The Legend of Futian

When Ye Futian observed the Nine Heavenly Strikes all those years ago, he witnessed how attacks were made with the staff techniques. While he was unable to fathom the intricacies within back then, he had committed what he saw to memory.

The moves had continuously gotten more powerful throughout the years through his training.

At present, the seventh move of the Nine Heavenly Strikes was melded with the great path, crashing down with immense power.

Despite being only a Saint of True Self, being melded with the great path at the moment meant that his attack would not have been any weaker than those of Unblemished Saints. With starry power and the way of Entropy incorporated within his staff techniques, the damage dealt in an instant was nothing short of frightening.

The monster of Yingzhao Mountain had clearly underestimated Ye Futian’s powers. But then again, his plane and powers were laid bare for all to see, and few demonic beasts in the vast demonic realm were able to ignore the level difference and defeat him.

There were few in Heavenly Mandate Realm, including the human cultivators, who would be capable of pulling off that feat.

As such, he never committed too much attention to a battle that he thought would be brief and have left little to the imagination. That, in turn, made it so that he was caught completely off-guard at the moment.

Its body sustained extreme pressures and might of the great path of space. Rumbling formless methods of the great path fallen onto it before the attack even reached it, seemingly about to break through and ultimately squash its body.

Terrifying, devastating might burst from his body, turning into a bolt of lightning and bursting through the binding of the great path, trying to leave the battlefield momentarily to evade the attack from the staff.

However, the attack landed all the same. He knew that there was no escaping it. The greyish-silver spears around him turned into a vortex, sweeping out in all directions to destroy all other powers.

Boom…

Their surroundings rumbled, and a towering wave appeared in the sky, sweeping out in all directions. The ones watching from the ground were able to feel just how devastatingly shocking that strike in the sky had been.

Their surroundings seemed to have been frozen over altogether. At that moment, a figure burst through and spat up blood from its mouth, and it was none other than that monster of Yingzhao Mountain.

Ye Futian’s body followed, and he brought the staff down as he moved, but the strike was halted before it hit the monster.

Boom. The monster steadied itself and saw that staff above his head, as well as the one holding the staff. The look in his eyes was utterly pathetic.

“You lost.”

Ye Futian spoke, but his mind was rather rattled nonetheless. The monster had taken one such ferocious beating, and yet its injuries were limited. It was a testament to how overwhelmingly powerful that monster had been.

If the monster had gone all out right from the beginning and gave him no chance, there was no telling if he would have won.

Regardless, he had achieved his goal. He managed to provoke the other party to gamble with him, and he won that gamble.

If the other party insisted on taking the bone, then there was nothing he could have done. In the demon realm, Yingzhao Mountain was still at the very top in terms of power. If the other party were truly out to lean on him, then he would have had no choice but to hand over the bone.

Countless eyes remained frozen below, and hearts were racing.

That human cultivator had won the gamble using such terrifying attacks, which were so overwhelming that they had subdued and beaten that monster.

The mighty ones from the Celestial Fox Palace were extremely shocked. The monster was a legendary figure in Yingzhao Mountain and was a demonic saint at the Unblemished Saint level, after all.

That one defeat made Ye Futian famous all over the demon realm.

While it was indeed true that Ye Futian had been playing tricks, it was extremely frightening right from the start, causing his opponent to underestimate him and ultimately allowing him to finish the fight using the fastest and most powerful attacks.

One way or another, it was still a testament to his formidable powers.

One way or another, it was his victory and the monster’s defeat.

The people of Demon Metropolis would know soon enough that the royal grandchild of Yingzhao Mountain lost to a human cultivator.

That monster’s expression looked utterly glum, and the air was unusually silent. He did not respond to Ye Futian.

It was true that he had indeed lost to Ye Futian. It lost because he underestimated his enemy. That human cultivator had been frighteningly powerful.

Furthermore, he had decided to have that piece of bone to serve as a wager, gambling with Ye Futian.

That was because the monster never thought that he would have lost.

He knew just how important that bone was, and it wondered if he would have been able to let it go just because he lost the gamble.

Despite his status, it would still be difficult for him to return to Yingzhao Mountain without the prize.

The air appeared rather strange at that moment. Everyone looked at the monster and Ye Futian.

Zhu Zhao looked at both of them as well. His heart was racing. He had not expected Ye Futian’s staff techniques to be that frightening. When the sixth and seventh moves were executed successively, the force was so great that they looked as if they were capable of killing gods.

He wondered if Yingzhao Mountain would have still clung to the bone.

“You are clever.” A voice was heard at that moment. A demon emperor in the air looked at Ye Futian and said, “Of course, you are powerful too. Since you’ve won the gamble, we at Yingzhao Mountain see no reason to get in your way. The bone is of great value to us at Yingzhao Mountain. Name your price, and we shall exchange for it with something you deem to be of equivalent value.”

The third generation leading figure of theirs lost in the gamble, and it was not in their place to just take the prize by force. That demon emperor would have lost face otherwise, and it would have reflected badly on Yingzhao Mountain as well.

They were truly unable to give the bone up. They were there with a mission, and they needed to get their hands on the bone.

As such, the demon emperor proposed a barter.

By doing so, both parties would be able to settle it peacefully.

Ye Futian would know what to do, no?

The demon emperor was already letting him name whatever price he dared to name, after all.

Of course, without knowing the value of the bone, a human saint would not have been able to ask for something out-of-this-world, regardless of how brutal said human saint might have been. There was no way the price would have exceeded the value of the bone.

Everyone nodded deep down upon hearing what the demon emperor said. That was truly the best way to solve the matter at hand.

A fair trade would have allowed that human cultivator to earn a great deal.

The ones at Yingzhao Mountain would have been able to take the bone away, making it a win-win situation.

Ye Futian looked up at the demon emperor in the air and asked, “Do I have a choice?”

He won the gamble, and the other party was still reluctant to let the bone go. One could have only imagined just how important that bone had been for them.

Ye Futian simply asked if he had a choice in the matter.

The importance of the object held by Yingzhao Mountain was such that there was no way they would have exchanged it for something of equal value. That so-called barter was only a trick played, thinking that he knew little of the value of the piece and would not dare to name a price. It was just so that he was able to hand the bone over without looking bad doing so.

Everyone was speechless upon hearing what Ye Futian just said, thinking that he was stubborn.

The demon emperor made it clear that he would not let go of the bone. So long as Ye Futian was willing to agree to it, both parties would be able to settle things without looking too bad on both sides.

What Ye Futian said right there and then was indeed a way of forcing Yingzhao Mountain’s hand instead.

Everyone wondered if the demon emperor would answer yes or no to the question.

“As the supreme force in the demon realm, Yingzhao Mountain will not bully a member of the younger generation like you, and they will definitely not renege on a promise. Since the royal grandchild of Yingzhao Mountain lost, you’re indeed free to choose.” A voice was heard before the demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain, telling him to choose anything.

Many turned around and looked at the sky. Several figures descended right away as if they had just shown up out of nowhere.

The commotion was high, as four demon emperors appeared at the same time.

The demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain looked at the demon emperors, who just showed up, and frowned, feeling that the operation would fail for the time being.

A mighty one from the Celestial Fox Palace emerged as well, who, too, was a demon emperor. That mighty one then said with a brimming voice, “All four emperors of Celestial Demon City are here. This is quite a scene for us today at Celestial Fox Palace indeed.”

“Father.”

“Father.”

Zhu Zhao, Lei Meng, and Taotie all called. The ones who came were none other than the four demon emperors of Celestial Demon City.

The one who took the lead was of superior bearing and resembled Zhu Zhao somewhat. That was Zhu Yan, the Demon Emperor.

While the demon emperor emitted no aura, the bearing of an overlord was unmistakable. The demon emperor looked unshakable, simply standing around and doing nothing.

“What do you think?” Zhu Yan then looked at the demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain and asked.

The demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain looked up and glared at Zhu Yan.

Ye Futian beat the monster, and it was already a deal. With Zhu Yan showing up like that, there was little else the demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain was able to say to it.

If Zhu Yan were to be caught in that affair as well, things would have turned very troublesome.

“Since the prince of Yingzhao Mountain made that promise, we would, of course, see fit to honor it. However, after we report back, there is still no telling how Yingzhao Mountain would handle the matter,” the demon emperor of Yingzhao Mountain said in reply while looking at Ye Futian.

Even if Zhu Yan were to emerge to vouch for him, there was still no way he could have just walked away with the bone.

“No matter. Just head back and report,” Zhu Yan said plainly, and then walked to Zhu Zhao’s side while looking at Ye Futian.

“Greetings, seniors.”

Ye Futian bowed slightly.

“Yeah.” Zhu Yan nodded and then looked at Ye Futian, saying, “I’m rather interested in the bone as well. Would you mind lending me the bone for research for a period of time? I would like to know what kind of bone it is.”

Everyone turned to look at Zhu Yan as soon as that demon emperor talked.

What is Zhu Yan the Demon Emperor getting at here?

Is that demon emperor trying to get his hands on it, or is it that he is trying to shake Ye Futian free of the trouble at hand?

“There would naturally be no problem if you want to take a look at it.” Ye Futian nodded without hesitation, handing the bone to Zhu Yan on the spot.

Zhu Yan looked at Ye Futian with a rather baffled look. He never expected that Ye Futian would be so decisive, and there was not a hint of hesitation seen when Ye Futian handed the bone over.

Yingzhao Mountain had been so hard on him, and he still refused to hand it over. Now that Ye Futian was so quick to hand the bone over, Zhu Yan wondered if Ye Futian had ever been worried that he would have simply taken the bone away.

That demon emperor smiled and took the bone, putting it away, thinking that not only was that young man superbly talented, but his intellect was just as astute.

In truth, Ye Futian was very clear on what kind of a situation he had gotten himself into. Zhu Yan’s objective aside, the situation at the moment was such that he would either need to exchange the bone with Yingzhao Mountain or take a leap of faith on Zhu Yan’s word and hand the bone to the demon emperor.

He might have ended up getting nothing in the end, but there was also the possibility that Zhu Yan was truly out to help him. At such times, he deemed it unwise to look hesitant.

One way or another, there was no way he could have kept the bone to himself.

Regardless of what Zhu Yan was up to, the demon emperor had helped him out of the predicament.

The ones from Yingzhao Mountain aside, judging from what they pulled, he wondered just how many mighty ones throughout Demon Metropolis would eye that bone.

“If that is the case, I shall keep it safe in your stead for the time being.” Zhu Yan smiled, and the mighty ones from Yingzhao Mountain turned glum upon seeing what happened.

While it would have been easy to take that bone from Ye Futian, the difficultly would increase if they were to take it from Zhu Yan—the overlord demon emperor of Celestial Demon City. It was not something that could have been settled just by fielding several demon emperors to the task.