The Legend of Futian

Ye Futian and Sage Douzhan came to the medicated pool area the next day.

Saint Jiang, Little Butterfly and Xu Chehan were all there. Ye Futian went up and called out to Saint Jiang, “Senior.”

“Let Sage Douzhan be the first to go,” Saint Jiang said. Everyone nodded as they came before a pool.

That pool was the deepest pool in the area and there was actually a terrifying vortex found in it. Ye Futian reached out with his senses and quickly shuddered in response.

“Remember, you’re only there to temper your body. Use your powers and you’ll invoke the Divine Catastrophe.” Saint Jiang reminded, “You’d probably feel quite an amount of pressure at the beginning, but every single time you feel so, it would be to an effort to reforge your body. You’d need time to get this done.”

“Understood.” Sage Douzhan nodded. He himself was not what he had been most concerned about; he was most concerned about Ye Futian testing out the medicines personally instead. But from the current looks of things, his student would probably be able to withstand the effects.

“Go on in then,” Saint Jiang said. Sage Douzahn nodded and stepped into the medicated pool. He breathed a deep cold breath and a crisp crack was heard. He wanted to resist it using his powers, but then he recalled Saint Jiang’s reminder. As such, he had no choice but to tough it out the hard way.

He had once invoked the Divine Catastrophe; an act which served as a solid testament to his indomitable will. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, then went on to sit in the pool like an ancient god.

“Senior, would anything happen to my teacher?” Ye Futian recalled what he had been through seeing what his teacher was going through then, and was unable to help but ask.

“Rest assured, you’re testing out the medicines and he is using them for healing. While there would definitely be a certain measure of pain involved, but that was simply just to reforge the parts of his body which decayed in the calamity. It would make his body stronger after this rebirth.” Saint Jiang then added, “Get in there yourself too.”

“Right.” Ye Futian nodded.

“Stay here and watch him,” Saint Jiang told Xu Chehan and he left together with Ye Futian and Little Butterfly, heading to the pool where Ye Futian was supposed to bathe in.

That was the second stage of testing out the medicines. The liquids were of totally different color from the ones before. There was actually slivers of black, terrifying currents in it. Ye Futian shuddered after just sensing what they were.

Little Butterfly said nothing beside him and her smile disappeared altogether; she turned to look rather solemn instead.

Every single test in every stage was a trial in itself. She had no certainty if Ye Futian would have been able to survive through that test.

To Ye Futian, every single test felt like a visit to the gates of death.

“If you happen to die, I’d still continue to help your teacher complete his body’s refinement,” Saint Jiang said. Ye Futian let out a bitter laugh in response. What the hell…

“Thank you, senior. But, death. I’ve never thought of that,” Ye Futian said and leapt into the pool. A surge of liquid with an even greater ferocity rushed into his body. Ye Futian felt at that very second that his skin was about to rot and fall off. Unspeakable devastating power was imbued with that black current, seemingly out to destroy every single part of his body.

He vaguely felt that slivers of black currents coursed throughout his entire body. His veins, nerves, limbs and organs, every single spot was accounted for. The currents even surged right up to his brain. If he had been watching from outside the pool, he would have quickly found that his skin had turned pitch black.

“Is this the power of rules imbued within the art of poison?” A sliver of thought emerged from within his mind. His entire body no longer felt like his as it was getting continuously invaded by the poisons, which were eroding his spiritual will and devouring every part of his body.

“Crack.” Yu Sheng clenched his fists. He was able to feel how terrifying the powers that Ye Futian was resisting at the moment.

Little Butterfly shut her eyes altogether, not daring to look at what was going on. She had a part in the preparations of those medicines. The testing of medicines was actually a test of poisons.

While her major had been the art of medicines, but she was nonetheless studying under Saint Jiang. As such, it was only natural that she knew about poisons. In the situation where ready ingredients were around, she was even able to craft poisons on her own.

Saint Jiang, on the other hand, simply looked at Ye Futian unfazed. There was no hint of emotion to be found in his expression. He had no intentions of going easy at all. There had been many tests before and they all ended in failure. If the test failed with Ye Futian, that would have meant that his track of thought had always been erroneous and impractical. It was never something possible and there was simply no way he could have reversed the effects of the cruel great path.

Ye Futian was quiet this time instead of shrieking in pain like he last did, which seemed as if he was fighting a battle silently.

The more his spiritual will got eroded, the tougher he got. There seemed to be a sovereign-like figure sitting cross-legged in his consciousness. The figure was immutable as he simply sat against the erosion of the black currents without lifting a finger, yet the currents failed to dismantle his will.

The eroded, decayed parts of his body was healing at breakneck speed. A sliver of green light flowed within his Life Palace, coursing down into his limbs and shrouded his entire body. Two powers continued to clash against each other, as if a very intense battle was being fought within his body.

Ye Futian truly felt that every single part of his body was being torn apart when the destructive powers invaded him. The destroyed parts recovered and the cycle began anew. All of his moments were spent suffering unspeakable pain, which was far more terrifying than what he had last suffered.

He finally understood why Little Butterfly looked so severe and kept reminding him with a serious tone.

Yu Sheng’s fists clenched increasingly hard and the veins popped. Little Butterfly opened her eyes and saw Ye Futian’s body seemed to shaking slightly. He was probably shivering from pain.

Every second felt excruciating.

Time seemed to passed at a very slow pace.

Ye Futian’s movement seemed to ease after being at it for a very long time. The invading powers gradually subsided and the effects of the medicines weakened. However, his body’s regenerative abilities did not seem to weaken one bit. It was continued being shrouded in light, which grew increasingly bright.

No one knew how much time had passed. Ye Futian was still in the pool. Sage Douzhan’s session had ended and he came to his student’s pool. Xu Chehan was there as well, but he said nothing.

Sage Douzhan felt incredibly restless. Is this how he had been testing the medicines?

His student seemed to be putting his life on the line, just so that he was able to become a saint.

Eventually, the light on Ye Futian’s body finally overcame the black currents. His eyes opened all of a sudden, but they remained clear and bright.

“Is it okay if all of you just stare at me like that?” Ye Futian said with a smile. His sudden words surprised everyone present. A beaming smile was seen in Little Butterfly’s eyes. Man, he can really joke even at a time like this.

The test was finally over.

“It’s not we haven’t seen it before.” Little Butterfly replied, seemingly having relaxed. But she immediately felt that her words sounded weird, and she blushed as a result.

“Umm…” Ye Futian was dumbfounded as well. That was what he said that day.

Saint Jiang took a look at Little Butterfly, and Xu Chehan looked at her as well.

Sage Douzhan sported a rather peculiar expression himself. This student of mine really knows how to get the girls everywhere he goes. Come to think of it, he is surrounded by all manner of beautiful girls even back in the Holy Zhi Palace.

Young and handsome, so he can fool around all he like.

“Teacehr, I’ll go prepare the herbs for tomorrow,” Little Butterfly said and left. Saint Jiang took a good look at Ye Futian and said, “The first round of tests would take 81 days. If you could really survive the whole ordeal, your body would undergo rebirth of sorts. If you’re able to make it through all three stages, you would gain a body of saints. I hope you’d live to see that come true.”

Saint Jiang left as soon as he finished. Xu Chehan continued to look as cold as he had always been as he left with his teacher.

Ye Futian probably would not have been able to make it that far.

Xu Chehan was the person who knew best what Ye Futian had suffered in the medicinal bath, as he had similar experiences himself.

Ye Futian did not walk out of the pool. He was still pondering Saint Jiang’s words. When they first came to see Saint Jiang, the saint said that everything in the world has their own rules. If one were to become a saint, one would have needed to endure Divine Catastrophes. The achievements that one gained needed to be equal to the price that one has paid.

If he was able to endure the pain of the medicine testing and succeeded in emerging alive, he would have gained rewards equal to what he suffered. In truth, he was able to feel it as soon as the first stage of medicine testing ended.

Weal and woe were two sides of a coin. What he had undergone in that medicine testing was probably not a bad thing. But then again, it was a given that he needed to be alive to reap its benefits.

He took one look at the medicinal pool and thought that the herbs required for testing every day probably cost a lot.

“Teacher, how do you feel?” Ye Futian asked Sage Douzhan after walking out of the pool moments later.

“Incredible.” Sage Douzhan added, “I hear from Saint Jiang that if you were able to endure the medicinal bath, your body would undergo rebirth.”

“Yeah.” Ye Futian nodded, “Same goes with you, teacher. When you’re done tempering your body, you would’ve passed through the catastrophe and be on your way to become a saint.”

“A promise between both of us, as teacher and student then,” Sage Douzhan replied with a booming voice.

“Indeed.” Ye Futian nodded with a smile, and they left the place together.

…

Time flew. Autumn passed and winter came. Year 10012 of Divine Prefecture Calendar came near its end.

The Nine State College grew increasingly rowdy. Many students who went out on pilgrimages came back one after another. The end of every year was the time to test one’s training.

Many continued to talk about Ye Futian within the college.

Rumor had it that Ye Futian remained just fine even then. He had been doing his tests for 72 days straight. According to news from the Herb Garden, Ye Futian would have finished the first round of tests after another final round. It was something that none who went to do medicine testing had achieved before.

Furthermore, according to Jiang Chuan. The one who was at Ye Futian’s side when he was doing said tests was none other than Goddess Die, Saint Jiang’s student. Both of them shared an amicable bond, which became the talk of the place. Is Ye Futian, the young leader from the Barren State, and the Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace, going to have a romantic story to tell between him and Goddess Die?

Love blossoming between two who shared considerable time together was common after all.

But then again, no one knows what the eldest student of Saint Jiang, Xu Chehan, would think if he hears all the buzz going about.

There was another news. Sage Douzhan had finished tempering his body, and it would have probably been a matter of time before he were to undergo the catastrophe yet again.

The Barren State would have very probably gained themselves another saint in time.

Just when the news was spreading about, a phoenix carriage came outside the college from the skies. The golden phoenix wore a crown and there was only one person who was fit to ride on one such carriage; it was none other than the Zhou Sacred King.

The sacred king was upon the Nine State College!