Chapter 2199: The Withdrawal
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
That violent strike shook the hearts of all the top figures who were above the sky. His flesh passed through the spatial storm that tore through the area, hitting the man of the same realm. His body was broken, and his internal organs were wounded as bright red blood stained his clothing.
They looked at the figure in the void as divine light flowed upon Ye Futian’s torso like a divine body of the Great Path. His body was the Way.
Several powerful Renhuang stepped forward. Although they were not on the level of giants, they were full of frightening aura nonetheless. Among them, there was an elder from the Holy Land of Taichu. His hair was half white, and his temperament was out of this world. He was carrying a sword on his back. He was clearly a swordsman.
This man had the cultivation of the Eighth Realm and gave out a strong sense of threat. He looked down at the area below, and thousands of swords fell at the same time. Even the crowd in the distance felt a strong aura of swordsmanship.
“Eighth Realm, and an extraordinary Eight Realm at that.” All the cultivators from the Heavenly Mandate Academy fixed their attention on the man. The aura of this Eighth Realm cultivator was unusually powerful. It far surpassed the existence of anybody ordinary of the Ninth Realm.
In fact, this cultivator was once an extraordinary man in his own right. When he was a Middle Renhuang, his Great Path had been perfect. When he broke the realm to reach Upper Rehuang, some accidents had caused imperfections in his Great Path and left it incomplete. However, he worked hard at his cultivation and spent ten years cultivating an extremely powerful sword technique. He was a well-known figure in the Taichu Sparring Grounds at the Holy Land of Taichu. It was a pity that he couldn’t be the master of it.
An incomplete Great Path was a major misfortune.
But his combat effectiveness was one of the most powerful in the Holy Land of Taichu. And his swordsmanship was not something that ordinary cultivators in the Ninth Realm could bear.
When he stood above the sky, Ye Futian could feel a trace of pressure. The light of the Great Path flowed endlessly upon his body. It was as if his body was the source of the Great Path.
Buzz!
The two looked at each other in the air. Ye Futian felt the gaze of the other shot at him that suddenly turned into a sword of heaven, piercing into his spiritual world, capable of immolating the soul.
Ye Futian’s eyes were equally terrifying. At a glance, it seemed like an endless space, so that no matter how far down the sword plunged, it could never reach the end, as if trapped in the door of endless space.
“Buzz!” An overwhelming sword intent enveloped the boundless space. The place where Ye Futian was seemed to have been transformed into a sword domain, a world of swords. The elder’s sword flew out of its sheath to intercept, and suddenly the swordsmanship in the firmament was like a fierce giant beast.
“Chop!”
The man uttered a word, and in the sword domain that sheltered Ye Futian, sword lightning suddenly appeared, traversing the void and cutting through it with an unimaginable speed that was hard to detect with the naked eye. It was as if a single thought would cut through the space.
Boom… A monstrous power of the Great Path swept out above Ye Futian. The sword of horror slashed down but did not cut through his body as expected. An amazing divine light exploded out from Ye Futian, like an immortal divine body, imperviously to the swords.
“HIs physical form is this strong?” Those major figureheads felt that their breath was taken away just by the sight in front of them. They were all giants from various places and had seen many enchanting figures in their times, especially top cultivators from the Upper Worlds. The enchanting genius talents they had seen were in the hundreds of thousands, with many shocking existences among them.
But no one had ever seen anyone whose physical form had been cultivated to such a frightening level.
In other words, it was no longer a matter of strength regarding his physical body, but rather that his body had already become one with the Way.
That body was a pure body of the Great Path. Not only had it become one with the Way, but it possessed many various Ways, which accounted for its great defense.
Buzz!
The swordsman was still standing in place, but there was an even stronger sword intent that manifested. Another section of the sword he was carrying on his back jumped out again. Suddenly, the swordsmanship became more terrifying as another sword came in for the kill.
Ye Futian continued forward as the Great Path roared, howling in the void. The sword came in for the kill but was unable to break through his physical defenses. It was as if his body was truly indestructible.
The swordsman from the Holy Land of Taichu closed his eyes as he condensed a seal between his hands. In an instant, the sword behind him came out section by section, and with every section that came out, a sword was unleashed for the kill.
In a blink of an eye, nine swords appeared in different positions around Ye Futian’s body and pierced at him at the same time, emitting a sharp and piercing chiming sound. A terrifying sword storm tore through the space but still could not annihilate Ye Futian’s physical body.
“How strong!” Everyone was shocked, and there was a great disturbance in their hearts. Ye Futian’s physical form was stronger beyond expectation. Could that be the body of a human cultivator?
This was the real body of the Way.
That sword intent is incredibly strong. But even so, it still didn’t manage to cut Ye Futian, everyone thought. Only to see that the sword behind the man finally became completely unsheathed. At the moment when the sword was unsheathed, a chiming was resounded between heaven and earth. That cultivator seemed to emerge out of his body with his sword. He descended in front of Ye Futian. The shadow of this illusion was massive, like a god holding a sharp sword homing in for the kill. Suddenly the nine swords around Ye Futian seemed to transform into a terrible sword matrix, resonated with the sword that fell for the slaughter.
“Adjudication!” the swordsman spat out the word as he unleashed the Sword of Judgement. In the past, few people who fought him could stop this sword of his, and he, too, believed that Ye Futian would be no exception.
This sword obliterated the flesh as well as his spiritual soul.
But at this moment, Ye Futian opened his eyes and looked like a glaring Vajra Buddha. With a loud roar that rocked heaven and earth, shattering mountains and rivers, it seemed that the Buddha was unleashed by the roar. As the Vajra Buddha who slew the demons, its power shocked the swordsmanship.
Ye Futian raised his arm and stretched out his hand. The sword river was flowing as it gathered toward his body. His physical body and the swordsmanship were one and the same.
A chiming sound was born from the sword domain. It was a long and persistent howl that resonated with Ye Futian’s fingers. An infinite sword intent directly entered into his body of the Great Path and became one. The monstrous swordsmanship from the other seemed to be used by him.
“The coercion of the Great Path.” Those giants trembled inwardly. Ye Futian was able to inflict coercion of the Great Path against a Renhuang in the Eighth Realm as if to proclaim that only he was the master of this spatial swordsmanship.
The crowd saw Ye Futian’s raised arm pointing forward. Suddenly a sword seemed to have materialized, a sword transformed by Ye Futian’s body.
The nine swords were crushed as Ye Futian’s finger landed on the elusive phantom of the divine sword.
Bang!
In an instant, this Desolation Swordsmanship collapsed and disintegrated. The swordsman from Taichu Holy Land shuddered as the spiritual soul entered his body. His face was white as a sheet. Blood poured out of his mouth. His breath was weak, as he was wounded by the Great Path.
The crowd rushed towards him and saw that there were cracks upon his body. These cracks were hard to see with the naked eye, but those who cultivated could sense that there were cracks in his swordsmanship.
On the contrary, Ye Futian’s whole body was brilliant. Sword aura surrounded him, unmoving and unshakable.
Could this be the strength of someone in the Sixth Realm?
All of them had heard that Ye Futian was the only one who could perceive the corporal body of Shenjia the Great Emperor. Could the transformation of his physical body be a reward from successfully comprehending the body of Shenjia the Great Emperor?
He’s too strong. Eighth Realms. And it’s a powerful figure from the preaching holy land of the Upper Worlds. Now, there are probably not many, other than the giants, who can defeat him, someone thought. Perhaps it would take a top genius from the outside world to be able to defeat Ye Futian?
If there were no one from the Upper Worlds, Ye Futian would probably be ranked invincible just right under the major figures among all the forces in the Original Domain.
After his return, he was already near invincible under the major figureheads. Where would he be in another 20 years?
No wonder all the forces would gather here after receiving the news that Ye Futian had returned.
They had to come and see for themselves how much advancements had been made by Ye Futian.
At this moment, high above the sky, all those major figureheads wanted to kill Ye Futian immediately, but they had some concerns. Killing Ye Futian would provoke an all-out counterstrike from the major figures forming the alliance at Heavenly Mandate Academy, not to mention, there was a mysterious cultivator in Four Corner Village in the Upper Worlds.
“Do you still want to continue?” asked Ye Futian.
When those top figures heard what he said, they were silent. They were in a dilemma now; they dared not kill him outright, but leaving him alive would be too great a threat.
The truth was that forces such as the Martial Gods Clan and Sky Reaching School had come to regret their decisions. If they could ask for a truce now, they would, but that possibility had come and gone. The conflict 20 years ago doomed them to their position today. Even if they were to seek reconciliation in private, their allies would never agree to it and may even turn on them.
It was impossible to get out of this predicament where one of the two sides must be destroyed.
“20 years in the Divine Prefecture has done you good.” Shen Gao looked at and said to Ye Futian, “I always thought highly of you, but unfortunately, you have been stubborn and unamenable. Now things have gone through great changes in our world, and the Original Realm is on the brink of major disasters. If you are willing to let go of old grievances, we can, perhaps, sit down and talk.”
“Of course. Now that the Original Realm is on the verge of great changes, I am willing to let go of old grievances and work with all the forces from Divine Prefecture. This is also the hope of the imperial palace,” replied Ye Futian, agreeing readily. However, Shen Gao and the others were alarmed.
Although Ye Futian agreed willingly, they knew that it was impossible. Ye Futian was toying with them.
Even if Ye Futian agreed, could they really trust him? Could they leave Ye Futian alone and let him cultivate until he reached the peak of Renhuang?
They all knew that as long as Ye Futian was still alive, they would never have peace of mind.
However, they didn’t need to come out and say it, as everyone had an implicit understanding.
“The Original Realm is changing rapidly, and the Imperial Palace’s cultivators had come from Divine Prefecture in the Lower Worlds. An internal conflict really shouldn’t have happened; let us stop here,” said Shen Gao.
“I agree,” Ye Futian replied. The Heavenly Mandate Academy could not go to war either, same as them.
“Then it’s farewell,” said Shen Gao. He took his people to leave with him. The rest of the other forces looked at the ground below, disappearing one after another. Soon, in the mighty void, the powerful cultivators who came with the coercion disappeared between heaven and earth. It was as if they had never appeared at all.
Who could imagine that not long ago, most of the power of the Original Realm gathered here? It was as if they were here to annihilate Heavenly Mandate Academy for good.
Now, it ended in such a comical fashion.
Ye Futian watched those disappearing figures but did not relax inside. This was a warning to the other, warning them not to start things they couldn’t finish.
But he knew very well that, given the chance, they would not hesitate to kill him!