Shang Hai and Shang Qing stepped before the Alliance Leader, only to hear him coldly ask them, “How do you two think this should be settled?” The siblings had ghastly expressions as the rest of the Alliance stared at them.
Shang Hai then said, “Great Elder, even though we have some responsibility for this incident, but we did it in consideration for the Alliance. We helped the Yunyue Business Alliance to find Sorcerer Wu and the Demon Swordsman to aid us, and it just so happened that the White Jade Tower ran out of accommodation. Naturally, we had to evict some guests. Back then, they did not express their interest in helping fight for the Alliance, so we had to choose to make them leave.”
Shang Qing chimed in too, “Yes, Great Elder. They refused to move out of the White Jade Tower, so we had to resort to using extreme methods.”
“You call this a reason?” The Alliance Leader stared at the two of them. There were many ways they could have used to deal with the situation. For example, they did not have to host Sorcerer Wu and the Demon Swordsman in the White Jade Tower, or they could have used more peaceful means to settle the problem. The only reason the siblings acted the way they did was purely out of their arrogance.
Shang Hai bowed and committed, saying, “We will definitely clinch victory in the other battle.” Right now, there was no value in justifying his actions. The only salvation he had was to show his worth by obtaining more benefits for the Yunyue Business Alliance.
“You had better,” said the Alliance Leader bluntly. “Get back in line.”
Both of them bowed and backed down. The Alliance Leader was expressionless, today’s battle had to continue; he would resolve the issue after he went back. His gaze moved towards Ye Futian, and he nonchalantly said, “let the battle resume.”
Everything had already happened the way it did. Shang Hai had already offended Ye Futian heavily, it was no longer possible to rope him over to their side.
Today, not only did they end up last, but the Yunyue Business Alliance also suffered a loss in reputation.
Yang Yi felt at ease now that she had said her piece, but Ye Futian looked at her worriedly. That was a rash decision, she had antagonized the Shang siblings by doing that. Moreover, after the Alliance Leader knew the truth, even though he would blame the Shang siblings, but the furthest he would go would be to punish them harshly. However, since he knew that Ye Futian could not be converted to his side, he would be less concerned about their punishment.
His key priority was still on the benefits that he could obtain. In this round, the Yunyue Business Alliance had suffered heavy losses. The Alliance Leader’s attempts to persuade Ye Futian was because of his strength, but that was separate from his resentment towards him.
“Do the two of you want to decide now?” Ye Futian said, looking at Feng You and Lei Xingtian. Ye Fuchen sheathed his sword, while Yu Sheng released Lei Xingtian. The three of them stepped off the platform, back to where Wang Yurou was.
There was no question who first place belonged to, but second and third had not been decided yet.
“Since it’s already come to this, let’s not compete anymore. How about our clans both share the 50 percent?” The Feng Clan leader looked towards the Thunder Clan.
“Sure.” The Thunder Clan leader nodded. Even though it was not a satisfactory outcome for both clans to share the 50 percent, it was one that both clans could accept, the clan that held the short straw was the Yunyue Business Alliance with only 10 percent.
“Well, go ahead and announce the results,” The Feng Clan Leader said.
The drum sounded and the Wang clan representative reported, “the Wang Clan is in first place.”
“The Feng Clan and Thunder Clan come in second place together.”
“The Yunyue Business Alliance, last place.” The Yunyue Business Alliance representative’s voice was sullen. After the announcement, the Wang Clan leader stood up. The experts by his side all followed suit and turned to where Ye Futian and his friends were.
Ye Futian and Wang Yurou turned around and walked back towards the Wang Clan.
The Wang Clan leader was undoubtedly welcoming them back with open arms in celebration of their victory.
Wang Yurou walked over to the Wang Clan leader and bowed slightly while saying, “Fortunately, we did not betray the Clan leader’s expectations.”
In reality, she was relieved at her luck. The victory had come too easily, and by no means had she contributed to it. In fact, the moment Ye Futian and his partners stepped onto the Yunyue Battle Platform, the conclusion was already decided.
“You’ve done well,” the Wang Clan leader said, smiling.
“The credit belongs to the three of them.” Wang Yurou glanced at them, then turned towards another direction and continued, “Wang Linfeng did very well too.”
“That’s right,” The Wang Clan leader nodded, then beamed and complimented Ye Futian and his friends. “The three of you have exceptional talent, we won the battle completely because of the three of you. If you have any requests, feel free to tell me. I’ll definitely satisfy them.”
“Thank you, senior. We’ll accept the terms that we were previously promised, that’s enough for us. Apart from that, I have an unruly request,” Ye Futian said.
“Feel free to say it,” The Wang Clan leader replied.
“Yang Ting, Little Yi, the two of you come over.” Ye Futian turned around and looked at the Yang siblings. The two of them heard Ye Futian’s voice and were puzzled, then started walking his way.
“Big brother Ye.” The innocent Yang Yi broke into a jog with a beaming smile on her face. She knew how capable Ye Futian was, and was happy for him from the bottom of her heart. Moreover, she had already vented her anger on the Shang siblings.
On the other hand, Yang Ting felt as though something was off. He had mixed feelings towards the matter. He never expected that his life would have such huge ups and downs, that the few people who he had casually greeted at the White Jade Tower would be so overwhelmingly powerful. He understood the world of martial arts cultivators sufficiently well to understand that other than this coincidental meeting, it would never have been possible for him and Ye Futian to cross paths, not to mention becoming friends.
“This is my friend Yang Ting, and his younger sister Yang Yi. I treat her as my younger sister as well, would it be possible for them to enter the Wang Clan to cultivate?” Ye Futian asked for the Wang Clan leader’s opinion. Yang Yi had formerly told him about Yang Ting’s goal to enter one of the four Clans to cultivate. To the siblings who were dependent on each other, entering the four Clans held immense significance. It meant that they would no longer have to be bullied by others.
Of course, the primary reason was that Yang Yi had offended Shang Hai, and Ye Futian needed to neutralize this potential threat.
“Big brother Ye.” Yang Yi gazed at him with admiration, while Yang Ting, who had already guessed the reason, was feeling conflicted.
“Sure.” The Wang Clan leader decisively agreed, saying, “after the two of them enter the Wang Clan, I will not let them be treated shabbily or let them be hurt.”
A person of his caliber naturally knew Ye Futian’s intentions.
“Thank you for that.” Ye Futian nodded in appreciation.
“It’s but a small matter. Take a seat and let’s watch the upcoming battles together.” The Wang Clan leader said, smiling. The Four Clans battle had two more fights remaining. Apart from the Lower Arcana Plane battle, there were also the Middle and Upper Arcane Plane battles.
“You’re being too kind senior, I’ll just take a seat below and watch,” Ye Futian replied courteously.
“That’s fine too, I’m sure you don’t have much in common with an elderly man like me. Yurou, take good care of him,” the Wang Clan leader instructed. Wang Yurou nodded in acknowledgment and ushered Ye Futian to one of the seats among the Wang Clan’s audience.
Wang Yurou sat beside Ye Futian and said, “after today’s battle is over, accompany me back to the clan, I’ll give you the Spirit-Refining Grass.”
“No need for that, just give it to Little Yi,” Ye Futian said, looking at Yang Yi, who was behind him.
“Alright.” Wang Yurou nodded. At that moment, Wang Linfeng walked up and passed a map to Ye Futian, saying, “thank you very much for your efforts in this battle.”
Wang Linfeng was definitely one of the people who had gotten the most benefits out of that battle. Through that battle, he had gone from being one of the marginalized clan members to becoming one of the core members within the clan. It was Ye Futian and his friends who had given him all these.
“No need, you strived for it yourself,” Ye Futian replied. He knew that Wang Linfeng was also taking a gamble on him, and his foresight had paid off.
Wang Linfeng smiled in silence and went back to his seat.
Ye Futian opened the map that had been passed to him, oblivious to the erupting second battle. In his eyes, Yunyue City was just a pit stop on his journey, his ambition did not lie here.
“In such a hurry?” Wang Yurou was surprised. What was in the Barren State map?
The map was large, so Ye Futian asked Yu Sheng and Wang Yurou for help to spread it open. Even though it was just a copy, it showed details for a large portion of the great expanse that was the Barren State. His eyes swept across the map, and his gaze eventually landed on one spot, where a major influence was.
The Zhuge family.
Moreover, they were located right in the middle of the entire State. He would go there sooner or later, and not only him, but his third brother as well. His second sister was there, Jieyu and Xing’er were there too. He wondered how they were coping, they probably missed him a lot.
“Zhongzhou City,” Ye Futian muttered to himself.
“The centerpiece of the Barren State, located at its core is Zhongzhou City, overseeing the continent,” Beside him, Wang Yurou explained.
Ye Futian nodded as he noticed not only the Zhuge family but also the Mortal World and the Nantian House in the vicinity of Zhongzhou city. All these influences being listed were elite forces.
The Mortal World and the Nantian House laid along the eastern region and were closer to where he currently was. Of course, this was relative to the Zhuge family. In actuality, he was still extremely far away. Right now, he had not even reached the center of the eastern region.
Ye Futian noted down the locations that he would adventure to in the future. He would at least have cultivated to the Noble Plane before he would step foot into that region. He was no longer in the Eastern Barren Territory; the people from the Nantian House would not let him off easily if they met him.
He also saw where the Holy Fire Clan and Taixuan Mountain were. They were even further away, with the Holy Fire Clan being in the western region, beside the Fire Mountain. There were also many neighboring first-rate factions being labeled.
“White Cloud City.” Ye Futian looked at one of the cities in the eastern region. He had heard that name before, from the people of the Nantian House.
“White Cloud City is very far from here, the White Cloud City Lord is a legendary figure, why are you concerned with this?” Wang Yurou asked. The White Cloud City was an entity beyond her imagination.
“Looks like third brother has fierce competition.” Ye Futian sighed internally, without explaining anything to her. His gaze moved towards the eastern region and pointed at a landmark, asking, “this is the capital of the eastern region?”
“That’s right, that’s the Divine Sky City.” Wang Yurou had a look of longing in her eyes. The Divine Sky City was the land of dreams to all cultivators in the eastern region. All the strongest cultivators in the regions gathered there, as well as those with the most talent.
“Given the chance, you might be able to head there,” Wang Yurou said. With the potential that Ye Futian and his friends had displayed, there was a good chance that they could get accustomed to the distinguished city.
“Okay.” Ye Futian nodded lightly, keeping the map. At that moment, Wang Yurou said, “I agreed to one request from you just now.”
“I think so.” Ye Futian lifted his head and looked at her.
Seeing Ye Futian look at her made Wang Yurou break into a smile. The change from her usual cold and aloof demeanor showed a different kind of charm. Her smiling face held some semblance of feminine wile. She asked, “what request do you want from me?”
Ye Futian was bewildered by her change in expression and shrunk back, saying, “You’re not trying to take advantage of me … right?”
“…..” Wang Yurou saw him shrinking back and her expression froze. She cursed at him, “Why don’t you drop dead?”