Emperor’s Domination

She remained calm while talking about the past and maintained her mudras: “I didn’t join Buddhism and enter Spirit Mountain for eternal life. The only thing I want is peace in my heart.”

“I know.” Li Qiye nodded quietly: “War has always been cruel. If you can’t even sleep well at night, I will always feel guilty. I am happy that you are able to find peace at the plateau.”

“I chose to escape… I have let you down.” She answered softly.

He shook his head in response: “No, you should have had a normal and happy life. This was all because of me, I was the one who brought you into a world of killing. It is full of fate, karma, and grievances. All of this should have been my responsibility, my hands were already stained with blood. I should have shouldered it all.”

The Beneficence Bodhisattva slowly said: “Just let past causes and effects go.”

Li Qiye smiled and said: “Just let it go. Leave it all to me, I will go to the very end at the final world where I shall have my answer.”

The Bodhisattva didn’t say anything from on top of her golden lotus. She was peaceful and distant for she had severed her ties with the mundane world.

“Today, this will be our last meeting, so I will tell you something.” Eventually, she spoke: “The Buddhist Kingdom has a new Buddhist Lord.”

Li Qiye was caught off guard: “This is actually surprising. There should only be two candidates for the new Buddhist Lord. One is the Radiant Bodhisattva and the other is you. If the new lord isn’t one of you two, then who can it be?”

She replied: “I haven’t been back to the kingdom so I haven’t seen the new Buddhist Lord. I only received the message from there.”

Li Qiye finally bowed his head then got up to leave. He walked very slowly with a solemn air. The Bodhisattva also quietly watched each of his steps.

“Farewell forever, Young Master…” She gave him one last look before closing her Buddhist eyes.

Li Qiye’s heart fluttered. He finally turned back to look at her and imprinted her image into his memories while softly speaking: “Farewell forever, Zhan’er.” 1

With that, he left the room and gently closed the doors.

Before he knew it, the corners of his eyes became a little wet. Time was insignificant; millions of years was only a blink of an eye. It felt as if it was just yesterday.

There had been many people by his side, but not many were with him for as long as the Beneficence Bodhisattva. No matter what, he still respected her choice. After generations of bloody battles, it wasn’t easy and peaceful for her.

Throughout the eras, she had paid a great price. If she wanted eternal life, Li Qiye would have exerted all of his efforts to grant her her wish. However, everlastingness was not her wish, she only wanted peace of mind.

“Death is not the most painful thing. Only extrication would bring about peace.” Li Qiye sighed softly after leaving the shrine.

He couldn’t describe his current emotions. He had sent away many friends in the past. In his eyes, death was not the worst thing. The most insufferable emotion came from separation, especially seeing someone off that was still alive, only to never be able to meet each other again!

He transformed back into Chu Yuntian and blended in with the bustling streets of the Buddhist City.

There had been too much pain and separation in the past. He didn’t want to look back, so he could only move forward on this long and winding path!

The Rainflower Terrace was a very famous inn at the Buddhist City. Many prominent cultivators would stay in this place after arriving.

Li Qiye quietly sat on the terrace and drank in silence. He watched the clouds in the sky and felt the wind. He was staying here to wait for Li Shuangyan’s group because they had made plans. If the girls wanted to come to the plateau, he would stay at the Rainflower Terrace to wait for them.

Today, Evil Buddha was very famous, so when he was drinking by himself, many cultivators at the terrace looked at him from the distance. They quietly whispered about him. Of course, no one dared to disturb him.

It was a notorious title. One Buddhist phrase could cause the new young king of the Nantian Clan to commit suicide, so who would dare to come and talk to him recklessly? What if he started with a chant, then they wouldn’t even realize how they died.

“Pop!” A stomp shattered the sky as a person arrived with a clear battle intent. His body emitted strings of lights carrying massive weight.

“The Jewel Pillar Mortal King is here.” A few cultivators on the terrace shouted after seeing this person crushing the void.

His aggressive demeanor made it clear to many what he was here to do.

“Unbeatable War God! Never utters the word defeat!” His supporters couldn’t help but loudly cheer.

Even his non-supporters nodded their heads and murmured: “The Mortal King indeed has the ability to compete for the Heaven’s Will. He does not mind defeat and will stand up from where he fell. As long as he stays alive, there is always the hope of victory.”

Supreme cultivation geniuses were quite vain and prideful. This was because this type of genius always had a smooth road and almost never tasted defeat. Therefore, their first defeat would easily become their inner demon. From then on, they wouldn’t be able to get up again.

There were too many examples of this across the ages. Some supreme geniuses couldn’t handle defeat and suicide became their ultimate end.

“The Mortal King will have a way to suppress Evil Buddha for sure this time.” Another commented.

From his past records, others could tell that he would normally lose the first match, but he would reverse the tides on the second challenge and defeat the enemy.

At this time, he seemed to be full of confidence in challenging Evil Buddha, so everyone assumed that he had found a way to suppress him.

Li Qiye didn’t even bother to look at the Mortal King. He continued to pour his own drink and gulped it up with a relaxed demeanor.

“Sir, come out and fight.” The Mortal King stood outside of the terrace and shouted gravely. His voice was immense. Each resonating word was full of power. 2

At this second, he resembled a divine mountain — majestic and immovable. His pair of eyes were extremely sharp, capable of cutting the world apart. The aura that emanated from his body was a cause for fear.

Li Qiye slowly sipped his wine. Today, he was in no mood to play with a junior like the Mortal King.

The majority of the cultivators were holding their breaths anxiously in anticipation of this battle. However, they noticed that Evil Buddha was still calm and didn’t even glance at the Mortal King. They looked at each other and felt that this Buddha was being too contemptuous.

The Mortal King’s expression turned cold. Today, he was able to deter the world. No one dared to look down on him regardless of who they might be.

However, this Evil Buddha was too lazy to even look at him. This was even more humiliating than his defeat last time.

“Sir, do you dare to fight or not!” The king’s voice was as sharp and cold as the edge of a blade.

Li Qiye simply ignored him. In his eyes, the king was an insect shouting at a behemoth. He was in no mood to listen.

“If the Sacred Teacher doesn’t care for you, then go cool off to the side.” A slightly languid voice came about. A person suddenly appeared in the sky.

“South Emperor…” The sudden emergence of this person caused people to cry out. Everyone inside and outside of the terrace was startled.

“Era Evader from Mysterious Bamboo.” Anyone would tremble after seeing South Emperor.

Even the proud Mortal King’s expression sank after seeing him. An Era Evader was not an empty title. The South Emperor had competed with the empress for the Heaven’s Will before. Even Godkings would dread this existence no matter which generation it was.

The king looked at South Emperor. He took a deep breath and spoke with great momentum: “If Era Evader wants to give me some pointers, I am willing to test your supreme arts.”

South Emperor glanced at him and said dismissively: “You? Wait until you are recognized by the Heaven’s Will, then you can challenge me. RIght now, you are not qualified. The person behind you, on the other hand, is barely qualified to fight me.”

This remark was uttered in such a plain and carefree manner that it made the king change his expression. Such blatant contempt was humiliating to a genius like him. In his mind, it was an intentional insult.

The king was determined and spoke solemnly: “I would like to see Era Evader’s supreme arts!”

“I said, cool off.” South Emperor didn’t want to bother with the king. He casually reached out with his finger. However, this simple gesture crushed the stars in the sky.

The king was shocked at this oncoming finger strike. He shouted and wanted to use his strongest attack to stop it. However, he was too slow compared to this finger attack that soared across the sky.

“Bang!” The crowd watched as the Mortal King was blown away by a single finger.

“Boom!” People in the distance saw the king slam into a mountain. The impact shattered it while the king continued to fly before disappearing into the horizon.

Such a scene astounded everyone. The Mortal King was among the most outstanding talents in this generation. Even a Virtuous Paragon from the last generation would treat him with some respect. However, just one finger from South Emperor was able to push him thousands of miles away!

1. Zhan’er was a name he mentioned before; I think the ultimate universal law said Zhan’er as well. She must be a lover.

2. “Sir” here is a respectful “you”, but it is not quite at the “sir” level. It is more of a polite “you” of two people at the same level. It is interesting that if we still use the informal “thou”, then “you” can be the formal version. But it seems like in modern usage, “thou” has the impression of being formal compared to “you”. So if we were to be weird and use an archaic vernacular in the modern sense, “thou” would be appropriate here to show a higher level of respect.