Dominator Emperor

”Go on in. Opportunity is right in front of you. The magnitude of your miraculous encounter will depend on your own fortune. I can only help you this much,” Li Qiye said with a smile to the dazed Li Shuangyan and the others.

Li Qiye led the way into the World Hall. Li Shuangyan and the others, unable to contain their excitement, hurriedly followed. For them, this was likely the greatest opportunity of their lives.

The World Hall—an existence that likely no one in the world even knew of. Yet, they had reached it today. This was the most mysterious and thrilling miraculous encounter of all!

When Li Qiye and his three companions stepped into the World Hall, they found it completely empty. The entire hall was cast from bronze, ancient and unadorned. It was covered in a patina of verdigris, as if millions upon millions of years had passed without a single person setting foot inside this Grand Hall.

After stepping into the World Hall, they discovered its dome was open to the sky, like a massive skylight. Gazing up, they saw only a boundless expanse, with nothing discernible within it.

Beneath the dome stood a Copper Crane. It was exquisitely lifelike, poised on a single leg. It was impossible to tell how long ago it had been forged; like the World Hall itself, it was mottled with verdigris.

Aside from this single Copper Crane, there was nothing else in the entire World Hall. Seeing this, Li Shuangyan and the others were stunned. They never expected the World Hall to contain only a lone copper crane.

”So where’s the treasure?” Chen Baojiao couldn’t help but glance around. ”Is it just this one Copper Crane? I thought the World Hall would be filled with countless Immortal Treasures and mountains of Divine Artifacts. We can’t even split one crane four ways.”

”Immortal Treasures and Divine Artifacts? That’s too materialistic,” Li Qiye said with a smile, shaking his head. ”To us, Immortal Treasures and Divine Artifacts are ultimately just external objects. We came here to seek our own Creation. If we just wanted treasures and artifacts, why come here at all? The world is vast, and there are plenty of places to seize them!”

”Then how do we seek our own Creation?” Chi Xiaodie couldn’t help but ask.

Li Qiye gazed at the Copper Crane and said with a smile, ”Touch the Copper Crane. Remember, each of you only gets one chance, so cherish it. No matter what kind of Creation you encounter, you must calm your mind and focus. Sometimes, Creation requires a discerning eye to be recognized. By all means, do not let a pearl be lost in the weeds!”

”Touch the Copper Crane?” Li Shuangyan and the others were momentarily stunned. They hadn’t expected the Creation to be as simple as touching the Copper Crane.

”I’ll go!” Chen Baojiao, being the more energetic one, was instantly intrigued. She rushed forward and reached out to stroke the Copper Crane. However, it didn’t react at all. ”Why isn’t it giving me my Creation...?” she asked in disappointment.

WHOOSH— Before Chen Baojiao could even finish her sentence, she shot skyward like an Anger Arrow, plunging into the boundless expanse within the dome and vanishing instantly.

”Go on. Cherish this once-in-a-lifetime Creation,” Li Qiye instructed. Chi Xiaodie took a deep breath, summoned her courage, and stepped forward to touch the Copper Crane. Just like Chen Baojiao, with a WHOOSH, she was instantly sent up into the vast sky above the dome, disappearing from sight.

Li Shuangyan was next. The moment she touched the Copper Crane, she too was sent flying upward and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Finally, it was Li Qiye’s turn. He reached out and touched the Copper Crane. WHOOSH! He, too, was sent soaring upward, vanishing into the vast sky in the blink of an eye.

After being sent up by the Copper Crane, an unknown amount of time passed before Li Qiye’s feet finally touched solid ground. He found himself standing at the edge of a pool. It wasn’t very large, but it was filled to the brim with a viscous liquid.

The viscous liquid in the pool had the color and sheen of brass; at a glance, one might mistake it for molten metal. A closer look, however, revealed it was something else entirely. While it resembled liquid brass, it held a profundity that ordinary people could never perceive. It nurtured an endless chaos, reminiscent of the primal chaos at the dawn of the heavens and earth.

”Heaven and Earth Essence!” Upon seeing the contents of the pool, even Li Qiye was visibly moved. He exclaimed, ”A grand Creation! This is a Creation that can reshape everything! To think I’d find it here without even trying after searching for it everywhere. If Little Black had obtained this Heaven and Earth Essence back then, maybe everything would have turned out differently!”

Li Qiye took a deep breath and slowly walked into the pool. In the blink of an eye, he was completely submerged by the Heaven and Earth Essence. As the liquid enveloped him, it felt as if he were sealed within an egg. The pores all over his body dilated, voraciously absorbing the Heaven and Earth Essence...

The appearance of the World Tree drove countless people into a frenzy. Innumerable experts from the Great Teaching Territories wished they could storm the Eternal Gate that very instant, climb the World Tree, and seize the grand Creation that had everyone drooling with desire!

Unfortunately, due to an agreement with the Celestial Dao Academy, the older generation of experts from the Great Teaching Territories were barred from entering the Eternal Gate. When many of their heirs rushed back to request Ancestral Weapons, most Great Teaching Territories skipped the deliberation process entirely. They immediately brought out their Ancestral Weapons and sent their heirs back to the Eternal Gate, armed and ready.

For many Great Teaching Territories and Secret Sect Ancient Sects, Ancestral Weapons were ultimate treasures meant to guard their very foundations. But compared to the chance of obtaining a grand Creation from the World Tree, deploying such a treasure was a small price to pay.

Everyone knew what a grand Creation from the World Tree implied. Legend had it that the Hao Hai Immortal Emperor himself had obtained his grand Creation from it. To shoulder the Celestial Mandate and become an Immortal Emperor—this was the lifelong dream of countless Cultivators.

And that wasn’t to mention the miracle of the Thousand Emperors Sect, which the Hao Hai Immortal Emperor had founded. It was an achievement that drove every Sect Inheritance in the world wild with envy—a miracle rarely seen in all of history!

In a short time, countless sects and lineages unhesitatingly deployed their Ancestral Weapons, sending their heirs into the Eternal Gate in the hopes that they could ascend the World Tree.

After Li Qiye, Ji Kong Wudi, and Mei Suyao entered the realm of the World Tree, the next to follow was Yue Yi!

As the head disciple of the Celestial Dao Academy, Yue Yi was exceptionally privileged. With the academy’s profound resources, opening a portal through the chaotic space-time was not a difficult task.

Following him, rumor had it that the heirs of many powerful sects also entered, such as Saint Child Qianyue from the Thousand Peaks Holy Land. Disciples from incomparably powerful sects like Wolong Cliff and the Cross Heaven Divine Mountain entered as well.

Later, as the news spread, it was said that the heirs of several Emperor Immortal Gates from across the land—from places like the Southern Red Land and the Western Wilderness—arrived bearing Immortal Emperor True Artifacts. They didn’t just want to enter; they wanted to climb, and ideally, reach the very peak!

However, just getting in didn’t mean one could climb the World Tree. And even climbing the World Tree didn’t guarantee one would find an opportunity.

And indeed, some disciples from Great Teaching Territories who came with Ancestral Weapons managed to force open a spatial portal and get inside, but their Ancestral Weapons were of no use in climbing the World Tree. In the end, they could only rely on their own strength. Unfortunately, many didn’t get very high before a terrifying suppressive force sent them plummeting back down.

Of course, these disciples refused to give up. After all the trouble they went through to get in, how could they abandon such an opportunity? They tried to climb time and time again, only to be sent back down each time. Only a tiny, exceptionally talented few managed to struggle onto the lowest branch.

The disciples who truly couldn’t climb began to rack their brains for other ideas. Many started trying to hack at the World Tree itself. To them, even if they couldn’t ascend it, taking back a piece or two of its bark would be a huge gain. However, the toughness of the World Tree was far beyond their imagination.

Even wielding Ancestral Weapons and using all their might, these disciples couldn’t so much as chip the World Tree’s bark. Only one or two lucky individuals, whose Ancestral Weapons were truly exceptional, managed to succeed. After exhausting all their power, to the point of depleting their own Blood Qi, they barely managed to hack off a piece of bark a little larger than a fingernail.

Of course, the grand Creation of the World Tree was not so easily obtained. Even ascending the tree was no guarantee of success.

The first unlucky soul, it was said, was a Great Teaching Inheritor from the Western Wilderness. He managed to climb onto the first major branch and enter the realm within, but he was ejected not long after. He gained no benefits whatsoever and, once thrown out, found he could not get back in.

This cautionary tale made the experts of the Great Teaching Territories realize that the higher one climbed, the greater the chance of obtaining a Creation. This realization spurred all who came after to desperately scramble for greater heights.

”Can anyone actually reach the very peak of the World Tree?” With everyone vying to climb it, countless onlookers grew excited, eagerly awaiting the outcome.

In fact, as soon as news of the World Tree broke, countless Great Ancient Sects from all corners of the world spared no effort or expense. They rushed over at top speed to send their disciples, willing to burn through any amount of Essence Jade to do so.

”That would be incredibly difficult, I’m afraid.” Countless people were discussing the matter. ”Legend says that even the great Hao Hai Immortal Emperor failed to reach the summit of the World Tree back in his day,” one person noted.

”But even though the Hao Hai Immortal Emperor didn’t reach the peak, he still received the greatest Creation,” another expert from an older generation countered. ”An ancient predecessor once said that you don’t necessarily have to reach the top to obtain the greatest fortune.”

”The first ones in were Ji Kong Wudi, Mei Suyao, and Li Qiye. Perhaps the greatest Creation will be obtained by one of them,” someone said with undeniable envy. ”I heard Li Qiye even brought a bunch of people with him. That guy is too heaven-defying! Divine Beings and Fairies could only ascend alone, yet he took so many people with him. What an absolute freak of nature; it defies all reason!”

As more and more people sought to enter the spatial portal and climb the World Tree, many heirs from the Great Teaching Territories abandoned their explorations for other opportunities within the Eternal Gate, focusing all their energy on the World Tree instead.

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