The cultivators from Empyrean occupied the City of the Ruins, resulting in the formation of the Three Great Powers of this universe.

Unlike before, countless cultivators from Empyrean had traveled into this world and formed a legion of the Great Emperors with an Immortal Emperor level cultivator as their commander this time. They were waiting to summon their Immortal Sovereign into this world and reign over it. Then they would assimilate it as a part of Empyrean.

Following that, the Heavenly Mandate Court, Donghuang Imperial Palace, and several other forces had many battles with the cultivators of Empyrean. Meanwhile, the people of the Heavenly Palace of the Heavenly Realm did not make a move. Ji Wudao only focused on his cultivation without laying a hand on the forces of the Heavenly Mandate Court.

Sometime later, the battles among these three forces turned into a prolonged conflict that affected many people. Eventually, every cultivator in the world had caught wind of their clashes and the current situation of the world.

Five years had passed in the city of Qingzhou.

Martial arts have thrived since the beginning of the new era. The strength of the cultivators of the city of Qingzhou was nothing like before, as they had already learned a lot.

At that time, the youths in the Qingzhou Academy were casually chatting with each other.

“Ding Chen, what are you planning to cultivate in the future?” a youngster asked.

“Sword.” Ding Chen was a young man who looked to be around 15. He stared at the sky with a determined look and continued, “I want to be like the three Sword Gods who could wipe the intruders from another universe out of this world, preventing the foreign cultivators from running amok in the Nine States.

A while ago, a few powerful cultivators had tried to infiltrate the Nine States, but they were killed before successfully entering the land. Shortly after, more of them attempted to invade the Nine States when the three Sword Gods had suddenly shown up.

That day, Sword Qi had covered the entire Nine States and had annihilated every invader. From then on, countless people had wanted to cultivate the Way of the Sword all of a sudden.

On the same day, a peerless Sword Qi could be felt in the sky of the city of Qingzhou.

“I’ve heard some rumors saying that the reason the three Sword Gods had protected the Nine States had something to do with our city,” a youngster commented.

“I’ve heard the same thing as well. Gramps said that according to his ancestors, a legendary figure had been in our city a long time ago.”

“Who knows? They said it was something that had taken place 200 years ago. It could be folklore or a mere rodomontade of the elders of our city. Didn’t Mr. Hua always love to tell exaggerated stories?”

The young people were talking about something that had happened 200 years ago. Naturally, it felt like a distant past to them. None of them could believe that a legendary person was hailed from their humble city.

Existences like gods were totally out of their reach to them.

“Mr. might love to boast, but he is a fine man. He must be very handsome during his youth. You should check out Senior Sister Nianyu. It’s like she’s forever young. There are no changes in her at all after so many years. She’s still a stunning beauty.”

Countless people from the Qingzhou Academy, including the entire city of Qingzhou’s residents, were admirers of Hua Nianyu’s gorgeous countenance.

“Stop daydreaming, brats!” a girl snorted. “Ding Chen wants to pursue the Way of the Sword. What about you lots?”

“I want to head to the Heavenly Realm to join the Heavenly Imperial Palace. It’s my lifelong goal to be accepted into the world’s strongest organization as one of its cultivators. When that happens, I’ll no longer have any regrets,” someone said.

The remaining youths at the scene burst into laughter as it was the number one force in this world. According to legends, Ji Wudao slaughtered the cultivators of Empyrean when they invaded the Heavenly Realm. Furthermore, he defeated the Immortal Emperor of Empyrean and killed a few Great Emperors all by himself. Eventually, the invaders retreated to the City of the Ruins. They finally stopped him after summoning the power of their Immortal Sovereign. After that incident, they no longer dared to infiltrate the Heavenly Realm.

This was the glorious bearing and matchless grandeur of the world’s number one cultivator.

“Master!” someone shouted. Upon hearing that, all the youths stood up, looked in the same direction, and bowed at Hua Fengliu. The latter merely nodded in response and strode away.

“When did master come here?”

“I’m not sure, but I think he had been here for a while. It seemed like he was eavesdropping on our conversation.” All the youngsters were panicking because she had mentioned Senior Sister Nianyu earlier.

Hua Fengliu raised his head to stare at the sky while strolling at the Qingzhou Academy. His heart was filled with a sudden melancholy feeling.

All the people only remembered who was the strongest in the world. But who would know the one who had created it? Even if they knew, which of them would remember?

Humans were a bunch of forgetful creatures, after all.

…

There were two big lush trees beside the academy grounds.

A mellifluous sound of a zither could be heard in the background. Once the music finished playing, Hua Jieyu turned to look at the flickering leaves on the trees and whispered, “It’s been five years.”

“The changes in the Outer Realms during the past five years were rather big. Ji Wudao had returned and had been occupying the Heavenly Realm. Apart from Yu Sheng, I didn’t think anyone could stop him. Previously, the extraterrestrial cultivators from Empyrean had launched a full-scale invasion of our world. Following that, they had started a war that had involved even the Nine States. Third Senior Brother had ordered the Swordmaster of Lihen, Yaya, and Wuchen to return and protect the Nine States. He didn’t want anyone to interrupt us.”

Although Hua Jieyu seemed to be talking to herself, she believed he could hear her. She had been staying by his side all these years. By doing so, she assumed that he was still around physically.

A breeze wafted past the leaves, causing them to rustle and jiggle. The two big trees were exuding a powerful aura of vitality.

The gentle breeze blew on Hua Jieyu’s skin and fluttered her long hair. A gleam flashed across her eyes as she stared at the two trees. As the aura of vitality intensified, she could feel the presence of Ye Futian gradually grow stronger.

“I know you’ll be back, right? I’ll be right here waiting for you.” Her eyes were brimmed with tears as Hua Jieyu felt that presence. The woman had been waiting for five years, and she would continue to stay here and wait.

She did not shed tears because she could not wait any longer, but being afraid that her expectations would end up as a disappointment and that the things she had been longing for would never come to pass.

As she sat in a lotus position, Hua Jieyu lowered her head to look at the zither producing a euphonious melody. The sequence of soul-stirring notes added a hint of sorrow to the serene background.

The trees swayed ceaselessly at the sound of the zither, causing their leaves to fall all over the place while some dropped beside Hua Jieyu.

Rays of light emitted from the tree behind Hua Jieyu. In the next instant, a silhouette could be seen slowly taking shape. It did not interrupt her zither performance but listened to the music quietly with a tender look in its eyes.

Sensing something out of place, Hua Jieyu turned her head around to catch a glimpse of the scene. At once, her fingers playing the instrument came to a halt and froze there without moving an inch. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stood up and stretched her shivering hand to reach the silhouette. However, she could not touch the figure that looked incorporeal.

“Is this an illusion?” Hua Jieyu mumbled in the reflection of her fear of disappointment. Truthfully, it was impossible for an individual of her cultivation level to fall into an illusion. Still, she was afraid that her yearning for him might have caused her to hallucinate.

“No,” a disembodied and angelic voice informed Hua Jieyu. With a shaking voice, she asked, “Why can’t I touch you?”

“I had left a consciousness here back then. Now, it had transformed into my avatar,” Ye Futian explained. Stretching his hand, he tried to stroke Hua Jieyu’s long hair while looking delighted.

Now that he had shown up here, it would not be long before his eventual return.

“Okay.” Hua Jieyu nodded. Ye Futian then turned his eyes to look at the other tree beside him, only to find it transformed into a phantom that looked like Xia Qingyuan. She glanced at him with tears rolling down her cheeks without saying a word.

Although Hua Jieyu was weeping, a smile played on her face uncontrollably. With a thought, she covered the entire city of Qingzhou with the Divine Power of Colorless Realm. As a result, every divine consciousness would be prevented from peering into

the city of Qingzhou.