Ye Futian was stunned. He looked toward the direction of Saint Xihua and bowed. "I admire the Saint's generosity. Yu Sheng had previously disrespected you, and we are already indebted for your forgiveness. Now that the Saint has made this admission, how could the likes of us bear such grave ?"
Whether it was sincere or not, if Saint Xihua had admitted fault, Ye Futian was obligated to express his position, otherwise, he would be perceived as insolent and ignorant.
Yu Sheng had only just won on the battlefield of Nine States Forum, and only the battle of the nobles. He still had quite a ways to reach the holy lands. Ye Futian understood clearly that their status was much like the seats they sat—the distance was still too great. Naturally, he could not afford to act ungraciously even if he was right.
Saint Xihua waved. "I am the host of the Nine States Forum for this year. I cannot speak without keeping my word, and whatever I promised before, I will fulfill. I am not happy that Yu Sheng defeated my disciple Hua Yunshu, but it's what it is. We have nothing further to say except that our skill was not up to par. I will fulfill my previous promises."
Ye Futian was speechless, then without another word, bowed slightly again.
"This year at the Nine States Forum, everyone misjudged and did not expect such an excellent candidate from Barren State. Then let us see how far he can go." Rain Saint, who stood next to the Saint Xihua also jumped in and cast a meaningful look at Yu Sheng.
Yu Sheng still did not get off the stage.
"You would like to continue?" asked the host from Xihua Sacred Mountain.
"Yes." Yu Sheng nodded, and many people were speechless, vaguely knowing who he wanted to challenge. Without surprise, it should be Ji Hua of the Hall of Holy Light. Ji Hua, who was previously uncivil towards the disciples from Barren State.
"Anyone else who would like to fight?" The elder looked at the crowd.
"Yes," a voice answered. Many followed the sound and saw it was in the direction of Hall of Holy Light, as Ji Hua was already stepping out. Clearly, he knew that Yu Sheng would challenge him.
"Elder, according to the rules, he already battled consecutively twice. So, if no one else will rise up to the call, I can also battle twice in a row, is that correct?" Ji Hua looked up and asked the elder.
"Yes," the elder nodded.
Ji Hua nodded lightly and glanced at the Yu Sheng. "You wish to challenge me?"
Yu Sheng looked at him without a word, but his eyes said everything.
"You have excellent strength, and it should be within the top ten, or maybe even higher, so you are definitely qualified to continue. Of course, the premise is that you can beat me. However, before that happens, there are two others from the Barren State who should be eliminated," Ji Hua said without much emotion. His eyes were fixed on Ye Wuchen and Hua Jieyu. "I challenge Ye Wuchen."
Now, even Ji Hua himself did not have absolute certainty that he could defeat Yu Sheng. But what was certain was that before the two of them meet in the final confrontation, he would wipe out the other two from the Barren State. If Yu Sheng and he were destined to battle for a place, then by what right did the other two from the Barren State have to stay in the competition? Therefore, before he battled Yu Sheng, he would eliminate the competitors from Barren State.
Yu Sheng regarded Ji Hua with frigid intensity.
"You can exit now," the elder said to Yu Sheng, who retreated to the edge at the same time Ye Wuchen stepped forward to meet Ji Hua.
"Illusory Sword, Shredding Sword?" Ji Hua looked at Ye Wuchen, on whose body the sacred radiance shone in bursts with a blinding light. His body dazzled.
"Let the Sword of Holy Light teach you a lesson." As Ji Hua finished, the sword of light radiated brilliant light. Ye Wuchen's expression was grave. He closed his eyes, and a dazzling light shot out from his brow chakra. A terrible storm of Sword Qi appeared all around him.
"Judgment," Ji Hua commanded indifferently. As soon as he finished, the sword of endless light descended upon Ye Wuchen, like streams of light swiftly passing through with unimaginable speed. A sword veil now surrounded Ye Wuchen, guarding him, covering his body.
Slashes of Sword of Holy Light crossed the void to attack, rocking the sword veil which now quickly begin to show cracks and fissures, on the verge of disintegration at any moment.
Just then, Ye Wuchen seemed to have transformed his body into a sword, a sword that could shatter all things. With a flash, he shuttled through the expanse, a sword light that penetrated the Holy Light, shattering all the attacks that blocked in front of him. He then started his attack on Ji Hua.
Ji Hua's eyes were full of blinding light. Under the gaze of everyone, his body moved, like streams of light, moving forward in multiple folds so incredibly fast, it was impossible to see which stream of light was actually him.
Ye Wuchen swept his sword across, cut through the void, chopping off the streams of light. But in the next moment, a light suddenly appeared in the sky above him and turned into Ji Hua.
Ji Hua extended his hand, and the Sword of Holy Light shrouded Ye Wuchen, falling through the sky like rays of light shooting out. The sword in Ye Wuchen's hands danced and once again formed a sword veil as a guard, but the Sword of Holy Light was relentless, and in a short instant, shattered the light curtain and pierced through.
"Get off on your own now," Ji Hua stood proudly in the void and said. In front of Ye Wuchen, there was the sword of endless light. Suspended at the moment, but with a turning of Ji Hua's mind, it could be turned into the sword of endless slaughtering light.
Ye Wuchen looked at Ji Hua and felt a sense of powerlessness. Even if he wanted to fight to the end like Xu Que did, he was unable to do so. His opponent was an expert on the power of light rules and had integrated that into the sword and its moves. There was no solution to that.
On the stage of Nine States Forum, he was still quite a ways from the top ten. He turned around to step down. All eyes were on Ji Hua, the number one from the Hall of Holy Light, whose strength was beyond measure.
If Yu Sheng could not diffuse the attacks wielded by his Sword of Holy Light, it would be difficult to defeat Ji Hua. After all, Yu Sheng could not possibly match the speed Ji Hua had demonstrated.
Ji Hua would be even more difficult than Hua Yunshu and Zhou You.
Ye Futian looked at the battle, and there was nothing to say. Wuchen's foundation was just a tad weaker. He had made great progress since the days of Cangye Kingdom and had realized two extraordinary rule powers. Of course, the nobles were not the focus of cultivation, and rule power could still be improved upon after entering the realm of the sage. As long as Wuchen's heart was still in it, he could continue moving forward. For now, an opponent such as Ji Hua was just too thorny for Ye Wuchen.
"Anyone else wishes to fight?" The elder looked out to the crowd. Ji Hua had said that he would continue to answer the challenge.
"Hmm." A sound was heard, and a young girl emerged out of the crowd. It was Yaya.
Yaya walked to the center of the battlefield and glanced at Ji Hua. "Your strength is fair, but Nine States Forum has more than just the two of you. So stay back now and I'll deal with you later. I challenge Mo Li of the Celestial Cliffs," she remarked with the ease of a breeze, full of self-confidence as if she was not even worried about facing Yu Sheng and Ji Hua.
Her comment surprised many. Just how powerful was this little girl?
Mo Li walked up to the battle stage and looked at the girl in front of him, sensing a strange vibe. The girl in front of him was so petite, although she seemed to be very powerful.
"Are you ready?" the girl asked.
"Mhmm." Mo Li nodded. The next moment, he saw a pair of terrible eyes, and in his mind, there appeared a bloodcurdling scene. His look rapidly changed as the aura of his body exploded, as if he had felt how truly dangerous this seemingly harmless girl was.
Suddenly, the girl disappeared, and it was almost with an unbelievable speed that she reappeared right in front of Mo Li. She pointed a white and delicate finger at Mo Li, while he released a powerful defensive force to try to shake off the girl, but that finger pierced through everything and landed right in front of Mo Li's chest. Instantly, Mo Li felt his whole body turning stiff, as if with a single thought from the other, his body would be torn into pieces.
"I admit defeat," Mo Li said, looking pallid.
"Boring." The girl released her finger and turned around to leave. Mo Li was left alone there soaked and in shock. Was there really such terrible genius existing in this world?
Not just him, but everyone else also fixed their attention there. The only remaining noble of the Celestial Cliffs from Ocean State, Mo Li, could not even bear one strike. Just as with previous battles, even now the girl was putting away her opponents easily.
Yu Sheng, Ji Hua, Yaya, who was the weakest? Moreover, there were other extremely powerful practitioners who had yet to fully unleash their strengths. The battle of the top ten would be beyond imagination.
"I will also join in for a bit of fun." Another figure emerged, it's the sorcerer Wubei of the Temple Vajra. He challenged Qin Guang of the Daluo Sacred Mountain in Feng State.
Many were speechless. This round was unnecessary and had no advantage at all, but these top geniuses were still eager to show off one after the other.
This was perhaps what they meant by the spirit of the real cultivator. They loathed to enter the top ten by simple elimination; what they wanted was more than rankings.
Wubei and Qin Guang each allowed their own power to effloresce. Wubei, chanting the name of Buddha, the sound lingered between heaven and earth. Behind him, there appeared an enormous Buddha, golden and ancient. Along with the reverberation of the Buddha sounds between heaven and earth, there appeared statues of Buddha in the firmament, who stood in the void and overlooked the ground below, rendering an endless oppressive power, suppressing all evils in the world.
The strength of Qin Guang was equally terrible. There was a gargantuan figure appearing behind him, like a ghost, the dark air of destruction flowing, along with terrifying power.
But at this instant, a sun appeared above the sky, right on the top of the ancient Buddha. The golden Buddha morphed into gods of all heavens, and countless palms slammed down for the kill with extreme aggression.
The ultimate move of the Vajra Realm, the Palm of Mahavairocana.
"So mighty." The hearts of many trembled. Qin Guang let out a roar and tried to resist the Palm of Mahavairocana, but he was quashed nonetheless. He spat out a mouthful of blood on the ground and was crushed and defeated.
Outstanding. Ye Futian also praised what he had just witnessed. Seeing the top geniuses of Nine States gradually showcasing their real power, Ye Futian felt that the battle for the top ten would be very interesting indeed.
Now, four competitors had demonstrated their superior strength and crushed the top 20 geniuses.
In the grandstand area, many people felt excitement in their hearts. It turned out that neither Hua Yunshu nor Zhou You were the stars of the show!