On the Fenghua Platform, a group of elders clad in Cangye College uniforms stepped up. They gathered at the front of the platform and split into different sections. After, they placed the stacks of bookmarks in their hands on the platform and organized them.
The names on the bookmarks were those of this year’s Fenghua Banquet participants. Over 10,000 bookmarks meant that there were over 10,000 attendees. One could only imagine how difficult it would be to get picked by the emperor and make it on the Fenghua Rank.
These elders were all cultivators in the Arcana Plane and had extremely high cultivation. Most of them had photographic memory.
“Wang Teng, Zhuo Fei, Li Yun…” At this time, the elders began to call out names. People who had their names flew down to land on the stage. There were those who could fly, those who were dropped off by beasts, or even those who jumped off their beasts’ backs. All of this commotion caused the platform to shake.
100 bookmarks were withdrawn from the piles which meant that 100 people had their names called. Very quickly, all these people gathered on the platform. The Fenghua Platform was massive and could easily accommodate a hundred people. Everyone was able to stand comfortably in a different area.
All of these people were in the Six-Starred Glory Plane, which was the minimum allowed to attend the Fenghua Banquet. If one was in any plane lower than such, it was unnecessary to participate in the banquet.
“Amongst these 100 people, only three of you will make it to the next round. Of course, it is also completely possible that not a single person makes it. So, you may begin to demonstrate your talents now. Remember, you may choose to forfeit. Once someone forfeits, everyone else is forbidden from making further attacks on that participant. Also, no life-threatening injuries are allowed,” said an elder from Cangye College.
Choosing one out of a hundred. There were too many people participating in the Fenghua Banquet and thus, it was necessary to quickly filter out the most outstanding people from the beginning. Starting from those of the same plane was the fairest. It was a way for the best talents to stand out from the rest. At least then, they wouldn’t be eliminated right off the bat.
In a split second, Spiritual Qi exploded on the platform. It became extremely hectic. Sorcerers immediately put distance between themselves and the rest, while martial arts cultivators were looking for the perfect opportunity. Quickly, someone began to attack those around them. With this one attack, the battle began.
In the air and on the ground, countless pairs of eyes focused on the Fenghua Platform. Ye Futian was also watching seriously. Only qualified people could participate in the Fenghua Banquet; there were no weaklings. Many participants had already revealed their gifts in both martial arts and sorcery. There were also those who were multi-element sorcerers and of course, there were many Mandate Sorcerers.
The battle was fierce. In this messy battle, there were those who were powerful but got surrounded and attacked by multiple people. This type of chaotic battle was truly testing. Just because one was powerful did not mean that they would make it to the end. Unless they had an absolute advantage over the rest. However, it was only a battle of Six-Starred Glory Plane cultivators. Many spectators were interested. Those who got the most applause was usually above the Eight-Starred Glory Plane. Anyone below that almost never got picked by the emperor.
After the first group of talents concluded their battle, an elder from the Cangye College announced that no one had passed. All of them were eliminated. Even the person who had won the battle.
The lower the level, the stronger your gifts have to be. It’s the only way to move forward, everyone thought to themselves.
Following that, another hundred people were called and another round of chaotic battle ensued. There were not many Six-Starred Glory Plane participants, not even a thousand. After they were all done, the elders began to call on the Seven-Starred Glory Plane participants. More people were interested in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane battles. It was bound to be fiercer.
Finally, Yu Sheng’s name was called out. Ye Futian sent him down to the platform. But at the Fenghua Banquet, Yu Sheng’s name did not pique anyone’s interest. No one knew who he was or how strong he was. All they knew was that he had an imposing stature.
Among the people called on along with Yu Sheng, everyone was only interested in one—Yun Di of the Demon Clan. He was a young man gifted by the heavens. Not even 17 yet, he had already made it into the Seven-Starred Glory Plane. He was also a beast tamer. Yun Di was naturally close with the beasts and had the ability to tame them. On top of that, he was also a Mandate Sorcerer.
Yun Di’s skin was dark, and he had a small stature but exuded a wild aura. As soon as he stepped on to the battle platform, he was the star of the show.
This young man who was only in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane was said to be qualified to get picked by the emperor. From this, it was easy to see just how outstanding he was.
“These people have the worst luck to be grouped with Yun Di.”
“They would have been alright had they been grouped with anyone else in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane but it just had to be Yun Di,” many people began to discuss.
Ye Futian listened in on the discussions going on around him and was able to figure out what kind of person Yun Di was. He looked at Yu Sheng and let out a smile. Yu Sheng was able to run into a strong candidate for the Fenghua Banquet in his first battle. Yun Di was going to make sure Yu Sheng stood out. They were getting lucky.
Besides Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu, Cen Xia from Cangye College was probably the only other person who knew Yu Sheng. She quietly shook her head. To be in the same battle as Yun Di, it looked like Yu Sheng was going to get eliminated in this first round.
On the Fenghua Platform, everyone focused their attention on Yun Di. They watched as he placed a leaf between his lips and music sounded. The sounds were piercing to the ears. In the skies, many of the beasts became irritable. They were the beasts people were riding on.
WHOOSH! A Glory Plane beast abandoned its master and rushed toward Yun Di. Its master was another participant of the Fenghua Banquet. He fell helplessly from the skies. He did not cultivate in the element of wind and that was why he had to ride a beast, but now, his beast was being controlled by someone else. This person was not alone. Quickly, more people ended up in a similar situation. All the flying beasts below the Dharma Plane had abandoned their masters and headed toward Yun Di.
“Make your move!” Many young cultivators charged at Yun Di. They were ready to gang up on him. Even though there was still a chance that they might not pass this round, at least their chances would increase if they defeated Yun Di.
But in this moment, a fearsome monster tide erupted on the Fenghua Platform. A hoard of beasts attacked. Even, many of participants with higher cultivation could not withstand the attack of the united beasts and were all thrown on to the ground.
“This…” Spectators were speechless upon witnessing this scene. The emperor’s gaze fell on Yun Di, and he let out a look of admiration.
Not long after, almost everyone on the platform had fallen. Those who had not fallen chose to forfeit. How were they supposed to battle when Yun Di summoned that many demon beasts?
“No surprise here,” laughed bystanders. They pitied those grouped with Yun Di.
Yun Di stopped blowing on the leaf but the beasts continued to revolve around him. A strange sight indeed.
Just then, Yun Di noticed there was still one person standing. It looked as if he had not moved an inch from the beginning.
“Aren’t you going to forfeit?” Yun Di looked at the young man with the large stature and questioned.
“Thank you for clearing those people out for me,” said Yu Sheng. His words shocked everyone in the audience. Did he just thank Yun Di for clearing the way for him?
“Uh…” Ye Futian blinked. Yu Sheng had changed a lot since coming with Ye Futian. The things he said were…well said.
Yun Di was dumbfounded at first, but a smile spread quickly on his face. He placed the leaf back between his lips and began to blow. Along with the melody, the beasts around Yun Di were once again placed in a wild trance and immediately charged towards Yu Sheng.
A fierce golden light enveloped Yu Sheng’s body like the armor of a war god. As a wild falcon rushed toward him, Yu Sheng reached out his large hand and meet with the falcon’s talons. In a split second, his hand clasp down and grabbed on to the falcon’s sharp talons. Next, Yu Sheng swung the falcon around with one arm. He flung the beast forward and with a loud crash, he had downed several beasts with the sheer force of his throw.
“This…” The people were dumbfounded. After that, the beasts became more crazed. However, Yu Sheng took one step forward and the whole Fenghua Platform began to shake.
In this moment, people mistook this young man of imposing stature for a beast in human form. They watched as Yu Sheng threw a punch toward a beast and it was thrown through the air.
BOOM! BOOM! Yu Sheng took a couple more steps on the platform and reached out both hands. With his bare hands, he caught a Red Winged Tiger. The beast had tried to charge at Yu Sheng’s neck but he managed to hold its mouth open with both hands and then ripped the beast open from the mouth.
“Is he really human?” Everyone’s heart was pounding. They realized that the beasts were no longer listening to Yun Di’s orders. They no longer dared to attack. Yun Di was a beast tamer and not a beastmaster. He did not have total control over the beasts. Under extreme fear, the beasts would no longer listen to him.
Yun Di’s expression darkened. He removed the leaf from his mouth and released his Life Spirit. It was a ferocious Demon Lion. Just the king of the beasts, Yun Di’s body moved quickly. Just like most demon beasts, he was swift and violent. His movements agile as a monkey. As Yun Di got closer to Yu Sheng, he flew into the air, nimble as a leopard. Like a flash of lightning, he appeared in the air above Yu Sheng and the apparition of a lion appeared on his body. His hand morphed into a large paw with sharp claws, ready to claw at Yu Sheng’s head at full force.
Yu Sheng’s reflexes were extremely quick and his body moved swiftly like a ghost. His hand reached out towards the sky and met with Yun Di’s sharp claws. A strong force threw Yun Di back. Just as Yun Di tried to take this opportunity to leave, Yu Sheng took one step into the air and flew towards to grab Yun Di by the arm.
In the next moment, everyone watched as Yu Sheng picked Yun Di up and then smashed him into the ground. The Fenghua Platform shook once again.
Around the platform, everyone was in complete silence. When Yu Sheng stood up straight and looked toward the emperor, everyone was shaking in their boots. It seemed that at today’s Fenghua Banquet, the prodigies that everyone put their money on weren’t undefeatable after all. Yun Di had already been defeated in battle with someone in the same plane!