Dominator Emperor

Li Qiye said to them in a serious tone, ”In a moment, we’re jumping down from here. Remember, when I say the word, use all your strength to leap upward—the higher, the better. Do this three times. Got it?”

Li Qiye’s expression was solemn, which made Li Shuangyan and the others stare in a daze for a moment. They had gone through so much to finally reach the apex of the World Tree—an opportunity most people could only dream of. And now they had to jump off? It was simply unbelievable.

”Why do we have to jump down?” Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

”Jump!” But instead of answering, Li Qiye leaped, pulling Li Shuangyan and the others down with him. In the blink of an eye, everything went black, and they could see nothing.

”WHOOSH—WHOOSH—WHOOSH—” The sound of a violent gale howled in their ears. In that instant, Li Qiye and the others were plummeting at an unbelievable speed.

”Ahhh—!” Chen Baojiao and the others couldn’t help but scream. As Cultivators, they weren’t afraid of heights, but jumping from the very apex of the World Tree was a fall from even higher than the Nine Heavens. How could they not scream in terror?

The four of them fell at an incomparable speed. Everything before them was pitch black; they could see nothing. There was no World Tree, no endless Void—only darkness. Besides the darkness, there was nothing else.

The four of them continued to fall, a seemingly endless descent. This made the hearts of Li Shuangyan and the other two women leap into their throats with anxiety.

Theoretically speaking, at their level of cultivation, they couldn’t be killed by a fall. In principle, even a fall from a much greater height shouldn’t be lethal.

But the World Tree was too tall—unimaginably so. After jumping from such a height and falling for so long, no one could say for certain whether they would be dashed to pieces.

After jumping from the World Tree, Li Qiye and the others fell, and fell, and fell. It was a seemingly endless descent that felt like it would last forever. Li Shuangyan and the others went from screaming in terror, to being surprised, to feeling curious, and finally, to simply feeling numb.

After an unknown amount of time, they finally felt their feet touch something. A flicker of joy ignited in Li Shuangyan and the others, but in that fleeting instant, before they could even process their relief, they were flung back up. It was as if an incomparably powerful force from below had suddenly launched them skyward.

A whistling sound filled their ears as the four of them were launched upward at an incomparable speed, shooting straight up.

After ascending for a very long time—so long that Li Shuangyan and the others lost track of it—their vision suddenly brightened. The World Tree once again appeared before their eyes.

”Up!” In that split second, Li Qiye roared. In that same instant, he unleashed all of his Blood Qi without reservation. A Kunpeng Soared in the Void. Seizing the momentum, Li Qiye leaped.

Li Shuangyan and the others also unleashed all of their Blood Qi at the same time, jumping with their most powerful leap. It was a leap that exhausted all of their strength.

”BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—” Just as they leaped, a continuous roar echoed. Wondrous phenomena manifested as the Three Thousand Worlds appeared above their heads. In that instant, the worlds pressed down, crushing them with a pressure that made it hard to breathe.

Despite the pressure, they still managed to leap, soaring past the apex of the World Tree by several dozen feet.

In the end, they were still pushed down by the suppression of the Three Thousand Worlds above. They fell once more, again plummeting at an incomparable speed.

Li Qiye and the others repeated this process three times. Each leap took them several dozen feet higher than the last. On the third time, Li Qiye roared: ”This is the last one! The opportunity is in your hands!” As his voice fell, his Yin Yang Blood Sea thundered, and his Blood Qi drowned everything.

Li Shuangyan and the other two also used every trick up their sleeves, soaring high with their most Defying Heaven leap! Outside, such an ultimate leap could have easily covered millions of miles. But here and now, it only carried them a few dozen feet higher than before.

With a BUZZ, Li Qiye, who had jumped the highest, vanished in an instant. Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao disappeared right after. Chi Xiaodie, however, had the weakest Dao Practice of them all. Her leap fell short of the others. At that moment, Chen Baojiao couldn’t maintain her grip. The immense pressure completely pinned Chi Xiaodie down, their hands slipped apart, and Chen Baojiao vanished.

In that instant, Chi Xiaodie could no longer ascend. Her body stuttered, then began to fall. She was horrified. In that split second, she knew she was about to miss the world’s greatest opportunity.

”Up!” In that critical moment, a large hand suddenly seized her. Chi Xiaodie instantly lost control of her own body as she was yanked upward. With a WHOOSH, she broke free from the suppression of the Three Thousand Worlds.

The moment their feet touched solid ground, both Li Qiye and the women found their legs turning to jelly, and they all collapsed to the floor. Chi Xiaodie, still shaken from the ordeal, felt her legs give out and sat down hard.

After a good while, Li Shuangyan and the others finally recovered their wits. They then realized they were standing on a crystalline surface—or rather, a piece of floating, crystalline jade.

Before them, there was no World Tree, no Void, no Star River. There was only an Ancient Hall! It was an Ancient Hall cast from bronze.

Though the Ancient Hall was not large, it possessed a majestic aura, as if it presided high above the Nine Heavens, the sovereign of all creation. It felt like the true ruler of the Nine Realms, lofty and inspiring awe in all who beheld it.

The entire hall was cast from bronze. There was no telling what era it was from. The whole Bronze Hall was covered in a layer of verdigris, giving it a mottled and ancient appearance.

Li Shuangyan and the others were stunned. They had never imagined that a Bronze Hall existed above the World Tree, especially since they had already been standing on what they thought was its absolute peak.

For the people of the world, reaching the apex of the World Tree was an incredibly difficult feat. Even the heir of an Emperor Immortal Gate might not succeed. Without Li Qiye’s Four-Battle Copper Vehicle, they never would have been able to reach the top in their entire lives!

When standing on the apex of the World Tree, anyone would assume it was the highest point, with nowhere else to go. Indeed, when Li Shuangyan and the others had stood there and looked up, they had seen nothing at all—only the empty Void.

Yet, they never expected that by repeatedly jumping like that, they would actually surpass the World Tree’s apex and find an ancient Bronze Hall waiting for them.

”What is this place?” Chi Xiaodie was also stunned. Reaching the World Tree’s apex had been a lifelong dream for her. If not for following Li Qiye, she would never have even had the chance to enter this place, let alone reach its peak.

But today, she had not only reached the apex of the World Tree, but had also leaped beyond it to arrive before this unknown Bronze Hall.

”So this is what Mei Suyao meant when she said the greatest opportunity wasn’t on the World Tree itself!” Li Shuangyan was visibly moved. Being sharp and observant, she immediately recalled Mei Suyao’s words.

”The World Hall. It’s like a myth. Throughout the ages, no one has ever seen it, but it truly exists,” Li Qiye said with a sigh, gazing at the Bronze Hall before them.

Chi Xiaodie stared blankly at the Bronze Hall and asked, ”The opportunities here are even greater than on the World Tree?”

”Well, not necessarily,” Li Qiye said. ”It all depends on individual fortune. In principle, if you climb the World Tree, you might encounter an opportunity. The magnitude of that opportunity varies from person to person. However, there’s also a chance you might leave empty-handed, gaining no fortune or Creation at all. The higher you climb, the smaller the chance of leaving empty-handed, but the magnitude of any fortune still depends on your personal Creation and luck!”

”As for the World Hall...” Li Qiye looked at the Bronze Hall and said with a smile, ”As long as you can reach it, you are guaranteed to find an opportunity, a Creation. The magnitude of the opportunity and the level of the Creation, however, still depend on your personal fortune. You might obtain the greatest Creation in the world! But it’s also possible that what you get isn’t as good as a prize from the World Tree. For instance, the three tender leaves from the very apex are already one of the greatest Creations the World Tree has to offer!”

”How do you know so much? Even Mei Suyao wasn’t sure this World Hall even existed. How did you know? And how did you know this was the way to reach it?” Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but ask.

Chi Xiaodie was dying to ask the same thing. After all, Mei Suyao was from the Long River Sect and served as its worldly emissary. When it came to profound knowledge, few could hope to compare with her.

”This is what happens when you don’t read enough,” Li Qiye said, lightly tapping her on the head. ”Being lazy and not reading is just letting yourself go to waste. If you read more, you know more.”

”I’ve never seen you reading much, either!” Chen Baojiao pouted, feeling a bit wronged by the tap. She shot Li Qiye a look, her charming pout enough to make anyone’s knees go weak.

Li Shuangyan just smiled gracefully. She had heard this line far too many times. In truth, she didn’t believe for a second that this was knowledge one could gain from books. But, of course, if Li Qiye didn’t want to tell the truth, she wasn’t going to ask.

Li Qiye had studied the World Tree for era after era. He had missed one opportunity in the past, prompting him to spend even more time researching it. It was safe to say that in the present day, no one knew the World Tree better than he did.

Even the Hao Hai Immortal Emperor, back in his day, likely didn’t understand the World Tree as well as Li Qiye did. The emperor’s successful ascent back then had been a complete fluke, a stroke of luck that had granted him a peerless opportunity.

As for Li Qiye, he was determined not to miss this opportunity now that the World Tree had appeared again.