Dominator Emperor

A young man who looked to be just over twenty suddenly appeared. He was dressed in a Daoist Robe and held an Old Banner with the word ”Calculate” written on it.

The young Daoist wore a Daoist Crown. He carried himself with the air of a seasoned veteran, and a mysterious smile always graced his lips, as if he were hiding many secrets.

The sudden appearance of someone acting so familiar made Lu Baiqiu glance at Li Qiye. She thought this young Daoist Child might be one of his friends.

”I am Suan Tian Daoist. My iron mouth decrees fate; I can divine the future.” The young Daoist greeted Li Qiye and Lu Baiqiu with a smile, affecting the steady air of a seasoned master. ”This humble Daoist has come for the Celestial Mandate. Meeting you two Fellow Daoists must be fate. Would you care for a reading?”

Although Suan Tian Daoist put on a steady, seasoned act, his age betrayed him. This was especially true when he offered to perform a divination for them, giving off the distinct impression of a Jianghu swindler.

”We don’t need a reading,” Lu Baiqiu said, shaking her head. ”A Cultivator’s path is to change fate and defy the heavens. What need is there for divination?”

Lu Baiqiu was being polite. Anyone else, upon seeing such a Jianghu swindler, would have driven him off long ago.

”You’re mistaken, dear lady. This humble Daoist can comprehend all of history and divine the future. A glimpse of the Celestial Mandate now can help you turn peril into peace on your future path of Cultivation.” Suan Tian Daoist eagerly pitched his services. ”This humble Daoist can divine the heavens above and the Divine Spirits below, trace the river of time back to its source, and see all that has been and will be...”

To drum up business, the Daoist was praising his own abilities to the high heavens, making himself sound truly incredible.

Lu Baiqiu said nothing, ignoring Suan Tian Daoist completely. Anyone would have thought the man was a Jianghu swindler. It was already generous of her not to chase him away.

Only Li Qiye watched Suan Tian Daoist with an amused smile. ”Are you really that incredible?” he asked. ”Can you truly divine the heavens above and all the gods below?”

”If you don’t believe me, Fellow Daoist, then let this humble Daoist give you a reading,” Suan Tian Daoist said quickly. ”If you feel it’s inaccurate, there’s no charge.”

Li Qiye looked quite interested, which Lu Baiqiu found strange. ’Anyone can see Suan Tian Daoist is a Jianghu swindler,’ she thought. ’Why would Li Qiye suddenly believe him?’

”Alright, then. Give me a reading,” Li Qiye said, smiling brightly at Suan Tian Daoist as he held out his palm.

”Right away!” Seeing he had a customer, Suan Tian Daoist was overjoyed and immediately moved to read Li Qiye’s palm. At first, he glanced at it casually, but his expression soon stiffened. As he peered closer at the lines on Li Qiye’s palm, his gaze sharpened, and his entire body went taut, as if trying to see through to the very depths of Li Qiye’s fate.

”Oh my god—” The moment Suan Tian Daoist used his Divine Techniques, his face turned deathly pale as if he’d been bitten by a venomous snake. He stumbled back several steps, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!

Suan Tian Daoist scrambled back several steps, staring at Li Qiye with a sheet-white face, as if he’d just seen a ghost. Lu Baiqiu was taken aback by his reaction. ’It’s just a fortune telling,’ she thought. ’Is there any need for such an exaggerated response?’

”All Heavens Gods and Demons, all my ancestors, please protect me!” Suan Tian Daoist, his face drained of color, snapped back to his senses, spun around, and tried to flee.

But he didn’t get two steps before Li Qiye grabbed him by the collar and hauled him back.

”Great Sir, this humble Daoist is just a wandering practitioner in the Jianghu, trying to get by!” Suan Tian Daoist pleaded. ”You are a great man of immense generosity! Please don’t lower yourself to my level!”

Lu Baiqiu was stunned by Suan Tian Daoist’s sudden begging. Being kind-hearted, she couldn’t help but whisper to Li Qiye, ”He didn’t mean any real harm. You should just let him go.”

In Lu Baiqiu’s eyes, Suan Tian Daoist was nothing more than a Jianghu Divine Staff, the type who scammed people out of a little money. While such Divine Staffs could be annoying, she couldn’t be bothered to make trouble for someone like him.

Li Qiye shook his head and said to Suan Tian Daoist with a grin, ”What’s the rush? It’s not like I’m going to eat you. Look at you, all flustered. Do you think I’m some kind of monster?”

In Suan Tian Daoist’s eyes, however, Li Qiye was far more terrifying than any monster. His face was pale, and he shook his head back and forth like a rattle drum. ”This lowly one was a fool for showing off his meager skills before a master,” he begged. ”I was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. Great Sir, you are magnanimous; please forgive this lowly one’s transgression.”

”Enough of your nonsense.” Li Qiye released Suan Tian Daoist and said with a grin, ”As it happens, I have something for you to divine.”

At these words, Suan Tian Daoist’s expression changed drastically. He hurriedly tried to refuse. ”Great Sir, this lowly one is just a wanderer of the Jianghu with no real ability. I just cheat to get by. How could this lowly one possibly divine your earth-shattering affairs?”

”Is that so?” Li Qiye said, narrowing his eyes with a smile. ”If you can’t figure it out, I’ll personally break every bone in your body. How does that outcome sound to you?”

Hearing this, Suan Tian Daoist instantly deflated like a punctured ball. He hung his head and said listlessly, ”If Great Sir insists, then this lowly one can only do my best.”

Lu Baiqiu found this all very odd. ’It’s so strange for Li Qiye to go out of his way to trouble a Jianghu fortune-teller,’ she thought.

Li Qiye drew something on a piece of paper and handed it to Suan Tian Daoist. ”Tell me when you have the result,” he said with a smile. ”And don’t even think about running away. Be careful, or I’ll tear down your entire clan’s nest!”

Suan Tian Daoist looked at the drawing on the paper, and his face soured, his expression more bitter than if he had just chewed on coptis. He hung his head in despair.

”Very well, Great Sir. Since you have such faith in this lowly one, I will perform the divination for you. As soon as I have a result, I will be sure to inform you.” After putting the paper away, Suan Tian Daoist spoke quickly to Li Qiye.

”Go on,” Li Qiye said with a light wave of his hand. At his dismissal, Suan Tian Daoist acted as if he’d received a grand pardon. He turned and fled, not daring to linger for even a second, as if Li Qiye were a peerless plague god from whom he needed to get as far away as possible.

After Suan Tian Daoist left, Lu Baiqiu couldn’t help but give Li Qiye a strange look.

”He’s not a Jianghu swindler,” Li Qiye said lightly in response to Lu Baiqiu’s curiosity. ”He’s a Calculator from the Heart Demon Clan. A natural-born one.”

”The Heart Demon Clan!” Lu Baiqiu was stunned. ”The legendary divining Ghost Race!” she murmured.

Legend said that the Heart Demon Clan was a very mysterious branch of the Ghost Race. They were born with a Heart Mirror, allowing them to divine fortunes and misfortunes and calculate the future. Countless great figures in the Ghost Sacred Realm sought them out for their divinations.

”Then how come he doesn’t have a Heart Mirror?” Lu Baiqiu asked after snapping out of her daze.

Li Qiye smiled and said, ”Within the Heart Demon Clan, one doesn’t necessarily need to be born with a Heart Mirror. And even having a Heart Mirror doesn’t guarantee the ability to divine fortunes or calculate the future.”

Lu Baiqiu was stunned. She really wanted to ask Suan Tian Daoist why a single look at Li Qiye’s palm had made him react as if he’d seen a ghost, scaring him into fleeing.

”ROAR—” Just then, a dragon’s cry resounded across the vast sea. From within the mist above the Lost Divine Island, a Golden Dragon soared into the air, only to vanish instantly into the island’s deepest recesses.

”Was that a Divine Beast, a Golden Dragon?” Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, it shocked the many people in this stretch of sea. Countless onlookers were stunned to see the Golden Dragon vanish into the depths of the Lost Divine Island.

True Divine Beasts had always been the stuff of legends; no one had ever seen one with their own eyes. To witness a Golden Dragon taking to the sky today was simply too stunning.

”Does this mean there really is an Immortal Elixir? Legends say that an Immortal Elixir is always guarded by a Divine Beast.” At this point, even the great figures waiting outside the mist grew restless.

Instantly, a buzz of discussion broke out among the crowd on the sea. Countless people wished they could charge onto the Lost Divine Island right then and there to find the legendary Immortal Elixir.

”OPEN!” Finally, one of the great figures standing at the edge of the mist, his body wreathed in leaping Divine Flames, could no longer hold back. He let out a great roar, a sound powerful enough to shatter the stars.

BOOM! With a single move, he blasted through the mist, instantly creating a vacuum in his wake. This great figure was extraordinary, definitely a character of the Ancestor Level. A single move from him could achieve Grasping Stars and Catching the Moon.

In that same instant, countless incomparably powerful Treasure Artifacts materialized around the Elder Ancestor. He transformed into a Flood Dragon and shot through the vacuum corridor he had created at an unbelievable speed, aiming to land on the Lost Divine Island.

Seeing this Elder Ancestor make his move, countless people held their breath. An Elder Ancestor had already died horribly in the mist before, and now everyone wanted to see someone create a miracle.

PUFF! However, the moment this Elder Ancestor stepped into the vacuum within the mist, he was instantly annihilated, regardless of how many treasures protected him or how powerful he was. His entire body turned into a bloody mist before he even had a chance to scream.

This horrifying scene made everyone’s skin crawl. Anyone who had been thinking of entering the Lost Divine Island immediately halted in their tracks.

Lu Baiqiu jumped in fright, cold sweat beading on her palms. ’When we first found the Lost Divine Island, I wanted to rush in too,’ she thought. ’Thank goodness Li Qiye stopped me. Otherwise, my fate would have been the same as that powerful Elder Ancestor’s.’

If even an Elder Ancestor that powerful was turned into a bloody mist in an instant, there was no need to even consider what would have happened to her.

After the Elder Ancestor turned into a bloody mist, it slowly merged with the surrounding fog, turning it an even deeper shade of red. The blood-tinged mist now hanging over the sea looked exceptionally sinister, sending a chill down everyone’s spine.

”Let’s go back. The time isn’t right yet.” Li Qiye shook his head, then turned to leave. To cross this mist, they would have to continue to wait.