Chapter 123: Cultivating During Battle

Of course, Ye Futian had no intentions of fighting every single Dharma Plane participant but if he wanted to get into the top three, he had to demonstrate the best of his talents for the emperor. In all honesty, revealing his twin spirits and defeating two Dharma Plane cultivators was already enough but Ye Futian did not want to risk anything. Because of this, it was better to defeat one more person in the Dharma Plane as a safety measure. If he must defeat one more person, then Yu Jiang was naturally the best target. Yu Jiang did not look too good. He watched as Ye Futian stood in the air, looking at him with a smile.

At last night’s dinner, Yu Jiang had stepped in with a couple words of his own when Ye Futian ignored Bai Qiu’s suggestion of a collaborative performance from Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. This must have been Ye Futian’s revenge. At the time, Yu Jiang thought that a mere Seven-Starred Glory Plane cultivator had no right to be pretentious and arrogant in front of Bai Qiu. But after the two battles just now, Ye Futian’s power and strength made Yu Jiang realize how right it was for him to be arrogant. If Bai Qiu did not want to perform, what gave him the right to request that Ye Futian played and for Hua Jieyu to dance along?

Stepping forward, Yu Jiang’s eyes did not display much confidence. Neither Bai Qiu nor Wang Yu was any weaker than Yu Jiang but they had both been defeated. The difference between the three was that Bai Qiu majored in musical sorcery, Wang Yu in martial arts, and Yu Jiang in sorcery.

Walking up to Ye Futian, Yu Jiang did not say anything. His Life Spirit released the realization of Dharma. Both of them were released at the same time, forming a tree. The tree grew taller and taller, seeming to have been formed by Spiritual Qi. The branches and leaves extended outward nonstop and Yu Jiang stood at the center of the tree.

Yu Jiang was a Wood Elemental Sorcerer. He only cultivated in one element but because he was a Mandate Sorcerer, he was able to cultivate this one element to its greatest potential. His powers were just as frightening as the rest. The giant tree’s branches rustled toward Ye Futian. Gathering the Spiritual Qi around him, he was able to release the Lock of a Thousand Vines. In a split second, the vines blocked the sky and tried to encapsulate Ye Futian.

Because of his Life Spirit and the realization of Dharma, the wood elemental sorcery that Yu Jiang used was much more powerful than that of other Wood Sorcerers. In a flash, Ye Futian moved backwards. At the same time, a fire dragon appeared. Growling, it raced towards the vines ahead. Fire Sorcery was able to affect Wood Sorcery to a certain extent. But this was also true vice versa. Yu Jiang’s sorcery was far more powerful than Ye Futian’s. The vines brushed over the fire dragon and continued to travel towards Ye Futian.

“He can also use Fire Sorcery. He cultivates in sorcery.” Everyone watching Ye Futian was speechless. Once again, they thought back to what he said, ‘I only cultivated musical sorcery to better myself.’

BOOM! A wild flame erupted from Ye Futian. Unless amounts of Fire Spiritual Qi rushed into his body. Very quickly, Ye Futian was bathing in the burning flames. His body was like an incinerator, ready to turn everything into ash. Even the long golden rod in his hand was enveloped in flames. The colors of the gold and the flames together were captivating.

Of course, Ye Futian knew that he couldn’t go up against a powerful cultivator in the Dharma Plane with just sorcery. Although his sorcery was pretty powerful, it was visibly much weaker than his abilities in martial arts. He cultivated the enhancement methods passed down from Emperor Ye Qing, and then later acquired the Imperial Tactics. Every fiber of his body incredibly powerful. With just pure strength, he would have been able to defeat everyone below the Dharma Plane. However, those in the Dharma Plane were able to release the realization of Dharma. It was necessary to use tactics never seen before, like the Nine Heavenly Attacks, to bridge the gap in planes. It was the only way to defeat an opponent in a much higher plane. Even though it was true that Ye Futian was a Full Attribute Mandate Sorcerer and was highly gifted, because he cultivated in battle tactics, he was still stronger in martial arts under comparison with sorcery.

When the vines came closer, his body soared through the air. His rod danced and a great force of power collected. The vines kept chasing after Ye Futian like there was no limit to where they could go.

Ye Futian ignored the vines and continued to fly in the sky. He then swung his rod downward and a fearsome burst of flames rushed to engulf the vines. An apparition of the rod appeared and attacked Yu Jiang.

Yu Jiang face was emotionless. Countless vines appeared in front of him and blocked off the attack. However, that could not be considered a real attack. Ye Futian’s rod swung down once again. His movements in the sky were not those of a battle. It looked more like he was practicing using the rod.

This guy… Many people watched Ye Futian as he waved the golden rod enveloped in flames around in the sky. They began to realize that he was indeed practicing. To practice while in combat with Yu Jiang. What did Ye Futian take him for?

Yu Jiang had realized as well. His expression was not too good. He moved up along the tree and straight for Ye Futian. The tree rustled loudly as Wood Spiritual Qi exploded in the air.

Behind Yu Jiang, the giant tree shined brightly and began to grow outward continuously. It blocked the sky like a mystical tree. The giant tree vine curling toward Ye Futian looked like a coiling black dragon. The Binding of the Black Dragon was a wood elemental spell and needed to be initiated with a strong force of Wood Spiritual Qi.

Ye Futian continued to mess with the rod. It was as if he could not see what was going on. When the vine got closer, he struck down for the third time and the wood elemental black dragon was destroyed. Yu Jiang’s expression fell. Watching Ye Futian wave the rod around, collecting more power, he knew that things were taking a turn for the worst. Ye Futian destroyed Wang Yu with four strikes during the previous battle. Now, he was collecting power in preparation for his fourth strike at Yu Jiang.

Just as everyone thought, Ye Futian was indeed cultivating. Previously, he made it to the fourth attack of the Nine Heavenly Attacks because of the Imperial Tactics. Now, he wanted to accomplish the same thing with his own powers. His will was strong. Right now, Ye Futian had no other thoughts. Everything around him had nothing to do with him. A large force of power gathered around him. It felt heavy. The Nine Heavenly Attacks were aggressive but hard to control. Strong willpower was needed to initiate it. Ye Futian’s movements seemed to have slowed.

Just then, the Binding of the Black Dragon descended upon him once again. The vines came with frighteningly sharp thorns. They moved toward Ye Futain.

BOOM! Ye Futian emitted a shocking force of power. Next, the rod swung down and the black dragon exploded into pieces. Flames lit up the sky. Ye Futian followed the motion of the rod and descended like a Burning Man. Everything he passed turned into ash. This continued until the rod finally met with Yu Jiang’s body. The hit smashed Yu Jiang down on to the Fenghua Platform.

Everywhere around the platform was extremely quiet. Their eyes went to the handsome figure in the sky. Ye Futian had defeated three Dharma Plane cultivators in a row. He was good at musical sorcery, martial arts, sorcery, and was gifted in multiple elements, such as the element of spirit, metal, wind, and fire. Just as Ye Futian had predicted, with his gifts, he was most definitely going to be in the top three on the Fenghua Rank. He was only in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane but was already one of the best among the group of fifteen just in terms of combat skills. Besides the couple people in the second level Dharma Plane, who would be able to touch him?

Ye Futian did not spare a second glance at Yu Jiang who had fallen to the ground. His wild aura disappeared and, in a flash, he was back on the Black Wind Eagle.

Many people continued to stare at Ye Futian. He was handsome and had a bright personality. He always had a light smile on his face, giving others a very comfortable feeling. But this handsome young man who didn’t look like could hurt a fly, had just brutally defeated three extremely talented Dharma Plane cultivators.

Then, their attention shifted to Hua Jieyu, who was beside him. Presently, there was no one else who thought it was unfitting for the two to be together. They were the perfect couple, a match made in heaven. They were both unbelievably gifted and incredibly good looking. When they stood together, Cangye Kingdom’s number one beauty, Lin Yueyao, as well as the pride of all clans could not hold a candle to them. Furthermore, there was still Yu Sheng, standing behind the couple. He was also so talented, it was unnatural. People thought, what kind of group is this?

After the shock had passed, the battles continued. Participants in the Dharma Plane made exchanges on the platform. Young Lord Ye Wuchen and Cangye College’s Zuo Qianfan could be described as invincible. There was no one who could lay a hand on them. Without incident, these two would be the two most powerful people at the Fenghua Banquet. Besides them, there was a prodigy-level person who was not from the Cangye Kingdom. He was also very powerful.

After they were defeated by Ye Futian, Bai Qiu and Yu Jiang continued to battle. However, they had lost their air of arrogance. They had been taught a lesson by a Seven-Starred Glory Plane cultivator and no longer had the right to be arrogant. But to be honest, they were not weak at all. They were victorious battle after battle against those in the same plane. This helped everyone understand. The two of them weren’t weak. Ye Futian was simply way too powerful. Even if it had been someone else in the first level Dharma Plane who fought against Ye Futian, the results would be the same.

If that’s how it was, Bai Qiu and Yu Jiang still had a chance to enter the Fenghua Rank. Wang Yu was the most pitiful. He was beat until he lost his power to battle. He didn’t even get a chance to demonstrate his talents. There was no reason for the emperor to pick him.

In the Glory Plane, Lin Yueyao and Hua Zhixin battled. Both beauties were talented but with the advantage of being in a higher plane, Lin Yueyao won. Despite that, Hua Zhixin perfectly displayed her combat skills in this battle. In terms of gifts and talents, Hua Zhixin wouldn’t have lost to Lin Yueyao. After the two of them fought, there was no one else to compete. In the Glory Plane, there was also Ye Futian, Yu Sheng, and Hua Jieyu but who would they fight? They might as well challenge those in the Dharma Plane.

This saddened the two young women. Today on the Fenghua Platform, the one who shined the brightest would have, without a doubt, been Hua Jieyu. She stole Lin Yueyao’s spotlight.

Yu Sheng fought another battle with someone in the Dharma Plane. However, he did not win. The reason for that was simple. The opponent could fly and Yu Sheng couldn’t, so he could endure take the attacks. This pissed off Yu Sheng big time. In the end, even though Yu Sheng hadn’t been beat into the ground, he still stepped off the Fenghua Platform feeling very melancholic.

Although he did not win, no one dared to underestimate Yu Sheng’s gifts. This guy was also able to fight Dharma Plane cultivators. If only he could fly, then he would have had a chance of defeating those in the Dharma Plane.

As the battles came and went, the Fenghua Banquet was getting closer to the end. No one would have ever expected for three Seven-Starred Glory Plane cultivators to come out of nowhere and display such talents at the Fenghua Banquet!

Chapter 124: The Emperor’s Ranking

It was a little bit quiet since there were fewer people went to battle on the Fenghua Platform.

Only the strongest were left.

They were the young Lord Ye Wuchen, Zuo Qianfan from Cangye College, and Li Yi. Other than Ye Futian’s trio, Li Yi was the other dark horse. No one knew him before and he was not from this kingdom either. Among the talents from the other nations, Li Yi would be the most outstanding if Ye Futian’s trio wasn’t there.

His life spirit was the Sun Bird, a three-foot golden bird with the attributes of both wind and fire. He cultivated both sorcery and martial arts at the same time and his martial arts techniques were peculiar. When fighting, the fire inside him seemed to come not only from the Spiritual Qi of the world. It was more frightening than it.

At this moment, Li Yi came out and looked at Ye Wuchen. Ye Wuchen had shone so brightly on the Fenghua Platform but he still wanted to try.

Ye Wuchen landed on the platform quickly. He looked calm as usual, his body standing there like a sword. Such temperament became especially obvious when he was about to fight. It was as if the intent of the sword surrounded him.

Li Yi also reached the realization of Dharma through his life spirit. He turned into a huge golden bird. The flames could burn everything, and were far stronger than Wang Yu’s.

“You still won’t release the Dharma?” Li Yi asked.

“No need.” Ye Wuchen was still calm, his tone full of confidence.

The illusions of golden birds pounced toward Ye Wuchen with monstrous flames. For a moment, Ye Wuchen’s body was set on fire, but he stood still with sword’s light swirling around in a storm. They slashed through the illusions of the golden birds.

“What strong sword intent.” People felt their hearts fluttering. The sword intent around Ye Wuchen seemed to turn into a substantive sword moving around his body. It was amazing. Before the Fenghua Banquet started, Ye Wuchen had been cheered the most. Everyone took him as the strongest and Ye Wuchen didn’t disappoint them.

Li Yi moved quickly toward Ye Wuchen. Ye Wuchen stepped forward only one step and the sword intent swept as if it gathered an endless amount into one sword. He was that one sword. Li Yi halted. Ye Wuchen seemed to be a real sword to him instead of a man. The flames went out. Li Yi turned and flew away.

“I was defeated.” Hearing Li Yi’s voice, the people felt somewhat confused. In the beginning, Li Yi chose to challenge Ye Wuchen even when knowing his mightiness. Why did he concede before the fight? They didn’t understand, but for Li Yi, he knew he was defeated as soon as Ye Wuchen stepped forward. He hadn’t reached the other’s state, not only technically but also spiritually.

Ye Wuchen drew back his foot and returned to the air. Many eyes fell upon Zuo Qianfan who was the only one left who was considered a threat to Ye Wuchen. However, Zuo Qianfan was not going to fight. Perhaps he was not confident enough. Of course, as long as he didn’t fight, no one would know who was stronger.

Ye Wuchen didn’t have the desire to challenge him. He was confident enough to believe that there were no rivals on the Fenghua Banquet and there was no need to challenge anyone.

The Fenghua Platform became quiet again. It seemed that no one continued to fight. An elder of Cangye College went on the platform and said, “Anyone else? Otherwise, this is the end.”

No one responded. The elder looked at the Emperor. Emperor Ye nodded slightly. The disciples from the Cangye College bowed and departed.

People all looked at those young people in the void. Ten of them would be called out by the emperor and shine brightly. There were many guesses about the ranking.

“Go up to the platform,” the Emperor said, smiling. Everyone went to the stage, including Ye Futian’s trio. Only Wang Yu was lifted up pathetically. The pitiful Wang Yu glared at Ye Futian. He didn’t want to come since it was impossible for him to be on the list. However, this is the rule of the Fenghua Banquet. His father ordered some people to carry him to the platform.

Ye Futian didn’t look at Wang Yu. Wang Yu definitely hadn’t expected to have such consequences when he was fighting for Lin Yueyao.

The 15 people all appeared on the platform.

Ye Wuchen still looked calm as if he didn’t care about anything while Zuo Qianfan smiled handsomely.

Lin Yueyao looked around with a complex expression. Her beautiful eyes flitted between Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. She had never thought that there could be another woman who shone brighter than her.

Yu Jiang and Bai Qiu had lost their previous arrogance because of that man on the platform—Ye Futian. Although they performed well in the later rounds, people would only remember the round with Ye Futian. The youth was too talented that they could only serve to make him look better in comparison.

Gradually, they looked up at the throne in front. The Emperor smiled at them and said, “Number ten on the Fenghua list, Lin Yueyao.” The Emperor’s voice made people’s hearts tremble.

Lin Yueyao, the first beauty of Cangye Kingdom, was very talented. She had been renowned even before the Fenghua Banquet. Now, she was indeed on the Fenghua list but in last place. To appear on the list was unattainable for most people. However, there was nothing to be proud of for Lin Yueyao. In her two fights, she was defeated by Hua Jieyu and won Hua Zhixin slightly. No one could complain about the Emperor’s ranking. It was reasonable.

“Number nine, Yu Jiang,” the Emperor continued to announce. The hero of the Cangye College was ninth. Although he was defeated by Ye Futian, he still performed outstandingly. He deserved the ninth place.

“Number eight, Bai Qiu,” the Emperor went on. Many people also guessed this outcome. Yu Jiang, Bai Qiu, and Wang Yu were the three talents in realization of Dharma but they were all defeated by Ye Futian. However, it was proved later that Yu Jiang and Bai Qiu were not weaker than the others in the Dharma Plane. It was just because Ye Futian was too monstrous. Therefore, Ye Futian must be one of the top three.

It was absolutely a miracle that a man from the Seven-star Glory Plane could be one of the top three.

“Number seven, Hua Zhixin.”

Hua Zhixin, another beauty, was the seventh.

Hua Zhixin herself felt a little bit surprised. She looked at the Emperor with puzzlement. She had only fought with Lin Yueyao and she was defeated. Why would the Emperor put her in seventh place?

It was unexpected not only for Hua Zhixin but also for many other people. However, they knew that it couldn’t call a defeat since Hua Zhixin had used the Eight-star Glory Plane to fight with Lin Yueyao to that extent. If she was on the same plane as Lin Yueyao, it was quite possible for her to win.

Lin Yueyao was also stunned. She had battled twice—defeated by Hua Jieyu but victorious over Hua Zhixin. However, the Emperor ranked her at the last and set Hua Zhixin at the seventh place. It was natural to be upset.

“Number six, Li Yi,” the Emperor continued. Li Yi, a strong cultivator in the Dharma Plane, was sixth.

There were five people left. Ye Futian’s trio were all in the top five. Other than them, there was also Ye Wuchen and Zuo Qianfan. These two hadn’t been defeated yet. In fact, Yu Sheng was just like Hua Zhixin. He had only fought once and was defeated.

So what? Who was Yu Sheng’s competitor? It was the genius in the Dharma Plane and it shouldn’t be counted as a defeat. He had left because he couldn’t hit the other. As for Hua Zhixin and Lin Yueyao, Yu Sheng just didn’t want to fight with them, which made sense to everyone. No one was surprised by the result.

There was another man who was defeated in his only fight but was also strong. It was Wang Yu, but he was different. His rival was Ye Futian who was only at the Seven-star Glory Plane. They were on the same plane but different levels. However, he was defeated to a miserable extent as everyone could see. After that, he had no chance to prove himself as Bai Qiu and Yu Jiang did. He could blame no one. It was destined that his name couldn’t appear on the list.

Next was the top five. Everyone was looking forward to the result.

Emperor Ye looked at those people on the platform. Everyone tensed. The remaining people were really difficult to rank. Of Zuo Qianfan, Hua Jieyu and Yu Sheng, who would be the fifth?

Zuo Qianfan hadn’t been defeated yet, while what he had showed was just as powerful as Ye Wuchen. Therefore, Zuo Qianfan and Ye Wuchen must be the two strongest. Some people wondered whether Zuo Qianfan didn’t challenge Ye Wuchen to deliberately avoid him. As for Hua Jieyu, she had only fought once and defeated Lin Yueyao, crossing two planes. Yu Sheng was also strong. There would be dispute no matter who was the fifth.

“Do you have anything to say?” the Emperor smiled and asked.

Everyone’s expressions grew complex. Zuo Qianfan smiled and said, “Your Highness, though I haven’t fought with Ye Wuchen, there is a greater possibility for me to be defeated if we battle. From Ye Wuchen’s matchless demeanor, he must be the top one. As for me, just take me as I was defeated.”

Many people looked at Zuo Qianfan in surprise. He seemed to be uninterested in the ranking. Many people admired his attitude for he took the initiative to admit that he would be defeated and recommended Ye Wuchen to be the top one.

But Yu Sheng glanced at Zuo Qianfan coolly. For him, the first place should be Ye Futian. Zuo Qianfan didn’t have the right to judge and disturb the Emperor’s decision.

Yu Sheng knew that Ye Futian might not be so interested in the rank either. He didn’t challenge anyone else after defeating the three talents in the Dharma Plane. This meant his goal was only the top three. He attended the Fenghua Banquet only for his teacher’s injury. Whether it was first or third place was not so important to him. However, Yu Sheng cared about this. Zuo Qianfan was from the Cangye College while Ye Futian had humiliated Yu Jiang who was from Cangye College too.