Emperor’s Domination

“This time, I was entrusted a task by Young Noble Ye to find materials for a refinement batch.” At this time, the Golden Leopard Prince’s voice deepened: “Young Noble Ye’s prestige runs far and wide, and he has the support of the entire Stone Medicine World. The material gathering process has been quite successful so far as all the sects in the world were willing to lend Young Noble Ye a hand. Even if Alchemist Li is not willing to sell it to me, how about you sell it for Young Noble Ye? In the future, this prince is willing to put in a good word for you to Young Noble Ye.”

The “Young Noble Ye” the prince was talking about was the supreme celestial being, Ye Qingcheng. This was an awe-inspiring name since he was not just famous, the rest of the world treated him with respect, either due to their desire to support him or fear. In short, very few people in the Stone Medicine World wouldn’t give the name Ye Qingcheng some face.

Even people from the previous generation would show him some consideration. Yes, in the Stone Medicine World, countless people were willing to support him, including young geniuses, older experts, and even sect masters and rulers; these great characters were willing to work under Ye Qingcheng’s banner as well.

It was clear that the Golden Leopard Prince was using the name of Ye Qingcheng with the intention of threatening Li Qiye. Even if Li Qiye didn’t give him face, he had to give Ye Qingcheng some. Not to mention, a prince like him asking a nobody such as Li Qiye to sell him the Young King Medicine was already quite considerate.

In fact, the prince was very confident that when he stated the great name of Ye Qingcheng, very few people wouldn’t give him face, especially a junior like Li Qiye.

“Not for sale.” However, in Li Qiye’s view, Ye Qingcheng’s name was no different from a random dog on the street. Not to mention the prince using his name, even if Ye Qingcheng himself was here, Li Qiye still wouldn’t give him any face.

His answer left the prince with an unsightly expression. He felt he was doing Li Qiye a favor by not simply snatching it from him. But now, after bringing up Ye Qingcheng’s name, Li Qiye still didn’t give any face, so the prince’s eyes turned cold while flashing a murderous glint.

“Golden Leopard Prince, Brother Li also needs this Young King Medicine, so it is a bit inconvenient. I hope you can understand.” Yuan Caihe spoke at this time in order to help out Li Qiye.

After hearing Yuan Caihe, the prince withdrew the murderous glint in his gaze. He didn’t care for a little character like Li Qiye, but Yuan Caihe was someone he didn’t dare to offend. A person like Yuan Caihe would have countless great powers willing to work for her the moment she made the request.

“In that case, I won’t ask anymore.” The prince clasped his hands together once more towards Yuan Caihe and said: “Fairy Yuan, I’ll be going then.” With that, he left with the other experts.

Li Qiye gave a faint smile after the prince left and said: “You didn’t have to help me, earlier. I actually wanted to see if he would dare to rob me or not.” He licked his lips after he finished speaking.

Yuan Caihe gave off a wry smile and shook her head to say: “There is no need to give him a hard time, Brother Li. Ye Qingcheng, his backer, is not easy to mess with. Many people in the world are quite apprehensive of him.”

“I’ve never cared for the master when I beat the dog.” Li Qiye smiled and said: “Even if that Ye Qingcheng guy comes and dares to provoke me, I’ll kill him all the same.”

If other people were to hear this, they would definitely laugh at Li Qiye for not understanding the immensity of the heaven and earth and how he was simply courting death. Who would dare to say such a thing in the Stone Medicine World? Not even the previous generation would dare to utter these words.

Yuan Caihe couldn’t help but glance at Li Qiye again. In the end, she didn’t say anything and only smiled, the same calm and natural one as always.

“Still not crawling out yet?” After the prince left, Li Qiye stamped the ground, causing the terrain to shake.

With a crashing sound, Old Demon Tie Yi crawled out from the ground and carefully looked around before nervously asking: “Did they leave yet?”

Yuan Caihe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this scaredy cat Tie Yi and said: “Don’t worry, the prince has left already. Plus, they only came to greet us, there were no other intentions.”

The old demon got out from the mud and cheerfully smiled, saying: “The Young Nobles, especially those from the great powers, treat human lives like insects. If they don’t like the way you look, then they’ll kill you instantly as if it was no different from crushing an ant.”

Li Qiye gave him a look and said: “Where is your courage as a bandit? Someone who dares to act as a robber is still afraid of a single prince?”

After being exposed again by Li Qiye, the old demon couldn’t help but blush. He cleared his throat to say: “Young Noble, please don’t tease me. Earlier, I was just kidding; I only wanted to scare a few people, I wasn’t going to do it for real. I am a cultivator who adheres to moral codes, a man of culture, so how could I be a robber? I was only messing with you two.”

“Really?” Li Qiye glanced at him and said: “If you are what you say, then why did you crawl underground the moment you caught sight of someone? That is something a suspicious person would do.”

The blushing old demon coughed and quickly responded with a grin: “It is all a misunderstanding, Young Noble. I am only a nice little demon with nothing to be suspicious about, right? I only crawled underground because it is part of my instinct, yes, my instinct. I am an ant who reached the dao and loves to crawl underground daily, it has truly become a habit.”

“Is that so?” Li Qiye smiled while looking at Tie Yi and said: “Then what type of ant are you? There are fire ants, earth ants, ghost ants… Which one are you?”

“Oh, just like my name, I am an iron ant who has reached the dao.” Old Demon Tie Yi quickly answered: “As an iron ant, I am a bit special and rare, so because of this, I was able to reach the dao.” 1

“Iron ant?” Li Qiye gave a carefree smile and said: “I have seen iron ants before. However, I know that they do not crawl underground. You say you were an iron ant before you reached the dao, but you don’t even know the habits of one?”

After hearing Li Qiye’s question, the old demon scratched his head and wryly smiled: “Haha, just like I said earlier, I am a relatively special iron ant, so it is not too strange to like crawling underground.”

Li Qiye only smiled and didn’t comment on this answer.

Old Demon Tie Yi noticed Li Qiye’s skeptical expression and quickly explained: “Young Noble, don’t misunderstand! I was really an iron ant before I reached the dao. Although iron ants do not like crawling underground, Young Noble, you are a grand character while I am but a little character; you don’t know how hard it was for someone as insignificant as me to reach the dao.”

At this point, the old demon revealed a sentimental and tragic demeanor while saying: “Young Noble, as you can imagine, I am an ant, no, an iron ant without any backing — just a little nobody. In the eyes of all the big shots, I can be killed with a single stomp of their foot, so how could I have reached the dao so easily? Because of this, for my own survival, I had no choice but to crawl underground each day and hide in order to stay alive…”

The more he talked, the more miserable he appeared. After saying the last sentence, he even shed two drops of tears, resulting in a very sympathetic image.

“Brother Li, don’t make it hard for the old demon. After all, everyone has their own problems.” Yuan Caihe smiled elegantly and gently shook her head, saying: “Let us move on. We might miss out on a good chance to watch the Draco-Bulls going to the river if we are late.”

The group resumed their journey. However, Li Qiye purposely let Yuan Caihe lead the way this time and created some distance between them. At the same time, Old Demon Tie Yi slowed down as well after seeing Li Qiye’s glare.

When Yuan Caihe was in front of them, Li Qiye finally leisurely looked at the old demon and slowly spoke: “Not a bad actor at all, but we all know in our minds, don’t we? Caihe is a good girl, but I’m not so nice. I am the type who murders people without batting an eye.”

“I…” The old demon was going to say something, but Li Qiye interrupted him with a wave of his hand. Li Qiye gave him a look and nonchalantly said: “I don’t care if you were an iron ant or a fire ant or whatever the hell else. I also don’t care if you came for me or for Caihe or whatever you are thinking. You just need to know that when I am in a good mood, I am quite easygoing, but when I am not, then I can be quite difficult.”

At this point, Li Qiye’s eyes narrowed as he gazed towards the old demon and slowly declared: “Remember well, do not carry any crooked ideas about me or Caihe. I will not ask for your origin or your goal any longer, but it is best that you do not have any thoughts about me or Caihe. If not, I trust that I can show you what the most horrifying death in this world is.”

“Hahaha, Young Noble is really funny.” The old demon awkwardly scratched his head and hurriedly replied: “I, I am only a little demon, so how could I dare to do anything against Young Noble or Fairy Yuan? Plus, Fairy Yuan saved my life before, all I want to do is repay the debt. How could I have any malicious thoughts against her?”

“Young Noble, you can rest assured.” At this point, the old demon patted his chest in a heroic manner and stated: “Since Fairy Yuan saved my life, if anyone dares to make things difficult for her, it would be the same as causing trouble for me!”

Li Qiye interrupted the old demon and dismissively said: “Good, stop bragging though. Mark my words, otherwise, no matter who you are, even if you are an invincible Godking, I will show you a fate worse than death.”

“Haha, for sure, for sure.” Promised the old demon as he patted his chest.

1. Tie Yi is iron ant.