The Legend of Futian

In the palace, Ye Futian sat cross-legged. Over a thousand holy badges hung suspended in the air before him. The soft glow that emanated from within the holy badges began to resonate and combine. In no time, it formed a dazzling image that looked somewhat like a map.

“A map of the Divine Road.” There was a sharp glint in Ye Futian’s eyes as he looked at the image. He tried to get a better look, but the image floated in and out of sight. It was impossible to read the map clearly. He only saw the blurry image of a giant Divine Road. Nine cities lay on the Divine Road, and Ye Futian locked his sights upon one of them. He could barely make out the outline of Flaming Prison City.

On the map, a streak of bright light could be seen where Flaming Prison City was. Ye Futian’s eyebrows creased. Could this light be marking where the large relic was?

He stared at it for a while, but the image remained unclear still. Ye Futian guessed it might be because he hadn’t collected enough holy badges yet. Even over a thousand of them were not enough to make the large relic appear on the map. He needed to collect more holy badges.

It was a good thing Ye Futian’s name was known far and wide today. An increasing number of people came up to offer him the holy badges they had found. They too wanted to give this endeavor a shot. Many of these people also had more than one holy badge on them too. Furthermore, it was rumored that top-tier individuals of outstanding abilities from the Divine Road had arrived in Flaming Prison City.

Xia Feng from the Xia Family, the pride of the Nantian House, the incomparable Goddesses of today’s world, the heir to the Sword Saint Villa, the disciples of Sage Duansheng, and the peerless Ning Huang. All of these powerful individuals had come to Flaming Prison City, and everyone knew just what that meant.

Ye Futian’s words had to be true for all these insanely powerful people to have come to him in a gathering of the ages. If he could collect enough holy badges, then perhaps there would be a chance of accessing the large relic in the Divine Road.

After three days, Ye Futian had collected thousands of holy badges. However, the powerful individuals who had arrived in Flaming Prison City designed to show themselves still. They did not want to disturb Ye Futian. Instead, they waited. Perhaps they were waiting for Ye Futian to finish collecting the holy badges not for Ye Futian’s sake, but for their own interests.

It was too difficult a task to complete on their own, so how could they miss this golden opportunity where someone had come up with such a brilliant idea to do it?

Today, Ye Futian walked out of the palace to scout the place. He wanted to find out where in Flaming Prison City the location marked out in the map was. As he left the palace, he was flanked by many who were concerned for his safety. Carrying thousands of holy badges made Ye Futian a prime target for those who were interested in obtaining the holy badges. If he were not careful, the holy badges in his possession would be taken away from him by force. As such, everyone felt a responsibility to guard Ye Futian.

The crowd had even chosen two incredibly powerful individuals to follow behind and guard Ye Futian closely, in addition to people close to him like Yi Xiaoshi, Mu Zhiqiu, Yu Sheng, the disciples of the Starry School and Qin Yin. The two chosen individuals, Xiao Junyi and Yang Xiao, had made quite a name for themselves in Flaming Prison City. They were both grade seven nobles.

Ye Futian’s departure from the palace soon raised a furor. Even those outside the palace who had not handed over their holy badges followed behind him. To them, Ye Futian was like a treasure trove. Whether he was going to activate a large or small relic, it was worth it to follow him. With the large entourage setting off with Ye Futian, the group soon became the talk of Flaming Prison City.

Right now, every move that Ye Futian made was at the center of attention in Flaming Prison City.

Ye Futian approached a pile of stone ruins in Flaming Prison City. The ruins were vast, and nothing seemed to be amiss here. But Ye Futian surmised that this was probably the location that was marked out in the map.

Many people followed behind, curious as to what Ye Futian was looking at. Could this be where the relic was?

From afar, an air warship sailed over, high up in the sky. Instantly, countless eyes were on it. At the front of the ship stood two women. They were as beautiful as Jiutian Goddesses, with clear, calm eyes that gazed towards where Ye Futian was.

“The Mortal World.” Many people looked up at the air warship. They were nervous that individuals as powerful as these had set their sights upon Ye Futian.

Ye Futian lifted his gaze to look at the women on the air warship as well. He had met Chu Shang in the eastern region of the Barren State before. She had even invited him to train in the Mortal World once.

The other woman was, unbelievably, even more stunning than Chu Shang. She was gorgeous, almost like a goddess from the Mortal World, and her looks were on par with Mu Zhiqiu’s. The only difference was in their demeanor. Mu Zhiqiu was quiet and stunningly elegant in her simplicity. The other woman was vibrant and dazzling like a peacock. The two were like night and day in terms of their aura.

“Bing Yi and Chu Shang are Goddesses of the Mortal World, and Bing Yi is one of the Three Virgins as well,” Mu Zhiqiu whispered. All eyes were on the two Goddesses in the sky. They were some of the most dazzling characters of this generation in the Barren State.

Ye Futian turned his eyes away and didn’t look at them again. What did it matter if the women were beautiful? He remembered what the Nantian House, the Mortal World, and the Sacred Fire State, among the other powers, had done when they had arrived at the eastern region of the Barren State. In order to get at the relic in Sky Mountain, they had set foot on Book Mountain, calling the college an inferior sect and being so arrogant about it. In the end, they had forcibly taken away the Ukiyo Song book. He had vowed to remember that.

Chu Shang observed Ye Futian as well. After two years, his aura had become even more outstanding, and there was a greater air of stability about him. However, the proud gaze in his handsome eyes had not changed a single bit.

“You’re putting yourself in danger by doing this,” Chu Shang spoke from where she was on the ship. Everyone was taken aback. They didn’t know that Chu Shang knew Ye Futian.

“So?” Ye Futian replied, smiling.

“Why don’t you hand over the holy badges to us for now? We can join forces and open up the relics together,” Chu Shang offered. She did not invite Ye Futian to join the Mortal World again. She knew very well that with Ye Futian’s abilities, if he had reached this point and was allowed to carry on, he had a very high chance of entering the Holy Zhi Palace. Even if he didn’t manage to, there was still the Zhuge Family. The Mortal World would not even get a chance at it if Ye Futian didn’t die at this stage.

As of now, Ye Futian’s lover was with the Zhuge Family.

Ye Futian smiled calmly but did not reply. At the sight of his expression, Chu Shang understood his intent. She mentally shook her head at him. Though she acknowledged that Ye Futian indeed was very talented, she knew that all sorts of powerful individuals had their eye on the holy badges. He had obtained such a large number of holy badges through these means, and all these individuals had arrived at Flaming Prison City.

If Ye Futian were to try to hold on to these holy badges, there was a good chance he might lose his life.

“Goddess Bing Yi and Goddess Chu Shang,” a voice rang out at this moment. Another group of people was moving through the sky towards the warship.

Bing Yi and Chu Shang turned their gazes upon them and greeted the leader of the group with a smile, “Young Master Gu.”

“It’s Gu Feiyang, a disciple of Sage Duantian’s,” someone declared, and many eyes sparkled at the introduction.

“Perhaps the Goddesses of the Mortal World paid a visit to the Sage at Mount Duantian while on their way to the Divine Road, that’s why they know each other,” someone whispered. Ye Futian then remembered seeing a warship of the Mortal World while passing by the Duantian mountain range the other day.

Gu Feiyang chatted for a while with Bing Yi and Chu Shang, as though Ye Futian and the rest weren’t there at all. They weren’t in a hurry to snatch the holy badges, being completely content just observing Ye Futian for now.

“Xia Hou and Yan Jiu are here too.” Mu Zhiqiu looked to a place in the distance, and there was Xia Hou of the Xia Family and Yan Jiu of the Sword Saint Villa, moving through the sky towards them as well. They glanced at Ye Futian before looking towards Gu Feiyang and the warship.

The ground then began to shake. A frightening demonic beast was walking towards them. The beast was a brilliant gold from head to toe, as though it had been created out of the precious metal. It was also walking like a human. This demonic beast was Yuan Zhan, the Giant Golden Ape. Even it had come to watch the commotion.

Powerful individuals from the Nantian House arrived soon after. Nan Hao smiled at everyone present, but Nan Yu was cold as ice. He stared in Ye Futian’s direction.

Ye Futian was observing everyone who had arrived as well. They probably suspected that he was about to open up a relic and came over to watch. Other than Chu Shang, no one else had spoken a single word to Ye Futian, but he was well aware of their intentions.

Suddenly, the wind starting howling from far away and frightening energy could be felt. Everyone turned around to see a group of people arriving. These were all individuals of the Noble plane, and they seemed incredibly mighty.

“It’s Mo Jun,” the people murmured, their gazes landing on a black armor-clad figure. That person was someone very famous.

If Mo Jun’s here, then he should be around too, many people thought to themselves, and they looked towards the back. Indeed, the wind howled fiercely there, and a man sat within a carriage that was being pulled by several nobles who had willingly taken up the task despite their status.

Mo Jun and the others made way for the carriage to come to the front, and the man stepped out, surveying the crowd. Wearing a crown of laurel, he was as resplendent and eye-catching as a god. The man’s gaze was bright and energetic as he looked at everyone. It was as if he owned the entire show simply by showing up.

“It’s Ning Huang, one of the strongest people on the Dawn Road. Everyone thinks he’ll be able to get into at least the top three,” Mu Zhiqiu explained beside Ye Futian. “Even his follower Mo Jun is a top-notch individual with frighteningly powerful abilities. The two of them working together could make them the strongest on the Dawn Road.”

Ye Futian nodded slightly. Behind him, many people sensed an immense pressure. Were the holy badges really safe with Ye Futian? The recent arrival of all these incredibly powerful people made them nervous. Almost all of the top-tier individuals of the Divine Road were probably here by now.

“Let’s go,” Ye Futian said, turning to leave after glancing at the crowd. Those who had newly arrived shot him a somewhat interested glance, but they did not follow. After all, they had no need to take action personally.

As he walked, Ye Futian was deep in thought. These circumstances were slightly troublesome.

All these people had once stayed in their own lane, taking the holy badges using their own methods and keeping out of each other’s way. But after hearing that he was collecting the holy badges, they had all gathered at Flaming Prison City, watching him do the work for them.

Then, a commotion broke out behind him. Ye Futian turned only to see someone trying to get to him but being held back by the people around him.

That person looked at Ye Futian and said, “Young Master Ning has something to say to you.”

“Let him through,” Ye Futian ordered. The person had called Ning Huang “Young Master Ning”, which meant he probably served him in some capacity.

The crowd let him go, and that person came before Ye Futian. He whispered, “Ning Shao said that if you’ve come to the Divine Road in order to enroll in the Holy Zhi Palace, then he’ll help you get in.”

“Ning Huang has ties with one of the elders at the Holy Zhi Palace. He’s been internally recognized as a direct disciple,” Mu Zhiqiu whispered.

“And then?” Ye Futian looked at the person.

“If you are going to open up the relic, then Young Master Ning must be the only one from the Dawn Road to help you,” the person continued.

“Conditions?” Ye Futian chuckled. He knew that this offer was too good to be true.

“You’ll pass the holy badges to Young Master Ning. He’ll take charge and you’ll assist him in opening up the relics. You’ll get what you came here for, and even enroll in the Holy Zhi Palace to train,” the person continued speaking, sounding as though the proposal he was conveying was how things should be.

“Thank you for the kind offer. However, I decline.” Ye Futian smiled calmly. He wasn’t surprised that everyone was approaching him with ulterior motives.

The other person stared at Ye Futian. This was a fantastic offer, and yet Ye Futian had refused without even considering it. How unappreciative he was.

“You can’t handle the holy badges,” the person spat after a moment of silence. His voice was chilly.

“If I want to enter the Holy Zhi Palace, then I will do it myself without any help from anyone. The conditions you’ve offered aren’t that great.” Ye Futian looked at the other person in disdain before walking away.