Ye Futian heard about the news and told Lord Taixuan. The Heavenly Mandate Academy sent disciples to various forces to invite their cultivators to come and stay at the academy for the time being. They wanted to prepare against all possibilities.

The Higher Heavens Realm, on the other hand, had been put on edge. Rumors spread over the past few days that the Golden Divine Nation might attack the Divine Palace, the holy land of the Higher Heavens Realm.

The Shangxiao Divine Palace had trained a great number of excellent cultivators. Even some Renhuangs from other realms once studied there. Nevertheless, ordinary Renhuangs didn’t have the ability to intervene if the Golden Divine Nation truly set their sights on the Divine Palace. Even high-level Renhuangs could hardly pull strings.

Nowadays, many of the disciples who came from top forces and cultivated in the Divine Palace had already left the palace. It was easy to imagine how delicate the situation was.

However, Ye Futian and the others in the Heavenly Mandate Academy didn’t hear the news of the Golden Divine Nation attacking the Shangxiao Divine Palace. They were hit with another bombshell.

The Golden Divine Nation did launch an attack. But it was not against the Shangxiao Divine Palace.

Lord Taixuan and Ye Futian in the Heavenly Mandate Academy were astounded by the report.

“The Divine Sword Li Family was exterminated?” Lord Taixuan stared at the messenger and repeated his words. He used to cultivate in the Taixuan Mountain in the Higher Heavens Realm and was very familiar with the forces in the Higher Heavens Realm.

Although the Divine Sword Li Family didn’t have any living legend, it was a family with great power and rich heritage. They had been the holy land of swordsmanship in the Higher Heavens Realm.

Lord Taixuan and Ye Futian heard about some news regarding the Divine Sword Li Family not so long ago. It was shocking for them to learn that the entire Divine Sword Li Family was killed so abruptly.

This…

“Yes, the Golden Divine Nation and the Divine Capital of Xiling both claimed that the Divine Sword Li Family feigned compliance but deliberately undermined the alliance in the Higher Heavens Realm behind the scenes, hindered the progress of forming a unity among forces, and damaged the future of the realm. That was why they took aggressive actions. Although they didn’t wipe out the entire Divine Sword Li Family, they killed their top cultivators. In addition, the assailants were not those two masters from the Golden Divine Nation. It was people from other forces,” the messenger replied.

“Forces from the Outer Realms?” Lord Taixuan asked.

“Yes.” The messenger nodded.

“Is it the Holy Land of Taichu?” Lord Taixuan asked.

“It’s unclear. But it’s probably not the same group of people from the Holy Land of Taichu who came to the Heavenly Mandate Academy last time. We don’t know much about the cultivators from the Outer Realms and couldn’t figure out which forces they belong to. However, there is a rumor around the Higher Heavens Realm that the Holy Land of Taichu is not the only one who joined hands with the Golden Divine Nation. It seems like other forces were in it too,” the messenger continued to speak.

Lord Taixuan’s expression was grave. He didn’t expect the Golden Divine Nation to strike the Divine Sword Li Family first.

They had some connection with the Divine Sword Li Family, yet it was never a close relationship.

“It seems that the Golden Divine Nation is fully prepared this time,” said Lord Taixuan.

“The Golden Divine Nation always wants to target at the Heavenly Mandate Academy and, of course, has extensive knowledge of our relationship with the Divine Palace. They knew we had formed an alliance with the Divine Palace a long time ago, and they understand the level of our ability. Under such circumstances, they must have evaluated the situation if they decided to attack. They have another objective besides the Divine Palace,” Ye Futian said in a cold voice.

“Based on what you said, the forces from the Outer Realms came because of us.” Lord Taixuan certainly understood what Ye Futian meant. The Heavenly Mandate Academy would antagonize the forces from the Outer Realms if they helped the Divine Palace. They would make even more enemies if that happened.

“The Golden Divine Nation has ulterior motives. They attacked the Divine Sword Li Family, but the Divine Sword Li Family was not their true target,” said Ye Futian. The Golden Divine Nation clearly fired at the Divine Sword Li Family to deter other forces in the Higher Heavens Realm. In this way, the other forces couldn’t even stand by and look on anymore, let alone help the Divine Palace. They had to pick a side. Chances were that they had no choice but to join the Golden Divine Nation’s camp and eventually be reduced to its dependent territories.

If they dared to defy the Golden Divine Nation, they probably had to think it through whether they were prepared to meet the same destiny of the Divine Sword Li Family.

“I will go to the Divine Palace,” said Ye Futian.

“You will go?” Lord Taixuan asked as he looked at Ye Futian.

“Yes, I will go,” Ye Futian replied, nodding. By paying a visit to the Divine Palace, he could express the attitude of the Heavenly Mandate Academy and their willingness to act in unison with the Divine Palace. His visit would boost the confidence of the cultivators in the Divine Palace. Meanwhile, it could serve as a deterrent to other forces in the Higher Heavens Realm and warn them not to strike the Divine Palace when they were down.

No one else was more suitable than Ye Futian to take this trip.

The Divine Palace stood behind the Heavenly Mandate Academy and sent in reinforcements without hesitation when the Dark Army was bearing down upon the border. Even if they were not allies, the Heavenly Mandate Academy couldn’t stay out this time for the sake of reciprocity.

Therefore, they had no choice but to declare war against the Golden Divine Nation if the latter really wanted to fire at the Divine Palace.

After a moment of silence, Lord Taixuan nodded and said, “All right. Go ahead.”

Of course, Lord Taixuan supported Ye Futian’s proposal. Despite the high risk, the Heavenly Mandate Academy couldn’t stand by idly when the Divine Palace was in danger since the Divine Palace fought for Ye Qingyao in the past. Who would come to help the Heavenly Mandate Academy again if they turned their back on the Divine Palace?

“I will ask Little Condor to keep everyone on our side in the loop. We will activate the teleportation grand matrix to go to the Divine Palace immediately if anything happened,” said Ye Futian. Lord Taixuan nodded and watched as Ye Futian leave.

******

The tension in the Shangxiao Divine Palace was palpable in recent days.

The disciples cultivating in the Divine Palace had been unable to relax ever since the news arrived.

Several disciples gathered in the Divine Palace on this day.

Several Palace Lords stood at the front of the crowd when a senior cultivator of the Divine Palace walked toward them. He looked around the room and spoke loudly, “Rumors have been floating around the Divine Palace these days as several incidents happened recently. I know many of you are very worried.”

No one broke the silence. Indeed, the cultivators had all been thinking about their futures of late.

“I know you all have different plans for yourselves. The Divine Palace is not a clan but a place for people to seek knowledge of the Great Path together. We have done nothing more than propagating our ideas and imparting information to our disciples. Therefore, the Divine Palace will not ask all of you to undergo such calamity with us. We summoned you here to let you know that anyone who wishes to leave is free to go. Cultivators who are below the Renhuang Plane must leave for safety concerns and may return to the Divine Palace to cultivate after the crisis is over,” said the senior cultivator.

The crowd was dumbstruck by his announcement.

The Divine Palace asked them to leave.

They encouraged the disciples who were cultivating in the Divine Palace to leave in the face of a crisis. Moreover, they ordered everyone below the Renhuang Plane to evacuate.

There were some rumors about the Divine Palace’s self-serving agenda circulating around in recent days. Some cultivators also began to harbor suspicions because of the close relationship between the Heavenly Mandate Academy and the Divine Palace and the fact that the Ancestral Lands was not open to disciples of the Divine Palace.

Nevertheless, all doubts were put to rest now.

The Divine Palace only propagated ideas and imparted knowledge. The seniors in the Divine Palace freely let the disciples leave when facing an adversarial situation.

How magnanimous they were.

The Divine Palace truly was a place established solely to help people cultivate.

“Senior, the palaces in the Divine Palace all have considerable strength. Even though the Golden Divine Nation has a long history, could they really be a threat to our Divine Palace?” a junior disciple asked. He hadn’t reached the Renhuang Plane yet, but he was worried about the Divine Palace and didn’t want to abandon them.

“Our Divine Palace wouldn’t care so much if it’s just the Golden Divine Nation,” the senior cultivator said with great confidence as he cracked a smile. “But the situation is much more serious than you imagined. Thus, anyone below the Renhuang Plane has to leave. There is no room for negotiation. Don’t be a burden for the Divine Palace.”

Cultivators below the Renhuang Plane were nothing but cannon fodder once the war broke out. It was meaningless for them to stay since they could hardly withstand any attack. Calling them a burden was accurate, albeit not nice. Furthermore, the senior cultivator intentionally used harsh words to push them out.

“Senior, we have been studying here for so long. How can you kick us out so easily? It would be quite embarrassing for us if we cut and run,” a Renhuang said with a smile. “Therefore, it’s better for me to stay. I’m going to cultivate if you have nothing else.”

The man turned around and left as his voice faded. Many people stared at his receding figure and were astonished at his integrity.

At the moment, a brilliant light suddenly blazed from behind the great hall. Beams of the dazzling light of Space shot into the sky and seemed to have paved an Ancient Road of the Great Path.

Many cultivators immediately turned their eyes to that direction and covered the area with their divine consciousness.

“It’s the teleportation grand matrix of space.” The senior cultivator of the Divine Palace also looked over that way and realized who was coming.

Nowadays, only the Heavenly Mandate Academy could directly teleport to the Divine Palace.

Someone from the Heavenly Mandate Academy was here.

The light grew faint in a short time. A line of people became visible in the divine consciousness, none of them intimidating. Ye Futian was the head of the group, accompanied by his friends.

Upon his arrival, Ye Futian moved directly to the area where the cultivators of the Divine Palace had gathered. A strange look flashed across his face when he saw the crowd. He descended from the sky and saluted the cultivators standing on the platform. “Greetings from Ye Futian to the seniors of the Divine Palace.”

“Why do you come?” the senior cultivator of the Divine Palace asked. It seemed pointless for Ye Futian and his friends to come.

“Senior, I’m practically a disciple of the Divine Palace even though I currently cultivate in the Heavenly Mandate Academy. I even entered the Ancestral Lands before. Is it all right for me to come to the Divine Palace to cultivate for a while?” Ye Futian asked, smiling.

People in the Divine Palace understood Ye Futian’s intention the moment he said he wanted to cultivate here for some time.

Ye Futian planned to go through the disturbance in the company of the Divine Palace.

Considering Ye Futian’s current position, his decision to come to the Divine Palace indicated that the Heavenly Mandate Academy behind him would also be backing up the Divine Palace.

His arrival signaled the attitude of the Heavenly Mandate Academy.

The disciples of the Divine Palace also laughed. Ye Futian was extremely arrogant and puffed with pride when he came to the Divine Palace the first time. He challenged and defeated the most talented cultivators in the Divine Palace and displeased a lot of people at that time. However, as time passed and Ye Futian’s reputation grew, most of his peers back in the days were not a match for him anymore. After all, he could easily beat an ordinary middle-level Renhuang nowadays.

For all that, no one was disgruntled by Ye Futian’s visit this time. Everybody greeted him with a warm, welcoming smile.

“The cultivators in the Divine Palace are glad to have a chance to learn from Renhuang Ye,” a cultivator in the Renhuang Plane said with a broad smile. Many people grinned from ear to ear. No one brought up leaving the Divine Palace.