Chapter 2553: The Armorer Competition
Ye Futian followed Wang Teng touring inside the City Lord’s Office for a few hours before returning to the hall where he was staying. During this time, Wang Teng had been showing off the cultivational resources of the City Lord’s Office, enticing him to join him as his subordinate.
Wang Teng had no idea that the man in front of him had a lot of history with the Wang family and would never agree to enter the City Lord’s Office to cultivate.
In these few hours, although Ye Futian did not get a definite answer, he had acquired a lot of information and had a vague idea of the stance employed by the City Lord’s Office.
Taking advantage of the feast, the Wang family was very likely to use it as an opportunity to attack the Ziwei Segmentum to enhance the reputation of Tianyan City in the land of the Divine Prefecture.
This probability was so high that he was forced to prepare for the worst-case scenario in advance.
Ye Futian took out the mirror, and suddenly a figure appeared on the other side of it. This time it was not Xi Chiyao, but Lord Chen.
“Palace Lord,” Lord Chen called out.
“Lord Chen, go to the Divine Prefecture, the land of the Shen Clan, and wait for further instructions; in addition, dispatch the lords of the three places of Ziwei, Heavenly Mandate, and Wangshen to Fusang Domain, where Sun God Mountain is located. Tell them to await instructions. Then, they are to destroy the Shen Clan and the Sun God Mountain and bring their most core and key commanders back to the Ziwei Segementum. They have to be alive, and this must be done quickly once it’s underway.” Ye Futian said, “Before any of you receive my instructions, do nothing, and you must be careful.”
“Very well,” Lord Chen nodded. He did not ask any more questions but simply took the orders.
“Let’s get them going then,” Ye Futian said. He then put away the mirror. He knew from Wang Teng that the people in charge of these two top powers were now inside the City Lord’s Office, and these two principalities had a long history with him. Their deep-seated dislike of each other was from a long time ago.
According to Wang Teng, these two major principalities clearly wanted to form some kind of alliance. If so, once the City Lord’s Office announced its intent to move against the Ziwei Segementum, he would order his people on the two fronts to make their moves, taking advantage of the absence of their commanders.
As for the other principalities, Ye Futian had no way of dealing with them for the time being. Ziwei Segmentum did not have such pervasive strength yet, and could only handle two forces at the same time.
After making arrangements for everything here, Ye Futian continued to cultivate quietly and did not leave again.
On the outside, as the armorer competition was about to begin, Tianyan City was becoming busier and livelier as people continued to pour in from everywhere. There was an unknown number of cultivators that had populated this ancient city.
All of this seems to have nothing to do with Ye Futian. He stayed in the City Lord’s Office, cultivating quietly, and Wang Teng did not disturb him either. He had much preparation to make and many guests to receive now that powerful cultivators had begun to arrive inside the walls of the City Lord’s Office.
Two days passed in a blink of an eye.
…
In the year 10,100 of the Divine Prefecture Calendar, Tianyan City ushered in their centennial feast by holding the armorer competition at Tianyan City.
On this day, the entire Tianyan city was near the boiling point. Tens of thousands of people gathered not on the streets in the town but at the nine locations of armor-making as designated by the City Lord’s Office.
And inside the City Lord’s Office, friends and guests gathered for the feast. Many of them were notable figures of the world, top cultivators within the Divine Prefectures, giant-level existence were all here in one place.
The Armorer Competition at Tianyan City was indeed one of the grandest feasts in the Divine Prefecture. Unless it was Donghuang the Great personally hosting a feast to gather the powers of the Divine Prefecture, there was not much that could surpass the grand scale of the Armorer Competition in Tianyan City.
More than half of the giant principalities in the Divine Prefecture have arrived. All the powers in the Divine Prefecture were willing to give Tianyan City this honor.
There were no buildings here in the giant martial arts field inside the City Lord’s Office but a vast open space. At this moment, around this vast open space, there was also a sea of people, with throngs of cultivators.
To the north, with its back against a high platform, there were many stairs. At the top of the stairs, many top figures from Tianyan City were sitting upon it; this was the highest seat.
On both the east and the west side, there were long stretches of stands for cultivators who came from all sides. Of course, only the top forces were invited to observe the ceremony inside the City Lord’s Office. In addition, there were the direct forces under the command of the City Lord’s Office and some other guests they had invited.
And the place in the middle, as surrounded by the three sides, was another huge open space. Inside, there were nine high platforms erected, and they were all prepared for armor-making.
To the south, there was a straight road leading out of the City Lord’s Office.
In the surrounding areas, there were many cultivators from the City Lord’s Office to work as crowd control and maintain orders. The sight in front of everyone was a grand and sumptuous occasion, a grand feast that was even more spectacular and impressive than any feast in ordinary palaces.
Almost all of the top cultivators in the Divine Prefecture had gathered here.
At this time, from a palace above the stairs on the north side, a group of people came towards this side. The person in the lead was clad in a golden robe, very authoritative. Those that were around him were also top cultivators.
“Greetings to the City Lord.” On the left and right, many cultivators bowed to salute the man, and they were all cultivators from the City Lord’s Office. The man who was making the appearance was the City Lord of Tianyan. His eyes seemed to be golden, and his entire body seemed full of endless energy, with vigorous spirits.
As he walked forward, everyone made way for him until he came to the main high seat, and he surveyed all those who were around.
Many people stood up and said, “Greetings to the City Lord.”
The City Lord of Tianyan City put his hands together to the crowd and said, “Everyone has come from afar to participate in the festivities here at our Tianyan City. The Wang family is very grateful for your presence. Please, take a seat.”
The cultivators from various forces sat down as commanded.
Suddenly, nine mirrors appeared in the sky above the City Lord’s Office, placed in different directions. Each of the nine mirrors aimed directly below, right on top of the nine platforms. Instantly, images appeared in those mirrors that reflected what was happening from those nine high platforms. That was the mirror image of the nine major armor-making areas in Tianyan City, each was full of people, and everyone was extremely excited, and it was all reflected here by the mirrors.
At the same time, there seemed to be a strange aura that appeared in the sky above Tianyan City. Above the firmament, a mirror screen appeared as if hanging from the sky, in the middle of the void.
This mirror was suspended in the sky above Tianyan City. Anyone standing below it could immediately see everything that was happening inside the City Lord’s Office when they looked in that mirror. In that magnificent projection, they could see all the giant figures who were in attendance.
Whether it was in the City Lord’s Office of Tianyan city or outside on the nine major armorer competition platforms in the city, both inside and outside the City Lord’s Office could be seen clearly, so all could witness this grand event together.
In Tianyan City, the crowds were extremely ebullient as countless people talked and discussed those sitting on the high platform inside the City Lord’s Office, who they were, where they came from, how many giants had arrived, and who was who in the cultivation world.
The cultivators from the West Imperial Palace also arrived and were sitting inside the City Lord’s Office because they were invited. The Palace Lord of the West Imperial Palace and Xi Chiyao were present. Looking at the grand scene in front of them, Xi Chiyao’s beautiful eyes looked towards the main high seats as if she was searching for something. Or someone
Ye Futian, who was invited by Wang Teng into the City Lord’s Office, would he be here?
Sure enough, she found a man among the mighty throngs of cultivators within the City Lord’s Office.
There were not many cultivators from the main branch of the City Lord’s Office who were sitting at the main seats. Obviously, Wang Teng had a place. He took a group of people to sit in one direction while Ye Futian was sitting behind Wang Teng, extremely inconspicuous. If no one looked carefully, they would not be able to find him at all.
At this moment, he was wearing a silver mask, with his aura retracted. There was no sense of his existence that could be detected. But Xi Chiyao had already inquired about Silver Spear Changkong before, so she recognized him immediately.
However, Xi Chiyao only took a quick look before redirecting her attention so as not to make others noticed what she was looking at and cause unnecessary trouble to Ye Futian.
“Congratulations to Tianyan City for holding the Armorer Competition.” Outside, there were other top forces still coming, and the mirror screen above the sky was projected high above the sky.
“Who are these people?” someone asked.
“The Domain Chief’s Manor from Taichu Domain; they have just arrived,” someone replied.
“There are quite a few Domain Chief’s Manors that have come to attend.” Many were astounded by the sheer number of people they saw.
“I beg your pardon. We are a little late.” Another voice was heard as groups of cultivators poured into the City Lord’s Office, and those from the main branch of the Wang family in the City Lord’s Office of Tianyan greeted him personally.
“Chief Taishang is here as well. Hurry up and usher him in,” Tianyan City Lord said loudly, surprising many people. Even the Chief of Taishang Domain Chief’s Manor had come in person; this chief was known to be a mighty man.
None of them had ever attended the armorer competition.
It seemed that it was all because representatives from the Imperial Palace might also be attending the feast.
Distinguished guests continued to descend, and all of them were well-known figures. Tianyan City was boiling over because of the sheer excitement of it all.
At this moment, divine light descended from the firmament, blinding everyone’s eyes. Along with the descendants of the divine light, a group of people appeared above the City Lord’s Office, making countless people tremble.
Who dared to appear above Tianyan City’s City Lord’s Office like this? They could already guess it. Besides Donghuang Imperial Palace, who else dared to make such a bold entrance?
Indeed, in the sky above the City Lord’s Office, a beautiful figure wearing a phoenix robe was there, surrounded by a dazzling light. Who else could it be other than Princess Donghuang? The man next to her had superb comportment; it was as if he was a heavenly divine spear himself. This was none other than the direct disciple of Donghuang the Great, the divine general of the Imperial Palace, Spear Emperor himself, Du You.
At this moment, all the cultivators in the City Lord’s Office stood up and bowed slightly to the void. “Greetings to Your Royal Highness,” they said.
“Tianyan City is incredibly honored by Her Royal Highness’ presence here,” Tianyan City Lord said with a smile. Princess Donghuang looked down below and nodded slightly to everyone, “Today is the Tianyan City Armorer Competition; we are here at the City Lord’s invitation to take a look. Everyone, please, as you were.”
“Princess, please take a seat,” Tianyan City Lord said as he pointed next to him. There was a row of seats on equal setting with him, specially prepared for the guests from the Imperial Palace.
After all, today was the feast of Tianyan City. As part of the Ancient God Clan, the Tianyan City Lord was held in extremely high esteem in the Divine Prefecture in both status and position. He was not under the command of Donghuang the Great, so he didn’t need to display the subservience as a subordinate. As long as he paid enough respect to the representatives from the Imperial Palace, it would suffice.
Princess Donghuang nodded slightly, then her group of people moved towards the space below and settled on the seats prepared for them. Princess Donghuang sat in the middle, with Du You on one side and several other strong cultivators on the other side. All of them were surrounding her.
Behind the crowds, Ye Futian observed all this quietly. This kind of show of force was almost the same as the alliance that had gathered to encircle and suppress the Heavenly Mandate!