Dominator Emperor

Li Qiye’s days of teaching the Dao, dispelling doubts, and pursuing his own cultivation passed in an orderly fashion. Barely a month had gone by when Nan Huairun, who had been absent for quite some time, suddenly appeared. And he wasn’t alone; Guardian Mo had come as well.

Nan Huairun had been on a diplomatic mission to other sects during this time, so Li Qiye wasn’t surprised by his absence. However, seeing Guardian Mo accompanying him was somewhat unexpected.

”Heh, heh, heh... First Brother, you are a man of great vision and profound wisdom, a master of the Great Dao’s wonders and the mysteries of sacred arts...” Upon seeing Li Qiye, Nan Huairun rubbed his hands together and said with a fawning grin.

Li Qiye shot him a glance and said, ”Since you’ve chosen to work for me, cut the flattery. If you have something to say, say it. If you have to fart, then let it rip.”

Nan Huairun flushed, but his composure remained intact—as expected of someone so socially adept. He grinned and said, ”I was hoping First Brother might offer me a pointer or two on my Dao Practice.”

Li Qiye glanced from Nan Huairun to Guardian Mo, then said calmly, ”This was Guardian Mo’s idea, wasn’t it?”

Exposed so bluntly by Li Qiye, Guardian Mo flushed with embarrassment. He gave a hollow laugh and said, ”I... I was hoping to hear your esteemed opinion.”

In truth, while Nan Huairun had been away on his mission, Guardian Mo had remained in the sect. During that time, he had chanced upon one of Li Qiye’s lectures and had been profoundly shaken. Li Qiye had been explaining a common technique, the Biluo Heart Method, yet he did so with the resonance of the Great Dao Sound—something even Guardian Mo’s own master couldn’t achieve. Overhearing that lecture had benefited him immensely.

This had sparked an idea in Guardian Mo’s mind. In his eyes, Li Qiye possessed a peerless level of comprehension. When it came to understanding the Great Dao, he feared no one in the entire Xiyan Ancient Sect could compare. He wanted Li Qiye to explain the Mysteries of the Great Dao to him, just as he did for the disciples of the Washing Stone Valley. However, he was a Guardian, and he felt it was beneath his station to ask a junior for guidance. Compounding this, he was a man of few words, unskilled in social graces, and had no idea how to even begin such a conversation with Li Qiye.

Thus, when Nan Huairun returned, Guardian Mo sent him to seek guidance in his stead.

Nan Huairun quickly tried to smooth things over for his master, grinning as he said, ”My master said that First Brother’s pursuit of the Dao is incredibly profound. That’s why I’ve brazenly come to ask for your instruction.”

Li Qiye ignored Nan Huairun. His gaze rested on Guardian Mo as he said coolly, ”Since you’re one of my people, you can speak to me directly.” He said no more, simply observing the master and disciple.

Guardian Mo understood the implication. He and his disciple were the first to side with Li Qiye. When Yu He had visited, a single word from Li Qiye had elevated their status. Now, hearing Li Qiye say this, even a fool could read between the lines.

”What you cultivate is the Emperor’s Ultimate Technique, the Purple Mist Technique, correct?” Li Qiye asked, looking at the master and disciple.

”Precisely,” Guardian Mo replied, nodding quickly. ”I have managed to reach the Heavenly Essence Realm, but refining the Celestial Destiny Primordial Spirit has been a great struggle.” As a Guardian of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, Guardian Mo’s talent wasn’t the highest among his peers. However, through sheer diligence, his Dao Practice had allowed him to ascend to the Heavenly Essence Realm.

”An Emperor’s Ultimate Technique has its limits, after all,” Li Qiye nodded. ”Cultivating the Celestial Destiny Primordial Spirit with it is indeed no easy task.”

The Heavenly Essence Realm is a great watershed in a Cultivator’s journey. Once this stage is reached, taking even a single step forward can be more difficult than ascending to the heavens. Advancement no longer depends solely on comprehension and talent, but also on powerful Cultivation Techniques, Heavenly Treasures, and other external resources.

Li Qiye said, ”The Purple Mist Technique is an offshoot of Mingren Immortal Emperor’s Core Emperor Technique, the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique. When you reach the Celestial Essence level, cultivating the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique would be like a dragon meeting a tiger, or water harmonizing with fire. Your Dao Practice would soar!”

”If the sect still had the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique, I would have chosen it,” Guardian Mo said with a hollow laugh, ending in a soft sigh.

”First Brother, you might not be aware,” Nan Huairun hurriedly interjected, ”but I heard from my grandmaster that the sect’s copy of the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique is severely incomplete. It’s so fragmented that no one dares to practice it. In his own pursuit of a higher realm, my grandmaster switched to another Great Sage Technique in the sect after he reached the Heavenly Essence Realm.”

Li Qiye fell silent upon hearing this. The Purple Sun Ten Days Technique, an immensely powerful Emperor Technique created by Mingren Immortal Emperor himself, was now lost to the Xiyan Ancient Sect.

In truth, it wouldn’t be difficult for Li Qiye to recover his memory of the complete Purple Sun Ten Days Technique. He didn’t even need to see the fragmented scrolls; by simply comprehending the Purple Mist Technique, he could reconstruct the entire original.

However, Li Qiye had his own plans for the time being. He couldn’t simply hand over the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique to Nan Huairun and his master just yet.

”The Purple Sun Ten Days Technique,” Li Qiye said with a placid smile. ”I’d wager that in less than a year, you’ll be able to learn the complete version. As for the two of you...”

He paused, looking at Guardian Mo and his disciple with a smile. ”There’s nothing wrong with the Purple Mist Technique itself. I’ve observed your conditions before. Guardian Mo’s Dao Foundation is solid, while yours, Junior Brother Nan, is a bit shallow. Continue practicing this technique. Once your foundation in it is firm, cultivating the Purple Sun Ten Days Technique will yield twice the results with half the effort.”

Li Qiye’s words left Nan Huairun and his master stunned and skeptical. He spoke with such absolute confidence. They couldn’t fathom how he was so sure they would be able to cultivate the complete Purple Sun Ten Days Technique within a year. After all, the Xiyan Ancient Sect didn’t possess a complete version at all!

Coming from anyone else, they would have dismissed such a claim as arrogant boasting meant only to placate them. But having witnessed Li Qiye’s uncanny methods firsthand, neither Guardian Mo nor Nan Huairun doubted his words. The real question that left them bewildered was just how Li Qiye planned to obtain the complete Purple Sun Ten Days Technique.

Li Qiye addressed the bewildered pair, ”Though Guardian Mo has hit a bottleneck with his technique, there is a way to break through. When you cultivate the Purple Mist Technique, you should absorb the sun at dawn and the clouds at dusk. Draw the Sun Essence Fire from the morning sun and gather the essence of the evening glow. Refine them both within the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi to create Longevity Blood. This is another shortcut for the Purple Mist Technique, and both of you can practice it.”

When it came to the Cultivation Techniques of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, if they were ones he had left behind or ones created by Mingren Immortal Emperor, then no one was more familiar with them than he. Even without fully recalling his memories of the Purple Mist Technique, he knew exactly how it had been created.

”We’ll give it a try,” the master and disciple said, taking Li Qiye’s advice.

Sure enough, just a few days later, Nan Huairun came running over, even though Guardian Mo didn’t. ”First Brother, this is incredible!” he exclaimed. ”I followed your method, and it’s really just as you said—twice the results with half the effort! One day of cultivation now is worth five or six days of my previous efforts. First Brother, how did you even think of this? You’ve never even practiced the Purple Mist Technique!”

The result was unthinkable to Nan Huairun, and in truth, his master found it just as unbelievable. Both of them were profoundly shaken. With just a few simple pointers, Li Qiye had shown them a completely new path, one they never knew existed.

”A simple calculation, that’s all,” Li Qiye replied nonchalantly.

Nan Huairun, of course, didn’t believe it was a ’simple calculation’—that was impossible. Nevertheless, he was still deeply shaken. Even his own grandmaster, Elder Sun, was unaware of this cultivation method. How could Li Qiye understand it so clearly? But since Li Qiye offered no further explanation, Nan Huairun didn’t dare press the issue. After spending some time with him, he was beginning to understand Li Qiye’s temperament.

Li Qiye had guided Nan Huairun and his master, and unexpectedly, less than a month later, Guardian Mo brought another person to him, also seeking his guidance. This person was none other than Guardian Mo’s own master, one of the Six Great Elders: Elder Sun.

Elder Sun. One of the Six Great Elders of the Xiyan Ancient Sect. Within the sect, he was a man of immense status and power, with a level of Dao Practice that had earned him the title of Heroic Hero.

For an Elder of the Xiyan Ancient Sect, a great figure at the Heroic Hero level, to be seeking guidance from a third-generation disciple... it was simply unthinkable.

In truth, Elder Sun had recently encountered a problem in his cultivation. As his disciple, Guardian Mo naturally wanted to help his master, so the first person he thought of was Li Qiye.

Naturally, Elder Sun’s initial reaction to his disciple’s suggestion was that it was utterly absurd. In the past, he would have likely berated Guardian Mo and dismissed him on the spot. But Guardian Mo’s status was different now, and as his master, Elder Sun had also come to value this disciple more than ever.

Guardian Mo told Elder Sun about the little tip Li Qiye had given for cultivating the Purple Mist Technique. Elder Sun tried it and, to his great surprise, found it to be immediately effective. Finally, at Guardian Mo’s urging, Elder Sun condescended to visit Solitary Peak and have Li Qiye take a look.

Even with an elder gracing him with a visit, Li Qiye remained completely unperturbed. Although Elder Sun was inwardly displeased, he tolerated it. Even the successor of the Nine Saints Demon Gate and the princess of the Ancient Ox Territory listened to Li Qiye, so he, a mere elder, couldn’t afford to put on too many airs.

Li Qiye inspected Elder Sun’s Life Wheel, Life Palace, and physique. After a thorough examination, he said, ”Elder’s Dao Foundation is reasonably solid. The only issue is that back when you were in the Nirvana Realm, you were too eager for results, which left a small flaw in your Dao Foundation. As for switching from the Purple Mist Technique to a Great Sage Technique at the Heavenly Essence Realm, that isn’t a major issue. While the transition between the two techniques wasn’t perfect, it shouldn’t be fatal when you face the decline of your lifespan and your Fate Calamity.”

The moment Li Qiye finished speaking, Elder Sun was stunned. He hadn’t taken Li Qiye seriously at first, treating this visit as a last-ditch effort—like trying to doctor a dead horse back to life.