One month later in the imperial city of the Cangye Kingdom, the City of Cangye.
The City of Cangye had no city walls. It centered around the imperial palace and spread out wide and far in all directions. Thus, the city was expansive. Presently, on the outskirts of the city, many large beasts soared through the skies. There were also powerful cultivators riding on their swords, and some even had wings on their backs.
The sky above Cangye City was an incredible sight. Countless cultivators had gathered in the city from all over the Cangye Kingdom.
Among the beasts in the skies, was a winged demon tiger pulling a carriage. On this white tiger’s back stood several figures. The two people at the front were around 17 years of age. One was unbelievably handsome and one was exceedingly beautiful.
These two youngsters were Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu who had traveled a long way. Behind them were Yu Sheng and Yi Qingxuan. Inside the carriage sat Hua Fengliu, Nandou Wenyin, Tang Lan and Tang Wan. Tang Lan’s eldest disciple, Nie Bing, had her own home. That day in Donghai City, she left the Guqin Gardens.
After all that had happened in the City of Donghai, Ye Futian was no longer the happy-go-lucky young man he once was. And after that day the light of an emperor dawned upon him, his aura had experienced a slight change. Different from before, he had gotten even more handsome and more charismatic.
“We’re finally here,” muttered Ye Futian. Cangye Kingdom’s imperial city was massive in comparison to Donghai City. This ancient city had a rich history and majestic architecture. From the exterior of the buildings, you could not tell that it had been around for ages. They were ancient but dignified which made the mood throughout the entire city more solemn.
“Yeah.” Hua Jieyu nodded in agreement.
“Once upon a time, when Master, Yu Sheng, and I first arrived at Donghai City standing atop the Black Wind Eagle, I had wanted to conquer the city. But in return, that city has life me with memories I shall never forget,” Ye Futian smiled lightly and said in a self-ridiculing way as he observed the vast imperial city ahead.
In the time it took the group to arrive in Cangye City, Hua Jieyu’s injuries had healed but their wounded hearts would never heal from the events in Donghai City; especially for Ye Futian. Emperor Luo’s imperial order, being hunted down by Minister Hua and the School of the Emperor Star, the Nandou Clan’s choice, and Grandmaster. All of it was deeply engraved into his memory, unable to forget even if he tried.
Hearing Ye Futian’s words, Hua Jieyu reached out her hand and held tightly onto Ye Futian’s. Her eyes remained up ahead and filled with determination. She was not going to forget about anything that happened in Donghai City either. They were able to make it here today because of Grandmaster’s sacrifice.
Ye Futian could feel the warmth that radiated from Hua Jieyu’s hand and tightened his grip on it. He had originally planned to go to the Nandou Nation’s imperial city but now, they had arrived at Cangye Kingdom’s imperial city. Ye Futian was not going to allow history to replay itself here. The sharp sword that Hua Jieyu pierced through her own body, Grandmaster’s selfless sacrifice, brought him pain to this day.
Tang Wan stepped out of the carriage and took a look at the majestic city below. The skies were still crowded. She asked, “Futian, where are you planning to go?”
“Cangye College,” Ye Futian said without a hint of hesitation. It was evident that he came with a plan in mind.
Cangye College was similar to the academies in the Nandou Nation. Its status was equivalent to Nandou Academy located in the Nandou Nation’s imperial city. The college was backed by the royal family. Many genius cultivators attended this school. Even disciples of the royal family cultivated at the college. However, Ye Futian was not going there to attend school but for the grand event being held soon in the imperial city. The Fenghua Banquet.
The Fenghua Banquet was an imperial banquet. The emperor of the Cangye Kingdom would come personally to examine the abilities of younger generation cultivators. If it had not been for Emperor Luo’s imperial order, Ye Futian should have been preparing to attend the Tingfeng Banquet in the Nandou Nation’s imperial city. But life was unpredictable. He was now in the Nandou Nation’s rival country, the Cangye Kingdom, preparing to attend the Fenghua Banquet.
Cangye College was the place to sign up for the Fenghua Banquet. Many of the people in the skies right now had younger cultivators with them. They had most definitely came for the same reason as Ye Futian.
Hearing that Ye Futian was headed for Cangye College, Tang Lan understood his intentions. She said, “Are you guys planning on participating? The Fenghua Banquet has an age limitation. Participants must be under the age of 20. This means that quite a few young genius cultivators in the Dharma Plane may show up.”
To travel all the way from Donghai City to the Cangye Kingdom’s imperial city, it was obvious that the group knew something.
“I know,” answered Ye Futian. He continued, “Those picked by the emperor at the banquet will be put on the Fenghua Rank. The top ten people on the list will all be rewarded and the top three can request one thing from the emperor. As long as the request is within reason, he usually grants it.”
“What request do you want to make?” asked Tang Lan.
Ye Futian turned back to take a look at Hua Fengliu in the carriage and said, “I want him to restore Master’s powers.”
A spark reached Tang Lan’s eyes. If Ye Futian was able to make this request, with the Cangye emperor’s abilities, he would definitely be able to find a way to do it.
“Even though the list is determined purely based on the emperor’s liking, and has nothing to do with how strong and powerful you are, you won’t be able to stand out in the crowd if you don’t have extraordinary abilities. It will be difficult to rank in the top three unless you’re prepared to expose all of your gifts,” said Tang Lan.
“I must make it into the top three,” Ye Futian said with determination in his eyes. The emperor of the Nandou Nation wanted to kill him without reason, but now in the Cangye Kingdom, even if Ye Futian revealed his gifts, the Cangye emperor would only praise him. Besides, the Fenghua Banquet was a place to test the skills of junior cultivators. Elder Qin had already passed and Hua Fengliu was not yet healed. This was a chance he could not give up.
“Okay,” nodded Tang Lan. Ye Futian looked determined enough to succeed.
“I will also participate with you,” Hua Jieyu said softly.
“Fox, you’re too pretty. Isn’t it flaunting too much?” Ye Futian examined Hua Jieyu’s beauty. At 17, her beauty was in full bloom.
“Screw you.” Hua Jieyu glared at him. The conversation was so serious before but Ye Futian turned it into a joke in the span of seconds.
However, deep down, Hua Jieyu was glad. On the entire trip, Ye Futian looked so solemn, not like the happy jokester he used to be. It was obvious that he was deeply affected by the things in the City of Donghai. She wanted to see him go back to his true self. Even though he acted shameless at times, she liked him that way.
“I want to participate too,” standing in the back, Yu Sheng finally opened his mouth.
“Of course,” said Ye Futian.
The White Tiger Demon continued forward. Ye Futian did not land to ask for directions. He simply followed the group in the skies. The direction in which the most people were traveling must be the direction where Cangye College was located. There was no question about it.
Cangye College was located in the center of the city, near the imperial palace. It could be said to be a true school of nobility. Even princes and princesses cultivated at the college. To be able to attend this school, students had to have gifts out of the ordinary or else, even if you were a noble, you were not allowed to attend Cangye College. The school had the royal family backing it and had no reason to care about what others thought.
In the skies outside of the Cangye College, beasts, cultivators riding their swords, and those flying with the help of their own wings were all gathered together. There were so many people. The Fenghua Banquet would begin in three days but people were still coming to sign up at Cangye College.
Finally, Ye Futian and his group had also arrived. It was just as he had imagined. A variety of cultivators were present. He had never seen many of the beasts in the sky. They looked fearsome. There were even beasts of the Arcana Plane. Ye Futian wanted to wait until he had higher cultivation and use his ability as a beastmaster to control some powerful beasts.
The beasts and cultivators finally landed when they had reached Cangye College. There was no one who dared to enter the school premises by air.
Ye Futian and the others also landed. He noticed the thin chiffon Hua Jieyu used to cover her face, hiding her beauty.
“Looks like you know just how distracting your looks are,” laughed Ye Futian.
Hua Jieyu ignored him.
Ye Futian turned back to look at Yi Qingxuan and Tang Wan. “Qingxuan, Wan, do you guys want to attend the Fenghua Banquet as well?”
“No,” Yi Qingxuan shook her head.
“Me neither.” Tang Wan smiled.
Both girls knew that they were still lacking and nothing would come of attending the banquet.
Ye Futian nodded and said, “Then you guys should first find some place to stay nearby. I’ll have the Black Wind Eagle go with you guys.”
“Okay. Be careful, Futian,” ordered Nandou Wenyin.
“I’ll be fine, Masteress.” Ye Futian smiled. After, he, Hua Jieyu, and Yu Sheng walked towards Cangye College. As soon as they set foot on the campus, they saw many people headed in the same direction. In that direction, sat a line of elders making records. There were many people in line ahead of the trio waiting to sign up for the banquet. They stepped closer to the lines in front of the tables where the elders sat and a little while later, it was their turn. They walked up to the empty table.
The elder sat at the table. He was still writing. Moments later, he lifted his head and said, “Name, age, level of cultivation, occupation class.”
“Ye Futian, 17, Seven-Starred Glory Plane, Musical Sorcerer,” said Ye Futian. On the day of the battle, he stepped into a new plane.
“Hua Jieyu, 17, Seven-Starred Glory Plane, Spiritual Sorcerer,” said Hua Jieyu.
“Yu Sheng, 17, Seven-Starred Glory Plane, martial arts cultivator.”
The three of them were all on the same plane now.
The elder looked up at the three of them. He was amazed that their age and level of cultivation were all the same. He then handed them each a wooden bookmark. On the bookmark was the information they had just given.
From the side, came a young lady. She smiled and said, “Come with me.” The young lady was wearing a school uniform. Before the Fenghua Banquet, the students of Cangye College were in charge of taking care of everything.
“Thank you,” said Ye Futian. The trio followed the young lady. She looked to be about 18-years-old. She was very pretty.
“My name is Cen Xia,” the girl said. She took a couple of extra glances at Ye Futian. She had seen many handsome males at the college but it was rare to find someone who looked like Ye Futian.
A woman’s sixth sense was very accurate. Beside Ye Futian, Hua Jieyu took Ye Futian’s hand. Cen Xia took a quick look and smiled at Hua Jieyu. This girl is interesting, thought Cen Xia.
Even though Ye Futian was attractive, as a student of Cangye College she was not going to fangirl over him. Besides, as a Seven-Starred Glory Plane Musical Sorcerer, Ye Futian could not compare to Bai Qiu of the Qin Clan who had entered Cangye College a short while ago.