Emperor’s Domination

While Sumeru and Bai Jianzhen still had difficulty grasping the situation, the water in Li Qiye’s palm pulled him inside.

“Amitabha. Worlds within a drop of water, eternity with a single thought.” Meru placed his palms together and chanted.

He couldn’t do this despite having spent eras on this celestial river. He had tried to learn its secrets and mysteries, only managing to see the bare surface. At the very least, he could travel freely, unlike other emperors.

However, this meant nothing compared to Li Qiye who immediately figured out more things after visiting the celestial river.

***

Meanwhile, Li Qiye entered a river where he had absolute dominion over its flow.

“Open!” His thought became reality and it took him to the source of the river despite its vastness.

His river was created from the water of the initial river, granting him full access to its mysteries. This was something beyond the ability of emperors. Perhaps even overlords couldn’t do so.

He found himself at the river’s source - still an endless expanse. All directions were the same - movement techniques became futile.

However, it couldn’t stop Li Qiye’s will. He thought about crossing this place and it became smaller and smaller, eventually reaching the size of a water drop.

There seemed to be an infinite cycle of waters and stars within the drop - the reason why imperial-level characters became lost inside forever.

“Pop!” Back at the boat, a drop of water burst, and Li Qiye returned.

“Sacred Teacher, how did it go?” Meru couldn’t help but ask.

“Not here, The river is not in the river, the same for the source.” Li Qiye shook his head.

Any listener would find this baffling and incomprehensible. They were in the river right now, what did he mean by the river not being here?

“If the celestial river is not in the river, where is it then?” Meru asked again.

Li Qiye focused his gaze and radiated primordial rays, seemingly devouring the celestial river with his eyes.

Meru and Bai Jianzhen felt the water currents flowing backward - all converging into his eyes. They became affected by this strange phenomenon as well.

Normally, this would scare the hell out of anyone but they knew Li Qiye had no malicious intent.

After a while, he withdrew his gaze and lay down on the boat, looking upward at the stars.

“Is there a problem, Young Master?” Jianzhen looked up and stared at the stars as well.

“See it?” Li Qiye performed the same primordial gaze at the upper sky.

“Sacred Teacher, I am unable to see anything peculiar.” Meru responded after taking a look.

Li Qiye dipped his hand into the water and splashed it across the sky, causing visible ripples.

As space fluctuated, another celestial river appeared before Meru and Bai Jianzhen. Upon closer inspection, they found that this upper celestial river was identical to the one they were floating on.

“Is that a reflection?” They became startled after the upper river disappeared. It felt like an illusion.

“Perhaps we’re on the reflection right now.” Li Qiye smiled, surprising the two.

They took a deep breath because how could this famous celestial river just be a reflection? Nonetheless, they believed Li Qiye.

“Follow me.” He gently tapped the cloud next to him before shouting: “Open!”

Everything suddenly turned upside down after his command.

“Pop!” The celestial river was next to him, pressing against his nose. Before the two could comprehend what was happening, Li Qiye and the white cloud were submerged into this inverted celestial river.

In the next split second, he was reversed as well, facing them instead.

“!!!” The duo was stunned to see this.

“Splash!” The river before them disappeared like a broken visual phenomenon.

However, their boat fell from the sky and landed on the water once more, causing a loud splash.

“So this is just a reflection.” Meru calmed down and said. They were riding on the reflection while Li Qiye had just entered the real thing.