When the leader of the Nandou clan saw the serious look on Minister Zuo’s face, he could not help but ask, “How is it, Minister Zuo?”
“I have some questions. May I speak with her alone?” Minister Zuo asked.
The Nandou clan leader nodded and left them alone.
Minister Zuo looked at Hua Jieyu, a great beauty at the age of about 16, 17. She would not lose by too much in comparison with the goddess-like girl from Mount Tianyao days ago.
“Are you betrothed to anyone?” he asked her.
Hua Jieyu froze, then shook her head.
Minister Zuo was silent, seeming to be deep in thought, but then he saw Hua Jieyu looking at him intently. “Senior, the person you brought to the City of Qingzhou, is he back?”
“Huh?” Minister Zuo was confused. The person he brought to the City of Qingzhou?
“From Donghai Academy,” she explained. Minister Zuo stopped to think for a moment and then his eyes brighten in realization. In his mind, he thought of the words a certain young man said, “I already have a girlfriend and she’s more beautiful than you.”
“He’s already returned to the academy.” Minister Zuo smiled and nodded. She smiled as well, feeling the worry in her heart disappear.
“Brother Nandou!” Minister Zuo called out. The Nandou clan leader returned upon being summoned and looked at the two people in the room in confusion.
“Goodbye,” Minister Zuo said to the clan leader. Then, he turned with his hands joined to salute Hua Jieyu. This was not a gesture to a junior, but a gesture of respect and honor.
The Nandou clan leader was shocked and asked, “Minister Zuo, what does this mean?”
Minister Zuo just laughed loudly and with every step, he ascended in the sky. The head of the clan leader yelled out to him, “Minister Zuo!”
“The fate of an empress, the mother of the world!” Minister Zuo’s stern voiced traveled. The family head was frozen in place and watched Minister Zuo get further and further away.
The fate of an empress!
His mind was anything but calm. At that moment, he thought of many things. Hua Jieyu was naturally gifted, that was why he had wanted Minister Zuo to tell her fortune. The clan leader wanted to know if she was going to be able to restore the Nandou clan’s glory. But now, it seemed like she was destined for a different path—the road to become an empress.
Hua Jieyu was also shocked. She saw the family head looking at her, so she told him, “I don’t believe in fate and I also don’t want to become Empress. I’m going back to the academy.” When she finished, she turned and left.
…
When Ye Futian got back to Donghai Academy, he could feel something different in the atmosphere. Everyone was whispering and discussing amongst themselves. And once he stepped onto campus, this atmosphere became more obvious.
“Ye Futian is back,” said the students of the School of the Finance Star.
“He’s finally back,” said someone else. Many people seemed to have been anticipating Ye Futian’s return. They all looked so happy to see him. This type of treatment was something new to Ye Futian. While he walked to his destination, people were greeting him.
“Hey!” a beautiful girl called out to Ye Futian from the building of the Finance School above.
Ye Futian turned his attention to the graceful girl. He knew her. She had made a lasting impression on him. Afterall, she was the first female to tell him that he wasn’t a man. It was going to be difficult to forget someone like her.
“I have a name.” Ye Futian smiled.
She just stared at him and asked, “What level are you now?”
“Five-starred Glory Plane. You’re not trying to fight me again, are you?” Ye Futian was feeling uncertain. Were all girls crazy about fighting? One just left, now there was another.
“I won’t fight you. The ones you have to fight are the people of the Emperor Star school and the Treasury Star school,” the girl said. Ye Futian looked confused. More people came up to them.
“What happened?” Ye Futian asked. He had just returned and the atmosphere at the academy felt strange.
“Junior Brother Ye Futian, the Finance Star school hasn’t been doing too hot as of late,” said a young man.
“Why is that?” asked Ye Futian.
“Recently, the students of those two schools have been very arrogant. From time to time, they’ll pick fights with the students of other schools, and our school is the most pitiful because they seem to be picking on us in particular,” the young man explained.
“The students of the School of the Emperor Star and the School of the Treasury Star are stronger to begin with, so naturally the students of our school can’t compete with them,” said someone else. Ye Futian had gotten famous around Donghai Academy for fighting, so everyone from the Finance Star school was excited for him to be back.
Ye Futian frowned. Both of those schools had previously paid a visit to Yi Xiang to congratulate him on taking on a disciple, now they were joining hands to torment the School of the Finance Star. There was definitely a secret involved in all of this. What did the two elders of those schools talk about with Yi Xiang that day?
Ye Futian remembered that Yi Xiang came to reprimand him that day after their little chat. He seemed to be in a bad mood. Based on how things were going now, something definitely happened that day.
“Where’s Yu Sheng?” Ye Futian knew, with Yu Sheng’s bad temper, he would not have just stood by and watched all of this happen.
“It gets me angry just talking about what happened,” someone spoke. “Because of this situation, Junior Brother Yu Sheng went to block off the entrance of the School of the Treasury Star. He beat up a ton of people, but those shameless jerks had two eight-starred Glory Plane cultivators gang up on him. One of those guys is the second strongest Glory Plane cultivator in their whole school. As a five-starred Glory Plane cultivator, Junior Brother Yu Sheng battled to his best ability, but was defeated in the end.”
Ye Futian had a fairly good understanding of Yu Sheng’s powers. The three-level difference should not have been a problem, but his opponents were from the Treasury Star school; one of them was even known as the second strongest Glory Plane cultivator, so they were probably also naturally gifted to begin with. Yu Sheng was still not able to release his Life Spirit and show his true potential, so if they ganged up on him, it was understandable that he was defeated.
“Okay, I got it,” said Ye Futian. He then began to walk back to his dorm.
In the courtyard, Ye Futian could see Yu Sheng. He was topless, showing off his copper-toned skin, while Yi Qingxuan was applying medication to his wounds.
“You guys have already progressed to this stage while I was gone?” Ye Futian blinked his eyes in disbelief and approached the two. Yi Qingxuan blushed and glared at Ye Futian. “Stop joking around.”
“Good going, Yu Sheng. You got the nerve to go pick a fight at the School of the Treasury Star as a five-starred Glory Plane cultivator? Why don’t you go fight every student? You feel good about yourself?” Ye Futian stared at Yu Sheng. “How are your injuries?”
“Nothing too bad. I’ll be better in a couple of days. It’s Yi Qingxuan who insisted on applying medication,” said Yu Sheng, holding back a smile.
“Doesn’t this kind of treatment make you want to go get hurt again?” Ye Futian laughed. Yi Qingxuan rolled her eyes at his comment. “If you want to get hurt, then go alone.”
“You’re so protective of him already?” Ye Futian was speechless. Then, he asked her, “Yi Qingxuan, what the hell is going on with the schools of the Emperor Star and Treasury Star?”
She turned serious at his question. “I heard from Father that they’re getting greedier for power and want to change the way the seven schools are run at Donghai Academy.”
“How do they plan on doing that?” He squinted his eyes in confusion.
“They want to be the top powers of Donghai Academy and for the seven schools to be joined together,” said Yi Qingxuan.
“So, that’s why they’re sending their students out to pick fights?” asked Ye Futian.
“Yeah, I think it’s their way of making their wishes clear to the academy,” nodded Yi Qingxuan. “Their two schools have always been the strongest of the seven, and so most of the best students are gathered in those schools. Right now, there aren’t many students from the other schools who can defeat them.”
Ye Futian nodded his head and turned to leave. “I’m going out for a while.”
“Where are you going?” asked Yi Qingxuan. Ye Futian had just returned, where could he be off to again?
“I’m being a third-wheel here, don’t want to disturb your time together,” said Ye Futian. He waved and continued, “I’m going to go see my girlfriend.”
Yi Qingxuan laughed. This guy was always joking around.
Ye Futian headed to the School of the Emperor Star. When he left, he told Hua Jieyu that he would be back soon, but now, it had already been a couple of months. She must be worried sick.
He walked up all the stairs to reach the School of the Emperor Star all the way at the top. The students there began to discuss amongst each other as soon as they saw Ye Futian at their school.
“What was he doing here now after leaving with Minister Zuo months ago?” someone asked.
“I don’t know. His powers are really strong. He was even able to defeat the disciple of Minister Zuo, but he still can’t compare to our school’s genius, Zhou Mu. I heard Zhou Mu has already gotten to the six-starred Glory Plane. If Ye Futian and Zhou Mu met then Ye Futian would be done for,” Someone remarked.
Ye Futian ignored all these comments. He was going to get revenge on the two schools later. Right now, his priority was to go see Hua Jieyu.
He continued on his way up, and what was weird was, he actually ran into Zhou Mu.
Zhou Mu looked at Ye Futian coldly. Next to him, was another young man.
“Ye Futian, it seems like you’ve come to a place you have no business being in,” said Zhou Mu in a cold demeanor.
“I’m here to see the Grandmaster.” Ye Futian smiled in return.
“So, what? The School of the Emperor Star is not a place that you can come and go as you please,” Zhou Mu sneered.
Ye Futian looked at Zhou Mu, he did not want to waste his breath with him. Ye Futian tried to walk past him, but the young man standing next to Zhou Mu shifted to the side to prevent Ye Futian from moving forward. The young man laughed, “I’ve heard many good things about you, Junior Brother Ye Futian, but I never imagined you to be so rude.”
Ye Futian stared at him and was on his way again. His clothes blew in the wind, his aura domineering.
The young man smiled weakly and the look in his eyes made a drastic change. The next moment, Ye Futian felt like he could not control his own spirit and was in pain. He stood in place and lifted his head. He stared at the young man next to Zhou Mu.
“Emperor Star disciple, Zhuo Qing.” the young man introduced himself. “Although Junior Brother Ye Futian’s natural gifts are impressive, you should know that not everyone in Donghai Academy is like Jing Yang. I’m sure you’ve had a taste of Junior Brother Zhou Mu’s powers at the Luo Palace. There are multiple students like Zhou Mu at the Emperor Star school, so if you continue to be so arrogant, you’ll be the only one at a disadvantage.”
Zhuo Mu spoke with pride and he had the right to be. As a nine-starred Glory Plane cultivator, he was the most powerful person of the Glory Plane in the whole Emperor Star school. Some people even call him the number one sorcerer of Donghai Academy. His natural gifts were unbeatable.
“You’re right,” Ye Futian said with a smile. As he turned to leave, he spoke again, “I hope the students of the School of the Emperor Star are truly as powerful as you said.”
Ye Futian was in such a rush to get to the school because he was afraid Hua Jieyu was worried about him, but since he was stopped on the way, then he could only use a different way to let her know he was back.