Dominator Emperor

”Who are you?”

Just as Li Shuangyan and the others sat down on the ground with a sigh of relief, a voice suddenly drifted down from the sky. The unexpected words startled them so much that they leaped to their feet.

Only then did Li Shuangyan and the others realize that at some unknown point, the Wooden Coffin hanging from the cliff had opened. A person was sitting inside.

A man sat inside the Wooden Coffin. He wore a suit of armor, though it was now dull and lightless. Terrifyingly, the chest plate was shattered—and not just the armor, for his chest had been pierced clean through! Judging by the shattered remnants, the blow must have been unimaginably dreadful.

Though his chest was pierced, it did not diminish his impressive bearing. The man was tall and imposing, with brows like swords and a face like the moon. It was clear that he must have been an exceptionally handsome man in his time.

Although the man’s eyes were closed, he seemed to be looking right at Li Qiye—or at least, that was the impression he gave.

Seeing such a man, Li Shuangyan and her group were taken aback. Since the Martial God had addressed him as a senior, they had assumed the person buried in the Wooden Coffin was an ancient elder. They never expected to find a man like this!

”Bitter Bamboo Forest, Arrow Shocking Immortal! Gao Yang Heaven, Celestial Battle Slaughter! One feathered arrow summons, ten thousand saints heed the call!” Li Qiye said with a smile, facing the man.

The moment Li Qiye finished speaking, the man in the Wooden Coffin snapped his eyes open. They flashed with a bloody light that locked onto Li Qiye.

In that instant, Li Shuangyan and the others felt their bodies go limp. Though the bloody light was not directed at them, they were utterly powerless to resist, feeling like mere ants beneath a giant elephant’s foot.

Only Li Qiye stood his ground calmly, meeting the man’s bloody gaze. He looked at the man and finally let out a soft sigh. ”Wanyun Mountain does not join my sect!”

The man stared at Li Qiye for a long, long time, remaining silent. After an unknown period, he finally closed his eyes without a word. He lay back down in his Wooden Coffin, pulled the lid shut, and all was silent once more.

Li Qiye glanced at the Wooden Coffin and let out a long sigh. ’Such ancient memories... What a pity. This fellow is still as stubborn as an ox!’

After a long while, Li Shuangyan and the others finally snapped out of it. They were completely baffled by the situation and couldn’t understand Li Qiye’s cryptic, poem-like words at all.

”Who is he?” Unable to contain her curiosity any longer, Chen Baojiao finally whispered the question to Li Qiye.

Li Qiye gave a wry smile and shook his head. ”A stubborn fellow. He’s been that way for millions of years, just like a rock from an outhouse—hard and stinky!”

These words from Li Qiye gave Niu Fen and the others a huge fright. Their young master dared to speak so critically of someone who even the Martial God and the Overlord Immortal Lion King were wary of. If that man were to fly into a rage, wouldn’t crushing them be as easy as crushing ants?

Li Shuangyan and the others couldn’t help but look up at the Wooden Coffin on the cliff. However, there was no sound or movement from within, which finally allowed them to breathe a sigh of relief.

’In truth, Li Shuangyan and the others were dying of curiosity. Why would that man help them after hearing those cryptic, poetic words? Or more accurately, why would he help their young master?’

However, since Li Qiye didn’t elaborate, they didn’t dare to press the issue. The story behind it all was clearly beyond their comprehension.

”The spoils from this venture are for Bao Jiao,” Li Qiye said, taking out the Overlord Immortal Saber and the Heaven-Spanning Eight Blades secret manuals and handing them to Chen Baojiao.

”For... for me?” Chen Baojiao was stunned. They had all risked life and limb to obtain these two items; she never imagined he would give both to her.

”You could say these two items were practically made for your Overlord Fairy Spring Body,” Li Qiye said with a nod. ”If not for your specific constitution, I wouldn’t have made a special trip to acquire them. In the future, you will discover just how perfect they are for you.”

Holding the two items, Chen Baojiao was speechless for a long time. She was already Li Qiye’s maid; for her, simply being allowed to practice a Supreme Body Technique was more than she had ever dared to hope for. Yet today, Li Qiye had gifted her two supreme treasures. In that moment, her nose began to tingle and her heart filled with warmth. There were a thousand things she wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t come.

Finally, Li Qiye addressed the group. ”Shuangyan has already been rewarded with the Array Map and the Celestial Disc, and Elder Shi received the Profound Ancient Tower. All of you performed meritoriously this time, but you have already been rewarded. Therefore, these two treasures will go to Bao Jiao.”

Li Shuangyan said nothing; she never questioned her Young Master’s arrangements.

Shi Gandang bowed deeply to Li Qiye. ”Young Master has already granted this old one a tower; I dare not ask for anything more.” In truth, he was also happy for his young miss, as this proved she held a special place in the Young Master’s heart.

”Niu Fen, you performed with great merit this time,” Li Qiye said to him. ”You have no need for treasures. I will grant you two more understandings.”

Hearing this, Niu Fen was instantly overcome with ecstasy. He prostrated himself on the ground and exclaimed, ”For Young Master to grant me two understandings is more precious than any Supreme Treasure!” To him, no treasure in the world could compare to the Eighteen Understandings.

「While Li Qiye was busy in the Ancient Sky Corpse Land swindling an Earth Immortal, more and more cultivators began to appear back in Celestial Ancient City. Even many reclusive Sect Inheritances started to make their presence known.」

As the city grew more bustling, an increasing number of coffins appeared. Many Great Ancient Sects and kingdom-level inheritances arrived, all carrying coffins.

With the emergence of the Netherworld Ship, what was everyone truly after? While some young cultivators and Great Teaching Territories were indeed here for treasure, what about the many other Great Teaching Territories, especially the unfathomable Immortal Sect Emperor Lineages? They were here for rebirth—for the chance to live another lifetime!

To put it bluntly, which of those Ancient Holy Orders, with their legacies stretching back millions of years, didn’t have a few dead ancestors lying around? In fact, one could say the one thing they didn’t lack was the dead—and exceptionally powerful ones at that.

In fact, it wasn’t just the dead. The dying were even more desperate to be buried in the Ancient Sky Corpse Land. These Old Undyings had survived one era after another and were now down to their last breath. They feared death more than anyone, willing to use any means necessary to prolong their wretched existence.

Now, with the appearance of the Netherworld Ship, every single dying Old Undying saw a once-in-a-millennium opportunity to live again.

For a time, Great Teaching Territories and Ancient Sect Secret Sects from all corners of the world arrived bearing coffins. Some coffins contained Elder Sages who had been dead for countless eons, while others held the Old Undyings who had hidden away, surviving from one era to the next and still clinging to a sliver of life.

For both the dead and the barely-living Old Undyings, the Netherworld Ship was a gamble worth taking. If they won, it meant rebirth in the present age, a whole new life—an opportunity that not even an Immortal Emperor could grasp!

One by one, coffins were carried into Celestial Ancient City. The arrival of certain coffins caused a considerable stir, for any coffin that could create such a commotion was sure to contain an extraordinary figure!

”Isn’t that the Goose Immortal Ancient Teachings from the East Hundred Cities?” a cultivator from that region murmured as a Black Coffin was carried into Celestial Ancient City.

Upon seeing the Black Coffin, a certain Sect Leader’s expression changed. He murmured, ”The Goose Immortal Ancient Teachings have strict burial rites. In the millions of years since their founding, very few have been worthy of a Black Coffin! To be buried in a Black Coffin, one must be a person of great Creation and have made supreme contributions to the sect. The Goose Immortal Ancient Teachings hasn’t produced such a person for thirty thousand years... Could it be? Is the one in this coffin the Canghu Demon Emperor from fifty thousand years ago?”

”A Golden Coffin forged from Xuanji Sea Cold Gold!” someone exclaimed, their expression shifting as a golden coffin was carried into Celestial Ancient City. ”For the Turtle Fish Country of the Northern Ocean to spend so extravagantly, forging a coffin from Xuanji Sea Cold Gold... isn’t that too much of a grand gesture?”

”You wouldn’t understand,” a Fish Spirit from the Northern Ocean said, shaking his head. ”The one inside that coffin is the sixth-generation Prince Consort of the Turtle Fish Country.”

”A Prince Consort gets treated this well?” someone else asked in surprise.

The Fish Spirit explained, ”The sixth-generation Prince Consort of the Turtle Fish Country was an extraordinary figure. He hailed from the Fish Race, a branch of the Demon Race, but he possessed a one-quarter Charm Spirit bloodline. He once transformed from a fish into a dragon and ascended the Dragon Sect! He is not just the pride of the Turtle Fish Country, but the pride of the entire Fish Race!” As he spoke, the Fish Spirit couldn’t help but puff his chest out with pride.

At the mention of ”Charm Spirit,” many cultivators’ expressions changed. For any cultivator, regardless of whether they were from the Human Race or the Demon Race, possessing a Charm Spirit bloodline was an absolute point of pride.

The Charm Spirit Clan were the favored children of the heavens; cultivation for them was practically effortless. Some even theorized that the Charm Spirit Clan were descendants of Ancient Immortals, while others referred to them as the Divine Race or the Celestial Race. To have the blood of the Charm Spirit Clan flowing in one’s veins was truly something to be proud of.

Although the Sky Demon Clan and the Ghost Immortal Race would never admit it, the Charm Spirit Clan’s claim to being the most outstanding race in the world was undeniable. After all, throughout all of history, the very first Immortal Emperor had come from the Charm Spirit Clan—Guchun Immortal Emperor!

”The Ye Feng Family from the Southern Red Land is here as well.” A cultivator from the Southern Red Land murmured upon seeing a Noble Family arrive with a Treasure Wood Coffin. ”The Ye Feng Family hasn’t made a public appearance in nearly a hundred thousand years. I suppose even they couldn’t resist.”

”I heard the Ye Feng Family had no other choice,” an Emperor from the Southern Red Land explained with a soft sigh. ”Their last Elder Ancestor is down to his final breath and has been kept alive only by massive quantities of Time Blood Stones. However, word from the Ye Feng Family is that his seal has started to fail. No amount of Time Blood Stones can sustain him now. They have no choice but to take this gamble and send their Elder Ancestor to the Netherworld Ship.”

’For millions of years, how many legendary figures, when faced with their end, were simply unable to let go of life? They would even go so far as to bury themselves in the Ancient Sky Corpse Land, to keep company with innumerable ancient corpses. Of course, for someone of my own Emperor level, I’m afraid I wouldn’t even have the right to be buried in a Fengshui Treasure Land within the Ancient Sky Corpse Land, even after I die!’