The first on the Law Rank who had been expelled from the Palace was still a legend even when he was no longer in the Palace. He was unrivaled in his generation in the Barren State, and now, even the number one Noble in the Yu State had been defeated by him.
In the Sword Palace, in front of an ancient palace, a figure with only one arm sat cross-legged, looking at the ravine in front of him. By sitting here, he could overlook the entire Holy Zhi Palace.
Behind him, a girl in a red dress strolled towards him and sat down beside him. She asked gently, "What's the news from them?"
"They have temporarily driven off Zhisheng Cliffs, but the issue is not over yet. Many major factions are gathering their experts and preparing to siege the Crouching Dragon Mountain," Ye Wuchen replied.
A worrying expression appeared in Liu Chenyu's eyes. For a while, there was silence. Although they were worried, they were unable to interfere with the elites' battles. Even those who were in the lower ranks of the Barren Sky Ranking did not have the right to participate in this unrest.
"Zhan Xiao and Qin Zhong are now in our Holy Zhi Palace. The Zhisheng Cliffs are not intending to let them continue battling. If anyone can resolve this issue, it can only be the Holy Zhi Palace," Ye Wuchen said slowly. However, he did not have much hope. The Palace's stand back then in the White Cloud City was already clear enough. It was already a blessing for them to not be dealing with Ye Futian, not to mention help him. However, if the Palace didn't step in, who could resolve this turmoil?
The Zhisheng Cliffs would not leave without Gu Dongliu, but Zhuge Qingfeng would not hand him over. Ye Futian would not allow it either, so they would definitely continue fighting.
"It'll be fine." Liu Chenyu replied softly. She did not know what to do either. Perhaps, she was just comforting herself.
Ye Wuchen did not say anything. He also hoped that everything would end.
It was not easy for them to reach this stage.
The days passed, but the unrest in the Barren State did not end.
The Sword Saint Villa, Emperor Family, Nantian House, and many other factions' experts gathered in Xuanwu City. However, at this time, You Chi suddenly gave an order for the Emperor Family to return to Alchemy City, claiming that Alchemy City's factions would not participate in the siege of the Zhuge Family. Moreover, he had given the order as the City Lord of Alchemy City and was extremely authoritative.
This was also You Chi's first time having such a bossy attitude towards the Emperor Family. Many years ago, the two families' ancestors had created Alchemy City together. Even if they had their own intentions now, they were still allies on the surface. However, from another perspective, the Alchemy City Lord not allowing the Emperor Family to join forces with Zhisheng Cliffs to siege the Crouching Dragon Mountain was also appropriate.
When Di Kai heard about the matter, he was furious. However, You Chi's attitude was determined and he instructed the Emperor Family's people to tell Di Kai that he was not to participate or he would have to suffer consequences.
The attitudes of the Barren State's elites had become more delicate. There were already a few elite figures who had either subtly or directly expressed their support for Crouching Dragon Mountain. They did not jump out and oppose Zhisheng Cliffs as it would be too foolish, but their actions had unknowingly affected the entire situation.
Everything was changing in the outside world but the Palace remained the same. Zhan Xiao had wanted to persuade the Palace to participate, but Zhuge Qingfeng was also from the Holy Zhi Palace. No matter what, the Palace would not directly participate in the siege of Crouching Dragon Mountain, even if they were unhappy about the marriage.
Zhan Xiao was also unhappy about this matter and he was annoyed with many of the people in the Barren State. Qin Zhong, on the other hand, stayed in the Palace to cultivate, ignoring all the conflicts that were going on.
One day, in one of the cultivation spots in the Palace, many disciples had gathered. Zhan Xiao was there as well. Today, the White Cloud City's second young master had claimed that he wanted to meet him for something. This second young master Bai Ze seemed to be intentionally getting close to him, he had been seeing a lot of him lately.
He had heard that the White Cloud City's young City Lord Bai Luli was the most outstanding person in the Barren State. Even Ye Futian was also expelled from the Holy Zhi Palace because of him. It was a pity that he missed out on meeting Bai Luli this time. Bai Luli was not in the Palace and had left to cultivate.
"Brother Zhan, do you really plan on missing this grand show?" Bai Ze said to Zhan Xiao.
"This time, the siege of Crouching Dragon Mountain will be done by all the elite archmages. With my cultivation level, I will not be able to influence the situation," Zhan Xiao looked at Bai Ze and said. He was curious about what business Bai Ze had with him.
"Then, Brother Zhan, how confident are you that they will be able to deal with the Crouching Dragon Mountain this time around?" Bai Ze asked.
"Who knows?" Zhan Xiao replied. His Uncle-Master Kong Yao was truly enraged now, but the other party had two Saint-level ritual implements with extremely strong defense, so there was still a problem. Moreover, some old fellow from Alchemy City had appeared and was opposing them.
"If the White Cloud City is willing to participate, there will naturally be no doubt about the outcome. However, your father seems to be afraid," Zhan Xiao looked at Bai Ze and said coldly.
"I hope that Brother Zhan can forgive me on this matter. Ye Futian used the people in the Bai Clan to threaten us. He is indeed despicable," Bai Ze replied coldly. "Come to think about it, what does Ye Futian have to do with Gu Dongliu snatching Brother Zhan's holy item? He keeps on participating and causing destruction, threatening the White Cloud City and inviting Yuan Hong to aid him. You Chi's attitude is likely also because of his influence. Without him, perhaps Brother Zhan could have arrested Gu Dongliu a long time ago."
A cold glint appeared in Zhan Xiao's eyes. What Bai Ze had said was really true. If it had not been for Ye Futian, the matter would have been resolved a long time ago. However, Ye Futian really had outstanding potential; even his Brother Qin Zhong had been defeated by him.
"Ye Futian is a despicable person who will resort to any and all means. If the Zhisheng Cliffs were like him, the matter would have been resolved a long time ago. It is just that Zhisheng Cliffs and Brother Zhan can't bring themselves to do it," Bai Ze continued.
"Why do you say so?" Zhan Xiao looked at Bai Ze.
"I heard that when Ye Futian left the Palace, he brought his family and friends. However, when he came out, only Yuan Hong was with him. The rest of them should still be on Taihang Mountain. Now, Taihang Mountain's strength is all congregated on Crouching Dragon Mountain. If the others all imitated what Ye Futian did, wouldn't this matter be solved easily?" Bai Ze tried to sound casual while saying it. Zhan Xiao smiled and looked at Bai Ze. This fellow was indeed despicable. However, his words made sense indeed.
He did not know how the battle on Crouching Dragon Mountain would turn out. If they returned to Zhisheng Cliffs this time and the truth was uncovered, he would very likely be punished. There needed to be a resolution to this matter.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Zhan Xiao smiled and continued. "Bai Ze, you've reminded me, when dealing with despicable people like Ye Futian, there is no need to abide by the rules."
"Brother Zhan dares to take the chance, that is worthy of respect." Bai Ze put his fists together and saluted. "Since that's the case, I'll be leaving first."
"Okay." Zhan Xiao nodded. As Bai Ze left, Zhan Xiao looked at his figure and a menacing smile appeared on his face and he said, "Let's go."
Not long after, a piece of news spread from the Palace. The Zhisheng Cliffs' Zhan Xiao had brought a group of people and left the Holy Zhi Palace.
In the Sword Palace, at Ye Wuchen's cultivation spot, Xu Que and Zui Qianchou had arrived.
Ye Wuchen saw the two of them and asked, "What's up?"
"The Palace's disciples are spreading some news. Bai Ze intentionally leaked news of Yu Sheng, Hua Jieyu, and the rest's whereabouts to Zhan Xiao. Now, Zhan Xiao has left the Palace," Xu Que said.
Ye Wuchen's expression suddenly became sharp and there was a momentous surge of killing intent. Bai Ze.
"Can we inform Ye Futian?" Ye Wuchen asked.
"The Tingxue House has a special transmission method. I will send the news as quickly as possible to Crouching Dragon Mountain. I will definitely be faster than Zhan Xiao," Xu Que said. Ye Wuchen nodded and turned around. He looked at the base of the Palace and clenched his fists, asking coldly, "Is Bai Ze still in the Palace?"
"Rumor has it that he is cultivating in the Valley of Knowledge," Xu Que replied.
The Valley of Knowledge was a secret zone for cultivation in the Palace. It could hone one's Spiritual Will energies.
Ye Wuchen's gaze looked forward, Sword Will emitting from his eyes. He then leaped forward and Sword Will turned into a sword and landed at his feet. It then tore through the air towards the direction of the Valley of Knowledge.
Xu Que and Zui Qianchou looked at each other, then moved in a flash towards the direction that Ye Wuchen had left in.
In the Valley of Knowledge, there was an extremely mysterious aura that could affect one's Spiritual Will. As such, very little people chose to cultivate there and even fewer could reach the depths of the Valley of Knowledge.
Presently, Bai Ze was cultivating there.
However, at that moment, he had a premonition and turned around. He saw a figure riding a sword towards him, landing in the area in front of him.
"Ye Wuchen." Bai Ze saw the person who had come, and a mocking expression appeared on his face. He must have come because of that issue. It was no secret and he had not intentionally concealed or prevented the news from spreading, because he did not care at all. So what if Ye Futian knew? Perhaps, it might be even more interesting that way. Would he stay on Crouching Dragon Mountain or go to Taihang Mountain?
Sword Will emanated from Ye Wuchen's body with surging killing intent. As he felt the aura, Bai Ze's mocking aura became even more imminent. He coldly said, "Ye Wuchen, it can't be that you want to duel?" Although he had been dominated by Ye Futian in the Palace, he was not scared of Ye Wuchen.
Tch... A horrifying dark Sword Qi rushed straight towards Bai Ze. In an instant, the Sword Qi in the air erupted and Ye Wuchen's body moved like a flash of lightning towards Bai Ze. A glint appeared in Bai Ze's eyes, he had not expected that Ye Wuchen would be so decisive and strike without warning. He fired his Eye of Devastation and immediately, the area turned gray, a horrifying Spiritual Will enveloping everything and the Sword Qi brushing past him.
In the gray dimension, he saw Ye Wuchen's sword slash. It was a domineering dark sword, reminiscent of the Sword Demon's Demon Sword technique. It could cause a sword's power to increase multiple-fold for a short while.
"Die!" Bai Ze roared and released his Life Spirit, pushing the power of his Eye of Devastation to its limit and crushing the sword current. However, Ye Wuchen's sword appeared to rush forward in waves and was never-ending.
"You're courting death." As Bai Ze saw Ye Wuchen getting closer to him, a giant gray hand appeared in the gray dimension and grabbed Ye Wuchen, attempting to crush his body in an instant.
As the giant gray hand swooped towards Ye Wuchen, the killing intent in Bai Ze's eyes was terrifying. However, at that moment, a silver light burst forth from Ye Wuchen's brow chakra and pierced forward like a silver sword torrent, destroying everything.
At that moment, an extremely intriguing feeling appeared in Bai Ze's head. He found it hard to estimate his distance from the sword, as though everything he saw was an illusion.
Boom. An extremely dominant Spiritual Will storm was used to resist the force. Bai Ze's pupils turned into horrifying torrents, crushing all the swords that slashed towards him. However, at that moment, Ye Wuchen's strength increased rapidly and countless Sword Qi rushed towards the Spiritual Will. At that moment, he seemed to have used up every ounce of his strength to increase the killing ability of his swords, causing a mirage to appear in Bai Ze's head. He had sunk into the sword torrent and was unable to tell the difference between reality and illusion. He could only see a destructive sword torrent crushing everything and rushing towards him. His Eye of Devastation could see a pair of Demon Sword eyes.
"Die!" Bai Ze roared and his spell scrolls glowed. The terrifying lightning energy pierced through everything and headed straight for Ye Wuchen.
Next, a destructive Sword Qi penetrated his brain and rampaged wildly. Bai Ze's expression became twisted and he raised his hand and pressed it down in Ye Wuchen's direction. However, at that moment, another figure flashed by and Bai Ze felt a cold sensation on his neck; a sword had pierced his throat!