As Ye Futian spoke, many onlookers were shocked. How arrogant did this guy have to be to "only ask" the Divine Destruction Polearm are you leaving or not?
Who did he think he was?
The Divine Destruction Polearm was an instrument of the saints that was passed down through the generations. It was with the possession of the Polearm that the chief of Zhaixing House could claim that they, and not the Starry School, were the true inheritors of the Divine Path.
For generations, the Top Three Schools, especially the Starry School have always had their eye on the Divine Destruction Polearm. But they had never succeeded in their attempts to claim the ritual implement. That was before Ye Futian came.
The chief stared at Ye Futian, his expression luminous as the stars. The young man had thrown a question at the ritual implement: Was it going to leave with him or not?
"The Divine Destruction Polearm belongs to the Zhaixing House, do you think you'll be able to take it away so easily?" The chief spoke coldly. What did it matter if Ye Futian was incredibly talented?
Ye Futian seemed to not hear him. Streaks of divine light rushed into the ritual implement and resonated within. The moment he lifted the ritual implement, he realized that he had fallen into the chief's trap. With his current abilities and plane, he wasn't able to take the ritual implement away even if it was just sitting there before it. The ritual implement had a will of its own, and if it didn't choose to leave with him, he would never be able to take it away.
As such, he attempted to communicate through the divine light. If this ritual implement was really passed down from the saints, then it should be able to sense the will of the saints. Should the ritual implement still refuse to go with Ye Futian after that, then he would accept that it was just not meant to be and stop forcing things.
Suddenly, the Divine Destruction Polearm began rumbling violently, causing the starry storm to intensify as well.
"What's going on?" Everyone was spooked as they sensed the rumblings from the starry dimension. Dazzling light shot out in all directions from the top of the Divine Destruction Polearm as it began to shake violently.
The chief's expression changed and he stared sharply at the sky.
All the starlight in the sky seemed to be sucked into the Divine Destruction Polearm, even as streams of dazzling light were being released. In no time the starry sky had disappeared. The ritual implement shook, then with a loud bang, a tremor spread. The thousand-meter Divine Destruction Polearm shrunk into a two-meter-long polearm that fit into Ye Futian's hand.
"Why is this happening?" an onlooker demanded.
"The Divine Destruction Polearm has submitted to him."
The expressions of all those at the Zhaixing House changed. The disciples of the Top Three Schools were shocked beyond measure as well. Everyone was staring intently at the figure in the sky.
At this very moment, the handsome young man stood proudly at the top of the Sky Dome. His holy robes billowed in the wind, and as he gripped the Polearm, starlight revolved around him. It was as if he were an actual inheritor of the Divine Path.
Mu Zhiqiu's gaze was also on Ye Futian, a surge of emotion finally appearing in her cool eyes. The Polearm had actually chosen to follow an outsider, and this made her a little disappointed.
"Good job," exclaimed Long Ling'er excitedly. She marveled at how incredible Big Brother Futian was, and smugly thought that the old man was probably drowning in regret right now for allowing him to proceed.
Master Yun and everyone from the Starry School inhaled deeply. So, this was the Son of their Starry School. He was incomparably brilliant and luminous even here at the Zhaixing House.
"I thank you for the gift, senior. I am a little ashamed to be accepting such a huge gift, but since the Divine Destruction Polearm has agreed to follow me, I will not insult it by refusing. Even as the illustrious name of the Polearm rings out across the Barren State, people will always remember that it originally came from the Zhaixing House," Ye Futian said. Many were taken aback by his words, and they looked to the chief to see his reaction.
Ye Futian was making it sound as though the chief had gifted the polearm to him with his speech and words of praise when he was the one who had taken someone else's treasure. It was obvious that the b*stard was making it impossible for the chief to go back on his word, just how shameless could one be?
The chief of the Zhaixing House probably wanted to kill him at this very moment. How could he bear to let go of the Zhaixing House's precious possession? He had agreed to let Ye Futian try and take the Divine Destruction Polearm because he had wanted Ye Futian's learnings from the martial arts battlefield. Who would have thought Ye Futian would really have been able to take the Polearm away?
Gu Yunxi blinked, and she giggled to herself. What a guy Ye Futian is she thought to herself.
The corners of the chief's eyes twitched, and his heart hurt. He regretted allowing Ye Futian an opportunity to take away the Divine Destruction Polearm – he wouldn't have done so if he had known that Ye Futian really had the ability to do so. But he was the chief of the Zhaixing House, and he couldn't go back on his word for fear of disgrace. However, at the thought of Ye Futian taking away the Polearm, he felt a surge of reluctance.
"Put that down," a cold voice called out. From afar, a few figures sped towards them. At the fore of those figures was an incredibly handsome man. Yet his handsome features were cold, and invisible energy flowed in the space around him. In an instant, they reached where everyone was and stared coldly at Ye Futian.
"Zhifan," the chief called out, sending chills down everyone's spine. It was Mu Zhifan, the illustrious son of the Zhaixing House who had already trained at the Holy Zhi Palace. He was a monstrously talented prodigy. He had returned to the Zhaixing House.
"Grandfather, I've come to wish you a happy birthday," Mu Zhifan greeted the chief. He then cast a cold gaze towards Ye Futian. The latter was holding the Divine Destruction Polearm in his hand. Mu Zhifan had no idea what had just happened, nor was he interested to know why.
The Polearm was an heirloom from the saints that sat at the Sky Dome of the Zhaixing House. This ritual implement would be his primary weapon one day, and he already had his sights set on it. With the Divine Destruction Polearm, he would restore the Zhaixing House to its rightful place and surpass the Top Three Schools.
But today, the Divine Destruction Polearm had fallen into the hands of another.
"The ritual implement was a gift from the chief," Master Yun spoke mildly. Mu Zhifan's eyebrows creased and he looked to the chief with a confused expression. Someone then informed him of everything that had just happened.
Mu Zhifan turned his gaze towards Ye Futian again and spoke, "Put down the Divine Destruction Polearm. Feel free to ask for something else. The Zhaixing House will gladly give it to you."
"I'll pass. Since the ritual implement has already agreed to follow me, I will not refuse it," Ye Futian responded, looking at Mu Zhifan. The chief of the Zhaixing House had already made a promise in front of everyone. Was Mu Zhifan trying to have the chief's promise retracted now?
This was a bet, Ye Futian thought to himself. If he was the one to lose the bet, would the chief have let him off so easily by not taking away the learnings he had gained from the battlefield?
"I told you to put the Polearm down." Mu Zhifan took a step forward, and the power of the Noble plane emanated from his being. Invisible energy began to flow within the space immediately, pressing down on Ye Futian.
Mu Zhifan was already giving Ye Futian a dignified way out by allowing him to ask for something else. It was true that Mu Zhifan's grandfather had made a blunder. But for Ye Futian to still insist on taking away the treasure of Zhaixing House was out of line. Mu Zhifan had trained at the Holy Zhi Palace; the reputation of the Top Three Schools mattered little to him.
The Top Three Schools may be the holy grail of training grounds in the eastern region of the Barren State. But the illustrious name of the Holy Zhi Palace rang out all across the Barren State.
"Who do you think you are?" Ye Futian answered coldly, staring at Mu Zhifan. He was annoyed that Mu Zhifan expected him to put down the ritual implement with just a word.
Since College Chief Chen had sent him to collect the Divine Destruction Polearm, Ye Futian supposed it wasn't really his problem whether or not he could hold on to it once he had claimed it. The ritual implement was an heirloom of the saints. That old guy couldn't possibly believe for real that Ye Futian, who was only of the Arcana plane, would really be able to take the Polearm away from the Zhaixing House.
Mu Zhifan's expression was cold. He stepped forward again and the invisible pressure grew stronger still. Mu Zhifan grabbed at the space before him, and a Star Plucking Handprint appeared in the sky. The gigantic Handprint covered most of the sky and came rushing down at Ye Futian. Before it had even reached Ye Futian, an immense pressure pressed down upon him, making his limbs feel incredibly heavy.
His golden holy robes rustling in the wind, Ye Futian grabbed on to the Divine Destruction Polearm and a starry sky seemed to appear around him, starlight dazzling around him.
Waving the Polearm, Ye Futian stepped forward. The Polearm grew to the length of several hundred meters, and with the power of the stars in the sky, Ye Futian slashed at the Handprint with the Polearm. It was as if stars were falling out of the sky towards it.
With a loud boom, the Handprint was destroyed.
Everyone stared fixedly at the sight, and Mu Zhifan's expression was incredibly cold. His eyes were fixed on the Divine Destruction Polearm.
Everyone in the world of cultivation understood that while a great ritual implement would improve a cultivator's abilities to a certain extent, it would be unrealistic to expect a massive increase in capability. Even with a powerful ritual implement, a lower-level cultivator would be limited by their own abilities and be unable to use the ritual implement to its greatest effect. However, Ye Futian had broken apart one of Mu Zhifan's Handprints with the Divine Destruction Polearm in hand.
The Polearm had a will of its own and was able to resonate with Ye Futian to a certain extent. This allowed him to trigger the innate power that was present within the weapon. If that was the case, Mu Zhifan definitely could not let Ye Futian take the Divine Destruction Polearm away.
Of course, Ye Futian had also felt that the divine light he possessed allowed him to resonate with the Divine Destruction Polearm. That was the reason why he had managed to get the Polearm to submit to him.
The Divine Destruction Polearm really was the ritual implement that was best suited for him so far. This clash with Mu Zhifan had also made Ye Futian realize that with the power of the Polearm, he was now able to battle an individual of the Noble plane. Under this sort of circumstances, why would Ye Futian give up a treasure he had finally taken for himself?
With a thud, Mu Zhifan took another step still, and Noble Will emanated from his being. One of the Noble plane had a distinct advantage over those in the Arcana plane – they could crush everything with just the strength of their will.
As expected, once Mu Zhifan's Noble Will had been released, Ye Futian was unable to move. He was immobilized by Mu Zhifan's power. In the past, Mu Zhifan had faced traces of Noble Will. But those were but traces of the real thing left behind by individuals of the Noble plane. Now, he faced an individual of the Noble plane in person. The resulting experience would naturally be different. After all, they were still of different planes.
With another thud, Mu Zhifan took yet another step forward. Ye Futian felt his Spiritual Will tremble. It was as if he were facing a real king at this very moment.
Mu Zhifan charged at Ye Futian, reaching out to grab at the Divine Destruction Polearm. Ye Futian felt as though he were in an illusion, where he was facing an irresistible power.
A streak of light surrounded Ye Futian, and his eyes shone with a dazzling light. With a roar from the Divine Ape, Ye Futian held on to the Polearm and the space around him danced in response to him.
With a step forward, Ye Futian attacked. A roar from the Divine Ape heralded a strike with the Divine Destruction Polearm from above. It was as if the stars were falling from the sky. Another loud bang and the Handprint was shattered again. But the shadow of the Divine Ape trembled, and it seemed unable to hold on tight to the ritual implement.
Mu Zhifan reached out with a hand and gripped. Instantly, it seemed as though the Divine Destruction Polearm was being gripped by an invisible large hand.
Ye Futian's eyes flashed coldly. Divine light filtered into the ritual implement and it dazzled with starlight, shattering everything around it and escaping the grip of that invisible large hand. However, Mu Zhifan struck out at the same time. Ye Futian was caught off-guard, and he was forced back with a grunt. His body seemed as though it had received a great shock, and blood trickled out the side of his mouth.
He lifted his head and sent a chilly stare towards Mu Zhifan. So, it truly was not easy to transcend into the Noble plane, Ye Futian thought.
Ye Futian was not aware, but at this moment many onlookers were watching him excitedly. They were amazed that Ye Futian, with Divine Destruction Polearm in hand, could actually face the monstrously powerful Mu Zhifan with his Noble plane abilities in battle.