Emperor’s Domination

Although Cao Guoyao flatly denied this matter, many experts who came to watch knew that in the present times, outside of the Insect Swarm Valley, only Cao Guoyao knew how to control poisonous creatures. It was no secret that he had traded with the valley for this art.

Li Qiye smiled and said: “Whether you did it or not is no longer important. You should deal with the Dark Serpent first.” Li Qiye knew, very well, who used the serpent to attack him. There was no need to waste words after all the facades had been let go of. One of them must die.

“Boom! Boom!” The Dark Serpent had caught up at this time and spewed out more poisonous mist. It covered the sky once more, enveloping Cao Guoyao’s mansion like a tsunami!

Many people had seen the effect of this poison earlier, so they quickly retreated to avoid being injured by the poison.

“Open!” There was more than just Cao Guoyao in the mansion. The residents included disciples and experts from the State of Cao. When the poisonous mist shrouded the mansion, many disciples opened their cauldrons to unleash a rolling mist of medicine into the sky. This mist condensed to form a shield.

“Xshhh…” Waves of sizzles rang when the poisonous mist touched the medicinal mist. The poison was immediately dispelled and turned into drifting ashes.

In the end, the State of Cao was still an alchemy lineage that had had an Alchemy Emperor, so their disciples were quite capable when it came to dissolving something like the poison of the Dark Serpent.

The beast seemed to be enraged. The moment its poisonous mist was dispelled, it let out a loud hiss and slammed its huge tail down. A wild storm immediately assaulted the mansion.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Even though the mansion had a powerful defensive barrier, many buildings were still shattered from the onslaught of the serpent. Some disciples were even blown away while spurting blood.

Cao Guoyao had an unsightly countenance as he shouted: “Stop, damned beast!” The moment he gave the order, the four Divine Steeldemons quickly soared out at lightning speed.

“Whooosh!” The four swift demons used their arms that were as sharp as blades to slash multiple times in the blink of an eye. The moment they came back to Cao Guoyao’s side, blood erupted out like a spring.

The huge serpent came crashing down like a mountain. Its huge body was severed into several sections that fell to the ground like huge boulders, staining the ground with its blood.

“The Divine Steeldemons are so strong!” Many people shivered after seeing the demons dispatching the serpent so quickly.

“I heard that they rampaged across the Stone Realm for some time before eventually being tamed by Cao Guoyao. It seems that they are indeed powerful, it’s no wonder that so many experts died to them.” An alchemist frightenedly stated after seeing the might of the demons.

Cao Guoyao was not happy at this moment. He was not willing to send out the kill order for the serpent as it wasn’t easy to find a Dark Serpent like this. It used to be one of his most useful assistants, but he couldn’t do anything else in this situation!

“Li Qiye, not only did you falsely accuse me, but you also used the serpent to attack my country’s disciple. I will exact vengeance for this!” Declared Cao Guoyao, who was sitting up high in his pavilion.

“Is that so?” Li Qiye was unaffected as he smilingly said: “What kind of vengeance? Capturing me alive or hacking me into pieces? Of course, capturing me alive is more useful for you, wouldn’t you say?”

The confrontation between the two was quite well-received by the spectators who were watching for their own enjoyment. However, a few great characters knew that this was not as simple as it looked. In fact, any discerning person could tell that Cao Guoyao used the serpent to ambush Li Qiye. However, many cultivators and lineages would have to rely on Cao Guoyao eventually, so no one wanted to reveal such a thing.

Cao Guoyao glared at Li Qiye and coldly said: “If you obediently submit, then I will spare your life!”

Li Qiye returned an enigmatic smile and replied: “Submit? I don’t have such a habit to give up before the fight even starts. What if I don’t submit? Are you going to come over and force me?”

Cao Guoyao’s expression became cold as he answered: “If you stay unrepentant till death and remain insensible, then don’t blame me. I will let you see what is called the dao of alchemy so that a frog at the bottom of a well like you will know that it is not limited to just pill refinement and growing grasses!”

Having said that, he stood up and spewed out an incantation. A green light hovered around his body with the emergence of universal laws. Grasses crawled out from below his feet along with blossoming spirit flowers.

The ground where he stood seemed to have turned into a garden or a field of alchemy. His body was full of vitality and life.

It seemed that all the plants and trees in this area accepted Cao Guoyao’s summon. Their majestic life forces poured into his body like a flood. By controlling the aura and pulsating energy of the vegetation in the surrounding area, Cao Guoyao was able to borrow their power.

“This is…” Many people were surprised to see Cao Guoyao’s current state. Although no one knew what he wanted to do, they could feel the fluctuation of power in the air. Borrowing the power of the plant life in the entire garden was unbelievable.

“This is a technique for Legendary Alchemists. Legend states that this type of alchemist has several different techniques, and one of them is wood mastery.” A powerful alchemist murmured: “At a certain level, an alchemist will become infinitely close to all existences in nature and can borrow their power.”

Inside the courtyard, Yuan Caihe was also convinced and nodded her head to say: “Cao Guoyao is indeed an incredible Legendary Alchemist. Although he doesn’t know how to cultivate medicines and only knows pill refinement and fire control, he is already very amazing for being able to do this with wood mastery.”

Yuan Caihe was the voice of authority in this regard. In contemporary times, she was the number one figure in plant cultivation and was closer to plant life than anyone else. Very few people could compare to her regarding wood mastery. 1

“Rumble!” The earth shook. In this area, many tall and sturdy trees rose from the soil.

Cao Guoyao’s universal alchemy law imprinted itself on these trees with lightning speed. After more rumbling noises, these gigantic trees grew even larger at an astonishing pace. Each of them eventually became as grand as a mountain.

These trees now appeared to be giants. With one step, they could easily cross over smaller mountains as if they were the children of the earth. All of these trees emitted the power of nature since their roots were deep underground and were empowered by the blessing of the boundless earth.

It was one thing if it was only one or two trees, but there were several hundred or maybe even a thousand gigantic trees, forming an army of giants. Just imagine, each of these trees could cross over a mountain. Just how mighty and terrifying was this force? Even a Heavenly King would fear encountering such a legion.

“Alchemists can also be like this!? I’ve, I’ve never heard of such a thing!” One of the spectators couldn’t believe their own eyes. In the minds of many people, alchemists were not good at fighting and were not willing to fight, at least with force.

However, Cao Guoyao’s display today overturned their views regarding alchemists. No one would have thought that alchemists had such a heaven-defying method.

An Alchemy Saint with white hair enviously stated: “Only Legendary Alchemists are capable of grasping this kind of technique to control an army of wooden giants. Perhaps Cao Guoyao is already a peak Legendary Alchemist.”

Alchemy Emperors were at the apex while Legendary Alchemists reigned second. Of course, in the current generation of the Stone Medicine World, the number of Legendary Alchemists could be counted on one’s hand.

Many alchemists couldn’t reach this level, but Cao Guoyao was already there at such a young age. Moreover, he was able to summon this powerful legion, causing many older alchemists to be lost in admiration. It was not an exaggeration when people proclaimed him as one of the four prodigies!

“So Legendary Alchemists can have such a technique… Then what will they be able to do if they become Alchemy Emperors?” An experienced Demon Monarch was dumbfounded after seeing this scene.

Another Alchemy Saint explained: “Needless to say about Alchemy Emperors. Legendary Alchemists already never have to personally take action. When faced with any adversity, there would always be a large group of experts willing to work for them! Because of this, the world rarely has the chance to witness their techniques.”

1. Plant mastery would make more sense here, but wood is one of the five elements. Since we have fire mastery, it makes sense to keep it as wood mastery.