Chapter 969: Storm in the Nine States
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Moon Saint from the Moon clan came to pay a visit on the Yi clan in the Summer State.
Since he had come personally, Saint Yi came personally to greet him.
At that moment, the two top figures of the Summer State sat drinking tea and chatting in one of the Yi clan’s pavilions like they were friends who had not seen each other in many years.
“I’ve heard that Xihua Sacred Mountain, the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the Hall of Holy Light have mustered their armies in preparation to attack the Barren State. With the strength of these three holy lands, there’s no question that the Barren State can’t match the. Especially the Hall of Holy Light. They’ve lost a lot of their cultivators recently, but they still rank in the top five of the Nine States, and that is not an empty reputation. And then you have the forces of the Endless Sea on top of that. Are you really planning to join in this war?” said Saint Yi to Moon Saint. It seemed that he wanted to convince Moon Saint to abandon this course of action.
“Are you planning to get involved?” asked Moon Saint.
“Whether I get involved or not, the palace will be destroyed.” Saint Yi took a sip of tea as he spoke. Saint Ji was cruel by nature. They would not wait for Ye Futian to grow stronger and thus threaten them.
When their armies descended, no matter how strong Ye Futian was he would have no way to save the palace.
“What if the palace is destroyed but Ye Futian survives?” asked Moon Saint. “Does Ye Futian have a chance of breaking out of their encirclement?”
Saint Yi thought of the battle that had taken place, and was silent for a while. “There’s not much hope,” he said finally, “but it is possible.”
“If that time really comes, and if the palace is really destroyed, the Yue clan will die fighting to let Ye Futian escape the encirclement. Even Renhuang’s inheritance is not necessary as long as he lives.” Moon Saint smiled. “If he reaches the top level of the Sage Plane, you have to admit that he could take on an army by himself.”
Saint Yi looked at his guest. Moon Saint was resolute.
He thought back to that day, and how Ye Futian had seemed peerless. If he truly reached the top level of the Sage Plane, then Kong Yao would not have been able to withstand even a single blow from the halberd, and he would sweep away all before him. It would truly be possible that a single person could be compared to an army.
“If Ye Futian lives, he’ll get revenge for the palace, and who will be able to survive?” Moon Saint took a sip from his cup and then put it down. “Speaking of which, even though you shot a few arrows at him that day, this is no great problem. If you just stand by idly and send someone to make your apologies, Ye Futian will not count it against you. No matter what kind of storms rage in the Nine States, as long as the Yi clan stays out of the way, what danger will come to them? After all, even if you had gotten Renhuang’s inheritance, could you even have kept it away from Saint Ji? You know what he’s like.”
“If the Nine States falls into chaos, non-action is the best strategy. Why did so many holy lands observe passively on that day? First, the Great Zhou Sacred King was arrogant and harrassed Ye Futian. How is the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty now? Their power has been declining continuously. And how about Zhisheng Cliffs? Now that Saint Ji and Saint Xihua have entered the game, can they guarantee that they will force Ye Futian into total retreat? And the Qi clan is watching them like a hungry tiger, just waiting for the Hall of Holy Light to fall. Do you really want to jump into these troubled waters?” continued Moon Saint.
A thoughtful look came over Saint Yi’s face. What Moon Saint was saying made sense.
He also knew that if they could have really killed Ye Futian that day, the various holy lands would not have hesitated to kick him while he was down. After all, Renhuang’s inheritance had been there. If they didn’t try for it, how could they know what the result would have been?
Now were Ye Futian and the Holy Zhi Palace in a hopeless situation?
“Since you know that non-action is the best strategy, why are you getting involved?” Saint Yi stared at Moon Saint. Moreover, he had aided Ye Futian when all the Nine States had been against him. Now he had come to persuade him to stand by passively.
“You must know that before this affair there was friendship between Ye Futian and the Yue clan. Moreover, with his outstanding talent he may one day reach beyond even the Saint plane. In any case, at that time it was better to assist him than to try and wrest Renhuang’s inheritance away. And now that we’ve gotten involved, we can only see things through.” Moon Saint smiled. “Moreover, you must see that Saint Xia values Ye Futian as well. It won’t be so easy to kill him.”
On saying this, he stood up and said, “I’ve said my piece. If you still decide to join the war, then we will meet on the field of battle. Farewell.”
He turned and left.
After he left, Saint Yi still sat there with a thoughtful expression, as if he had not yet made up his mind.
“Send cultivators to all the holy lands to observe their movements. Send a few more throughout the Barren State to see what the Holy Zhi Palace is doing,” he said.
“Yes, sir.” The people outside the pavilion left to carry out his orders.
………
The Vajra Region was on a holy mountain in War State. It was known as the strongest of martial holy lands.
The cultivators of the Vajra Region cultivated Buddhist combat techniques. They were extremely tough and strong, their bodies were unmatched, and their attack power was extremely high. The lord of the Vajra Region therefore respected Yu Sheng’s talent, and had invited him to cultivate there for three years.
At this moment, the kasaya wearing monks were sitting cross legged on their cattail hassocks. In front of them all was the Vajra Region Lord, who was preaching at the altar.
His voice was like a Buddha’s, and was also like the Great Path. It resonated with the 108 enlightened ones behind him and made all who listened to it feel refreshed.
He stopped preaching after a while, and fingered his prayer beads. He looked at everyone and said, “You have listened to me preach the Great Path for many years, but have rarely left the mountain. Now that there is chaos in the Nine States, I want you to leave and attain enlightenment there.”
“Who should we help, Lord?” asked a monk.
“Help whoever you want to,” answered the Vajra Region Lord.
“Alright.” Everyone nodded and then left.
On this day, 108 warrior monks left their mountain seeking the Great Path and headed towards the Nine States.
……….
At that moment, a figure wearing a long green dress stood quietly on a suspended platform outside Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple, gazing out into the distance.
The wind blew through her hair, gently stroking her exquisite features. Her dress fluttered in the wind. She was like an immortal who had come down to the world of mortals.
“Master.” At that moment, Goddess Qingni walked up behind her.
Glass Saint had said very little for the past few days. Yuechan’s death had affected her greatly.
“What is the situation like outside?” asked Glass Saint without turning to look at Qingni.
“The Hall of Holy Light, Xihua Sacred Mountain, and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty have all called their armies together. They can attack the Barren State at any time,” answere Goddess Qingni.
“Anything else?” asked Glass Saint.
“Each of the forces in the area under our control have sent people to beg you to excuse them,” continued Goddess Qingni. Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple had also summoned all their cultivators, but none of them had obeyed.
The situation in the Barren State was known throughout the Nine States, and would likely lead to catastrophe.
After the Barren State, the next place to be destroyed would probably be Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple. Under these circumstances, none of the forces in the area dared get involved in the war, and instead only sent people to beg for mercy.
Glass Saint was silent, still looking off into the distance. She said, “Summon everyone in the temple who is of the Sage level or above. We will go to the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty. Have everyone else leave temporarily. If something happens to me, they are to never return.”
“Master.” Goddess Qingni’s heart trembled slightly.
“Do as I say,” said Glass Saint. Goddess Qingni nodded and left.
The news spread quickly. The cultivators of Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple all left within a day. A group of them went to the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, but they took no action, seeming to only be there to contain the Dynasty’s forces.
Glass Saint was not there. She naturally left Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple as well, but no one knew where she went. Some said that she had gone to the capital of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and was preparing to fight the Great Zhou Sacred King to the death. Anyone who was perceptive enough could see the enmity between the two of them.
………
The storms that had swept out across the Nine States began to gather together. And, there in the center of the storm, the Barren State was the most active of all the Nine States.
These past few days many people from throughout the Barren State had come to Zhongzhou City, and many of them had even come to the Holy Zhi Palace to offer their swords.
The Holy Zhi Palace had been leveled. Ye Futian had been setting up matrices all along while using Chess Spirit to calculate more of them. Now, there was a chain of interlocking patterns in the vast land where the palace had been. There was a group of swords at the center, and each sword was a Sage level ritual implement.
At that moment, a group of figures broke through the sky, and a voice rang out, “Futian.”
“Why have you come?” Ye Futian looked up at the figures in the air and saw that one of them was the College Chief of Starry School in Divine Sky City. He was now the College Chief of three colleges.
“I heard that you have called together all the swords in the Barren State, so I brought you the swords from Divine Sky City,” said the College Chief with a smile.
“And not only us. The Long family, the Gu family, and other forces from Divine Sky City have also come. Although we don’t have many swords, us old folks have a bit of combat experience,” said Chen Yuan with a smile. Beside him was Mu Chuan of Zhaixing House.
Ye Futian was moved as he looked at all these familiar faces. He smiled and said, “Thank you all for your help. But Yunxi and Ling’er shouldn’t join in the fun. Have them return to Divine Sky City.”
He naturally saw that Gu Yunxi and Long Ling’er were in the crowd behind Chen Yuan.
Gu Yunxi looked at Ye Futian. There was still some faint affection in her gentle eyes. She had heard that he was now able to sweep away all the cultivators in the Nine States. He was a legend.
“I was a disciple of the palace. Why shouldn’t I fight? Don’t think you can kick me out, Brother Ye,” said Long Ling’er.
“You can stay if you want, but once the fighting starts you must go into Holy Sage Pavilion with everyone else,” said Ye Futian with a smile and a shake of the head. On the day of battle he would have everyone under the Sage level go into Holy Sage Pavilion to arrange matrices. Even if they lost, those people would be safe.
At that moment, more people appeared in the sky.
“Futian.”
A gentle voice rang out. Ye Futian looked up and saw two figures. A strange look came over his face. “Why have you come, Little Butterfly?”
“Master said that you promised that before you tried his medicine…” Little Butterfly paused.
“I can’t die?” said Ye Futian with a smile.
Little Butterfly smiled softly and said, “Master said that your last round of trials can be done at the palace, so he ordered me and my brother to come.”
“Saint Jiang is too relentless.” Ye Futian was silent for a while. So many people had come to the palace!