1589 Lowered Head
The Central Emperor Realm had the most and the strongest forces.
And the Sky Reaching School occupied a place all its own.
The divine mansion upon the Sky Reaching Peaks that the Sky River Great Elder and Ye Futian had arrived at was the Sky Reaching School.
The Vice Hierophant of the Sky Reaching School and I were once friends. The school’s disciples were also once very powerful. If you go with them to the G.o.d’s Relic, it will perhaps be a little easier for you,” said the Sky River Great Elder. Countless cultivators would be going on this trip. All the heroes of the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path were gathered together for this chance given to them by the Great Emperor.
Although Ye Futian was incredibly talented, it would be extremely difficult for him to do this by himself. A little carelessness would lead him to a dead end.
“However, the Sky Reaching Master is very proud, and his disciples all have a bit of that characteristic as well. I was friends with the vice hierophant in the past, but things are different now, and I might be refused. You should not get your hopes up too much,” said the Sky River Great Elder. Ye Futian nodded slightly.
It seemed like he had given this a lot of thought and had a clear view of the situation. He had once been a son in law of the Shen clan with great power and a bright future. Now things were different, and it would be perfectly normal if he was refused.
But he had come anyway, placing his honor on the line. He was the Sky River Great Elder, and so it was easy to imagine what kind of proud figure he had been in the past. The years had affected him greatly, and his personality had changed as well.
The two of them ascended the sky stairwell. Ye Futian looked at the scene before him. Below the stairs was an endless abyss in addition to the huge mountain peaks that reached into the sky and supported the mansion. The abyss was filled with a frightening aura, and flames of the Way danced within it while destructive lightning flashed. It was a terrible mixture of destructive power, and terrifying light shone upon the stair continuously.
They could feel an incredibly threatening atmosphere at the top of the stairs.
What was more frightening was that they could see figures cultivating down in that abyss of chaotic destruction. An infinite abyss was actually being used as a place for cultivation.
The two of them walked up to the mansion. There was a huge gate in front of it, with two guards outside. They looked at the two people coming towards them.
At that moment, a figure walked out of the gate and bowed slightly to the Sky River Great Elder. “The Vice Hierophant knows you have come, and he ordered me to come and greet you. Please come in.”
The Sky River Great Elder nodded. “Thank you.” He did not feel like there was anything strange about this. They had just come up the sky stairwell, so it was only natural that someone would be waiting for them.
The Sky Reaching School was very large, like a real mansion. Walking into from the outside, they had to greatly increase their speed in order to reach a magnificent ancient temple within. A middle-aged man wearing a robe patterned with dark flames walked out to meet them. His jet black hair hung down to his brow, and he had a dark beard. He was broad-shouldered and imposing.
“It has been many years, Sky River Great Elder. You have changed a lot,” said the middle-aged man. His voice was like thunder, shaking in people’s eardrums as he spoke. For someone at Ye Futian’s level, hearing him talk shook his very state of mind. It was obvious that this was a powerful man.
Moreover, he had not done this on purpose. He was naturally like this.
“I have indeed been most impolite,” said the Sky River Great Elder with a smile. “Futian, this is the Vice Hierophant of the Sky Reaching School. He is an old friend of mine.”
“Greetings, elder. My name is Ye Futian,” said Ye Futian with a bow. He did not hide his ident.i.ty. All the powerful cultivators of the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path were going on this trip, especially those from top forces. Thus, there was no point in hiding himself.
Even though the people of the Central Emperor Realm had heard of him, and most of them knew he had once been Lord Taixuan’s disciple who was the Sky River Great Elder’s good friend, the people of the Higher Heavens thought that he was still Lord Taixuan’s disciple. The people of the Shen clan knew the truth, that Lord Taixuan had sent him to the Tianhe Realm, but they would not think too much of this.
If his previous master had not shown up, the Shen clan would have investigated him. But since they had taken his previous master, they were not paying any attention to Ye Futian. They had already taken Qi Xuangang, so why would they pay any more attention to his disciple?
Master Qi Xuangang had really only appeared twice. The first time was at the battle of Demon G.o.d Mountain, where few people knew him. The second time, more people had seen him. He had defeated Yi Tianyu, but no one heard his name. He did not care about people knowing about his name. The people of the Great Li Sacred Dynasty only knew him as the Imperial Adviser.
If someone wanted to investigate him, they would see how talented his student Ye Futian was. He had cultivated at the Celestial Gate of Vast Heaven, had once defeated Yi Tianyu, had cultivated at Taixuan Mountain and had defeated all opponents at the Divine Palace. Thus, people would have ignored Qi Xuangang.
Thus, unless they thoroughly investigated everything about him from top to bottom, there was basically no chance of exposing the fact that they had been master and student.
The Vice Hierophant looked at Ye Futian and said, “I would never have thought that the Sky River Great Elder would take another personal disciple. You must be incredibly talented.”
There were a few disciples by the Vice Hierophant’s side. Their eyes were like lightning, and their auras were magnificent as they looked at Ye Futian.
“I am getting old, and so, naturally, I wished to find someone who could inherit my mantle,” said the Sky River Great Elder. “Futian is indeed incredibly talented. He is now at the peak of the Saint plane. I brought him here to ask you a favor: can he go to the G.o.d’s Relic trials with the students of the Sky Reaching School?”
A deep look came into the Vice Hierophant’s eyes as he looked at Ye Futian. He was silent for a while, then said, “Sky River Great Elder, you and I were once very close. Anything you ask, I will do for you. But you know, the G.o.d’s Relic is incredibly important at this time, and we can’t afford any mistakes. Even my master is paying close attention to it. If I let you disciple come with us, it might attract hostile attention from the Shen clan, and it might make them our enemies. This would not be a good thing for the Sky Reaching School. Thus, I fear I have no power to do this for you.”
When he heard what the Vice Hierophant was saying, the Sky River Great Elder nodded slightly and said, “I do not wish to trouble you any further, friend, so I will say no more. Farewell.”
“Won’t you stay for a while?” asked the Vice Hierophant.
“I can’t, I have to bring him to other places,” said the Sky River Great Elder.
“Very well, then I won’t see you off.” The Vice Hierophant did not stay any longer, and so they said farewell and left.
The two of them gradually faded in the distance, then disappeared from vision. The Vice Hierophant sighed and said, “I never thought the Sky River Great Elder would come here begging for us to take his disciple to the G.o.d’s Relic. He is indeed getting old.”
This is something that absolutely never would have happened in the past.
He was the Sky River Great Elder. He had married a daughter of the Shen clan and dared to defy them.
Now, his heroic days were long past. He only wanted to pa.s.s on his mantle.
“There will be many cultivators on this trip to the G.o.d’s Relic, and the Sky River Great Elder is asking us to oppose the Shen clan for his disciple. He thinks a little too highly of himself,” said a youth beside him whose eyes shone with the light of thunder and fire. His voice was cold and mocking. He had no respect for an elder like the Sky River Great Elder.
When the Sky River Great Elder had made a name for himself, he had not been born yet.
The Vice Hierophant smiled. The Sky River Great Elder had always regarded himself very highly. After all, back then, he had the right to. But now things were different.
It was said that not long ago, his wife had been taken away by the Shen clan. Now his last hope was to pa.s.s on his teachings to a disciple.
But how could they get around an obstacle as huge as the Shen clan?
Could he do so by teaching a new disciple?
It was absolutely impossible.
After the Sky River Great Elder brought Ye Futian away, the two of them visited two more forces. Each time was the same: they were refused.
Although everyone would greet him politely because he was the Sky River Great Elder, there was no enthusiasm in their greetings, and they were frankly refused. Who would offend one of the top forces for the sake of the Sky River Great Elder?
Moreover, there was no benefit to them for bringing Ye Futian along.
They did not think they could gain anything from him. Even though he was the Sky River Great Elder’s heir, not many people cared about that. As far as they were concerned, bringing him along was tantamount to directly defying the Shen clan. Wouldn’t that just be an extra burden?
At that moment, the Sky River Great Elder and Ye Futian were traveling. Ye Futian looked at his master and asked, “Are we going to visit another place?”
They had already been refused three times in a row. Even the Sky River Great Elder was beginning to feel a bit humiliated. But he had said he did not care. Since his master still persisted, he would not complain.
“No, those were the only people in the Imperial Realm who I am on good terms with,” replied the Sky River Great Elder.
“Then where are we going next?” asked Ye Futian.
“To the City of the Ruins, the entrance to the G.o.d’s Relic,” answered the Sky River Great Elder. “We will wait there for Taixuan.”
Ye Futian nodded slightly and said nothing. He looked at his master.
In reality, he was starting to feel some doubts.
At first, he had thought that his master really simply wanted to find a force for him to travel with, but had reminded him that there was little hope of this.
But they had been refused three times in a row, so he no longer thought this.
It was clear that they were going to be refused, but his master had still persisted. Seeing his master’s att.i.tude, Ye Futian thought that he was doing this on purpose.
Other people might not be able to see it clearly, but he was right by his master’s side and could see what he was doing. He thought that his master was doing this to put on a show for someone.
Could it be for the Shen clan?
Then what was his master’s goal in doing this?
Did he want the Shen clan to underestimate him?
Although Ye Futian had his doubts, his master did not say anything, so he did not ask.
The two of them continued on, rus.h.i.+ng towards the City of the Ruins. They were not the only ones. At that moment, countless cultivators from the Central Emperor Realm were rus.h.i.+ng there.
The news that the Sky River Great Elder had returned to the Imperial Realm gradually reached many people. Soon they all learned that he had visited three powerful forces and been refused by all of them. All of his former glory was gone. The people of the Imperial Realm all sighed. The hero had grown old.
The Sky River Elder, he had once refused to lower his head under the pressure of the Shen clan was now lowering his head for his heir!