Dominator Emperor

The Thousand Islands were not an important location to Jingxi Country, nor to the Qianli River. This was the estuary where the great river met the sea; beyond the Thousand Islands lay the boundless, vast sea.

Although this vast sea was home to various demons of the Sea Race, neither the Sea Race nor the Sea Demons were able to form a major power in these waters. They posed no threat to Jingxi Country, the Qianli River, or even the entirety of Yao Yun.

Years ago, Li Qiye had advised the Primordial Ancestor of Jingxi Country to establish his capital in the Thousand Islands. Unfortunately, the ancestor had abandoned the idea, building the Capital City on fertile land instead. This decision caused Jingxi Country to miss out on a once-in-an-eon opportunity.

Li Qiye stood on a mountain peak, gazing out at the entire Thousand Islands. Ninety-nine islands of varying sizes stood steadfastly in the sea, but there seemed to be nothing special about them.

However, Li Qiye knew this place hid a heaven-shattering secret. He had studied it for a long time without much success until he obtained the Ghost Source Ancestor Key in the East Hundred Cities. Only after comprehending the key’s Profound Secret did he finally understand the secret of the Thousand Islands.

This was also why Li Qiye had come to the Ghost Sacred Realm. Of course, the Thousand Islands was but one of his many objectives.

Li Qiye took out the Ghost Source Ancestor Key and carefully scrutinized the landscape. He finally identified the right direction and headed toward the southern islands.

Li Qiye explored one island after another, eventually landing on the southernmost one. Among the many isles of the Thousand Islands, this one had no remarkable features. If one had to point out something unique, it would be that from high above, the island looked like a palm.

Li Qiye climbed to the island’s highest point. Seeing it, he couldn’t help but murmur, ’It really is here. Some things, no one can deduce even after eons!’

At the island’s highest point was a withered tree—or, to be precise, a dead stump. The stump was about the size of a table and completely scorched black. It seemed likely that it had been struck by heavenly lightning, which killed it. In the end, it withered and rotted away until only a stump, three feet off the ground, remained.

Moreover, this three-foot-high stump was hollow. A hole in the wood led deep into the earth, its true depth unknown. Peering inside, one could see only pitch-black darkness.

This stump, seemingly struck dead by lightning, looked like an open palm—like a black hand reaching up from the ground.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. When Li Qiye tapped the stump with his finger, the hollow wood rang with a crisp, metallic sound, as if it weren’t a stump but Divine Iron.

After carefully examining the stump and comparing it to the Ghost Source Ancestor Key in his hand, Li Qiye was visibly moved. ’It really is it,’ he said.

Li Qiye looked at the stump, a smile finally gracing his lips as he murmured, ’Let me see if the legend is true. Let me be the one to solve this eternal mystery!’

From that day on, Li Qiye settled on the island. He casually built a thatched hut and began living the life of a Mortal.

After settling on the island, Li Qiye began to harvest the sap of the Ghost Locust Trees. He seemed to have transformed, becoming a sap farmer.

Moreover, Li Qiye didn’t limit himself to harvesting the Ghost Locust Tree sap on just this one island. He intended to traverse all the islands in the Thousand Islands, harvesting the sap from every last one.

Li Qiye’s goal was to harvest the Ghost Locust Tree sap from every island in the Thousand Islands. This wasn’t simply because he needed a large quantity of sap. More importantly, he needed to leave his mark—a unique incision—on the trees of every island.

If it were as simple as just harvesting sap, Li Qiye could have simply hired Mortals to do it. There would be no need for him to act personally.

Of course, the matter was far from that simple. Li Qiye needed more than just the sap.

From the day Li Qiye settled on the island, he fell into the routine of a sap farmer. Day in and day out, he tapped and collected sap, working from sunrise to sunset, over and over again.

Although the Thousand Islands was an estuary, several hundred thousand Mortals still lived there. A few of the larger islands even had cities no smaller than the great cities of the mainland.

The Thousand Islands was a bustling and prosperous place. Most of the Mortals here made their living by fishing; virtually no one worked as a sap farmer, because the sap of the Ghost Locust Tree was considered completely useless.

For Li Qiye to travel all over the Thousand Islands tapping sap on every island was indeed eccentric, and some Mortals found it strange. However, the Thousand Islands was the territory of Jingxi Country, and its highest authority was the Hall Master of the Jingxi Country’s local hall, Lu Baiqiu.

Since Lu Baiqiu, the Hall Master of the Thousand Islands, had permitted Li Qiye to harvest sap there, others didn’t bother to interfere with him.

Later, Lu Baiqiu even came to visit Li Qiye. It had to be said that Lu Baiqiu was a genuinely good person. Any Human Race Cultivator who came to the Thousand Islands and didn’t stir up trouble could expect to be looked after by her hall.

Naturally, Lu Baiqiu was astonished to see Li Qiye traversing the islands and collecting so much Ghost Locust Tree sap. ”What are you doing with all this Ghost Locust Tree sap?” she asked.

After all, the sap of the Ghost Locust Tree had always been considered useless. Even though the trees only flourished in the Thousand Islands, their sap wasn’t considered precious at all.

”I’m refining an ointment that requires a lot of sap,” Li Qiye said with a smile. ”It’s not easy for me to get to the Thousand Islands, so I figured I’d stock up. It’ll save me a trip later.”

There was nothing particularly suspicious about Li Qiye’s explanation, so Lu Baiqiu didn’t press the matter. She permitted him to continue harvesting sap in the Thousand Islands; as long as he didn’t cause any trouble, he could still count on the protection of her hall.

With Lu Baiqiu’s permission, no one bothered Li Qiye about tapping sap in the Thousand Islands. At first, a few people found this sap farmer rather eccentric, but as time passed, everyone grew accustomed to him. Eventually, no one paid any attention to such a sap farmer.

Meanwhile, Li Qiye lived a very disciplined life on the Thousand Islands, harvesting sap by day and cultivating by night. Though he was undertaking a momentous task, he was in no hurry at all. He was inscribing an immense Dao Pattern across the Thousand Islands, and the incisions were a part of that pattern!

Just when the residents of the Thousand Islands had grown accustomed to this sap farmer, someone else took notice of Li Qiye.

An uninvited guest arrived at the place Li Qiye was staying—a girl, an exceptionally beautiful one. She wore a blue dress, and her aura was ethereal. Her beauty was enough to make flowers wilt in shame and the moon hide away; her features were perfectly formed, her bearing graceful. Her every gesture exuded a transcendent quality, as if she didn’t belong to the mortal world.

The girl was clad in blue, her beautiful eyes shimmering with spirit. She seemed to be imbued with nature’s spiritual energy. At the same time, her aura was like that of Cui Bamboo—spiritually charming and captivating.

After arriving in the Thousand Islands, this girl had taken notice of Li Qiye. She observed him for two or three days in a row, as if trying to discern something unusual about him.

After two or three days, Li Qiye, who was harvesting sap, spoke to the girl in a leisurely tone, ”Girl, don’t follow me around. I don’t have the best temper, you know. Be careful, or I’ll throw you into the sea to feed the sharks.”

The blue-clothed woman was left speechless by Li Qiye’s words. She was clearly older than him, yet he spoke with the overbearing air of a seasoned elder. However, the girl didn’t get angry. With a playful smile, she said, ”Uncle, I just wanted to give you a reminder.”

”Uncle?” Li Qiye shot her a sidelong glance. ”If you want to get close to me, calling me Uncle won’t work. Call me Young Master, or perhaps Young Noble, and I might consider taking you in.”

The blue-clothed woman was exasperated. ’The sheer nerve of this guy! In all of Yao Yun, who would dare make such a boastful claim about taking *her* in!’

”Uncle, careful you don’t sprain your tongue!” the blue-clothed woman said with a radiant smile. Her spiritual charm was captivating; her smile was like a hundred flowers blooming to the cheerful song of orioles—an utterly delightful sight.

The blue-clothed woman laughed and said, ”You should at least make your boasts believable. If you promise the moon, you won’t be able to deliver.”

”What does a little girl like you know?” Li Qiye shot her another sidelong glance. ”Don’t get in my way. Otherwise, I don’t care where you come from—I’ll throw you into the sea to feed the sharks.” With that, he ignored her and went back to harvesting sap.

The blue-clothed woman was once again exasperated. ’She’d met plenty of arrogant people, but she had never seen anyone *this* arrogant.’

Still, the blue-clothed woman was persistent. Trailing behind the sap-harvesting Li Qiye, she said, ”Uncle, I’m giving you a kind reminder.”

”A reminder about what?” Li Qiye asked, still harvesting sap.

The blue-clothed woman copied his leisurely and carefree manner. She smiled and said, ”Do you know the origin of the Thousand Islands?”

”The origin of the Thousand Islands?” Hearing this, Li Qiye couldn’t help but laugh. He shot her a look and said, ”I’d love to hear it. What is the origin of the Thousand Islands?”

The blue-clothed woman said, ”Legend has it that in an incomparably ancient era, ninety-nine vicious ghosts brought chaos to the Ghost Sacred Realm, turning it into a Ghost Realm. Their actions enraged Azure Heaven, who descended with a supreme punishment to suppress and kill them. In the end, the ninety-nine corpses floated down the Qianli River until they reached the estuary. There they sank into the sea, and at this very spot, their bodies eventually became the islands.”