Dominator Emperor

A thick, plaster-like substance covered all the pavilions and ancient halls in the core area, making the entire place look as if it were sealed in plaster.

Seeing this scene, Li Qiye stood silently on this land, not speaking for a long time. This place was once the heart of the Xiyan Ancient Sect. Here, it wasn’t just Mingren Immortal Emperor; he himself had once marshaled troops, leading an invincible Divine Army on an expedition to the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands from this very spot.

To revive the Xiyan Ancient Sect, the old grounds had to be reopened. Otherwise, the Xiyan Ancient Sect would have to relocate. This was because the sect’s current Sect Territory was too small, and the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi circulated by its Earth Vein was too thin.

Li Qiye had intended to reopen the old grounds and rebuild the Xiyan Ancient Sect. But when he saw the scene before him, he already knew what the sect’s ”ominous event” had been!

The one thing he had hoped most would not happen had finally occurred. This realization silenced Li Qiye and left him with a question he couldn’t quite figure out. ’Who opened the seal? If it was Ta Kong Immortal Emperor, that’s impossible. If Ta Kong Immortal Emperor had forced the seal open, the entire Xiyan Ancient Sect would likely have ceased to exist; it would have required destroying the Emperor Foundation. But, from the looks of it now, that isn’t the case.’

If an outsider hadn’t broken the ancient seal, then who could have opened it? This thought made Li Qiye fall silent.

Nan Huairun curiously sized up his surroundings. It was his first time here as well. In the end, unable to restrain his curiosity, he drew his Treasure Sword and tried to chisel away the plaster-like substance covering an Ancient Pavilion. However, despite hacking and drilling with all his might, he only managed to create a scratch the size of a grain of rice. He couldn’t penetrate the plaster-like material at all.

”It’s no use. Elder Gu tried before and couldn’t chisel through it,” Guardian Mo said, shaking his head. ”If you reach a certain realm and try to attack it with brute force, you’ll just be repelled by a backlash.”

”What exactly is this stuff?” Li Shuangyan asked, finding the substance that covered the Ancient Pavilions and Divine Halls like plaster strange.

”The Emperor Foundation’s self-preservation,” Li Qiye said. ”An unshakable Emperor Foundation was laid beneath this land. When disaster strikes, the Emperor Foundation has its own methods of self-preservation. To a certain extent, this also suppresses the Evil Qi underground, preventing it from escaping. The fact that the self-preservation is still active means the Emperor Foundation is still here.”

Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but be moved. The Xiyan Ancient Sect had experienced an ominous event and suffered a disaster, yet its Emperor Foundation had not fallen. This Emperor Immortal Gate, which had stood for millions of years, was truly terrifying! ’The depth of an Emperor Immortal Gate’s heritage is truly immeasurable. It seems now that if it hadn’t suffered such a disaster back then, even a declining Xiyan Ancient Sect would not be something the Holy Heaven Sect could have provoked!’

”It will take time,” Li Qiye finally said. There was a problem with the seal on the land, and Li Qiye knew it was serious. ’If I want to revive the Xiyan Ancient Sect, if I want to rebuild this land, then I must charge into its deepest parts, just like back then.’

’If it really comes to that, I must be fully prepared. I’ll need fierce generals and brave warriors. This isn’t something that can be accomplished in a single stroke. To succeed, I must be fully prepared.’

”There’s a hole here!” Just then, Nan Huairun, who had been wandering around, shouted in discovery.

The three of them hurried over. Nan Huairun was in a very low-lying valley. There, amidst the withered trees and plants, was a huge hole plunging straight down. It was impossible to know how deep the vertical chasm went; looking down, one could only see blackness.

Looking closely at the vertical chasm, one could see that its walls were lined with spiraling, thread-like grooves, as if a giant drill had bored straight down. It was obvious this hole had not been formed by a natural collapse.

”I’m afraid this hole was drilled not long ago,” Li Shuangyan concluded after carefully inspecting it.

Li Qiye inspected the hole carefully, mentally measuring and calculating. Finally, a smile appeared on his face. He turned and gave an order to Guardian Mo, ”Guardian Mo, go back at once and get me Purple Mulberry Tree wood. The more the better, and it must be dry. Also, bring me a huge cauldron, three bottles of sea vinegar, six doses of Jueye Water, and Cyan Sky Bone...”

Li Qiye listed a pile of medicinal ingredients. Although Guardian Mo had no idea what Li Qiye was planning, he noted every single one. As soon as Li Qiye finished his instructions, he immediately crossed the void to leave, not daring to delay for a moment.

Only when a Cultivator reached the Heavenly Essence Realm could they traverse the heavens, flying without the aid of any treasures.

”Eldest Brother, what are you going to do?” Nan Huairun asked curiously, seeing Li Qiye request so many things.

Li Shuangyan was also puzzled. Li Qiye had listed a large pile of ingredients, many of which even she had never heard of.

Li Qiye smiled and said, ”Smoking out a rat.” With a chuckle, he simply sat down, content to wait for Guardian Mo’s return.

Guardian Mo didn’t dare to dawdle in the slightest, but the round trip still took him a full day.

”Set it up and light it on fire.” After Guardian Mo returned, he presented Li Qiye with a large amount of Purple Mulberry wood, all of it tinder-dry. At Li Qiye’s command, Nan Huairun and Guardian Mo immediately stacked the dry wood over the mouth of the giant hole and set it ablaze.

In the blink of an eye, thick, rolling smoke poured into the giant hole. The smoke carried a peculiar, indescribable scent.

As the billowing smoke endlessly poured into the hole, a good while passed before there was a stir. A series of thunderous rumbles echoed out, and the ground began to shake as if an earth-dragon were turning over in its sleep.

BOOM—! Following a tremendous bang, a behemoth shot out from the vertical chasm. After emerging, it crashed heavily onto the ground with another BOOM, smashing a Giant Pit into the earth.

”Who dares disturb my sleep with this disgusting smoke!” an ancient, furious roar resounded, clearly enraged at being smoked out.

When they got a look at the behemoth that had crashed to the ground, Nan Huairun and the others were dumbfounded. The creature wasn’t some ferocious, terrifying monster, but an incomparably huge snail—a giant, talking snail.

It was probably the biggest snail Nan Huairun and the others had ever seen in their lives, and the only talking one at that!

Seeing such a giant snail, only Li Qiye remained perfectly calm. He stood up, sized up the creature, and said unhurriedly, ”Not bad. You’ve actually reached the Six Understandings. For your race, that is truly not easy.”

Li Qiye’s words startled the giant snail. Its two enormous eyes, perched on its tentacles, stared at Li Qiye like an ox’s. The ancient voice rang out again like thunder. ”Brat, who in the world are you to know of the Six Understandings!”

”Who I am is not important. What is important is that you have appeared here,” Li Qiye said, still unperturbed as he looked at the giant snail. ”As for your so-called Six Understandings, it’s nothing special. I can recite all Eighteen Understandings from memory.”

”You brat! Spouting nonsense and making wild claims! No one in this world knows the Eighteen Understandings,” the giant snail bellowed. ”No, wait. If the Eighteen Understandings truly exist, there is indeed one person who knows.”

At this point, the giant snail stared at Li Qiye, its two eyes on their stalks bobbing as if shaking its head. ”No, no. Other than that existence, no one else in this world could know the Eighteen Understandings. It would be bizarre for a brat of the Human Race like you to know them!”

”The long yellow calamity, a tripod in the blue Night Sea, a holy mulberry on the locust, the Golden Crow enters the fold...” At that moment, Li Qiye began to speak, reciting a passage of True Understanding that Li Shuangyan and the others could not comprehend at all.

Hearing this passage of True Understanding from Li Qiye, the giant snail shuddered violently in horror. Its two huge eyes stared at Li Qiye in disbelief. In that instant, a massive, fleshy hand shot out from beneath its huge shell and snatched Li Qiye.

In a flash, Li Qiye was held high in the air by the giant, fleshy hand. This horrified Guardian Mo and Li Shuangyan. They were about to make a move, but Li Qiye waved his hand, signaling them to stay put.

”You! How do you know this True Understanding!” the giant snail exclaimed in disbelief, its huge eyes locked on Li Qiye.

”It’s merely the opening of the Seventh Understanding. What’s so amazing about that? I am fully confident in my knowledge of all Eighteen Understandings,” Li Qiye said with a calm smile.

”Tell me! Tell me the Eighteen Understandings now!” the giant snail grew impatient, its ancient voice roaring with desperate urgency.

”The Eighteen Understandings are something your race has sought for ages. It’s not so easy to just make me tell you. Follow me, and perhaps I’ll consider it,” Li Qiye replied, still composed.

”Ignorant brat! You dare to bargain with this old one!” the giant snail roared irascibly. ”Wait until I tear open your Sea of Consciousness and extract your memories! We’ll see what you can hide then!”

As soon as the words fell, one of the snail’s tentacles transformed into a Law Divine Chain, instantly piercing toward the center of Li Qiye’s brow, probing straight for his Sea of Consciousness.

”Oh no—” Seeing this, Li Shuangyan’s expression changed drastically. She knew this was terrible.

BOOM—! Yet, in that very instant, the entire world seemed to explode. A beam of Immortal Light erupted from the center of Li Qiye’s brow! With a deafening bang, the giant snail was blasted away, sent flying toward the horizon!

In that moment, Li Qiye was like an enraged Immortal Emperor. The wisp of Immortal Light that burst from his brow sent Nan Huairun and his master sprawling to the ground, and even Li Shuangyan could barely keep her footing.

Li Qiye floated gently back to the ground. The Immortal Light between his brows vanished in a flash. Even so, at the moment that light had erupted, Li Qiye was like an enraged Immortal Emperor. The gods of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands would have to prostrate themselves before that Immortal Light!