Yu State had two great holy lands and three great Saints.
Zhisheng Cliffs had two of the Saints—Saint Zhi and Flame Saint. Zhisheng Cliff fully deserved the title as the top holy land of Yu State. Despite this, Yu State, the Barren State, and Ocean State, located in the Endless Sea, were the three weakest states in the Nine States. The Summer State, Qi State, War State, and Cloud State were the strongest.
Thus, Zhisheng Cliffs had always been concerned about a place with no Saints, like the Barren State. If they could occupy it, take the Sage Hall of the Holy Zhi Palace along with its divine implements, and select the most outstanding people from the Barren State to come to their holy land for training, in time, they would grow stronger.
That was the context behind the battle that had taken place outside the Holy Zhi Palace. Although it was caused by the enmity between Zhan Xiao and Gu Dongliu, Saint Zhi’s true desire had been revealed in the battle. It could be seen that Saint Zhi had inspired the conflict. It was only because the Palace Lord and Vice Headmaster Liu Chan had not hesitated to sacrifice themselves that had attracted Emperor Xia’s will and made it so that Saint Zhi could not take the Holy Zhi Palace.
Zhisheng Cliffs was built on a series of cliffs. It was a place where countless people from Yu State came for pilgrimage. At this moment, all was quiet there. Behind the mountain, a figure sat there cultivating by a steep precipice. This was Ge Feng, the head of the Nine Warriors of Zhisheng Cliffs. He was a cultivator of the Sage and Saint Ranking. He had been shut up here cultivating for a while, trying to make himself stronger to prepare for the next Orthodoxy Battle.
There was not long left before the next Battle of the Saints. At that time, all the top Sages of the Nine States would be going wild. Even though he was a Sage, there was still a lot of pressure. Every Battle of Saints, there were very few who could prove themselves worthy of becoming a Saint, few enough to count on one hand.
Also, Zhisheng Cliffs had decided to go to war with the Holy Zhi Palace. He could use the cultivators of the Barren State to temper himself. The battle outside the Holy Zhi Palace several years ago had not gone well for him.
The wind blew upon the cliffside, and Ge Feng opened his eyes. There was a brilliant lightning flash, and he could feel his heartbeat in his eyelids. He could not calm himself down. Something was making him uneasy. He did not know where this feeling came from.
Ge Feng stopped his cultivation and he left the place with a flash. Those who were cultivating could feel the Path of heaven and earth, and in the midst of it, could seize onto some unknown things. Even with his level of cultivation what he had felt made him uneasy. He did not know why, but he felt that something was going to happen.
Soon, Ge Feng came to a great hall and found another Sage, Nie Yan. There were three cultivators in Zhisheng Cliffs on the Sage Ranking—Kong Yao, Nie Yan, and Ge Feng. All of them had participated in the battle outside the Holy Zhi Palace.
“Senior brother,” shouted Ge Feng.
Nie Yan looked at him and asked, “Shouldn’t you be shut away cultivating?”
“I don’t know why, but I feel uneasy. The Master has gone to Xihua Sacred Mountain. Could something have happened to him?” asked Ge Feng.
“The Head Saint’s level is so high, and he has never offended the cultivators there. How could something have happened? You shouldn’t worry about it,” said Nie Yan.
“I’m still a little uneasy. Why don’t you go see Uncle-Master?” said Ge Feng. Flame Saint was Nie Yan’s Master.
“The Master is concentrating on cultivation right now, so I shouldn’t disturb him. Even if something does happen, the Head Saint and Zhisheng Cliffs can handle it,” said Nie Yan.
Ge Feng nodded faintly as he stared off into the distance. Maybe he was just worrying too much. He didn’t know what would happen.
…
At that moment, a line of figures was moving through the air from the Barren State towards Yu State. The person at the head was huge and as brilliant as a god. His body was full of the light of the Divine Path, and it covered the cultivators around him as well. He opened up an acupoint and light burst from his foot. He stepped across the sky. Though he was now a Saint, Douzhan’s speed was still astonishing.
Ye Futian had ordered him to bring people to Zhisheng Cliffs. It went without saying that he had waited for this day for a long time. When Zhisheng Cliffs had suppressed the Barren State, Crouching Dragon Mountain had been in imminent danger. After the battle outside the Holy Zhi Palace, the two great Palace Lords had been killed. Although he did not agree with their ideas, everything they had done had been for the palace. If Zhisheng Cliffs had not shown up, things would not have gotten to that point.
This matter would finally be brought to an end.
Black Wind Condor was also following him. When he was there, you could always get news from Ye Futian.
Yu State was much closer to the Barren State than the Eastern State. But even so, the Village Chief had still gotten there first. He was waiting in a place far away from Zhisheng Cliffs. In the end, Douzhan led the cultivators from the palace. There weren’t many of them, but they were all the top fighters of the Holy Zhi Palace, and they could form a battle matrix.
Battle matrices could not be used in battles between the Holy Zhi Palace and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, but a surprise attack like this didn’t count.
“Master,” called Ye Futian as he saw Douzhan coming.
Douzhan looked at Ye Futian, then at Sword Demon, Zhuge Qingfeng, You Chi, and the others. A cold desire to kill flashed in all their eyes. They had thought their conflict with Zhisheng Cliffs would be in an Orthodoxy Battle. They had not thought it would come this early.
“Let’s go,” said Ye Futian. Everyone set out towards Zhisheng Cliffs.
Zhisheng Cliffs was the foremost holy land in Yu State. It had been unchallenged in Yu State for many years and thus had been at peace for too long. Other than their attack on the Holy Zhi Palace, they had not fought in a very long time, so they would naturally not have a strong sense of crisis. Therefore, Zhisheng Cliffs had absolutely no defenses at this time.
In a palace hall in Zhisheng Cliffs, a stalwart old man with a fiery aura suddenly opened his eyes. He suddenly felt alert as he sensed a strong threat. An invisible airflow permeated the room. His spiritual will stretched out and covered all of Zhisheng Cliffs. He could now see what everyone was doing. It continued to spread out. A terrible power filled the sky, and suddenly his spiritual rushed in that direction. He sensed a mighty army descending.
In an instant, Flame Saint was filled with shock.
“Who goes there?” Flame Saint’s spiritual will turned into a huge fiery dragon that roared and rushed out. It contained the power of the Divine Path.
The Village Chief glanced at it, and his terrible swordsman’s will turned into a huge sword that sliced down, piercing through the dragon and destroying his opponent’s will. The fiery dragon burst apart and disappeared.
Flame Saint’s figure suddenly appeared outside the great hall of Zhisheng Cliffs. He looked up into the sky and screamed, “Everyone in Zhisheng Cliffs, hear my command. An enemy is invading, prepare for battle.” His voice rang throughout Zhisheng Cliffs, and everyone’s hearts trembled fiercely at it. Zhisheng Cliffs, which had been peaceful for so long, was now being invaded.
What had happened?
In an instant, countless auras bloomed and a line of figures rose into the sky. They appeared outside the cliffs and looked up. They all felt an amazingly powerful aura coming towards them.
Ge Feng also appeared in the sky. He flickered towards Flame Saint, looking embarrassed. Had his uneasy feeling not been because his Master had gone to Xihua Sacred Mountain, but because Zhisheng Cliffs was in danger?
A strong space rule power came from high in the sky. An incomparably terrible space storm descended, followed by a group of figures that appeared in the air above Zhisheng Cliffs. Of the first three, the one on the left was an old man with the Lingtian Sword Will, and the one on the right was a burly man who stood there like a god. The one in the middle was an extremely handsome young man. His robes were as white as snow. He swept his cold eyes over them.
“The Holy Zhi Palace in the Barren State.” Flame Saint’s face grew ugly. Both the Saints of the Barren State were here, and Saint Zhi was not. He was the only one guarding Zhisheng Cliffs. Moreover, Saint Zhi had taken Kong Yao and many of the cultivators of the Zhisheng Cliffs with him.
“What is the meaning of this?” Flames burned in Flame Saint’s eyes. Everything around him was extremely hot.
“When Zhisheng Cliffs attacked the Barren State, they first attacked Crouching Dragon Mountain and then Taihang Mountain. Our casualties were great. After that, you attacked the Holy Zhi Palace, killing two of our Palace Lords. Now that we have Saints, we have come naturally come to pay you a visit,” yelled Ye Futian. “I am attacking you in accordance with the rules of the Sacred War. Those on the Saint Plane will do battle with Saints, Sages with Sages, and the Nobles will not fight. But if you break the rules, don’t blame us if we completely level Zhisheng Cliffs.”
“The rules of a Sacred War?” Flame Saint said coldly. “There is no Sacred War between us. You dare to surprise attack us, and don’t fear Emperor Xia’s reproach?” He couldn’t handle both of the Barren State’s Saints, especially not the Village Chief. He was someone who could fight the Great Zhou Sacred King, and Flame Saint was at the bottom of the Saint Ranking. How could he compete with him?
“When you attacked the Holy Zhi Palace, I notified Emperor Xia. He knows of the enmity between us. He will not reproach us. Moreover, your Head Saint, Saint Xia, announced at Xihua Sacred Mountain, that he would launch a Sacred War against the Holy Zhi Palace. Emperor Xia will find out about that.”
The people of Zhisheng Cliff’s faces fell. Saint Xia had personally declared a Sacred War against the Holy Zhi Palace?
But how could the Barren State have mobilized their army so quickly?
“Attack!” called Ye Futian in a harsh voice. He did not have a great desire for revenge for the deaths of the two Palace Lords. But he could not forget everything that happened at Taihang Mountain. On that day, a group of demon apes had lain in a pool of blood, staining the mountain. Yu Sheng and Jieyu had almost been killed. Those were the two most important people in his life. Even if it had not been for the two of them, the blood debt of Taihang Mountain could only be repaid by blood.
Today, blood would stain Zhisheng Cliffs.
Boom! A loud noise rang out as Ye Futian shot forward. Divine radiance burst from Douzhan’s sturdy figure. His life spirit and that of the Douzhan body were one, and he grew dozens of meters. He descended like a god, trampling towards Flame Saint.
Flame Saint looked up, and his flames leapt up to the sky, rushing fiercely towards Douzhan. However, his godlike body was fearless. He let the flames burn upon him, bathing in the holy fire. The fire reached across the sky, turning into a fiery Qilin. It devoured the heavens and the earth as it rushed towards Douzhan.
Douzhan continued downward. He descended in a flash, and he opened the Seven Star Acupoints. Divine light poured out from within him, and he smashed his fists down toward the earth. There was a loud noise as Douzhan pierced through that all-devouring Qilin. His terrible attack made Zhisheng Cliffs shake, and many cracks appeared. Many buildings collapsed and shattered.
“Do you want to fight up above or directly on Zhisheng Cliffs?” Douzhan’s godlike body stepped where Flame Saint had just been standing. Flame Saint soared far away, looking coldly at the violent Douzhan.