With the departure of these cultivators, fewer and fewer people were left in the ninety-nine heavens. Most of those who remained were top-level cultivators who wanted to make an attempt at the Path to the Emperors.

On the outside world, there was absolutely no way to get to the Path of the Emperors. Here, there was at least a Micro Heavenly Path that could help them realize the way and breakthrough to the ultimate realm. Therefore, they made a decision to stay even if the risk was great.

However, the Path of the Emperor was a difficult and dangerous one. In order to achieve the imperial realm, these cultivators did not have any hesitation to pay the price—no matter how high.

Ye Futian sat on the divine throne as he surveyed the cultivators who remained in the ninety-nine heavens. He said, “Finally, I wish to remind you: now that I have inherited the throne of the Heavenly Emperor, it is my wish to restructure the Heavenly Imperial Palace. You can still choose your own path by leaving. However, once you decide to stay, you will have agreed to be under the command of the Heavenly Imperial Palace from now on.”

No one was leaving. Those who stayed had made a decision, one that they could not change.

After he waited for a while, seeing that no one was stirred, Ye Futian continued, “Since you have made your decision, from this moment forward, you are cultivators of the Heavenly Imperial Palace. You will share its losses as well as its glory.”

He stood up and looked at the two Great Empresses below and said to them, “Next, I have to trouble you two elders to help me clean up the Heavenly Imperial Palace.”

“We are delighted to serve Your Majesty, the Heavenly Emperor.” The two Great Empresses bowed and saluted him. There were once four of them—all sisters, chosen by the Heavenly Emperor himself as companions to the Princess. The four sisters grew up with the Princess and were like the Princess’ own sisters.

The Princess never treated them as servants. She freely shared cultivation methods with them and helped them in their cultivation. They knew very well that despite how she treated them, they were to guard the Princess with their lives. However, Her Royal Highness never treated them with the slightest bit of arrogance. In fact, she had shared the treasures bestowed upon her by the Heavenly Emperor.

In their eyes, the Princess was perfection itself; she had no flaws. Moreover, the Princess had a great love for the masses and was a total idealist. Perhaps it was precisely because of Her Royal Highness’s noble background that she was able to hold on to her romantic ideals.

The four of them may not have fully agreed with the ideals of the Princess, but for someone like Her Royal Highness, they were willing to sacrifice everything for her.

Back then, after their plan was formulated, everyone made sacrifices. The other two sisters completed an important part of it and sacrificed themselves in the process. In the end, only the two of them were left to wait for the return of the young master.

Since then, their mission had been to protect the New Emperor and help him continue the unfinished businesses.

“Young Master ought to continue the comprehension and cultivation of the Heavenly Path. The Princess had been waiting for the young master for too long, and many things should be inherited by the young master now,” one of the Great Empresses said. “As for the restructuring of the Heavenly Imperial Palace, leave it to us.”

“You two elders cultivated with my mother?” Ye Futian asked.

The two nodded and replied, “We were summoned by the Heavenly Emperor into the Heavenly Palace to cultivate with the Princess. Additionally, we were her companions when she was growing up.”

Ye Futian immediately understood that the relationship between these two women and his mother was somewhat similar to that between him and Yu Sheng, except that he and Yu Sheng were brothers. In comparison, these two women were servants by name.

“How should I address you two elders?” Ye Futian asked.

“The names that we received back then were given by the Heavenly Emperor. Young master may call me ‘Qin,’ and she is ‘Shu,'” Qin said while pointing to the other Great Empress.

“Lady Qin, Lady Shu,” Ye Futian acknowledged, sighing in his heart. He continued, “There were two others, weren’t there?”

With names like Qin and Shu, naturally, there would be Qi and Hua [1].

“The other two followed the Princess back then.” The two of them had waited for hundreds of years, and their hearts and minds were already hard as steel. However, when they heard Ye Futian’s words, they still felt an unexpected sense of sadness.

The young master’s talent was unparalleled, yet he was so gentle and humble. He was a true gentleman, which reminded them of the Princess.

Out of the five of them, only two of them were left now.

“Young Master, you should cultivate while we go ahead with the arrangements,” Lady Qin said. Ye Futian nodded.

The two of them turned around and left while Ye Futian looked up at the sky. He walked down from the divine throne and came to a place below it. He then sat cross-legged as his perception was directed towards the Heavenly Path in the firmament.

At this moment, Ye Futian felt the warmth again. At the same time, there was a divine light in the color of the rainbows that fell from the sky and was sprinkled all over Ye Futian.

Bathed under the divine light, Ye Futian floated up and came high into the sky. His body seemed to have entered the Heavenly Path.

A mysterious aura enveloped him and kept flowing into his body. Ye Futian let go of the world created by his own Micro Heavenly path, as the two forces of the Heavenly Path resonated with one another. The divine power of law in this Heavenly Path then integrated into Ye Futian’s Micro Heavenly Path.

The ancient tree of the world was created by his mother and then was given to him for him to use as he grew up. Later, it made the Micro Heavenly Path, but it was from the same source as this Heavenly Path.

Ye Futian knew that his mother was waiting for him to come to inherit the power of this Heavenly Path.

At this moment, Ye Futian seemed to have become extremely greedy, madly absorbing the power of this Heavenly Path.

At the same time, many images were also rushing into Ye Futian’s consciousness.

In his mind, an astounding figure appeared. This figure stood between heaven and earth. They appeared like the supreme master in this world, in charge of the universe. It was the ruler of heaven and earth.

“Heavenly Emperor!”

An idea took hold of Ye Futian’s mind. Instantly, he knew this figure must be his maternal grandfather—the founder of the Heavenly Path in the later era after the collapse of the original Heavenly Path. He was the master of the Heaven Realm/ he was the Heavenly Emperor himself!

Later on, Ye Futian saw some radiant images. It was as if he could feel them himself and that he could even perceive the sensations within.

The Heavenly Emperor was passing on the methods to him!

This was the real inheritance. He was the true heir of the Heaven Realm. Now, the Heavenly Emperor passed on the divine methods that he had cultivated himself to Ye Futian.

…

Ye Futian defeated Ji Wudao, took over the Heavenly Imperial Palace, and was named the Heavenly Emperor.

One after another, the shocking news was conveyed to the seven Realms and even the God’s Ruins Continent, astounding the world.

The one who finally ascended the throne was not Ji Wudao as everyone thought, but Ye Futian, who was the true heir of the Heaven Emperor. He was the main successor, meant to inherit the Heaven Realm.

Not long ago, it was said that Ye Futian had refused the inheritance of the Divine Prefecture. Otherwise, he would have been the ruler of both the Divine Prefecture and Heaven Realm by now.

Everyone in the world realized that another peak-level figure had emerged aside from the six emperors. That person was Ye Futian, who had been cultivating in the Original Realm all along and had been suppressed by many forces in the Divine Prefecture.

Who would have thought that things in the world could be so surreal?

At the same time, the Great Emperors, who returned to their respective imperial palaces after the unsuccessful battle of the six emperors, also received the news. Even as part of the six emperors and the strongest existences in the world, they were still extremely shocked when they learned of this news.

Donghuang the Great plotted for 200 years, and it was all for the return of his descendant.

Furthermore, since Donghuang the Great set everything in motion, it meant that he believed Ye Futian was capable of changing fate despite the odds. Why was he so confident in Ye Futian?

Was it just because Ye Futian was his descendant and the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor?

What would happen now that Ye Futian had ascended the throne as the Heavenly Emperor and entered the ninety-ninth heaven to cultivate in that Heavenly Path?

[1]: Qi, Qin, Shu, Hua—Chess, Strings, Books, and Painting—are the four traditional arts for educated Chinese ladies. By naming these ladies-in-waiting these four arts, Ye Futian extrapolated that there must have been four of them in total.