The Legend of Futian

In the venue of the banquet, the eyes of many saw Bai Luli off.

As he said it himself, he was no saint and, therefore, was imperfect. As such, he would have been angered and would have resented people and things. As he put it himself, he was unable to forgive Zhuge Mingyue and Gu Dongliu, yet that battle changed his mind and he calmed down. It was probably done out of respect and acknowledgment for Gu Dongliu’s prowess and belief, but Bai Luli looked even more human for doing so.

Bai Luli was, after all, the number one genius in all of Barren State and the heir chosen by the Holy Zhi Palace. As such, his temperament would have been that with a comprehensive moral compass. Bai Luli was a person worthy of respect and so was Gu Dongliu. Gu Dongliu would probably be yet another Bai Luli, and everyone in the Barren State would learn his name after that battle.

“I walk the great path alone and my mind remains adamant. So long as I remain firm in the righteousness of my actions, I will not be defeated!” Many turned their eyes at Gu Dongliu. They were able to feel the same vibe from him being together with Zhuge Mingyue as they did with her and Bai Luli. Gu Dongliu and Zhuge Mingyue were a good match. At the very least, the love between them was flawless.

Liu Chan gazed at Gu Dongliu for a bit, before turning around to address Ye Futian, Yu Sheng, and the others, “Attaining sainthood without the use of external help. I look forward to your way of the Divine Path. Take care.” He then left the scene to follow Bai Luli. Sage Tianxing and Sage Zhu Song followed and disappeared from Crouching Dragon Mountain in mere moments.

Ye Futian finally felt his nerves wind down, seeing Bai Luli and Liu Chan gone. He had never expected the one to eventually give up to be Bai Luli. If Bai Luli had not made his stance clear, the Holy Zhi Palace would have still sided adamantly with him, and their predicament would have remained. He knew clearly that both Bai Luli and Liu Chan were adamant in their stances, and none felt themselves to have done the wrong thing. Cultivators also trained to cultivate their minds, after all. If they thought something to be wrong, they would not have done so in the first place.

The entire Barren State looked forward to the marriage between Bai Luli and Zhuge Mingyue. The Holy Zhi Palace and White Cloud City both hoped Bai Luli to do so and did all they were able to prepare everything for him. Bai Luli said it himself as well, he liked Zhuge Mingyue’s temperament. As such, he did nothing to resist the arrangement. If it had not been for Gu Dongliu’s emergence, the wedding that everyone in Barren State looked forward to would have probably been flawless. However, there were few who cared what Zhuge Mingyue thought about the arrangement.

The pressure from the Holy Zhi Palace and White Cloud City was intense. This pressure had been shouldered by Zhuge Mingyue. As such, she agreed to it, and everything unfolded as it had today.

As for Liu Chan, he probably knew Zhuge Mingyue’s attitude and stance on the whole arrangement, yet he did not see himself to be doing the wrong thing. In Liu Chan’s eyes, the priority of having a saint emerge from the Barren State superseded everything else. It was a great endeavor, and Zhuge Mingyue’s personal wishes were insignificant in comparison. Furthermore, Liu Chan may have thought it to be a good thing for Zhuge Mingyue to be able to marry Bai Luli. As such, that further reinforced his beliefs of him doing nothing wrong.

However, Ye Futian was the junior of both Gu Dongliu and Zhuge Mingyue, and he was just as entangled in the predicament as those two. He too had his own stance and stuck to it. As such, in his eyes, both Liu Chan and Bai Luli were, without a doubt, wrong. Anyone who arranged and encouraged for the wedding to happen was all wrong. That was because he knew that if there were to be even some slight changes to how the events unfolded today, his Second Sister and Third Brother might have been eternally doomed.

Liu Chan’s position was a flawless one. He had nothing to rebuke Ye Futian and even allowed the young man entrance to the Sage Hall, free of all selfish thoughts. Even when Ye Futian ended up being expelled from the Holy Zhi Palace, he had nothing to say about it and held no grudges. The wedding was the only thing that Ye Futian did not agree to. It was fortunate that the ending was not an irredeemable, sour one.

The one to have felt most displeased was the City Lord of White Cloud City. He remained where he was with a cold expression and said, “Luli devoted himself to the great endeavor, yet despite having agreed to the marriage arrangement, something like this happened with the Zhuge family. Don’t you think you owe me reparations in some form, junior?” Many were able to tell right there and then that the City Lord of White Cloud City was still immensely displeased with the whole thing.

“Senior, if Luli is able to let go and wish them both happiness, don’t you think you should let go of the matter as well? I will find a suitable time after this to apologize personally at your place,” Zhuge Qingfeng said.

Bai Gu’s expression remained cold. It became apparent to him that Zhuge Qingfeng had decided to simply let the matter slide.

“If that is the case, save your efforts.” Bai Gu then said plainly, “Farewell.” He waved his hands aside and leaped into the air. The people of White Cloud City began to leave one after another.

Bai Ze’s expression was an utterly disgusted one. He glared at Ye Futian coldly, finding it puzzling as to why his brother decided to give up at the very last minute. If his brother had insisted, Gu Dongliu would have been dead. If Ye Futian dared stand in his brother’s way, Ye Futian would have died as well. However, everything had come to nothing.

He stood and left with the people of White Cloud City.

Many great figures of the Barren State looked at the scene and thought that the relations between White Cloud City and the Zhuge family had just taken a turn for the worse.

The City Lord of White Cloud City had always been a very overbearing person. His talents were peerless and he had made quite notable achievements when he was young. He was probably even the most exceptional figure of his time, and he had never been caught in such an awkward predicament. What the Zhuge family did today had no doubt offended White Cloud City direly.

Many turned their eyes at Zhuge Qingfeng. The stance of the clan leader of the Zhuge family had definitely budged. He would not have prevented the mighty ones from the Zhuge family from acting otherwise, as his daughter was still the main focus of the day. There was little to be read from Zhuge Qingfeng’s expression. He looked composed as he saw Bai Gu off.

Zhuge Qingfeng knew his senior well. Bai Gu was immensely overbearing, wanting to be the number one and the most prestigious one no matter where he went. Bai Gu was also incredibly stubborn. Such a combination of personality traits coupled with his talents got him to where he was today. The City Lord of White Cloud City enjoyed a status that was just as prestigious as the City Lord of Alchemy City, and both figures were seen as the most renowned figures in the western regions. It was such that he and the City Lord of Alchemy City were two of the most powerful figures in the Barren State, right behind the mighty ones from the Holy Zhi Palace and the Ice Temple.

As Zhuge Qingfeng knew Bai Gu very well, he also knew that he had offended Bai Gu in ways unthinkable. However, he did not feel guilty about it all. Liu Chan did what he did for the sake of the great endeavor, yet that senior of his had selfish agendas; Bai Gu would not have pressured him continuously otherwise. As such, Zhuge Qingfeng cared little about what Bai Gu thought. What happened happened, and there was little point in having regrets about it. Furthermore, despite having lost quite a bit, Zhuge Qingfeng had a lot to gain that day. What there was for the taking needed to be taken. At the very least, that was the action befitting his status as the clan leader.

“Master Zhuge, I see that the case has ended, and I bid you farewell,” the head of the Sovereign family, Huang Xi, said.

“There is no need to hurry, Brother Huang Xi.” Zhuge Qingfeng continued, “We, the Zhuge family, have thrown the banquet here in Crouching Dragon Mountain to celebrate the engagement of my daughter. While there have been some untoward incidents, the event will continue.”

Many were shocked to hear Zhuge Qingfeng’s words. They all turned their eyes at Zhuge Mingyue and Gu Dongliu and came to realize right there and then what he meant.

Huang Xi looked rather funny at the response. Zhuge Qingfeng does know how to get things done quickly, and he sure has no qualms about offending Bai Gu further. He obviously sees himself guilty as charged now, so he can at least take what is there to take.

The battle between Gu Dongliu and Bai Luli demonstrated Gu Dongliu’s talents and prowess in ways that could not have been done any better. Having him replace Bai Luli was seen to be a sound option for the Zhuge family. Furthermore, they did not forget all those people of the younger generation standing behind Gu Dongliu.

The former number one and number two on the Law Rank, Ye Futian and Yu Sheng, as well as the son-in-law of You Chi, the City Lord of Alchemy City, all stood by Gu Dongliu. It was apparent that they respected that senior of theirs very much. If Gu Dongliu were to become a son-in-law of the Zhuge family, rallying behind Gu Dongliu and Zhuge Mingyue meant that Ye Futian and the rest of them were made their family as well.

Zhuge Qingfeng literally wasted no time with his new decision. Even those old farts from the Zhuge family would have been rendered speechless at that point.

Zhuge Mingyue lifted her head to look at her father, then lowered her head to look at Gu Dongliu and smiled. Ye Futian and the others smiled as well, looking forward to it all. However, Gu Dongliu’s expression changed somewhat and he said, “No.”

The smiles of many were, as expected, frozen in place. Zhuge Mingyue’s smile disappeared as she looked at Gu Dongliu.

Father actually wanted us to get engaged, and you, Gu Dongliu, object instead? What the hell are you thinking?

“Mingyue, we’ll talk about this later. I need to leave.” Gu Dongliu struggled to get up as he seemed to have recalled something. His expression was of the utmost seriousness. The expressions of everyone in Zhuge family turned ice-cold. That b*stard ruined Bai Luli and Zhuge Mingyue’s wedding just to bail right afterward?

“We are visitors from Yu State, here to pay our respects to the Zhuge family,” a voice was heard from outside Crouching Dragon Mountain. Countless eyes turned in the direction of that voice in an instant. Many felt the occurrence peculiar. Visitors from Yu State?

Yu State was one of the Orthodoxy states led by Emperor Xia, situated right next to Barren State, with their borders being near the Barren State’s western regions.

Visitors from Yu State? What are they doing here in Crouching Dragon Mountain?

Gu Dongliu’s expression changed drastically. Such changes in expression had not appeared on him even when he was fighting Bai Luli just moments ago. He knew that one battle would, at least, have not gotten many in trouble, and that was also the reason he refused to show up and had written that break-up letter instead. However, he was unable to hold himself back, seeing that line written in blood.

Zhuge Qingfeng looked outside. The group outside the mountain flew in before he gave his permission. Their auras were powerful and the guards of Crouching Dragon Mountain did not bother stopping them. They knew there was no they could have stopped those visitors. There were even several among the group who possessed the aura of sages.

The group landed before them from the air. The young man standing in the middle exuded an air of exceptionality. His body was a slender one and his eyes were filled with pride. He swept his glance at Gu Dongliu and thought that he had to praise Gu Dongliu for his prowess in running away. Gu Dongliu kept his trail well hidden and that made him very difficult to find. Even when the group had a lock on his aura, they were only capable of tracking him to a possible area, not an exact one. If he had stayed hidden all the time, they would have had a more difficult time tracking him down. It was unfortunate that Gu Dongliu sparked a battle himself, which enabled the group to track him.

Ye Futian and Zhuge Mingyue lifted their head and looked at the visitors in the air, suddenly recalling that break-up letter Gu Doingliu wrote and why he was in such a hurry to leave before. They came to realize something at that very moment.

Those visitors were the true reason why that letter was written in the first place!