Chapter 2966  : Finale

Countless cultivators stood beneath the Heavenly Path. Their blood churned with excitement as they witnessed the scene.

The Heavenly Emperor had returned. He was invincible in battle; no one could stand against him.

“We welcome the return of the Heavenly Emperor!” a voice rang in the sky.

“We welcome the return of the Heavenly Emperor!” One by one, the cultivators cheered. Their voices reverberated throughout the space.

In the Qingzhou Academy, the members of the Cao clan were prostrated on the ground. They were too afraid to raise their heads. Their bodies trembled uncontrollably.

Everything felt so surreal to them. The person that they had offended was actually the Heavenly Emperor!

On the other hand, Ye Futian did not bother sparing them a glance.

“Congratulations.” A voice sounded. Master appeared in the sky.

“You have finally come to this stage,” Master said with a smile.

“Master,” Ye Futian bowed to Master while greeting him. He said, “Thank you, Master, for your guidance. I achieved enlightenment because of it.”

“You need not be so humble. You have surpassed me in your cultivation,” Master replied. “It’s my turn now to get some pointers from you. What is your state of comprehension toward the past and the present?”

“Master once taught me that I am both the past and the present. I did it,” Ye Futian said. “I am who I am in every space and time I have ever existed in.”

Master pressed further, asking, “However, you did not alter the events in the past. You merely saved some people. Am I right?”

......

“Hmm. If I altered the past and stopped some events from occurring, the future would most likely be different. The present that we have now would become an uncertainty too,” Ye Futian explained. “Therefore, I did not do anything that would affect the past. I merely brought some people from the past to the present. Besides that, I started cultivating and comprehending again from the top, at every point in time.”

“No wonder.” Master nodded and implied, “So it means that once you achieve enlightenment, you can remain in the loop of space and time and have endless time for cultivation. As a result, you can transcend time and space beyond the pinnacle of cultivation.”

“Exactly,” Ye Futian replied while nodding. The moment he achieved enlightenment, that moment turned into eternity. In the snap of a finger, he had cultivated for eons.

He was cultivating and comprehending at every point in time. Finally, all his comprehension accumulated and amounted to the current him.

Master advised, “I am not sure whether the universe is also infinite like you. However, with your current cultivation, you are an extraordinary existence among the rulers of the universes. Furthermore, you will grow even stronger in the future. Return to the throne of the Heavenly Emperor. You transformed into the Heavenly Path, but you also have a physical body now. You can rule over the world completely.”

The old Heavenly Path collapsed, but it never possessed a real physical body before.

Nobody had ever achieved Ye Futian’s current cultivation before. Most likely, no one could surpass him in the future either.

Ye Futian announced, “I transformed into the Heavenly Path, but I am not the only one who protected the world. This world should be ruled together by various parties.” He glanced at the sky, and immediately, a golden sky stairwell that extended into the heavens appeared.

Ye Futian strode forward. He climbed up the sky stairwell while being showered by snowflakes. As he moved up the stairs, all the cultivators from various corners of the world raised their heads to look at him. Everyone could clearly see the stairwell. Regardless of where they were, the sky stairwell appeared as though it was right before their eyes.

The entire world observed the ceremony simultaneously.

“Brother Ye!” exclaimed the youths in the Qingzhou Academy.

They witnessed Ye Futian ascending the sky stairwell as he was surrounded by divine halos and auspicious signs. Many youths had tears in their eyes. They were tears of excitement.

Ye Futian was their Brother Ye, the Heavenly Emperor, the number one cultivator in the world. He was worshiped by Tianshens. Everyone in the world was watching his coronation now.

The youths had fun playing with Brother Ye.

They bantered with Brother Ye.

They listened to Brother Ye ‘boasting’ about his past achievements.

Hua Jieyu and Xia Qingyuan teared up as they watched Ye Futian ascend. Tears of joy rolled down their cheeks. They knew that everything had finally come to an end. Ye Futian would finally be delivered from all his suffering.

The immense glory that he experienced now was the fruit of the tremendous suffering that he had gone through. He had survived countless tribulations and made it through many life-and-death situations. Him being alive today was a miracle.

Now, he had finally reached the peak. He was the highest existence; everyone worshiped him.

No one else would dare to act superior in front of him. No one else would dare to look down on him. No one else would dare to belittle him.

The humiliation that he once went through would forever remain in the past.

Glory awaited him now.

“What are you two waiting for?” Ye Futian smiled as he turned around to look at Hua Jieyu and Xia Qingyuan, who remained at the bottom of the stairwell. He extended his hands towards them. The two ladies exchanged looks. Then, they walked up the sky stairwell, hand in hand. They followed closely behind Ye Futian.

Colorful clouds flew down and weaved into splendid robes that garbed the two of them. They were adorned with phoenix coronets and rosy capes. Their beauty was unparalleled.

When Hua Fengliu and Emperor Xia saw this scene, they teared up too. Emperor Xia approached Hua Fengliu and patted his shoulder. The latter looked at him, and they broke into a grin.

“Everything was worth it,” Emperor Xia lamented as he stared at the silhouette of his daughter.

“From now on, the Heavenly Emperor is my son-in-law,” Emperor Xia said proudly as he wiped away the tears in the corner of his eyes.

In another corner, the cultivators of the Divine Prefecture stood together. Many of them were checking Donghuang Diyuan out. She revealed a brilliant smile. Her smile was sincere.

She knew from a young age that Ye Futian had a lot on his shoulders. She met him for the first time when she was 16. That was their destiny. She was well-aware of everything that Ye Futian had gone through. Now that he had finally reached the pinnacle, she could not help but feel happy for him.

“How can you still be smiling?” Donghuang the Great commented as he looked at Donghuang Diyuan.

“Father,” Donghuang Diyuan greeted him with a smile.

“Sigh…” Donghuang the Great sighed when he saw her earnest smile. He lamented, “You know, you were supposed to be…”

“Father,” Donghuang Diyuan stopped him from saying more. She said, “This is good enough.”

Donghuang the Great was stunned for a moment. Then, he nodded in agreement and said, “Yes. This is good enough.”

Ye Futian continued to move up the sky stairwell. He advanced slowly. With a shift of his will, a figure appeared behind Donghuang the Great. The latter was stunned when he first saw the figure who had appeared. Then, he grinned from ear to ear. He approached the person and gave him a big hug.

“Welcome back,” Donghuang the Great said.

“Futian rebuilt a body for me,” Emperor Ye Qing said. He came from the past. Ye Futian had only met him once at Mount Tianyao in the city of Qingzhou. Ye Futian went back to that exact spot where they met and brought Emperor Ye Qing to the present.

“We did it,” Donghuang the Great said emotionally.

“Hmm. We did it.” Emperor Ye Qing was similarly very emotional. After they stopped hugging, Emperor Ye Qing looked at Donghuang Diyuan. Her eyes were red as she greeted, “Father.”

Emperor Ye Qing approached her and gave her a gentle hug. He said, “Diyuan, I am sorry.”

“Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing were not afraid to sacrifice themselves to uphold justice. I crown them the Immortal Emperors of the East. They will rule over all the Tianshens in the East and be in charge of maintaining the order in the Divine Prefecture.” A voice sounded from the sky stairwell. Divine light poured down on Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing. The two of them were assigned the title Immortal Emperors of the East and were tasked to rule over all the Tianshens in the East.

“Congratulations to the Immortal Emperors of the East,” someone bowed and greeted them. One by one, the cultivators bowed and greeted Donghuang the Great and Emperor Ye Qing. The voices of the crowd shook the heavens and the earth.

“The Buddha is concerned about the fate of all mankind. He led various buddhas into battle. He will still rule over the West. I crown him the Immortal Emperor of the West. From Spirit Mountain, he will command all the buddhas. I bestow him the Golden Body of Virtues and Merits. He is indestructible from now on.” As soon as Ye Futian decreed this, endless golden divine light rained down on The Buddha, constructing a golden body for him.

“Amitabha.” When The Buddha was bathed in the divine light, he had a taste of exactly how powerful Ye Futian was currently. He felt emotional. No wonder Ye Futian could strip Ji Wudao from the Path of the Emperor with just a finger. This golden body forged by Ye Futian would most likely be able to withstand a power ten times more powerful than a full blow from The Buddha.

Ye Futian continued to decree, “I crown Great Emperor Ziwei the Immortal Emperor of the North. He will rule over the Ziwei Imperial Palace and all the Tianshens in the North.” As he said this, Great Emperor Ziwei appeared in front of all the cultivators from the Ziwei Imperial Palace.

“Gu Dongliu is crowned the Immortal King of Heavenly Mandate. He will rule over the Heavenly Mandate Court and all the Tianshens in the Central.”

“Ye Qingyao, the Reaper, is crowned the Immortal Emperor of the South. She will rule over the Dark Court and all the Tianshens in the South.”

“The Evil Emperor and the Dark Sovereign repented at the last minute. Therefore, the Evil Emperor can continue to rule over the Empty Divine Realm. I enfeoff the Dark Sovereign with the Bright Continent.”

“I crown Chen Yi the God of Light. I will forge him the Bright Temple.”

“I crown Xi Chiyao the God of Rain. I will forge her the Rain Temple.”

“I crown Fang Cun, Little Ling, Tie Tou and Duo Yu the Great Emperors of Four Corners. I will forge them the Four Corners Temple.”

Ye Futian’s decrees sounded one by one from the top of the sky stairwell. His commands echoed across space. On this day, Ye Futian, the Heavenly Emperor, bestowed titles to everyone who deserved it.

Divine halos poured down from the sky and enveloped the vast space. Cultivators from all around the world looked at the newly crowned Immortal Emperors and Gods with eyes of admiration.

The crowd looked at Ye Futian’s silhouette. He ascended to the very top of the sky stairwell. Then, he turned around and declared, “Now, the Age of the Gods has come once again. The various Gods will maintain the world order and teach the Way to the future generations. I will not interfere in the world order. This world is collaboratively ruled by various Gods together.”

The Age of the Gods had come again.

Ye Futian actually did not plan to control the world order himself. Did he plan to retire after this?

Countless gazes were fixed on the silhouette on the sky stairwell. He looked so heavenly as the divine light flowed around him.

This scene was forever etched in the memory of everyone. They would never forget it.

…

In the year 20 of Futian Calendar, an old man and a youth were walking down a street in the city of Qingzhou. The youth was eager to know more after listening to the old man telling him the tales of the Heavenly Emperor.

A god, the ultimate god to be exact, originated from their city.

“Grandfather, where did the Heavenly Emperor go after he ascended to the throne?” asked the youth. The whereabouts of the Heavenly Emperor were unknown to the world now.

“After he ascended, the Heavenly Emperor assigned various Gods to rule over the world order. Then, he disappeared from the eyes of the public. No one knows his whereabouts. Some say that he is living in seclusion with his wives now. Some say that he changed his appearance in order to live an ordinary life. There are even people who claim that the Heavenly Emperor is now on his quest to conquer other universes and he has already conquered many of them.” The old man spoke while holding his grandson’s hand. He could still vividly recall everything that happened on the day the Heavenly Emperor was crowned God. It was as though the event occurred yesterday.

The old man continued as he looked at the sky, “Of course, even if we don’t have any news of the Heavenly Emperor, he is ubiquitous. The sky itself is his transfiguration.”

“How about the princess of the Divine Prefecture? Surely she likes the Heavenly Emperor too. Did she get married to him?” asked the youth.

“That’s the thing everyone in the world is dying to find out,” the old man said with a sigh. “Of course, Princess Diyuan likes him too. We are talking about THE Heavenly Emperor here.”

“Since the Heavenly Emperor assigned various Gods to rule over the world order, does it mean that there will be no disputes in the future?” the youth asked. “But why is there still so much discord in the Qingzhou Academy now?”

The old man replied, “Disputes exist wherever living beings are. Both humans and gods are no exception to this!”