Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Time went by very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it had already been about three months since the Nandou Nation’s Tingfeng Banquet. The Ancient Barren World was about to open. The Hundred Lands were shaken up. Only God knows just how many cultivators from each nation were headed for the doors of the Ancient Barren World. Large armies set out and young prodigies were headed there as well.
Things were the same in the Cangye Kingdom. Prodigies and cultivators of all kinds gathered in the imperial city. They were ready to head out with the emperor. Emperor Ye was going to personally see them off. He wanted to make sure all of his people made it to the Ancient Barren World, safe and sound.
In the imperial palace; on the mountain.
These past few days, Ye Futian and Yu Sheng had been focused on closed-door cultivation. Their level of cultivation had seen improvement. They had both stepped into the Nine-star Glory Plane. They were only one step away from the Dharma Plane. On this day, Ye Futian ended his closed-door cultivation
“You’re finally willing to come out?” From a corner of the courtyard, Tang Lan saw Ye Futian and gave him a smile. It’s been a while since I last saw this rascal.
“Second Masteress, you’re getting more and more beautiful.” He smiled at her teasingly. A couple days after Nandou Wenyin proposed the marriage, Hua Fengliu and Tang Lan held a simple ceremony on the mountain and tied the knot with Yi Xiang as their witness. They were truly one big family now.
“Are you itching to get beat?” Tang Lan laughed at Ye Futian. This punk really shows no respect for his elders. However, she had also noticed herself become more beautiful. Perhaps it was because of her good mood.
“Second Masteress, I’m only stating facts. After you got together with Master, you have indeed become more beautiful,” Ye Futian explained “sincerely”.
Tang Lan glared at him for a while and then turned away. Her face flushed red like a little girl.
I’m so envious of Master, Ye Futian thought to himself. “I’m heading out of the mountains for a bit.” After that, he left the courtyard and made his way down to the imperial palace. He went looking for Ye Danchen and Ye Lingxi. Then, they went to see Emperor Ye altogether.
“I heard you’ve been conducting closed-door cultivation sessions. Why did you stop?” asked Emperor Ye.
“We have to head for the Ancient Barren World in a couple of days. I’ve thought it over, I want to go with you guys,” answered Ye Futian.
“You want to enter the Ancient Barren World while still in the Glory Plane?” Emperor Ye stared at him. “Do you know how big of a deal this is? All of the Hundred Lands are shaken up. Even I can’t predict just how many people will show up. Besides, this is just the cultivators from the Hundred Lands. Not counting those in the Ancient Barren World, your current level of cultivation is truly a little too low.”
“Your Majesty, didn’t you say that aside from fate and chance the Ancient Barren World is no different from the outside world? We can just think of it as outdoor training. Don’t worry, Your Majesty, I’ll keep a low profile,” said Ye Futian.
“If you go, Emperor Luo will definitely send people after you,” said Emperor Ye.
“Hmm… This will actually be a hassle. Your Majesty, then why don’t you lend me some magical items? Attack, defense, and escape. How about a couple items for each?” Ye Futian asked with a genuine smile.
Emperor Ye smiled at Ye Futian. He finally realized that he couldn’t get too friendly with this rascal. Emperor Ye refused to believe that Ye Futian had not considered the Nandou Nation. Ye Futian was obviously scamming him. Borrow some magical items? Would he really return what he borrowed?
Ye Futian continued when Emperor Ye didn’t speak, “Your Majesty, prodigies from all throughout the Hundred Lands are headed for the Ancient Barren World. I can’t let you be embarrassed as the future groom of a princess.”
“Good point.” Emperor Ye smiled at him. “Are you the only one going?”
“Yu Sheng should be coming along,” answered Ye Futian.
“You two, bring him and Yu Sheng to the treasury to pick their magical items,” Emperor Ye said to Ye Danchen and his sister.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Ye Futian smiled. Emperor Ye was even willing to start a war with Emperor Luo for his sake. Ye Futian knew that he wouldn’t be stingy with a just a couple magical items. Ye Futian kept note of everything he owed to Emperor Ye in his heart.
“The door to the lower Ancient Barren World can not hold the energy of the Arcana Plane. So, even for magical items, you can only bring those of the highest-level Dharma Plane. Also, magical items are only supplementary. It does not directly give you the power of the Dharma Plane. The use of magical items is also not beneficial to cultivation. Only use the items when you are in dire need to do so,” warned Emperor Ye.
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. I know this very well,” said Ye Futian. He wouldn’t have thought to use magical items if his level wasn’t so low.
…
Days later. A cool morning on the mountains. Quite a lot of people were gathered in the courtyard. Ye Futian and Yu Sheng were about to head out for the Ancient Barren World. Yi Xiang would be joining them on this journey. He also wanted to train in the upper Ancient Barren World.
“Futian, be very careful when you get there,” reminded Nandou Wenyin.
“Don’t worry, Masteress. I’ll be fine,” nodded Ye Futian. “I’m going to see Jieyu now.”
“Alright.” Nandou Wenyin nodded her head, and Ye Futian headed for the back mountains. Hua Jieyu was sitting cross-legged. With her eyes closed, an invisible force field of spiritual energy encapsulated her. There were rocks floating in the air, revolving around her at a steady pace. It seemed as though the Spiritual Qi revolved around her in a set orbit. It was as if it were possible to communicate with and control everything on Earth with spiritual energy.
Ye Futian became curious. When he had stepped into this area which was filled with spiritual energy, he could fell himself being wrapped in the energy. He had experienced this same feeling only once better. It was during that battle in front of the School of the Emperor Star. Except, this time, the feeling was much stronger.
“I’m leaving now. Next time, we’ll go together,” Ye Futian spoke to the goddess-like Hua Jieyu quietly sitting there. His eyes were gentle and a warm smile spread across his face. Then, he turned around and left.
A group of people left the mountains and walked out of the imperial palace. Outside the palace, crowds of people were already gathered. Some of them were already well-acquainted with Ye Futian. The pride of the Fenghua Rank, Ye Wuchen, had also decided to head to the Ancient Barren World. He was now in the third-level Dharma Plane, so obviously, he was not going to wait any longer. There were also many students of Cangye College who wanted to enter the Ancient Barren World. Their uniforms made them stick out like a sore thumb. Zuo Qianfan and Yu Jiang were also among the crowd. They obviously wanted to tag along with some senior brothers from the college to do the trial.
Cultivators from the Qin Clan and Demon Clan had gathered as well. Bai Qiu was also present. Even Lin Yueyao was going. The Fenghua Banquet and the Tingfeng Banquet had greatly affected her. After three months of cultivation, she had made her way into the Dharma Plane. Now, she was able to enter the Ancient Barren World with the rest of her clan. There were also many other clans Ye Futian did not know of. Imagine all that power gathered in one place.
Looks like nobody could stand the wait, thought Ye Futian. The mysterious Ancient Barren World was just too tempting. Many lower-leveled Dharma Plane cultivators could not wait to step into this new world. And of course, besides those in the Dharma Plane, there were many powerful elders present as well. Powerful Arcana Plane cultivators wanted to head into the upper Ancient Barren World.
Just then, Emperor Ye arrived with his people following behind as the trailed out of the palace.
“Your Majesty, Your Highness.” Everyone bowed to greet Emperor Ye and the young man beside him. His features were sharp and he had a strong aura. He was Emperor Ye’s eldest son, Ye Xiao. He was in the highest-level Dharma Plane.
Ye Futian had seen Ye Xiao at the Fenghua Banquet but there were no exchanges between them. He was only close with Ye Danchen and Ye Lingxi because they were close in age. Ye Xiao would be the only one of the emperor’s children entering the Ancient Barren World. Ye Danchen and Ye Lingxi’s level of cultivation was still too low.
Besides Ye Xiao, there were many more high-leveled Dharma Plane cultivators following behind Emperor Ye. They were well-trained imperial guards and would be accompanying the group on their journey.
“Are you all ready?” Emperor Ye asked everyone in the crowd. Sweeping his eyes across each face, he saw many of them nod. “Let’s go then.”
At this, everyone lifted up into the skies and headed in the same direction.
Mounted on the dragon in the sky were Emperor Ye and his people. Everyone else had their own form of transportation. The Demon Clan had an array of beasts, a truly impressive line-up indeed.
Just then, a black wind eagle landed on the back of the dragon and settled beside Ye Futian. The people around looked over at Ye Futian in confusion. This guy is now super famous in the imperial city. Is this thing his beast companion? Seems quite unfitting.
But Ye Futian did not care what they thought. He simply petted the eagle’s head. This beast was gifted to him by the Snow Ape, but regardless of that reason, they had built a deep relationship over time. The Black Wind Eagle’s powers were nothing out of the ordinary, but what of it? Who says they couldn’t improve?
There was only one entrance to the Ancient Barren World in the Hundred Lands. It was located at the border of the Hundred Lands. Starting in the Cangye Kingdom, Emperor Ye and the rest passed over multiple nations before arriving many days later. It was an extremely mountainous area. Upon arrival, Ye Futian and the others discovered palaces built all around. They seemed like clan residences. This was nothing like the barren lands that Emperor Ye had told them about.
They sure do get things done quickly. Looking down from the sky, Emperor Ye saw that the once barren land had been transformed into a city. Many buildings had been erected. It was obvious to him, the other countries had already begun to claim their land.
“Rumors say that the great powers of the Eastern Barren territory settle at the entrance of the Ancient Barren World. They dominate the entrance, allowing clan members to enter the Ancient Barren World as they pleased. Seems like our friends from the Hundred Lands learn quite quickly. But there doesn’t seem to be a single person who has been able to completely monopolize the entrance,” said Emperor Ye.
Everyone listened as the emperor spoke and they reached an understanding. This was the difference between regular people and those of great power. Powerful people treated the Ancient Barren World as their personal resource for cultivation. Meanwhile, the people of the Hundred Lands had only just been granted access to the Ancient Barren World. They were so far behind.
Everyone looked straight ahead and saw a mystical space in the sky. This area was warped around an enormous door. Below it was a massive matrix. In the center of the terrifying matrix formation was a beam of light radiating with the Noble power. The beam struck on to the door in the sky, causing this door leading to the Ancient Barren World to become distorted, as if it were about to open at any moment. This matrix was most likely created by the powerful cultivators of the Eastern Barren Territory. It was placed here to activate the door to the Ancient Barren World.
Right now, there were hordes of people gathered in the area around the door. Emperors of every country in the Hundred Lands had led the people here. Each of their line-ups seemed extremely strong.
Emperor Ye and his people slowed down as they approached the large group. The emperors already gathered turned their attention to the newcomers and smiled. Another kingdom has arrived.