Dominator Emperor

However, one couldn’t enter this pool just by being powerful. Entry wasn’t a matter of strength, but of comprehension!

The Elder Ancestor from the Ju Que Holy Land was indeed powerful. He took forty steps in the blink of an eye, but after that, each step became a struggle. At this point, he took out an Emperor Artifact and used its invincible might to forcefully push deeper into the pool.

Although the Elder Ancestor from the Ju Que Holy Land was powerful, when it came to talent and comprehension, even he couldn’t compare to a peerless prodigy like Tian Lunhui.

Seeing the Elder Ancestor from the Ju Que Holy Land enter, a few other experts followed. They weren’t chasing Li Qiye; they were hoping for a fortuitous opportunity of their own.

Most people, however, chose to watch from the edge of the pool, wanting to assess the situation before making a move.

SPLASH— Just then, plump fish began leaping out from the vortex in the pool. But these were no ordinary fish; they were completely crystal clear. The leaping fish were so transparent they seemed to be made of the pool’s water.

SPLASH, SPLASH. The sound echoed as the plump fish leaped high into the air. When they fell back into the water, they scattered in all directions. More and more of them began to appear.

When a great number of fish had appeared, a giant turtle slowly surfaced from the vortex. Like the fish, it was crystal clear, as if formed from the pool’s water.

Furthermore, the giant turtle carried a huge stone stele on its back. The stele was just as crystalline and transparent as the turtle, as if it, too, was made of water. As soon as the turtle surfaced, all the fish swarmed over, surrounding it.

The turtle carried this Water Stele, which seemed to be one with the entire pool. As the turtle brought it to the surface, the water level itself seemed to rise. It was as if the Water Stele and the pool were one and the same.

When Lan Yunzhu saw the Water Stele on the turtle’s back, her expression changed. Though it was made of water, its design was identical to the Ancient Stele that opened the Lost Immortal Medicine Garden.

“This… can this open the Tomb’s secret grounds?” Lan Yunzhu asked Li Qiye in a hurry.

“This pool is part of the Water Realm’s secret grounds in the First Evil Tomb,” Li Qiye said, his eyes still fixed on the vortex. “But to enter the core, you must open this stele. Ignore it for now. The secret grounds aren’t what’s important. We’re after the tomb’s ultimate secret!”

After the turtle surfaced with the Water Stele, the crystalline fish immediately swarmed it. Once they had all gathered, the fish parted to form a path. The turtle, carrying the stele, slowly swam out of the vortex and began to cruise around the pool.

Shortly after the turtle left the vortex, a small, pitch-black opening appeared in its depths.

With a SPLASH, a flower bud emerged from the pitch-black opening. In the blink of an eye, it was standing upright in the center of the vortex.

POP— The sound of a flower opening. It was the faintest, softest sound, yet as it echoed, everyone present—and indeed, every cultivator in the entire Water Realm—heard it.

This impossibly soft sound of a flower opening made the heart of every cultivator who heard it stutter. The gentle sound seemed to make everyone’s heart skip a beat, creating a suffocating pressure that made their skin crawl with fear.

The flower bud began to slowly open. It was shaped like a lotus, but the flower was entirely ink-black, a blackness as deep as the night.

As the bud bloomed, the sky itself began to darken. One by one, the petals unfurled, and with each petal, a night was born. The slowly blooming darkness consumed the day.

“W-w-what’s happening?” The sudden plunge into darkness startled everyone. The cultivators by the poolside were completely thunderstruck by the sight.

A flower blooming plunged the world into darkness. How terrifying was that? It completely overturned the natural order of yin and yang, of night and day!

“T-this… this is an invincible flower! It’s absolutely the most powerful flower in the world!” a Great Sect Ancestor exclaimed, their face pale with horror.

In that instant, a dozen figures charged into the pool. The moment they appeared, a terrifying aura swept through the world, as if ancient beings were clawing their way up from the earth. The sudden appearance of these heaven-defying experts made the very world tremble.

These dozen or so figures were all Great Sect Ancestors who had been hiding in the shadows, unwilling to show themselves. Some were even Elder Ancestors from Emperor Immortal Gates. But at this moment, these Old Undyings lurking behind the curtain threw caution to the wind. As long as they could seize the flower, even betting their lives was a worthy gamble!

The dozen-plus Elder Ancestors charged desperately into the pool, each wishing they could teleport to the center and be the first to seize the flower.

“An Unparalleled Treasure! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!” Seeing so many Great Sect Ancestors make their move, how could the other cultivators hold back? Someone let out a roar, and in the blink of an eye, countless cultivators plunged into the pool like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

“Now!” Li Qiye commanded Lan Yunzhu the moment the last petal bloomed.

Lan Yunzhu was ready. At Li Qiye’s command, she instantly stepped forward. In that moment, it was as if the Celestial Mandate itself was turning in a cycle of reincarnation. A Star River stretched across the world. As the Star River descended, the world spun through reincarnation, sun and moon trading places, making it impossible to distinguish day from night.

In that brief moment, the Water Realm flickered between day and night; at times, it was half day and half night…

River of Fate Celestial Return. This was the Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill created by the Qianli Immortal Emperor. In that moment, Lan Yunzhu’s technique replaced the world itself, and its endless cycle of reincarnation instantly enveloped the ink-black flower.

But as the flower bloomed, the seemingly fragile and delicate blossom unleashed a terrifying power. Its unfurling petals seemed poised to shatter the Nine Heavens, its strength threatening to rip apart the cycle of reincarnation.

Yet, in that same instant, a figure appeared. As it materialized within the cycle of reincarnation, it was as if destiny itself had willed it, as if the Qianli Immortal Emperor had personally descended!

With the appearance of this figure, the Celestial Mandate returned. A Great Dao as brilliant as a Star River coiled around the flower, causing its open petals to slowly fold back upon themselves until it was a bud once more.

Finally, the flower bud drifted into Lan Yunzhu’s Life Palace. By using the River of Fate Celestial Return, the technique created by her sect’s founder, she had finally secured the flower within her Life Palace.

“We did it!” Lan Yunzhu was overjoyed. She could feel the immense, terrifying power emanating from the flower. Obtaining it was an absolutely incredible stroke of fortune!

“Only a Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill created using this very flower as a blueprint could ever hope to obtain it. This is what you call destiny,” Li Qiye said, happy for her.

Back then, he had hoped the Qianli Immortal Emperor could obtain this flower. Unfortunately, his luck was just a hair’s breadth off; otherwise, he would have succeeded. The Qianli Immortal Emperor failed, but now his descendant has succeeded. This, too, is destiny!

“NO—!” Seeing such an unparalleled flower taken by Lan Yunzhu, countless people were driven mad with jealousy. Their eyes burned red with envy, and they wished for nothing more than to snatch it from her.

This was especially true for the Great Sect Ancestors. They had risked everything, yet never even had a chance to get the flower. How could they not be driven mad with resentment?

“It’s so powerful… what kind of flower is it?” Lan Yunzhu couldn’t help but ask. Even though she had yet to test its power, she knew just from receiving it that the flower was terrifying beyond belief.

“The Night World Flower. I fear it’s the only one in existence,” Li Qiye said. “Its power isn’t so simple. Especially for you, since you practice the ‘River of Fate Celestial Return,’ it should hold even greater mysteries and have a more profound purpose. If not, that would be quite a disappointment. Your ancestor became an Immortal Emperor without this flower; now that you possess it, you must achieve even more.”

“Uncle, with you around, do you think I even have a chance to become an Immortal Emperor?” Lan Yunzhu shot Li Qiye a look. It wasn’t that she lacked confidence; she was sure she could hold her own even against the Three Heroes of the Netherworld. But when it came to Li Qiye, all her confidence evaporated. ‘If I were to vie for the Celestial Mandate against the Three Heroes, I believe I’d have a chance,’ she thought. ‘But against him? I’d have no chance at all.’

“Have some confidence in yourself,” Li Qiye said, lightly flicking her on the forehead.

Then, Li Qiye turned his gaze to the opening in the vortex. “I’m going in,” he said. “If I miss this opportunity, another one like it will be hard to find.”

“I’ll go with you,” Lan Yunzhu said quickly.

Li Qiye opened his Life Palace. A withered tree stump flew out and instantly took root at the entrance of the opening, forming a black Daoist Door. With a great shout from Li Qiye, the Daoist Door sucked them both inside.

Li Qiye and Lan Yunzhu were pulled into the black Daoist Door. Once inside, they steadied themselves. Lan Yunzhu opened her eyes to find herself in a vast, boundless Void.

Unlike the tomb’s ultimate secret in the Wood Realm, this place was an endless Void. It was as if they had been transported to another cosmos, one with no life, no creation—nothing but the infinite Void.

“Where… where do we go?” Lan Yunzhu asked, gazing into the endless Void before them.

Li Qiye gazed across the expanse and finally pointed toward a distant corner of the Celestial Universe where stars twinkled. “That way,” he said. “If I’m not mistaken, what I need is over there.”

“What is it?” Lan Yunzhu couldn’t help asking. The Night World Flower alone had already shaken her to the core; for someone like her, it was a massive stroke of good fortune.

But to Li Qiye, it seemed to be nothing special. In fact, it could be said that what he was after wasn’t the tomb’s ultimate secret, which others viewed as an Unparalleled Treasure. He was plotting to get something else entirely.

“I don’t know,” Li Qiye said with a smile. “The First Evil Tomb has Five Great Realms and five great secrets. Even I can’t be sure what lies behind each one. But these secrets are all bound by cause and effect.”