Beneath the Heavenly Palace, cultivators gathered in droves from every direction. All the notable figures of the Nine Realms were a.s.sembled in one place.
The G.o.d"s relic was definitely a place attended completely by the talented geniuses of the current Nine Realms. All the best from the Saint plane would make an appearance here.
At this point, there were already many cultivators who had attempted to break into the divine path to set foot on the stairway to the Heavenly Palace.
But so far, no one had succeeded, and that immortal celestial palace that stood above the sky seemed unreachable.
When Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan came back here again, there were already many more people present than before. Previously there was only the group that was led by him and the group led by Jian Qingzhu. With the additional pa.s.sages gained by two other channels in addition to those who arrived later, quite a gathering had formed in this place.
The arrival of Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan did not attract too much attention, and they were only noticed by some who knew him.
For example, many in the Upper Heavens Realm knew Ye Futian, and many cultivators from Divine Palace, Divine Sword Li Family, and Sky Burying G.o.d Clan had seen him before. That was in addition to his own notoriety.
Of course, there was also the Golden Divine Nation.
There was a sharpness in Gai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+"s eyes as a golden divine light shot out from his eyes, directed at Ye Futian. The humiliation of the past battle was still difficult for him to swallow. That was the greatest humiliation yet in his life.
Huang Zhong from the Divine Palace, who had already entered the Renhuang Realm at this moment, also took a look at Ye Futian. He could have broken through to the realm earlier, but he had waited until he entered G.o.d"s relic. His presence was very different from what he was before.
Of course, those who were defeated by Ye Futian in the past also took notice of him, such as the Martial G.o.d Clan, Heavenly Sword Hall, Ziwei Palace, and other forces that were previously expelled. They were all back now. Ye Futian had forbidden them from partic.i.p.ating in the battle for the divine implement at the Sacred Hall, but he had emptied out the entire Spatial Sacred Hall and opened that door. So, they were here too, but their eyes were cautious as they regarded Ye Futian with vigilance.
And Xiao Muyu and the others gave Ye Futian a dirty look.
"What are you looking at?" At this time, there was a place among the crowd that attracted attention. The people gathered there possessed extremely superior temperament, and one of them asked the youth next to him.
"His disciple." The young man"s eyes turned to Ye Futian, his look extremely sharp.
"Him?" asked the person next to him with some doubt.
"The one from Tianhe Realm," the young man responded. It turned out that this man was a disciple of the Shen Clan. Not long ago, he went to Tianhe Realm with his father, Shen Yao, to make their demand of the Sky River Great Elder. He had met Ye Futian then, so he recognized him.
"Sky River Great Elder." The cultivators from Shen Clan immediately understood when they heard the youth. Suddenly their eyes turned, and they regarded Ye Futian from afar.
The people from the Shen Clan evoked a sense of fear, as no other forces dared to get too close to them as they stood there. Everyone maintained a certain distance from them, so it was particularly conspicuous.
Ye Futian noticed the cultivators from the Shen Clan in an instant. He felt the gaze from the others. Likewise, his eyes were looking over as the two sides stared at each other.
"Disciples of Shen Clan." Ye Futian recognized them instantly and made a note to himself.
The Shen Clan had once gone to Tianhe Mountain, intending to take him away before taking his teacher Qi Xuangang to the Shen Clan at Central Emperor Realm. How could he have forgotten that?
"Who are they?" Xia Qingyuan seemed to sense something. She asked Ye Futian via voice transmission. These men did not look friendly, and they seemed to scrutinize Ye Futian very closely, which made her feel a little uneasy.
Could they be forces that Ye Futian had offended?
She had been transported to other realms before, so she did not know what had happened to Ye Futian.
"At the Central Emperor Realm in the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path, I"ve had some exchanges with the Shen Clan," Ye Futian responded, and Xia Qingyuan frowned slightly. The top power of the Central Emperor Realm was enough to cause her concern.
She believed that Ye Futian had no need to fear anyone in the compet.i.tion at the G.o.d"s relic because his own talent would not be inferior to those from the top powers. However, if there were grudges, then it was not a matter simply limited to the younger generation. Ye Futian"s talents, no matter how impressive, couldn"t contend with the top forces of the Central Emperor Realm.
Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan returned to Yu Sheng and the others. Many powerful cultivators from the Heavenly Mandate Realm were in this position. Next to them were the mighty cultivators from Dou Tribe and Yuanyang Clan.
Yuan Hong from Yuanyang Clan glanced at the direction of the Shen Clan. Ye Futian claimed to be the successor of the Sky River Temple, so he must have known that there would be grievances with the Shen Clan. Now, it seemed that he had already understood the implications.
"He was a formidable figure once upon a time, but in his old age, his obsessiveness caused self-destruction. After so many years, to have accepted an inheritor, it must be because he has high hopes in this successor." In the direction of the Shen Clan, their leader spoke softly, without the disguise of voice transmission. Although they were separated by quite a bit of distance, Ye Futian could hear it clearly.
When the other spoke, their eyes were still focused on him.
"I heard that he had personally escorted this inheritor to the City of the Ruins," the man beside him added.
"At its peak, there were three thousand disciples in Sky River Temple. What is the point of accepting another disciple now, other than just to inherit his craft and give him some comfort in his later years?" The young man continued, "If he had known what would happen today, why bother destroying everything back then?"
When he finished speaking, the youth withdrew his attention and no longer focused on Ye Futian. They did scrutinize Ye Futian, but now that Qi Xuangang had been taken down by the family, he wouldn"t deliberately pick on Ye Futian. That would be beneath him.
Sky River Great Elder and the Shen Clan went way back in origin. They would let him keep this one inheritor that would eventually inherit all of his craft.
Yuan Hong also heard what the other had said, and his eyes drifted toward Ye Futian. Even though he had witnessed Ye Futian"s talent, there was indeed a huge gap between the two of them in terms of status. Ye Futian would probably be subjected to great pressure in the future.
Moreover, he knew that the young man who had spoken was the strongest of the current descendants of the Shen Clan. It was one of the most dazzling figures among his peers in the Central Emperor Realm, Shen Hao.
Shen Hao was destined to be extraordinary. His father was a fabulous cultivator in the Shen Clan, and since birth, he was destined to embark on a glorious path. He did not disappoint. Since the beginning of his cultivation amongst the children of countless clansmen, he was always invincible. In the future, he would undoubtedly inherit his father"s crafts.
Moreover, there was a good chance that he would become the future helmsman of the Shen Clan.
Previously, in his fight for the Spatial Sacred Hall, Ye Futian had offended many top princ.i.p.alities. But as his alliance was powerful, there was not much issue. However, now in the fight for the relic left by the G.o.ds of Heavenly Palace, status and background were all within consideration. The question was, could he do it?
Therefore, no matter how powerful was Ye Futian"s talent, the pressure he would be subjected to would be unimaginable.
"Princess had a breakthrough?" Yaya noticed the transformation of Xia Qingyuan"s temperament as her breath became even more overpowering. It seemed that Ye Futian had found an opportunity for her.
"Mmm." Xia Qingyuan nodded slightly and glanced at Ye Futian beside her.
"I haven"t found anything suitable for you yet," Ye Futian said to Yaya.
"I know." Yaya didn"t say anything more, as she didn"t have any other thought. Previously in Sword City, Ye Futian had let her choose. It was she who first gave the opportunity to the Swordmaster of Lihen. She understood that as long as there was an opportunity, Ye Futian would never treat his people poorly.
"Boss, what about me?" The Little Condor looked at Ye Futian pitifully. Even that vicious woman had broken through. Would that spell future misery for Lord Condor?
"What are you fretting about?" Xia Qingyuan looked at the Little Condor with a smile.
Seeing the look in Xia Qingyuan"s eyes, the Little Condor felt gooseb.u.mps all over, and muttered, "Oh boy, she wants to be the mistress."
Without further ado, Ye Futian pressed his head down fiercely as Xia Qingyuan was heard saying, "After you go out, leave the Little Condor to me for a few days. I will share some opportunity with him."
"Ah..." The Little Condor looked at Ye Futian tremblingly.
"Seriously." Ye Futian was speechless for the time being. Xia Qingyuan and Little Condor were entangled for good.
"How is the situation here?" Ye Futian asked Yu Sheng.
"Everyone has arrived, but no one can approach the sky stairwell." Yu Sheng kept his eyes forward and said, "The statues seem to be alive. It is as if they still contain the will of their previous lives. There were even mirages when one stepped inside that appeared real enough."
Ye Futian nodded. This was well within expectation. After all, this was the cultivation place of the fabled Great Emperor, which would not be so simple to breach.
This had happened several times with G.o.d"s relic. For more than 300 years, each time it was opened, the genius from all Nine Realms would enter. But so far, no one had ever entered.
This time, it was because of him and Jian Qingzhu that they were able to open two of the doors and activate the other two pa.s.sages, hence the situation at hand.
"Jian Qingzhu left." Ye Futian looked to the other side and didn"t see Jian Qingzhu in the direction of Tianshen Academy.
"He said that he was going to see two other places," Yaya said, and Ye Futian nodded in acknowledgment. Jian Qingzhu had similar thoughts, but he only went to the Garden of G.o.ds. As for the remaining place, it resembled more of an entrance. Many relics had already been trespa.s.sed upon and were not worth visiting.
At this time, the sound of air breaking was heard, and the group of captivating characters from Tianshen Academy came forward. The person in the lead was none other than Jian Qingzhu.
Eyes fell upon him, and they were very serious. Before, when they were at the entrance, it was the people of Tianshen Academy who opened the sealed door. It was said that Jian Qingzhu had commanded it.
It also meant that it was Jian Qingzhu who came here and activated all the pa.s.sages so that they could gather together here.
After coming here, everyone focused on the Heavenly Palace and did not talk about anything. They had no idea that the people from the Heavenly Mandate Realm led by Ye Futian came earlier than Jian Qingzhu. The people of the Heavenly Mandate Realm, and other forces like Yuanyang Clan would not disclose this information on their own, as that would only cause more trouble for Ye Futian.
Never mind that Jian Qingzhu opened the gate to the ultimate relic. Many notable figures had known his name as the first person among the descendants of Tianshen Academy. Even those who had never heard of him would have heard of him by now when they arrived.
If it were not because the G.o.d"s relic of Heavenly Palace was right before them, the gathering of all of the most excellent figures of the Nine Realms would only tempt them to compete against one another!
...