The Legend of Futian

Both Yang Xiao and Jiu Gongzi woke up.

Ye Futian did not console them and did not know how to go about it. The only thing that could wash away their pain was time. However, he stayed, and Yaya remained seated under the Sword Eye to train. The huge sword fell behind her. Boundless Sword Will emanating from the Sword Eye coursed through her body, seemingly cleansing her.

Ye Futian came behind the huge sword and took to the air. He put his hand on the sword and closed his eyes, beginning to sense one sword matrix after another.

The sword was capable of shamanic arts.

“Wuchen, Xu Que, this place is very suitable for you swordsmen to train in. Get a good feel of the place. That big sword will help you further your progress in the art of the sword.” Ye Futian then added, “Other than that, this space is one of rules. Everyone will benefit from training through sensing the powers all over the place.”

As speculated by everyone from the sacred grounds, the place was definitely a sacred place for training. Yaya had entered a mystical state, and there was no need for him to be in a hurry to leave. He wanted to stay behind and see what would happen to Yaya.

He had some speculations about things himself, and he thought his speculations to be correct. But from the looks of things at the moment, he was not completely right about things.

He might have actually been wrong.

Things were more complicated than he had anticipated. The words the Village Chief said to him remained seeming to be half-truths.

Everyone present nodded. After experiencing the ordeals in the Nine State Forum and everything in the Nether Sword Mound, everyone had developed a deep comprehension of things. Even those who had not broken into the Sage Plane were only a step away from doing so.

What a cultivator experienced during battle, as well as in life and death situations, served to further their comprehension in a lot of things. That was why pilgrimages were an essential part of every cultivator’s training.

Ye Futian turned to look at the direction outside the Sword Mound. The Chess Saint’s death seemed to have marked the end to their ordeal.

But has everything about this truly ended?

No, it can’t be this easy. Why are the people of the other sacred grounds here?

None of the ones from the other sacred grounds got what they came for. They suffered grave losses instead. Some from the various sacred grounds remained behind after exiting the Sword Mound while others left, returning to whence they came. The Tombkeeper Village’s peace seemed to have been restored. However, such peace seemed to be the calm before a storm more than anything else.

Mighty ones from Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty came to Tombkeeper Village a month later. Furthermore, the entourage this time was far larger than the last.

The Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty had mobilized an elite Golden Phoenix Army and had the village surrounded. At the same time, elegant phoenix carriages descended above Xihua Sacred Mountain of Huatian City of the Eastern State. Some mighty ones of the Xihua Sacred Mountain attempted to stop them, but they were unable to help but make way, seeing who was on the vehicle, letting the carriage into the mountain.

Saint Xihua and the Rain Saint were playing chess within the mountain. The carriage was seen descending from above, and the Zhou Sacred King stepped out. His eyes were sharp and his bearing stern and magnificent. He glanced at Saint Xihua with cold eyes and said, “I take it that you knew what Liu Zong did before the fact, Saint Xihua.”

The Rain Saint stood up and yielded his seat to the Sacred King. Saint Xihua said to the Zhou Sacred King, “Have a seat, Sacred King.”

The Sacred King’s eyes shone with golden flashes as he glared at Saint Xihua before taking the seat across him.

“Sacred king, sacrifices are inevitable to accomplish great things. The Chess Saint was trapped in the matrix, and he was the one who knew the Nether Sword Mound best. Rescuing the Chess Saint would have made him owe his life to us. Furthermore, the Chess Saint had promised certain things as well. That, coupled with the Nether Sword Mound that he would have gotten, would have made the Sky Saint and the Glass Saint irrelevant in the Eastern State.” Saint Xihua added further, “I take it that you intend to restore the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty to its former glory, no?”

“You have deceived me, Saint. Are you saying that you do not have any personal agendas with this matter?” The Sacred King said coldly.

“I promised, here in the Sacred Mountain, back then that Liu Zong would become your son-in-law. With you of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty working with me, we would build a stronger Eastern State. Other than not having told you about the sacrifices that might have incurred, what else do you think I would not tell you?” Saint Xihua then added, “It was a pity that the operation ended in failure. I’m sure you know what happened in the Nether Sword Mound. The place is truly a sacred ground for training, and there is the Sword Matrix of the Void in it. Liu Zong’s plans would have succeeded, but it was ruined when things were going well.”

The Great Zhou Sacred King’s expression turned sharp. He knew that Ye Futian had activated the Sword Matrix of the Void, killing the Chess Saint inside the Sword Mound, almost killing everyone from the Nine States in it as well.

The people of the Barren State had first showed their mettle in the Nine State Forum, and then they went on to take control of the Nether Sword Mound. It was truly an ironic turn of events.

The Barren State, which was almost forgotten, accomplished what the ones from the Eastern State set out to accomplish but failed.

The Sacred King did not speak, but the cold emanating from his body said everything.

“I know that you want to keep this under wraps and that the Golden Phoenix Army consisted of the royalty of the Sacred Dynasty. But we from the Xihua Sacred Mountain suffered losses as well, and they too were formidable and important people. But then again, Liu Zong knew what he was doing nonetheless.” Saint Xihua continued, “If you think that you’re getting the short end of the deal in this, how about you take care of this from here on out, Sacred King?”

The Sacred King glanced at Saint Xihua and said, “Alright.” He took to the sky and returned to his carriage as soon as he finished. He then left without delay.

Saint Xihua smiled as he watched the Sacred King leave. The Sacred King is still the sacred king I know. He never really changed at all.

“The Sacred King seems to like to throw his weight around,” the Rain Saint at the side said.

“It’s normal. We didn’t tell him everything, after all, so it’s only natural for him to find it hard to trust me,” Saint Xihua said.

“You’d really have the Sacred King take care of things from here on out?” the Rain Saint asked.

“I keep having the feeling that the Chief of that Tombkeeper Village is not someone to be trifled with.” Saint Xihua said, “Have both of the sword saints serving beneath the Sword Saint of the Void died?”

The Rain Saint’s eyes sparkled.

Saint Xihua then added, “We’ll see. From the way the Sacred King goes about things, the Village won’t be able to hide whatever secrets they have from him.”

…

More and more people came to Tombkeeper Village. The Sword Matrix of the Void reemerged in the world, and many major sacred grounds sent people to the remote place, which also happened to lie at the borders of four different states.

The village had never seen such a huge crowd. Many were worried. Things really turned out to be as the Village Chief said—Tombkeeper Village was truly at its life or death moment.

Several months passed since the Chess Saint perished, and many from sacred grounds of all Nine States were exasperated. The Saint had died a truly unceremonious death.

At the moment, the entrance to the Nether Sword Mound had been taken over by people from various sacred grounds, yet none dared to venture into the Sword Mound itself. What happened several months ago became common knowledge. Almost everyone died within. The Sword Matrix of the Void had been activated, and the survivors were only able to make it out within the brief window when the matrix dissipated, after appearing for a brief moment. However, many were still almost killed by the aftershock of the terrifying matrix.

A brilliant, dazzling phoenix carriage descended from the sky on that day. One figure after another took to the skies. All of them wore glittering golden phoenix robes and greeted the one who came from the sky.

“All hail the sacred king.” Solemn voices were heard above Tombkeeper Village, which made the people of the Village tremble.

A saint had descended upon the Tombkeeper Village.

The Sacred King walked out from the carriage and scanned the ground below. Many from other sacred grounds cupped their hands and greeted, “Greetings, Sacred King.”

It was common for people of sacred grounds to greet a saint, even if said saint was not of their own.

The Sacred King nodded and shrouded the village with his will. He then turned his eyes in a particular direction. He took one step forward and disappeared in a beam of golden light from where he was standing. The carriage moved towards the direction the beam disappeared, following the Sacred King.

Many stood outside the compound where the Village Chief lived.

A beam flashed and the Sacred King descended, appearing above where the old Village Chief was. The Sacred King cast his gaze at the chief.

“I did not expect to be graced with your presence, Sacred King,” the old Chief said as he looked at the Sacred King, but his tone lacked respect despite his words.

The eyes of the Sacred King glittered with golden, sharp flashes, seeming about to penetrate everything. An extremely terrifying power fell onto the old Chief, who frowned but showed little changes in his expression otherwise. He stared at the Sacred King and asked, “What would you mean by this, Sacred King?”

“You are indeed something,” the sacred king said coldly. He dropped from the sky and came to stand before the old chief and asked, “Who’s that brat? And what’s with that sword?”

“If you want to know, you’d only need to venture inside the Nether Sword Mound. I’ve never been inside, so I’d never know,” the Chief said plainly.

“I’ve heard that there were two formidable servants of the sword serving the Sword Saint of the Void all those years ago, and both of them were saints themselves. Where would they be now?” The sacred king continued to ask, “Would they be right before me, or would they be within the Sword Mound?”

The old Chief stared at the Sacred King with sharp eyes. That’s really the Sacred King of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty indeed. A holier-than-thou lord of a sacred dynasty, ruling vast territories and demanding worship from all living beings.

“Do you think everything will be fine if you say nothing and they keep themselves inside?” The Sacred King added coldly, “There were many from the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty who died in the Nether Sword Mound.”

“But what does that have to do with Tombkeeper Village?” the Village Chief asked.

“It has something to do with that brat, and that sword as well,” the Sacred King answered coldly. He then turned around to look at those who came from the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and said coldly, “You’ve all been here for many days. What have you all done?”

“My King, we’ve looked through everyone in the village. Many are formidable people but the Village Chief remains an unknown. No one knew anything about his training. The parents of that brat are common people, knowing little of cultivation,” someone from the side bowed and said.

“Are they taken?” the sacred king asked.

“It can be done anytime,” the one at the side bowed and answered.

“Could you have them come out on their own?” the sacred king asked the old Chief coldly.

“The magnificent Great Zhou Sacred King would threaten the younger generations of others with the lives of common folk then?” The old Chief glared at the sacred king coldly.

“Threaten?” The Sacred King glared at the old chief with extremely sharp eyes and added, “I, the Great Zhou Sacred King, will need to resort to threats with you people?

“Kill them.” A cold shout reverberated throughout the surroundings with incredible killing intent, horrifying all of the villagers and making their hearts jump.

“Indeed, Sacred King,” s reply came from afar, and shrieks were heard from elsewhere.

The Village Chief’s expression turned extremely cold as he glared at the figure before him.

The people from various sacred grounds trembled. The sovereign of the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty was indeed a brutal, overbearing one.

“I’ll ask you one more time, are they coming out or not?” the Great Zhou Sacred King glared at the old chief and asked.