The Legend of Futian

The next day morning, in the palace of the Great Li, warriors of the Upper Realms gathered in front of the matrix of the space portal.
Lü Chuan, swordsmen of Sword Mountain and the chosen winners ready to cultivate in the Upper Realms were all here.
So was Ye Futian.
He had agreed to go with them to the Upper Realms for cultivation.
Although he didn’t promise to join Sword Mountain, as a swordsman of his level, he should go to the Upper Realms to pursue swordsmanship.

King Li saw them off in person.
Many in the palace went with them, such as the Princess Li You.
The Great Li Dynasty ruled over both Realms.
King Li was the king of the Lower Realms, but he was also a duke in the Upper Realms because he was a royal member of the Great Li Dynasty.
The princes and princesses in King Li’s palace also had royal blood coursing through their veins, so there was no need for them to pass an assessment in order to cultivate in the Upper Realms.
For much of their time, they stayed in the palace of the Upper Realms.

The giant matrix of the space portal at their front was the direct access to the villa of King Li in the Upper Realms; it could be used to commute any time.

“Your Majesty, we can see ourselves out here,” Lü Chuan saluted with his fist and said to King Li.
The swordsmen echoed, “Please return, Your Majesty.
We will come back to visit someday if we have the chance.”

“Okay, please take care,” King Li nodded and said.
When all the people stood on the matrix of the space portal, one person triggered the matrix using sacred spirit stones.
All of a sudden, boundless glares erupted.
The dazzles rose up high as if they had pierced through the skydome and been projected into the upper regions of infinite distance, vanishing with the group of people.

The matrix of the space portal opened up both Realms, so besides the colossal matrix, the launching process each time would also cost enormous sacred spirit stones to create enough energy to send one into the indefinitely distant space.
The longer the distance was, the more scared spirit stones it required.
So, even for ones of the royal hierarchy, it was very rare to employ the matrix of the space portal, and almost only royal members had the privilege of using it.

During the Battle of Empty Realm, the matrix of the space portal was used by Ye Futian and others to cross the endless void space from Emperor Xia’s Realm into the Realm of Empty Space.

…

They arrived at the Great Li Dynasty in the Upper Realms.
Rows of lofty palaces standing erect on the ground exhibited the imperial grandeur.

Standing on the top of one palace of this villa and looking afar, one would see a Palace of the Ninth Sky that towered into the clouds like a sacred temple; that was the royal palace of the Great Li Dynasty.

The villa that stood in the neighborhood of the royal palace of the Great Li must also be uncommon, and in fact, it was where the Mansion of the King Li, the Lower Realms King Li’s residential home in the Upper Realms located.

A beam of dazzling light discharged from the Mansion of the King Li and hit into the sky dome, containing a very strong spirit of the Space Law.

Following the appearance of the beam, a large team of people showed up in the villa.

At this location, the void space was emitting dazzling space rays; a myriad of formations of the Great Law surrounded this area; everyone’s body spun around in the formations until they finally landed.

The luminous pattern gradually dimmed, too, until it vanished; only then did they adjust and stand still.

In the villa, several figures came near.
The person who took the lead with unusual charisma was the King Li’s eldest son; he somehow took after the King Li and always guarded the Mansion of the King Li in the Upper Realms.
The King Li ruled the Lower Realms for the Emperor Li, while his eldest son Li Yang was arranged to inherit the Mansion of the King Li in the Upper Realms.

“I am glad to see you back,” Li Yang made a fist salute and said to all of them.

“Your Highness,” they answered.

“Brother Lü Chuan, how was your trip?” Li Yang asked Lü Chuan.
Apparently, they knew each other.

After all, the Mansion of the Imperial Advisor was also in the surrounding.

“Not bad.
There were indeed some extraordinary talents in the Lower Realms of the Great Li, and we have brought them to the Upper Realms this time,” Li Yang said.

“Sounds good.
You must be tired now.
Everybody, please have a seat in the villa.
I will ask my servants to prepare a feast,” Lü Chuan said.

“Thank you so much for your generosity, your Highness, but the King Li have served us very well for many days, so we should not bother anymore.
It’s time to bid farewell,” Someone said.

“I should go back and report to my master, too.
Don’t bother preparing it.”

Li Yang nodded, saying, “if so, I will not persuade you all to stay.
Please take care.”

“Farewell,” people made fist salute and flew away from the place.

Lü Chuan and cultivators of the Swords Mountain were the last to leave.
The Saint Sword of Shadow Bearing’s gaze fell upon Ye Futian and asked, “now we have reached the Upper Realms, what is your plan? Do you want to come with me to Sword Mountain first?”

Sword Mountain was the Swordsmanship Holy Place of the first rank in the Great Li, but it was not in this area and rather far away.

“Where are we now?” Ye Futian asked.

“Here is the Mansion of the King Li, close to the Imperial Palace of the Great Li.
This district includes not only the Imperial Palace, the Mansion of the King Li, but also the Mansion of the Imperial Advisor and many residential palaces of royal members.
It is the center of the Great Li Dynasty,” Princess Li You replied.

“If so, I will find a place to cultivate nearby.
There must be many top swordsmen in the center district of the Great Li,” Ye Futian said, “of course, I will not forget the promise between us, sir.
If any disciple of Sword Mountain can defeat the sword in my hand, I will definitely go to Sword Mountain to cultivate.”

The Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing kept silent for a while after hearing Ye Futian’s words.
Li You laughed and said, “sir, let me arrange for the Seventh Sword.
If he doesn’t mind, he can always stay in the villa.”

The Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing took a look at Li Yao and slightly nodded.
In fact, he really hoped to take Ye Futian to cultivate in Sword Mountain.
He had seen Ye Futian’s swordplay, and of course he didn’t want to miss such an extraordinarily potential young man.

If he could join Sword Mountain, he would definitely become a preeminent swordsman-in-training.

“Good, if Princess can take care of him, I don’t need to worry about anything, so now I will go back to Sword Mountain,” the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing said.
It made Li Yang a little curious about Ye Futian; this handsome young man seemed to be somehow unusual; both Sword Mountain and his sister Li You specially talked about him.

Lü Chuan didn’t leave as if he was waiting for an arrangement for him as well.

The Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing led all his swordsmen-in-training to leave.
Lü Chuan said, “I should go, too.”

“Let me see you out,” said Li You.

“No need to bother about me.
I can go back by myself,” Lü Chuan said, smiling, and then looked back to Ye Futian, “we shall meet again.”

“See you again someday,” Ye Futian nodded and said.
Lü Chuan left with his people as well.

After a short while, only people of the Mansion of the Great Li and Ye Futian were left.

“You Li, you haven’t introduced him to me yet,” Li Yang said with a laugh and looked at Ye Futian.

“This gentleman, the Seventh Sword, is a swordsman-in-training of our Great Li.
As a recluse swordsman, he learned various Laws of the Swordsmanship by himself.
He was the champion among the Nine Commanderies of the Great Li, and nobody could resist the attack of his sword; even Yuan Gang of Sword Mountain was defeated by him.
Our father held the feast to convene all the talents of the world where the attention of the Realms only belonged to the Seventh Sword himself.
He is peerless in the Lower Realms.” Li You smiled, continued introducing, “and, the Sword Saint of Shadowing Bearing invited the Seventh Sword to cultivate in Sword Mountain and promised if any disciple of Sword Mountain could defeat him, the Seventh Sword would join Sword Mountain, otherwise, his current Law of Swordsmanship will be proved to be the best in the world and he will not join Sword Mountain.”

Li Yang’s eyes widened slightly.
A swordsman-in-training, peerless in the Upper Realms and refused to join the Sword?

“No wonder the Sword Saint of Shadow Bearing treated you with special respect.
It’s so glad to see such a gallant hero emerging from the Upper Realms of our Great Li,” Li Yang said, laughing, “I am Li Yang of the Great Li.”

Li Yang was the King Li’s son who was from the direct bloodline of the Great Li Dynasty, so he called himself as Li Yang of the Great Li like what Lü Chuan did.

Lü Chuan was the disciple of the Imperial Advisor, and the Imperial Advisor of the Great Li Dynasty was a close confidant of Emperor Li, so when he introduced himself, he also called himself as Lü Chuan of the Great Li.
If one was a disciple of Sword Mountain, he would not call himself like that; instead he would add Sword Mountain after his name.

“I am the Seventh Sword, a swordsman-in-training,” said Ye Futian, “I am very flattered by princess.”

“I am a similar age to you, so if you don’t mind, you can directly call me You Li.
Calling me Princess sounds like our relationship is distant,” You Li said, smiling.

Ye Futian looked at her beautiful noble face; her smile was as soft as a spring breeze that made one feel warm; she was indeed an irresistibly attractive woman.

When she sat in the Palace of the King Li of the Lower Realm, she was a vision of grace and elegance, but now, she was as close as a friend who would never let one feel a sense of distance.

“You Li Princess,” Ye Futian directly called her name but added her title Princess after it, which adequately kept his distance.

You Li paused a second, laughed and said, “my father is always in the Lower Realms, so the villa is often empty.
If you don’t mind, how about staying in the Mansion of the King Li for a few days?”

Although the King Li was of royal lineage and granted with the title of King, in the World of Cultivation, it was one’s real strength that determined the rank he belonged to.

Take the Imperial Advisor as an example, which royal member dared to claim that his position was higher than the Imperial Advisor?

Even the King’s own son was extremely deferential to him.

There were quite a lot of powers of high rank in the Great Li, such as Sword Mountain and Cao Family.

Given the talent Ye Tianfu had exhibited, if he joined Sword Mountain, it was very likely that he would become an important figure of Sword Mountain; if he chose not to join Sword Mountain, that would mean no peer of Sword Mountain could defeat him, so wouldn’t his accomplishment be great in the future?

And now such a figure appeared in the Mansion of the King Li.
As a princess, You Li naturally would like to get close to him and established a relationship.

There were only advantages for the Mansion – no disadvantages whatsoever.

“I appreciate your kindness, Princess.
It’s just I have been accustomed to living alone on the path of cultivation, and I am afraid I will feel restricted when living in the Mansion, so I think I will not stay,” Ye Futian refused.
It was no doubt that he would approach the core of the Great Li some day, but not in such a way.

“If so, I respect your decision,” You Li said with a smile, “but you just came here from the Lower Realms, and there are many things you are not familiar with in the Imperial City.
You will not mind if I arrange your accommodation, will you?”

Ye Futian could see the sincerity from her gorgeous eyes.
It was indeed hard to decline it since You Li had said in such a way, so he nodded and said, “if so, I am greatly thankful for your help.”

“It’s no bother at all,” You Li said.

“You said here is the Imperial City, Princess?” said Ye Futian.

“Yes,” Li You nodded and said, “you can come up with me.”

She leapt up onto the roof after she talked; Ye Futian followed her.
You Li pointed a finger into a far distance, and there Ye Futian saw a palace that towered into the clouds.

“That is the Imperial Palace, the absolute center of the Great Li, surrounded by sites such as the Mansion of the Great Li.
Although there is no specific dividing line between regions, people of the Great Li usually call this district the Imperial District,” Li You explained.

Ye Futian looked up to the palace that towered into the sky.
Li Yao, he must be living there.

Until he reached here, Ye Futian had taken a detour from Emperor Xia’s Realm and crossed the Lower Realm, but approaching the imperial palace this quick was indeed out of his expectation.
It was his luck to catch such an epochal opportunity; otherwise, if he wanted to go to the Upper Realms, he would probably have to take much more time to attract the King Li’s attention!