Ye Futian looked at the girl up above. She looked back at him.
My name is Donghuang. Ye Futian even felt like that sentence was spoken to him instead of Minister Zuo.
Boundless icy winds blew through, causing flurries of snow that fell from the sky. An indescribable coldness descended into the world. Everyone looked over at the towering mountain's vastness. They saw the Snow Ape look up the vault of heaven. It was sealed in ice with him as the center. The entire world was frozen.
"Child, look carefully." A voice floated into Ye Futian's ear. Then he saw a shadow appear inside the Snow Ape's body. It came straight out of the flesh. The endless ice and snow converged into a giant snow staff that the Snow Ape grasped.
"Nine Heavenly Attacks." The Snow Ape stood up, almost becoming one with the sky and earth. That moment, incredible power converged above the shadow. His body was so stable. Finally, the Snow Ape's large shadow moved. The first hit gathered the power of the world and slammed against the atrium. The air seemed to be sliced apart and the frozen world was cut into two.
Endless wind and snow blocked everyone's vision except Ye Futian. The Snow Ape did not hit anyone. He was just teaching Ye Futian. It was the Freedom Meditation. Even though Ye Futian was sad, he knew that the Snow Ape was using his life to teach. This staff technique was the evolved by Emperor Ye Qing when he created war techniques. Now, the Snow Ape was demonstrating it personally.
After the first hit, the power intensified rather than weakening. When the snow staff was swung again, the power of the first hit seemed to meld into the second and sweep everything. Then the third hit, the fourth… Every hit's power seemed to be multiplying. By the eighth hit, the world was shaking, the mountains were trembling, and the earth had cracked open. The Snow Ape's location had turned into the world's most terrifying windstorm.
"The ninth hit," a voice said in Ye Futian's ear. Then he saw the Snow Ape go toward the atrium. The snow staff swung and countless shadows of the staff appeared, flattening the sky.
After that, Ye Futian could not see clearly anymore. Blinding light shone from above the atrium. It covered everything. The entire Mount Tianyao shook. The demons all knelt on the ground.
An invisible power crashed into Minister Zuo and Ye Futian. They flew backward but something was protecting Ye Futian. He was not fatally hurt but there was pain everywhere.
This windstorm lasted a long time because calming down. It began to snow in Mount Tianyao. White snow continued to float down. Ye Futian stood there, gaping. The Snow Ape's shadow had disappeared. All that remained was the giant flesh body standing there. It was lifeless but it still stood up straight and tall.
He was standing even in death.
In the canyon behind him, Emperor Ye Qing's statue was still undamaged. It was as if the Snow Ape had defended the statue to his death. Ye Futian reached out. A snowflake landed in his palm.
"Child, do not be sad. This was destined. I should have gone with my master long ago but I had to wait for someone. Thankfully, I met you all. I am just sad I cannot see you rule the world with my own eyes." There seemed to be a shred of consciousness remaining in the air. It transformed into a voice that floated into Ye Futian's ear. At the corner of his eye was a tear.
Was this really all fate? The Snow Ape knew the ending but he still remained here, guarding it.
The divine general went toward Emperor Ye Qing's statue to find something but they could not find anything.
A figure radiated and the girl in the air said, "Let his last statue remain."
The divine general still shone. The terrible light fell upon the statue, flattening it to the ground. The statue that the Snow Ape had protected with his life had still fallen.
"Princess, you should not have sympathy," the general said, retracting his light.
The girl looked at him coldly and turned around. The people left with her. When she left, she looked down. Her gaze fell on Ye Futian and then moved away. Her figure disappeared in the horizon.
When they left, Ye Futian collapsed too. Something had been supporting him before but those violent shakes had even hurt Minister Zuo, let alone him. Before, he had forced himself to stand up and witness it all. Minister Zuo coughed out blood. He could not recover quickly. Everything that had happened was indescribable. He did not even see clearly how the Snow Ape had died.
Walking to Ye Futian, he looked at the youth's calm face with a bit of gratitude. If not for Ye Futian, the Snow Ape would have killed him. He could feel the murderous intent. But Ye Futian was only a boy. How could he be so calm when faced with all this? He did not even kneel down.
The girl from the sky had the surname Donghuang. Even the emperor of Nandou would have to kneel. Their statuses were too different. However, the youth had still been standing up straight. It was not because he was dumb from shock but arrogance from his bones.
At that moment, Minister Zuo had the illusion that the boy before him was as high and mighty as the girl from the sky. His eyes flashed. Then he sat down beside Ye Futian. His life spirit appeared. It was a life chart.
The Minister of Nandou was a rarely-seen astrologer. Few people knew this secret. Astrologers usually did not live long because they knew too much. The light of the life chart enveloped Ye Futian. The gears moved without stop and sped up.
"What's going on?" Minister Zuo's expression changed. He stared at the uncontrollable life chart in shock. It spun crazily with noise until it finally slowed down.
Minister Zuo stared at the chart. The needle spun until it pointed upward. It seemed to point at the sky. The Minister collapsed onto the ground. Looking at the life chart, his heart twitched.
This was impossible. How was this possible?
Shouldn't it be the girl in the sky? Her surname was Donghuang.
Why did Ye Futian have this fate? The fortune showed that he would meet someone, but who was it?
In disbelief, Minister Zuo continued to activate the life chart. After several attempts, he was sweating. He sat beside Ye Futian and stared at the sleeping youth.
Would Nandou Nation's fate change because of him?
When Ye Futian woke up, he saw Minister Zuo beside him. The man smiled. "You're awake."
"Senior," Ye Futian greeted. He sat up.
"You saved my life so you shouldn't call me 'senior' anymore. If you don't mind, you can call me Uncle Zuo," Minister Zuo said with a smile. He felt guilty inside. As the minister, he had taken advantage of the boy without him realizing.
"Uncle Zuo." Ye Futian was not very straightforward. Becoming close to the minister of Nandou would be good for him when he returned to Donghai City.
"Yes." Minister Zuo nodded. "How are your injuries?"
"No big deal." Ye Futian looked back. He was sad when he saw the statue-like body. "Uncle Zuo," he said, "I want to stay here for a while. You can go back first."
Minister Zuo shook his head. "The demons have been chased away but they might come back. It's too dangerous. Why don't I stay here with you?"
"But…" Ye Futian wanted to continue but Minister Zuo interrupted, "You're calling me uncle already. We're not strangers. Go do what you want to do. I'll just cultivate here."
"Okay." Ye Futian nodded and stopped talking. He got up and walked toward the Snow Ape's body. There, he kept standing but he looked up to the heavens.
"Senior, I can't take revenge for you now so I'll just accompany you for a while." Ye Futian's voice was sad. He sat by the Snow Ape's body. The Guqin Spirit appeared and descended before him. Ye Futian started playing right there. A gloomy melody sounded as if in farewell.
After the tune, Ye Futian started cultivating. The Snow Ape had taught him the Nine Heavenly Attacks before dying. Cultivating here was like the last comfort to the Snow Ape's spirit.
The days passed. Without realizing, months had passed.
Nine Heavenly Attacks was extremely difficult. When Ye Futian learned the third hit, both his martial arts and sorcery cultivation had reached the Five-star Glory Plane. That day, Ye Futian knelt before the Snow Ape's body. He kowtowed three times before standing up and turning around. He never looked back.
"Uncle Zuo, let's go back," Ye Futian said to Minister Zuo, who was cultivating with his eyes closed.
The man opened his eyes and nodded. "Okay." With that, he and Ye Futian flew into the sky. They left Mount Tianyao. Ye Futian's recent actions had been odd but he did not ask.
Once out of Mount Tianyao, they were close to Qingzhou Academy. Minister Zuo's men were waiting there. Seeing Minister Zuo return, they let out sighs of relief and went to greet him.
"Where's the princess?" Minister Zuo asked.
"They were living in Qingzhou Academy while you weren't here," someone said.
"That girl has probably caused a ruckus," Minister Zuo said. He walked forward and they all went toward Qingzhou Academy.
The red-clothed girl was the princess of Nandou. She was now living in the School of Martial Arts. Many people where there right now. When Ye Futian walked in, he saw Qin Yi. Surprised, he called, "Ms. Qin."
"Futian!" Qin Yi was surprised when she saw Ye Futian.
"I wanted to go find you. Why are you here?" Ye Futian asked. Hearing this, Qin Yi lowered her head slightly.
"Professor, you're back. The servants here don't know how to take care of people. I can finally go back now." The girl walked by. Many big figures of the School of Martial Arts were present.
They all froze when they saw Ye Futian but Ye Futian's eyes turned cold.
Servant?