Chapter 2626: A Powerful Ally
A beam of Divine Light of Space suddenly lit up in the Heavenly Mandate Academy. A silhouette appeared in the spatial matrix. The person was none other than Ye Futian.
Behind him were his four disciples.
Some of the members gathered around the matrix. When they saw Ye Futian, they immediately bowed and greeted him, "Palace Lord."
Currently, the Heavenly Mandate Academy was under the jurisdiction of Ziwei Imperial Palace, where Ye Futian was the Palace Lord. Everyone was well aware of this.
Ye Futian nodded in response. Chen Yi also came close to them.
"Everyone, please go on with your own business. I'm here to settle some matters," said Ye Futian to the crowd. The members were somewhat reluctant to leave. Right now, Ye Futian was crowned Deity Ye in the Heavenly Mandate Realm. He was not someone they could meet whenever they wished.
Ye Futian was more like a legend in the Heavenly Mandate Realm.
"What matters do you have here?" Chen Yi asked. He stood in place of Gu Dongliu as the person in charge of the realm. Everything seemed fine to him.
"It's not related to the Heavenly Mandate Realm. I am going on a trip. Please join me," Ye Futian replied.
"All right." Chen Yi nodded. Then, he followed Ye Futian out. The other four disciples joined them too.
"Where is Palace Lord going?" someone asked curiously.
"I don't know. But I suppose that no place in the current Heavenly Mandate Realm is worthy of him visiting," someone replied.
There was another vast continent beside the Heavenly Mandate Realm. The cultivators who resided on this continent kept in touch with people from the Original Realm. In the past, the force that governed this continent formed an alliance with the Heavenly Mandate Realm by chance, and they moved their continent here. Time passed, and things had changed, but they had not thought of migrating to another location.
This was the Shenyi Continent.
The Lost Clan resided here.
Now, the Lost Clan had freed themselves from the nightmare of wandering in the void space endlessly. They were living at a much more relaxing pace now. Even though there was turmoil in the Original Realm, the Lost Clan was never affected. It was because they were an ancient power, to begin with. Besides that, they were also compelling.
In the past, the Lost Clan once faced the invasion of giant-level forces from various worlds.
In terms of combat ability, if the Ancient God Clans did not rely on the will of the Great Emperors in battle, the Lost Clan would have triumphed over all of them.
There were quite a few giant-level figures among the Lost Clan.
Ye Futian had once again come to the Shenyi Continent to meet the Lost Clan.
The cultivators of the Lost Clan all knew Ye Futian. When they saw his arrival, they all looked at him. Soon, a familiar figure appeared in front of Ye Futian and his group. The person was none other than Sikong Nan, the Chief Elder of the Lost Clan.
"Senior Sikong," greeted Ye Futian while bowing.
"Deity Ye, you're being too polite," Sikong Nan responded with a smile.
"What kind of title is that?" Ye Futian laughed while shaking his head.
"Are you not aware of this title? Now, everyone in the Heavenly Mandate Realm addresses you like this." Sikong Nan stared at Ye Futian. Obviously, he knew that Ye Futian was the god of the Heavenly Mandate Realm now.
Ye Futian smiled and continued, "Senior Sikong, you seem to have known that I would come to pay you a visit?"
Sikong Nan was not at all surprised when he saw Ye Futian.
"Right now, you are the ruler of the Original Realm. Isn't it expected that you will visit the Lost Clan?" Sikong Nan responded. The two parties were allies, to begin with.
Sikong Nan offered, "Come. I have asked my men to prepare a feast. Let's continue our conversation over at the banquet table."
"Sure." Ye Futian nodded in agreement.
Sikong Nan led the way, and they arrived at the place where the banquet was. Ye Futian and his group were guided to their seats. A few cultivators from the Lost Clan joined their company too.
"I never imagined that after so many years, the Shenyi Continent has never migrated elsewhere," Ye Futian told Sikong Nan as they sat down. The Lost Clan was situated on a floating landmass. They had absolute control over the Shenyi Continent and could choose to migrate far away at any given time.
Yet the Lost Clan had not done so. They had stayed beside the Heavenly Mandate Realm all this while.
"Although the Original Realm is a land of conflict, it is similarly away from the conflict. It is quite nice here," replied Sikong Nan. After the storm back then, no one dared to target the Lost Clan.
The Lost Clan also kept a low profile. Even though their ability was very powerful, they never placed themselves under the spotlight or fought for fateful encounters with other top forces. Therefore, they were able to keep themselves safe.
"Do you have any thoughts about the future of the clan?" Ye Futian asked.
"Palace Lord Ye, you want us to join Ziwei Imperial Palace, right?" Sikong Nan asked with a smile.
"Not join us, but form an alliance with us, just like before," Ye Futian coaxed. "The Lost Clan has not encountered any trouble all these years, but you have experienced firsthand the storm in the past. Now, war has erupted among the few major worlds. No one knows when the Original Realm will be caught up in it too. Or perhaps one day, one of the emperor-level forces might remember the Lost Clan and intend to annex you. After all, the current Original Realm is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Divine Prefecture."
Ye Futian's prediction was harsh, but it was the truth.
"The Divine Prefecture invited us to migrate there too, but we turned them down," Sikong Nan said. In the past, to save the Lost Clan from the besiegement of all the various forces, Donghuang Diyuan had personally visited the Lost Clan and announced that the latter was under the jurisdiction of the Divine Prefecture.
"In the past, the Original Realm was under the Divine Prefecture. However, things have changed now. If you join the Divine Prefecture, you will most likely lose control over a lot of things," Ye Futian said. "Now, the Ziwei Segmentum has built up a little heritage, and the Original Realm is no longer under the control of the Divine Prefecture. Senior, can you please consider allying with us again? Firstly, our alliance will allow us to take care of each other. We will be able to improve together. Secondly, after the Shenyi Continent is migrated into the Ziwei Segmentum, no forces from the Outer Realms will be able to pose a threat to you."
"Palace Lord Ye, are you trying to make the Lost Clan pledge allegiance to you?" Sikong Nan questioned.
"I'm not asking you to pledge allegiance to me; I am proposing a collaboration here. We will be allies," Ye Futian emphasized. "Our collaboration went well last time, but it's a pity that we stopped being allies due to what happened after. Now, everything has settled down. The Divine Prefecture and the other forces initiated the world war. However, the Original Realm is still peaceful, and you will find great development opportunities here. It's a win-win situation for the Lost Clan and the Ziwei Segmentum to ally. You're concerned that I will annex the Lost Clan, but I have never thought of such a thing. After so many years, I'm sure that Chief Elder is well-aware of my personality."
Ye Futian continued, "If Chief Elder is worried, you don't have to move the continent into the Ziwei Segmentum. We can keep things the same and visit each other through the space teleportation grand matrix. In the future, if trouble arises, only then do you need to move the continent into the segmentum. That will hopefully spare you from some future trouble."
Sikong Nan nodded and replied, "I naturally trust Deity Ye and am willing to ally with the Ziwei Segmentum. However, the Lost Clan has pledged our loyalty to Princess Donghuang of the Divine Prefecture. If we allied with you now, wouldn't we be betraying the princess? If the Divine Prefecture wants to settle the score with us, we will be in trouble."
Ye Futian responded confidently, "You were forced to do so in the past. It was never your intention to pledge your loyalty to her. Back then, the Original Realm was under the Divine Prefecture. Therefore, it was an acquiescence that all the forces in the Original Realm would be under the Divine Prefecture. It did not mean that the Lost Clan was under the subjugation of the Imperial Palace. There are many powerful forces in the Divine Prefecture that are not under the command of the Imperial Palace. Now, even the Original Realm is no longer obeying the command of the Divine Prefecture. Since the Lost Clan is in the Original Realm, naturally, you are also no longer under the command of the Divine Prefecture. In principle, you are an independent force. It's your freedom to ally with whoever you fancy anyway. To say the least, even if the Imperial Palace is unhappy with our alliance, Donghuang the Great will never attack us personally. Without him being involved, with the collaboration of the Ziwei Segmentum and the Lost Clan, nobody is a match for us when we are in the segmentum."
Sikong Nan had also heard of Ye Futian's glorious battle record. As long as the Great Emperor stayed out of the war, nobody could invade the Ziwei Segmentum.
The Shenyi Continent would indeed be very safe if they formed an alliance with the Ziwei Segmentum. It would be safer than them staying alone here.
"The world has changed greatly. Various emperor-level forces are engaged in war now. The Original Realm is temporarily safe and is not involved in any dispute, but no one knows what the future holds," Ye Futian pressed on. "Aside from being safe, the Ziwei Segmentum also has the best environment for cultivation. Moreover, we have seized control of the bases of the six major Ancient God Clans in the Original Realms. All those bases own secret zones for cultivation too. We are willing to provide all of that to the Lost Clan for cultivation so that you will be further strengthened."
Ye Futian introduced, "Here are my disciples and the Protector of Ziwei Imperial Palace. Two of them have undergone the Divine Tribulation of the Great Path. The other three disciples are currently at the peak of the Renhuang Plane, and they are good in combat too. Many other cultivators are equally powerful as them in Ziwei Imperial Palace."
Sikong Nan praised, "Regardless of you or your men, all of you have improved at an astonishing speed."
"By now, Senior Sikong should understand my purpose here today. I am inviting the Lost Clan to ally with us. After all, we were allies in the past. It was just that we were forced to break up. I have also cultivated the teachings of the Lost Clan, so I have a deep sense of connection with you," Ye Futian said convincingly. "I have said all I wanted to say so that I will stop here. I will let Senior decide on your own. It's alright, even if the Lost Clan rejects my offer. We are still friends. I will take my leave now."
As Ye Futian said this, he stood up and bid Sikong Nan farewell.
"Palace Lord Ye, please allow me to first discuss this matter with the others," Sikong Nan said. "I can't make this decision alone."
"Alright." Ye Futian nodded. Then, he sat down while Sikong Nan left the banquet.
After a moment, Sikong Nan returned to the banquet. A few elders accompanied him. They all looked at Ye Futian as Sikong Nan announced, "The Shenyi Continent has decided to migrate into the Ziwei Segmentum."
Ye Futian was quite thrilled when he heard this announcement. However, on the surface, he calmly smiled and appeared nonchalant. He nodded and responded, "The Ziwei Segmentum is honored to be able to continue being an ally of the Lost Clan."
"Palace Lord Ye, you spoke too humbly. There are many things we will need to rely on you for in the future," Sikong Nan said.
"Alright. I will settle everything on the Ziwei Segmentum's side," Ye Futian said while nodding. He was extremely excited. He was certainly in ecstasy to be able to dupe such a powerful ancient clan into the Ziwei Segmentum.
With the Lost Clan around, even if Ye Futian were not in the Ziwei Segmentum in the future, Ziwei Imperial Palace would be safe in most instances!