Emperor’s Domination

The aghast marquis quickly called out his backings and hoped that this would deter Li Qiye.

Li Qiye glanced at him before throwing him on the ground: “Go tell your second brother, first brother, and even the ravine to scram. Don’t let me see any of you at the Tie Clan again, or else I’ll trample your ravine!”

“Fine, just you wait, I will definitely let them know.” Although the marquis wanted to add some stronger words, he saw Li Qiye’s cold eyes and couldn’t help but quiver. He quickly fled and only left behind the one sentence before disappearing.

“Great immortal, this is, this is opposing the Heavenhoof Ravine.” The old turtle shivered. His head shrank back into the shell during the fight. He wanted to dig himself a hole in the muddy ground.

This cowardly turtle was completely different from Tie Yi. Although Tie Yi acted as a coward, it was just that, an act. In contrast, this turtle was truly scared. This was part of his instinct; as a vagabond cultivator, he had always been hiding at the bottom of the river. No matter whether it was a big or small event, he would instantly hide there.

He was truly scared after hearing that Li Qiye wanted to fight against the ravine. He wanted nothing more than to run from this place back to Quicksand River.

Li Qiye nonchalantly replied: “So what?” He didn’t care for this sort of thing.

The frightened turtle quickly added: “Great immortal, do you know the origin of the ravine? It is an imperial lineage with two emperors! They control over ten countries in the southern region of the Beast Realm, and many other minor nations are its vassals. After existences like the Alchemy Kingdom, the Jianlong Clan, and the Beastmaster Citadel decided to live reclusively, the ravine became the strongest in this world.”

Li Qiye looked at him.: “It seems that you know a lot despite hiding at the bottom of the river.”

The old turtle laughed then said while being quite pleased with himself: “Although I hide at the bottom of the river, I still try to listen to worldly news.”

He quickly recomposed himself and added: “Great immortal, we should still run away before the ravine comes with killing intent. If that were to happen, we would die without a grave. You should run back to your sect and I will go back to my Quicksand River.”

One didn’t have to guess to know that upon the first sign of danger, this old turtle wouldn’t give a damn about Li Qiye’s life and would certainly be the first to flee.

“Who says we have to run? We will stay here for a while longer.” Li Qiye said.

The old turtle’s neck shrunk back a bit as he whimpered: “Great immortal, this lowly one has carried you here so my task is finished. Can I leave now?”

“Not a chance.” Li Qiye purposely teased the turtle and smirked: “It is not easy for me to find an appropriate carrier, so how could I let you go so easily?”

The turtle’s expression twisted after hearing this. If he knew this would be the case, he wouldn’t have shown such a good performance. He bitterly said: “Great immortal, I am only an insignificant ant while you are the ruler of the nine worlds. An ant like me staying by your side would only ruin your image and reputation…”

“Okay, stop your load of rubbish. If I say you can leave, then leave. If I don’t, then obediently stay here or else I’ll make a soup out of you.” Li Qiye gently waved his hand.

The frightened turtle immediately shut its mouth and didn’t dare to utter another word. It obediently stayed behind Li Qiye.

Li Qiye gazed at the tall tablet while gently sighing in his mind. He went closer, but suddenly, a popping sound came about. Tie Lan attacked before he could reach the tablet. A spear aimed straight for Li Qiye’s throat like a venomous serpent, swift and merciless.

Tie Lan naturally couldn’t hurt Li Qiye. The spear was caught by Li Qiye before it could pierce his throat.

“You should be thanking me.” Li Qiye looked at the cold Tie Lan and calmly said: “If I didn’t help you chase them away, one can easily imagine your fate.”

“Mind your own business!” Tie Lan didn’t feel any gratitude and uttered: “You are not a good guy either. You came to my clan for our treasures!”

“Your Tie Clan’s treasures?” Li Qiye couldn’t help but chuckle. Was there anyone else who knew more than him about the clan’s treasures besides the Heavenly Flame Goddess?

“All cultivators are evil; they only wish to steal my clan’s treasures! If you wish to do so, then you have to do it over my dead body!” She harshly declared.

Li Qiye glanced at her and asked: “If your clan actually had a treasury, would you still be alive right now? Would you, alone, be able to protect it?”

Although Tie Lan, who was obsessed with martial arts, was a young and powerful master, she was nothing compared to a cultivator.

She stubbornly replied with a cold glimmer in her eyes: “Even if you cultivators are strong, I will use my Tie Clan’s Stormpetal Spear to protect every inch of this land!”

“The prominent Tie Clan only has the Stormpetal Spear left and a weak branch of martial arts. Do you really think your clan has something that others covet?” Li Qiye smiled and gently shook his head.

“Don’t be so presumptuous!” Tie Lan was furious to see Li Qiye looking down on her most powerful martial arts. She cried out and let go of the spear that Li Qiye caught. Another spear from her back aimed straight for him at lightning speed.

“Clank!” Li Qiye effortlessly flicked his finger and shot away her spear.

“Die!” Tie Lan was a headstrong person who didn’t know when to back down. She cried out as the spears behind her flew forward at once. It was as if she had many hands controlling several dozen spears all at once. In the blink of an eye, the cold glint of steel rushed upward then descended like a torrential storm of flower petals.

One had to admit that she was a top martial artist. This move of hers could kill cultivators of the Palace Foundation and even Palace Expansion realms. However, she was but an ant before Li Qiye.

“Pop!” Li Qiye simply waved his sleeve to shatter all of her spears. However, he did not hurt her.

He leisurely looked at her and said: “I came to the Tie Clan this time to take away one item, not to make it hard for you! Plus, this item does not belong to your Tie Clan!”

“In your dreams! Don’t even think about taking a single blade of grass from my clan before I am dead!” Tie Lan shouted and rushed forward with her bare hands. She was ready to bare her fangs with great ferocity.

However, Li Qiye simply swung his sleeve again and swept her flying away. She fell to the ground and struggled to stand back up.

“Unless I’m dead… I won’t let any of you get what you want!” She coldly uttered while trying to get up from the ground.

Li Qiye simply pointed with his finger and froze her in place. He glanced at her and dryly said: “If I wanted to, killing you would be easier than killing an ant!”

“Even if you kill me and take away my clan’s items, I will haunt you forever!” She wasn’t afraid of dying. Her personality was stubborn to the extreme!

While staring at Tie Lan, Li Qiye found that she had a semblance of the Heavenly Flame Goddess in her. Wasn’t the goddess a stubborn girl as well?

Although his patience was wearing thin, his expression suddenly softened again. After remembering the goddess who was completely loyal to him, who contributed great merits and was the first to rush forward on any battlefield, he gently sighed.

Out of consideration for the loyal goddess back then, Li Qiye didn’t want to be too harsh on Tie Lan. He commanded the turtle: “Carry her away and persuade her. My patience is limited!”

The old turtle had seen Li Qiye’s brutality, so how could he not listen? He carried the immobilized Tie Lan away while persuading her at the same time: “Young Miss, the great immortal is only trying to be kind. Think about it, if he was malicious, then he could have killed you by waving his hand. He is a great man and perhaps will even teach you in the future…”

The old turtle was only a minor character, a vagabond cultivator. Despite being a Heavenly Sovereign, he was patient even in carrying out the most menial of tasks. He didn’t mind wasting time carrying out Li Qiye’s command to persuade Tie Lan. Even she got tired of listening to this old turtle who went on and on and was about to go crazy. What an incessant old turtle!

Li Qiye ignored the two as he gently placed his palm on the tablet to feel its beat. Eventually, he was able to determine that it was the right time to take the item from here.

After he confirmed it, he sat down before the tablet and began to chant verses in a very meticulous manner.

This scripture was very complex and profound. No one could understand the contents of the verses. It seemed to be an archaic language not found in present times.

In the past, when the goddess wanted to go into reclusion, Li Qiye had sealed an item and personally handed it to her. Later on, the goddess settled down in this place to begin her new life.

The nine worlds were vast, so the goddess had her own reasons for picking this location. One of them was that she liked the scenery here. Another was because the item the Dark Crow handed to her required gestation from the Beast Realm.

She was completely devoted to him, so even in her retirement, she chose to help him one last time and hid the sealed item inside the Tie Clan.

This secret was unknown to even the disciples of the Tie Clan for millions of years! In fact, no one was privy to this outside of the late goddess and the Dark Crow.