Chapter 1698: Strength of the Shen Clan?

In the Heavenly Mandate Academy, Yun Qianyue had a radiant smile as she looked up at Ye Futian. She did not know what to call him. Would she embarrass Ye Futian if she called him his teacher?

“Qianyue,” Ye Futian shouted with a smile, “Come to my side.”

“En.” Yun Qianyue nodded seriously. She moved to the area behind Ye Futian.

“Who else is willing to attend the Heavenly Mandate Academy’s test?” Ye Futian continued to ask as he looked at the crowd.

He saw two other figures step out.

Ye Futian let out a shocked expression when he saw the two figures. They were both familiar faces.

The prince of the Crimson Dragon Realm, Chi Shang, and his wife, Yu Shifei.

The two of them walked forward. People from the cast crowd recognized them. Amongst the people who recognized them was an exceptional teen with the light of the Divine Fire in his eyes. He came from the Crimson Dragon Realm. It was Luo Yang. He had come to the Heavenly Mandate Realm along with Ye Futian back then.

He was a little surprised that Chi Shang and Yu Shifei would step out at this time.

The two of them walked into the Heavenly Mandate Academy and smiled at Ye Futian, “We’ll accept the test of the Heavenly Mandate Academy.”

Ye Futian nodded toward them and smiled, “Alright.”

The king of the Golden Divine Nation, Gai Cang, and the powerful fighters of the Shen clan looked at the people. They did not expect there to be such courageous people at this time.

They wanted to see how many people would display such courage and dared to enter the Heavenly Mandate Academy to train.

“I am willing to join the Heavenly Mandate Realm.” Another person walked out. He had an exceptional demeanor, and his cultivation level was at the peak of the Saint Plane. He was dressed in a long-sleeved shirt and looked free-spirited and unrestrained.

“Chu Yu.” The people in the Heavenly Mandate City let out a look of shock. Chu Yu was reputable within the Heavenly Mandate City and had exceptional potential in terms of cultivation. Even the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty wanted to pull him over to their side.

Back then, the prince of the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty, Yi Tianyu, had personally tried to sway Chu Yu and sparred with him. He praised Chu Yu highly and invited him to train together with him.

However, Chu Yu had not accepted his invitation. He said that he did not want to join the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty for the moment. Instead, he wanted to focus on proving his path and entering the Renhaung Plane. Yi Tianyu did not force him. He said that he would look for Chu Yu after he reached the Renhuang Plane.

Many people thought that Chu Yu would become a member of the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty and support Yi Tianyu after he stepped into the Renhaung Plane.

However, the dynasty had been destroyed before Chu Yu reached the Renhuang Plane.

“I am Chu Yu from Heavenly Mandate City. If the Heavenly Mandate Academy does not mind, I am willing to join the Heavenly Mandate Academy to train,” Chu Yu said as he looked at Ye Futian. He was rather famous in Heavenly Mandate City. If Ye Futian wanted to investigate him after the matter, he would easily be able to find out that he had interacted with the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty and even Yi Tianyu.

Ye Futian knew what the other party meant when he heard that he was Chu Yu from Heavenly Mandate City. He knew that the other party was worried that the Heavenly Mandate Academy would exclude people who have had contact with the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty.

“The Heavenly Mandate Academy does not care about your background,” Ye Futian said, “Welcome.”

Chu Yu nodded and walked forward into the academy.

Back then, he had not joined the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty as it had not been a faction purely focused on cultivation and spreading the Great Path. Even though Yi Tianyu thought of him highly, he would have to listen to Yi Tianyu’s orders if he entered the dynasty. He would not have entered the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty even if he entered the Renhuang Plane.

The Heavenly Mandate Academy was a good fit for him.

As for the threat of the Golden Divine Nation and the Shen clan, he would have to face it sooner or later unless he decided never to join the Heavenly Mandate Academy. Since his fate was tied to that of the Heavenly Mandate Academy and that he had already come to a decision, why not join the academy earlier?

This way, with his talent and potential, he might be able to come into contact with the top-notch figures of the Heavenly Mandate Academy.

Opportunities were always presented alongside crises.

After Chu Yu walked out, several cultivators from the Heavenly Mandate City walked out one after the other and moved toward the Heavenly Mandate Academy. With someone in the lead, the rest of the people felt more courageous. It was most difficult for the people who were the earliest to step out.

Many figures wavered in the direction of the Heavenly Mandate City as they walked toward the Heavenly Mandate Academy. Of course, the combined cultivation level of the people gathered around the Heavenly Mandate City was pathetically low. The situation would not have happened this way if the Golden Divine Nation and the Shen clan was not here.

Many of the cultivators had no choice but to consider the future of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. It was an extreme risk. It would be bad if a war were to break out.

They hoped that the academy that had just been set up in the Heavenly Mandate Realm would not topple that quickly. This had significance across the generations. If the academy were to crumble, the Heavenly Mandate Realm would be forced into a slump and be tossed behind by the top-notch factions of the other realms.

Time passed. The vast space was still extremely quiet. Ye Futian, Lord Taixuan, and the rest of the powerful fighters looked on at the scene quietly. The Golden Divine Nation and the Shen clan did the same.

Finally, the number of people entering the Heavenly Mandate Academy got fewer and fewer before the stream of people stopped. Ye Futian counted the number of people. A little more than 300 people had entered the Heavenly Mandate Academy and were willing to take the test.

He also noticed that most of the people were at the Saint Plane. They all had exceptional demeanor. People who had the courage to step out during such a time proved several things.

Most of the people in this group would have an exceptional talent for cultivation.

“We’ll stop here today,” Ye Futian announced, “The first batch of core disciples of the Heavenly Mandate Academy will have a thousand people. The people who entered the Heavenly Mandate Academy today will be exempt from the test and will immediately become a core disciple of the Heavenly Mandate Academy. What do you think about that, lord and teacher?”

“Sure.” Lord Taixuan nodded. He did not mind the arrangement.

This caused many people to let out a look of shock. The Heavenly Mandate Academy was set up jointly by many influential factions. Undoubtedly, the factions from the Heavenly Mandate Realm and the factions who had come here to congratulate Ye Futian would send many people into the Heavenly Mandate Academy to train and occupy the spots for core disciples. That, coupled with the 300-odd people who had entered the Heavenly Mandate Academy today, meant that there might not be much of the 1000-disciple quota left.

This meant that those who wished to enter the Heavenly Mandate Academy could only fight for an extremely limited spot. The rest of the people would have to become outer sect disciples.

Indeed, the first batch of people who entered the academy would receive special attention. They would be heavily nurtured.

Of course, that was logical.

Ye Futian knew that if the Heavenly Mandate Academy could exist stably within the Heavenly Mandate Realm, it would become a top-notch academy within the 3000 Realms of the Great Path in the future. He did not have to worry about the issue of the core disciples.

Of the people that would be heavily nurtured by the Heavenly Mandate Academy, talent was but one aspect. They also had to have exceptional character. Only then could the academy flourish through the generations.

“The Heavenly Mandate Academy has been officially created. We’ll be accepting disciples for the next three months. Today’s session will end now. Please do as you see fit,” Ye Futian said as he looked at the Golden Divine Nation and the Shen clan. He sent them off.

“That means to say that the Heavenly Mandate Academy intends to stubbornly go about their matters?” the powerful fighter from the Shen clan asked. He naturally referred to the matter of the Sky River Great Elder being the dean of the academy.

“None of your business,” Lord Taixuan replied directly. Now that he had trained himself to the level he was at, he had a calm state of mind. However, he felt a little angry at this moment.

The Shen clan was meddling in too many things.

“Lord, you sure have a good amount of free time to be playing along with these cultivators from the Heavenly Mandate Realm. It is just that you have no strength, just relying on the alliance of the Heavenly Mandate Realm. You wish to create a fabled land for spreading the Great Path just with this?” the powerful fighter from the Shen clan said with a cold laugh, “In the nine realms, only Shentian Academy and the Shangxiao Divine Palace could stand throughout the generations. How long can the Heavenly Mandate Academy last?”

Several people let out a weird expression. That was a direct threat to the Heavenly Mandate Academy.

The Shen clan would never allow the Heavenly Mandate Academy to prosper.

The existence of the Sky River Great Elder and Ye Futian was a threat to the Shen clan.

“What strength?” Ye Futian asked, “Everything in this universe starts from zero, as do any faction. Similarly, no matter how strong a faction is, there would come a day when it collapses. The Heavenly Mandate Dynasty had stood in the Heavenly Mandate Realm for countless years. But today, it had been buried under the foot of the Heavenly Mandate Academy.”

“Conceited arrogance.” The powerful fighter of the Shen clan looked at Ye Futian. Was he threatening the Shen clan?

What big words.

“You are right. However, in the countless years that the Heavenly Mandate Dynasty had existed, how many factions in the Heavenly Mandate Realm rose and collapsed? What can a newly created academy produce to compare itself with a top-notch faction that stands at the top of the nine realms?” the powerful fighter of the Shen clan replied calmly.

“At least in my generation, the Heavenly Mandate Academy will become stronger than the Shen clan,” Ye Futian replied forcefully.

“You sure do not mince your words.” Pressure radiated from the body of the powerful fighter from the Shen clan. It enveloped the surroundings.

He was going to become stronger than the Shen clan in his generation?

The Heavenly Mandate Academy had produced three wielders of the perfect Divine Wheel in this generation. Was he disregarding the Shen clan because of that?

While it is true that only Shen Hao had forged a perfect Divine Wheel in the Shen clan in this generation, but overall, the Shen clan had countless powerful fighters. How could the Heavenly Mandate Academy compare to the Shen clan?

“Mince my words?” Ye Futian looked at the other party. The powerful fighter of the Shen clan thought too highly of himself.

“Do you wish to have a go?”

He had just said that when the entire space became momentarily silent. Ye Futian was asking the Shen clan if they wanted to have a go at it!

Was he challenging Shen Hao from the Shen clan?

Shen Hao stood within the Shen clan’s group. Divine light radiated from his body as he stepped forward. However, the person at the front of the Shen clan’s group stopped him and said, “Shen Ling, you go.”

“Alright.”

A voice replied. At that moment, a youth with exceptional flair stepped forward. He was a lower-level Renhuang and had a third-tier Divine Wheel. He had exceptional abilities.

He knew that the other party had three wielders of the perfect Divine Wheel and thus would not be so careless as to send a person with a first-tier or second-tier Divine Wheel into battle. Thus, he chose Shen Ling.

Shen Ling’s battle capabilities were extremely strong. He nearly forged a perfect Divine Wheel in the past.

Shen Ling glanced toward Ye Futian. A terrifying divine light shot out from his eyes.

“Your opponent is not me.” A radiant ray of golden divine light shot out from Ye Futian’s eyes when he saw that Shen Ling was staring at him. He said, “Yu Sheng.”

The opponent had an exceptional demeanor and must be extremely powerful. His Third Senior, Gu Dongliu, was the master of the Celestial gate, and it was not convenient for him to fight. The Swordmaster of Lihen would find it difficult to achieve victory.

Thus, Yu Sheng was the natural candidate.

Boom. A figure stepped forward from within the Heavenly Mandate Academy. The earth shook when he stepped forward. Everyone in the vast surroundings felt the dull thud.

Yu Sheng’s muscular figure stood in front of Shen Ling. In the academy, Ye Futian said, “Even though the Shen clan sent out a wielder of a third-tier Divine Wheel, it’s enough that the Heavenly Mandate Academy sent out a disciple with a first-tier Divine Wheel. Today, I hope to witness the strength of the Shen clan.”

…