Chapter 132: Tit for Tat
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After Emperor Luo spoke, people walked onto the nine battle platforms to organize the matters of the banquet. The Tingfeng Banquet was different from the Fenghua Banquet. The nine battle platforms would have fights at the same time. Because it was only held once per decade, the requirements of the Tingfeng Banquet were looser. Divided by plane, each of the eight planes from the five Glory planes and three Dharma ranks had a battle platform. They could only fight within the plane to find the strongest of each plane.
The center platform was for those of even higher planes. Those under 25 years of age and higher than the Third-level Dharma rank could go there to display their radiance. This way, the age range was ten years from 16 to 25. The Tingfeng Banquet was held once every ten years so all the talents created during that time could have this opportunity. The rules were simple and straightforward. It wasn’t as efficient as the Fenghua Banquet but it was easier to see what level the talents were at.
Ye Futian sat quietly in the stands. He obviously wouldn’t demand anything from Emperor Luo right outside the Nandou Palace. In fact, he hadn’t even looked at Emperor Luo. The emperor and crown prince hadn’t looked at him either. Both parties had forgotten about the Donghai City event in mutual agreement. No one would bring it up. Today was the Tingfeng Banquet and Ye Futian was a guest who had come with Emperor Ye.
Seeing the people walk to and fro, and the endless crowds before the nine battle platforms, Ye Futian realized that the Tingfeng Banquet was on a much larger scale than the Fenghua Banquet. It spanned ten years and he was sure there were many monstrously talented people born in those years. However, this didn’t make him feel anything. Monstrous? So what?
Battles erupted on the platforms and the atmosphere rose instantly. Countless eyes stared at the nine platforms. The young talents’ eyes all burned with competitiveness. They were ready to go up and perform at any time.
“Emperor Ye, how do you think our Tingfeng Banquet is compared to your Fenghua Banquet?” Emperor Luo gazed over at Emperor Ye and smiled while asking.
“It’s much larger and there are more participants; however, the efficiency is too low. The final winner, the pride of the kingdom, might not be comparable to my Fenghua Banquet,” Emperor Ye said, smiling.
“You are confident.” Emperor Luo laughed. “Nandou nation’s Tingfeng Banquet is held once per decade. You think that the talents from a decade can’t be compared to the three years of your kingdom?”
“You must understand that the top talents can’t be discussed with time as the basis. Regardless of Nandou or Cangye, how many years must pass before there is a Noble Plane cultivator?” Emperor Ye said calmly. The emperors of the four nations all nodded at that. Someone of the Noble Plane could become an emperor and was difficult to come by. Those who had a noble talent were too rare. In addition, it wasn’t enough to only have the talent. Too many talents died before they matured. They also needed to have a noble fate.
This type of person had definitely appeared in the four nations’ hundreds of years of history. It wasn’t just one person either. However, the emperors might not be able to discover and use them.
“Emperor Luo, your fate isn’t enough.” Emperor Ye smiled while Emperor Luo’s eyes flashed. There was a hidden meaning behind these words. Since Emperor Ye had adopted Hua Jieyu, this meant he would protect Ye Futian. Naturally, he knew many things.
There was someone with a noble talent had appeared in Nandou—more than one, in fact. Minister Zuo had personally tested his fate. Since he was fated to be emperor, he would definitely have the talent of a noble. It was undeniable that one must be a noble to become emperor. Unfortunately, this person with the aura of an emperor had fallen for Hua Jieyu, the descendant of the former Nandou royalty. Their fates were possibly emperor and empress. This way, even if they had the noble talent, Emperor Luo couldn’t use them for himself or keep them. If Hua Jieyu had agreed to become crown princess, her fate could be used for Luo Junlin but it was just a pity now.
“Oh?” Emperor Luo smiled thinly. “The noble talent is rare but it appears occasionally. Most die during the process of strengthening though. How many can truly become a noble?” There was murderous intent in those words.
“Emperor Luo is right,” Emperor Ye said. “I heard that your crown prince, Luo Junlin, is also believed to have the noble talent, right? I wonder if he’ll have to chance to grow into someone of the Noble Plane.” He smiled. Their conversation was tit-for-tat.
Emperor Luo had said that someone with the noble talent could also die, hinting that he wanted to kill Ye Futian. Emperor Ye had counterattacked. Luo Junlin also had the noble talent. Would he die as well? In actuality, he was warning Emperor Luo, try and harm my people.
Emperor Luo’s lips curled into a sneer sharper than a blade.
Ye Futian naturally overheard their conversation. There were hidden meanings behind their words. He understood that Emperor Ye would protect him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been brought here.
“Are you two speaking in riddles?” the emperor of the Yunchu Nation said. They seemed to be fighting with their words but he didn’t understand.
The nations all paid attention to the important events of their neighbors, such as the Tingfeng Banquet and Fenghua Banquet. They would also know who the most brilliant figures of the Fenghua Banquet were. However, Donghai City was just a small city of Nandou Nation. They wouldn’t pay much attention to it. Especially for emperors, they didn’t have the time to care about that. It was already a feat if they glanced at the names of the talents at the Fenghua Banquet.
In the world of the cultivators, the most important thing for an emperor was just cultivating and becoming stronger. Therefore, the emperor of the Yunchu Nation only slightly understood their conversation. He guessed that it had something to do with the Fenghua Banquet participant who called himself the talent of the Nandou Nation.
“The Yunchu Nation also brought some younger talents this time. There were some very talented people earlier from Cangye Kingdom’s Fenghua Banquet. If there’s a chance, you all can mingle,” Emperor Luo said with a smile.
The Yunchu Nation emperor also smiled. He glanced at the talents of his nation and asked, “Did you hear that?”
They smiled and looked over at Ye Futian and Ye Wuchen’s group. One of them, dressed in glamorous clothing, asked, “I heard some news from the Fenghua Banquet. Apparently, the winner is from the Seven-star Glory Plane. It’s quite interesting.”
“A Seven-star Glory Plane genius who defeated the Dharma rank might really have a superpower,” someone joked.
“Then what kind of Dharma cultivator can be defeated?”
“Apparently he entered the Fenghua Rank too.”
As the Yunchu Nation talents chatted, Yu Jiang and Bai Qiu’s faces darkened. They obviously understood the jabs in those words.
“Naturally, it’s a Dharma cultivator who can defeat you,” a voice said indifferently. Unlike the Yunchu youths who had hidden meanings, he responded straightforwardly. The speaker was Ye Wuchen. He acted just as he fought—he didn’t often make actions but they always hit their mark.
“Really? I hope I’ll have to chance to experience it,” the Yunchu youth said with a smile. He wasn’t angered. As the pride of their kingdoms, they were rivals. Some remarks couldn’t affect his mood.
“I’ll take you all around the Imperial City after today’s event. Now, let us watch quietly,” Crown Prince Luo Junlin said. Many looked over at him. He was popular. He was known as the future emperor of the Nandou Nation at such a young age and no one could move him. One must enter the Noble Plane to become the emperor. Therefore, Luo Junlin was a future Noble cultivator.
“I’m sure today’s Tingfeng Banquet will be boring,” a youth from the Yan Kingdom said. He wasn’t very excited. The Tingfeng Banquet had such a large scale and all the talents would come to battle. Many were just here for fun and to test their skills; they were easily defeated. Occasionally, someone would be eye-catching but it wasn’t enough. Unless the genius talents were chosen today, the current battles were uninteresting to them.
“Really? What do you think about that one?” Luo Junlin smiled and pointed at a battle platform. It was where the Seven-star Glory Plane cultivators were. At the moment, there was a battle. A very young talent stood there, having won many rounds continuously. He was skilled in matrices. He could create one per step and use these arrays to fight without using up any time.
He’d been fighting and continuously defeated strong cultivators from everywhere. No one was his match. In fact, they were defeated instantly. The matrices he carved could collect Spiritual Qi from every element and transform into an impossibly strong spell. The power was horrible.
“I’m afraid no one in the Glory Plane can defeat him,” Minister Hua said. This must be Yun Tianhao, the talent that Yan Shao had told him to keep note of. Yan Shao had said that his life spirit was the matrix. He could use full-elemental Spiritual Qi to carve matrices and had limitless potential. If he had a good teacher, he could wow the world.
Ye Futian also gazed at the battle platform. He was shocked when he saw the youth because he knew him. It was the one Ye Futian had fought with when the Heiyan Academy came to challenge the Qingzhou Academy. He’d used tactics of the Inscriber to defeat others.
Compared to then, Yun Tianhao was much more mature now. He won many more rounds before stopping. His gaze moved to the emperor’s stand. Ye Futian realized that Yun Tianhao was looking at him. It seemed that Yun Tianhao still hadn’t moved on from that fight.
Ye Futian smiled and watched Yun Tianhao walk toward somewhere in the crowd. Following his direction, Ye Futian saw Yan Shao and the strong cultivators of Donghai Academy. He even saw Lin Xiyue, looking at him with her pretty eyes.
The Donghai Academy! Ye Futian’s eyes scanned Yan Shao and they flashed coldly. The place he had once cultivated at was very memorable.