Chapter 1217: Release or Kill
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The battlefield of Qianye City was littered with ruins, and that happened with the mighty ones fighting in the air and not causing any collateral damage from above.
Half of the city would have been razed otherwise.
The atmosphere was extraordinarily tense at that moment. They all had ceased fighting, but everyone was still in a ready-to-strike position as if the fighting could restart at any moment.
In truth, both sides had things under control to a certain measure as the mighty ones all went out of their way to find opponents of comparable strength.
If fighters from the Dali Dynasty who were at the Holiness of Nirvana level were to kill those on the lower levels of Emperor Xia’s Realm, there would hardly be anyone left. Both sides were not willing to pay that price. As such, all went out of their way to keep the battle contained instead of trying to annihilate each other.
However, Li Yao, a prince of the Dali Dynasty, was taken.
Everyone, indeed, wondered what the outcome would be.
No one had an answer, and everyone was waiting.
“Imperial advisor, could any cultivators of Emperor Xia’s Realm stop you?” The Prince Regent asked as he looked at the imperial advisor.
His words puzzled many.
“What is the Prince Regent of the Dali Dynasty getting at?”
“Is he chastising the imperial advisor for not doing his best?”
“Are there conflicts within the Dali Dynasty itself?”
However, Dali’s imperial advisor had been extremely forceful in the battle, so much that he looked invincible. If he were to go all out, there was no telling how many would have perished.
The imperial advisor shot a look at the Prince Regent and said, “You were not able to stop them yourself either, Prince Regent.”
The Prince Regent’s expression turned cold. “I hope that his highness is doing fine. Yan Yuan is your topmost student, number one in Dali below the Holiness-of-Nirvana level. If he is around, I believe that the animal is simply bluffing. How could his highness be taken with Yan Yuan around?”
The imperial advisor frowned and shot a cold look at the Prince Regent.
The Prince Regent saw that Yaya had opened up the Ancient Path of the Sword and zipped off. He could tell just how frighteningly powerful the might of her sword was. It seemed as if she had surpa.s.sed the level of the Unblemished Saint.
Yan Yuan was known to be at the pinnacle of the Unblemished Saint level, but that sword would have been dangerous nonetheless.
However, not only did the Prince Regent ignore the fact that Yan Yuan could have been in danger, but he claimed that Li Yao could not possibly have been taken when Yan Yuan was around. His scheme was obvious.
The imperial advisor did not bother arguing with the Prince Regent about anything.
A Sword Will from afar zipped past, finally, and everyone looked up and saw the group of figures heading their way.
Everyone’s face changed when they saw what had happened, especially those from the Dali Dynasty.
The Ninth Prince of the Dali Dynasty, Li Yao, had been taken.
Ye Futian, Yaya, and the others had Li Yao tagging along as their prisoner.
Ye Futian turned to look at the battlefield and, in a flash, headed straight to the crowd and stopped in front of Emperor Xia’s Realm.
Yan Yuan followed suit and looked up at the imperial advisor. Regret was in his eyes as he said, “I failed, teacher.”
The imperial advisor took a look at Yan Yuan’s bloodstained body and sighed deep down, saying, “It’s fine that you come back in one piece.”
“Yan Yuan,” a cold voice was heard; it was the Prince Regent who was visibly angered, saying, “So this is what you call protecting his highness?”
Yan Yuan took one look at the Prince Regent and said, “I have indeed failed.”
The Prince Regent’s eyes were cold. He then looked down at Ye Futian and Li Yao. Dragon roars were heard as he took a step forward. A mighty voice filled the air.
“Let him go.”
One figure after another stood before Ye Futian and cast their gaze at the Prince Regent.
Ye Futian looked up at the Prince Regent who was high in the sky.
Li Yao had been severely injured. A spark of hope ignited in his mind at the moment. There was still a chance of him emerging alive.
Since Ye Futian had yet to kill him, it meant that there were still ways of turning things around. Both the imperial advisor and the Prince Regent were there. He did not think for a second that Ye Futian would have dared to kill him in front of them.
“You people from Dali were the ones who waged war on us by sending people to invade Qianye City. Li Yao had attempted to kill me several times. What do you make of that?” Ye Futian said as he looked at the Prince Regent.
“If you dare to make a move against his highness, I swear that you shall never leave this place,” the Prince Regent said with an imposing voice, paying no heed to Ye Futian’s words.
Whoos.h.!.+ A Sword Will zipped past and a Sword of Kasyapa streaked out right in front of Ye Futian, hanging right at Li Yao’s throat.
In an instant, blood was dripping from Li Yao’s throat.
“You’re going too far,” the Prince Regent roared.
“Put any pressure on him from here on out, and Li Yao dies,” Ye Futian said as he looked coldly at the Prince Regent. The Prince Regent’s eyes filled with imposing anger, but then he heard Ye Futian continue, “If he dies, it’s on you. I dare you to try.”
The Prince Regent’s expression turned extremely glum, and he rescinded the aura emanating from him.
Ye Futian was intentionally making it difficult for him. He was unable to shoulder such a crime.
Ye Futian looked at those around him and said, “I will let him go, as long as the people of Dali leave the Crimson Dragon Realm and never step into it again. I shall release him.”
He had made this decision despite the struggle he felt deep down.
However, he eventually decided to spare Li Yao.
It was far more difficult to spare someone than to kill them.
He was able to take Li Yao that day and had a chance of killing him. He would still have the chance to do so in the future.
At present, however, he needed to consider the consequences of killing Li Yao and who would have been caught in the crossfire.
As such, he came to that decision.
It was a very difficult one for him to make, but he made it, nonetheless.
Both the imperial advisor of Dali and Yan Yuan had been able to escort him out. There was no reason he couldn’t do the same. He was considering it for the imperial advisor and his brother-in-training, Yan Yuan.
Saints and sages do not thank someone for saving them and then resent them for not doing more.
The imperial advisor had brought his people to take Ye Futian, but Ye Futian knew that the imperial advisor, Yan Yuan, and the others had been reluctant to do so. As such, he did not mind at all.
Even though they might end up meeting each other on future battlefields as enemies, he still did not regret what he did.
“If we were to leave, who is to say that you would actually let the prince go?” asked Li Zhen, the third prince, as he stared at Ye Futian. He did not expect Li Yao to end up as a prisoner. If things had turned out that way, it would have been difficult for the battle to go on, especially when Ye Futian had yet to kill Li Yao.
If he were to kill Li Yao, then the real fight would have truly broken out.
Both sides would no longer hold back against each other, after that.
“I believe him, your highness,” said a voice, and Li Zhen looked to see whose it was. It was the imperial advisor of Dali. He looked at Li Zhen and said, “Your highness, this all happened because of me. I shall serve as the guarantor and stay behind to take the prince home.”
Li Zhen looked at the imperial advisor, and Ye Futian said, “That is acceptable.”
There were other things that he wanted to say to the imperial advisor, as well.
The place was silent and many looked at Li Zhen.
Li Yao turned his eyes toward his third brother. It seemed that Ye Futian did not dare to kill him, after all.
“That settles it.” Li Zhen’s expression was extremely cold, but there was little else he could have done. He was extremely reluctant to do that, but there was no way he could have just let Ye Futian kill Li Yao.
“Imperial advisor, I shall leave my ninth brother to you,” Li Zhen then said to the imperial advisor. He then waved his hand and said, “Retreat.”
He then gathered his people and left.
The Prince Regent’s expression was ice-cold as he glanced at Ye Futian, but he was unable to do anything else other than leave.
So Ye Futian was calm and planned to let Li Yao go.
What Ye Futian did ground the battle to a halt.
If nothing was going to happen to Li Yao and the imperial advisor was to take him away, then there was nothing he could have done to the imperial advisor. There would have been no excuse to spark a war.
As such, everything he had done had gone to waste.
It also meant that the trip to the Crimson Dragon Realm would be a waste.
One figure after another left. The people from the Dali Dynasty retreated like a tide. Those from Emperor Xia’s Realm who were still on the battlefield rescinded their aura and looked at Ye Futian.
When everyone from Dali left, there was only the imperial advisor, Yan Yuan, and some others remaining.
Ye Futian looked at the silhouette that was far away in the sky, and he stepped forward, heading in the imperial advisor’s direction. Yaya followed right behind him. While Ye Futian was confident that the imperial advisor would not have harmed him, Yaya followed nonetheless.
As for Li Yao, no way could he run with so many mighty ones from Emperor Xia’s Realm around.
“Teacher,” Ye Futian called as he came before the imperial advisor of Dali and bowed.
The imperial advisor looked at the handsome young man before him and sighed. He truly wanted to take Ye Futian as his student.
“Let’s just leave Dali,” Ye Futian said to the imperial advisor telepathically. He was able to tell from the Prince Regent’s att.i.tude that his teacher was, at present, having a hard time in Dali.
The imperial advisor sighed and shook his head slightly. Some things were not as simple as Ye Futian thought they could be. There was no way the imperial advisor could have simply left.
“Renhuang from foreign realms are unable to interfere with anything going on in the Crimson Dragon Realm. You don’t have to be a traitor, teacher,” Ye Futian advised him telepathically, again. His teacher could have learned a lesson from the Ninth Servant of the Ancient Imperial City setting up shop in the Crimson Dragon Realm.
If he had not sided with the enemy, Emperor Xia’s Realm, then he would not have been considered a traitor. He only needed to resign from his post as the imperial advisor.
“I’ll think about it,” the imperial advisor said. If things were to turn out okay, he would try to leave although he knew that success was near-impossible.
“Take care, teacher,” said Ye Futian, and he bowed. He then turned around and looked in Li Yao’s direction and said, “Let him go.”
Ji Yuan and the others intended to let him go, but someone came to Li Yao’s side at the moment, looked at Ye Futian and said, “Ye Futian, Li Yao has been trying to murder time and again to start a war between the realms. Now that you have taken him, you can’t just let him go like that.”
Ye Futian was dumbfounded. He then turned to see who spoke.
It was none other than the eldest prince of Emperor Xia’s Realm, Xia Rong.
“Your highness…” Ye Futian wanted to say something.
“Ye Futian, you’re too soft. There is no way you could achieve big things like that,” Xia Rong said and then grabbed Li Yao’s throat. His overwhelming aura flowed from him, and he sensed the intention to kill him.
The scene shocked everyone.
Even those from Emperor Xia’s Realm looked at Xia Rong.
Ye Futian had been the one in charge of everything before Xia Rong showed up, so much so that even Xia Qingyuan just let him be.
However, with the eldest prince, Xia Rong, showing up, everyone wondered who was in charge.
Ye Futian agreed to let him go, but Xia Rong did not.
“There have been many saints who died fighting in the Crimson Dragon Realm. The Swordmaster and the others come here personally. If Dali is not afraid to wage war, then there is nothing the Emperor Xia’s Realm should be afraid of.” Xia Rong looked at Ye Futian and said, “Remember, Ye Futian, those who do big things need to be decisive.”
Xia Rong pressed hard with his hand as soon as he was done speaking. Li Yao was thoroughly frightened and found it difficult to breathe.
A crisp crack was heard, causing everyone’s hearts to skip a beat.