The Legend of Futian

Domain Chief’s Manor, Shangqing Domain.

Formidable ones kept showing up from all corners, and Ye Futian’s gang was actually the slowest to show up. All the other forces were at the Upper Nine Heavens, with only those from the Four Corner Continent being elsewhere. Furthermore, they didn’t head to the ancient royal family of Duan via the teleportation grand matrix. Instead, they had come with the emissary.

As such, everyone was already there when Ye Futian and his people showed up at the Domain Chief’s Manor.

In the manor, everyone present turned their eyes at Ye Futian and the group of cultivators from Four Corner Village.

What happened outside the village last year stuck in their minds; it seemed like it had happened the day before.

The impression was so intense that they came to see those from the village in a different light. Prior to that, despite the fact that those of the Four Corner Village had finally opened themselves up to the world and that the other cultivation forces saw great potential in the village, the villagers were, nonetheless, new to the world at large. Therefore, they were lacking in a lot of ways and had a lot to learn. However, that battle with the master back then cemented their reputation as being invincible. This was so much so that even those from the Domain Chief’s Manor were forced to reevaluate those from the village.

The matter of the sacred remains of Great Emperor Shenjia eventually blew over, and this was due to the effect of that one battle. The way things worked in the world of cultivation was still decided by one’s actual powers. They dared to attack the village before because they thought that the village couldn’t possibly take on the combined might of the entire Shangqing Domain.

However, no one else dared to bring up the matter with the sacred remains since the master intimidated all of them with his show of power.

The sacred remains were taken away, and there was nothing they could do about it.

The gaze from the formidable ones lingered most on Ye Futian, as it had been he who took the sacred remains away back then and had made a breakthrough by learning from them. His bearing felt rather different, and he was apparently stronger than how he had been back then.

The lineup from Four Corner Village was indeed powerful. Old Ma was there. Several high-level Renhuang, who were at perfect level-eight, were around, and Ye Futian’s gang was there as well. With the master taking charge of matters in the village, they had nothing to worry about. Anybody who dared to act against the village would need to really think things through.

At that moment, a group of people showed up. The domain chief, Zhou Muhuang, Zhou Lingxi, and the others were there. The chief didn’t bring up the matter with the sacred remains of Great Emperor Shenjia. It was as if they really had put the matter to rest; it seemed like nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Zhou Lingxi had only turned to look at Ye Futian and flashed a faint smile. “You’re here, Sir Ye.”

Ye Futian came to rather dislike the Domain Chief’s Manor by then. When the Domain Chief’s Manor tried their best to get him to train in the Domain Chief’s Manor back then, he began to question what they were up to. Everything that happened since then made him feel that those from the Domain Chief’s Manor had too strong of an agenda. This was especially true, given what Zhou Muhuang proposed back then. This could be seen both as an opportunity as well as a threat, and turning it down could spell trouble for him.

In actual fact, if those of the Domain Chief’s Manor had emerged to mediate things, with him handing over the sacred remains and those from the Domain Chief’s Manor calling it even, what had followed afterward probably wouldn’t have happened. The Domain Chief’s Manor still had enough authority and influence to be capable of that much, yet Zhou Muhuang said nothing after Ye Futian rejected his proposal.

Ye Futian didn’t begrudge those of the Domain Chief’s Manor for not helping him out, as neither of them owed one another any favors, to begin with. However, at the very least, what transpired had driven a permanent wedge in their relationship, and they could never be friends.

But then again, Ye Futian didn’t rudely ignore Zhou Lingxi when she greeted him. He simply nodded and smiled in reply.

The chief stood at the very front and scanned all of the formidable ones who showed up. The very best to be found throughout the Shangqing Domain had all gathered there. It was a given that several titans had not shown up. Also, some forces, who had two cultivators deemed to be titans, had only fielded one to lead their teams; they were interested in checking things out at the Void Realm as well.

They had only heard some rumors regarding the Void Realm so far, after all.

“The reason why I’ve gathered you all here is that we have received word from the Imperial Palace. I’ve mentioned a thing or two about what happened in the Void Realm before. In actual fact, some changes took place in the Void Realm many years ago. The Dark Court had opened a passage leading to the Void Realm, and the imperial palace reacted to it according. This led to some of the forces of the Divine Prefecture heading over there.”

The Chief continued as he addressed the crowd, “However, the Imperial Palace didn’t give any orders back then, and the commotion was manageable. Those who headed to the Void Realm back then had something to do with the Void Realm, to begin with. However, things are somewhat different now. The Imperial Palace hopes to have cultivators from the 18 domains to check things out at the Void Realm, and I’ve received some news myself that there were some great changes within the Void Realm. This is not an official conscription from the imperial palace, and no one will be forced against their will to join. The Imperial Palace might simply want all of you to go over there and have a look at things.”

Everyone listened quietly. All of them received news more or less, but such news was scarce, and they still had no idea how things actually were over at the Void Realm.

“This time, Muhuang will lead our forces from the Domain Chief’s Manor. Please take care of each other when you get there. That place is truly in a chaotic state right now. All top-notch forces from the 18 domains will see their people there, and forces not of the Divine Prefecture may be heading there as well. I hope that we of the Shangqing Domain can be more united when we’re out there,” the Chief said to the crowd. Everybody nodded in response. Given their levels and status, they didn’t need the chief to tell them more about what they were supposed to do.

“Enough from me now. We’ll talk more on our way there. Let’s depart. We can first use the great teleportation matrix to get to the Imperial Realm before heading towards the Imperial Palace,” the chief said as he took the lead.

The Divine Prefecture was ruled by Donghuang the Great, with the Imperial Palace serving as its center. All the other 17 domains spread out from there. There were countless continents found throughout the Divine Prefecture.

Under such circumstances, the Imperial Palace, naturally, needed teleportation matrixes to keep an eye on what was happening throughout the 18 domains. As such, all domains had similar matrixes that led straight to the Imperial Domain. If something were to happen, they could save time and deal with the issues as quickly as possible.

The teleportation matrix over at the Shangqing Domain was constructed inside of the Domain Chief’s Manor itself. It was a terrifyingly huge, supersized great teleportation matrix. The entire manor lit up with dazzling divine light as soon as the matrix was activated. The beams of divine light shot to the air, and a teleportation portal leading to the stars appeared in the sky.

At that moment, countless cultivators, both inside or outside the manor, looked over to the sky at that place.

The entire sky lit up as they all gazed, conjuring terrifying divine brilliance, and an ancient, sacred passage materialized.

“Let’s go, Muhuang,” the Chief said to Zhou Muhuang, who was the one to lead all the formidable ones in that expedition.

“Very well.” Zhou Muhuang nodded and took the first step, entering that supersized matrix. Their bodies were all shrouded by extremely dazzling divine light. They shot to the sky right away, entering that terrifying space passage. Shortly after, they disappeared.

One figure after another behind Zhou Muhuang disappeared. All cultivators from the city looked in the direction of the Domain Chief’s Manor when the matrix was activated. They looked at the figures up in the sky disappear as they stepped into the passage hanging in midair.

…

The Imperial Domain was the highest point of the heavens and the absolute center of the Divine Prefecture.

The Imperial Domain was different from the other domain. When they all emerged from the portal, none of them appeared on land; they were all hovering midair instead.

Dazzling beams shrouded them, and the light was utterly blinding.

Ye Futian looked around him and was quickly stunned by what was right before his eyes.

He saw the spaces beneath him had countless continents far away. Due to the continents being very far from each other, all of them looked like islands suspended in midair, yet they were very neatly aligned as they hovered in between heaven and earth. It seemed as if all of them were the same in terms of altitude.

Every single continent among the countless continents shot dazzling divine beams from them diagonally, all of which headed for the highest point in the heavens.

The beams coalesced into stairways leading to the heavens, and all of them, due to being arranged in steps, looked like literal stairways.

Ye Futian and all the others appeared in that area.

They looked up at the sky above them. At the highest point of the heavens, where the divine light from the many continents shot at, lay a city hovering in the air. That city dazzled with terrifying divine light. It looked as if it was where the gods lived.

Divine light from that city shot downwards and connected the countless continents beneath right away as if uniting them.

That scene was very, very shocking to any cultivator who came, so much so that even someone like Ye Futian was stunned by the dazzling landscape he just saw. He was able to guess what was at that highest point of the heavens.

That was the center of the Imperial Domain, where the imperial palace was found. That was the place where Donghuang the Great took up residence—the Imperial City.

Ye Futian was feeling completely rocked deep down. Despite wanting nothing more than to return to Origin Realm at the moment, it was still challenging for his mind to stay calm after his arrival.

He had finally arrived at the absolute center of the Divine Prefecture—the Imperial City. All the answers he sought would be found in that very city. The city was located at the highest point of the heavens. Be it his origins, information regarding Emperor Ye Qing, his godfather, and whatever else, everything he needed to know would be here. He might be able to find all the answers to all of those questions there.

Having trained for so long, he had almost reached higher Renhuang levels and finally came into contact with the Imperial City, which was the very core of the world.