The flames on Li Futu's body exploded outwards, and a dazzling Vermillion Bird rose into the sky, bathed in golden divine flames. As it flapped its wings, the golden flames shot towards Yi Xiaoshi, who was battling Xiang Zhiyan. This forced Yi Xiaoshi to retreat continuously in order to avoid the flames. Then, the Vermillion Bird soared through the sky in a brilliant curve towards Ye Futian. Flames of a divine bird descended from the heavens, covering the sky with it.
A cultivator of the Noble Plane was able to send their Life Spirit out of their body to attack their opponent. As a top-notch Noble, Li Futu was definitely able to do just that.
Yun Shuisheng's expression changed slightly, and she retreated. But Li Futu followed after her; there was no way he was going to let her escape.
The space surrounding them was set alight, and golden flames raged around the two. An icy world appeared around Yun Shuisheng, protecting her from the flames. Meanwhile, the terrifying Vermillion Bird charged straight for Ye Futian, and countless gazes turned towards him
Ye Futian was not participating directly in this battle. Instead, he was managing the situation through his guqin. However, it was clear to everyone that this Ye Futian, who had been the first in the Law Battle three years ago, was the crux of this fight. The guqin music increased the offensive power of everyone's attacks and allowed their Spiritual Wills to resonate, making everyone stronger in general. If Ye Futian was taken down, there was a real possibility of their opponents turning the tide against them. However, it was like this realization did not register in Ye Futian's mind. The message he sent everyone was to pay him no mind and continue fighting.
Right then, a frightening Spiritual Will surrounded Ye Futian and radiated through the space. The entire sky seemed to be filled with the terrifying energy of that Spiritual Energy. When the Vermillion Bird rushed down towards Ye Futian in all its fiery might, Ye Futian's fingers began to dance even more intensely across the guqin strings, and the Spiritual Will in the air activated at the same time as the spell he cast.
In the next moment, the space around him seemed to freeze, and the Vermillion Bird was slowed down in the sky as if it was being pushed back by invisible energy. Frightening golden flames shot out from its eyes towards Ye Futian, but the energy controlling the surroundings grew stronger as well.
Powerful Spiritual Qi accumulated in the space, and as it was let loose. The space seemed to freeze even further. The Vermillion Bird's large body seemed to slowly become immobilized as it started to slow down even more. This was a spell that Ye Futian had created. Through combining multi-elemental sorcery and martial arts will, he had manifested a unique new spell—the Sky Freezing Technique.
With a roar of thunder, purple and golden lightning appeared in the space. The violent lightning energy turned into the Wrath of the Thunder God spell, which shot straight for the Vermillion Bird. This was also a spell he had created. By improving on the original spell, Punishment of the Thunder God, Ye Futian had created Wrath of the Thunder God.
As the Wrath of the Thunder God descended upon it, the Vermillion Bird shook violently, and it let out a mournful cry as it seemed on the verge of being destroyed. Right then, Li Futu, who was battling Yun Shuisheng, spat out a mouthful of blood. His breathing turned weaker, and his face was pale.
With his Life Spirit under attack, Li Futu would naturally be greatly affected as well. After all, the Life Spirit was at the heart of a Mandate Sorcerer's abilities. If it was badly damaged, the sorcerer's Spiritual Energy would take a terrifyingly immense hit as well.
"This battle is about to end," someone commented. At the sight of Li Futu's condition, many people who had placed large bets on him turned pale. They had originally banked on Li Futu being able to use his Life Spirit to shift the battle in his favor. It came as a shock to them that Ye Futian would use guqin music to borrow the Spiritual Energy of others, resonate with it, and cast an incredibly strong spell that trapped Li Futu's Life Spirit, allowing Ye Futian to launch an attack that caused him great damage.
Many people looked over to the other side of the battlefield where Huang Jiuge and Yu Ming were. Other than Li Futu, Yu Ming was a Grade One Noble as well, possessing incredible power. Now that Li Futu was being held down in battle, it was anyone's guess whether or not Yu Ming would be able to break through in this fight.
However, Huang Jiuge then began to launch a particularly savage attack on Yu Ming. His Spiritual Will turned into a frightening illusory world, seeming to summon into being countless warriors and chariots, turning the surroundings into the setting of a terrible battle. Even while facing Yu Ming, who was of a higher plane, Huang Jiuge continued to attack fiercely, refusing to back down.
Is Huang Jiuge that strong as well? many people wondered, surprised by the sight. Sovereign Light emanated from Huang Jiuge. Taking on the Renhuang Body, Huang Jiuge looked like Renhuang himself, wielding the Renhuang Sword and commanding the battlefield. The Martial Will illusion in the space became scarier still, with a hulking presence appearing in the battlefield, tearing through the sky in a chariot.
Yu Ming's expression was tense. He had not known that the man who had come second in the Law Battle three years ago would be so scarily powerful.
The violent attack plowed through Yu Ming's defenses, and he was sent flying, sustaining severe injuries in the process. He had been defeated. At the sight of Yu Ming being taken down, many onlookers understood that the conclusion to this battle had already been set. There would be no doubt as to how things would turn out from here.
As expected, while the seriously injured Li Futu was still a strong force to reckon with, Yun Shuisheng was no weakling. With the support of Ye Futian's guqin music, she launched a series of rapid attacks on Li Futu. Li Futu intended to continue fighting but was called by his wife Xiang Zhiyan to admit defeat. She did not want to see the man she loved under attack again.
When the fighting stopped, the Vermillion Bird flew back into Li Futu's body. Ye Futian and the rest remained in their previous formation, while the other eight people opposite them were injured to various degrees. The party from the Holy Zhi Palace had won this battle against the alliance of various powers with an absolute advantage.
Those from the Holy Zhi Palace may have been lower in plane as a whole, but they had displayed the glorious might befitting disciples of the Barren State's holy grounds in this battle. Of course, other than the seven disciples of the Holy Zhi Palace, Huang Jiuge had shone in the battle as well. Coming in second in the Law Battle three years ago, he was second only to Ye Futian.
"You've gone easy on us," Ye Futian smiled and said politely, taking back the Guqin Spirit. On the opposing side, everyone's expressions were tense.
Li Futu, who had come from the Fire Emperor Palace on Fire Mountain, had finally witnessed the power of the Holy Zhi Palace's disciples for himself. His wife, Xiang Zhiyan, was considerably shocked as well, especially when she thought of how her younger sister Xiang Zhiqin was training with such a group of people.
It was as if Yan Jie, Nan Hao, Xie Ji, and Bing Yi didn't even exist. Back then, they had lost during the Law Battle. And now as they faced those who had entered the Holy Zhi Palace to train, they still faced the inevitability of losing.
Yu Ming looked somewhat disappointed. Walking off the battle platform, he walked towards Su Hongxiu from the Goddess Pavilion and said, "Hongxiu, looks like I've lost this time."
"You did your best, there's no need to blame yourself." Su Hongxiu's gentle smile belied a great tenderness that could melt one's heart. The people around her did not dare to look at her. Women from the Goddess Pavilion may be beautiful, but it was still better to restrain oneself when interacting with them. There was the risk of finding oneself trapped in love, as proven by many before. Even a brilliant cultivator like Yu Ming had been deeply attracted by Su Hongxiu's charms. These women were naturally attractive, and with the special skills they trained in, they were bewitching figures.
Li Futu and the rest began to walk off the battle platform as well, but Di Zhou remained. He glanced at Ye Futian and his party before chuckling. "Interesting. However, your advantage came only from the fact that you had the guqin music to increase everyone's powers in a group battle. If you ever come by the Emperor family residence, I'll have you meet my older brother." As Di Zhou spoke, he turned and left the battle platform. Everyone's eyes glinted at his words. Perhaps only Di Gang would be able to suppress these Holy Zhi Palace disciples in battle.
Walking off the battle platform, Xiang Zhiyan came face to face with her younger sister. Xiang Zhiqin smiled and shook her head, "Older Sister, this doesn't indicate an issue with you and Brother-in-Law's capabilities."
"Looks like I won't be able to give you the ritual implement I promised you," Li Futu said.
"It's alright. I feel bad that you'll have to pay for losing this bet," Xiang Zhiqin replied.
"If you're going to gamble, you have to be prepared to lose," Li Futu spoke calmly. On the other hand, Xiang Zhiyan asked, "Zhiqin, are Ye Futian and the rest considered outstanding in the Palace?"
Xiang Zhiqin looked towards the battle platform and thought of the things that had happened three years ago. Back then when Ye Futian had first entered the Palace, his lack of inhibition had irked her to no end. But looking at Ye Futian again after three years, she realized that he had long surpassed her.
"Yes, they're very outstanding." Xiang Zhiqin nodded. That much she had to admit at this point.
Right then, Ye Futian was smiling at the elder walking towards him on the battle platform. "Elder, about the ritual implement…"
"Take it," the elder replied calmly, tossing the storage ring containing the ritual implement at Ye Futian. The elder had judged the situation wrongly this time, not expecting that Ye Futian's party would actually defeat Li Futu and the rest.
The elder had planned today's gamble fight so that there would be many powerful individuals betting at the Alchemy Casino today. He had expected that Li Futu and the rest would win and had manipulated the odds to lure betters to bet on Ye Futian's party. But things had not gone according to plan. This time, the elder had suffered a huge loss. As for those who had bet on Ye Futian's party, they were over the moon with their winnings. The only regret they had was not betting more at the start.
"I don't think this alone is enough, senior. We did place our bets after all." Ye Futian flashed a radiant smile at the elder.
"I'll collect their bets first before taking you to select your ritual implements." The elder threw a sweeping glance at Li Futu and the rest before ruthlessly collecting the items they had wagered. These people had caused them to suffer a massive loss after all.
Ye Futian took out the ritual implements. Smiling, he handed them back. "Yuan Zhan, here's your Wolf Fang Bat. This cauldron's yours, Zhong Li, and the Ghost Shadow Sword belongs to Qianchou. Phoenix, your Sun Crown.
"This Hail Scepter shall go to you then," Ye Futian declared, giving it to Yun Shuisheng. She looked at Ye Futian with a hint of reluctance.
"These clothes and the Telekinesis Pearl belong to Jieyu, so I'll take them." Ye Futian grinned radiantly at everyone, who threw him a dirty look but naturally had no objections.
"Are you going to treat your Older Brother like that?" Yi Xiaoshi blinked and stared at Ye Futian accusingly.
"Don't be mean, Older Brother. Didn't we let you place a bet? I want a share," Ye Futian declared, staring back at Yi Xiaoshi.
"Get lost," Yi Xiaoshi shot back despondently. Ye Futian was really taking advantage of him.
"We're definitely taking our share." Ye Futian was not holding back out of courtesy at all. He continued, "Yu Sheng, let Qingxuan pick some good stuff from your bets. I still have some ritual implements here for you all to take. Wuchen, you can pick a treasure for Chenyu later. Phoenix, you take one too, here's your ritual implement back." Phoenix took the ritual implement, and everyone stared at Ye Futian, speechless at what he was doing.
Those who had bet on Li Futu would have loved to tear Ye Futian apart in that moment, while even those who had bet on Ye Futian were tempted to hit him. As for those from the Alchemy Casino, they were incredibly tempted to kill Ye Futian, that despicable fellow.
It was too much that Ye Futian was openly discussing how to split the ritual implements from the Alchemy Casino. Did he not consider how they would feel? But of course, Ye Futian didn't care about their feelings. Right now, his only thought was that all this was super awesome.