Two years quickly passed.
It was the Year 10015 of the Divine Prefecture Calendar. Ye Futian came to the Nine State College to train again after three years passed.
Ye Futian first paid a visit to Saint Li when he arrived at the college. Saint Li greeted him personally this time and both sides talked for quite a while. It was said that the conversations were joyous for both of them. Saint Li then issued an order, allowing Ye Futian to come and go from the College’s library as he pleased.
The Nine State College had a long history, and all sorts of books and classics were found within the library, making it a treasure chest of sorts. There were even parts of the library which were restricted to the students of the College, yet it was all open for Ye Futian of the Holy Zhi Palace. It t became the talk of the College, and many felt displeased at the privileged treatment he received.
While there was no doubt that Ye Futian’s talents were exceptional, others deemed it to be senseless to open parts that were even restricted for them, students of the college itself, to an outsider. While the order spoke volume of Saint Li’s generosity, it was seen to be rather unfair to the students of the college.
Many grew to resent Ye Futian more, seeing him entering the Herb Garden to train again. That fellow has indeed made the Nine State College his personal training ground.
Many came to be jealous and envious at how Saint Li and Saint Jiang, the towering figures of the college, actively helped him in his training. Many cursed at Ye Futian deep down, resenting him for being so adept at using other people’s resources to further his own ends.
There were also those who recalled the scandal involving him and Goddess Die several years ago and mocked him as a shameless playboy for daring to show up again. But then again, there were also those who were impressed at Ye Futian’s prowess at wooing people, wondering how he had tricked Saint Li, Saint Jiang, and Goddess Die.
Ye Futian turned a blind eye to all the noise outside. Excellent people always drew the ire of others after all. At the moment, Ye Futian was chatting away with Goddess Die, who many from the Nine State College came to admire.
“Is it going to be more dangerous this time?” Ye Futian asked.
Little Butterfly rolled her eyes and said, “Of course. I haven’t even got the required herbs together yet. It will take some time. You know how terrifying those medicines will be. You should’ve come later, or maybe you wouldn’t need to show up at all. My teacher can’t go all the way to the Barren State and kidnap you.” She sounded rather resentful with her words. The medicine tests those years ago, which lasted for 81 days, had her living in fright all the time. I don’t get it. Your teacher has already become a saint. What the hell would you show up here to get tortured for?
“I promised Saint Jiang to go through the tests and I intend to keep my word.” Ye Futian added, “Besides, while the tests look rather frightening, I kind of look forward to it at the same time.”
The rounds of tests years ago made him understand that Saint Jiang was not looking for medical testing candidates for destruction. Instead, Saint Jiang had wanted to make breakthroughs in expanding the limitations of training. The last rounds of medicine tests yielded fantastic results, which was why he showed up at his own will now. If he were to be able to go through all three rounds of medical tests, his defense would grow exponentially.
“Right, look forward to it all you want then. Brother said that he will be the one supervising your baths this time. What do you think of that?” Little Butterfly glared at Ye Futian. She had been worried sick for him the last time he went through the test, and he had the gall to claim that he enjoyed it. To her, those tests were hell.
“Please, no.” Ye Futian recalled Xu Chehan’s bone-chillingly cold face. It would be torturous to have someone like that watching him.
“Little Butterfly, you know well that your brother doesn’t get along with me. I’d rather have you around. Being stared at by a man will make me feel antsy.” Ye Futian rubbed his nose and felt rather embarrassed.
“So you’re saying you’re fine with me watching you instead?” Little Butterfly said exasperatedly to Ye Futian. Just what kind of excuse is this? But she quickly blushed as soon as she finished, feeling that her words had come out all wrong.
“Well, you’ve seen everything, and I’ve gotten used to it,” Ye Futian said rather meekly. Little Butterfly got even more embarrassed before turning around and saying, “I’ll get the herbs ready. And by the way, that’s how brother is. Don’t take it to heart.”
“Little Butterfly,” Ye Futian called, “I’m thinking of going to the library tomorrow. I’ve got permission from senior Saint Li but I don’t know where it is. Lead the way, will you?”
“Nice.” Little Butterfly stopped walking and turned around, then said, “Let’s go then.”
Ye Futian came beside her and said, “As for your brother, I won’t be petty with him. Speaking of which, your brother is rather nice to you.” Xu Chehan came all the way to warn him before, and he had done so for Little Butterfly. While Ye Futian felt rather irked at the treatment he received, he saw no reason to take it to heart.
“Yeah, he has always been nice to me.” Little Butterfly nodded slightly and both of them chatted while walking quite a distance, heading towards the library.
The Nine State College was a huge place, and the sight of Ye Futian walking with Goddess Die in their place students’ hearts’ ache even more. It was, after all, Goddess Die, the prettiest girl found in the college. The b*stard is already married and he dares to come here to woo and trick our kind, pure Goddess Die. He is lower than an animal.
Many discussed ganging up on him and beating him to a pulp. Yet, they quickly realized that they were probably no match for him.
The library in the Nine State College was huge and it contained up to a million books covering all aspects of training, including introductions to professions and Life Spirits seen before, as well as powers of rules. Needless to say, the place did not lack books regarding training methods and spells. It had everything from low planes to high planes and there were even experiences left behind by seniors of the college, carved into jade scrolls.
Ye Futian entered the library and was immediately lost at where to begin. He had made great strides in his training for the past two years or so but had encountered some problems nonetheless. Other than to ask for guidance from figures of higher planes and spar with them, looking into books was another sensible option. As such, he came all the way to the Nine State College and asked Saint Li if he was permitted to enter the library. The saint agreed without hesitation, and Ye Futian felt very grateful.
“Introduction to Saint Rankings and the saints.” Ye Futian caught sight of a book by chance and stopped. He had done his share of research back in the Barren State but the details had been lacking.
The Village Chief and teacher should be on the Saint Ranking of the Nine State’s Sage and Saint Ranking, eh?
Ye Futian took the book and flipped to the first page. There were but several words on it.
First Place of the Saint Rankings: The Great Shaman.
There were no names and no further titles; there were only three words to describe the person who was number one.
“Who is this Great Shaman guy?” Ye Futian asked quietly.
“My teacher says that the Great Shaman is a very old and powerful saint. He was of the same era as the Sword Saint of the Void.” Little Butterfly then added, “I’m guessing that he is no longer in the Nine States, but somehow, his name is retained in the Saint Rankings.”
Ye Futian nodded slightly and continued flipping through the pages.
Second Place of the Saint Rankings: Ji Yuan, also known as the Reaper.
There were some introductions of the person below. Ji Yuan the Reaper trained in the Great Path of Death and it was extremely gruesome, so much so that he had invoked Emperor Xia’s ire, and the emperor, in turn, ordered someone to destroy his holy land, the Abyss of Death, forbidding him from carving out his divine path in the Nine States. However, the emperor spared him due to knowing that Ji Yuan’s training had been arduous. But after that, news regarding Ji Yuan the Reaper was seldom heard. There were rumors about him having left quite a while ago, and there were also rumors about him training in seclusion.
The two who were ranked at the top two places of the Saint Rankings were extremely frightening people. As for Saint Xia, who was ranked third, he was comparatively weaker. However, due to the first two having practically disappeared, Saint Xia came to become the number one in the Nine States in a way. It was due to such circumstances that he enjoyed an extremely prestigious status throughout the Nine States.
Ye Futian continued flipping the pages and, as expected, he found the Village Chief’s and his teacher’s names on the Saint Rankings. The Village Chief was ranked 30th, as he was probably the only one who was able to fight the Sacred King and bolt unscathed at his level. At the first plane of the Saint Plane, there seemed to be no one who ranked higher than the Village Chief, so the ranking was hardly surprising.
As for his teacher, he had never achieved any gleaming success as a saint, and the last battle with the Sacred King had him completely overpowered. As such, he was at the bottom of the Saint Rankings—73rd.
The Saint Rankings had 72 people on it, but with the Chess Saint dead and the Village Chief appearing out of nowhere, the numbers were made even. Then, his teacher became a saint, which made the ranking consist of 73 people in total.
Ye Futian was done flipping the pages and put the book back to its place, before finding another book right beside it, with the title reading, Divine Implements of the Nine States Rankings.
“There is a ranking like this?” Ye Futian sported a peculiar expression and took the book out of curiosity.
Every single holy land found in the Nine States had a handful of divine implements. However, due to there being many holy lands throughout the Nine States and some top forces having divine implements of their own, the total number of divine implements in existence was actually quite a huge sum. But then again, there were only 36 listed in the rankings, which presumably were the most renowned ones to be found.
The number one divine implement on the rankings was called the Scepter of Control, which was the divine implement used by the Great Shaman, the number one on the Saint Rankings.
The divine implement ranked second was the Eye of the Abyss, a spiritual type of devastating divine implement, which, coincidentally, was used by Ji Yuan, second on the Saint Rankings.
The most powerful being wielding the most powerful divine implement seemed to fit the rules of the cultivators. It was quite common to see divine implements being fought over and taken. However, the third divine implement on the ranking was no longer one controlled by the third-ranked saint on the Saint Rankings. It was the Halberd of Time and Space named “Nothingness.” According to the records, it was currently lost in the Endless Ocean of the Ocean State and did not have an owner.
Ye Futian continued to flip the pages and read about the Divine Implement Rankings. A lot of powerful divine implements were recorded, and it deepened Ye Futian’s understanding about the Nine States!