Chapter 2507: New Grudges and Old Vendettas

Ever since Ye Futian left, the Ziwei Segmentum had permanently been sealed off from the outside world. Everyone inside had been busy cultivating.

They had been doing so for more than a decade. Although they had significantly improved, they also wanted to go back out into the world.

After Ye Futian was reunited with everyone, he unlocked the seal of the Ziwei Segmentum, allowing the others to go out and investigate the current changes to the Original Realm.

However, Ye Futian did not dare to be too careless. Although it had been more than a decade, there were still many people who had their eyes on him and the Ziwei Segmentum. Those who ventured out were required to have top Renhuangs accompany them. Of course, he also knew that he did not need to be overly worried for their safety.

After all, for the various forces, their target was still him. They would not target the others.

Aside from that, Ye Futian had a certain level of self-confidence. Having cultivated Celerity, even powerful existences who survived the second stage of the Divine Tribulation of the Great Path would have a hard time capturing him.

Saint Zhenchan was not just an ordinary figure who survived the second stage of the Divine Tribulation of the Great Path. Back then, Lord Six Desires, Lord Liberty, as well as Lord Ye, all obeyed his commands. Yet, even Saint Zhenchan had not managed to capture Ye Futian as he pursued him. He had been lured by Ye Futian to the Colorless Sea and killed.

From this, Ye Futian understood that he already had means of self-preservation by relying on Celerity.

Of course, Celerity served more functions than just self-preservation!

…

The people in the Ziwei Segmentum had been stuck inside for far too long. After the seal was unlocked, they all left to see the outside world.

Ye Futian was not in a hurry to venture out. After returning, he did not rush to cultivate, instead spending time with those close to him, such as his teachers. He had not been able to see them for so many years. Now, he naturally had to make up for it.

Today, he was in a courtyard in Ziwei Imperial Palace playing chess with Qi Xuangang—his teacher and the previous imperial advisor of Dali. Ye Futian’s Elder Brother Yan Yuan and the girl Feixue were also with them. They watched quietly as the two of them played chess.

The current Ye Futian was no longer what he once was before. He was no longer the younger brother who had headed over to the Dali Dynasty to train. He now ruled over Ziwei Imperial Palace and was once the ruler of the Original Realm. Although he had yet to reveal his cultivation upon returning this time, the members of Ziwei Imperial Palace speculated that he was already invincible at the Renhuang Plane.

After all, it was already tricky for Renhuangs to contend with him more than a decade ago, let alone now that he had returned from the World of Buddhism.

Qi Xuangang looked at the chessboard, and his eyes revealed a smile as he said, “It seems that you have benefited greatly from this trip to the Western World of Buddhism.”

“How could you tell?” asked Ye Futian.

Qi Xuangang smiled as he explained, “The chessboard reflects this. Although you still have a sharpness like before, you have become steadier. You advance and retreat in an orderly fas.h.i.+on. Your disposition is different.” He seemed to have witnessed Ye Futian’s growth.

Now, the fate of the Ziwei Segmentum was tied to Ye Futian. He might also still be related to the fate of the Original Realm.

Qi Xuangang naturally knew that Ye Futian was extraordinary. He was a figure who could rewrite the history of the cultivation world. They were all witnesses to this history.

“I comprehended Buddhist scriptures on Spirit Mountain in Western Heaven for many years and had some enlightenment. It might be that I have changed slightly,” Ye Futian replied with a smile.

Qi Xuangang advised, “I heard that Buddhist doctrine is broad and profound. It is a shame that I never had the chance to come in contact with it. It is really fortunate for you to have had such an opportunity. Now, the world is in chaos, and this chaos is not just restricted to one realm. The various worlds are all facing it. You should befriend those who can be befriended. At the same time, continue to strengthen yourself and the powers you govern. Otherwise, alone, it will be difficult for you to handle everything.”

“I understand,” replied Ye Futian as he nodded his head and took this to heart. More than a decade ago, ever since he returned to the Original Realm from the Divine Prefecture, the world had been thrown into chaos.

In the past, he had even been in the midst of this storm. Now, more than a decade later, he had cut off contact with the outside world and had only made a trip to the World of Buddhism. However, the chaos of the outside world had not changed even after he left. The conflict had continued endlessly.

When they looked back at this period of time in the future, it might be that it was merely a small portion of the chaos to ensue.

At that moment, a fiery red silhouette dashed in from the outside. It was a divine phoenix that landed in the courtyard. It was Zi Feng. After they met each other on Eastern Deity Island, she had always been following Ye Futian.

Now, aside from the various demon clans that followed Ye Futian, he also had a few demonic beasts that followed him personally, such as Little Condor, Zi Feng, and Mo Yunzi.

When Ye Futian saw Zi Feng appear, he suddenly felt emotional. Now, his cultivation was already at the peak of the Renhuang Plane, and he had even survived a Divine Tribulation of the Great Path. From the looks of it, he needed to pick back up the alchemy techniques that he had inherited from Supreme Deity Donglai on Eastern Deity Island.

If he concocted pills now, he would certainly be able to concoct the most powerful imperial level elixir. It was just like his teacher Qi Xuangang had said: it was not enough for him to improve alone. In this chaotic world, with the Ziwei Segmentum as his base, if he wanted to vie for power over the Original Realm, he needed to raise the power levels of the members in the entire Ziwei Segmentum.

In order to do so, alchemy would play a critical role. However, to concoct the highest level pills, they needed the prescriptions as well as extremely precious medicinal materials. All of these needed to be gathered.

Although the memories of Supreme Deity Donglai contained many precious prescriptions, for Ye Futian at his current cultivation level, they were no longer powerful enough.

“Mister Qi,” greeted Zi Feng as she bowed towards Qi Xuangang. Although her cultivation was far superior to Qi Xuangang’s, she still was exceptionally polite to him. After all, he was Ye Futian’s teacher.

Ye Futian’s teachers did not have high cultivation. However, in the Ziwei Segmentum, they all held high positions. No one dared not to respect them. This was naturally due to Ye Futian’s ability and influence. Of course, this was also because he was very respectful to his teachers. If he did not show them respect, others would naturally follow suit.

Qi Xuangang nodded as he returned the gesture.

“Zi Feng, what news do you have of the outside world?” asked Ye Futian.

“From the news we have received from the outside, the various worlds have opened pa.s.sageways to the Original Realm,” Zi Feng reported. “These past few years, cultivators from the various worlds have been pouring into the Original Realm, causing the number of cultivators there to grow exponentially. The various worlds also have many strongholds. Currently, the Original Realm has become a gathering place for the cultivators of the various worlds. Besides that, many relics have emerged. There are even ancient ruined realms floating in the void, and some of them have Emperor’s relics. All of them have been explored. In many places, cities and even whole continents have been established.”

“That means to say that there have been many more realms appearing in the Original Realm over the years?” asked Ye Futian. In the past, the Original Realm had Nine Supreme Regions and was called the 3,000 Realms of the Great Path.

However, with the changes to the Original Realm, many unknown lands had emerged and were gradually being explored, becoming new realms.

“Hmm,” replied Zi Feng as she nodded her head. “It is not just that. The top forces of the various worlds have directly established realms in order to develop strongholds and allow more cultivators from their worlds into the Original Realm. They are all frenziedly developing their own powers.”

“From the looks of it, the Original Realm is once again becoming the center region of the various worlds,” lamented Qi Xuangang.

Ye Futian nodded and said, “Countless years ago, legend has it that the Original Realm was once the only world. After the collapse of the Heavenly Path and countless eons of changes, our current situation was established. However, it seems that the Original Realm contains infinite mysteries. These mysteries have surfaced over the years. Hence, the various worlds have all gathered in the Original Realm and have constantly competed. It is indeed akin to the center of the universe.”

“This chaotic world is both a catastrophe and a fateful encounter. This will certainly be a grand era,” added Qi Xuangang. “The Devil Emperor ended the chaos in the Devil World whereas Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing ended the chaos in the Divine Prefecture. Now that the chaos in the Original Realm has spread across the various worlds, who will be the one to determine the rise and fall of each world?”

Ye Futian nodded his head. At that moment, he frowned slightly. He heard something.

“What is it?” Qi Xuangang asked when he saw Ye Futian’s expression change.

“There are some things that I need to settle. Teacher, I will head back first,” Ye Futian said as he got up.

“Go ahead,” replied Qi Xuangang as he nodded his head. Now, Ye Futian was the ruler of the Ziwei Segmentum. He needed to oversee everything around here. Qi Xuangang naturally understood this.

Ye Futian’s figure immediately disappeared without any fluctuations of aura as he sat there. When Qi Xuangang and Yan Yuan witnessed this scene, they were stunned. From the looks of it, after returning this time, Ye Futian was even stronger than they had imagined.

However, no one knew the exact extent of his powers yet.

Ye Futian directly appeared in one of the squares of Ziwei Imperial Palace. Quite a number of people were here. A few of them were injured.

These cultivators were one of few groups who left the Ziwei Segmentum. They were mostly cultivators from the Original Realm, including Xiao Dingtian and Xiao Muyu from the Xiao clan, Dou Zhao, and the clan lord of the Dou tribe. All of them were actually injured.

“What happened?” asked Ye Futian.

“We were ambushed,” responded Xiao Dingtian.

“B*stards!” cursed Dou Zhao, who had a short temper. “They were cultivators from the Donghua Domain Chief’s Manor. The leader was Ning Hua. He knew that we emerged from the Ziwei Segmentum. He actually planned to kill us all, not giving us any chance of survival.”

“Ning Hua!” A cold look flashed in Ye Futian’s eyes.

So it was Ning Hua—the vice chief of the Donghua Domain Chief’s Manor.

Back when Ye Futian was in the Donghua Domain, Ning Hua hunted him relentlessly. Zong Chan, the disciple of the Millet Emperor, had been killed by him too.

Ye Futian had always kept this vendetta at heart. Now, Ning Hua actually attacked his alliance again after knowing that they left the Ziwei Segmentum.

Xiao Dingtian continued, “Ning Hua is a ninth-tier Renhuang now. His Great Path is flawless, and he is proficient in the Grand Seal Great Path. He is strong. It was difficult for us to withstand his attack even with our combined powers. Fortunately, we received help from Mister Tie, so we were barely able to escape.” As he said this, he revealed a look of grat.i.tude towards Blind Tie.

Ye Futian was well aware that Ning Hua was very powerful. Since a long time ago, Ning Hua was crowned the strongest Proud Son of Heaven of the Donghua Domain. There were four famous young cultivators in total. However, Ning Hua stood head and shoulders above the other three youths. He was exceptionally capable and was ranked first among the four of them.

Xiao Dingtian was naturally not a match for Ning Hua, whose cultivation had reached the ninth-tier of the Renhuang Plane.

Xiao Dingtian added, “Ning Hua’s extremely arrogant. He called us vermin who could only hide in the Ziwei Segmentum. He threatened to kill us all without mercy if we dared to step out to the outside world.”

When Ye Futian heard this, his facial expression turned as cold as ice. Ning Hua always had a high opinion of himself and was extremely presumptuous. Moreover, he bore a strong animosity towards Ye Futian. Ning Hua losing to Ye Futian when they were cultivating in the starry cultivation court was one of the causes which led to Ning Hua’s hatred towards him.

However, now, things were no longer as they had been. If Ning Hua still wanted to provoke Ye Futian, then Ye Futian would settle both new grudges and old vendettas with him in one shot!