Ye Futian was thoroughly disappointed. In order to have Bai Luli become a saint, not only was the Holy Zhi Palace fine with sacrificing Zhuge Mingyue, but they were even alright with sacrificing the entire Zhuge family. When the City Lord of White Cloud City descended upon Xuanwu City, the Holy Zhi Palace would have intervened if that was not the case. He came to White Cloud City to confront the Holy Zhi Palace.
"The Holy Zhi Palace is free of personal agendas," Sage Tianxing said plainly. The two Palace Lords were ready to do anything in order to nurture a saint for Barren State. Sage Tianxing did not find that to be something personal. It was the mission of the Holy Zhi Palace, a great endeavor undertaken for the good of all. He understood that some of Ye Futian's words made sense, but sacrifices needed to be made in order to get certain things done, and it was something inevitable.
"If I refuse to leave, what do the two of you plan on doing?" Ye Futian was in no mood to argue any longer. He went straight for the core of the problem instead.
"Then we will have to remove you by force," Sage Tianxing said.
Ye Futian laughed. He looked at the two Palace Lords of the Holy Zhi Palace and said, "If that is the case, please, after you."
"Ye Futian, while Yuan Hong ranks 18th on the Barren Sky Ranking, the Sword Demon and I are also mighty ones ranked on the Barren Sky Ranking. We are both not that far in rank compared to him. If we were to fight Yuan Hong, he would definitely lose. Furthermore, when you came into White Cloud City, did you not think about the City Lord who is ranked fourth? Didn't you think you would end up dragging Taihang Mountain into this?" the Lord of Tianxing Pavilion said.
"Ye Futian, I advise you to give up now. If you were to really become a saint in the future, you would be able to reclaim everything you've lost," the Sword Demon said, looking at Ye Futian. He was speaking genuinely from his heart, as he did not wish for Ye Futian to be embroiled in this maelstrom. The circumstances worsened by the second, and he was concerned that there was no way for Ye Futian to back away if the young man insisted on getting himself into it. It would be a pity for him to die as a noble.
"If I become a saint in the future, what is lost will remain lost. There will be no point to any of it by then. You of all should understand that cultivators need to listen to their heart, and there are things that should never be done. If the Holy Zhi Palace decided to go on with it, then there is no need for both of you to hesitate anymore." Ye Futian then went on to address Yuan Hong, "Grandpa Yuan, I assume you've never used the Nine Heavenly Attacks in battle before, right? I'd like to see you use those techniques today."
"Very well." Yuan Hong nodded. "Where would you like to see the show?"
"I'll take a seat somewhere on you." Ye Futian leaped and landed on Yuan Hong's shoulder. He was attempting to develop comprehension of the powers of sages, and there was no better chance at the moment for him to do that than to witness the battle between sages that was about to happen. While he had developed comprehension of said plane from many sages, those were still powers left behind by sages of old, and they were poor substitutes of what could be gained from seeing a true battle being fought.
Boom. Yuan Hong stepped forward and took to the air.
Sage Tianxing and the Sword Demon shot up in the air as well, coming to face Yuan Hong. The battle between the three mighty ones on the Barren Sky Ranking attracted the attention of many below. Many outside the City Lord Office looked up in the air while feeling the tremors within.
Yuan Hong of Taihang Mountain. Lords of Tianxing Pavilion and Sword Palace from the Holy Zhi Palace.
The huge golden body stood tall in the air and Yuan Hong's might spread far and wide. He extended his hand and coalesced Spiritual Qi into a staff, brimming with immeasurable power from top to bottom.
Sage Tianxing did not dare let his guard down. He knew too well of the potency of the 81 Strikes of Heaven-traversing Staff Techniques, which was the signature skill of the apes of Taihang Mountain. The set of techniques was an offensive skill of unparalleled power.
Streaks of golden lightning rained down from his body as a Heavenly Halberd appeared in his hand. Golden lightning was unleashed from the weapon, like punishing lights imbued with unfathomable devastating power. The power spread far and wide in the air. The sky soon looked like doomsday was near as the scene turned to be an appalling one. It seemed like it could have even easily torn any conventional sage apart.
Ye Futian stood on Yuan Hong's back. A golden screen of light covered his body, protecting him from external encroachment. Despite the measures taken, Ye Futian was still able to sense the punishing power of rules permeating the air at the moment, which was similar to that student who tried to assassinate him back then. The magnitude of the skill's power, however, was several orders of magnitude higher when it was being used by Sage Tianxing himself. He had no doubt that if he dared to even take a step outside, a flash of light would have rained down on him right there and then, reducing him to ash.
"Punish," Sage Tianxing said with a cold voice. Endless Light of Punishment rained down like crosses of light, enabling no place for escape. Such overpowering spells could have only been fended off by sheer defensive powers.
Ye Futian took a look at the Light of Punishment raining down on them. It was a terrible spell of rules which was capable of wiping out a whole army effortlessly. It was also a testament to the sheer ferocity of top-class mighty ones.
Yuan Hong burst with terrifying martial arts will as he swung his staff about. Countless shadows of staffs appeared in the air. The shadows materialized as light screens covering his entire body. Stifling noises were heard throughout the sky and whoever was watching the fight, inside or out of the City Lord office of White Cloud City, was able to feel a suffocating pressure permeating the air. The winds howled, and the forces between the heavens and the earth roared. Dazzling lights sparked as the Light of Punishment hit the screen of staff shadows, yet totally incapable of penetrating it.
Sage Tianxing's eyes turned incredibly serious in a second as he felt terrifying pressure bearing down. One shadow of golden great ape after another appeared in the air. They were all conjured by Yuan Hong and everyone below was able to tell that they were not tangible constructs; the shadows were simply illusory products of martial arts will. However, when many of the incredibly huge golden great apes danced about with their golden staffs, the visual impact was one that had many feeling that the air itself was on the verge of being split apart by the staff. It was a stunning sight to behold and the hearts of many raced.
"Yuan Hong is more powerful than he once was." The expressions of Sage Tianxing and the Sword Demon turned solemn. More terrifying Light of Punishment rained down on them as the shadows filled the air. Sage Tianxing held tightly onto his halberd. Endless Light of Punishment fell onto the halberd and terrifying lights penetrated the air, as his might grew increasingly strong.
"Sword Demon, I might need your help in this," Sage Tianxing said. The Sword Demon nodded. He was able to feel that the aura bursting from Yuan Hong was a little too fearsome.
Storms of blades whipped about in the air all of a sudden. They danced in a crazed manner in the air, yet were unable to penetrate the staff shadows filling the air.
"We can't wait any longer," Sage Tianxing said. His body vanished right as he spoke. The Sword Demon's body seemed to have moved with him, as they went catching Yuan Hong in a pincer attack.
At that very moment, the thousands of staff shadows coalesced into one staff. The overwhelming force encased everything in its vicinity as if the air was about to burst. Light from the Heavenly Halberd pierced the air, and the sword of the Sword Demon lashed out with ferocious force. Endless sword aura swirled in the air as it cut apart anything in its path. When their attacks met that one staff, everyone was able to feel the intensity with the attacks. The boundless force from the staff threw both of them off.
"That is so powerful," Ye Futian mumbled to himself. While Yuan Hong's experience with the Nine Heavenly Attacks was far less than his, the ape's high plane level and understanding of the martial arts was not something Ye Futian could have compared with. Furthermore, the Nine Heavenly Attacks evolved from the 81 Strikes of Heaven-Traversing Staff Techniques. Yuan Hong had been steeped in that signature technique of his people enough to be able to easily grasp their evolved form. What Yuan Hong demonstrated right there and then was bringing the attacks of the 81 Strikes of Heaven-Traversing Staff Techniques to new heights, and the force packed within was even more fearsome.
Sage Tianxing's arm went somewhat numb. He knew how powerful his halberd techniques were, but the Halberd of Punishment, known for its devastating power of destruction, was utterly incapable of breaking the attack of that staff technique.
They later found that Yuan Hong never stopped attacking. The ape took a step in the air, coalescing an even more powerful storm of martial arts will with the residual raging force. The air felt even more unbearable right there and then. It was yet another whip with the staff. The myriad of staff shadows went straight for Sage Tianxing. His expression turned incredibly serious as he burst with blinding light from his body, heading for Yuan Hong. He brought his halberd to bear once again, like a rainbow shooting up at the sky, penetrating everything in its path. The Sword Demon stopped attacking and stared at Yuan Hong. The aura permeating the ape's body had not dissipated yet, but the pressure grew increasingly strong.
Boom. Yuan Hong headed straight for him. Devastating sword aura appeared in the surroundings of the Sword Demon's body. Countless black mirages appeared in the sky at the very next moment. Streaks of black sword shadows appeared as they cut through the air, encasing Yuan Hong within. Yuan Hong swept away with his staff. The staff shadows in the air covered every angle around him, shattering all incoming sword aura.
Yuan Hong stepped forward once more. When Sage Tianxing made his way back, he felt the might around Yuan Hong to have grown to a critical point. Yuan Hong danced about with his staff, encasing everything in the space all of them occupied with the shadows of his staff. At that very moment, both Sage Tianxing and the Sword Demon felt covered by the will of the staff.
Bam! A stifling sound was heard as Yuan Hong's fifth attack hit the air. Both of them felt the endless staff shadows hit them squarely before the attack even connected. They burst forth with their full power, attacking the shadows of the staff as if they were real. Both felt irresistible force being brought down onto them.
A thunderous rumble was heard as their bodies ended up being thrown far away. They grunted and blood was seen at the corner of their mouths. Their internal organs felt rattled as they struggled to quiet their breaths.
The thousands of techniques were helpless before sheer overwhelming power. Despite them having many tricks and tactics up their sleeves, they were nothing before Yuan Hong's overwhelming staff techniques. They did not even get to use the tricks they had with them.
"If both of you want for me to leave White Cloud City, then I'm sorry, but I cannot comply with that," Ye Futian said looking at Sage Tianxing and the Sword Demon, who were both thrown off. They looked incredibly serious. Yuan Hong's prowess had them feel that this power was not something coming from someone ranked 18th on the Barren Sky Ranking.
The people of the City Lord office of White Cloud City were utterly startled. Despite having two Lords from the palace and pavilions from the Holy Zhi Palace on their side, they were still incapable of kicking Ye Futian out from White Cloud City.
People who watched the battle from outside the City Lord Office were utterly stunned. To many, it was an incredibly rare opportunity to see mighty ones ranked on the Barren Sky Ranking battling it out. They got what they came for, and they witnessed Yuan Hong throwing off two major Lords of the Holy Zhi Palace through sheer, overwhelming force. They would have probably needed the City Lord to return before they had a chance of stopping Yuan Hong!