The Legend of Futian

The vast space quieted down within moments.

Countless eyes watched Li Yao, who was being held in Xia Rong’s hand. He then let go, and Li Yao dropped to the ground. The dead man’s eyes were still opened. Xia Rong had invaded Li Yao’s mind with the Will of the Great Path and killed him in an instant.

His action had been decisive and without a hint of hesitation.

Li Yao, the Ninth Prince of the Dali Dynasty, perished.

He died in the Crimson Dragon Realm at the hands of Xia Rong.

Ye Futian looked with astonishment at what transpired. He then turned his eyes to Xia Rong whose face was filled with coldness and determination. It seemed that his will was adamant and undeniable.

It was as if he had long made up his mind.

“Brother…”

Xia Qingyuan had watched the scene unfold with the same level of astonishment. Her mind was blank, as well.

They were not the only ones astonished. Everyone from Emperor Xia’s Realm that was present shared the sentiment.

Many thoughts ran through their minds in that instant, and their hearts raced.

Even the Swordmaster of Lihen took a good look at Xia Rong.

That move had indeed been brutal and merciless.

He killed Li Yao and robbed everyone else of any other options.

Ye Futian had just promised to let go of Li Yao, and his people went back on his word. He was thinking of how to deal with the imperial advisor, now that Li Yao was dead.

Furthermore, the imperial advisor had spoken in Ye Futian’s favor in front of all the mighty ones of Dali, guaranteeing the prince’s safety. However, there was no way he could go back to Emperor Li unscathed now that Li Yao was dead.

The imperial advisor, Yan Yuan, and Mu Chunyang were baffled by what transpired in front of their eyes. All of it seemed to have happened too suddenly.

They had understood that Ye Futian had been ready to let go of the prince instead of killing him.

However, Xia Rong made his move.

The faces of Yan Yuan and the others turned pale. Everything seemed to have happened as their teacher had predicted.

Powerful Sword Will emanated from Yaya, who was standing in the air behind Ye Futian. The Light of Sword was brought to its limit on her. She took Ye Futian’s hand, intending to retreat with him.

However, Ye Futian did not move, he stayed put in the air.

He understood what Yaya was trying to do. The imperial advisor was a guarantor for Dali after all.

The imperial advisor needed to first kill the man before his eyes before going back to Emperor Li.

Both men were an arm’s length away from each other, so it would be easy for him to kill Ye Futian, just as easy as it was for Xia Rong to kill Li Yao.

Ye Futian knew that without doubt. He was even very clear that if the imperial advisor insisted on killing him, Yaya would not be able to keep him safe.

There would be no chance of him surviving at this distance.

To fulfill his duty to Emperor Li, the imperial advisor needed to kill him. It had to be done.

If he refused, it would be tantamount to treason.

Xia Rong had cut off the imperial advisor’s escape route.

His standpoint was that the imperial advisor had done nothing wrong. He posed an immense threat to Emperor Xia’s Realm, after all.

The imperial advisor had stepped up to guarantee Li Yao’s safety, but now one was imagining what was going through Emperor Li’s mind now that Li Yao was dead.

That move had been too brutal.

Ye Futian felt a chill running throughout his body.

“So this is the eldest prince of Emperor Xia’s Realm who had been training since he was young and grew up in battles of life and death?”

“He really is brutal!”

It was just like he put it, decisive and without mercy.

Ye Futian might have ended up dead because of what he did.

Yet, he showed no hint of mercy at all.

He looked at Li Yao, who was already dead. He had been wanting to kill Li Yao for years, but not at a time like this, especially when the imperial advisor served to guarantee the prince’s safety.

“Go back, Yaya,” Ye Futian said with a light tone.

Yaya looked at him with stubborn eyes. She added strength to her hand, intending to take him away.

Ye Futian shook his head at her, and Yaya finally gave in. She turned around and looked at the imperial advisor and said, “He had nothing to do with this.”

Ye Futian looked at the imperial advisor with regret written all over his face.

He understood that his teacher had stepped up to act as the guarantor out of trust for him.

However, it was because of him that his teacher was caught in such a predicament.

He lowered his head and felt speechless.

“Regardless of your choice, teacher, I have nothing to say against it.” Ye Futian then sighed.

He would not have held a grudge against the imperial advisor even if he wanted to kill him on the spot.

After all, he was the one who started it.

The imperial advisor turned around and looked at the handsome face before him, sighing deeply.

He, of course, knew that Ye Futian had nothing to do with the prince’s death, but that didn’t matter.

He vouched for Ye Futian and volunteered to act as a guarantor, yet his majesty’s son died right before his eyes regardless.

Who else would have been able to shoulder such a crime?

Since he was the guarantor, there was no doubt that it would be him.

There was only one thing left for him to do—fight to the death.

Kill Ye Futian, kill Xia Rong, bring their heads to Emperor Li, and wage a war between realms. That was the only way for him to make amends.

He was the only Holiness of Nirvana from Dali present, while the enemy had four. Xia Rong was an Unblemished Saint, which meant that there was no guarantee that the imperial advisor would have been able to kill him. Ye Futian, on the other hand, he could simply clap him to death right there and then.

“But should I kill him?”

Yan Yuan’s eyes were bloodshot. He looked at the two silhouettes looking at each other in the sky.

Ye Futian had chosen to spare Li Yao’s life.

He was able to see Ye Futian’s breadth of character from there.

But then again, how would a teacher deal with such a predicament, and what choices would he have?

His teacher, notwithstanding, felt the struggle deep in his mind.

It was simply too painful to go with either option.

The key, however, was that there were really no options to begin with.

Betray Dali?

Feixue is still at Dali.

Furthermore, if Feixue is indeed around, would she be willing to let the teacher kill Ye Futian?

She would probably suffer a pain worse than death.

“Imperial advisor.” Another voice was heard at that moment. Everyone turned to see Xia Qingyuan speaking.

Xia Qingyuan stood where she was and looked up in the air. Her eyes, focused on the imperial advisor, looked adamant and determined.

“It is indeed our fault that my brother has caused you to break your promise. However, this has nothing to do with Ye Futian. If you were to kill him, regardless of whatever else that happened, I would be forced to pay whatever price I have to pay to keep you and your students around.”

Xia Qingyuan’s voice had a murderous tinge to it. It was determined and undeniable. She, at that moment, sounded just like Xia Rong.

Xia Rong was the eldest prince.

She, on the other hand, was the most doted on of Emperor Xia’s daughters—a fact known by all.

Xia Rong took looked at his little sister and sighed deeply. That was how it was when one let sentiments do the talking.

“Why not choose to side with Emperor Xia’s Realm, imperial advisor? I’m willing to guarantee that your place in Emperor Xia’s Realm would definitely not be worse than your place in Emperor Li’s Realm. Xia Rong said, “Furthermore, Emperor Li is irritated by you, now. Judging by the words of the Prince Regent, I’m sure you know what is going on, imperial advisor.”

Ye Futian turned and cast a cold glance at Xia Rong.

“You’re telling him to betray his emperor?”

He knew how much the imperial advisor cherished Feixue. His fatherly love for her was as great as the mountains. Honor and duty aside, Feixue was still in Dali, so there was no way for the imperial advisor to betray his emperor.

Ye Futian had been advising the imperial advisor in secret, to have him consider moving to the Crimson Dragon Realm.

Xia Rong had, instead, cut off any escape for the imperial advisor. What he did was tantamount to pushing the imperial advisor off of a ledge.

If anything were to happen to the imperial advisor, Dali would lose a combatant at the pinnacle of his powers. If a war between realms were to break out, Emperor Xia’s Realm had something to gain, as well.

Furthermore, the imperial advisor’s status in Emperor Li’s Realm was such that, if anything were to happen to him, news would quickly spread and cause a massive ripple. At the very least, the power of the Imperial Advisor’s Residence would be dismantled right away.

All eyes looked at the imperial advisor high in the air. Everyone was waiting for his decision.

The imperial advisor appeared very calm at the moment. Wind blew and his robe billowed.

Neither Xia Qingyuan’s determined threat nor Xia Rong’s persuasion moved him.

He was still as calm as he had always been. He looked at the young man before him and eventually sighed.

“This is fate, I guess.”

He had been able to foretell all of this before he came.

But he was still unable to run from any of it, and unable to run, he saw fit to take things as they came instead.

“Ye Futian,” the imperial advisor called. His voice was calm and gentle, without the slightest hint of being fettered.

“I’m here.” Ye Futian lowered his head slightly and answered.

“I’d like to share two lines with you before we part,” the imperial advisor continued.

That indicated that he had made his decision.

Ye Futian looked up at the imperial advisor and wondered, “Is he getting ready to shoulder everything on his own?”

His eyes reddened somewhat as if sand had gotten into them.

“A wise man does not stand beneath a collapsing wall,” the imperial advisor said. That was the first line he shared with Ye Futian. The young man knew that his teacher was talking about their current predicament.

Ye Futian was, at the moment, putting himself beneath a collapsing wall. If the imperial advisor were to attempt to kill him, there was no chance he’d survive.

His previous action of infiltrating Dali as the Seventh Swordsman was in the same vein—he was putting himself beneath a collapsing wall.

The imperial advisor then turned around and walked, telling Yan Yuan and the others, “Let’s go.”

Yan Yuan looked at his teacher and then at Ye Futian. His steps were heavy, but since his teacher had made the decision, all of them moved nonetheless and followed their teacher.

“What is the second line?” Ye Futian then called, looking at his teacher’s back.

“As heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must a wise man ceaselessly strive,” the imperial advisor said loudly to Ye Futian with his back to him. The brimming voice was imbued with a virtuous aura.

Ye Futian’s eyes turned even redder. He clenched his fist tightly as he looked at the silhouette that was gradually disappearing from his sight.

As heaven’s movement is ever vigorous, so must a wise man ceaselessly strive. The next line to that would have been “as the earth’s condition is receptive devotion, a wise man shall develop an all-encompassing breadth of character.”

“You are of a breadth of character that is all-encompassing, teacher. Yet why do you put yourself under a collapsing wall?” Ye Futian yelled at the figure who was disappearing.

His teacher had spared him, which meant that his teacher would now be in more serious trouble.

One of Emperor Li’s sons perished, and the imperial advisor had the opportunity to kill the one who caused his death. Sparing the killer will come with severe implications.

The mighty ones from Emperor Xia’s Realm looked at the imperial advisor’s disappearing silhouette, and they felt pity for him. While those present were on opposing sides, and it was the first time many met him, they nonetheless developed respect for him from the bottom of their hearts.

So, this is the imperial advisor of Dali then!