Dominator Emperor

The blue-robed woman stayed, acting like a housewife, starting fires and cooking for Li Qiye. She never told him her name or origin, and Li Qiye never asked.

Likewise, the blue-robed woman never asked about Li Qiye’s background, not even his name. It was as if they were both deliberately maintaining an air of mystery.

And so, these two peculiar and enigmatic individuals came together. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought them a married couple—the man toiling the fields while the woman tended the home, a perfect match of talent and beauty, a pair made in heaven, living a reclusive life on this small, uninhabited island.

Although the blue-robed woman had stayed, it had little effect on Li Qiye. He continued to harvest the tree sap during the day and cultivate at night, working from sunrise to sunset.

After settling in, the blue-robed woman was like a young wife, staying home each day and preparing meals, waiting for her hardworking husband to return from the fields.

These peaceful, harmonious days continued for some time. An unspoken understanding slowly grew between them; they were a mysterious yet harmonious pair.

One night, the blue-robed woman was meditating in her room. The hour was late when she suddenly heard a rumbling sound. In that instant, the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi began to surge wildly, as if some monster was whale-swallowing all of the essence in the world.

The blue-robed woman’s expression changed, and she immediately rushed outside. When she emerged, she was greeted by a stunning sight. Li Qiye was sitting cross-legged atop a mountain peak.

His Life Palaces were wide open, and his True Destiny, like a Kunpeng Divine Beast, had spread its wings to cover the entire island, frantically devouring the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

But it wasn’t just his True Destiny devouring the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. His Six Palaces were arrayed before him, forming a vast and boundless domain shrouded in primordial chaos. At the center of this domain, it was as if a Divine Spirit resided; with a single breath, it could swallow the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi of the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands. Its power was utterly terrifying.

”A Prince’s Six Palaces.” Seeing Li Qiye’s Six Palaces, even the blue-robed woman was moved. To have opened six Life Palaces at the King and Marquis Realm made him a genius among geniuses.

BUZZ— As the blue-robed woman watched in awe, the Nine Heavens blazed with light. At that moment, Li Qiye inhaled like a whale. The stars Above the Nine Heavens instantly poured down countless streams of starlight. The endless starlight cascaded down like a Star River, vast and magnificent, as if Li Qiye was about to swallow the very stars of the Nine Heavens with a single gulp.

However, the descending starlight wasn’t being absorbed into Li Qiye’s body. Instead, a supreme Law appeared, imprisoning the cascading starlight. This surging, ocean-like torrent of starlight was branded onto the Void by Li Qiye’s Dao Foundation. His True Destiny then used that supreme Dao Foundation to forge the endless starlight from the Nine Heavens into actual stars.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG! Crisp sounds rang out as stars were forged one after another. In the blink of an eye, nine dazzling stars were floating above Li Qiye’s head, orbiting around him.

At this moment, Li Qiye’s aura seemed to swallow mountains and rivers. He felt like a Sovereign who commanded the myriad worlds, radiating a presence that was utterly insurmountable.

”Nine Stars—” Seeing the nine stars, the blue-robed woman’s face paled. She took a sharp breath and murmured, ’Impossible! A Nine-Star True Master... it’s been so long since one has appeared!’

Above the King and Marquis Realm was the Star-Picking Realm. This Picking Realm was also known to people as the True Realm, and its cultivators were called True Masters. This realm required one to draw upon the stars of the Nine Heavens to forge one’s own stars. Only by possessing stars could one possess their own heaven and earth!

For ordinary Cultivators, the absolute limit in this realm was forging seven stars.

If someone could forge eight stars, it wouldn’t matter if they had only opened three Life Palaces in the King and Marquis Realm. This was because if you only had three Life Palaces, your future Creation would be limited, making it extremely difficult to ever step into the Ancient Saint Realm, let alone the Saint Venerable or Saint Emperor Realm.

The more Life Palaces one possessed in the King and Marquis Realm, the stronger one would become.

Of course, if one failed to open a fourth Life Palace in the King and Marquis Realm, there was still one more chance in the True Realm: forging an eighth star!

The eighth star was like a key that opened the path to the Saint Venerable, Saint Emperor, and even the Great Sage Realm. For this reason, a True Master with Eight Stars was also known as a Heaven-Rider.

In truth, forging an eighth star in the True Realm was far more difficult than opening a fourth Life Palace in the King and Marquis Realm. Many who could open a fourth Life Palace were still unable to forge an eighth star. As for those who couldn’t even open a fourth Life Palace, they had no hope of forging an eighth star.

Of course, throughout the ages, there were many exceptions. Some people missed their opportunity in the King and Marquis Realm but went on to achieve great things in the True Realm.

An Eight-Star Heaven-Rider was already an incredible miracle. Possessing the eighth star was like possessing a key to the realms of Saint Venerable, Saint Emperor, and even Great Sage.

As for Nine Stars, that was something one couldn’t even dare to dream of. Throughout the ages, those who could forge nine stars were few and far between.

Nine Stars Eternal Seal! Possessing Nine Stars was a terrifying matter. Legend had it that someone with Nine Stars was guaranteed a future path to the Azure Heaven Dao or the Great World Dao. They had a high chance of becoming an Immortal Emperor who commanded the Celestial Mandate or an invincible divine being!

Now, Li Qiye possessed Six Palaces and had even forged Nine Stars. This utterly shook the blue-robed woman. She could be considered a remarkable genius, with few in the younger generation of the present age who could compare to her.

She had always been confident in her own talent and Dao Practice. But now, seeing Li Qiye’s accomplishment of Six Palaces and Nine Stars, she couldn’t help but feel overshadowed. The gap between her, a remarkable genius, and Li Qiye was simply insurmountable!

”Even if I’m too handsome, there’s no need to be so captivated.” Just as the blue-robed woman was stunned into a daze, a carefree voice sounded in her ear.

The blue-robed woman jolted back to her senses, her eyes meeting Li Qiye’s face. He flashed his snow-white teeth and said with a smile, ”I know I’m devastatingly handsome, but it’s not right for you to be so infatuated with me.”

The blue-robed woman was so enraged by Li Qiye that she almost spat blood. She had the sudden urge to kick this arrogant maniac to death. She said hatefully, ”Pah! You shameless bastard, who would ever look at you?” With that, she stormed back into her house in a huff.

Seeing her expression, Li Qiye couldn’t help but laugh. Back in her room, the blue-robed woman heard his laughter and gritted her teeth in fury. ’One day, I’ll teach that little brat a good lesson!’

「Half a year later.」

After half a year of this, Li Qiye had collected all the tree sap he needed. At the same time, he had laid down his Dao Patterns in every corner of the Thousand Islands. His Great Trend had finally taken shape.

At this time, Li Qiye began to refine the harvested tree sap. His harvesting of the sap was not just an excuse or a cover; he truly needed it.

To others, the sap of the Ghost Locust Tree was useless, but to Li Qiye, it had a wondrous, unknown use.

Although the story the blue-robed woman had told was a bit outlandish, it did indeed contain many unknown secrets. Both the Thousand Islands and the Ghost Locust Tree hid secrets—secrets that few had known throughout the eons.

When it was time to refine the sap, Li Qiye took out the Ten Thousand Furnace God. With a great shout, the furnace’s fire surged, instantly transforming into a massive Fire Cauldron. The flames in the Fire Cauldron blazed fiercely, as if they could melt anything in an instant.

”Pour in all the tree sap,” Li Qiye instructed the blue-robed woman, who was helping by his side.

The blue-robed woman immediately poured in all the sap. After such a long period of harvesting, the amount Li Qiye had collected could be said to weigh over ten thousand catties.

As the blue-robed woman assisted him, she also found it strange. She had never heard of the Ghost Locust Tree’s sap having any use, yet now Li Qiye was actually refining it. This filled her with curiosity.

SIZZLE— A melting sound filled the air. Once all the sap was poured in, the intensely hot Fire Cauldron instantly melted it all down.

At this moment, Li Qiye activated the Ten Thousand Furnace God. In an instant, the Fire Cauldron, woven from raging flames, began to spin like a tornado. A fierce wind howled as the cauldron lifted all the sap high into the air. The Fire Cauldron, like a berserk Fire Dragon, spun and flung the sap around manically. The scene was utterly spectacular.

The blue-robed woman had seen many Pharmacists, some of whom were even Legendary Level Pharmacists, but seeing Li Qiye’s technique left her dumbfounded. ’This refining method is too brutal,’ she thought.

However, with this brutal method, the Fire Furnace separated a massive amount of impurities in the blink of an eye. The sap, which had originally filled the large furnace, had ninety percent of its impurities removed. The separated impurities, which looked like charcoal, were instantly stripped away by the furnace fire and cast into the Fire Source, where they were incinerated.

After the impurities were removed, the substance was no longer sap. It looked crystal clear and emitted a faint, woody fragrance. At this point, the translucent liquid inside the Fire Furnace looked as if it was about to condense into a gemstone.

At this moment, Li Qiye became solemn. He took out his Treasure Box and carefully retrieved a young leaf wreathed in Golden Lightning.

”What is that?” Seeing this tender leaf, as verdant as a gem and surrounded by Golden Lightning, the blue-robed woman couldn’t help but ask, her expression moved.

”This... this... this is one of the legendary World Tree’s Young Leaves!” After a long moment, the blue-robed woman finally recognized the leaf’s origin. She was completely stunned and felt a wave of suffocation. Such an item was something that even her sect could not produce.

In fact, it wasn’t just her sect; no sect in the world could produce such a thing. This was because the World Tree’s Young Leaves existed only in legends. No one in the present age had ever seen one.