Dominator Emperor

”You’re mistaken,” Li Qiye said with a smile. ”A Divine Emperor isn’t necessarily greater than a True God. There are many names for deities, like gods, divine spirits, or even divine kings. But those called by such titles aren’t necessarily true gods! The Divine Emperor title is a bit better, but most of those called gods or divine kings are Pseudo-Gods. Of course, some of them are real.”

”As for the title of Divine Emperor, not just anyone can bestow it. There are strict requirements,” Li Qiye explained. ”And not just anyone has the standing to enfeoff another as a Divine Emperor! Back in the Ancient Wilderness, being named a Divine Emperor was an incredible achievement. Even a living Immortal Emperor would have to show them respect! During the Era of All Emperors, if there was anyone who could grant the title of Divine Emperor, it would only be an Immortal Emperor.”

”My ancestor was enfeoffed by an Immortal Emperor?” Chi Xiaodie couldn’t help but ask.

Li Qiye shook his head. ”No. And even an Immortal Emperor can’t necessarily grant the title of Divine Emperor. Think of how many War Generals there are across the Nine Realms and Ten Thousand Races. According to the legends of divine spirits, for someone to be granted the title of Divine Emperor, a Supreme Being must ascend the Ascension Platform—the True God’s Platform! The recipient must be someone who can command the respect of all the War Generals of the Ten Thousand Races. Once someone is officially named a Divine Emperor, even True Gods will acknowledge their title. Only a Divine Emperor acknowledged by a True God is a real god, not a Pseudo-God!”

”What are True Gods like?” Chi Xiaodie couldn’t help but ask. ”Are they real divine spirits?”

”You could say that. To be called a True God, one must have at least half a True Divine Bloodline flowing through them. True Gods are neither of the Human Race nor any of the other races!” Li Qiye said.

”So you’re saying a race of True Gods really exists in this world? What kind of race are they?” Chi Xiaodie was stunned for a moment. Divine spirits had always been the stuff of legend, but she had never heard of anyone actually seeing a real one. Yet, hearing these words from Li Qiye’s mouth today, she, who had never quite believed him before, found his words highly credible.

Li Qiye didn’t answer her question, but Chi Xiaodie still couldn’t resist asking, ”Who was it that named my ancestor the Hundred Battles Divine Emperor?”

This made Chi Xiaodie extremely curious. ’If it wasn’t an Immortal Emperor, then who was it? In that era, was there anyone more qualified than an Immortal Emperor to grant her ancestor such a title?’

”I can tell you this much, it wasn’t an Immortal Emperor.” Li Qiye glanced at her; her thoughts could not escape his eyes. He said slowly, ”In that era, an Immortal Emperor wouldn’t have named your ancestor a Divine Emperor anyway. Do you know the name of the war your ancestor participated in back then?”

”I think... I think it was some kind of Immortal War.” Chi Xiaodie paused and thought for a moment. She seemed to have heard this legend before, but as for the specifics, never mind her, even the most knowledgeable elders of the Chi Family couldn’t say for sure. The records from that time had long been lost.

”The Immortal Slaying War,” Li Qiye said.

Chi Xiaodie said, ”The Immortal Slaying War... Does that mean slaying Immortals? Do Immortals really exist in this world?”

”No. What was slain wasn’t an Immortal, but an Immortal Emperor!” Li Qiye shook his head. For a moment, his eyes grew incredibly profound, as if he had returned to that passionate and tragic era.

”Slaying an Immortal Emperor!” Hearing this, Chi Xiaodie was completely stunned. She couldn’t even begin to imagine it. Slaying an Immortal Emperor—what a terrifying thought.

An Immortal Emperor, before shouldering the Celestial Mandate and becoming invincible, might be killed or defeated by others. But once they shouldered the Celestial Mandate and achieved invincibility, they would stand at the absolute pinnacle of their generation. They alone were invincible!

But in an ancient era, someone had actually slain an Immortal Emperor. Someone had assassinated an Immortal Emperor. This was simply too incredible to believe.

Hearing such words, Chi Xiaodie was completely shaken and couldn’t recover for a long time. She was lost in a daze for a moment, muttering, ”The Immortal Slaying War... Slaying an Immortal Emperor!”

If word of this got out, probably no one would believe it. The ancestor of their Chi Family had actually participated in the Immortal Slaying War, a war to slaughter an Immortal Emperor... Forget outsiders, even she could barely believe it. But at this moment, she believed that such a thing had truly happened.

Slaughtering an Immortal Emperor... one didn’t need to imagine much. Just hearing such a legend was enough to make one’s blood boil with excitement.

After a long while, Chi Xiaodie came back to her senses. She took a deep breath, looked at Li Qiye, and couldn’t help but ask, ”What happened in the end?” She desperately wanted to know the final outcome of this legendary war.

However, Li Qiye didn’t answer her question. He just gazed far, far into the distance, his eyes becoming impossibly deep.

After a long time, Li Qiye finally withdrew his gaze, looked at her, and said, ”You’re tired too. Get some rest. We still have a lot to do in the coming days.”

At this moment, Chi Xiaodie was filthy from head to toe. Her beautiful face was smeared with mud and dust. After a full day of hard, dirty labor, she looked like a little stray cat.

Hearing Li Qiye’s words, Chi Xiaodie snapped back to reality and noticed she was so dirty she smelled. Annoyed and embarrassed, she immediately went to wash up!

After Chi Xiaodie left, Li Qiye gazed at the statue of the Chi Family’s ancestor and said slowly, ”Back then, you were unwaveringly loyal, protecting your lord to the death. I promised to shelter your descendants for three generations, and that karmic debt has been settled. I brought your descendant here today out of respect for your past zeal. Whether she can obtain this Creation or not will be up to her.”

He stared at the Chi ancestor’s statue for a while longer, then his gaze fell upon the statue of the Ten Thousand Forms True God. Finally, he murmured, ”You promised me something back then. Today, I’ve come to take it! As for the Void Gate, I will probe its secrets!”

There was a reason Li Qiye chose Zushen County as his fief. In fact, he was the one who had built the Ancestral God Temple back then. Since he had promised to shelter the Chi Family for three generations, he had often stayed here for long periods.

There were several reasons why Li Qiye chose this desolate place this time. One, to give Chi Xiaodie a Creation, which could also be considered an opportunity for the Chi Family. Two, he came to obtain the Clan’s Secret Technique of the Ten Thousand Forms True God! Three, he wanted to probe the secrets of the Void Gate again, an unsolved mystery since time immemorial!

In a distant era, he had once rescued the Ten Thousand Forms True God from the Buddha Burial Plateau. Afterward, the Ten Thousand Forms True God left behind his Clan’s Secret Technique as a token of gratitude for Li Qiye’s help.

However, Li Qiye had never taken the Clan’s Secret Technique left by the Ten Thousand Forms True God—the Thousand Hands Reverse Nine Realms! This time, having come to East Hundred Cities and finding himself in this old land, he planned to take this Clan’s Secret Technique. He needed it.

「The next day」

When Chi Xiaodie woke up early, she found that Li Qiye was already up before her. Li Qiye was in the main hall, standing before the statue of the Ten Thousand Forms True God. He was holding a very strange posture: arms raised level with his shoulders, palms facing outward, standing on one leg in a half-squat.

Just as Chi Xiaodie was finding this strange, Li Qiye suddenly began to spin. Pivoting on the tip of his foot, he spun with incredible speed, like a spinning top, going faster and faster until Chi Xiaodie’s vision blurred just from watching.

Just as her vision blurred, Li Qiye suddenly vanished. This gave Chi Xiaodie a fright. She hurriedly rubbed her eyes, but Li Qiye was truly gone. Her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

This scared Chi Xiaodie quite a bit. It was too strange. He was clearly there a moment ago and then just vanished. And she had been staring right at him; Li Qiye had disappeared into thin air.

”Hey, don’t joke around! I’m not in the mood for jokes!” After Li Qiye had been gone for a while, Chi Xiaodie, who had managed to stay calm at first, became terrified and shouted anxiously.

BUZZ. Just as Chi Xiaodie was panicking, the statue of the Ten Thousand Forms True God suddenly lit up. A wheel of light appeared on the statue’s chest, and Li Qiye jumped out from within it.

Chi Xiaodie was so frightened by this development that her mind went blank for a moment. She looked at Li Qiye, then back at the statue of the Ten Thousand Forms True God!

”Th-th-there’s a secret inside!” When Chi Xiaodie came to her senses, she jumped slightly and exclaimed, deeply stirred. At this moment, she finally realized that the statue of the Ten Thousand Forms True God before her was no ordinary statue!

”Isn’t that obvious?” Li Qiye had already collected the Ten Thousand Forms True God’s Clan’s Secret Technique, the ”Thousand Hands Reverse Nine Realms.” This was one of his goals for coming here.

Li Qiye shot Chi Xiaodie a look and said, ”Did you really think I had nothing better to do than come to this godforsaken place to enjoy the scenery?”

Chi Xiaodie was stunned by this turn of events. She never thought such a dilapidated temple would hold an unknown secret. Coming back to her senses, she took a deep breath and asked, ”What... what kind of temple is this?”

Li Qiye didn’t answer her question. He stood before the statue of her ancestor, the Hundred Battles Divine Emperor, and said to Chi Xiaodie in a deep voice, ”Sit down!”

Chi Xiaodie was startled for a moment. When she came to, she seemed to realize something and walked over, sitting down in the spot Li Qiye indicated.

”Five Heart Celestial Observation, Five-Body Earth Passage...” Li Qiye corrected her posture, guiding Chi Xiaodie into Meditation.

After Chi Xiaodie entered Meditation, Li Qiye instructed, ”Look at your ancestor’s eyes. Keep looking until you can see them!”

Chi Xiaodie quickly focused on her ancestor’s statue, trying to see its eyes, but she couldn’t make them out.

”Don’t look with your eyes. Look with your heart. This isn’t something you can see with your eyes!” Li Qiye instructed her in a deep, serious tone, like a strict teacher.

Chi Xiaodie followed Li Qiye’s instructions and tried to see her ancestor’s eyes with her heart. But no matter how she tried, she couldn’t see them.

”I still can’t see anything.” After trying again and again, though she was unwilling to give up, she had to admit the truth. Following Li Qiye’s guidance, no matter how hard she tried, she was unable to see the eyes of her ancestor’s statue.