The sound of Ye Futian’s voice and the sound of guqin started simultaneously. The hearts of its listeners vibrated along with it.
Zhou Mu, who was in the midst of drawing, lifted his head to see the storm created by the music dawning upon him. His Life Spirit roared and a wave of Spiritual Energy was released, but it was no use. The storm descended and destroyed everything in its path.
His drawing was completely absorbed into the eye of the storm, and the Spiritual Qi in the atmosphere was flowing wildly. Then, the storm washed over Zhou Mu, which caused him extreme pain. It was as if he was a lone soldier, fighting against thousands. He spat fresh blood as his whole being was thrown back and made a harsh landing on the ground.
Everything happened extremely quickly. Ye Futian stood up as if he was confident that the battle was already over. Only then did people break free of their dazed state and look at Ye Futian. The handsome young man stood there, his clothes blowing in the wind. The quiet, elegant young man playing the guqin just a moment ago was now unrestrained and ready to show his true potentials.
The battle between the successors of the Guqin Devil and the Art Saint had come to an end. All those years ago, the Art Saint disabled the Guqin Devil’s powers. Now, his disciple was crushed by the powers of the Guqin Devil’s disciple. This was not a battle between equals, as the people had previously expected. What’s more, Ye Futian was at a lower level than Zhou Mu. To be able to do so, Ye Futian has surpassed so many limitations placed upon him. And also, what was the meaning behind his previous utterance?
Among the rumors spread in Donghai Academy, there was one that claimed after acting extremely arrogant at the Luo Palace, the Guqin Devil’s disciple—Ye Futian—was defeated by the Art Saint’s disciple, Zhou Mu. This rumor was the hottest talk in town at one point. If Ye Futian had come out to try to explain at an earlier time, probably no one would have believed him, but after seeing the results of this battle, it was hard not to question its validity. This was just like the rumors regarding Hua Jieyu months ago.
Zhou Mu’s face was as pale as a ghost. After getting himself together, he stood up. He looked at Ye Futian with an icy glare before saying, “It’s just one loss. This doesn’t determine anything. You can’t reject the results of the previous battle just because of the results of today’s battle.”
Everyone was looking at Zhou Mu. It was evident that he did not want to admit defeat.
“How laughable,” Ye Futian mocked him. “After the rumors, you really thought that you were victorious over me at the Luo Palace? Did you know that an elder specializing in Spiritual Energy attacked me from the shadows just when I was about to finish you off? It was only because of this that you were not humiliated by me right then and there.”
The crowd became rowdy upon hearing Ye Futian’s claim. An elder attacked Ye Futian at the Luo Palace and led to Zhou Mu’s ‘victory’? That was a low blow.
Rumors said that day the Art Saint, Lord Luo, and the Vice Headmaster of the School of the Emperor Star were all present. If what Ye Futian said was true, then wouldn’t that make these elders the three main suspects? If it were true, Ye Futian would have had no choice but to forfeit and leave.
“You’re lying!” Zhou Mu did not look too good after hearing what Ye Futian had to say. He refused to believe this.
“Preposterous!” Just then, a voice sound from behind. It was the very elder from that day at the Luo Palace. He was Vice Headmaster Han Mo of the Emperor Star school.
“Ye Futian, even though you were victorious today, you have slandered your elders with utter disrespect,” said Han Mo.
Ye Futian lifted his head toward Han Mo. This old geezer was finally revealing his true colors.
“Of course, I knew that it could not possibly have been you who attacked me, but just because you won’t doesn’t mean others won’t. How can this be considered slander?” Ye Futian said, holding back a smile. The bystander’s expressions all changed. There must have been a deeper meaning behind what Ye Futian said.
Han Mo shot daggers at Ye Futian with his eyes. Ye Futian returned a calm gaze. Ye Futian was very unhappy with the School of the Emperor Star right now. He felt that this school was fake, hypocritical, overbearing, and cold.
From allowing Mu Yunxuan to spread fake rumors regarding Hua Jieyu, to not allowing Ye Futian to enter the Emperor Star school. From siding with the Art Saint years ago in order to develop a beneficial alliance through marriage, leading to the demise of Hua Fengliu, to wanting to control all of Donghai Academy, which led to Yu Sheng being hurt.
Although Ye Futian did not say anything, a burning rage started to grow in his heart. He was going to let it all go today. Now, he stood in front of the School of the Emperor Star, challenged Zhou Mu, and played the Decree of the General. All of this was to express his anger.
“Lord Luo and the Art Saint are both honorable seniors, and everyone there that day was of high social status. Would it even make sense for them to make a sneak attack on a junior like you?” asked Han Mo mockingly.
“There were many people present at the time, so I cannot pinpoint the exact identity of the culprit. However, it was possible for two eight-starred Glory Plane cultivators from the Treasury Star school to gang up on a five-starred Glory Plane cultivator from the Finance Star school, so a sneak attack from respected elders is definitely possible, isn’t it?”
“This guy…” stated a bystander. Everyone was looking at Ye Futian. By dragging the School of the Treasury Star into the conversation, Ye Futian was really trying to pick a fight.
“It was a student of your school who came to instigate the fight. Our students were simply giving him a well-deserved lesson. There’s nothing strange about that,” said Han Mo. “You, on the other hand, have slandered your elders. If you do not give me a proper explanation, you won’t be able to get off the hook that easily.”
“Since when have my students needed to report anything to you?” a voice came from within the crowd. Pushing through, Yi Xiang looked at Han Mo and said, “Han Mo, you’re the vice headmaster of the Emperor Star school, and you’re here reprimanding a student from the School of the Finance Star? Now, that’s impressive.”
The arrival of Han Mo and Yi Xiang frightened bystanders. It seemed that things had gotten out of hand.
“Headmaster Yi Xiang, did you not hear your student slandering his elders?” asked Han Mo. He did not seem to be afraid of Yi Xiang at all.
“Is this true?” Yi Xiang asked Ye Futian.
Ye Futian smiled and said, “It would be easy to determine whether it is slander or not. During that fight between Zhou Mu and I, I was defeated by a conjured beast. Even though I was at a bit of a disadvantage, we can try again today.”
He looked at Zhou Mu. “Although I have made quite a bit of improvement over the past couple of months, I’m still going to draw up some conjured beasts. I won’t release my Life Spirit and will use pure martial arts tactics. If I can’t defeat you with one stack, then you can consider my words slander.”
“He’s so crazy!” Everyone was watching Ye Futian. He was going to give Zhou Mu to conjure the strongest beasts, only use martial arts tactics, and try to defeat Zhou Mu with one attack. Ye Futian was beyond crazy. If Zhou Mu lost despite all this, he wouldn’t be able to show his face around Donghai Academy. Especially since Zhou Mu never denied the rumors of him defeating Ye Futian. People took his silence as agreement.
“Do you have any opinions about this?” Yi Xiang asked Han Mo.
Han Mo’s expression was dark. Ye Futian has already elevated the situation to this level, he couldn’t say much about it. Han Mo looked towards Zhou Mu. Zhou Mu’s expression was even darker. Everything Ye Futian had said was an insult to him.
“Fine.” Zhou Mu took a step forward until he was directly facing Ye Futian. He released his Life Spirit and began to draw.
Yi Qingxuan went up to collect Ye Futian’s guqin. Ye Futian silently watched as Zhou Mu drew.
Seeing how calm Ye Futian was, it was hard to imagine exactly where he got his confidence from. He was so confident that he was going to fight with just martial arts and was going to let Zhou Mu draw freely.
Spiritual Qi gathered at the tip of Zhou Mu’s pen. Right now, he looked so serious as he focused all his attention on his work. Gradually, it became clear to the people that Zhou Mu was drawing an extremely life-like golden dragon. It looked like it was about to fly into the skies at any moment.
The giant golden dragon contained a frightening amount of Spiritual Qi. Zhou Mu even drew out the detailed scales of the dragon. It was so life-like and seemed to be so powerful. Onlookers began to worry for Ye Futian. Was he really going to be able to withstand Zhou Mu’s attacks by using only martial arts?
Zhou Mu ignored everything around him and focused on his drawing. He perfected every little detail. As the disciple of the Art Saint, his natural gift was not a question. It was only because his opponent was Ye Futian that he seemed weak.
Finally, Zhou Mu added his last stroke. An enormous golden dragon revolved around his body. The light from Zhou Mu’s Life Spirit doubled as a force field around the dragon. This made the dragon look even more menacing. It stared at Ye Futian.
“So powerful!” Everyone was looking at the dragon and just one look was enough to give them a fright.
Ye Futian looked calm as ever and reached out his hand. A golden orb of Spiritual Qi gathered in the palm of his hand. Slowly, the Spiritual Qi formed into a large golden rod. This was not considered sorcery, it was forming weapons from Spiritual Qi and belonged to the martial arts category.
As soon as Ye Futian gripped the rod, a force of powerful rushed from his body. His intent of battle was shocking. An invisible force of power gathered in his body, growing stronger and stronger. Everyone could feel that the atmosphere around Ye Futian was now a little different. He was insufferably arrogant like a young war god.
Zhou Mu made his move. He took steps forward and as if a part of his body, the giant golden dragon moved with him. A loud roar from Zhou Mu, and the mystical dragon was sent charging at Ye Futian.
BOOM! Ye Futian also stepped forward. The ground vibrated under his feet. A frightening force gathered in his body.
“Die!” yelled Zhou Mu in rage. The dragon was headed toward Ye Futian. Ye Futian waved the golden rod in his hand around. The Spiritual Energy became one with nature and was aimed for the golden dragon.
The first attack of the Nine Heavenly Attacks, Genesis.
The golden rod smashed down on the head of the golden dragon. Functioning like the sharpest weapon on Earth, the rod cut the body of the dragon in half. This scene sent a shiver down the spines of the people in the audience. The young war god was powerful as always and was going to destroy everything in his path. Even if it were a real dragon, he was going to split it in half.
BOOM! The giant dragon exploded and the golden rod disappeared along with it. However, Ye Futian’s hand was now wrapped around Zhou Mu’s neck, lifting him off the ground.
At this moment, Zhou Mu had a helpless expression on his face. Ye Futian lifted his head slightly and looked Zhou Mu in the eyes. “How did you defeat me last time?”
Zhou Mu did not reply, because he couldn’t reply.
Ye Futian turned to face Han Mo. Peacefully, he said, “This is the extent of the Emperor Star school’s genius. From this day on, there will be no more battles of the Qin Devil and the Art Saint’s successor because he, Zhou Mu, is not worthy.” Finishing what he had to say, Ye Futian swung his arms and tossed Zhou Mu in the direction of the School of the Emperor Star.