Dominator Emperor

Chapter 175: A Calamity Caused by a Single Roof Tile (Part 1)

For any Cultivator of the older generation, accepting a disciple was a matter of extreme caution. Never mind the great experts; even powerhouses at the Prince Level were incredibly picky!

The old man before them was undoubtedly a master in disguise. Yet now, he was begging to take Li Qiye as his disciple. Such a thing was truly a rare sight.

What shocked Li Shuangyan and the others even more was that the old man was offering treasures of the Great Sage Level. And this was just a greeting gift! It was simply too extravagant. This left Li Shuangyan and the others speechless.

Faced with such a lavish master, countless young geniuses in the world would probably be crying and begging to become his disciple. To have such an expert as a master meant a life free from all worry.

Li Qiye, however, was completely uninterested. He shook his head and said, ”I’m not interested. You should find someone else to be your disciple.”

”Heh, heh, think about it, think about it! Take the treasures for now. Once you’ve used them, you’ll understand their benefits.” The old man seemed desperate to give the treasures away, shoving them into Li Qiye’s arms again and again.

”I’m very moved by your passion,” Li Qiye said with a smile, ”but I don’t need a master.” He returned the two Great Sage’s Treasures to the old man.

The old man was speechless. He couldn’t help but say, ”Hey, hey, young man, do you have to be like this? Taking me as your master is good for you! How about this? As long as you follow me, treasures will be no problem. Just name your price. What treasure will it take for you to accept me as your master?”

The old man’s words were incredibly bold, as if he was going all out!

”Fine. Find me ten Immortal Emperor True Artifacts, and I’ll become your disciple,” Li Qiye said with a grin, glancing sideways at the boisterous old man.

”Ten Immortal Emperor True Artifacts? You think those are cabbages?!” Hearing this, the old man’s face fell.

”Whether they’re cabbages or not, I wouldn’t know.” Li Qiye shrugged and said with a smile, ”That’s your problem. You should think it over carefully.” After speaking, he laughed, turned, and walked away.

Li Shuangyan and the others couldn’t help but smile wryly. Others would kill for the chance to have such an expert as their master, yet he treated it as nothing!

”Young man, think it over! I’ll be on the Ancient Street for a while. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime. As long as you become my disciple, living the good life will be a piece of cake!” The old man, refusing to give up, shouted at Li Qiye’s retreating back as he walked away.

Li Qiye, now some distance away, just smiled and shrugged, looking completely uninterested.

The old man’s passion and sincerity were so great that even Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but say, ”Young Noble, why aren’t you willing? From what I can see, that old man is unfathomable. He must have an extraordinary background.”

”The Nine Realms may be vast,” Li Qiye said calmly, ”but there is no one qualified to be my master.”

’Take another as my master? What a joke! I’ve even trained Immortal Emperors. As for the beings I’ve nurtured who could sweep across the Eight Desolations, I can’t even count them all! There truly is no one in this world who could be my master.’

”But Sect Leader Su is your master,” Li Shuangyan said, deliberately trying to get a rise out of Li Qiye. Her usual frosty demeanor was replaced with a teasing tone.

Li Qiye shot her a glare. ”That was a coincidence! A coincidence! Do you know what a coincidence is?”

Seeing Li Qiye’s expression, both Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but purse their lips and stifle a laugh. The sight of these two peerless beauties and their charming smiles would be enough to mesmerize countless people, making them walk into walls without even noticing.

As for Shi Gandang, who had been following behind, he could only sigh softly. This was the difference. If it were him, and such an expert wanted to take him as a disciple, he would have thrown away all his pride and immediately kowtowed to accept. Such a lavish master was a once-in-a-million-year opportunity. Yet, Li Qiye treated it as nothing, not even blinking at the offer of a Great Sage’s Treasure as a greeting gift. This was the difference in their stations in life, a gap he couldn’t cross even on horseback.

”Why were you able to open the Stone Box?” Thinking back to what happened, Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but ask. The matter was simply too incredible. Although she had seen many incredible things while following Li Qiye, she still felt compelled to ask.

Chen Baojiao’s question made Li Qiye pause. He sighed softly in his heart. ’How could I not be able to open this Stone Box? If even I couldn’t open it, who in this world could? I was the one who personally buried this Stone Box back then. That’s a story from a bygone era...’

”That’s a secret. If I told you, it wouldn’t be mysterious anymore.” In the end, this was all Li Qiye said to Chen Baojiao.

Chen Baojiao was naturally unsatisfied with this answer and shot Li Qiye an annoyed glare.

However, Li Shuangyan, who understood Li Qiye better, realized in that instant that the Stone Box had stirred something in his heart. As for what it was, she had no way of knowing.

Li Qiye said to Li Shuangyan, ”You take the Six Beasts Array Painting and the Stellar Celestial Disc. Ponder them and cultivate well. These two items will be of great benefit to you.”

Li Shuangyan was fond of Arrays. Li Qiye’s acquisition of the Six Beasts Array Painting and the Stellar Celestial Disc was practically tailor-made for her. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered opening the Stone Box for the old man.

”What about Sister Bao Jiao?” Li Shuangyan couldn’t help but ask. She already had many treasures, not to mention the Six Paths Sword in her possession. Chen Baojiao, on the other hand, had no treasures since leaving the Chen Family.

”These two treasures aren’t suitable for her,” Li Qiye said, shaking his head. ”When a suitable treasure comes along, I’ll help her get one or two.”

Chen Baojiao knew her place and didn’t ask Li Qiye for a treasure. Even though Nan Huairun and the others had already received treasures and she was the only one without, she didn’t ask for one. She understood that Li Qiye had his priorities for those around him. She hadn’t followed him for nearly as long as Li Shuangyan and the others, so it wasn’t strange that she would receive treasures later.

”What is in the Golden Small Coffin?” After walking a bit further, Li Shuangyan, who was usually very understanding of Li Qiye, couldn’t help but ask softly. She had seen the items in the Stone Box. It was obvious that the old man treasured the Golden Small Coffin dearly. In order to open the Stone Box and retrieve it, he was willing to trade great treasures—and Great Sage Level ones at that. This was enough to imply that the contents of the Golden Small Coffin were heaven-shaking, or that the coffin itself was.

At the mention of the Golden Small Coffin, Li Qiye sighed softly. In the end, he just said, ”Something no one in this world would ever imagine.”

An answer like this from Li Qiye was the same as no answer at all, but Li Shuangyan didn’t press him further. In truth, Chen Baojiao was also extremely curious. What was inside the Golden Small Coffin? Since Li Qiye wouldn’t elaborate, she couldn’t ask either.

The Ancient Street was incredibly lively, with people coming and going and transactions happening endlessly. There were people selling Divine Medicines, people acquiring rare goods, and people searching for destined items... All sorts of people could be found here.

Unlike the street vendors of Celestial Ancient City, the people buying and selling on the Ancient Street generally didn’t shout or hawk their wares. If they wanted to sell a treasure, they would just place it on the ground, sit there silently, and wait for a buyer to come and inquire.

But there were exceptions. At a corner of the Ancient Street, a stall was set up. It was a medicine stall with two people: an old man and a young girl. The old man was shouting to attract customers, while the girl kept her head down, organizing the medicinal herbs on the stall.

”Su Yin Old Pharmacy, a three-million-year-old golden brand! Friends passing by, don’t miss out! Soul Medicine, Beast Marrow, Longevity Blood, we have it all! Longevity Medicine, Life Pills, Golden Powder... there’s nothing we don’t have! One medicine to extend your life by a hundred years, one pill to reach the nine-foot grade, one Golden Powder to save the dying... Fair prices, a price from the heart... Look across the entire Middle Grand Realm—no, the entire Human Emperor Realm, and you won’t find a cheaper pharmacy!” The old man at the medicine stall raised his voice and shouted loudly.

This old man looked rather comical. He had a goatee, and his eyes were the size of green beans. His old face was covered in wrinkles, and when he smiled and shouted, the wrinkles looked like ripples on water!

However, the old man’s business was indeed booming. For Cultivators, items like Longevity Medicine and Life Pills were consumables. And since every sect’s Pharmacists were limited, not many disciples in each of the Sects and Great Teachings could be allocated Longevity Medicine or Life Pills. Therefore, many Cultivators had to buy them from outside sources.

Of course, the Longevity Medicine and Life Pills sold outside were not cheap either. The Cultivators who could afford them definitely came from Major Sects.

The old man had quite a stock of Longevity Medicine, Life Pills, Soul Grass, and Beast Marrow. The buyers were a constant stream.

”Do you have any Five Transformations Life Pills? What’s the price?” an Ancient Saint asked as he stepped up to the old man’s stall.

”Five Transformations Life Pills? Yes, yes, yes!” Elder Yao said with a cheerful grin. ”Hee, hee, but I only have three left. One Life Pill sells for six hundred thousand Saint Venerable Essence Jades!”

”Six hundred thousand Saint Venerable Essence Jades?” Hearing the old man’s words, the Ancient Saint was taken aback. He said, ”Old man, you’re too ruthless! You might as well just rob me! A Five Transformations Life Pill is exclusively for Ancient Saints, yet you’re pricing it in Saint Venerable Essence Jades. Six hundred thousand Ancient Saint Essence Jades would be more reasonable!”

Elder Yao didn’t even blush. He said with a cheerful grin, ”Fellow Daoist, since you are an Ancient Saint, a rare powerhouse in this era, you should also understand. For a Pharmacist, Life Pills are the most difficult to refine. My Six Transformations, seven-foot grade Life Pills are definitely hot commodities. It takes me a very long time to refine one, and collecting the Elixir Grass and Spiritual Medicines isn’t easy either. Besides, for this seven-foot grade quality, I, Su Yin Medicine Elder, dare to bet that you won’t find many other shops in all of Celestial Ancient City that can sell it. If I sold such a Life Pill for Ancient Saint Essence Jades, wouldn’t everyone come flocking to buy them?”

The Ancient Saint was suddenly speechless. The price was outrageous, but what the man said was true. For Cultivators, Body Ointment and Longevity Medicine were easier to find, but Life Pills were hard to come by, especially Life Pills at the Ancient Saint Level. Those were even rarer.

***