Chapter 1158: Punishment

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saint Xihua finally talked. He had no other choice.

Right now, it was not just Ye Futian who wanted to get payback on him; Princess Xia Qingyuan had brought others with her. There was no escape.

There was an area in the Holy Zhi Palace where there were usually very few people. The area was filled with tombstones, and names were carved onto each one. These were the names of cultivators of the Holy Zhi Palace who had died in battle.

Saint Xihua was escorted there and was placed on a punishment platform in the middle of all the tombstones.

He knew what was about to happen. His face grew extremely pale.

Many people from the Holy Zhi Palace gathered there, standing behind Ye Futian. They all looked very solemn.

As Saint Xihua was escorted to the platform, chains appeared out of thin air. They were locked onto his body, and even directly penetrated his bones, making him unable to stand up firmly.

“Kneel,” said Ye Futian coldly.

“Ye Futian, no matter what I’ve done, I was still once the lord of Xihua Sacred Mountain, one of the titans of the Nine States. You’ve captured me now, so if you want to kill me, go ahead. Why must you humiliate me like this?” Saint Xihua snarled.

Would he kneel to be punished and then killed?

No, he was Saint Xihua.

The hegemon of the Eastern State.

“You instigated the alliance between the Great Zhou Sacred King and Saint Zhi, which caused the Sacred War of all the holy lands of the Nine States. Many people died because of this. Even a thousand deaths would not be punishment enough for this. What does who you are and your status have to do with anything?” said Ye Futian calmly and coldly. “Kneel and confess.”

As he said this, a terrifying sword shrieked past, cutting into Saint Xihua’s legs at the knees. His bones snapped as he knelt to the ground. His face twisted as he looked at Ye Futian in fury.

“Princess, I once held Xihua Sacred Mountain in the Eastern State in His Majesty’s name. How can you let this happen?” he roared.

“You were defeated and fled Xihua Sacred Mountain without any regard to your honor. What right do you have to call yourself Saint Xihua?” said Xia Qingyuan indifferently. A group of figures appeared above Saint Xihua. They were Douzhan, Xu Shang, Zhuge Qingfeng, and the other Saints of the Barren State.

The divine power within them spread out, and a terrible destructive power descended upon Saint Xihua’s body.

Today, Saint Xihua’s blood would be sacrificed to those who had died at the Holy Zhi Palace.

All the disciples of the Holy Zhi Palace gathered together, staring at the scene before them. All of them appeared extremely solemn.

Those among them who had experienced several sacred wars all had red eyes. There were many tears, especially from the older people who’s feelings ran deeper.

Those great wars had been so tragic.

The first time, the Great Zhou Sacred King had led a great army to attack the palace, threatening to destroy it. At that time, Douzhan had faced the Divine Catastrophe, not fearing for his own life, to win the battle and ensure the safety of the palace and giving them a chance to recover.

This had lasted until the outbreak of the most tragic of all the Sacred Wars, in which the Palace Lord’s wife, Hua Jieyu, had died.

Even though it had been many years since, when they thought back to it, it was like it was happening right before there eyes. They would never forget.

Those who had entered the palace later knew of this too. Although the palace was now in its golden era, these events had all become legendary, and every person newly admitted to the palace memorized this piece of history. Now, as they gathered in the cemetery, they were struck by emotion, and all looked very solemn.

Terrifying divine light fell upon Saint Xihua’s body, just like the light of the Divine Catastrophe.

Xihua looked up at everyone angrily. His eyes were bloodshot. Were they really going to let him die in such a humiliating way?

He had waited for this to happen peacefully. He had prepared himself for death. But Ye Futian would not let him die peacefully.

He would first carve Saint Xihua’s name onto the Barren State’s pillar of shame.

“Kill him,” spat Ye Futian. Suddenly, the five Palace Lords of the Barren State launched devastating attacks at the same time. The sky looked like the end of days was coming as terrible power shot down, piercing right through Saint Xihua’s head.

Saint Xihua’s body trembled violently. His eyes were open wide, still showing his humiliation and unwillingness to die like this. He roared as blood poured from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. But the destructive attacks continued to fall on him.

This was his punishment. In this way, the life of Saint Xihua, who had once dominated the Eastern State, was brought to an end.

The life force of a Saint-level cultivator was powerful, and so Saint Xihua struggled for a long time. But his life force was eventually completely exhausted. His body fell to the ground slowly and became a corpse. A hegemonic figure had died in the cemetery of the Holy Zhi Palace.

He was still kneeling there as he died, his head bowed in confession, and his body chained to the tombstone. It was an extremely miserable way to go.

Ye Futian watched this all happen calmly. He had no sympathy, no pity. This was the punishment that Saint Xihua deserved for all he had done.

Someone behind Ye Futian handed him a glass filled with wine. He dropped the wine glass in front of the cemetery and then bowed to all the tombs.

The Barren State was not like it had been before, and the Holy Zhi Palace even less so.

The Holy Zhi Palace would one day become the greatest power in the Nine States, an unmatched holy land for cultivation. Its disciples would cover the earth. The cultivators of the palace, particularly those who had fought in the sacred war, would receive their own cultivation resources and would have a bright future.

But the dead were dead. As far as he knew, they would never see the Holy Zhi Palace’s current glory, nor would they ever have a way to experience what that glory would bring.

Even saying that they had died contently was nothing more than self-consolation.

Death was death. There was only one life.

As if affected by this emotional atmosphere, all the disciples of the palace bowed along with Ye Futian. All were serious and solemn.

“If the families of those who died in battle are still here, give them the best cultivation resources. And have them be trained by elders and treated with special favor,” said Ye Futian.

“Don’t worry, Palace Lord, we have already done so,” Sword Demon said as he and a few others came up to Ye Futian.

Ye Futian nodded. This would let him rest a little easier.

“Now, all that is left is Saint Ji and the others from the Hall of Holy Light,” whispered Ye Futian. He wanted to see how long Saint Ji could hide for.

Waiting for death must not be a comfortable thing to do.

“Let’s go.” Ye Futian turned to leave, and the people of the palace made a path for him.

At that moment, Ye Futian had a thought. He should pass on the title of Palace Lord.

The palace’s position in the Nine States was as unshakable as a mountain; no one would be able to threaten them again. Everything was on the right track, and now that he was a Saint, it was even more so. The other holy lands would know about what had happened in the Upper Worlds. And now that Saint Xihua was dead, once he had destroyed the Hall of Holy Light, he would no longer need to be in charge of the Holy Zhi Palace.

After all, he seldom came back to the Lower Worlds. The reason he had not abdicated his position was that the palace still needed him. He was a symbol; the symbol of the palace.

Ye Futian looked at Douzhan beside him. Other than here, five other palaces had been established by the Holy Zhi Palace. Master Douzhan commanded the central palace, and he had once been the master of Battle Sage Palace, which was second only to Holy Sage Pavilion.

If he were to step down, his Master would be the most natural choice to succeed him. He had always believed in the Holy Zhi Palace.

As for what went on in the Upper Worlds, although Saint Xihua had come clean, he was farther from the end of this matter than he had thought.

Saint Xihua had known too little. He only knew that a mysterious person had sought him out and made him get involved.

But he did not know who this person was. Moreover, they were good at hiding and being unpredictable. They had arranged everything seamlessly. All that they were sure about now was that someone was pulling strings behind the scenes. They had already known this, so it was not too important.

They still had not found any key evidence. It could be said that there were no flaws to be found in their opponent’s plan.

“When Saint Xihua was hiding in the Upper Worlds, I had people watching him, but he was in contact with too many people. After so long, it would be impossible to have all of them watched. Our opponent is skilled at hiding his identity, and can even conceal his Saint-level aura. It may be impossible to find him now,” said Xia Qingyuan.

Ye Futian nodded slightly. “Now, we can only rely on conjecture and the process of elimination. Think, Princess, how many people in the Upper Worlds of Emperor Xia’s Realm could play this sort of game?”

Xia Qingyuan looked at Ye Futian. She naturally knew what he meant. Who could arrange everything so secretly, not leaving any holes, and make an alliance with Xiao Sheng that he did not dare to divulge?

There were not many in Emperor Xia’s Realm who could do this.

Only those at the very top could have such power and skill.

“When we return, I will investigate this in detail,” said Xia Qingyuan.

“Thank you, Princess,” said Ye Futian. These days, Xia Qingyuan was indeed doing a lot for him.

…

News of Saint Xihua’s death spread quickly throughout the Nine States. Everywhere, people experienced mixed emotions.

Saint Xihua was a hegemon whose fame had once shaken the earth. He had called the Great Zhou Sacred King to attack the Holy Zhi Palace in a Sacred War. No one could have imagined that, in the end, he would be humiliated and killed like that.

Nowadays, the Holy Zhi Palace made everyone respect it.

It was said that Ye Futian had become a Saint.

On that day, a powerful aura descended upon the Holy Zhi Palace in the Barren State. Many figures walked out of the Palace and heard voices.

“The Ocean Palace in the Endless Ocean has come to greet Lord Ye.”

“The North Deep in the Endless Ocean has come to greet Lord Ye.”

“The Celestial Cliffs in the Endless Ocean has come to greet Lord Ye.”

The voices rang out, sounding very humble. Not only had three great holy lands come, but their Lords had come as well. Their attitude was very respectful, and they trembled with fear.

They had finally caved in. They had heard the news that Saint Xihua had been found by Ye Futian on a small island in the Endless Ocean. The people of the island said that Ye Futian had killed a Saint with one finger.

The Ye Futian of today was not like the Ye Futian of the past.

They had once submitted to the Holy Zhi Palace, but they did this without any sincerity. After all, the enmity leftover from the Sacred War was still there. Now, when they saw how strong Ye Futian was, how could they not feel afraid? They feared that Ye Futian would come to them to settle old scores, and they would come to the same end as Saint Xihua!