The Legend of Futian

Ye Futian had paid visits to the Herb Garden for seven consecutive days, and he had doors shut in his face every single day. Great Teacher Xu remained reluctant to see them.

Yuan Hong and the others were very irked about the treatment, so much so that they wanted to trespass into the garden and look for Saint Jiang themselves. However, Ye Futian stopped them from doing so. While their level of training would have permitted them to simply shout outside, which would have made them heard throughout the entire garden, if Saint Jiang was truly training in isolation, such an act of extreme rudeness would have cost them their hope of saving his teacher. That was not something Ye Futian wanted to see. He was very displeased as well, but there was little he was able to do about it.

Yu Sheng spent those seven days training in the Nine State College. There were moments where people wanted to spar with him, and he beat every single person who came up to him without mercy. The number of people asking for fights dwindled, and those who were of levels far above him were reluctant to make a move as it would have simply been an act of bullying. The people of the Holy Zhi Palace were guests. They had no one else to blame but themselves for challenging others and losing.

Yu Sheng’s temper was considered very well known throughout the College by then.

Liu Zong, Zhou Ya, and the others were training at the Nine State College as well. They would occasionally listen to lectures from mighty ones, as those who were qualified to do so were all of the archmage level and above. Some were even at the pinnacle of the Sage Plane.

There was still quite a lot of talk regarding Ye Futian. He overwhelmed all students he came to face as soon as he entered the College. Even a disciple of the divine path ended up defeated by him, showing his incredibly forceful side and his immense bearing as a Palace Lord. As such, many came to be surprised at how he spent seven consecutive days visiting the Herb Garden. He was still a Palace Lord of a holy land and was renowned throughout the Nine States. It was surely very frustrating for him to keep getting the door shut in his face for seven days straight.

If it had been someone else, they would have long lost their patience, but Ye Futian was doing all he was able to for the sake of his teacher.

Many were speculating if Ye Futian would be able to continue doing so.

That Great Teacher Xu was not giving him any face.

However, that was deemed normal. The Great Teacher of the Herb Garden hardly concerned himself with anyone but his sister-in-training. He was known to be extremely cold. Even with all disciples of the divine path in the Nine State College considered, he was probably deemed the most apathetic among all of them.

Other than visiting the Herb Garden, Ye Futian spent his days training in the palace. There were times where some students of the college came to visit him due to his fame, asking for guidance. He too welcomed all who sought guidance from him and sparred with them if they wished. If someone asked about his thoughts, he openly shared his experiences and thoughts about training as well.

Many students in the College gradually came to respect Ye Futian, and the number of visitors gradually grew.

Many speculated that Ye Futian would not pay the Herb Garden another visit after seven consecutive days of getting the door shut in his face; however, Ye Futian showed up punctually on the eighth day nonetheless. Even Jiang Chuan grew rather exasperated and reluctant to refuse Ye Futian anymore.

However, the Great Teacher simply told Jiang Chuan to stop informing him when Ye Futian showed. He was told to just refuse the Palace Lord outright instead.

It became apparent that the saying “faith will move mountains” was little more than a lie. Ye Futian’s consecutive visits did nothing to move the Great Teacher in any way.

Ye Futian seemed to know nothing about that. He showed up at the Herb Garden every day and then left, as if he was completing some kind of task. There were many students in the College who advised him to give up, yet Ye Futian replied with little more than a faint smile.

Time passed and Ye Futian had been at the Nine State College for almost a month. All the students of the College knew what Ye Futian had been doing all that while. There were many who came to remind him about things, and those reminders proved rather useful.

The palace that Ye Futian took up residence in was filled to the brim that day. Many cultivators from the College were found there, all different levels of training. Sages, magi, even people from the Noble Plane.

Many, even those at the level of magi, came to be impressed by Ye Futian’s thoughts about training. The more they came to know him, the more they came to understand his charisma.

Other than that, Ye Futian was very adept at playing the guqin, and both his tune and his playing were pleasing to the ear and the eye. Few were capable of matching his abilities with a guqin, even when those who were training in the Music Palace of the College were taken into consideration.

At that moment, a tune was heard from the palace. Ye Futian was sitting at a master’s position on the floor in the compound of the palace. He wore a simple robe and his long fingers plucked and danced on the strings. The music was surreal as it danced in the minds of those within earshot.

The tune he played seemed to be imbued with a tinge of peculiar colors, which made him look exceptionally handsome. It was a sight that enamored many girls who watched and heard him play, especially those who were versed in and liked music.

Lin Xi was one of the students training in the Music Palace of the college. His proficiency in the art was impeccable. She was born in a family of musicians in Nine State City. As such, she was naturally able to sense the strong determination imbued with Ye Futian’s tunes. He had usually only been playing simple tunes, but his music nonetheless touched the hearts of those who heard. If he were to play famous tunes, it would have resonated immensely with his audience.

One was able to tell what the person who played the guqin was like through the tunes they played. Lin Xi was able to tell from Ye Futian’s tunes that he was extremely confident, even proud, yet this person had been paying visits to the Herb Garden for a month but getting doors shut in his face every day. It was a testament that he held his relationships close to his heart and that he had an immensely stubborn side to him.

He probably would not rest until he was able to see Saint Jiang.

The music stopped and Ye Futian looked up and smiled faintly, which made his face look even more radiant than it usually was.

“I’ve heard that you are very adept at the Ukiyo Song, which is one of the top ten renowned tunes in existance, Palace Lord Ye. Why do you only play common tunes?” Lin Xi asked in a gentle voice.

“Music requires the right state of mind to be played in order to achieve perfection in its delivery. The Ukiyo Song is ill-suited for the moment,” Ye Futian smiled and answered.

“Your illustration was a powerful one. How do you practice playing the guqin usually?” Lin Xi asked again.

“If I can find the time, I’ll play every day. Instead of treating the sessions as deliberate practices, I’m simply melding what I feel at the moment in the tunes I play. The spiritual energy resonates with the tune and with that, my skills improve and playing the songs is a pleasure. It also serves as part of my training,” he answered.

Lin Xi nodded and said, “It seems that I havn’t been doing it right in the past since I was merely steeped in the notion of practice. Thank you for your guidance, Palace Lord Ye.”

“That can hardly be considered as guidance. I was simply sharing my thoughts. What I said about music, the same goes with training in general,” Ye Futian smiled and added.

Someone smiled and said, “Lin Xi’s tunes are so extremely beautiful that it would make phoenixes cry out. How about both of you play a song together? That would be lovely.”

“Please, stop teasing me,” Ye Futian smiled and said. He showed no sign of the demeanor of someone who was a palace lord of a holy land. One’s status was something that should be at the forefront or put aside depending on the situation. He was simply chatting with students of the college, and there was no need for him to make his status known at a time like that.

“Indeed. Palace Lord Ye is married after all. It would have been very lovely indeed,” someone else smiled and added.

Ye Futian glared at the one who just talked and said, “Man, it’s okay for you people to tease me, but don’t go about doing anything that will affect her reputation.”

“Alright, alright.” That person nodded and took a look at Lin Xi. She simply smiled and said, “It was all in good fun. No bother. Would you mind if I bring a friend with me tomorrow, Palace Lord Ye?”

Ye Futian looked at Lin Xi’s eyes. They were very beautiful eyes and a spark of wit was seen in them. She gazed at Ye Futian, seemingly aware of his thoughts.

“Thank you,” Ye Futian smiled and answered. Lin Xi intended to bring a friend and she asked for his permission. He, in turn, answered with “thank you,” which seemed completely out of place. However, no one present at the scene found anything weird about the exchange. They traded looks and smiled.

“It is very kind of you, Palace Lord Ye.” Lin Xi smiled and got up, then said, “If you’d excuse me.”

“Yeah.” Ye Futian nodded and saw Lin Xi off.

…

Ye Futian went to the Herb Garden, as usual, the next day, before returning to the palace. He practiced a set of martial arts movements and spent some time meditating before more and more people showed up to visit him. Those people from the day before seemed to have arrived very early. Ye Futian received his guests and found that they all seemed to be waiting for something.

“They’re here,” someone smiled and said. Everyone turned their eyes and saw two figures walking in their direction. Both figures were extremely beautiful and possessed an extraordinary aura. They were both stunning people, especially the woman on the left. Her bearing was out of this world and her face seemed to be chiseled artwork. Everything looked to be in the right place, as if she had emerged from some painting.

The woman who was right beside her was none other than Lin Xi. It was apparent that the woman was the friend that she had mentioned before.

Many stood up and cupped their hands with a smile at both of them, saying, “Pleasure to meet you, Goddess Die.”

The friend that Lin Xi had been talking about was none other than Goddess Die, the younger student of Saint Jiang. While both students spent the majority of their time training in the Herb Garden, they occasionally trained in the College as well. As such, they were familiar with a select few. Lin Xi knew Goddess Die personally and they were both good friends. This was something that someone told Ye Futian before, and they told him that Lin Xi liked music.

It was apparent that the people Ye Futian came to be acquainted with wanted to lend him a hand.

Goddess Die smiled and nodded at everyone present before turning her eyes at Ye Futian, who was right before her. He was different from what she had expected, as he was simply too young. While she had heard of him before, when she saw the face right before her to be the Palace Lord of a holy land in the Barren State, renowned throughout the Nine States, she was still somewhat taken aback.

She had expected such a legendary figure to be somewhat solemn, but from what she was seeing at the moment, he hardly looked any different from a polite, handsome scholar. The air he exuded was far from solemn; it was upright and dashing instead. Her brother in training, Xu Chehan, had been a very handsome man, yet Ye Futian seemed to be somewhat more handsome than her brother.

“Palace Lord Ye.” Goddess Die smiled and nodded. Ye Futian was, after all, a Palace Lord of a holy land. While it was true that he had a favor to ask from her, she nonetheless saw it fitting to be polite.

Ye Futian rose and smiled. “I’ve long heard of your beauty being unparalleled in all of the Nine State College, so much so that it was impossible to find anyone like you in all of Nine State City. Seeing you right before me today, I’d say you definitely live up to your reputation.”

If common folk were to shower a woman they met for the first time with praises about their beauty, it would have seemed frivolous. However, when Ye Futian said those words, he sounded natural, and there was no hint of insincerity in his delivery.

“That was too flattering, Palace Lord Ye.” Goddess Die answered gently and said, “I’m here today because Lin Xi asked me to come admire your music.”

“Please take a seat, Goddess Die,” Ye Futian extended his hand and said. Lin Xi and Goddess Die took their seats and Ye Futian sat cross-legged on the floor. His Guqin Spirit appeared and music was heard.

He knew that since Goddess Die was willing to come with Lin Xi, it meant that she agreed to help. She would not have bothered showing up otherwise.

What he had been doing for the past month had finally yielded some kind of result!