The Legend of Futian

Within the Divine Palace, all the disciples returned to their places of cultivation.

 At that moment, there were several figures standing around and chatting on a cultivation platform within one of the halls.

 One of them was outstandingly good-looking and had a celestial aura about her. It was Lu Qingyao.

 “He seized both the water of the Stream of Life and the fruit of the way?” asked a youth, standing up and bowing to Lu Qingyao.

 Lu Qingyao nodded. “Mm. My cultivation has been too shallow. I must spend some time locked away cultivating.”

 “This man is nearly a demon. He defeated all the other cultivators by himself and took over the Divine Tree of Comprehension. This has nothing to do with the level of your cultivation, Sister Lu,” said a woman standing down below. At that moment, another figure entered, looked at them, and asked, “Someone took over the Divine Tree of Comprehension by himself?”

 “Yes, it was the swordsman from Taixuan Mountain, Shen Jing. He fought everyone by himself and defeated all comers. No one was a match for them. Gai Shi Shi of the Golden Divine Nation, Li Xun of the Divine Sword Li Family, and Qin Zang of the Sky Burying God Clan were all defeated in that battle. None of them could stand before him.”

 “Can this be true?” The person who had entered gazed at Lu Qingyao in shock.

 Lu Qingyao nodded slightly and said, “I had originally thought that besides those personal disciples from within the palace, I could be ranked among the strongest of those who had been chosen to go, even if I was not the strongest. But I would never have thought that the gap between us would be so great. Maybe Shen Jing was incredibly strong, but it is still my fault that I lost. Shen Jing did not even become a Nirvana level cultivator until the battle.”

 “So you are saying that he took so much of the fruit by himself, yet he did not prove himself worthy of becoming a Renhuang, but instead only managed to reach Nirvana?” A surprised look came over the young woman’s face. She had heard that when people went to the Land of Proving the Way, they would often use it as an opportunity to reach the Renhuang plane. But this time, one person had taken most of the fruit.

 “Mm.” Lu Qingyao nodded again. “After taking over the Divine Tree of Comprehension, he spent more than two months cultivating there. Will was flowing over him constantly the whole time. It is possible that he was able to use this to forge a law body. It is highly likely that he became stronger. When added to the amount of fruit of the way that he got, it would be enough to lessen the time he would need to cultivate by several years, stabilize his attainment of the Nirvana plane, and even start to forge a body of the Great Path.”

 “In that case, it seems that a genius has come to our Divine Palace.” There was a bit of excitement in her eyes.

 This was not the only place that people were talking about this. The news was spreading all throughout the Divine Palace. For example, Li Xun was in Sword Palace, telling someone about all of these events. There were many swordsmen behind the man he was talking to, sword will wrapping around them. But no matter how powerful they were, they were all standing behind the youth in the black robes.

 He was the strongest member of the Divine Sword Li Family of that generation—Li Daozi. Now, he was the strongest person in the Sword Palace below the Renhuang level. His swordsmanship was nearly perfect. Many people said that he could kill anyone below the Renhuang level with his sword.

 Of course, there were several people within the Divine Palace who were not inferior to him in terms of swordsmanship.

 “I had originally planned that after you entered the Divine Palace, I would shut myself away in cultivation and not come out until I had reached the Renhuang level. Now it seems like there may be someone whom I can test my swordsmanship on before I break through to the next level,” said Li Daozi softly. He was at the peak of the Nirvana level and had forged a law body. He would soon break through to the next level.

 And now, another powerful swordsman had entered the Divine Palace.

 Li Daozi stepped away.

 Where are you going?” asked Li Xun. Was Li Daozi going directly to seek out Ye Futian?

 “I am going to Sword Comprehension Mountain,” answered Li Daozi without turning his head. “I will wait for him there.”

 Ye Futian was a swordsman of Taixuan Mountain, and his swordsmanship was outstanding. Now that he had entered the Divine Palace, there was one place that he had to go. That was Sword Comprehension Mountain.

 Thus, Li Daozi was preparing to go there to wait for him.

 …

 Shen Jing’s name had circulated throughout the Divine Palace in a very short time. The disciples of the palace all knew his name and knew that he had defeated the proud cultivators of the Higher Heavens Realm all by himself and had taken over the Divine Tree of Comprehension.

 Many of the personal disciples of the Divine Palace who had not gone to the Land of Proving the Way wanted to go and see him.

 At the same time as this, the news that Li Daozi had gone to Sword Comprehension Mountain to wait for Shen Jing made its way through the palace as well, which excited many people. It was said that this swordsman from Taixuan Mountain had easily defeated Li Xun. So, how would he compare to Li Daozi, the foremost swordsman under the Renhuang level at the Divine Palace?

 It was said that Li Daozi would soon reach the next level, and would soon become a Sword Emperor. He was the best swordsman in the Divine Palace under the Renhuang level; it would be difficult to find any swordsman in the Higher Heavens Realm who could match him.

 Ye Futian did not know that Li Daozi had gone to Sword Comprehension Mountain. He did not even know that there was a Sword Comprehension Mountain in the Divine Palace, or what it was.

 After he asked the others to leave, he strolled through the palace alone, going where he pleased. He was very relaxed. Since the Divine Palace was so casual, there was no need to stand on ceremony. The celestial will of the island was extremely thick in the air. There must be many places here that were good for cultivation. He wondered if he would find a place that would help him break through to the next level.

 “The will is so strong!” At that moment, Ye Futian sensed something. He flashed over to a place in the distance and soon came to a place between several high mountains. The ancient mountains surrounded this place, and incredibly thick will was spreading out from it.

 Ye Futian flashed around the area around the mountains. Suddenly, he could sense an incredible amount of pressure in the area. It seemed to be powerful enough to crush the very sky.

 He felt his body tighten as the incredible pressure fell upon him. A figure was sitting on a huge rock in front of him, with his back to him. He had short hair, and he looked neat and clean. His robe was incredibly broad. He was sitting there motionless, just like a statue.

 “I am Shen Jing from Taixuan Mountain. I apologize for disturbing your cultivation,” said Ye Futian to the man with a slight bow. This figure was also at the Nirvana level, but his aura was thick with power. His heavy breathing was powerful as well. His every breath seemed to be filled with the will of the Great Path.

 “A swordsman of Taixuan Mountain.” The man still had his back to Ye Futian. “Have you come to prove yourself worthy of following the Great Path?”

 “Yes, after going to the Land of Proving the Way, I have come to the Divine Palace,” answered Ye Futian.

 “Since you are a swordsman, you should go to Sword Comprehension Mountain. This is not a place for you,” said the man indifferently.

 A look of surprise came over Ye Futian’s face. “Sword Comprehension Mountain?”

 “Yes, that is the place for cultivating swordsmanship,” the man continued. He had been cultivating here all along, and thus had not heard the news that had come from the outside world.

 Ye Futian looked around at the mountains and asked, “Sword Comprehension Mountain is the place to go for cultivating swordsmanship. So what is this place? I thought that this would also be a good place for me to cultivate.”

 The man was not the least bit surprised by Ye Futian’s words. After a moment, he rose slowly as Ye Futian watched, then turned and looked at him.

 Ye Futian looked up at the figure and suddenly felt a burst of incomparably majestic pressure of the Great Path descend. The figure seemed incredibly tall, and he stood there like a god. The pressure fell upon Ye Futian, and, at that moment, Ye Futian felt that he should surrender.

 “This…” As Ye Futian looked at the mountains, he seemed to be able to see them moving. Divine power of the Great Path burst forth from them. The figure who was standing there became one with the mountains, or perhaps it was just his will integrating into them. His eyes seemed to be beholding infinite power.

 “See for yourself.” The figure stood there calmly with his hands clasped behind his back. The power coming out of those mountains pressed down upon Ye Futian. They seemed to come to life, and each one contained the power of the Great Path.

 Crack!

 The stones beneath his feet shattered and were ground into dust.

 “I see.” Ye Futian could feel the mountains pressing down on him. At that moment, he seemed to see many figures. The mountains seemed to contain the will of the Great Path. Their power was truly frightening.

 Every mountain seemed like it was a statue.

 Ye Futian floated up into the air. The man glanced at him, then stepped forward, causing a huge roar to ring out between heaven and earth.

 But Ye Futian stepped forward as well.

 Boom!

 Two forces collided in a violent explosion in the air, making all of the mountains shake.

 The man looked at Ye Futian in surprise, then looked at the mountains around them.

 “You moved the mountains with a single thought.” He stared at Ye Futian. “You are a swordsman?”

 “I am Shen Jing—the swordsman of Taixuan Mountain,” said Ye Futian. In fact, he was surprised. This man had put a lot of pressure on him. In his previous battle, he had defeated all his opponents, and he had thought that no one within the Divine Palace would be a match for him. But he had run into an incredibly strong opponent just while walking around the palace.

 “I am the personal disciple of Divine Palace—Zhuang Hong,” answered the man. He looked at Ye Futian. “I heard that Lord Taixuan has not personally taken a disciple in a long time. Are you his youngest disciple?”

 Ye Futian shook his head. “Lord Taixuan said that he would never take a disciple again. I have not even been cultivating at Taixuan Mountain for a year. How could I be Lord Taixuan’s disciple?”

 “You are so talented, and yet Lord Taixuan has ignored you?” asked Zhuang Hong with a smile. “Have you come to the Divine Palace to try and become a personal disciple, or have you just come to cultivate for a short while?”

 “I’ve just come to cultivate,” said Ye Futian.

 “Well, the Divine Palace is the best place in the Higher Heavens Realm to do so. Just this place where we are now is good enough to cultivate in for several years.”

 “What about Sword Comprehension Mountain, which you mentioned before?” asked Ye Futian.

 “That is a holy land for cultivating swordsmanship. It is surrounded by 81 sword mountains. If you can completely comprehend the way of swordsmanship on Sword Comprehension Mountain, you will certainly be able to forge a Wheel of the Great Path out of swords and become a Sword Emperor,” said Zhuang Hong. Sword Comprehension Mountain was the place where the swordsmen of the Divine Palace went to cultivate. Many of the elders of previous generations had broken through to the next level there.

 “In that case, I would like to go there,” said Ye Futian quietly.

 “Of course you do,” came a voice. Ye Futian looked up and saw a figure standing on the peak of one of the mountains. He clasped his hands together and bowed to Zhuang Hong, saying, “Brother Zhuang.”

 Zhuang Hong nodded slightly and said, “What did you mean by that?”

 “Li Daozi of the Divine Sword Li Family has already climbed Sword Comprehension Mountain and is waiting for him there,” said the man with a smile. He obviously already knew who Ye Futian was.

 “Li Daozi,” muttered Ye Futian. This was not the first time he had heard that name.

 “He is the foremost swordsman of the Divine Palace below the Renhuang level, and he only has the final three sword strikes left to comprehend.” Zhuang Hong looked at Ye Futian. Li Daozi was actually waiting for him?