The Legend of Futian - Chapter 1068

Chapter 1068: Taking the Flags without Cutting Them Down

Emperor Li’s City was in ruins with bodies strewn everywhere on the ground. The demonic beasts watched the Black Wind Condor below with cold eyes. There was no problem to simply cut down the imperial flag of Emperor Li’s City right there and then. It did not matter who was the one who took the flag. The key was the battle at Emperor Xia’s City. That battle would have determined the outcome of the Battle of Empty Realm. If Emperor Xia’s City was to fall and the city’s imperial flag cut down, then the Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm’s forces would have emerged as the victor in that year’s battle.

However, if the ones at Emperor Xia’s City were to be on the losing side, they would have attacked the imperial flag of Demon Peacock City instead.

“Go home and protect the imperial flag,” the Bull Demon said, giving the order. The demonic beasts then took to the air and quickly disappeared, leaving the battlefield of Emperor Li’s City behind.

With the demonic beasts gone, Yi Xiaoshi appeared, and countless vines lashed out, picking up the divine implements and storage rings below. The ones from the Upper Worlds sure are rich. So even the demonic beasts didn’t bother picking up the divine implements, eh? he thought. That was probably only an oversight as they were caught in the heat of battle. However, things were different for him. Poverty had a way of stifling ambition, after all.

While the ones from the Upper Worlds might have been indifferent to the massive amounts of divine implements lying around, he could have bagged them and distributed them back at the Holy Zhi Palace at the Nine States of the Lower Worlds. Anyone at and above the rank of an elder would have been able to hold a piece respectively, and that would have looked gracious.

“Oh my, that fatso…” The people from the Cottage were baffled at Yi Xiaoshi’s antics, but they did not say much. People from the Nine States of the Lower Worlds were indeed poor, after all. Unlike those from top-notch forces in the Upper Worlds, common divine implements were a rare find for those from the Nine States.

It was said that the Empty Realm had quite a depository of significant path fragments. They deemed it imperative to take a good look after the Battle of Empty Realm was over, as those were treasures capable of being made into divine implements. This would allow saints to continue their training, enhancing their understanding of the great path, strengthening their planes, and enabling them to reach the pinnacle of the first plane.

All from the Nine States were, at present, at the upper-level Archmage Plane. If they were to train further, it would have only been a matter of time before they reached the pinnacle of the Archmage Plane. What happened after was of the utmost importance, and that was to try to break into Saint Plane.

Yu Sheng turned his eyes far away, gazing with a cold expression, looking like a devil standing tall in the sky. It was as if he was waiting for something. Everyone else was waiting for something as well, just like he was.

The Black Wind Condor landed above the imperial flag of Emperor Li’s Realm. Its claws rested on the flag, enabling it to snap it at any given moment. However, it did not do anything. It stayed waiting, just like what Yu Sheng and the others were doing.

The mighty ones from Emperor Li’s Realm would retreat to Emperor Li’s City if they were to lose the battle over there. If they saw what was happening to their city, one could only imagine what they would think.

…

With the forces from Emperor Li’s City and the Demon Peacock City fighting each other all in Emperor Xia’s City, the army of Emperor Xia’s City took the advantage and was able to break Emperor Li’s City’s streak in a short period of time, killing a good number of mighty ones along the way.

The Demon Peacock City forces naturally knew what was going on. They were extremely enraged. Many of their mighty ones were enthralled by the enemy and turned against them. Even though they were enraged, they had no way to vent their anger, as they could not have brought themselves to fight their own.

Kong Xuan’s eyes remained cold at that moment, glaring at Ye Futian. She never expected herself to have lost to him. With that said, he deliberately hid his true abilities in all the battles that he fought with her before, baiting the forces from Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm and enabling them to enthrall the demonic beasts. If she knew that Ye Futian had what it took to beat her, she would have never had let the demonic beasts pursue Ye Futian. What was more vexing was that, despite being able to control demonic beasts, Ye Futian killed many mighty ones from Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm as not arouse her suspicions.

Kong Zhan came to Kong Xuan’s side and said with an extremely cold expression, “Even if we from Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm lose, we won’t let things go your way.”

“Your Highness, our flag has been broken.” A voice was heard from far away. One demonic beast after another came their way at blitzing speeds, holding the broken imperial flag of the Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm in their hands. At that very split second, the minds of the demonic beasts from Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm sank to the very bottom. Their very last hope was shattered.

Their imperial flag was no more. The Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm had been eliminated from the competition before everyone else.

Kong Xuan lifted her head, looking at the demonic beast coming from above. She was not even able to tell if those beasts had been enthralled ones, who had deliberately come to deliver the cut flag, just to announce the end of the forces from Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm in that year’s Battle of Empty Realm.

“Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm has been eliminated. You shall not affect things any further in the Battle of Empty Realm,” Xia Qingyuan came to Ye Futian’s side and announced to Kong Zhan and Kong Xuan below.

Kong Xuan turned her eyes away from the imperial flag. They looked somewhat bloodshot. She then glared at both Ye Futian and Xia Qingyuan and said, “With the forces of Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm eliminated from the competition, you shall release the demonic beasts of ours from your thrall and let them withdraw from the battlefield immediately.” Her voice was icy. They admitted defeat, but they could not quietly sit by and let the demonic beasts of Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm continue to serve Ye Futian as his pawns, being used as tools to kill those from Emperor Li’s Realm.

“Very well.” Ye Futian nodded. “With Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm forces eliminated, all demonic beasts are to leave the battlefield immediately.” The beasts that he was controlling withdrew from the battlefield as soon as he made the announcement. It went the same for the other demonic beasts, who stood aside.

“After the Battle of Empty Realm is over, I shall release them from my control,” Ye Futian said to both Kong Zhan and Kong Xuan. He then disappeared from where he stood, heading straight for the direction where the mighty ones from Emperor Li’s Realm retreated to. He had never truly intended to fight against the Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm from the very beginning. Since the Battle of Empty Realm was a three-way battle, he could have used the Demon Peacock Emperor’s Realm’s forces to his advantage. But after the battle was over, it was not within reason for him to keep controlling those royal great monsters. The truly powerful figures from the demonic realm would look for him in Emperor Xia’s Realm to settle the score otherwise.

“Follow him,” Xia Qingyuan ordered. There was no need for her to say more, as her army was already on their way to do so. There were really many twists and turns happening within that battle. The invading forces turned against each other outside their door, turning the tables to their favor. They were then only one step away from securing the victory of the Battle of Empty Realm.

The army of Emperor Li’s Realm retreated en masse in the air. Li Yao looked extremely gloomy. He never expected things to have turned out like this. He thought that the Battle of Empty Realm was already theirs for the taking, yet that one battle resulted in them losing over half of their forces instead. They retreated in shambles, and all of their previous might was completely broken.

“I was too careless.” Yuan Jin’s words sounded slightly regretful. He naturally knew that both Kong Xuan and Kong Zhan had not betrayed their allies indeed. It was all due to Ye Futian’s ability to control demonic beasts. None of them expected that Ye Futian’s repeated provocations had been for that all along. He had been setting things up since way back when.

“While they are many mighty ones who are versed in controlling beasts, it is extremely rare to see cultivators capable of putting demonic beasts under their control in a short span of time. Furthermore, it was complete subjugation. No one would have expected that. You were not at fault, brother.” Despite how things turned out, Li Yao naturally had no intention of blaming Yuan Jin for anything.

“It was still due to my lack of abilities in doing simulations. I should have been able to take consideration of any scenarios, regardless of how rare they might have been.” Yuan Jin sighed. To know one’s strength and the enemy’s was the sure way to victory. It was indeed due to his lack of understanding of Ye Futian’s ability and him never bothering to investigate Ye Futian further that he failed to appraise Ye Futian’s abilities truly. All of that led to what was happening presently.

“If the imperial flag still stands, then we shall be able to still fight from here on out, but if our imperial flag is taken…” Yuan Jin did not finish his sentence. In the last battle ten years ago, his elder brother in training had been able to secure a victory for them due to having posed as the weakest side. If Yuan Jin were to return in failure, despite having the edge over the others in terms of power, he had no idea how he would face his teacher and his elder brothers in training.

Despite the army of Emperor Li’s Realm retreating, they nonetheless maintained a uniformed speed at doing so. Any pursuing enemy who was capable of greater speeds would have been able to tear them apart, making them meat on a chopping block. Maintaining a uniformed speed meant that even if there were to be someone from the enemy capable of greater speed, said enemy would not dare approach them without good reason.

“Those who are better at moving fast, come with me,” Ye Futian said with a brimming voice at the very front of the pursuing army. Many turned to look at Xia Qingyuan, who then added, “His words are my orders.” As soon as she gave the order, mighty ones who were quite fast followed Ye Futian right away.

The light of space sparkled. Ye Futian brought that batch of people as he headed for the flank of the Emperor Li’s Realm’s forces, catching up to the enemy. Li Yao and Yuan Jin watched with grim expressions and then gave the order, “Speed up.” They were worried that Ye Futian would be able to reach the imperial flag before they did. As such, there was also a part of the army that sped up as they headed forward.

Two armies streaked in the skies and eventually reached Emperor Li’s City. The imperial flag still billowed at the highest point of Emperor Li’s City, yet a Black Wind Condor was standing right on top of that flag, eyeing the incoming bunch with proud eyes. Yu Sheng and the others stood there, waiting before the imperial flag. There were many dead bodies of those from Emperor Li’s Realm on the ground. Emperor Li’s Realm’s forces at the very forefront halted as they saw what was going on, staring at their city while Li Yao looked completely ashen. Their imperial flag was taken, and their enemy would be able to snap it at a moment’s notice.

Ye Futian, on the other hand, did not slow down. He streaked past the enemy right away, leading his group of mighty ones to regroup with Yu Sheng and the others. It robbed the enemy of the possibility to even think about barging straight through to retake their imperial flag. As such, Xia Qingyuan led a batch of mighty ones from behind, while Ye Futian and his people waited at the forefront, to catch the enemy in a pincer attack.

Those from Emperor Xia’s Realm were relieved to see what they saw. They already won in the Battle of Empty Realm. All that was left to do was to cut the imperial flag down.

“Ye Futian, cut the imperial flag down,” Xiao Sheng, who was right behind Xia Qingyuan, spoke up.

Ye Futian did not respond. He stepped forward, with Yu Sheng, Ye Wuchen, the Sword Saint, Huang Jiuge, and others following right behind him, heading straight for the army of Emperor Li’s Realm. They looked extremely cold. That battle back at the Holy Zhi Palace, where the nine pinnacle sages showed up, where Saint Zhi pulled the unexpected, were all flashing right before their eyes.

They still had scores to settle.

“They have the flag and are not cutting it down. Your Highness, he is trying to doom us all.” Yuan Jin’s eyes turned cold, noting how brutal those before him were. Li Yao naturally understood what was going on, and he knew very well that it was because of him.

So, this is about revenge, then? he realized.

“If that is the case, then we still stand a chance.” Yuan Jin’s eyes looked incredibly sharp. He turned around to glance at Xia Qingyuan. If they were able to take Xia Qingyuan from the army, then they would be able to force the enemy to let go.

“Kill,” Ye Futian said in a cold voice. He zipped past like a bolt of golden lightning right after he finished, charging into the enemy’s army with the Halberd of Time and Space in his hand.

“Kill them,” Xia Qingyuan ordered as well. She stepped forward onto golden lotuses. One lotus after another blossomed, all imbued with the way of Catastrophe Swordsmanship, turning into 3,000 swords which followed her finger, streaking forward. Many mighty ones had their throats pierced within an instant.

“Kill him,” Li Yao said coldly as he stared at Ye Futian. Their defeat in that year’s Battle of Empty Realm was brought on by one single person: Ye Futian. They were all set up by Ye Futian.

Many mighty ones charged forward, yet they saw Ye Futian shrugging off the attacks and charging straight into the army.

Boom! Dazzling golden lights tore through space. One mighty one after another was blown to bits as the halberd was unleashed.