It was a little bit quiet since there were fewer people went to battle on the Fenghua Platform.
Only the strongest were left.
They were the young Lord Ye Wuchen, Zuo Qianfan from Cangye College, and Li Yi. Other than Ye Futian's trio, Li Yi was the other dark horse. No one knew him before and he was not from this kingdom either. Among the talents from the other nations, Li Yi would be the most outstanding if Ye Futian's trio wasn't there.
His life spirit was the Sun Bird, a three-foot golden bird with the attributes of both wind and fire. He cultivated both sorcery and martial arts at the same time and his martial arts techniques were peculiar. When fighting, the fire inside him seemed to come not only from the Spiritual Qi of the world. It was more frightening than it.
At this moment, Li Yi came out and looked at Ye Wuchen. Ye Wuchen had shone so brightly on the Fenghua Platform but he still wanted to try.
Ye Wuchen landed on the platform quickly. He looked calm as usual, his body standing there like a sword. Such temperament became especially obvious when he was about to fight. It was as if the intent of the sword surrounded him.
Li Yi also reached the realization of Dharma through his life spirit. He turned into a huge golden bird. The flames could burn everything, and were far stronger than Wang Yu's.
"You still won't release the Dharma?" Li Yi asked.
"No need." Ye Wuchen was still calm, his tone full of confidence.
The illusions of golden birds pounced toward Ye Wuchen with monstrous flames. For a moment, Ye Wuchen's body was set on fire, but he stood still with sword's light swirling around in a storm. They slashed through the illusions of the golden birds.
"What strong sword intent." People felt their hearts fluttering. The sword intent around Ye Wuchen seemed to turn into a substantive sword moving around his body. It was amazing. Before the Fenghua Banquet started, Ye Wuchen had been cheered the most. Everyone took him as the strongest and Ye Wuchen didn't disappoint them.
Li Yi moved quickly toward Ye Wuchen. Ye Wuchen stepped forward only one step and the sword intent swept as if it gathered an endless amount into one sword. He was that one sword. Li Yi halted. Ye Wuchen seemed to be a real sword to him instead of a man. The flames went out. Li Yi turned and flew away.
"I was defeated." Hearing Li Yi's voice, the people felt somewhat confused. In the beginning, Li Yi chose to challenge Ye Wuchen even when knowing his mightiness. Why did he concede before the fight? They didn't understand, but for Li Yi, he knew he was defeated as soon as Ye Wuchen stepped forward. He hadn't reached the other's state, not only technically but also spiritually.
Ye Wuchen drew back his foot and returned to the air. Many eyes fell upon Zuo Qianfan who was the only one left who was considered a threat to Ye Wuchen. However, Zuo Qianfan was not going to fight. Perhaps he was not confident enough. Of course, as long as he didn't fight, no one would know who was stronger.
Ye Wuchen didn't have the desire to challenge him. He was confident enough to believe that there were no rivals on the Fenghua Banquet and there was no need to challenge anyone.
The Fenghua Platform became quiet again. It seemed that no one continued to fight. An elder of Cangye College went on the platform and said, "Anyone else? Otherwise, this is the end."
No one responded. The elder looked at the Emperor. Emperor Ye nodded slightly. The disciples from the Cangye College bowed and departed.
People all looked at those young people in the void. Ten of them would be called out by the emperor and shine brightly. There were many guesses about the ranking.
"Go up to the platform," the Emperor said, smiling. Everyone went to the stage, including Ye Futian's trio. Only Wang Yu was lifted up pathetically. The pitiful Wang Yu glared at Ye Futian. He didn't want to come since it was impossible for him to be on the list. However, this is the rule of the Fenghua Banquet. His father ordered some people to carry him to the platform.
Ye Futian didn't look at Wang Yu. Wang Yu definitely hadn't expected to have such consequences when he was fighting for Lin Yueyao.
The 15 people all appeared on the platform.
Ye Wuchen still looked calm as if he didn't care about anything while Zuo Qianfan smiled handsomely.
Lin Yueyao looked around with a complex expression. Her beautiful eyes flitted between Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. She had never thought that there could be another woman who shone brighter than her.
Yu Jiang and Bai Qiu had lost their previous arrogance because of that man on the platform—Ye Futian. Although they performed well in the later rounds, people would only remember the round with Ye Futian. The youth was too talented that they could only serve to make him look better in comparison.
Gradually, they looked up at the throne in front. The Emperor smiled at them and said, "Number ten on the Fenghua list, Lin Yueyao." The Emperor's voice made people's hearts tremble.
Lin Yueyao, the first beauty of Cangye Kingdom, was very talented. She had been renowned even before the Fenghua Banquet. Now, she was indeed on the Fenghua list but in last place. To appear on the list was unattainable for most people. However, there was nothing to be proud of for Lin Yueyao. In her two fights, she was defeated by Hua Jieyu and won Hua Zhixin slightly. No one could complain about the Emperor's ranking. It was reasonable.
"Number nine, Yu Jiang," the Emperor continued to announce. The hero of the Cangye College was ninth. Although he was defeated by Ye Futian, he still performed outstandingly. He deserved the ninth place.
"Number eight, Bai Qiu," the Emperor went on. Many people also guessed this outcome. Yu Jiang, Bai Qiu, and Wang Yu were the three talents in realization of Dharma but they were all defeated by Ye Futian. However, it was proved later that Yu Jiang and Bai Qiu were not weaker than the others in the Dharma Plane. It was just because Ye Futian was too monstrous. Therefore, Ye Futian must be one of the top three.
It was absolutely a miracle that a man from the Seven-star Glory Plane could be one of the top three.
"Number seven, Hua Zhixin."
Hua Zhixin, another beauty, was the seventh.
Hua Zhixin herself felt a little bit surprised. She looked at the Emperor with puzzlement. She had only fought with Lin Yueyao and she was defeated. Why would the Emperor put her in seventh place?
It was unexpected not only for Hua Zhixin but also for many other people. However, they knew that it couldn't call a defeat since Hua Zhixin had used the Eight-star Glory Plane to fight with Lin Yueyao to that extent. If she was on the same plane as Lin Yueyao, it was quite possible for her to win.
Lin Yueyao was also stunned. She had battled twice—defeated by Hua Jieyu but victorious over Hua Zhixin. However, the Emperor ranked her at the last and set Hua Zhixin at the seventh place. It was natural to be upset.
"Number six, Li Yi," the Emperor continued. Li Yi, a strong cultivator in the Dharma Plane, was sixth.
There were five people left. Ye Futian's trio were all in the top five. Other than them, there was also Ye Wuchen and Zuo Qianfan. These two hadn't been defeated yet. In fact, Yu Sheng was just like Hua Zhixin. He had only fought once and was defeated.
So what? Who was Yu Sheng's competitor? It was the genius in the Dharma Plane and it shouldn't be counted as a defeat. He had left because he couldn't hit the other. As for Hua Zhixin and Lin Yueyao, Yu Sheng just didn't want to fight with them, which made sense to everyone. No one was surprised by the result.
There was another man who was defeated in his only fight but was also strong. It was Wang Yu, but he was different. His rival was Ye Futian who was only at the Seven-star Glory Plane. They were on the same plane but different levels. However, he was defeated to a miserable extent as everyone could see. After that, he had no chance to prove himself as Bai Qiu and Yu Jiang did. He could blame no one. It was destined that his name couldn't appear on the list.
Next was the top five. Everyone was looking forward to the result.
Emperor Ye looked at those people on the platform. Everyone tensed. The remaining people were really difficult to rank. Of Zuo Qianfan, Hua Jieyu and Yu Sheng, who would be the fifth?
Zuo Qianfan hadn't been defeated yet, while what he had showed was just as powerful as Ye Wuchen. Therefore, Zuo Qianfan and Ye Wuchen must be the two strongest. Some people wondered whether Zuo Qianfan didn't challenge Ye Wuchen to deliberately avoid him. As for Hua Jieyu, she had only fought once and defeated Lin Yueyao, crossing two planes. Yu Sheng was also strong. There would be dispute no matter who was the fifth.
"Do you have anything to say?" the Emperor smiled and asked.
Everyone's expressions grew complex. Zuo Qianfan smiled and said, "Your Highness, though I haven't fought with Ye Wuchen, there is a greater possibility for me to be defeated if we battle. From Ye Wuchen's matchless demeanor, he must be the top one. As for me, just take me as I was defeated."
Many people looked at Zuo Qianfan in surprise. He seemed to be uninterested in the ranking. Many people admired his attitude for he took the initiative to admit that he would be defeated and recommended Ye Wuchen to be the top one.
But Yu Sheng glanced at Zuo Qianfan coolly. For him, the first place should be Ye Futian. Zuo Qianfan didn't have the right to judge and disturb the Emperor's decision.
Yu Sheng knew that Ye Futian might not be so interested in the rank either. He didn't challenge anyone else after defeating the three talents in the Dharma Plane. This meant his goal was only the top three. He attended the Fenghua Banquet only for his teacher's injury. Whether it was first or third place was not so important to him. However, Yu Sheng cared about this. Zuo Qianfan was from the Cangye College while Ye Futian had humiliated Yu Jiang who was from Cangye College too.