The 10009th year of the Divine Prefecture Calendar was fated to be tumultuous. The Barren State appeared to not have the same end-of-year atmosphere as the previous year.
The Barren State would welcome a storm.
However, the White Cloud City Lord Office was still in a festive mood. The White Cloud City Lord was the fourth on the Barren Sky Ranking and one of the most influential figures in the entire Barren State. No matter what happened outside, the place where his clan resided could handle the situation calmly. This was the authority and status brought to them by power. The City Lord Office would not have any sense of crisis. After all, who would dare touch the White Cloud City?
As such, even though an ear-splitting sound could be heard outside the City Lord Office, as though the earth was shaking, they still did not realize what had happened. Many people ordered their subordinates to have a look. When the group of people flew into the air and looked into the distance, their gazes froze and they started shivering.
It was the demonic beasts from Taihang Mountain. They naturally knew that the demonic beasts from Taihang Mountain had already come a few months ago. The White Cloud City Lord, Bai Gu, had stopped them from eradicating the Gongsun Clan, but now, the demonic beasts from Taihang Mountain had descended once again. What did this mean? Moreover, they were headed straight for the City Lord Office.
Soon, the influential figures in the City Lord Office felt that something was off. They started flying into the air, and the sight that awaited them was the Golden Apes landing from the sky in the air above White Cloud City.
A group of figures with strong auras moved towards them. They were the White Cloud City's experts and had extraordinary strength.
"What is Taihang Mountain doing in our White Cloud City Lord Office?" someone looked at Yuan Hong and asked.
"Go in," Ye Futian said. Yuan Hong stepped forward into the City Lord Office. With a deafening crash, the gate to the City Lord Office was smashed to smithereens and cracks appeared in the ground.
"You impudent!" someone shouted and Yuan Hong looked at the person, his golden eyes filled with demonic Qi, causing the other party to shudder.
"Yuan Hong," Yun Hao followed him all the way and looked at Yuan Hong, saying, "White Cloud City has no enmity towards Taihang Mountain. You're not afraid that the City Lord will assault Taihang Mountain if you invade the City Lord Office?"
"You're still here?" Ye Futian looked at Yun Hao and asked. Yun Hao's gaze moved towards the teen on Yuan Hong's back. He appeared to just realize that what Taihang Mountain was doing was this teen's will. He was the deciding figure.
"Still not going to Xuanwu City?" Ye Futian smiled coldly and said, "Help me to tell the White Cloud City Lord that I'll be here for a few days. If a hair falls from my Third Brother or Second Sister's head, as long as he has participated, I will make sure that the White Cloud City Lord Office is destroyed."
Yun Hao stared at Ye Futian. A Noble Plane cultivator actually dared to claim that he would destroy the White Cloud City Lord Office. Although it sounded like a joke, Ye Futian had really done it. Now, the younger generation actually dared to be this crazy.
"You dare!" an expert from the White Cloud City shouted, enraged. Ye Futian actually dared to make such ravings.
"Too noisy, make them shut up," Ye Futian said coldly. Yuan Hong stepped forward and a giant golden foot crushed down on the person who had spoken. Within a second, the heavens had formed an overbearing might and crushed down alongside the foot. The expert had a terrified expression as he felt his body being restrained by the power of the heavens.
Bang! With an echo, a strong Sage Plane expert had been trampled to the ground, creating a human-shaped hole. If it was not for Yuan Hong withdrawing his foot in time, it would have crushed the other party. In an instant, the people in the residence all fell silent and watched Yuan Hong blankly.
He really dared.
"I'll go to Xuanwu City right now, but you better think carefully about what you're doing. If anything happens to the people in the Office, you better think of the consequences," Yun Hao said, then moved in a flash and left at the fastest speed he could towards Xuanwu City.
Ye Futian's gaze swept across the other party. He naturally knew that with his current cultivation level, it was not a wise choice for him to clash with such a huge faction like White Cloud City. After all, all he could do now was to leverage others' strengths. The White Cloud City Lord Bai Gu could easily crush him. However, there were some things that he needed to do.
The White Cloud City had actually joined forces with Zhisheng Cliffs to deal with the Zhuge Family. Now, Crouching Dragon Mountain was in peril and the other party's objective was his third brother. If his third brother was taken away, he did not need to guess to know what would happen to him.
What the White Cloud City Lord was doing was forcing his Third Brother and Second Sister to their deaths. Under such a situation, he had no choice but to be ruthless. Even if he was opposing the fourth on the Barren Sky Ranking, he spared no expense.
Of course, he also understood that although Yuan Hong's strength had increased substantially, he would not be favored in a match against the White Cloud City Lord. Moreover, there were strong figures from Zhisheng Cliffs. Ye Futian naturally did not hope that his actions would implicate Taihang Mountain, so he had gone to Alchemy City to borrow a Saint ritual implement. Now, he was unsure how the storm would play out, but Zhisheng Cliffs appeared to be determined to achieve their goal, and that was something he would definitely not let happen.
Countless cold gazes looked towards Ye Futian. They remembered this younger generation Noble Plane cultivator who was once the first on the Law Rank.
"You all best pray that the White Cloud City Lord doesn't do anything," Ye Futian saw them staring at him with killing intent and said ruthlessly. Ye Futian and the experts from Taihang Mountain entered the White Cloud City Lord Office. White Cloud City was in unrest. For many years, there had not been someone who dared to be so audacious and kill their way into White Cloud City.
The news spread very quickly and caused a huge commotion.
When the Holy Zhi Palace received the news, many people were furious, including a few experts from the Sage Palace. The White Cloud City's father and son trio all cultivated in the Palace. Now, Bai Luli was even the Palace's future. That day, after his battle with Gu Dongliu, Bai Luli had left the Barren State to go out and train by himself. Bai Ze was still cultivating in the Palace, but Ye Futian had actually led the demonic beasts from Taihang Mountain into White Cloud City, first eradicating the Gongsun Clan, then entering the City Lord Office.
At that moment, the Sage Palace was filled with experts, and many influential figures had arrived. Ning Xian said, "Palace Lord, Ye Futian is so presumptuous. If the Palace still does not step in and he really does something, what will happen on Bai Luli's side?"
Liu Chan had a frigid expression. The day he knew that the White Cloud City Lord had entered Xuanwu City, he had sighed in pity. After all, both Bai Gu and Zhuge Qingfeng had graduated from the Palace. However, Zhuge Qingfeng's actions on the day of the engagement must have made Bai Gu extremely displeased. Moreover, because of the Saint item, Bai Gu completely broke off ties with Zhuge Qingfeng, but he had not done anything too out of line yet and had only asked the Zhuge Family to hand over Gu Dongliu. However, Ye Futian's actions were going to light the entire Barren State on fire.
The reason the Palace had such a huge reaction was naturally because of Bai Luli. They felt that the White Cloud City Lord had not done anything too out of line, however, it was different when standing in Ye Futian's position. His Third Brother's position in his heart was similar to Bai Luli's position in the hearts of the Palace's influential figures. Making the Zhuge Family hand over his Third Brother had evidently breached his bottom line. If someone asked the Palace to hand over Bai Luli, what would the Palace do?
"Bai Gu headed to Xuanwu City. Since the Palace did not interfere, we have let the storm brew. Now, why are we interfering with Ye Futian? Isn't this helping Bai Gu deal with the Zhuge Family?" Sage Douzhan said, "Could it be, Zhuge Qingfeng is not a disciple of the Palace?"
"Zhuge Qingfeng's actions on the day of the engagement were already not in line with the Palace's Will," Ning Xian said.
"That was because the Palace stood in Bai Luli's position and wanted the Zhuge Family to make a sacrifice. White Cloud City was naturally willing," Sage Douzhan replied coldly. "In this matter, since the Palace did not interfere from the start, we should not interfere at all."
Liu Chan frowned. He turned towards Sage Wanxiang and asked, "What do you think?"
Sage Wanxiang maintained his silence. He had did a divination for the Palace the other day; it was a divination of crisis, the Palace's crisis. It was probably very hard for them to avoid it, but he was unsure where the crisis would come from. However, as of now, it seemed that the highest possibility was that the crisis came from Zhisheng Cliffs. After all, the only force that could shake the Palace now was the Yu State's holy land, Zhisheng Cliffs.
"You make a decision by yourself in this matter." Sage Wanxiang did not say anything more. Now, the situation in the Barren State was complicated and turmoil had already spread. He wondered how long more it was to the Palace's crisis.
"What about you two?" Liu Chan then looked at Sage Daozang and the Sword Demon.
"Since Wanxiang doesn't know, how could we know what to do?" Sage Daozang shook his head bitterly, sighing in his heart. The White Cloud City Lord and Zhuge Qingfeng, Bai Luli and Ye Futian—two generations of geniuses, both standing at opposing ends. This storm had involved two generations of people.
The Sword Demon was also silent. Although he valued Bai Luli, he also appreciated Ye Futian. Ye Wuchen was his disciple as well and showed potential.
What a pity. The two of them could have created a generation together, but they were now on opposing sides. If Bai Luli knew that Ye Futian had led Taihang Mountain's clan into his house, what would he think?
"Liu Chan," a frail voice sounded and Liu Chan turned around. Everyone's expression became somber and they turned around and looked in that direction.
"Brother," Liu Chan called out. The person who had spoken was the real Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, the first on the Barren Sky Ranking.
"Since the Palace's Will has already been unfulfilled, what is there to hesitate about? There are some things that we must do even if we know they are wrong. As long as our mindset is flawless, it is correct. Luli will be the next Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, so nothing bad must befall his family. I hope that I can witness a Saint being born in the Barren State before I die." The voice sounded gradually. It was heavy yet solemn, but there was an undoubtedly firm will behind it. The Barren State having a Saint, that was his desire.
Even as the first on the Barren Sky Ranking, he had experienced danger on the Divine Path. He did not wish that the Palace would become a thing of the past after he died. If that was so, he would be letting his Master down.
"Yes, Brother." Liu Chan bowed slightly, coming to a decision in his mind. His Brother was right. Since he had already made up his decision a long time ago, what was he hesitating about?
"Tianxing, Sword Demon, bring a few people from your Palaces to White Cloud City and get Ye Futian to leave White Cloud City. Try your best not to injure him," Liu Chan said.
"Yes." Sage Tianxing nodded. The Sword Demon was helpless. Why him? He did not want to see this kind of situation!
"Douzhan, don't interfere with this. I've already told them not to injure Ye Futian," Liu Chan said and looked towards Sage Douzhan.
Sage Douzhan looked profoundly at Liu Chan but eventually did not say anything. Although they would not injure Ye Futian, the Palace's stand was equivalent to pushing Ye Futian to the opposite side!