The Legend of Futian

Both within and without the Heavenly Mandate Academy, cultivators from all over had gathered like clouds. At a single glance, one could tell that their vast numbers were divided into different camps.

Among them, the two major teaching forces lay in opposite directions: the Heavenly Mandate Academy and the Holy Land of Taichu from the Divine Prefecture. Both sides were looking across at their opponent’s area. There was a tense atmosphere, making it feel like the whole area was under a great amount of pressure that made everyone below the Renhuang level’s hearts beat without stopping.

So many great figures that just their invisible auras were enough to make people below the Renhuang level feel nervous.

The vast space gradually turned from noisy into quiet, as if everyone was stopping their discussions. As the aura grew stronger and stronger, it was not long before everything was silent. This strange silence made the area feel even more gloomy.

The cultivators from the Holy Land of Taichu were still standing up in the air. The one at their head wore a white robe and had a magnificent aura. He swept his gaze over the Heavenly Mandate Academy, then said in a loud, clear voice, “The Holy Land of Taichu is the foremost holy land for teaching on the continent of the Divine Prefecture. We have trained countless disciples, with many top-level Renhuangs among them. Now that a path has been opened between the Void Realm and the Divine Prefecture, we wish to begin teaching here in the Void Realm. We will follow the order of Donghuang the Great and let the martial arts of the Void Realm flourish.”

His voice carried through the air, righteous and awe-inspiring. It made many people believe that what he was saying was true.

But Lord Taixuan, Ye Futian, and others sneered inwardly. If they really wanted to make the Void Realm’s martial arts flourish, why come here and directly build another holy land? Doing this was for no other reason than to gain a foothold in the Void Realm, giving them the right to speak and establishing their power there.

Of course, the continent of the Divine Prefecture and the Void Realm were all controlled by Donghuang the Great. Thus, the man’s words seemed to be both correct and powerful. In fact, the Holy Land of Taichu was famous for its teachers. They had come here to teach the Way, following the will of Donghuang the Great. In that case, there should be no objections.

“I have heard that the Heavenly Mandate Academy is teaching in the Lower Realms, acting as a holy land for the Heavenly Mandate Realm. Thus, we are willing to enter the academy and take it over, in order to help them teach the Void Realm better,” came that clear voice once again. “Is the academy willing to fulfill the will of Donghuang the Great along with us and join hands?”

Song Imperial City and some of the other forces that had come from the Divine Prefecture watched this scene silently. The words of the man speaking for the Holy Land of Taichu really were high-sounding; it was as if they really had come here to fulfill the will of Donghuang the Great.

“The Heavenly Mandate Academy has won the trust of the people of the Heavenly Mandate Realm. All the forces of the realm teach the Way here, enriching everyone’s martial arts. So there is no need for you to go to any trouble on our part. Moreover, you are not of this world, and you are not our people. Thus, to be completely open and aboveboard, you should find somewhere else in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path to gain your foothold,” Lord Taixuan directly retorted, his voice cold.

“I heard that you were once the master of Taixuan Mountain in the Higher Heavens Realm and that you are not from the Heavenly Mandate Realm. And yet you came here to take up the post of headmaster? Why is then are we the only ones that you doubt?” said the man from the Holy Land of Taichu. “We came to your realm with open hearts and minds. We teach the Way in the Divine Prefecture, so if we enter the academy, won’t that be extremely prestigious for you? The people of the Void Realm will be the ones to gain the greatest advantage from this. Why refuse?”

“Because your way of teaching the Way is not worthy of the Heavenly Mandate Realm.” Lord Taixuan did not say too much. He spoke directly and mockingly.

Suddenly, the area grew quiet again. Then, the white-robed man smiled and said, “We are not worthy of teaching in the Heavenly Mandate Realm?”

“You are not,” said Lord Taixuan coldly. Their way of teaching was to let all the people of the world cultivate, whereas the Holy Land of Taichu was different. They had come here with a purpose, to force their way in. This deceitful move was clearly not worthy of the Heavenly Mandate Realm.

“in that case, there is no need to speak further.” The white-robed cultivator waved his hand, and a terrifying wave of Qi swept out. He continued, “Since we are teachers of the Way, we should test each other’s strength, level, cultivation methods, and combat ability. Now, we will let the people of the Void Realm see who has the right to teach here.”

As he said this, he looked at someone beside him. The man stepped forward. As he did, his might swept through the sky. The clouds changed color, and terrible sword will flowed out, covering the sun. It seemed like there were countless swords above the crowd’s heads.

His body was suffused with brilliant light, and it looked like his body had become a sword. He gave off dazzling sword light. He seemed invincible.

Woosh!

As the sword will flowed, countless people in Heavenly Mandate City looked up. They all felt their hearts tremble. The flowing sword will was incomparably sharp. It seemed like as soon as it fell, the whole city would be buried within it.

At that moment, everyone felt a suffocating pressure.

“An upper-level Renhuang!” Many of the Renhuang level people there could feel the man’s aura. He was simply too strong. The power of an upper-level Renhuang was absolutely terrifying.

Lord Taixuan stared at the man as well. He could feel the majesty of his Wheel of the Great Path.

As he watched, the sword will all around the man seemed to become solid, and now endless swords were swirling around him. The will of a Great Path of Swordsmanship Divine Wheel filled him. There were seven layers of wheels, making it a seventh tier Divine Wheel.

The Swordsmanship Divine Wheels were incredibly brilliant and almost perfect.

This man was very strong.

To the side, the powerful figures of the Divine Palace and other forces all looked very solemn.

“It’s almost perfect. Only the seventh wheel is flawed,” thought the great figure from the Divine Palace. This meant that all the Divine Wheels the man had forged when he was a lower level and mid-level Renhuang were perfect. It was only when he reached the upper Renhuang plane that he had forged an imperfect, flawed wheel.

There were three major levels for Renhuangs: lower level, mid-level, and upper level. But, this was further divided into nine tiers. On each tier, one could add a layer to one’s Divine Wheel.

Each of the major levels of the Renhuang plane was a test.

When one became a Renhuang, if you were able to forge a perfect Divine Wheel, that implied that all of the wheels you forged at the lower level could be perfect. But when you broke through to the mid-level, you were tested again.

Thus, in all the Three Thousand Realms of the Great Path, of all the cultivators of the great forces of the Nine Supreme Realms, the only ones with perfect Divine Wheels were Ye Futian and those few others. It was not that there had never been any; it was just that later flaws had appeared in their wheels. If one wanted to maintain a perfect Divine Wheel, one had to keep moving forward and getting stronger and stronger.

This meant that becoming a Renhuang was but a single step, though it was a difficult enough starting point. Creating a perfect Divine Wheel at that point gave you a great opportunity, for if you started at a lower level, you would never have a chance to get up that high. At least in the Three Thousand Realms of the Great Path, such a thing had never happened. To go from an imperfect wheel to a perfect one required going against the laws of cultivation.

Dou Zhao, Xiao Muyu, and others had cultivated with Ye Futian and thus had a high starting point. Thus, they had gambled the fates of their families by continuing to cultivate with Ye Futian.

Anyone with a perfect Divine Wheel would hope at the very least to become a pillar of their force. If they stayed with Ye Futian, they would be creating a future. Thus, the Xiao clan and the others had stuck by him.

At that moment, a cultivator with a nearly perfect Divine Wheel had come. There were few people in the Heavenly Mandate Academy or their allies who were at his level, who had maintained perfect Divine Wheels while they were lower and mid-level Renhuangs.

Moreover, this man had been chosen to be the first one to step forth to fight. He must be a great warrior. It would probably be difficult to find someone to resist him.

It had to be said that this was typical of the gap between the Void Realm and the Divine Prefecture. In terms of individual combat ability, they were no match for the Holy Land of Taichu. After all, they had come from a holy land in the Divine Prefecture.

Lord Taixuan did not care how weak or strong cultivators were. But since this was a competition of teaching ability, and all of the Heavenly Mandate Realm was watching, he would naturally respond to his opponents by the most advantageous means possible.

“As you have said, the Holy Land of Taichu is a force from the Divine Prefecture, so obviously you have a much more illustrious background than us. We teach here in the Heavenly Mandate Realm, and our names shake the Nine Realms. One reason for that is due to our philosophies. This is why we have refused to let you enter the Heavenly Mandate Academy. The second reason is because of some of the aspiring members of the younger generation. They are the future of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. Since you have provoked us today, why don’t you spar with these younger members? We don’t need to compare members of every level,” said Lord Taixuan in a loud, clear voice.

All the people in the vast area agreed. What Lord Taixuan had said was true. The Heavenly Mandate Academy’s fame was indeed due to these two reasons. They had been pressed by the Shen clan and yet had defeated them. They had not hesitated to fight for Ye Qingyao. They had done everything they could to train talented people, helping them forge perfect Divine Wheels. These things were all very attractive to cultivators.

As for the second point, it would have been more precise to say that it was due to Ye Futian. The people had been able to obtain perfect Divine Wheels due to him.

The swordsman swept his gaze over Lord Taixuan and the other cultivators of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. Then the sword will in the sky dispersed. He stepped back and returned to the crowd, his mighty sword will disappearing into nothing.

The white-robed cultivator smiled and said, “You are very forthright. You know that your teachers have no way to resist the Holy Land of Taichu, and thus you try to avoid a fight. I have heard that there is a group of people at the academy with perfect Divine Wheels. That is where your potential lies. In that case, let them come forth.”

Obviously, the Holy Land of Taichu had been prepared for this. They wanted to teach here and take over the Heavenly Mandate Academy, so how could they have failed to find this out!