Chapter 111: Talents Displayed

On the Fenghua Platform, a group of elders clad in Cangye College uniforms stepped up. They gathered at the front of the platform and split into different sections. After, they placed the stacks of bookmarks in their hands on the platform and organized them.

The names on the bookmarks were those of this year’s Fenghua Banquet participants. Over 10,000 bookmarks meant that there were over 10,000 attendees. One could only imagine how difficult it would be to get picked by the emperor and make it on the Fenghua Rank.

These elders were all cultivators in the Arcana Plane and had extremely high cultivation. Most of them had photographic memory.

“Wang Teng, Zhuo Fei, Li Yun…” At this time, the elders began to call out names. People who had their names flew down to land on the stage. There were those who could fly, those who were dropped off by beasts, or even those who jumped off their beasts’ backs. All of this commotion caused the platform to shake.

100 bookmarks were withdrawn from the piles which meant that 100 people had their names called. Very quickly, all these people gathered on the platform. The Fenghua Platform was massive and could easily accommodate a hundred people. Everyone was able to stand comfortably in a different area.

All of these people were in the Six-Starred Glory Plane, which was the minimum allowed to attend the Fenghua Banquet. If one was in any plane lower than such, it was unnecessary to participate in the banquet.

“Amongst these 100 people, only three of you will make it to the next round. Of course, it is also completely possible that not a single person makes it. So, you may begin to demonstrate your talents now. Remember, you may choose to forfeit. Once someone forfeits, everyone else is forbidden from making further attacks on that participant. Also, no life-threatening injuries are allowed,” said an elder from Cangye College.

Choosing one out of a hundred. There were too many people participating in the Fenghua Banquet and thus, it was necessary to quickly filter out the most outstanding people from the beginning. Starting from those of the same plane was the fairest. It was a way for the best talents to stand out from the rest. At least then, they wouldn’t be eliminated right off the bat.

In a split second, Spiritual Qi exploded on the platform. It became extremely hectic. Sorcerers immediately put distance between themselves and the rest, while martial arts cultivators were looking for the perfect opportunity. Quickly, someone began to attack those around them. With this one attack, the battle began.

In the air and on the ground, countless pairs of eyes focused on the Fenghua Platform. Ye Futian was also watching seriously. Only qualified people could participate in the Fenghua Banquet; there were no weaklings. Many participants had already revealed their gifts in both martial arts and sorcery. There were also those who were multi-element sorcerers and of course, there were many Mandate Sorcerers.

The battle was fierce. In this messy battle, there were those who were powerful but got surrounded and attacked by multiple people. This type of chaotic battle was truly testing. Just because one was powerful did not mean that they would make it to the end. Unless they had an absolute advantage over the rest. However, it was only a battle of Six-Starred Glory Plane cultivators. Many spectators were interested. Those who got the most applause was usually above the Eight-Starred Glory Plane. Anyone below that almost never got picked by the emperor.

After the first group of talents concluded their battle, an elder from the Cangye College announced that no one had passed. All of them were eliminated. Even the person who had won the battle.

The lower the level, the stronger your gifts have to be. It’s the only way to move forward, everyone thought to themselves.

Following that, another hundred people were called and another round of chaotic battle ensued. There were not many Six-Starred Glory Plane participants, not even a thousand. After they were all done, the elders began to call on the Seven-Starred Glory Plane participants. More people were interested in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane battles. It was bound to be fiercer.

Finally, Yu Sheng’s name was called out. Ye Futian sent him down to the platform. But at the Fenghua Banquet, Yu Sheng’s name did not pique anyone’s interest. No one knew who he was or how strong he was. All they knew was that he had an imposing stature.

Among the people called on along with Yu Sheng, everyone was only interested in one—Yun Di of the Demon Clan. He was a young man gifted by the heavens. Not even 17 yet, he had already made it into the Seven-Starred Glory Plane. He was also a beast tamer. Yun Di was naturally close with the beasts and had the ability to tame them. On top of that, he was also a Mandate Sorcerer.

Yun Di’s skin was dark, and he had a small stature but exuded a wild aura. As soon as he stepped on to the battle platform, he was the star of the show.

This young man who was only in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane was said to be qualified to get picked by the emperor. From this, it was easy to see just how outstanding he was.

“These people have the worst luck to be grouped with Yun Di.”

“They would have been alright had they been grouped with anyone else in the Seven-Starred Glory Plane but it just had to be Yun Di,” many people began to discuss.

Ye Futian listened in on the discussions going on around him and was able to figure out what kind of person Yun Di was. He looked at Yu Sheng and let out a smile. Yu Sheng was able to run into a strong candidate for the Fenghua Banquet in his first battle. Yun Di was going to make sure Yu Sheng stood out. They were getting lucky.

Besides Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu, Cen Xia from Cangye College was probably the only other person who knew Yu Sheng. She quietly shook her head. To be in the same battle as Yun Di, it looked like Yu Sheng was going to get eliminated in this first round.

On the Fenghua Platform, everyone focused their attention on Yun Di. They watched as he placed a leaf between his lips and music sounded. The sounds were piercing to the ears. In the skies, many of the beasts became irritable. They were the beasts people were riding on.

WHOOSH! A Glory Plane beast abandoned its master and rushed toward Yun Di. Its master was another participant of the Fenghua Banquet. He fell helplessly from the skies. He did not cultivate in the element of wind and that was why he had to ride a beast, but now, his beast was being controlled by someone else. This person was not alone. Quickly, more people ended up in a similar situation. All the flying beasts below the Dharma Plane had abandoned their masters and headed toward Yun Di.

“Make your move!” Many young cultivators charged at Yun Di. They were ready to gang up on him. Even though there was still a chance that they might not pass this round, at least their chances would increase if they defeated Yun Di.

But in this moment, a fearsome monster tide erupted on the Fenghua Platform. A hoard of beasts attacked. Even, many of participants with higher cultivation could not withstand the attack of the united beasts and were all thrown on to the ground.

“This…” Spectators were speechless upon witnessing this scene. The emperor’s gaze fell on Yun Di, and he let out a look of admiration.

Not long after, almost everyone on the platform had fallen. Those who had not fallen chose to forfeit. How were they supposed to battle when Yun Di summoned that many demon beasts?

“No surprise here,” laughed bystanders. They pitied those grouped with Yun Di.

Yun Di stopped blowing on the leaf but the beasts continued to revolve around him. A strange sight indeed.

Just then, Yun Di noticed there was still one person standing. It looked as if he had not moved an inch from the beginning.

“Aren’t you going to forfeit?” Yun Di looked at the young man with the large stature and questioned.

“Thank you for clearing those people out for me,” said Yu Sheng. His words shocked everyone in the audience. Did he just thank Yun Di for clearing the way for him?

“Uh…” Ye Futian blinked. Yu Sheng had changed a lot since coming with Ye Futian. The things he said were…well said.

Yun Di was dumbfounded at first, but a smile spread quickly on his face. He placed the leaf back between his lips and began to blow. Along with the melody, the beasts around Yun Di were once again placed in a wild trance and immediately charged towards Yu Sheng.

A fierce golden light enveloped Yu Sheng’s body like the armor of a war god. As a wild falcon rushed toward him, Yu Sheng reached out his large hand and meet with the falcon’s talons. In a split second, his hand clasp down and grabbed on to the falcon’s sharp talons. Next, Yu Sheng swung the falcon around with one arm. He flung the beast forward and with a loud crash, he had downed several beasts with the sheer force of his throw.

“This…” The people were dumbfounded. After that, the beasts became more crazed. However, Yu Sheng took one step forward and the whole Fenghua Platform began to shake.

In this moment, people mistook this young man of imposing stature for a beast in human form. They watched as Yu Sheng threw a punch toward a beast and it was thrown through the air.

BOOM! BOOM! Yu Sheng took a couple more steps on the platform and reached out both hands. With his bare hands, he caught a Red Winged Tiger. The beast had tried to charge at Yu Sheng’s neck but he managed to hold its mouth open with both hands and then ripped the beast open from the mouth.

“Is he really human?” Everyone’s heart was pounding. They realized that the beasts were no longer listening to Yun Di’s orders. They no longer dared to attack. Yun Di was a beast tamer and not a beastmaster. He did not have total control over the beasts. Under extreme fear, the beasts would no longer listen to him.

Yun Di’s expression darkened. He removed the leaf from his mouth and released his Life Spirit. It was a ferocious Demon Lion. Just the king of the beasts, Yun Di’s body moved quickly. Just like most demon beasts, he was swift and violent. His movements agile as a monkey. As Yun Di got closer to Yu Sheng, he flew into the air, nimble as a leopard. Like a flash of lightning, he appeared in the air above Yu Sheng and the apparition of a lion appeared on his body. His hand morphed into a large paw with sharp claws, ready to claw at Yu Sheng’s head at full force.

Yu Sheng’s reflexes were extremely quick and his body moved swiftly like a ghost. His hand reached out towards the sky and met with Yun Di’s sharp claws. A strong force threw Yun Di back. Just as Yun Di tried to take this opportunity to leave, Yu Sheng took one step into the air and flew towards to grab Yun Di by the arm.

In the next moment, everyone watched as Yu Sheng picked Yun Di up and then smashed him into the ground. The Fenghua Platform shook once again.

Around the platform, everyone was in complete silence. When Yu Sheng stood up straight and looked toward the emperor, everyone was shaking in their boots. It seemed that at today’s Fenghua Banquet, the prodigies that everyone put their money on weren’t undefeatable after all. Yun Di had already been defeated in battle with someone in the same plane!

Chapter 112: Fight While Holding Hands

Yu Sheng became the center of attention with one battle. Of the most popular contenders for the Fenghua Rank, Yun Di was the only one in the Seven-star Glory Plane because he had very high demon-training talents. He could control all demons under the Dharma Plane, and even demons of the Dharma Plane would be affected. He was also a Mandate Sorcerer with high combat abilities. With his first battle, he summoned countless beasts and was brilliant. However, this was all done to make someone else look better in comparison. Everyone thought of the thanks Yu Sheng had said. He was such a jerk!

Cen Xia’s heart trembled. It seemed that Yu Sheng had only shown the tip of the iceberg at the pretest in the Cangye College. Was this his true power? This was crazy.

The people of the Demon Clan in the air looked aghast. They had put so much hope in Yun Di but he was defeated in the first round. The opponent was even on the same plane. With this, they knew that Yun Di’s name would not appear in the Fenghua Rank. Someone of the same plane was more outstanding than him.

At this moment, the emperor sat in the royal seat. He noticed Yu Sheng look over as if observing him. There was no reverence at all. Yu Sheng seemed to just want to see what the emperor was like.

“As expected, different from everyone else,” the emperor said with a chuckle. He naturally would not be angry at Yu Sheng for a look. He was the emperor and had the tolerance of an emperor.

The point of the Fenghua Banquet was to find the most impressive of the younger generation in Cangye Kingdom. This was why he ordered that anyone who hurt the attendees of the Fenghua Banquet would be executed. He would not do so either, of course. Otherwise, how would he be able to continue the banquet?

The nearby nobles heard the emperor’s words and realized that he thought highly of Yu Sheng. From the youth’s aggressive performance, they could see that he was practically born for battle. Only Ye Futian was not surprised. How could anyone of the same plane defeat Yu Sheng?

“Yu Sheng, Yun Di, pass,” the elder from Cangye College announced. He kept the bookmarks with their names and put away all the rest. This was expected. Yun Di had lost but he wouldn’t end here.

Yu Sheng started back. He looked up into the sky and then pushed off from the Fenghua Platform. He shot up into the sky like a sword.

“Wind.” Ye Futian reached out. Wind blew past and wrapped around Yu Sheng. Using this gust of wind, Yu Sheng landed onto the Black Wind Eagle. Many people looked in the direction of the Eagle. This way, they also saw Ye Futian and the veiled Hua Jieyu. The three all looked familiar. No one knew who they were or where they came from.

The dean continued to name people and the battles went on. Outstanding figures continued to appear but there were no collisions like Yu Sheng and Yun Di.

As the battles continued, Ye Futian finally heard his name. However, the name after his was Hua Jieyu. He was stunned. They had been put into the same round.

The two met eyes and smiled. Then the wind wrapped around them and took them downward. They descended upon the Fenghua Platform like a pair of ethereal lovers, instantly attracting the gazes of many. They were with Yu Sheng and Yu Sheng’s battle had been too amazing.

In the air, Bai Qiu from the Qin Clan looked at Ye Futian. They had met three days ago. He had invited Ye Futian to be his musical attendant but was rejected. Now, he realized that Ye Futian had a reason for the confidence. If Yu Sheng was this powerful, Ye Futian couldn’t be much worse.

Lin Yueyao, known as the number one beauty of Cangye, also looked at Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. She was also curious because she had heard what Ye Futian had said to Hua Jieyu that day. Though the girl was veiled, her figure and aura were both amazing. Her facial features must be beautiful as well. However, Lin Yueyao didn’t believe Hua Jieyu could be prettier than her.

The Demon Clan though did not look friendly. It was clearly because of Yu Sheng. Coincidentally, there were two disciples of the Demon Clan in this round. The emperor had ordered that conflicts from the Fenghua Banquet could not be avenged for in private. However, there was no problem in doing so during the banquet.

Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu walked to a place and Ye Futian sat down. His Guqin Spirit appeared and fell behind him. Hua Jieyu stood quietly beside him as if she didn’t care for the battle.

Music rose. The graceful melody traveled from the Guqin Spirit behind Ye Futian. It made one feel comfortable as if it wasn’t a musical spell for battle.

The two Demon Clan disciples walked towards them. One held a flute, which he brought to his lips and played. There was instantly an eerie sound. Glory Plane demons rustled in the air again, making all the masters of the demons upset. Did they bring their beasts here just so the Demon Clan could use them?

However, though the demons seemed to riot, they didn’t leave. Spiritual Qi gathered before the flutist and transformed into a vague demon. It charged toward Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. His tactics were similar to a conjurer’s but were not as powerful as the demon a conjurer could draw.

Hua Jieyu reached out. An invisible spiritual storm appeared instantly, stopping the demon created by Spiritual Qi. Then she clenched a fist and the demon scattered into the Spiritual Qi again.

“You fight and I’ll support,” Ye Futian murmured. One needed to show their talents to pass the Fenghua Banquet, so avoiding the fight was unrealistic. Ye Futian couldn’t perform by himself either. That way, Hua Jieyu would be unnecessary.

“Okay.” Hua Jieyu nodded lightly. Music flowed into her ears endlessly but they were not offensive spells. They were supplementary spells. Hua Jieyu felt her spiritual energy increase at that moment. She walked before Ye Futian, a glint appearing in her pretty eyes. Following that, there was a shocking amount of Spiritual Qi around her.

Boom! The two Demon Clan members felt their bodies stiffen. A gust of huge power dropped directly onto them, forcing their bodies to fly up involuntarily.

“This…” The others preparing to fight on the platform were shocked. They all looked at the Demon Clan members. Then they saw wood elemental Spiritual Qi turn into vines that swept toward the two, hurling them into the air.

“Deal with these two first,” someone on the Fenghua Platform murmured. Everyone looked at Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu. Then, aggressive auras exploded towards the two. The strong figures of the Fenghua Platform vaguely surrounded them. But Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu didn’t seem to notice. Ye Futian continued to play his guqin; the wood elemental Spiritual Qi around Hua Jieyu grew more violent until it was about to turn into a storm.

The next moment, she released the Lock of a Thousand Vines. Endless vines swept in all directions from Hua Jieyu’s side. The Lock of a Thousand Vines was a pretty powerful controlling spell of the wood elemental sorcery. Many people would cultivate it but different people had different power.

Hua Jieyu’s spiritual energy was terrifying. With this, she was able to control the Spiritual Qi of all elements. Thus, she could naturally release spells of any type of element.

Many of those who saw the incoming vines flashed or used spells and martial arts techniques to hack at the vines. However, with Ye Futian and Hua Jieyu’s teamwork, the Lock of a Thousand Vines became extremely strong. Many people were curled up and thrown into the distance. However, some powerful figures also used extremely strong momentum to rush up for close-range fighting. Long-distance fighting was definitely a disaster when faced with two spiritual sorcerers.

When two figures approached, Hua Jieyu reached out her slender hands and they were instantly immobilized. She slowly floated up, shining like a fairy. The two powerful cultivators were unable to break free from the invisible strength. With rustles, the vines snaked toward them and tossed them out.

“I don’t want to hurt anyone. Just surrender,” Hua Jieyu said softly. Still hovering in the air, another sharp metal elemental storm burst around her. It gathered into swords and spears, dancing around her. Everyone understood that Hua Jieyu had not shown her true powers yet. If she used an offensive spell after releasing the Lock of a Thousand Vines, it would be a catastrophe for many. They all felt despair. The power of a musical sorcerer and an offensive spiritual sorcerer working together was terrifying.

“Her spiritual energy seems powerful,” many murmured as they gazed at Hua Jieyu. Ye Futian’s musical spell had also increased her power, resulting in the current situation.

Many people began to give up and leave, depressed. They used to say they were geniuses and were the strong ones in their planes. Now, they knew they were just a big fish in a small pond.

“Ye Futian, Hua Jieyu, pass,” the Cangye College elder announced. Ye Futian did not fight but it was clear from how he helped Hua Jieyu that he could do much more.

Ye Futian bowed slightly to the emperor and prepared to leave with Hua Jieyu.

“You should join the Qin Clan,” someone in the air said. Ye Futian looked up and saw Bai Qiu. “I had misunderstood you before and wanted you to be my musical attendant. I realize you’re more talented than I had imagined. I doubt you would be satisfied with being a musical attendant. With your current attainments, you might be equal to me after one or two years in the Qin Clan,” Bai Qiu said.

Many people looked over at him. It seemed that Ye Futian’s musical sorcery had impressed Bai Qiu and made him want to have Ye Futian for himself. He even said that Ye Futian might be equal to him in one or two years. That was an extremely high praise for Ye Futian!