Zhuo Jun’s face was ashen. Ye Futian had voiced his exact sentiments.
Ye Futian had only been able to assist Zhuo Jun in battle back when they were at the base of Mount Jiuxian. He had only been a negligible cultivator in the seventh level of the Arcana plane then. Yet everything had suddenly changed once he had come to the Divine Road. He now held great influence and had countless followers.
With the insane rate at which he opened up relics and how everyone was following his every move, it felt as though Ye Futian had become someone who was way above them. This made him and the rest feel like nobodies. But what made them truly furious was how there was absolutely no special treatment reserved for them. They offered up their holy badges like everyone else and received the same understandings of the relic as any other outsider.
As such, Zhuo Jun had instigated Li Xun, the Young City Lord, to take action of some sort. Li Xun evidently shared his same negative sentiments, and after they saw Ning Huang send someone to talk to Ye Futian, they had secretly gotten in contact with that underling and agreed to work under Ning Huang.
But when his blow landed on Ye Futian, he had realized that Ye Futian didn’t seem to match up to what he thought of him. At the very least, Ye Futian was physically a lot stronger than him. He had stood there and allowed Zhuo Jun to attack him however he liked, but Zhuo Jun hadn’t been able to make him move, much less break through his defenses. Zhuo Jun could not comprehend just what kind of body Ye Futian had. With Zhuo Jun’s power, his attacks should be able to do more even if he was up against a grade nine Noble.
Ye Futian’s body was frighteningly strong. He specialized in body refinement techniques, and after he was attacked by a Sage of the Blazing Sun School previously, he had reconstructed his muscles and bones and made them even stronger with the help of the divine light and his Life Spirit. As such, his body was even stronger than before. With his current body, he would not be shaken by any attack from a person below the Noble plane.
Zhuo Jun thought very highly of himself. But he had never been so bothered by a person before.
Reaching out, Ye Futian grabbed Zhuo Jun by the throat before he could react and retreat. Zhuo Jun looked defeated as he stared at Ye Futian.
“You think I owe you, but have you ever thought about just what you have done for me?” A touch of disgusted disdain descended upon Ye Futian’s gaze as he looked at Zhuo Jun. Ye Futian had taken Zhuo Jun with him as he opened up numerous relics. Yet Zhuo Jun had eventually harbored resentment and hatred for him just because Ye Futian had not shown him any preferential treatment. It was apparent that pathetic people always had a detestable side to them.
Ye Futian gripped slightly harder, and a soft crack was heard before Zhuo Jun’s eyes rolled up into his head and he grew lifeless. Zhuo Jun had never even imagined that he would die so pitifully. It was as though he was a mere ant that had been stepped on.
Ye Futian released Zhuo Jun, and his lifeless body fell to the ground. Li Xun did not feel any grief at the sight of Zhuo Jun’s body. He was only surprised at how powerful Ye Futian was. He had known that Ye Futian was extraordinarily talented, but he was only at the seventh level of the Arcana plane still. Zhuo Jun was at the peak of the Arcana plane and yet he had died so pathetically, as though he had gone up against a noble instead.
Many people in White Sovereign City were surprised at Ye Futian’s might. And it wasn’t just Ye Futian either. They marveled at how even the older senior brother, the fatty, was also incredibly powerful, so much so that he could face Mo Jun in battle.
Then, a sound was heard from the sky. It was evident that the cultivators in the palace had been alerted to the huge battle going on here. The people Mo Jun had brought and Li Xun’s underlings launched a simultaneous attack on Ye Futian. They obviously understood that they could not afford to delay any longer. They previously thought that it would be as easy as pie to take down Ye Futian with a trap. After all, they had Mo Jun with them. But even the powerful Mo Jun had been held up by Yi Xiaoshi.
In a dazzling flurry of light, the Divine Destruction Polearm appeared in Ye Futian’s hand. In an instant, brilliant starlight shot out in all directions and a frightening starry storm appeared in the surroundings. Meteorites spun about wildly around Ye Futian, and his body seemed to be made out of the stars themselves. This was the Immortal Celestial Bodies technique.
As the spell descended upon the space, everyone was kept from advancing. It would not be easy for these people to take Ye Futian down quickly. With a swing of the Divine Destruction Polearm, Ye Futian struck at a noble that was charging at him. The noble was at grade eight of the Noble plane, and when he raised his arm, it was as if a Gold Roc was striking, quick as lightning. But as the Divine Destruction Polearm descended upon him, he felt an incomparably immense power rush towards him.
With a loud boom, his arm was struck numb by the blow. At the same time, an invisible weight pressed down upon him, as though he were carrying an entire mountain on his back. Ye Futian then leaped through the air towards him. With a swooping attack, the noble’s arm was shattered and his head smashed in with another loud boom.
Everyone was shocked, and Li Xun’s expression was that of bewildered surprise. Ye Futian was so strong he could kill a grade eight noble. The ritual implement elicited feelings of fright in those who saw it.
Powerful figures from all across the place—the disciples of the Starry School, Qin Yin and the rest of his group, as well as Xiao Junyi and Yang Xiao who had been tasked with guarding Ye Futian—had now reached where Ye Futian was. Upon arriving at the scene, they attacked directly, filling the space with frightening energy as they struck without hesitation
“Retreat,” Mo Jun ordered, making a snap judgment based on the new situation. He had no desire to battle. While Yi Xiaoshi’s plane was lower than his, he was still hard to get rid of. It was difficult to defeat him quickly. Furthermore, the rest of his people would not be able to take down Ye Futian in an instant. The other parties were now gathering in a counterattack. If they were to continue fighting, many may not be able to return.
Yi Xiaoshi looked at him. Green and gold rays of light began to intertwine. It was as if millions of arms were spiraling towards Mo Jun at the same time. Each branch, leaf, and vine was like a sharp, invincible blade.
Mo Jun’s eyes swept coldly over Yi Xiaoshi. The endless dazzle of lightning emanated from his being, and it seemed as though doomsday had come. Frightening spears of darkness shot out with the lightning in a lethal attack on Yi Xiaoshi and came into contact with Yi Xiaoshi’s own attack.
Mo Jun was not eager to get caught up in battle. Upon seeing those who had just arrived attack people on his side, a radiant image appeared behind him. Within the image was a mighty figure driving a carriage of lightning drawn by frightening dark Kui. Light exploded from the image and the dark Kui burst out, pulling the carriage along as it charged around. The carriage was unstoppable, and everyone was forced back, with those who got too close getting injured from being hit.
The person on the carriage leaped through the air to Mo Jun’s side. In a flash of lightning that hid them from everyone else, the two rose into the sky at an incredible speed. They had instantly left the battlefield and were in the skies.
“What a mighty Dharma spirit,” many people marveled as they looked at Mo Jun, who was high up in the sky. Mo Jun was a freakishly powerful figure of the Divine Road, and his abilities were incomparable.
Mo Jun had two Life Spirits, which merged to form the powerful Dharma Spirit that had just appeared. Mo Jun was incomparably powerful, and he had snuck into the palace undetected to attack Ye Futian. Yet he had still failed.
It seemed like Yi Xiaoshi had gotten in Mo Jun’s way. Perhaps everyone had misjudged the fatty. He was actually powerful beyond measure.
“Li Xun.” Qin Yin and the rest understood just what had happened upon seeing Li Xun in the air. Their expressions turned dark at the realization.
Li Xun had betrayed them and joined forces with outsiders to target Ye Futian. Since Mo Jun was an underling of Ning Huang’s, it was only presumable that Li Xun had switched allegiance to Ning Huang.
“A good reputation?” Zui Qianchou shook his head smiling sardonically. Li Xun had only been putting up a front. Looking at Li Qingyi, who was being held captive by Li Xun, he sighed to himself that it was such a waste that a good young lady like her was going to be dragged down with Li Xun.
“Ye Futian, you can’t always just do whatever you want without thinking about what’s usually done, why set yourself up for failure?” Li Xun spoke from where he was in the sky.
“Without thinking about what’s usually done?” Ye Futian shot Li Xun a glare. “It’s not like you know how to behave properly.”
Ye Futian ignored Li Xun after that. Turning away, he walked towards the outskirts of the palace.
“What is he going to do?” Many people’s gazes turned to Ye Futian before they too started to follow after him.
“Could he be…” There was a subtle sense of excitement in the air. Ye Futian had already collected enough holy badges. Was he going to open up the large relic?
A flash of excitement shot through Mo Jun’s eyes, and he moved from where he was high up in the sky to chase after Ye Futian as well. Behind them, everyone both inside and outside of the palace was alerted to the happenings and followed the crowd too.
In no time, a frightening gathering of people was formed. Leaving the palace to walk through Flaming Prison City, Ye Futian was followed by a procession of countless powerful individuals. It was an intimidating sight to see.
In the skies far away from where they were, rays of light were shooting towards them. The air warship was the first to arrive where Ye Futian and the rest were. It was Bing Yi and Chu Shang from the Mortal World, who had followed after Ye Futian’s group in the sky on the air warship.
Then, Yan Jiu from the Sword Saint Villa arrived. Following him, Xia Hou, people from the Nantian House, disciples of the Duantian mountain range and various other powerful individuals began to arrive as well. They all looked at Ye Futian.
“Isn’t it a little inappropriate for Mo Jun and Ning Huang to act on their own?” Gu Feiyang from the Duantian mountain range commented, his voice loud and clear. It was clear that Ning Huang wanted to snatch the holy badges for himself ahead of time and disappear with them.
“Do you have a problem with that?” A blinding light dazzled from afar, and Ning Huang came from afar, followed by countless people.
Ning Huang glanced down. He had not expected Mo Jun to fail. It seemed like the other party had been somewhat prepared. However, the ending to these events would still remain the same.
If Li Xun had not voluntarily come to him at the start, then Ning Huang would not have bothered with such tricks. A direct attack to snatch the holy badges by force would have sufficed for him. Ning Huang didn’t see the need for such troublesome tactics. But since Li Xun wanted to offer him the holy badges, Ning Huang just went along with it.
Now, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to make a move. Ye Futian had collected sufficient holy badges and was ready to open up the large relic. The only thing was, it seemed like Ye Futian was still intent on holding on to the holy badges himself.
“Give me the holy badges, and we’ll forget about everything that happened in the past. I guarantee you’ll be safe,” Ning Huang looked down at Ye Futian and made an offer. He didn’t mind that Ye Futian had rejected him before. As long as Ning Huang got his hands on the holy badges, he was perfectly happy to pretend as though nothing had happened before.
Ye Futian threw Ning Huang a glance. Ning Huang was insufferably arrogant. He was the one who had sent people to attack him, and yet now he was offering to “forget about everything that had happened” if Ye Futian gave him the holy badges. Just who was the one who had tried to pull off an underhanded attack on Ye Futian?
Ning Huang had sent people to kill Ye Futian, and yet now he would only “forget about everything” if Ye Futian handed over the holy badges. If one were to try to apply this logic elsewhere, they’d be met with sneers. But now no one thought there was anything amiss about the statement, just because Ning Huang had been the one to say it. Ning Huang made it sound as though he was giving Ye Futian a chance.
Ye Futian continued walking ahead, ignoring Ning Huang. Though there were countless people following after Ye Futian, the atmosphere was very tense. Everyone present in the sky was insanely powerful individuals. Within the Barren State, these people were the best of their generation in various aspects, and any one of them could potentially be iconic figures in the future. These people were sure to enter the Holy Zhi Palace.
And at this very moment, everyone was staring at Ye Futian, preparing to attack!