage Pavilion, there were many people coming toward them, and there were two among them that came onto the battlefield with tears on their faces. They came in front of Ye Futian, who was on the ground. These two people were Hua Fengliu and Nandou Wenyin.
“Master and Masteress.” Ye Futian did not let Zhuge Mingyue help him but knelt on the ground. He owed his Master and Masteress something he could no longer repay. They had given Jieyu to him to care for, but he was not able to protect her.
Nandou Wenyin pulled Ye Futian up, hugging him with tears in her eyes. “Futian, it was not your fault.” Likewise, Hua Fengliu also pulled Ye Futian to him. He sat on the ground, and at this moment, he looked as if he aged a lot suddenly. He looked up at the direction in which Hua Jieyu had disappeared, and all their shared past rushed to his mind.
At that time, at Qingzhou Academy, he lived with his daughter Hua Jieyu, just the two of them. The arrival of Ye Futian added some color to their lives. He took Ye Futian on as a disciple and taught him to play the guqin and the art of engraving. Later he matched his daughter and his disciple.
These were all such beautiful memories. It seemed as if they happened just yesterday, but now it seemed to be far out of reach!