Chapter 1044: The Four Tiers of the Divine Path

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The curtain was closed on the 10,021st year of the Divine Prefecture Calendar with a battle between people at the peak of what was possible below the Saint level. Afterward, Wang Chuan embarked upon the Divine Path. The news of Ye Futian’s defeat shocked Emperor Xia’s Realm.

But no one from Lihen Heaven would talk about it, and there were even rumors that Wang Chuan had evaluated Ye Futian very highly, saying that he stood on his own level. His high evaluation of him made the other cultivators of Lihen Heaven throw themselves into their own training. This made people wonder if it had been Wang Chuan who had won or Ye Futian. Could it have been a draw?

The two men of talent obviously appreciated each other, and this battle had allowed Wang Chuan to advance to the next level. Had this ended the battle between them? Given the ambitious character that Ye Futian had shown before, if he had won, he would not have held his tongue and would have instead mocked Lihen Heaven. It was said that after the battle, he had gone back to the Cottage to lose himself in cultivation. It was as if this battle between geniuses had never happened.

Princess Xia Qingyuan never mentioned the battle either, making everyone even more curious about what had happened. What had happened on the 33rd Level of Lihen Heaven?

The days passed, and people’s interest in the battle gradually cooled. Important things happened in Emperor Xia’s Realm every day, and the people’s eyes would not remain fixed on a single battle forever. This was especially true over the past few days. It was said that the top forces had been summoned to Emperor Xia’s Palace, and Princess Xia Qingyuan had summoned the cultivators from the Lower Realms that she had chosen in the past to come to the Upper Realms. In addition, many Saints from the Nine States came to Emperor Xia’s Palace as well. As the news of this spread out, many people understood what it meant: ten more years had passed.

At that time Ye Futian was at the villa cultivating. His state of mind had changed after the battle, and now he was firmly fixed at the upper Sage level.

His next goal was the Saint level.

Yaya and Glass Saint were also there cultivating. With her reincarnated body, Yaya’s state of mind was already in the right place, so she only had to increase her level. Thus, her rate of progress was extremely fast, and she grew far stronger each day. And she was receiving her instruction from incredibly powerful Glass Saint.

Ye Futian sat beside Yaya and whispered, “Yaya, how is the Saint plane divided up?”

Looking straight forward, she replied, “Some people say there are three tiers of the Saint plane, and some people say there are four. Very few people reach the fourth tier, but if you want to reach Renhuang’s plane, you have to reach this fourth tier first.

“The first tier of the Divine Path consists of proving your holiness. Your state of mind is without blemish, your faith is firm, and you must pass across the catastrophe of the Divine Path. Most of the Saints of the Nine States are at this tier. At the second tier of the Divine Path, you know your true self, and thus it is called the True Self Plane. Your state of mind is even more firm and pure. She is on this tier, but now she is a little confused. She hesitates on this tier, trying to find her true self.” Yaya looked at Glass Saint. In the past, all she had wanted was to kill the Great Zhou Sacred King, and her mind was firmly set on that. But she had run into difficulties and was unable to advance to the next step. After the Great Zhou Sacred King had died, she had been severely wounded and her level was very unstable now. Although her swordsmanship was coming along well, she was not advancing in terms of her level.

“She needs to undergo a change in her state of mind in order to advance to the third tier of the Divine Path. This tier is close to the level of perfection and is called the Flawless Holiness. No one in the Nine States has reached this level. Saint Xia and Saint Li are the closest, but it will still be difficult for them to reach it.

“At the third tier you are already tending towards perfection, as for the fourth, it is called the Legendary Plane or Holy Nirvana. In order to go even higher and reach the Renhuang Plane, it is first necessary to achieve Nirvana.” Yaya spoke slowly as she introduced Ye Futian to the four tiers of the Saint plane.

“What is the highest tier that you ever got to?” asked Ye Futian.

“I achieved Nirvana.” Yaya did not hide anything and spoke directly. Ye Futian looked at her, then reached out and patted her head. It felt great to have a legendary sister who had achieved Nirvana. In the future, he would rely on her more.

Yaya’s face grew dark and she bit her lip, but it seemed that she had already become used to this guy’s shocking behavior. There was no use resisting it, she knew that Ye Futian still looked at her as the old Yaya and did not want her old personality to disappear.

“What about the Swordmaster of Lihen?” he asked as he pulled his hand back. Right now, the Swordmaster of Lihen was the best swordsman in Emperor Xia’s Realm. He must have reached the Legendary Plane.

“So many years have passed, he must have had many years of Nirvana,” answered Yaya.

Ye Futian was not surprised. With his supernatural state of mind, the Swordmaster of Lihen was known as the best swordsman, so there was nothing strange about him entering the Legendary Plane.

“How many Saints in Emperor Xia’s Realm have achieved Nirvana?” Ye Futian asked curiously.

“I don’t know much about the cultivators in Emperor Xia’s Realm, but there are probably a few at the third tier of Flawless Holiness. There can’t be more than ten who have achieved Nirvana though,” answered Yaya.

Ye Futian nodded. He trusted Yaya’s judgment. If the number of people who had achieved the peak of what was possible below the Saint level was so small, then the number of people who had achieved Nirvana would be even smaller.

The sound of footsteps came from behind him. He turned and saw the Village Chief, who said, “Someone has come from Emperor Xia’s Palace, saying the Princess has summoned you to the palace.”

“Xia Qingyuan?” Ye Futian was a bit confused. He didn’t know why she would be looking for him. These past few days, he had been cultivating diligently and had not paid attention to the affairs of the outside world.

“The Saints from the palace are probably there as well,” said the Village Chief.

A strange look came over Ye Futian’s face. “What has happened?” he asked.

“The Princess has probably summoned you because of this. If you go you’ll find out,” said the Village Chief.”

“Alright.” Ye Futian nodded. “Why don’t you come with me?” He had entered the upper levels of the Sage plane, but he was still nowhere near as fast as the Village Chief, and the villa was quite far from Emperor Xia’s Palace.

“Mmm.” The Village Chief nodded and the two of them left, riding on a sword towards Emperor Xia’s Palace.

…

Many cultivators had gathered together in a mighty hall in Emperor Xia’s Palace. Ye Futian walked in with the Village Chief and saw many familiar figures there. He smiled when he saw Douzhan, You Chi, Zhuge Qingfeng, Xu Shang, Yuan Hong, and Yun Shang coming towards him, calling out, “Palace Lord!” Six of the Saints from the Barren State were here. Only Saint Jiang was not.

“Saint Jiang isn’t here?” asked Ye Futian.

“Saint Jiang only cares about cultivating. You still don’t understand him,” said Douzhan with a smile. Everyone in the palace was extremely grateful to Saint Jiang, especially Douzhan. Saint Jiang had played a key role when he had passed through the catastrophe of the Divine Path. If he had not been there then, Douzhan would not be here today.

Ye Futian nodded. He knew Saint Jiang’s wishes. He smiled and said, “With Saint Jiang and his two great disciples there, the disciples of the palace will improve greatly.”

“Of course, and they also have instruction from us Saints. There is a different scene in the Barren State every day,” said You Chi with a smile. “With seven Saints stationed in the Lower Realm, you have no need to worry. And you have been named the Princess’s valet by Emperor Xia. You truly are worthy of being the leader of the Barren State.” Everyone looked at him with faces full of smiles. His status as the Princess’s valet was truly extraordinary.

Ye Futian looked at them all in shock. They were all Saints, shouldn’t this have seemed ordinary to them? It must be because his mood had changed. Now that the Barren State had stabilized, he was in a much better mood.

That was indeed the case. Their dream had always been to become Saints, and now that they had achieved that, everything was on the right track. How long had Ye Futian been in the Upper Realms? And he had already become the Princess’s valet? And moreover, his fame was growing. They were happy.

“Futian,” said a voice. Ye Futian looked forward and saw three figures coming towards him. He bowed slightly and said, “Greetings, seniors.”

The three who were coming towards him were Saint Xia, Saint Li, and Moon Saint. During the great war in the Nine States, they had all been very close to him, and Moon State had even directly participated in the war.

“I knew you would become famous in the Upper Realms, but I never would have imagined it would happen so quickly,” said Saint Xia with a smile. “But from now on, you can’t face the Princess the same way that you used to.” Saint Xia had been sick with worry over Ye Futian. He was far too brazen. But now Emperor Xia had personally given him a title, and now that he had come to the Upper Realms, he would become close with the Princess. He was her valet, after all.

“Don’t worry, the Princess may have a bad personality, but she is a good person,” whispered Ye Futian.

“You…” Saint Xia pointed a finger at Ye Futian. He was speechless. This guy had the guts to say that the Princess had a bad personality. That was simply…

Ye Futian smiled when he saw Saint Xia’s reaction. Saint Xia stared at him. This guy’s future was growing brighter and brighter, and now he even dared to tease him.

“I heard that not long ago you went to Lihen Heaven to take care of matters. You should restrain yourself as much as possible,” said Saint Xia as he shook his head. But even though he had said this, Ye Futian would probably not listen to him. Legendary figures were always overbearing to the extreme. Ye Futian was obviously this kind of person. There was no use urging him. But Lihen Heaven was the top force in Emperor Xia’s Realm, and this guy had still dared attack them.

“Do you know everything that happened?” asked Ye Futian.

“I know a little bit about everything that you’ve done in the Upper Realms,” said Saint Xia. “There has not been a man like you in the Nine States for many years. Please don’t disappoint us old fellows.”

Ye Futian thought of Yaya’s evaluation of the Saints of the Nine States and understood what Saint Xia truly meant. Right now there was no one in the Nine States at the third tier of the Saint Plane—the Flawless Holiness. Thus, Saint Xia was full of expectations for him.

His expression grew a little more solemn, and he nodded seriously. Saint Xia was more or less the leader of the Nine States. He did not expect to get anything from him, but he still had great expectations of him. Thus, he paid attention to what he was doing in the Upper Realms. That was his current state of mind.

Many other powerful people from top forces were also nearby. Xiao Sheng from the Xiao clan and Gongsun Zhong from Divine Cloud Valley were there, and they were all looking towards Ye Futian. Seeing the Saints gathered around him, they whispered about this unparalleled figure from the Nine States. He truly must be incredibly important down there, for as soon as he came, countless Saints flocked around him.

But even though he was unparalleled in the Nine States, there was nothing unusual about the people of the Nine States placing so much importance on someone like this. After all, the Lower Realm did not have as many powerful figures from top forces as the Upper Realms.