Chapter 1830 Expedition
Lord Taixuan stared at the leaving silhouette, then he said, "It looks like all three forces do not want to get involved in a huge battle akin to what happened in the past."
"A pinnacle-level world war would involve too many parties," the Divine Palace Palace Lord said. "According to what I know, in the past, aside from the Original Realm, a war that involved emperor-level forces similarly erupted in the Outer Realms. The great war determined the world order. The Divine Prefecture was united, and the Original Realm also became a part of it. The battle which occurred in the Original Realm was only a local war."
Lord Taixuan did not experience the great war which happened outside of the Original Realm. However, he knew that 300 years ago, when the Original Realm was in turmoil, the Buddhist forces joined the battle too. In the Hidden Land Realm, the Dark Court assigned Hell, their force in the Lower Worlds, to participate in the battle.
From the looks of it, the Dark Court did not send a large army over. They did not place great importance on the Original Realm. Instead, the Original Realm was just a part of the larger war and a small part at that.
"That's true. In the war more than 300 years ago, the two Emperors unified the Divine Prefecture," Lord Taixuan nodded his head. He could imagine that this war would most likely involve figures at the level of deities. Otherwise, how could the two Emperors have seized the right to rule the Divine Prefecture?
It was just that they did not know whether the Dark Court and the Evil Emperor Realm returning to dispute over the Original Realm today was due to the fall of Emperor Ye Qing. Of the two Emperors that unified the Divine Prefecture back then, only one remained. Their deterrence was naturally much weaker.
"This time, how many people should our Heavenly Mandate Academy send to join the battle?" Lord Taixuan asked the crowd.
"This battle is certainly perilous. I think it is sufficient for the disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Cottage to join it," Ye Futian replied. The contest among the three emperor-level forces—the Dark Court, the Evil Emperor Realm, and the Divine Prefecture—would greatly impact everyone. All the forces in the Nine Realms would be involved in it too. Their opponents would surely gather many cultivators to join the battle.
Flawless Divine Wheels were not rare among the cultivators of these emperor-level forces. Many cultivators of various forces were possessors of flawless Divine Wheels too. Existences at this level would most likely be the key factor in determining the final victor. Possessors of flawed Divine Wheels might die in vain if they went into this battle.
Hence, Ye Futian had suggested for the disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Cottage to participate in the battle. The requirement to join the Cottage was being a possessor of a flawless Divine Wheel. They were few in numbers, yet they were all elites. Moreover, in the Nine Realms, there were few lower-level Renhuangs who were possessors of flawless Divine Wheels, to begin with. However, the forces from the Divine Prefecture were not short of these talented cultivators.
"Is it alright with Empty Imperial Palace if our numbers are too few?" Lord Taixuan asked. "There are also a few large forces who do not look kindly upon us. They will certainly seize the opportunity to put us down."
"Lord Taixuan, if the disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Cottage are sent, who among the lower-level Renhuangs of the Nine Realms can stand against us?" Ye Futian asked confidently. Lord Taixuan was stunned. Then, he nodded his head. That was also true.
Ye Futian sounded arrogant, but he spoke the truth. Once the disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Cottage were sent into battle, among those at the same Plane in the Nine Realms, they were invincible. They could dominate the lower-level Renhuangs of any force. This had already been proven back during the battle with the Shen clan.
"We will send out the strongest lineup among the various forces of the Nine Realms. That way, will anyone be qualified to point fingers and attack us?" Ye Futian continued.
"I believe that it won't be a problem," the Divine Palace Palace Lord said as he nodded in agreement." The princess is intelligent. Everything is within her predictions. For the Heavenly Mandate Academy to send out all of its possessors of flawless Divine Wheels to participate in the battle, it means that we have sent out all of our strongest elites. How could such a gesture not be sincere enough?"
"That is true." Lord Taixuan did not say anymore after hearing what the Divine Palace Palace Lord said. In this perilous battle, they had presented their finest elites. Indeed, no one was qualified to say anything.
The opponents this time were no ordinary forces. They were the Dark Court and the Evil Emperor Realm. When the time came, they would very likely face the super monstrous existence of the other parties. Even possessors of flawless Divine Wheels would face grave danger.
"Then, it is decided," Lord Taixuan declared. The possessors of flawless Divine Wheels of Heavenly Mandate Cottage would join the battle.
"It is just that this battle will be extremely dangerous." Although he had made the decision, Lord Taixuan was still somewhat worried. After all, they were not facing the forces of the Original Realm. If their opponents this time were forces from the Original Realm, Ye Futian would surely dominate his peers.
However, their opponents this time would be very powerful.
"Princess Donghuang's side will naturally make sufficient preparations too. Their lineup will not be weak," Ye Futian analyzed. In this battle among the three sides, their Heavenly Mandate Academy was but a force under the Divine Prefecture. Moreover, they were just a tiny force.
Donghuang the Great prioritized the Original Realm and did not want the Nine Realms to be divided up. Therefore, he would naturally send out a dependable team.
The battle this time was also a psychological war.
Who was more willing to take the risk?
The cultivators of the Nine Realms were shocked by this news. The Divine Prefecture would go to war with the Dark Court and the Evil Emperor Realm?
It was only a battle among the lower-level Renhuangs, but since the three God-level forces were involved, one could already imagine the scale of this battle.
Any one of the God-level forces could order countless cultivators in this world to action. For example, everyone in this 3,000 Realms of the Great Path would need to obey the order of Donghuang the Great, not to mention that they were only a tiny fraction of the entire Divine Prefecture.
The amount of manpower the God-level forces could mobilize was definitely shocking. However, right now, nobody was certain about how much effort the three forces would spend to gather that manpower.
Where would this battle take place?
The various Realms began to gradually gather their members. Across the next few days, cultivators from the Divine Prefecture continued to descend upon the Empty Imperial Palace. They were all existences at the Renhuang Plane. It was naturally the same in the Hidden Land Realm.
The Evil Emperor Realm was also secretly making preparations.
The days passed. For cultivators, a month was not a long period of time. It felt as though the day arrived in the blink of an eye.
On this day, the Empty Imperial Palace was bustling with activity. Countless cultivators had been gathered. There were the cultivators of the Nine Realms and the various forces that had descended from the Divine Prefecture. However, most of them had come on their own accord. They were also a few cultivators who were under the direct command of Donghuang the Great.
On this day, in the Empty Imperial Palace, there were Renhuangs wherever one glanced. They covered the sky and the ground. Such a grand occasion was almost impossible to come across in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path. Only when a great battle had erupted between the various top forces could such an astonishing scene possibly occur.
Lord Taixuan also brought over the Heavenly Mandate Academy members who were to participate in the battle. There weren't many of them, and they did not stand out amongst the crowd, only occupying a tiny camp. Around them were the camps of the forces of the Nine Realms. The other forces outnumbered them by a few magnitudes. Ye Futian's group could not compete with them at all.
This caused them to attract quite a lot of attention, especially from the cultivators of the Nine Realms. What was the meaning of this, Heavenly Mandate Academy?
Everyone was well-aware of the perils of this battle. From the looks of it, the Heavenly Mandate Academy did not wish to send too many of their disciples into battle. They wanted to ensure that the standing of their academy would not change.
However, those who came made up the strongest team, which was led by Ye Futian. When others saw this lineup, they could not find fault with the academy. It was meaningless for the others to attack the Heavenly Mandate Academy just because the latter sent a small number of cultivators to join the battle.
Besides that, many of them cast curious glances at Ye Futian. As expected, he was doing fine. A man who had lost signs of life survived miraculously. Judging from Ye Futian's current condition, no one would have guessed that he had 'died' in the Shadow Realm once.
Moreover, the cultivators noticed that something about Ye Futian's temperament had changed. He was more effeminate now. His handsome looks used to be purely masculine, but now he revealed a hint of statuesque.
"Lord Taixuan is indeed stingy. You are overprotecting the disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Academy," Gai Cang of Golden Divine Nation said sarcastically. "Among the various forces of the Nine Realms, the Heavenly Mandate Academy is now made up of the combination of two training holylands. Are these all the members you send?"
"Are these all?" Lord Taixuan repeated after Gai Cang. Then he said, "Does Dynastic Overlord want to test out the ability of my disciples first? Our two parties can have a spar which does not involve killing."
Gai Cang could not say anything to retort Lord Taixuan. He coldly snorted and said nothing more. In reality, everyone understood that even though the members of the Heavenly Mandate Academy were few, their lineup was grand. If Golden Divine Nation really got into a spar with them, the former would be wiped out easily.
The members of the other forces only glanced at them. In the end, they did not say anymore. Otherwise, if Lord Taixuan retorted, they would not be able to respond.
The members of the Heavenly Mandate Academy were few in numbers, yet they were invincible in the Nine Realms.
Ye Futian alone could defeat any of the lower-level Renhuangs in the Nine Realms whom others could name. Shen Hao from the Shen clan and Di Wu from the Solar Divine Palace were no match for him too. Ye Futian had killed upper-level Renhuangs before as well.
Even among this huge troop, Ye Futian could be considered the cream of the crop.
Princess Donghuang appeared, and her gaze swept past all the cultivators. In an instant, everyone turned silent.
Two divine generals stood to her left and right. They were divine general Cao Jun from the Lower Worlds and Spear Emperor Du You. Divine halos surrounded both of them. Their might enveloped the Empty Imperial Palace.
"I am sure everyone is aware of the need for this battle. The Dark Court and the Evil Emperor Realm want to invade the Original Realm. This time, the two other forces might ally to attack us," the Palace Lord of the Empty Imperial Palace appeared in front and addressed the crowd. "As soon as we lose, the Original Realm will be divided up, and the Nine Realms will be separated under different rulings. Some of you will be affected by this outcome, while some of you won't.
Since everyone here has decided to participate in this battle, it is a life-or-death battle regardless of whether the outcome of this battle will affect you. I believe everyone will do your best."
The Palace Lord continued, "The location of this battle is a desolate world. In a moment, all the cultivators from the three forces will be sent to the world. After you have been teleported there, the world will be sealed off and become the battlefield. Everything that happens on the battlefield will be projected and shown to us through a matrix. No one from the three forces is allowed to go near the world, but everyone will observe the battle.
Hence, all of us here will be able to witness your performance. Those who do well and come out alive will be heavily awarded regardless of our final standing. The Princess will personally reward those who influence the outcome of the battle with fateful encounters. There are no rules in this battle. Go all out. The only restriction is you are not allowed to borrow the strength of other cultivators from other Realms. You may bring your ritual implements along."
After the Palace Lord had finished speaking, he looked at Princess Donghuang and asked, "Princess, do you have anything to add?"
Princess Donghuang scanned the crowd and said, "I await your victory, everyone."
"We will do our best," replied some of the cultivators from the Divine Prefecture while bowing.
"Go forth," ordered the Palace Lord of the Empty Imperial Palace. All the cultivators flew up into the sky at the same time. The momentum of the troop was unstoppable!