The Legend of Futian

after everything was settled, ye futian looked at lord taixuan and said, “lord taixuan, i will go directly to tianshen academy for training now.”

ye futian did not say any words of appreciation. the things that lord taixuan had done for him could not be summarized with just a few words of gratitude.

back when lord taixuan broke through the plane, he once mentioned that his heavenly path was flawed, and he could not become the way. ye futian hoped that one day, he would be capable of assisting lord taixuan in overcoming this bottleneck.

“hmm. since there are seniors of tianshen academy around to lead you there, i will not send you off,” lord taixuan replied while smiling.

“okay.” ye futian nodded slightly. he took out a storage ring and handed it over to lord taixuan, saying, “i have prepared this for taixuan mountain. string emperor and house master will benefit from it too.”

“this little fellow sure is sincere.” empress yan, who was beside him, smiled slightly and said, “i did not send you up taixuan mountain in vain.”

this little fellow was developing very rapidly. he could already kill gai jiutian alone. even she was no longer a match for ye futian.

this combat power was indeed somewhat frightening. ye futian had just reached the renhuang plane and could already kill gai jiutian.

this also seemed to not be his full strength.

she was a little curious as to the limits of ye futian’s current combat ability.

“alright. i will keep this.” lord taixuan nodded. it is said that ye futian had obtained a treasure trove worth of ritual implements, so lord taixuan did not need to be courteous when receiving ye futian’s gift. the four disciples of lord taixuan could indeed benefit from the ritual implements. since ye futian gave the storage ring to lord taixuan sincerely, the latter would not reject the gift.

“grandmaster, do you need any ritual implements?” ye futian transmitted his thoughts to sky river great elder, who was beside him. ye futian did not know what type of ritual implement was suitable for the grandmaster; hence he had transmitted his thoughts to ask him.

“i do not need any,” sky river great elder transmitted back to ye futian. he said, “train hard in tianshen academy.”

ye futian’s approach was very clever. once he entered tianshen academy, he would be very safe for the time being. it was far safer than being in the tianhe realm.

even if shen clan discovered anything, they could not attack ye futian while he was at tianshen academy.

“grandmaster…” ye futian still wanted to say something.

“train longer. strengthen your plane,” sky river great elder interrupted ye futian. then, he looked at lord taixuan, “let’s go.”

“alright.” lord taixuan nodded. he turned to the cultivators of taixuan mountain and said, “let’s head back.”

string emperor, empress yan as well as the disciples of taixuan mountain all glanced at ye futian. empress yan smiled and said, “i will be waiting for your return to taixuan mountain.”

as she said this, their group waved goodbye and left, free and easy.

this was the central emperor realm. they were returning to the higher heavens realm.

in the city of the ruins, people were constantly flying up into the sky and leaving.

however, the members of the top forces of the other realms left behind their monstrous juniors as well as some renhuang cultivators as bodyguards. they were prepared to let their juniors head over to tianshen academy to train for a while.

emperor nan and empress luo also brought nan luoshen up onto their carriage in the sky.

“senior, what about the ritual implement?” ye futian shouted at emperor nan through a secret sound transmission.

“luoshen will head to tianshen academy soon. you can pass it to her then,” emperor nan responded. his carriage traversed the space and left, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

ye futian looked at the remaining people. he secretly transmitted a message to each and every one of them. since everyone was heading to tianshen academy, it would be easier for him to hand over the ritual implements to them when they were at tianshen academy.

he felt no regrets or reluctance about giving away the ritual implements to others. right now, the things he had the most were ritual implements; it did not bother him to give out a few. it would be beneficial for ye futian should these forces become stronger. in contrast, those forces which intended to snatch his ritual implements earlier would feel very uneasy when they knew about his generosity.

“let’s also head out,” a cultivator from tianshen academy said.

“we will be in your care, senior,” ye futian said as he bowed slightly. then, the group stepped out and headed off into the void.

the various forces of the heavenly mandate realm saw the cultivators of tianshen academy leave. who knew what the future had in store for them.

“let us head back.” the cultivators of the various forces returned to their own realms. not long after, the cultivators in the city of the ruins all left. it once again returned to being a land of decrepit ruins. it was as though everything that had happened before had all been just a dream.

…

tianshen academy was situated in the most prosperous region in the east of the central emperor realm, dongsheng state.

in dongsheng state, there were countless magnificent cities and millions upon millions of citizens. there were innumerable cultivators and many extremely prosperous ancient clans as well as dominant forces. they made up one of the most prosperous regions of the central emperor realm.

it could even be said that this place was not just the most prosperous region in the central emperor realm; even among the three thousand realms of the great path, this region could be considered one of the most powerful regions.

the elite figures that cultivated until they reached the peak of the three thousand realms of the great path would eventually end up gathering in this place.

the most famous academy in the 3,000 realms of the great path, tianshen academy, was located in the central region of dongsheng state. tianshen academy was surrounded by majestic cities.

tianshen academy itself was so enormous that it could be considered a city on its own. it stretched for miles without any end in sight.

right now, ye futian’s group was traversing over a city. his gaze glanced downwards. it was bustling with activity down below.

“this is where the outer-sect disciples of tianshen academy train. of course, there are also cultivators from various other forces. this place is not off-limits to outsiders. anyone may enter here,” jian qingzhu explained beside ye futian. this group of people had come here together and got to know each other along the way.

jian qingzhu was also very curious about this cultivator, who had also opened the door of the relic and forged a flawless divine wheel like he had. he also bore no animosity towards ye futian. jian qingzhu himself was a person who had extreme self-confidence. he was personally very happy to see ye futian and the other monstrous figures coming to tianshen academy together to train.

wasn’t it more interesting for a lot of top figures to cultivate together?

“does tianshen academy have a lot of outer-sect disciples?” ye futian asked.

“many.” jian qingzhu nodded. he continued saying, “people from various corners of the world come to seek the way at tianshen academy. with the exception of those outstanding figures, most people start cultivating as outer-sect disciples. they will train step-by-step, and only the really talented ones who pass the final selection can enter tianshen academy.

“moreover, everyone who comes to seek the way starts at a different plane. some of them are very young and are at a low plane, but those who have exceptional talent are recruited as outer-sect disciples. when they grow up, they will finally become members of tianshen academy. of course, teachers who teach the way are actually cultivators of tianshen academy too. for example, since i am a renhuang now, i can teach here as well.”

“understood.” ye futian nodded in realization. according to what jian qingzhu said, outer-sect disciples were actually not counted as cultivators of tianshen academy. outer-sect disciples existed because tianshen academy spread the teachings of way indiscriminately to all who wanted to learn, so they needed a title to group everyone. tianshen academy would later choose their official disciples from these outer-sect disciples.

many popular training spots practiced this model. even divine palace used this method, but there were some differences in the details.

“we have arrived,” jian qingzhu said as he looked in front of them.

ye futian gazed in front of them. he saw that there was actually a sky stairwell that measured ten thousand zhang extending upwards to the sky from the ground. it seemed to reach the clouds in the sky above. he could faintly make out a gate in the sky.

down below, many people were looking up into the sky.

“brother jian has returned from the god’s relic. i wonder what he encountered. i guess he has surely proven his way and broken through to the renhuang plane,” someone said. many people put on envious gazes. they looked at jian qingzhu and the others as they traversed in mid-air and landed on the sky stairwell directly. they stood before heaven’s gate.

tianshen academy. ye futian stood at the stairs, which were 10,000 zhang tall. the gate contained a very strong space will of the way. there were veins of the great path on the gate, as though it was a grand matrix. when the cultivators of tianshen academy arrived, the veins on the gate changed continuously. then, the veins turned transparent, and the cultivators of tianshen academy entered the gate directly.

ye futian followed behind them, and he could immediately sense the world on the other side of the gate.

inside and outside of the gate were completely different spaces. the inside of the gate had extremely rich worldly spiritual qi. a mere breath was enough for one to sense the endless spiritual qi as well as the aura of the great path.

among the mist, towering mountains stood tall, as though this place was a fairyland.

the group continued forward. ye futian discovered that tianshen academy was like a dimension of its own. there were many palaces here. they were all training grounds for members of tianshen academy. there were also many suitable spots for training.

“i will give the order for someone to bring you all to choose a spot to train. you all can focus on training there,” the elder from tianshen academy said to ye futian and the others.

“thank you, but i will have to decline your invitation,” ye futian said. “i am not a disciple of tianshen academy. it would naturally be inappropriate for me to occupy a training ground in tianshen academy. i will train in the outside world. i only need senior to grant me permission to freely enter tianshen academy, as well as allow me to access the manuscripts in the academy.”

he did not want to train here because he felt that it was troublesome. the people here were the core figures of the academy. there were strong cultivators everywhere. it would most likely be inconvenient for him to do anything. he had also yet to join tianshen academy, so it was somewhat inappropriate for him to train inside here.

“i will also do the same,” cultivators from other forces also said this.

“alright. regardless of what your choice is, you can all freely enter tianshen academy,” the elder from tianshen academy replied. he accompanied them along the way as they continued forward. in the ancient palaces below, the wills of many cultivators swept over them. some smiled and spoke up, their voices directly piercing through the space, “congratulations, younger brother jian.”

“younger brother jian has proven his way,” somebody else said after that. there were even some people who flew over here.

not long after, their group descended onto an area with many ancient palaces. many people walked over to them. the people here all had extraordinary temperament.

the crowd also noticed ye futian and the others. they were also curious. why had jian qingzhu brought back so many strangers from the god’s relic this time?

could it be that they also wanted to join tianshen academy to train?

“ye futian, come with me,” the elder from tianshen academy said to ye futian. ye futian nodded his head and followed the elder towards a palace hall. the members of the other forces from the outside world immediately understood when they saw this. ye futian most likely had made some agreement with the cultivators of tianshen academy.

jian qingzhu and the other cultivators of tianshen academy began to chat. very quickly, the cultivators of tianshen academy roughly knew what had transpired in the god’s relic. their gazes turned towards the unfamiliar faces, full of interest.

they were actually top figures from other realms?

it looked like tianshen academy was going to be very lively from now on.

“will nan luoshen come here?” someone asked.

“hmm,” a cultivator who returned from god’s relic replied. “on top of nan luoshen, most likely top figures from other realms will soon come to train at tianshen academy as well.”

“this is interesting.” the crowd was getting more hyped up.

after a while, ye futian came out from the palace. the elder appeared beside him, saying, “from now on, all of you can come in and out of tianshen academy freely. you are permitted to go to any places that nobody is using for training. if you want to train outside, i will have someone prepare accommodation for all of you.”

“senior, thank you so much,” everyone said while bowing to the elder.

“alright. you are dismissed,” the elder concluded with a smile. all of them were top figures from various realms. naturally, they did not need to be micromanaged. they knew what to do.

“please excuse us.” one by one, the silhouettes flew onto the sky and left the place. all of them headed towards different directions.

“are we really training outside?” dou zhao asked ye futian, “the environment here is obviously more suitable for training. are you too shy to train here?”

“no. i have my own considerations. you can train inside here if you want,” ye futian replied.

“i plan to explore inside here,” long chen announced his plan to ye futian and the rest.

“okay. everyone should focus on their own training.” ye futian smiled, and their group once again spread out, moving towards different directions. even though most of them were cultivators from the heavenly mandate realm, there was no need for them to stick together all the time.

everyone had their own path to pursue.

“i will stay with you.” dou zhao still followed after ye futian. he was determined to stick around ye futian no matter what.

“alright. it doesn’t make any difference anyway.” ye futian accepted dou zhao’s decision with a smile. they could move around tianshen academy freely anyway.

ye futian, along with dou zhao, yu sheng, yaya, xia qingyuan, kong xuan, little condor, and the swordmaster of lihen, left tianshen academy and settled down in a palace outside.

the swordmaster of lihen had passed down the teachings of lihen heaven to other people. hence, he could focus on comprehending the way now. it was the reason why he had followed ye futian to tianshen academy.

after everything had been settled, ye futian planned to train quietly for a period of time. he had proven his way and became a renhuang in a rush; there were still some things that he had not verified. he intended to continue forging his second and third divine wheel.

there were two life spirits with him that seemed to be undergoing some changes.

inside and outside of tianshen academy, the arrival of ye futian and the members of various realms drew a lot of discussion. it seemed that for the foreseeable future, tianshen academy would be quite lively!