The Legend of Futian

The whole Taixuan Region was shaken. None of them knew what had happened, but when they looked up, they could see a character that read “the Way” flashing in their eyes.

 Something incredibly important must have happened on Taixuan Mountain. Countless cultivators headed over there.

 Within Taixuan City, cultivators were walking towards the mountain from all directions as quickly as they could. They flew on the wind and rode on swords, their hearts trembling fiercely. Those few Renhuang level figures among them were even more disturbed. They could faintly feel that Lord Taixuan was possibly about to enter a new level.

 Once he did this, the whole Higher Heavens Realm would be shaken.

 Of course, the most shocked were still the cultivators upon Taixuan Mountain. Lord Taixuan had said that he would lock himself away in cultivation. The head teacher of Taixuan Mountain, speaking for the four great disciples, had said that they would guard Taixuan Mountain for him. What did this mean?

 All the disciples felt their hearts beating quickly. Even Ye Futian felt his heart fluttering. Lord Taixuan was already at the very peak of the Renhuang level, yet there was still more for him to learn. If he broke through to a new level, would that be the level that Gu Tianxing had broken through to all those years ago?

 The people of the Higher Heavens Realm did not know either. But after Gu Tianxing, no one in the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty had reached that level. It was said that the old Dynasty Overlord had possibly been close to or had even reached that level, but that he had been slain by Gu Tianxing in battle and had grievously wounded Gu Tianxing at the same time.

 After these two great figures fell, the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty never again had any figures at their level. The current Dynasty Overlord of the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty and the Lady of Brahma’s Pure Sky had not reached this level yet.

 Ye Futian could only imagine what would happen when Lord Taixuan reached this level.

 He looked at the floating character, and his gaze seemed to fall deep into it. Just this single character was enough to make them understand. This was truly how to teach the Way.

 The City Lord of Taixuan looked behind him at everyone and said, “All of you cultivate on your own in order to understand this.” Then the four disciples walked away towards where Lord Taixuan was shut away.

 Everyone else was left there, looking at the character. They were unable to calm the storm raging inside all of them.

 “Is Lord Taixuan going to break through to the next level?” someone asked.

 “Very possibly. He might just make it to a new level,” someone answered. “He is already at the very peak of his current level.”

 Everyone nodded. Given Lord Taixuan’s current level, he could only look up.

 “Shen Jing, did you truly see the Way of Swordsmanship before?” someone asked Ye Futian. It was Wan Shouyi, a disciple of Sword Abyss. Previously, he had not seen anything in particular. The character contained all the myriad things in the world and all the laws of motions of the earth. Thus, any answer that he could have given would have been fine.

 Now, it seemed like Ye Futian had said that the Way of Swordsmanship was the right answer. His heart was set on swords, and so he had seen the Way of Swordsmanship. Before, most people had ignored his answer, but now it seemed like they were having second thoughts.

 Could it be that this guqin master, who had been brought up to Taixuan Mountain by Fourth Sister, was also an incredibly talented swordsman and had seen a strand of sword will within the character?

 “These days, I have been observing the swordsmanship of Sword Abyss. Seeing how skilled its cultivators are, and this has been imprinted in my mind. Thus, when I looked at the character, I seemed to see some sword will,” said Ye Futian. Wan Shouyi nodded. Ye Futian’s answer seemed reasonable enough.

 He knew that Ye Futian had indeed been spending a lot of time at Sword Abyss. He went there to observe every day. He had probably watched them so much that he had swords on the brain.

 The others all relaxed. If this were the case, they could understand what had happened.

 “Even if that is so, why did the cultivators of Sword Abyss not see swords?” someone asked at that moment. This made them all go pale. They turned to look at who had spoken.

 “Jun Mu.”

 Many people looked surprised when they saw him. He was the head teacher of Taixuan’s disciple, Jun Mu.

 When Ye Futian had first come up Taixuan Mountain, Jun Mu had left an impression on him the first time he saw him.

 “Do you remember me, Brother Shen?” Jun Mu walked up to Ye Futian and smiled.

 Ye Futian nodded. “How could I forget such a memorable figure?”

 “So, it must have been fate that I saw you coming up to Taixuan Mountain,” said Jun Mu with a smile. “Fourth Uncle brought you up to Taixuan Mountain, and Elder Lan let you enter String Palace. Now, Third Brother has returned, and you are still cultivating in String Palace. Apparently, you are worthy of Third Brother’s favor. Now, you were able to see the Way of Swordsmanship within that character. Why should you be so modest? I think that you must be outstanding in some way, and you have just been humble and restrained.”

 Jun Mu’s words made everyone look back at Ye Futian. Could it be that he had been downplaying his own abilities?

 If so, then he was incredibly clever.

 “You are exaggerating, Brother Jun. All of the disciples of Taixuan Mountain are incredible; thus, I must be humble and restrained while I am here. Moreover, I have no right to boast. Fourth Sister brought me here and has been very good to me, and so I must concentrate on cultivation.” Ye Futian was neither haughty nor humble. He simply and calmly answered Jun Mu.

 “Well, now you have been cultivating on Taixuan Mountain for a while. Have you had any success?” asked Jun Mu.

 “I have benefited greatly from my time here,” said Ye Futian with a nod.

 “I once said that if I got the chance, I would like to enjoy your music. I wonder if I might take this opportunity to listen to you play.” Jun Mu had been smiling all along, but everyone could feel a different sort of atmosphere. Some of the older folks understood what was going on, but the younger people were not clear on why Jun Mu was being this way.

 It seemed that he wanted to make Shen Jing do something.

 But what was it that he wanted to see?

 Did he want to see if he was strong, or if he was weak?

 “All the disciples of Taixuan Mountain heard Lord Taixuan teach the Way today. I was fortunate enough to be here as well, and so my heart is full. How could I dare to play a song here on Taixuan Mountain now? Everyone would laugh at me,” said Ye Futian with a slight bow. “Farewell.”

 “Will you really be so disrespectful to me?” said Jun Mu coldly. An invisible pressure spread out from him and fell upon Ye Futian. “I must ask you to satisfy my curiosity once again.”

 Ye Futian felt the pressure falling upon him, and said, “Lord Taixuan is shut away, and the four Elders have gone to guard him. I am very grateful to Fourth Sister for bringing me here to cultivate, but I am just a guqin master of String Palace. I would not dare fight the disciple of the head teacher of Taixuan. If you insist on fighting me, I will be ashamed of my own inadequacy, and yet I will have to bear it.”

 Everyone looked surprised. This Shen Jing was very frank. He would not fight back, but given how powerful Jun Mu was, fighting back would be meaningless anyway.

 “Jun Mu, why are you antagonizing Shen Jing?” asked Wan Shouyi.

 “If you want to test yourself, there are many disciples here on Taixuan Mountain. Why have you sought out Shen Jing?” said Princess Luoyue. She was a little bit upset. She kind of knew why Jun Mu was putting pressure on Ye Futian. Now that the elders were occupied, the disciples could do what they wanted.

 Jun Mu smiled slightly when he heard what they were all saying. He bowed to Ye Futian and said, “Forgive my rudeness.”

 As he said this, his aura dissipated. He turned and sat down, his gaze fixed upon the character that read “the Way.”

 “Why don’t you go, Shen Jing?” said Wan Shouyi to Ye Futian. Princess Luoyue looked at him as well.

 Ye Futian nodded. “Farewell,” he said with a bow, and then turned and left.

 Jun Mu had tried to force him into a fight, but his heart was as calm as still water. He was not distressed at all.

 He still remembered his identity. At Taishan Mountain, he was just a guqin master. How could he fight one of the disciples of the head teacher of Taixuan?

 What would he do if he won?

 When he returned to String Palace, Ye Futian looked back up at the character that floated high above Taixuan Mountain. However, at that moment, a figure appeared beside him. It was Little Phoenix. She looked at Ye Futian and said, “Why did you yield?”

 Although she often quarreled with Ye Futian, she and he had become very familiar with each other after spending so much time together. She knew how talented he was. He had been successful in cultivating the Six Famous Songs and the Fleeting Divine Sword. How many people on Taixuan Mountain could say the same?

 Ye Futian smiled and said, “Are you worried for me?”

 Little Phoenix looked at him with disdain and said, “I’ve just never seen you be so cowardly.”

 Ye Futian laughed and shook his head. “Little Phoenix, your personality is terrible, but you have a good heart. Your parents are a little fierce, but they have never been that way to me. And String Emperor and Fourth Sister have been so good to me. Why should I have gotten into a fight over such a trivial matter? That would just be giving into my personal feelings.”

 Today was the first time he had seen Lord Taixuan, and he had met with String Emperor only a few times and had talked with him very little. And it was the same with Fourth Sister. But he was still grateful for the way they had treated him.

 Compared to that, the affair with Jun Mu was not even worth mentioning.

 “Alright, I am going to cultivate.” Ye Futian sat cross-legged and looked up at the huge character. The process of Freedom Meditation began, and his eyes became incomparably deep as his gaze pierced through the air towards the character.

 At that moment, Ye Futian could faintly feel his soul leaving his body. It entered into the realm of the Way that floated in the air.

 A voice appeared in Ye Futian’s head. “All things are either born into something or into nothingness.” No matter whether or not you could feel it, the Way was there. It was everywhere.

 Ye Futian seemed to be able to feel the ordered sequence of everything in the world from that character. His will stretched out continuously into the distance. He saw all of Taixuan Mountain and then continued downwards. He saw countless figures heading towards the mountain, as well as the chaos within the mountain.

 …

 On New Year’s day of the 10,031st year of the Divine Prefecture Calendar, countless figures had gathered below Taixuan Mountain. This had led to a huge disturbance within Taixuan City. Many of the people there were powerful figures, including some of the top figures of the Higher Heavens Realm.

 On the first day of the year, an invitation came down from Taixuan Mountain. All the people from the top forces were invited up onto the mountain to meet with Lord Taixuan.

 Lord Taixuan’s four disciples were standing outside Taixuan Palace and looking over the invitations.

 The signature on each of these invitations was enough to cause a sensation throughout the Higher Heavens Realm.

 “Why have you done this, Brother?” said the City Lord of Taixuan to the head teacher. At that moment, the great figures of the realm were handing them their invitations. If they ignored them, it would be impolite.

 “Our friends have come from far away. How can we be impolite to them?” said the head teacher. “We must invite them up the mountain and set up a feast for them.”

 “Won’t this disturb our Master’s cultivation?” asked the City Lord of Taixuan.

 “I agree with our Brother. Since these people are here, why don’t we invite them to come up the mountain?” said String Emperor. The City Lord of Taixuan glanced at him but did not reply immediately.

 “In that case, I will go and make arrangements,” said the City Lord of Taixuan after a while. Then he turned and left.