In the Summer State, a destructive blade of light streaked across the sky and landed outside the Xia clan.
A figure appeared in thin air and saw the Village Chief, Ye Futian, and Ye Sheng. The three of them had been to the Summer State before. The other naturally recognized them.
“What have you come for, Lord Ye?” the one who had come said with a bow.
“We have come to see Saint Xia.” Ye Futian bowed slightly.
The person from the Xia clan looked Ye Futian over and said, “Please come in, Lord Ye. I’ve sent someone to announce your arrival. I can’t be sure if Saint Xia will see you though.”
“Alright, thank you.” Ye Futian nodded and once again followed the other into the Xia clan.
Before long, there was word that Saint Xia had agreed to see Ye Futian, whereupon Ye Futian was brought to wait outside the hall.
“Lord Ye.” At this time, many people were walking out of the hall, all of them youths of the Xia clan. Moreover, all of them were those who had gone to undergo trials and returned.
“Have you come to undergo a trial?” a youth asked Ye Futian.
“Yes.” Ye Futian nodded. “Have you had any news of my people from the Barren State?”
The youth smiled faintly. “At first, the Master asked you to undergo a trial and you refused. Now you’ve come to ask for one.”
Ye Futian furrowed his brow but did not say anything. After all, he had come to ask for a favor.
“It’s already been three years since the banquet. How has your cultivation in the palace been going?” the youth asked.
Ye Futian looked at him and said, “I am a mid-level magi.”
“Excellent, I am also on this plane. For the past three years, I have been quite conscientious about cultivating. Could you give me a tip or two?” asked the youth with a smile. Over these past three years of trials, he had made a lot of progress, gone to many places: ruins, ancient temples, training fields, and even places of slaughter. Although he had not obtained the qualifications to be chosen by the heavens, he still felt that of those on the same plane as him, other than those few had undergone the trials, there were very few who were a match for him.
Ye Futian was, without a doubt, the best touchstone in the Nine States.
“I did not come to the Xia clan to teach.” Ye Futian shook his head.
“If you defeat me, I will tell you some things that I know,” the youth said with a smile.
Ye Futian suddenly turned and looked at him, his hair flowing in the wind. “Are you ready?” he asked suddenly.
Xia Yan’s face froze, and then he smiled. He stepped forward and a mighty aura swept out from him. The powerful aura covered a vast area. He looked at Ye Futian and said, “I’m ready.”
The people around Xia Yan parted, and they looked at the two of them with great interest. They wanted to see who was stronger between Xia Yan and Ye Futian.
Woosh. The wind blew past. Ye Futian stepped out, and an invisible airflow covered his body. At the same time, Xia Yan’s aura became stronger and stronger. It seemed like there was a dragon-shaped airflow around his body. It turned into a billowing force and swept out towards Ye Futian. But as Ye Futian stepped forward, it seemed that he was not hindered at all. He continued forward, and then suddenly accelerated like a bolt of lightning.
“Retreat.” Xia Yan thrust his hand into the air and suddenly, a terrible airflow wildly rushed towards Ye Futian like a real dragon.
But golden radiance shone on Ye Futian’s body. As his long hair flowed in the wind, his body was not hindered in any way. He crossed through all the airflow and continued forward as if there was no power in the world that could stop him.
Xia Yan saw him coming closer and closer and his face suddenly changed. He saw Ye Futian raise his hand and thrust it through the air towards him. The air seemed to split and his terrible Qi power was directly split. The fist got closer and closer until it finally hit him. Xia Yan only felt an astonishing tearing force descend upon his body as if Ye Futian could have torn him apart if he wanted to.
Boom. A loud sound rang out and Xia Yan went flying. He fell to the ground and spat up blood. His face was pale. This was the result of Ye Futian’s mercy. It could have been much worse.
“Thank you for letting me win,” said Ye Futian. Xia Yan stood up. His face was pale and his previous pride and self-confidence had completely disappeared.
How could this be? After more than three years of trials, he had progressed so much. He had even learned of the powers of upper-level cultivators from outside the Nine States. Although he was not a top player, he was still very good.
He had thought that once he returned to the Nine States, he would have few rivals on the same Plane as him.
Today, he had happened to run into Ye Futian and so he wanted to test his past three years of cultivation.
However, there had only been one blow.
But the blow had been too much for him.
“Xia Yan.” A voice came out from the hall. A figure walked out. It was Saint Xia.
“A talent like Lord Ye is rare in the Nine States. You have cultivated for three years, but do you think that he did nothing?” Saint Xia said indifferently, and there was a bit of disapproval in his tone.
Xia Yan bowed his head and said, “I was too arrogant.”
“You can cultivate your body and your mind, but if you don’t change your state of mind, you will never be a match for Lord Ye. Step back,” Saint Xia said. Xia Yan nodded and stepped to the side.
Saint Xia looked at Ye Futian. Beside him were several cultivators who had also returned.
“I have come to see you.” Ye Futian bowed.
“After three years it seems that your strength is even more extraordinary. What you just did was the spatial rule power Space-tearing, right?” Saint Xia asked. He had naturally sensed the previous battle. The punch that Ye Futian had just thrown contained tearing power. If not for him showing mercy, Xia Yan would have died after one blow and would have had no place to be buried.
“I learned it from the spatial rule power not long ago.” Ye Futian nodded slightly.
“No wonder you didn’t go to the trials. It was probably your absolute self-confidence. Even though you didn’t go, you’ve still advanced so much,” Saint Xia praised him. Ye Futian had been good at Space-freezing Rule Power, and now he understood Space-tearing. This was reaching harmony between the different Spatial Rule Powers.
“I didn’t go to the trials, but I didn’t waste the last three years. I spent a period of time cultivating in Nine State College and made some progress,” said Ye Futian.
“Mm.” Saint Xia nodded slightly. “Have you come because the disciples of the Barren State have not returned?”
“And to ask you to notify me.” Ye Futian bowed slightly. Although he wanted to go to the Upper Worlds, he also wanted to know what had happened. Otherwise, what would he do after he went there? Where would he go?
“Xia Nan, tell Lord Ye,” Saint Xia said to a youth next to him.
Xia Nan was one of the chosen, having qualified to cultivate in the Upper Worlds.
Xia Nan’s looks and bearing were extraordinary. His gaze fell upon Ye Futian and he said, “When the people of the Nine States went with the Supervising Inspector to the trials, they went to many places, even places far from the Nine States. In these trials, the disciples of the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State performed very well. Moreover, they worked as a team and were highly regarded. However, they were too persistent and tenacious. In the process of exploring some ruins, the disciples from the Holy Zhi Palace and some upper-level forces had a conflict. Something was stolen by Ye Wuchen, who had highly cultivated his Life Spirit in the Holy Zhi Palace. However, the others were also extremely proud and powerful. They would not let the matter drop, and so there was a fierce struggle.”
Ye Futian did not interrupt. He listened quietly, but he could not help but be a little nervous.
“I’m not sure what happened in the end. I only heard a general outline. It seems that Ye Wuchen’s Life Spirit was removed,” said Xia Nan.
Rumble… Ye Futian’s head trembled fiercely. A violent aura filled his body which he could not control in any way, and it burst forth. With his level, it should not have been like this, but at this moment he could not control it. A terrible airflow swept out from his entire body.
It was not only him. Next to him, a burst of wild air also burst out from Yu Sheng. It seemed like the flames of fury were burning.
His Life Spirit had been removed?
The Life Spirit of a cultivator was extremely important. Ye Futian knew this especially well. Wuchen had cultivated his Spirit Elemental System and had connected his LIfe Spirit to his spiritual energy through a silver sword. If his Life Spirit was removed, what would the consequences be?
Saint Xia looked at Ye Futian and Yu Sheng strangely. Why had they reacted so strongly? This was not like these two proud figures of the Nine States.
Xia Nan was also a bit taken aback. These people from the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State were really united.
In the process of undergoing trials, he had asked for advice. Ye Wuchen of the Barren State did not seem to have a strong presence among the cultivators of the Barren State. He was always very low-key and spoke very little. But he had never thought that upon hearing that something had happened to him, Ye Futian would have such a strong reaction. And it wasn’t just him; Yu Sheng was the same.
“Where are they now?” Ye Futian’s voice trembled a little bit. He blamed himself somewhat. He should have accompanied them on their trials from the start. Of course, it was more from anger. The treasure had been found by Wuchen and refined into his Life Spirit, so it should have been his.
But his Life Spirit had been removed!
When he thought of this, he felt uncontrollable anger.
“As for the performance of the people from the Holy Zhi Palace, there will be those who will be chosen and qualify to enter the Upper Worlds. But they probably gave up on that and asked the Supervising Inspector to give them some other opportunity. It probably had to do with Ye Wuchen,” said Saint Xia. “Later we came back, and the people from the Holy Zhi Palace are probably in the Upper Worlds.”
“Specifically, who were the others?” Ye Futian asked.
“Lord Ye, even though those of the Saint Plane can go to the Upper Worlds, I must remind you that the others’ must be very strong. At the very least they are no weaker than the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty,” said Saint Xia. He meant to remind Ye Futian that if the two Saints from the palace went to the Upper Worlds and there was a conflict, it would not be beneficial to them.
“Please tell me,” Ye Futian asked.
“If your Saints want to, they can go to Jiutian Palace to see,” said Xia Nan.
“Thank you.” Ye Futian bowed slightly, then looked at Saint Xia and said, “Forgive me for bothering you.”
“No problem,” said Saint Xia indifferently. Although he had been a bit dissatisfied with Ye Futian at his banquet, it was not anything too major. It was just that Ye Futian was a little too proud. The disciples of the palace were the same. It seemed that they had come to grief in the process of undergoing the trials.
After Ye Futian left, Saint Xia asked Xia Nan, “Do you think Ye Futian will let his Saints go?” Xia Nan looked up at Saint Xia and saw him smile and say, “Did you not see that there were only three of them this time? A Saint, plus him and Yu Sheng.”
“What do you mean?” A strange look came over Xia Nan’s face. That shouldn’t have been possible.
“The people of the Nine States have gradually forgotten that there is a road to the Upper Worlds, the Path that Ascends to Heaven,” whispered Saint Xia as he looked in the direction that Ye Futian had disappeared. “But how long has it been since anyone has dared to try that road? It is rumored that the Path that Ascends to Heaven is even more difficult than the Battle of Proving Holiness. Although this child appears to be humble, he is prouder than anyone else. He might think that there is no one like him in the Nine States. That was clear from what he said at the Nine States Platform. From his past style, it seems that there is nothing he won’t dare to try.”