The banquet was unusually quiet. Many turned their eyes to look at Ye Futian as he made his speech. His eyes were adamant and stubborn.
Zhuge Mingyue also turned her eyes to look at Ye Futian. While she never wanted Ye Futian to get himself involved in all of this, she felt warm inside, thinking that her little brother had indeed grown up, rising up to protect her and all. However, the wedding was not as simple as Ye Futian thought it to be. During the day of the proposal, Liu Chan, who ranked third on the Barren Sky Ranking, and the City Lord of Alchemy City himself, who ranked fourth, made it up Crouching Dragon Mountain, bringing with them a letter from the palace lord of the Holy Zhi Palace. Her father, Zhuge Qingfeng studied in the Holy Zhi Palace, and the palace lord himself ranked first on the Barren Sky Ranking. He was also Zhuge Qingfeng's teacher. She knew well what it meant, and there was no mistaking it when her father spoke about the matter; it was something the entire Holy Zhi Palace had decided.
Before a grand endeavor like having a saint emerge from the Barren State, sacrifice by having her marry someone she had no liking for was seen to be a small price. Furthermore, the man she was to marry was Bai Luli. It was the dream of countless girls from renowned clans, and as Ye Futian put it, everyone from White Cloud City and even the Zhuge family thought it was her who benefitted from all of this. As such, she was deemed to have no right to think about anything. The Holy Zhi Palace had its own stance and will in the matter. Her little brother, however, chose to side with her over the Holy Zhi Palace. But there simply was nothing he could do to turn the tide of things.
"I object as well," Xue Ye, who was sitting right beside Luo Fan, spoke and made his stance clear as well. While he was among the younger generation, he was still You Chi's son-in-law, which gave him weight to speak on the matter.
"Are you done being insolent?" Zhuge Xing's father said coldly, "There are many here who are your seniors, and that includes your uncle. They are not going to make a bigger mess out of things by arguing with you. But since when did the wedding between Bai Luli and Mingyue need approval from a young one like you?"
The youth of the Zhuge family glared at Ye Futian with angry eyes. Ye Futian insulted all of them in one shot before calling all of the members of renowned clans to be good-for-nothing idiots. Ye Futian was being too bold while inside the Zhuge family estate.
"Ye Futian," Sage Zhu Song said to Ye Futian, "return to the Holy Zhi Palace. Go into the Sage Hall and break into Sage Plane as soon as possible." Everyone present caught what that meant. Sage Zhu Song was being very stern with those words, and he meant for Ye Futian to leave the estate, forbidding from interfering with this matter further. The will of the Holy Zhi Palace was, of course, not something Ye Futian would be able to change on his own, even if he was a rare genius from the Holy Zhi Palace, the one who ranked first on the Law Rank, and the champion among all nobles. The current will of the entire Holy Zhi Palace was unanimous, and it had only one goal—to help in the endeavor of having a saint emerge in the Barren State. And Bai Luli was the chosen one to undertake such a great endeavor.
"Sir, I beg your forgiveness, but I'm unable to do so." Ye Futian bowed and said, "I will now excuse myself." He then bowed to Zhuge Qingfeng and left the banquet. Xue Ye, Luo Fan, and the others rose and left with him.
Zhu Song frowned hard and he was rather displeased. Geniuses were known to have incredibly strong egos and sense of self. Ye Futian was, no doubt, one such genius, whose talents might have even eclipsed those of Hua Fan and might have even neared that of Bai Luli. However, Ye Futian was simply too young, and no one had time to wait for him to come to the right age.
Zhu Song was unable to say that Ye Futian was wrong about anything, as he was simply thinking from his Second Sister's standpoint. Such people always proved to be a headache as they were incredibly stubborn.
"Such was the boldness of the young," Zhuge Qingfeng smiled and said. He behaved casually in the face of all that ruckus and obviously did not mind Ye Futian's insolence. He was even able to dissolve the awkwardness of the banquet at the moment with just one line. The members of clans and forces of Xuanwu City present felt impressed. Such was the bearing of a top-notch figure; one which they would have had a hard time catching up to.
Bai Ze remained gloomy throughout. He held his head low as he drank, thinking that he had once again suffered Ye Futian's insult. Worse still, he was unable to say anything to retort. He knew well that as the second son of White Cloud City, he was seen as a dashing young man before he entered the Holy Zhi Palace, and many had high hopes for him. Now, everyone's attitude towards him changed.
And all that is because of Ye Futian.
The truth, however, was due to more than just Ye Futian alone. The existence of both Ye Futian and Yu Sheng overshadowed everyone who was studying in the Holy Zhi Palace, regardless of how exceptional they were before. Bai Ze, however, was the one who was suppressed and humiliated worst.
The banquet went on. It was all joy and harmony without Ye Futian and his party. The liveliness of the event seemed to be a statement saying that with the exception of Ye Futian and a few others, everyone looked forward to the wedding, eager to witness an epoch-making moment.
Ye Futian and his party returned to Moon Tower. He never stopped frowning. He knew well that while he had vented his frustration and made his point back there, even that those words came from the champion of the Law Rank, what he did hardly mattered in such a place. Just like the elders of the Zhuge family put it, it was inconsequential whether he agreed to the wedding or not.
Who would have paid any attention to what I said indeed? Despite knowing fully well that his words would have changed nothing, he deemed it necessary to vent them. Furthermore, he felt compelled to make his stance clear, in order to see how adamant the others were on the matter. His Second Sister was putting her fate on the line. Even if Third Brother shows up, so what? Is that really going to change anything?
What great figures throughout Barren State had decided and the very will of the Holy Zhi Palace was not something anyone could change. He knew nothing about what could happen next.
"I can't believe we've just gotten through that matter with Fourth Brother, only to be compelled to deal with something similar happening to Second Sister. While I knew somehow that was going to happen, I still had a really bad feeling about things," Luo Fan said as he sulked. Worse still, what he felt this time was way worse than what he felt with the last ordeal. Those big shots want to create a saint and they go about sacrificing Second Sister's happiness for it. Who gave them the right to do so?
"This all happened a little too quickly," Ye Futian sighed and said. He trained very hard and came to become number one in the Law Rank. However, his plane was still too low when compared to the entire Barren State. What had transpired so far made him feel rather ill-prepared.
"Yeah. The difficulty we're dealing with here is far greater than what happened between Fourth Brother and his wife." Luo Fan was soon at a loss for words. What they had to tackle before was the City Lord of Alchemy City. But this time, it was the will of the Holy Zhi Palace, White Cloud City, and the Zhuge family. Worse still, their shared will was probably very, very solid, unlike the case with You Chi. When Xue Ye ended up being second place on the Alchemy Conference, the City Lord was still more inclined to marry You Xi off to Xue Ye instead.
Ye Futian was thinking that since the Holy Zhi Palace was into this, it became apparent that their will was immovable. They were going to get the wedding done one way or another. The strength of White Cloud City's will was a given, as Bai Luli was the young city lord of White Cloud City. The only party with any loopholes to exploit was the Zhuge family. However, Ye Futian knew nothing about what was going on inside Zhuge Qingfeng's mind. They discussed the matter for quite a bit and yet they failed to reach a conclusion. There was only a month's time left.
Zhuge Mingyue returned after a while and smiled at Ye Futian. "How did it feel, scolding everybody hard?"
"Very fun, of course," Ye Futian smiled and said. He did not want to show any signs that he was suppressing his emotions in front of his Second Sister. While he was unable to see what his Second Sister was thinking, she was still probably the one who had it the hardest.
Zhuge Mingyue gave him the eye and said, "Come with me." She turned around as soon as she finished. Ye Futian felt peculiar about the whole thing, but nonetheless followed her out and asked, "Second Sister, what's the matter?"
"Your Uncle Zhuge wants to see you in private," Zhuge Mingyue smiled and said to Ye Futian. He felt even more puzzled at the moment. Why would Zhuge Qingfeng want to see me in private?
The Wind Residence was located at the core of Crouching Dragon Mountain, and that was where the clan leader, Zhuge Qingfeng, took up residence. At the moment, Zhuge Qingfeng was standing alone with his hands behind his back at a small pavilion. Hearing footsteps nearby, he turned around and said to Ye Futian, "You are here."
"How can I be of service, uncle?" Ye Futian asked, curious.
"I just feel like chatting for a bit," Zhuge Qingfeng said casually.
"Do I need to excuse myself?" Zhuge Mingyue asked gently.
"Mingyue, come here." Zhuge Qingfeng looked at his daughter and said, "I guess you resent me."
Zhuge Mingyue did not deny anything but she did not leave either. She went into the pavilion instead.
Zhuge Qingfeng looked at Ye Futian and said, "I heard Mingyue and Canyang talked about you, and so I know a thing or two. In the next generation of the Barren State, Bai Luli is probably the only one who is on par with you."
"I doubt Bai Luli will no longer be able to do so," Ye Futian said casually.
Zhuge Qingfeng was dumbfounded, then he smiled at him and said, "You, kid, sure know nothing about being humble."
Ye Futian did not say anything. Humility was ill-suited to the predicament before their eyes.
"Liu Chan, the assistant palace lord, who is also one of my elder seniors, came to pay me a visit with my senior, the City Lord of White Cloud City, to make the marriage proposal. They brought a letter from my teacher, and it seemed like his days were numbered." Zhuge Qingfeng sighed.
Ye Futian felt a shiver in his mind. It was truly a will of the Holy Zhi Palace then, and one as solid as bedrock.
"Please don't resent the Holy Zhi Palace. You are still young and you have yet to make it outside of the Barren State. There is still much that you have yet to learn. Do you know what kind of a place the Barren State is? Or why the will of the Holy Zhi Palace is so adamant?" Zhuge Qingfeng looked at Ye Futian and asked.
"Please, tell me." Ye Futian wanted to know as well.
"Barren State is one of the nine states. Emperor Xia set up Orthodoxy in each of the nine states. It was a system that lasted throughout the ages. Even when the world was unified and Emperor Xia submitted to the Twin Great Emperors, he remained in control of such a system," Zhuge Qingfeng elaborated slowly. Ye Futian was shaken to his core. He read from ancient books that the Orthodoxy was made of Renhuang, the king of man.
Is this Xia Huang, the highest existence in Renhuang Plane?
"Without a saint, there was no Orthodoxy in Barren State. While the Twin Great Emperors ordered the establishments of academies throughout the world, if the Barren State kept failing to produce a saint, the Holy Zhi Palace might have ended up being penalized. Forces from other states would probably take control of the Barren State, and if that happened, there would no longer be the peace we see today in the Barren State. We might end up under the reign of others." Zhuge Qingfeng said, "As such, the Holy Zhi Palace desperately needs for a saint to emerge."
"And so, they picked Bai Luli." Ye Futian continued, "But what does that have to do with my Second Sister?"
"The Saint Plane is a plane beyond what is known in current systems. It isn't some plane that can be easily accessed. Even if one were to possess the potential to become a saint and wanted to become a saint, one would still need to make it to the very place where Emperor Xia set up the Orthodoxy, and it would be an arduous trip. The Zhuge family had a saint among our ancestors before, passing a treasure down the line, and that one treasure would prove very useful for Bai Luli. As such, they needed to get their hands on that treasure. However, regardless of how close we are, there is no way the Zhuge family would allow such a treasure to simply be handed to an outsider. Even if I were to be fine with it, the others wouldn't have been."
"As such, Bai Luli needed to be the son-in-law of the Zhuge family, and furthermore, needed to be married to one of the eldest lines of the Zhuge family, which would be my Second Sister," Ye Futian mumbled to himself.
"Exactly." Zhuge Qingfeng nodded!