Dominator Emperor

”Fine, how about this,” Li Qiye said at last after a glance at Li Shuangyan. ”I’ll extract that corner from the Fragmented Array in your hand. I can peel off a section of the formation that will function as a standalone array, completely separate from the Slaughter Immortal Emperor Formation. Think of it as me creating a Killing Array for you.”

Hearing Li Qiye’s words, Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but smile. This time, she had ventured out to temper herself. Although Niu Fen had escorted her with the Immortal Emperor’s Portrait, the region she went to was still quite dangerous. Of course, with risk came reward. Besides her gains in understanding arrays, she also reached a higher level of comprehension regarding her Pure Body.

”Why are you so hung up on arrays?” Li Qiye shook his head and said, ”With your talent, you could go very far in your Cultivation, yet you waste so much effort on arrays.”

Li Shuangyan’s talent was impeccable. If she had focused all her efforts on Cultivation, her Dao Practice might have been even higher than it was now. However, she insisted on pouring a great deal of effort into arrays. In truth, the Nine Saints Demon Gate was not proficient in arrays at all. The array techniques they possessed were merely from a fragmented manuscript left by the Array Ancestor!

In the eyes of others, Li Shuangyan’s behavior was rather like neglecting her proper duties, a waste of her talent.

”The path of Cultivation is long, and it’s right to persevere and advance bravely,” Li Shuangyan said, showing a rare, feminine charm. She glanced at Li Qiye, her demeanor enchanting. ”But one has to have a hobby, right? Without a little hobby of one’s own, wouldn’t it be rather meaningless?”

Li Qiye chuckled and simply shook his head. He didn’t object to Li Shuangyan’s fascination with practicing arrays. No matter what, he couldn’t just take away someone’s hobby.

”I heard that Celestial Emperor Qingxuan of the Qingxuan Ancient Country has arrived.” Having been outside, Li Shuangyan had gathered quite a bit of news. ”From what I can tell, many big shots from the Qingxuan Ancient Country are here, but they’re being very low-key. I hear they’ve come for an ancient treasure.”

”The Qingxuan Ancient Country.” Li Qiye chuckled after hearing her words. ”A treasure? They’ve come for the Mountain Treasure here, but it’s hard to say if that’s a blessing or a curse for them. The Qingxuan Ancient Country may be formidable, but some things are more than they can chew.”

Li Shuangyan was moved by his words. Without a doubt, Li Qiye knew this place like the back of his hand. It was simply unbelievable. One had to remember, Demon’s Back Ridge only opened once every hundred years. How old could Li Qiye possibly be?

”Have you been to Demon’s Back Ridge before?” Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but ask curiously.

Li Qiye glanced at Li Shuangyan and said, ”Just because I haven’t been here doesn’t mean I can’t know about it, does it? The Mingren Immortal Emperor came to me in a dream. How could I not understand Demon’s Back Ridge?”

Faced with this explanation, Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him, a charming, feminine gesture. ’An ancestor appeared in his dream?’ She didn’t believe such an excuse at all. Yet, in truth, there seemed to be no better explanation.

”Any other news?” Li Qiye paid the Qingxuan Ancient Country no mind. ’The Qingxuan Ancient Country might be powerful, but can it compare to the Feixian Sect? Can it compare to Heavenly Sea City? I’ve seen far more powerful existences!’

”For now, although the various sects in Demon’s Back Ridge have had some minor conflicts, behemoths like the Qingxuan Ancient Country haven’t had any major clashes. The lesser Jiang Country Sects wouldn’t dare to openly snatch treasures from others either,” Li Shuangyan said, lightly shaking her head. ”I’m afraid the other news is probably trivial to you. Things like the Saint Dao Celestial Emperor single-handedly slaying a 150,000-year-old Longevity Spirit, or Marquis Jiangzuo’s Worthy King Six Vibration Array. I also heard that Nan Tianhao encountered a Silver Maple Grass that was nearly 1,500,000 years old.”

Nan Tianhao was indeed lucky. First, he dug up a piece of Sacred Copper, and then he encountered an over a million-year-old Silver Maple Grass.

”That kid must have some kind of treasure-seeking artifact. Otherwise, how could he so easily run into a Silver Maple Grass that’s over a million years old?” Li Qiye said, shaking his head.

”That I don’t know. However, I heard he didn’t get the Silver Maple Grass in the end. It was eaten by a toad, and now all of Demon’s Back Ridge is searching for it!” Li Shuangyan said.

A Silver Maple Grass over a million years old... an item like that is practically a priceless treasure. Even if it was eaten by a toad, if they could just catch it, they could still refine a medicinal juice from it!

”A toad ate the million-year-old Silver Maple Grass?” Li Qiye was startled by this news and hurriedly asked, ”What kind of toad was it?”

”I’m not sure. I heard they didn’t catch it; it was very fast.” Li Shuangyan shook her head. She found it strange. Li Qiye didn’t even care about a million-year Annual Ring, let alone a single Silver Maple Grass! ’Or was it about the toad?’

”Let’s go. We’re heading out. Call Niu Fen!” Li Qiye’s gaze sharpened, and he spoke in a deep voice. A toad... This stirred a memory within him. A toad had once escaped from his grasp all those years ago!

Li Shuangyan was moved. At this moment, she realized it wasn’t about the Silver Maple Grass, but the toad! Li Qiye had tossed away a million-year Annual Ring like trash; this meant the toad had to have an earth-shattering background.

Li Shuangyan immediately called for Niu Fen. Li Qiye informed Gu Tieshou that he would be leaving for a while. Gu Tieshou didn’t ask any questions and simply agreed.

”Let’s go. We’ll find out where that toad first appeared.” In the end, Li Qiye and Li Shuangyan rode the snail and rushed out of the Holy Land.

Li Qiye and the others left the southern region and eventually entered the bustling area of Demon’s Back Ridge. With her skills, Li Shuangyan managed to gather information about the toad.

The toad had first appeared in the place where the Silver Maple Grass grew. After getting the location, Li Qiye immediately took Li Shuangyan and headed there on the snail.

The place where the Silver Maple Grass grew was a marshy hollow. Many ferocious beasts had once occupied this place, but it had long since been cleared out time and time again. There were no longer any ferocious beasts here.

Upon arriving, Li Qiye got down on the ground like a dog, sniffed the soil, and then carefully observed the hydrology of the area.

After a careful survey, Li Qiye’s expression stirred. He now understood that the toad had indeed been here.

’Damn it, why didn’t I think of it? That cunning little bastard actually hid in this place!’ Li Qiye muttered to himself.

Back then, he and the Medicine God had spent countless efforts tracking it through many places before finally catching it. They were planning to treat it as a great treasure and raised it for a while. Unexpectedly, that kid, the Medicine God, was careless and let the toad escape. They were so furious they could have jumped up and down, their hearts bleeding.

In a later life, as the Yin Ya, he had kept an eye out for this toad, even actively searched for it. But the world was vast; finding a single toad was harder than ascending to the heavens! He never expected to encounter it again in this life. No wonder he couldn’t find it—it had been hiding in Demon’s Back Ridge all along!

”I refuse to believe you can escape my grasp,” Li Qiye muttered.

Seeing Li Qiye place so much importance on this toad, Niu Fen asked, ”Young Master, is this toad that precious? How does it compare to a million-year-old Silver Maple Grass?”

”Compared to this toad, a million-year-old Silver Maple Grass is nothing but a common weed!” Li Qiye said.

Niu Fen and Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but exchange a look. A million-year-old Silver Maple Grass! One had to know, Silver Maple Grass was a key Spiritual Medicine for Jing Shou Medicine. A million-year-old one could be refined into a Holy Medicine! Yet compared to this toad, it was just a common weed. What on earth was the origin of this toad?

”After it! It fled this way.” Li Qiye had hunted this toad before and had even raised it. He knew it all too well. After a brief observation, he led Li Shuangyan eastward in pursuit!

Li Qiye and Li Shuangyan rode the snail eastward. Even though the toad had been gone for some time, Li Qiye was still able to follow its trail. This time, he absolutely could not let it escape, no matter what.

As Li Qiye traveled east, he encountered many cultivators along the way. Seeing Li Qiye riding a giant snail, many of them pointed and whispered from a distance.

Nowadays, Li Qiye could be considered a hot topic. His level of fame was no less than that of geniuses like Marquis Jiangzuo, Nan Tianhao, and the Sheng Tian Heaven Daoist.

Of course, when people talked about Li Qiye, it wasn’t with the same praise reserved for geniuses like Marquis Jiangzuo and Nan Tianhao. More often than not, people ground their teeth when his name came up. This was especially true for the younger generation, who couldn’t help but have a certain phrase on the tips of their tongues: ”What’s so great about relying on a woman? Acting all arrogant just because you have a woman backing you up. Ptooey! You’re a disgrace to all men.”

Now, seeing Li Qiye together with Li Shuangyan once again, it was impossible to say how much envy and jealousy it stirred up.

In the eyes of others, Li Qiye riding his giant snail was a sign of him being a show-off who loved the limelight. Thus, wherever the snail passed, some young cultivators behind couldn’t help but spit on the ground and say with disdain, ”What’s he so arrogant about? If he had the skills to slay Celestial Beasts and slaughter Longevity Spirits like the Sheng Tian Heaven Daoist, then he’d have the right to be arrogant. Hmph! Isn’t he just relying on the little bit left behind by an Immortal Emperor, being lucky enough to marry Li Fairy, and having the Nine Saints Demon Gate to back him up? What’s so great about that!”

As Li Qiye’s group continued east, they discovered that many other cultivators were also heading east. In fact, more and more cultivators were rushing in from other directions, all converging eastward, as if some great treasure had appeared in the eastern part of Demon’s Back Ridge.

Li Qiye couldn’t help but frown at this situation. Soon, Li Shuangyan returned with news she had gathered for him.

”I heard a treasure has emerged in the east. It could be a treasure of the gods,” Li Shuangyan said to Li Qiye.

”A treasure of the gods?” Hearing this, Li Qiye couldn’t help but smile. He had been to Demon’s Back Ridge more than once; he knew better than anyone whether there was a ”treasure of the gods” here.

Li Shuangyan said, ”I heard that a few days ago, the earth suddenly shook, as if a Divine Treasure was speeding through the ground. In the end, a cultivator saw a streak of divine light disappear into the deepest part of the eastern region. The Divine Light was as brilliant as blood and moved so fast that not even a Prince could get a clear look at it.”

Morning, Xiao Sheng woke up bright and early to update and ask for votes. Everyone, please throw your recommendation tickets this way.