Dominator Emperor

”I hear that place is haunted,” Nan Huairun said mysteriously to Li Qiye.

”If it’s called the Ghost Tower, it’s only natural for it to have ghosts. If it didn’t, why would they call it that?” Li Qiye replied with a placid smile.

Seeing that Li Qiye wasn’t the least bit anxious, Nan Huairun was practically hopping with impatience. He quickly said, ”Senior Brother, I’m not kidding! That place is really haunted, for real! If you don’t believe me, ask my master!”

Guardian Mo was also present. Hearing Nan Huairun, he pondered for a moment before saying, ”The Ghost Tower is indeed ominous. It’s best to be careful. While I’ve never heard of anyone dying there, word is that even the Great Elder was put in a terrible position and suffered a significant setback. It’s hard to say for certain if there are ghosts, but there is definitely *something* in there. Something ominous.”

”Ghosts, huh.” Li Qiye’s gaze drifted far into the distance. Finally, he said with a grin, ”If there really are ghosts, I’d actually like that. I’m just afraid they *aren’t* ghosts.” A smirk tugged at his lips, and he let out a chuckle.

Nan Huairun was rendered speechless by his First Senior Brother’s... peculiar tastes. Most people couldn’t run away fast enough from something as ominous as a ghost, yet he actually claimed to like them.

Nan Huairun was genuinely concerned for Li Qiye and wanted to try persuading him again, but his master, Guardian Mo, gave a slight shake of his head, so he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

Guardian Mo didn’t try to dissuade Li Qiye. He could see that Li Qiye had already made up his mind, and he believed they had no reason to worry about how he handled things.

”Let’s go. Time to see the Ghost Tower!” Li Qiye finally said with a smile to Nan Huairun and Guardian Mo.

With no other choice, Nan Huairun resigned himself to his fate and followed Li Qiye to the Ghost Tower. Still, he muttered, ”Senior Brother, when you run into a ghost, don’t blame me for not warning you. That place is seriously haunted.”

Li Qiye just chuckled at Nan Huairun’s incessant nagging.

In fact, every disciple in the Xiyan Ancient Sect had heard the news that Li Qiye was going to the Ghost Tower to face the wall. At the mere mention of the Ghost Tower, the sect’s disciples couldn’t help but shiver.

”Spend half a year in the Ghost Tower? I wouldn’t even do it for a single day! I’d rather be punished in the Ice Cave than stay in there!” one disciple exclaimed, his face pale.

”Forget the Ice Cave, I’d even go to the Yin Drying Valley. But I am *not* going to the Ghost Tower,” another disciple added, shaking his head.

”Speaking of the Ghost Tower, even our own Martial Uncle Dadan was terrified,” one disciple said. ”You could say Martial Uncle Dadan is the boldest person in the entire Xiyan Ancient Sect, but five years ago, he refused to believe the superstitions. He made a bet with us that he’d spend a night there. The next day, before the sun was even up, he came running out, scared witless.”

”You little brat! Spilling my embarrassing stories, are you asking for a beating?” a middle-aged man nearby glared and barked. He was a coarse-looking man, clearly a rough and uncouth fellow.

Despite the martial uncle’s glare, another disciple couldn’t help but ask curiously, ”Martial Uncle, what happened that night? What was it really like?”

Questioned by the younger disciples, the martial uncle fell silent for a moment. At last, he shook his head and said, ”The Ghost Tower is haunted. By terrifying ghosts. And maybe not just one, but many, many of them.”

”Li Qiye is going to the Ghost Tower for his punishment. How long do you all think he’ll last?” a disciple asked, overcome with curiosity.

”I bet he won’t even last a single night,” one disciple wagered.

Another disciple snorted. ”One night? Hah! I say he’ll be scared out of his mind the moment it gets dark. The Ghost Tower’s reputation isn’t for nothing. That place is absolutely haunted!”

For a while, many disciples of the Xiyan Ancient Sect chattered amongst themselves. Everyone agreed that the Ghost Tower was haunted, but when it came to the specifics of *what kind* of ghosts were there, no one could give a clear answer.

In truth, even the Guardians turned pale when the Ghost Tower was mentioned. The Great Elder himself had once gone there, intending to suppress its ominous presence with his Emperor Technique. To everyone’s shock, he retreated the very next day in a sorry state, having failed to quell whatever was inside.

After that, no Guardian or disciple ever again overestimated their own strength and tried to deal with the ghosts of the tower. If even the Great Elder had failed, no one else stood a chance.

The Ghost Tower sat atop one of the Xiyan Ancient Sect’s main peaks. Originally, the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi on this peak had been quite decent. But ever since the tower became known for being haunted, not only was the building itself avoided, but no disciple was willing to cultivate anywhere in the vicinity of the peak.

Now, the entire area was a picture of decay. Desolation stretched for dozens of miles around the main peak. Even the flowers, grass, and trees appeared sickly and wilted, as if they too were affected by the ominous presence.

Legend had it that tens of thousands of years ago, the disciples of this peak had formed their own powerful branch of the sect. The peak had flourished for generations. But after the hauntings began, it started to decline, until finally no disciple dared to set foot on it.

As Li Qiye stood atop the main peak, looking out over the landscape, he grew silent. The desolation wasn’t simply due to the absence of cultivators. Standing here, one could feel a faint sense of unease, as if a malevolent Evil Qi was about to surge up from deep within the earth.

It seemed there was a good reason why generations of Xiyan Ancient Sect disciples had considered this place ominous for the last ten thousand years.

Standing there on the peak with them, Nan Huairun felt a chill crawl down his spine, as if a ghost was watching him. His scalp tingled with fear. If Li Qiye and Guardian Mo weren’t by his side, he would never have willingly stayed in this godforsaken place.

He snapped back to reality and looked at the structure on the peak. It was a picture of decline; the building known as the Ghost Tower looked as if it could crumble into dust at any moment. Gazing at it, Li Qiye let out a soft sigh.

Despite its name, the Ghost Tower was actually an exquisitely constructed building, full of architectural charm. Perched atop the main peak, it looked like a natural formation, as if it were one with the mountain itself.

From its adornments, it was clear the Xiyan Ancient Sect had once placed great importance on this tower. It was a shame that after the ominous events began, the sect had been forced to abandon it.

The Ghost Tower wasn’t large, but it was incredibly refined, a truly small and exquisite structure. Now, however, it was thick with dust, draped in cobwebs, and choked with weeds. Even squirrels and wild birds had made their homes inside.

Stepping into the Ghost Tower, the floorboards—made from Ten Thousand Year Jade Pine—let out a loud CREAK. In the gloomy atmosphere, a more timid person would have been scared witless. This was especially true when, upon entering, a sudden FLAP FLAP FLAP sound erupted as a flurry of bats scattered in all directions, adding to the tower’s eerie, ghostly ambiance.

”This place was once one of the most important sites in the Xiyan Ancient Sect. A shame that it’s now completely abandoned,” Guardian Mo lamented.

It wasn’t just Guardian Mo who was moved. Li Qiye, too, sighed softly in his heart. ’I remember those distant years... The path of Cultivation was long. Before the Mingren Immortal Emperor shouldered the Celestial Mandate, before he dominated the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, it was in this very pavilion that I taught that Mingren Kid the Zither Dao!’

’Back then, when I was still the Yin Ya,’ he reminisced, ’I even mocked that Mingren Kid’s zither skills, telling him they were so bad he’d starve to death if he tried to busk for a living.’

’Thinking back, the Mingren Immortal Emperor would just roar with laughter at such mockery.’

Without waiting for Li Qiye’s command, Guardian Mo and Nan Huairun set about cleaning the Ghost Tower inside and out. Once they had finished sweeping and tidying, the tower was much brighter, and a great deal of the gloom had been swept away. Even so, a hint of its sinister air remained.

After Guardian Mo and Nan Huairun finished arranging all the necessary supplies for Li Qiye, they reported back to him.

Li Qiye glanced at their work and nodded. ”Not bad,” he said. ”However, I’ll sleep in the main hall, no need to prepare a separate room for me. Also, Huairun, bring me a zither.”

”A zither? What for?” Nan Huairun was stunned. Generally speaking, very few Cultivators indulged in such elegant pastimes as playing the zither under the moon.

Li Qiye smiled and said, ”Since this place was once known as the Qin Tower, and the scenery here is so exceptional, what could be more delightful than to play a tune while admiring the moon at night?”

”Uh—” Nan Huairun couldn’t stop himself from whispering, ”Senior Brother, this is the Ghost Tower. It’s haunted at night! And you... you... you’re still in the mood to play the zither?”

”You brat, don’t ruin my fun. Now, go!” For a thirteen-year-old like Li Qiye to be calling Nan Huairun a brat was rather strange, like an old man in a young boy’s body. Yet, Nan Huairun just grinned and hurried away.

While Nan Huairun and his master were busy, Li Shuangyan, who had accompanied them, seemed to be paying special attention to the Ghost Tower. She observed it with great care, as if determined not to miss a single detail.

At that moment, Li Shuangyan was staring intently at the four large pillars in the main hall, completely captivated. The four massive pillars were carved from Ten Thousand Year Jade Pine. After weathering the Baptism of countless years, they showed no signs of rot or decay. The surface of each pillar was covered in dense, intricate patterns. In fact, it wasn’t just the pillars; the entire Qin Tower was adorned with these markings. However, the patterns were so faint that they were nearly impossible to notice without careful inspection.

Li Shuangyan was a genius. Possessing a Holy Destiny Imperial Body, she was a true Heavenly Pride Girl no matter where she went. A closer look at the patterns immediately told her they were extraordinary. As a genius, she couldn’t help but study them, trying to peer into their Profound Mystery. But as she tried to comprehend them, she found they were neither Dao Patterns nor talismanic scripts. Still, she felt they concealed some ineffable profundity.

”Figured out any of its profound mysteries yet?” Li Qiye walked over to her, a pleasant smile on his face as he spoke to the engrossed Li Shuangyan.