Emperor’s Domination

After hearing his companion, Peng Zhuang quickly retorted and swore: “I really saw it. It’s true, why would I lie to you guys? There really was a giant hand stretching out from the Prime Ominous Grave!”

“Really?” Li Qiye was secretly happy; he came just for this news. He put on a curious expression and asked: “What did that giant hand look like? Was it scary? Was it a ghost’s hand or something else?”

“It wasn’t a ghost’s hand.” Peng Zhuang shook his head and elaborated: “I felt that the hand was very weird. After the darkness disappeared, I also saw it going back into the grave.”

“A hand suddenly stretching outward…” Li Qiye was like an inquisitive little kid listening to a tale: “Maybe it was trying to grab something. Did you see what it caught?”

“Umm…” Peng Zhuang thought about it for a moment and replied: “Now that you mention it, I can faintly recall that it was holding something…”

“Peng Zhuang, stop your driveling.” Qiurong Wanxue said in a serious manner: “Prepare a few things, we’ll arrive at Necropolis in just a moment.”

Peng Zhuang wryly smiled while checking over his own items.

Li Qiye secretly sighed. It seemed that Qiurong Wanxue was still very cautious of him. Li Qiye then suddenly felt a glare settle on him. He looked up and saw a pair of sparkling eyes.

Li Qiye smiled and clasped his hands together towards Qiurong Wanxue: “This is this junior’s first time to Necropolis, so I hope Chief will teach me a thing or two.”

Qiurong Wanxue looked at him and then lightly replied: “Just be careful and don’t cause any trouble.”

This was a phrase with multiple meanings; it was as if she wanted to both gauge and warn him.

Li Qiye pretended to only understand the literal meaning, so he courteously gestured: “Then I give my thanks, Chief.”

At this moment, Li Qiye was 80 or 90 percent certain that the lost island had something to do with the grave. Unfortunately, he couldn’t speak with Peng Zhuang in private at this time.

He was no longer in a rush with this new revelation. What he needed to do now was to find the key to open the Prime Ominous Grave.

After Qiurong Wanxue and the six young disciples were prepared, Elder Zhi said: “Chief, we will stay here to support you guys. If anything happens, just fire off the signal and we will go to pick you up.”

Qiurong Wanxue nodded in agreement and said in a serious tone: “Very well, Elder Zhi, please be careful as well.”

To many people, Necropolis was a land filled with temptations, but only young people were able to enter. Of course, middle-aged and elderly cultivators could go in as well, as long as they had no fear of death.

There was a dark and inscrutable energy in Necropolis. The blood energy of young people was vigorous like a rising sun, so they were capable of dispelling this dark energy at Necropolis. 1

The middle-aged and the elderly were not capable of doing so. No matter how majestic a middle-aged man’s blood energy was, there were still flaws and gaps. As for the elderly, even their lifespan was withering. This was the reason why their blood energy would be infected by this dark energy, causing them to grow older at an increased rate.

For example, a middle-aged cultivator could live to six or seven thousand years. However, once they entered Necropolis, their blood energy would be eroded by this dark energy and their rate of aging would increase, resulting in a three or four thousand year lifespan instead. The longer they stayed at Necropolis, the faster they would age.

So for millions of years, Necropolis was a playground for the young. The Sacred Nether World had this saying: don’t waste your life by not visiting Necropolis once during your youth, or else it will be too late.

This was why any older existence — no matter how powerful — would not enter Necropolis unless there was no other choice.

Qiurong Wanxue looked at Li Qiye and asked in a serious manner: “Have you prepared yourself?”

As the chief of a tribe, the truth was that she didn’t welcome an outsider like Li Qiye. Someone with an unknown background was a risk, but since Li Qiye shamelessly came along, it wasn’t proper for her to chase him away unless he clearly showed harmful intentions towards their tribe.

Li Qiye smiled to reveal his white teeth and said: “Don’t worry, Chief. I have prepared and can go at any time.”

Qiurong Wanxue took in a deep breath and said: “Come, we will go into the city now.” Then, she led the way.

The six Snow-shadow youths were very excited since this was their first time to Necropolis. The straightforward Peng Zhuang excitedly cried out: “Necropolis, here we come!”

These six were those with the greatest potential in the Snow-shadow tribe. Outside of a certain goal, Qiurong Wanxue brought them here so that they could gain more experience as well.

Once they were inside Necropolis, Qiurong Wanxue brought them to a huge town where they were immediately met with a rush of hot air.

With wide roads and countless pedestrians, the town was very big. Some cultivators were flying in the air while others rode their flying beasts above the street peddlers.

A little merchant cried out: “Necropolis Stone — it is capable of asking ghosts for direction. There’s only one left, come and buy, quick!”

“Three-streams fish — used for both energy restoration and dan refinement. One bottle for three fishes; come, come buy, don’t miss it!”

“Necropolis Ghost Energy — the number one choice for the Ghost Race. Being sold right here, being sold right here. It only costs three thousand fishes for the one and only in the city, come and buy!”

***

The town was extremely lively with the cries of hustling merchants and many bystanders. Once inside, who would actually think that this was a city of ghosts?

The six youths were quickly attracted by the animated town like village folk coming to the city for the first time. They gazed around curiously.

One of the youths wondered: “Is this really the City of Ghosts?” The town before them did not resemble one at all. The first impression of a ghost city should be a ghastly place full of nether energy.

However, there was no nether energy here. Instead, it resembled a mortal city even more due to the festive atmosphere and presence of humans.

He was here once more at Necropolis — Li Qiye gently sighed as he thought of this. This place was filled with mysteries, and only ghosts could truly live here. To be more exact, this was a congregation of sentiments, not real ‘ghosts.’

Qiurong Wanxue said: “Open your Heavenly Gazes to see whether they are people or ghosts… No, I should say sentiments.”

After hearing their chief, the six youths opened their Heavenly Gazes to see a creepy sight.

A huge bustling town should have an abundance of blood energy like the ocean — surging and inexhaustible, capable of gestating even the heaven and earth.

However, their eyes only saw a Necropolis filled with a dark energy. In addition to this, the pedestrians did not have any blood energy at all; some of the merchants on the sidewalks were only illusions.

How could first-timers not be alarmed at seeing such a huge city without blood energy? This was a city of the dead.

“How can they look so similar to real people?” A disciple exclaimed in astonishment. The inhabitants here looked exactly like real people, outside of not having any blood energy.

“Both the strong and the weak can be found in Necropolis. Strong sentiments are no different than ordinary cultivators, outside of not having any blood energy. On the other hand, weak sentiments would immediately be seen through by Heavenly Gazes, like those illusions.”

Peng Zhuang pointed at an approaching group of young men in the distance and exclaimed: ”Look over there, those ghosts have blood energy!”

Qiurong Wanxue responded in a serious tone: “Don’t be rude, they are just like you — cultivators from the outside.”

Peng Zhuang embarrassingly smiled and withdrew his finger. He didn’t dare to act wantonly.

In fact, many young cultivators came to Necropolis every day. Some came for fun, some came for the legendary treasures, and some came for the key to the Prime Ominous Grave.

The chief brought the group across a street as a street vendor called out: “Selling stone talismans here; a talisman from an ancient tribe, come and buy, quick!”

Peng Zhuang liked a particular stone talisman and walked forward to ask: “How much for this stone talisman?”

The merchant saw a customer so he enthusiastically smiled: “Cheap, it’s very cheap, only six fishes.”

A young disciple heard the price and curiously asked: “Six fishes? What are these six fishes?”

Qiurong Wanxue shook her head and explained to them: “The ‘fishes’ he’s referring to are Yang Nightfish. The currency in Necropolis is not refined jade, but Yang Nightfish.”

After hearing this, Peng Zhuang dejectedly gave up since he didn’t have any Yang Nightfish.

1. The word ‘dark’ here can be ‘evil’ as well or associated with ghosts. However, I used dark to be more ambiguous.