The Legend of Futian

Li Yang and Li You brought Ye Futian back to a private residence on Emperor Li’s Road.

“Would you like me to station some people here?” Li You asked Ye Futian. Li Xuan may have promised not to do anything, but he had done so unwillingly.

“No need. If Li Xuan were willing to trade his life for mine, he would have asked Yan Yuan for help,” said Ye Futian. He had just gotten back. Who besides Li Xuan would be trying to kill him?

And Li Xuan was not that stupid, especially because he thought that Li Xuan’s acting against him back there had been premeditated. He was not a simple scion of a noble house. Even though he had compromised in the end, all the time that Ye Futian had been pressing his sword into his throat, he had been extremely calm.

“Alright. Be careful, Master,” said Li You. “But if you can, you should go to Sword Mountain to cultivate.” She naturally meant well. All Ye Futian had to do was nod, and he would be able to go to Sword Mountain to cultivate.

Because of the involvement of Sword Mountain, Li Xuan did not dare to do anything rash against Ye Futian. After all, that was the foremost holy land for swordsmanship in the Dali Dynasty, similar to Lihen Heaven in Emperor Xia’s Realm.

The Master of Sword Mountain was a Saint at the fourth their of the Saint plane, Nirvana, and he truly stood at the peak of the people in the Dali Dynasty. There were few people like him.

“I will think about it carefully,” said Ye Futian. Li Yang and Li You said farewell and left. After they left, Ye Futian sat down in the courtyard and closed his eyes to cultivate.

Today’s events had made him more vigilant. After coming to Dali, he had observed the situation and been cautious. He had not gotten into conflicts of interest with those who he could not compete with. And if he had been a bit arrogant, Saint level figures were too high above him to care about it. And even if they did care, they wouldn’t kill him over it.

But the affair with Li Xuan had made him understand that here in the power center of Dali Imperial City, sometimes even when he did nothing disasters could still befall him. Actually, this was not only true of Emperor Li’s Realm. The whole world was like this. Those who had cultivated weakly would die when battles broke out between powerful figures, and they would not even know why they were dying. Thus, there was only one way to avoid these threats that you could not see coming: make yourself stronger.

If he had not had enough combat power today, the Saint would have directly killed him; he had truly wanted to slay him. Li Xuan had not been joking. Thus, he had used his combat prowess to capture Li Xuan with his sword and avoid danger.

If he became a Saint, then killing him would not be something that a Saint at the first tier of the Saint plane could do. However, the gap between Sage and Saint was extremely difficult to cross. It was like a moat: many people were stopped on one side of it, and even if they worked their whole lives they would never be able to cross it.

Ye Futian pushed away these distracting thoughts and closed his eyes. It seemed there was a rustling sound ringing out through his Life Palace. The World Tree was swaying and giving off jade green light. Many patterns were blooming around the tree. They were other life spirits.

The World Tree’s light flowed towards his body and then spread out into the distance. Suddenly, Ye Futian felt that he had turned into a tree. His every thought, and every piece of his aura were branches stretching out into the distance, to touch the essence of nature, heaven, and earth. He could feel the power of heaven and earth.

Man was modeled after heaven, after earth, after the Path. And the Path was modeled after nature. A marvelous airflow swept out from him and was immersed in his cultivation. When he had fought Yuan Jin at the Battle of Empty Realm, he had also entered this mysterious plane where he could sense the power of the Great Path.

Since man made the Path, the Path was an extension of man’s will. Of course, to actually extend one’s will was too hard.

Ye Futian’s perception was not strong enough right now. But by plunging himself into the Path of the Sword, he could already create many kinds of swords. He could gain a name for himself with his swords and thus walk around in Dali.

The Seventh Swordsman was a powerful fighter, but that was, in fact, an illusion. Many months had passed since he had cultivated the Taixuan Sword Sutra. Although his swordsmanship was already exquisite, he was more integrated with the power of multiple elements, and combined with the other skills he had learned while cultivating, he could unleash outstandingly powerful swords.

Of course, his sword itself was not too bad. The Taixuan Sword Sutra provided a general outline for his swordsmanship. He had cultivated many elemental powers, but he had truly cultivated different types of elemental sword magic. He had been able to apply these many kinds of abilities to his sword, so his swordsmanship alone was quite formidable. But if he could integrate the power he had before into his swordsmanship, it would naturally be even stronger. Now, he needed to forge an even more powerful sword so that he could truly make a name for himself with it and create a foothold in Dali.

Ye Futian did not go out for a while. He stayed in his residence, cultivating. However, Seventh Swordsman’s name began to circulate in the outside world.

Dali Academy had a prestigious place in Emperor Li’s Realm, and so the things that had happened were passed along quite quickly. Moreover, since the first person who Lu Chuan had brought from the Lower Worlds to cultivate, the Prince Regent’s grandson, and Yan Yuan had all been there, it would have been impossible for the news not to spread.

Many people in Emperor Xia’s Realm were curious the first time that Seventh Swordsman’s name spread throughout the Upper Worlds. How strong was this man from the Lower Worlds who dared to stand directly outside Dali Academy and seek the Path?

Li Xuan had ruined Seventh Swordsman’s battles for seeking the Path. If he had been able to continue, a much stronger disciple from Dali Academy would have come out, and then they would have been able to see.

After a few days, some more slightly shocking news came out. And there were two sides to this news. The first was that a swordsman had come from a thousand miles away in the primary holy land for swordsmanship in Dali Imperial City, Sword Mountain. It seemed that he had come for an appointment and had met with Seventh Swordsman by chance.

The reason that this was shocking was that the one who had come from Sword Mountain was Jian Wu, who was called the most outstanding disciple among the younger generation of Sword Mountain. He was at the limit of what was possible below the Saint level.

Once upon a time, many people had wanted to see a battle between Jian Wu and Yuan Jin and had speculated about who was stronger between them. However, Yuan Jin had fallen, and Dong Chen would probably take his place and become the personal disciple of the Imperial Adviser. Who was stronger, Dong Chen or Jian Wu of Sword Mountain?

But Jian Wu’s reason for coming was not Dong Chen of Dali Academy, but Seventh Swordsman. From this, it could be seen that Sword Mountain thought highly of this junior swordsman who had come from the Lower Worlds. Indeed, he had made Jian Wu come off the mountain.

The second reason the news was shocking was very similar to the first reason. It was because someone else had come to Dali Imperial City who was almost a Saint. It was Di Hao of Daoli Mountain.

King Tiandao had always been overtly in conflict with the Imperial Adviser. The Imperial Adviser had founded Dali Academy, and so King Tiandao had founded Daoli Mountain in the West as a holy land for cultivating.

Not long ago, the Imperial Adviser had announced that he recalled his disciples. Now, the disciples of Daoli Mountain were coming from far away. This made people speculate wildly. And the one who had come was Di Hao.

King Tiandao controlled the Western Army, and all of the disciples of Daoli Mountain had battle experience. They were all geniuses forged in the fires of battle. Di Hao had the honor of being the best disciple of Daoli Mountain. King Tiandao thought very highly of him and had adopted him. So, how could someone like this coming to Dali Imperial City not cause a great disturbance?

Especially since Jian Wu of Sword Mountain had also come.

At that time, Yuan Jin and Dong Chen of Dali Academy, Di Hao of Daoli Mountain, and Jian Wu of Sword Mountain were the best that there was below the Saint level, and the most prestigious people at that level in the Dali Dynasty.

Yuan Jin had gone to the Battle of Empty Realm, but Dong Chen had not. As for Jian Wu, the Imperial Adviser had not wanted to order him to go and had wanted even less to have Di Hao go.

Generally speaking, the Imperial Adviser’s household was responsible for commanding the Battle of Empty Realm, and one of his disciples was always there. And it would obviously not be suitable for the Imperial Adviser’s people to show up at the same place as King Tiandao’s people.

The three strongest figures in the Dali Dynasty below the Saint level were all in Dali Imperial City. Even though they weren’t Saints, they still attracted a lot of attention, and people had great expectations for them. Many people even wondered if the three of them would stand upon the same stage and battle? They would be able to see which one of them was worthy of being called the greatest figure in Dali Imperial City below the Saint level.

As for Seventh Swordsman, he was naturally overlooked. Even though he had gained a little bit of fame outside Dali Academy, he was still not worth looking at when compared to those three. How could the foremost person from the Lower Worlds compare with the strongest people from the Upper Worlds? Many people even argued about how many sword strokes Seventh Swordsman could last at Jian Wu’s hands.

As Dali Imperial City was being shocked by these two pieces of news, Ye Futian was improving his swordsmanship at his residence. He sat there cross-legged with an old tree beside him. The tree was swaying, and its leaves were falling off and swirling around Ye Futian. They seemed to circle him in some sort of majestic pattern. What was more incredible was that each leaf seemed extremely sharp.

At that moment, Ye Futian suddenly opened his eyes. The leaves suddenly flew wildly as a terrible shriek rang out all around. The sound was ear piercing, and the leaves all flashed in the same direction, seeming to cut through space itself.

Slash! A wall was cut through piece by piece by the leaves, and the whole thing crumbled to the ground. A vertical line appeared where the leaves had cut through, and on the other side of the wall, several figures appeared. The leaves flew back to Ye Futian and drifted behind him.

“Your Sword of Raging Storms is becoming as pure as flame,” said Li You with a smile.

“Why have you come?” asked Ye Futian with a bow.

“You have been staying here practicing swordsmanship for several days, so you probably don’t know what has happened in the outside world. You have a meeting with the Shadow Bearing Sword Saint, who has just arrived in Dali Imperial City. And, the most outstanding disciple of Sword Mountain, Jian Wu, has also come,” said Li You.

“Oh.” Ye Futian nodded. It seemed that the Shadow Bearing Sword Saint wanted to take him to Sword Mountain as a disciple. Otherwise, he would not have been so considerate.

“You have been at peace here, but you don’t know the disturbances that have taken place outside. Jian Wu is the best swordsman of Sword Mountain below the Saint level. And not only that, he is one of the strongest people below the Saint level in Dali Dynasty. The fact that the Shadow Bearing Sword Saint brought him here means that he firmly wants to defeat you and bring you back to Sword Mountain with him,” said Li You with a smile.

It would be good if Ye Futian went to Sword Mountain. Sword Mountain was the best place for practicing swordsmanship for those below the Saint level.

At that moment, Ye Futian thought of Wang Chuan. But this time, he would compete with his opponent with his sword!