Emperor’s Domination

Li Qiye looked at the group of six and said: “There are indeed a lot of opportunities to buy good stuff in Necropolis, but it requires luck and keen eyes. It was not easy for you guys to catch the fish so don’t spend them carelessly. I will introduce you all to a place. There is a small town on the east side. If you see a symbol like this, then pay up with some fish. Repeat this several times. Whether you get anything or not will depend on your own luck.” Li Qiye drew a symbol and then handed it to Peng Zhuang.

After accepting the symbol, Peng Zhuang cheerfully smiled and said: “Brother Li, we’ll go ahead then. We’ll leave our chief in your care.” He then winked at Li Qiye and revealed an ambiguous and mischievous expression.

Li Qiye only laughed at Peng Zhuang’s group’s encouragement. How could he not know what these kids were thinking?

They happily said goodbye and left in excitement. Qiurong Wanxue sighed while looking at them leave. These six were the young seeds of the Snow-shadow Tribe, so she was not without worries, letting them go off alone. However, under her constant protection, they would never become independent.

“Where are we going now?” She composed herself and asked Li Qiye.

Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said: “We’ll go to the Penta Realm Gate to test our luck.”

“The Penta Realm Gate?” Qiurong Wanxue nervously said: “It is quite a dangerous place. Out of the five entrances, four of them are located in extremely ominous locations.”

Li Qiye smiled and said: “Without taking a risk at Necropolis and putting it all on the line, Chief Qiurong will never discover the fortunes that await you.”

Qiurong Wanxue nodded without objecting. Since she had decided to follow Li Qiye, she would go wherever he wanted to.

Although Necropolis was a city of ghosts and had wandering spirits everywhere, it was not disorderly at all. On the contrary, it was just like the outside with ghosts cultivating instead.

They were remnants of the dead, sentiments without memories of their previous life. It was a new life without assured immortality. If these sentiments did not grow stronger, then they would disappear as time went by.

Ever since an unknown era, these ghosts had started to cultivate in Necropolis. There were sects in Necropolis that were even more ancient than the ones in the Nine Worlds. Their origins were untraceable as well.

The sects that occupied the best locations in Necropolis were also considered the most dangerous places.

It was true that Necropolis had treasures, but these treasures for cultivators were not worth a coin in the eyes of these ghosts because they were only sentiments. They cultivated a certain power given to them by Necropolis itself; it was completely different from cultivators absorbing worldly energy.

Cultivation in Necropolis comes from having faith in the city itself. The more these ghosts harmonize with this land and take root, the longer these sentiments could survive and the more powerful they would become.

Because of this, cultivators’ treasures were useless to the ghosts. However, the ghosts occupied the areas with treasures and took ownership of them. Any cultivator who wanted treasures or adventures must pay Yang Nightfish to these ghosts before entering their sect.

Cultivators wanted treasures while Necropolis’ ghosts wanted Yang Nightfish; it was a beneficial relationship.

The Penta Realm Gate was a lineage in Necropolis, a very ancient lineage. It occupied five mountain passes in the northern area. Rumor has it that there were many amazing things in these passes, and the key to the Prime Ominous Grave was once found inside.

This was why many cultivators wanted to enter and see if they could find anything.

Once Li Qiye brought Qiurong Wanxue to the Penta Realm Gate, there were already two long lines right outside the mountain passes. They were all cultivators from outside of all sorts — guys and girls, ghosts, humans, demons, heavenly devils…

“Necropolis has been quite lively recently.” Qiurong Wanxue was slightly surprised after seeing the long line and told Li Qiye.

Li Qiye looked at the line, then the two also joined in.

The lines were filled with young people from many different races. Outside of the passes were two guardian ghosts, or two sentiments, rather. Anyone who wished to enter must pay Yang Nightfish.

While they were waiting in line, a sudden explosion could be heard as the earth shook with rumbling noises. Everyone saw the arrival of a giant. Despite his huge stature, he was not slow at all and quickly joined the line.

This was a young man three times the size of an ordinary person, someone with quite a healthy appearance. He exuded a fierce aura and had a three-colored halo above his head.

Despite being huge, he was not a brute and, on the contrary, was quite handsome. The three-colored halo above his head gave him a somewhat sacred atmosphere.

The huge young man came closer and looked around coldly before lining up. Those who recognized him obediently gave way, and this giant walked forward without any reservation.

A young cultivator from the Distant Cloud emotionally exclaimed: “Mo Lidao!”

Li Qiye glanced at the three-colored halo above the young man’s head and said with surprise: “The Sky-devil Tribe.”

The Sky-devil Tribe was a branch of the Heavenly Devil race. Meeting such a rare tribe was not easy in this place. 1

Qiurong Wanxue noticed that Li Qiye didn’t know who the giant was, so she reminded him: “He is Mo Lidao, the descendant of the Sky-devil Gate.”

She then whispered: “I heard that he has the reputation of being a ruthless man in the southern Distant Cloud.”

Despite being part of a small tribe, as the chief, Qiurong Wanxue had always paid attention to the news of the world, so she was quite knowledgeable about famous people in current times.

Li Qiye smiled. People also called him a ruthless man back at the Mortal Emperor World, so he wondered just how fierce this Mo Lidao was to be addressed as such.

After a long wait, it was finally their turn.

The guardian ghost looked at them and said without any trace of emotion on his face: “Fifty fish per person, two is one hundred. You can only pick one mountain pass each time.”

Necropolis’ ghosts really knew how to do business with the price of fifty fish per entry. It didn’t matter whether the person obtained a treasure or not, they had to pay fifty fish to enter.

Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue paid one hundred fish and were allowed to enter.

“Pick one mountain pass out of the five.” The ghost told them.

“We pick the Shifting Mountain Pass.” Li Qiye looked at the five entrances and responded with a smile.

Many people looked at him after they heard his choice. A young human cultivator kindly reminded him: “Brother, this is your first time here, right? Although the Shifting Mountain Pass is the safest one, it is also the most hopeless one. You two won’t be able to go through the entire mountain since even Heavenly Sovereigns cannot do so. How about you guys pick the first pass? It’s very low-risk and there are a lot of opportunities as well. Even if you don’t get anything, there will be very minimal losses, and if you are lucky, maybe you will get one or two amazing treasures.”

This young human cultivator was quite kind. After all, the human race was very weak here, so those away from home should help each other.

“Thank you, Dao Brother.” Li Qiye said with a wide smile: “I wish to obtain a great fortune, maybe we’ll be able to find one.”

“Great fortune? You guys? Forget it.” Another young cultivator shook their head and said: “Even if you make it through the entire pass, you wouldn’t necessarily be able to find anything.”

Li Qiye only smiled and led Qiurong Wanxue into the fifth pass, the Shifting Mountain Pass.

“These two wasted one hundred Yang Nightfish, what a shame.” A person said with pity after seeing the two enter the pass.

Li Qiye and Qiurong Wanxue were met with hot, dry air the moment they entered. Unknowing travelers would think that they made a wrong turn after seeing the scene ahead.

Before them was a vast desert. The strange part was that this desert was completely flat, and its dried land appeared to have been burnt.

If the entrance was not right behind them, anyone who saw this desert would think that they were lost. This place did not resemble Necropolis at all.

“Shifting Mountain Pass?” Qiurong Wanxue couldn’t prevent herself from being dazed after seeing the desert before her. She had never been here before, but she had heard of a few things about it.

“Can we actually do this?” She asked without confidence: “I heard that there are practically no treasures here, but it is also the pass with the highest requirements among the five passes.”

“It is a gamble.” Li Qiye smiled and said: “Although the other four passes indeed have a higher chance of obtaining treasures, they are all ordinary treasures. If you want to gamble, you have to bet something huge. If we are lucky, then it will be a true fortune.”

1. Heavenly Devil, Devil Heavenly; they literally flipped the words for this tribe and race, but Devil Heavenly sounds silly. It could be Evil/Devil Celestial Tribe too, but it doesn’t fit with the devil theme, so I picked Sky-devil.