Chapter 2685 - Awakening

Standing on the ruins, Ye Futian did not hurry to enter meditation mode, as he could somewhat feel the power of an unknown origin within the realm. It gave him goosebumps.

Lifting his head, he stared at the dark sky that was overwhelmed with suffocating pressure. The presence of destructive power was everywhere. Ruins of the Great Emperors dispersed over the land within his sight. Intimidating auras could be felt from every location of the ruins.

He tried to appraise the unknown power after unleashing his perception to its maximum range and output, yet it remained undetectable as if it was hidden further inside.

While he was detecting his surrounding, all the other cultivators were rushing toward the ruins of the emperors, attempting to unlock and inherit the treasures of the late emperors.

Seeing that the cultivators from Ziwei Imperial Palace and West Imperial Palace could not hold back their excitement, Ye Futian said, "Go ahead."

"Yes, my Lord." They immediately scurried in different directions. Since everyone's cultivating journey was different, they headed to ruins that could benefit them. However, Hua Jieyu did not move from the spot. Standing beside Ye Futian, she asked, "Can you sense it?"

"I'm not sure," Ye Futian responded. "There is an unknown power within these ruins. This place may not be as simple as it seems."

Taking a step forward from behind, Hua Qingqing shifted her gaze toward the sky and whispered, "I can feel it too. This power seems to have an evil origin."

Nodding, Ye Futian remained silent for a while. Checking his surrounding, he uttered, "Let's us begin our meditation."

Many cultivators had already commenced their meditation, hoping to inherit something from the perished Great Emperors. So, the trio had to pick up their paces.

Ye Futian strolled in a direction that did not lead to imperial arms but toward the lotus.

Standing before the lotus, Ye Futian could feel an abundant life force from it. The flower was in full bloom. The Divine Light of Life emanated from it radiated its surroundings, piercing its illumination across the infinite space inconspicuously. The entire domain was under the Will of Lotus's influence.

This lotus is suitable for Qingyuan, Ye Futian thought to himself. Xia Qingyuan did not join the expedition team this time. But she had stumbled across a lotus during her first time visiting the Ruins of the Gods back then—one that a Great Emperor once meditated on.

In fact, there was a likelihood that this lotus was a byproduct of a Great Emperor. If Xia Qingyuan could merge herself with this flower, her cultivation level would, without a doubt, grow to the next level. For that reason, he wanted to bring the whole plant back with him.

After expanding his perception ability to its maximum output, Ye Futian infused the aura of the Great Way into the lotus to create a resonance with it. Closing his eyes, he tried to enter the dimension of the lotus.

The power of the World Tree from his body was surrounding the lotus and gradually seeped into the flower. Soon, a connection was formed between him and the lotus, and it only grew stronger as time passed.

After witnessing the happening, most of the cultivators nearby left Ye Futian alone and did not attempt to compete against him for the flower. After all, he was the one who opened up this path. Everyone knew the extend of his strength, so it would be pointless to fight with him.

Besides, there were numerous ruins of the Great Emperors in this place. Hence, they had no reason to stay there.

However, the fight in the other locations was intense. Some people were meditating; meanwhile, the rest were trying to plunder the imperial arms through violence. Battles were happening everywhere as the pillage began.

Letting no distraction affects him, Ye Futian focused on his perception silently as his connection with the lotus intensified. Soon, all his senses drifted into the world of the lotus. In there, the divine light of the lotus dazzled. Countless rays of the light of life dispersed across the atmosphere, covering the boundless space. At once, he noticed the span of its domain had reached the imperial arms and all the other ruins of the Great Emperors. Moreover, they were connected.

Ye Futian caught sight of numerous lights. Each of them represented a location of the Great Emperor's ruin. None of them were scattered arbitrarily. Instead, they were placed in a specific manner to form a macroscale divine matrix.

Ye Futian's heart skipped a beat. He had been bothered by an ominous feeling when he stepped into this domain. Witnessing this did nothing but aggravate his sense of imminent danger.

At that moment, the other cultivators were fighting against each other to loot the treasures left at the ruins of the Great Emperors. Their clashes further weakened the already unstable divine matrix, cracking it in the process.

Suddenly, an incorporeal silhouette appeared within the range of Ye Futian's perception. It was an empress with a majestic temperament—a bonafide goddess who also happened to be the owner of the lotus.

"Do not destroy the matrix!" Ye Futian heard a voice speaking into his mind via telepathy. It belonged to the goddess who left a fragment of her consciousness there until that moment.

However, battles had already broken out in many locations outside. Some of them even tried to pull the imperial arms out forcibly.

Ye Futian's expression immediately turned sullen. After moving his consciousness out of the lotus's dimension, he glanced through the entire battlefield and shouted, "Stop fighting!"

His voice was like a clap of roaring thunder, deafening the ears of many cultivators. Still, most of them did not stop exchanging blows. But it was only natural. Who would stop at this point when they were so close to getting their hands on an imperial arm?

The stronger cultivators particularly paid no heed to Ye Futian's warning. They continued to destroy everything there without a care in the world.

Just then, Ye Futian lifted his head to stare at the sky as he felt the suffocating pressure take a turn for the worse.

Crack! Crack! Crack! The sinistrous noises sounded like disembodied shackles broken into pieces. They came from all the imperial arms that were connected to the firmament. Earlier on, Ye Futian saw pillars of divine lights pierce through the heavens. But all of them began to fall apart.

Nevertheless, those cultivators, who were battling with each other for the ruins of Great Emperors, did not feel anything out of place. They did not notice any changes at all.

There was an unseen aura enveloping the space beneath the sky. Ye Futian could sense an overwhelming presence above the clouds vividly. Everything within the atmosphere was slowly devoured by it.

"Attention, the cultivators of Ziwei Imperial Palace and West Imperial Palace! Get back right now!" Ye Futian commanded loudly.

Although he could not stop the others, he had authority over Ziwei Imperial Palace and West Imperial Palace cultivators. The Ziwei Imperial Palace group returned upon his order immediately. Xi Chiyao also reiterated when she the instruction. At once, the West Imperial Palace bunch retreated to where he was.

"What happened?" Xi Chiyao asked.

Ye Futian raised his head to peer at the sky and responded, "There is an unknown force awakening currently. The ruins in this area have formed a divine matrix. These two powers kept the opposite in check by sealing one another. But after our arrival, we've been destroying the divine matrix and broke their precarious balance."

Right after he spoke, the imperial arms and the ground of the ruins were gleaming with the Divine Light of the Great Emperors. It was only at that moment that the remaining cultivators sensed something amiss. The fact that Ye Futian had ordered his subordinates to retreat only added to their suspicion.

They knew Ye Futian was being serious, or else he would not have asked the Ziwei Imperial Palace's cultivators to withdraw themselves from the looting of the ruins' treasures.

The force of nature and the aura of the Great Way rushed into the heavens frantically from the land beneath it. The dark sky began to swallow up the force of nature under it like a bottomless pit. Everyone finally regained their senses and raised their heads, and shifted their gazes toward the presence above the sky. At that moment, their hearts were palpitating violently.

Not only were the people inside the domain affected, but the cultivators outside, who had just stepped into the mountain range, also noticed a mysterious and powerful force's awakening. They were rooted to the spot when they saw innumerable pythons manifested from nowhere with blood-curdling looks in their eyes.

They took in the sight of a terrifying scene as they turned their eyes at a distant spot. A colossal silhouette was gradually becoming conspicuous above the firmament.

The suction force at where Ye Futian and the rest stood on grew stronger as time passed. They could make out a fuzzy godly figure amid the eerie storm. The gigantic silhouette had a human head and a body like a snake. It was imposing and almighty like the God of All Demons—a fearsome sight to behold.

"It is still not completely awakened," Ye Futian murmured, "Let's retreat."

After speaking, he immediately led the group out of that place. However, the violent vortex of wind expanded rapidly at that moment. As the suction intensity increased, shrieks of cultivators could be heard at random. Their bodies would be pulled into the turbulent whirlwind. Some of their spiritual souls were even sucked out of their physical forms.

Ye Futian illuminated the Light of Buddha on his body, covering all the cultivators around him. Nevertheless, he could still feel the terrifying suction force as it gradually grew stronger each second.

An enormous silhouette of a Demon God appeared in the sky above their heads. Its size was so towering that it covered the entire mountain as though no one could escape from its grasp.

"It's the Mahoraga!"

Everyone beat a hasty retreat when they caught sight of it. Their hearts were beating like crazy when they realized that figure was one of the Eight Legions under the Heavenly Path—the legendary Mahoraga. It was slowly regaining consciousness while devouring all the intruding cultivators in his territory.

They could not believe that its will was still as petrifying as depicted in the legends, even after so many years had passed.

Numerous figures were pulled into the void of the vortex one after another from the ground. Cultivators below the Tribulation Plane could not withstand suction force. Some of their souls were pulled out of their bodies forcibly and were devoured by it. The whole place was in total chaos.

Powerful cultivators launched some of the most potent attacks in their arsenals from various locations. Their offenses were spread across the vast area and hit the massive silhouette formed by the will of Mahoraga.

"We can't make it out in time." Ye Futian came to a halt as he felt the force getting stronger. Then he said, "Little Condor, protect everyone."

"Okay." Little Condor nodded with a stern look. Following that, he manifested the divine body of Karura and merged his mind into it. Next, the gigantic Karura opened its wings and covered everyone under them so that no one would be affected by the suction force.

With that, Ye Futian carried his imperial arm in his hand and flew into the sky toward the center of the cyclone.