Emperor’s Domination

While the two were still amazed by the abyss, Li Qiye got on the mountain to their left. They continued on this passage before stopping on a ridge.

Li Qiye found a cave facing the very center of the abyss. The two looked over and realized that this cave was not a natural creation. Someone had created it with carvings in the entrance, making it much more homely.

The two of them found several rooms inside with chairs and tables made of rocks. It has been a long time since people last occupied this place.

“Here then.” Li Qiye looked around and said.

The two instantly swept and clean through the cave without needing instruction from him. It didn’t take long before the cave was filled with the scent of people - a home once more.

“What are we doing here? Are we looking for the blood ginseng?” Sijing eventually asked.

Li Qiye chuckled and said: “A 10,000,000-year-old ginseng is not worth my time coming here. Plus, I wouldn’t need to look for it since there are ways to make one come to me.”

Sijing’s eyes widened in disbelief: “Young Noble, I heard a ginseng root this old has its own spirituality and intelligence, capable of traveling through the sky and earth. It would really come to you?”

“If I wanted it, even one at a trillion-year-old is no problem, it’ll come like an obedient child for me to eat.” Li Qiye smiled: “But that would be too much of a waste, only a fool would consume it in that manner.”

“Why is that?” She became a curious child and asked again.

He said: “If you have a hen, would you make a meal out of it right away or let it lay eggs? A ginseng like this is best to be used as an incubator, leaving it by your side. Only a short-sighted genius would consume it.”

Sijing understood the logic despite never seeing a blood ginseng before, let alone such an old one. Nevertheless, she thought it would be incredible to have one around.

Li Qiye sat down in one of the room and told the two: “Go outside, don’t disturb me.”

The two left, thinking that he wanted to cultivate so they stood guard outside the cave.

Li Qiye casually sealed off space and sat down to meditate. His fate palace emerged with a flashing sea of memories.

Strands of laws emerged in his brain. They were unique, preserved from the ancient ages.

They drilled into the ground like serpents and disappeared. After a long time, a formation appeared beneath his feet. They were also created from strands of laws and pulsed with a flashing, ancient light.

“Buzz.” As the formation became brighter, runes appeared to form a portal. This particular portal was different from the rest. It was directly on top of the formation below in the form of a silver maelstrom.

It rotated and seemed to be ready to suck Li Qiye in at any moment. He took one step in and sure enough, he instantly disappeared into the maelstrom.

When he appeared again, he was in a different world made of intersecting runes and dao energy just like a boundless ocean.

Of course, it was filled with runes instead of water. The waves were made out of runes as well.

Furthermore, ancient symbols were around everywhere; some were as large as mountains of varying size and shape. 

In fact, this place was made of the dao instead of earthly characteristics. The dao foundation here was strong enough to shoulder the nine firmaments and everything else.

Li Qiye murmured sentimentally while inside: “The old man is too crazy, so many insane deeds across his life, but he still loves his own world too much. He wanted to wait for its destruction then rebuild the entire thing. Alas, this crazy idea couldn’t be done.

This world of rune was actually the dao foundation of Insane Court. Insane Ancestor opened the dao source first then created a supreme foundation before the actual physical territory.

Outsiders couldn’t come to this place, not even a True Emperor via force. This wasn’t the case for Li Qiye.

He had all the memories from Insane Ancestors so he had information about the laws necessary to create the key.

He was fixated in a particular location resembling a reflection of Ivory Gap. There was no doubt that this place could take one there.

In fact, Li Qiye was able to control the dao foundation and the dao source of the system. However, this alone wasn’t enough because the item inside Ivory Gap was very crafty.

The legends about Ivory Gap were correct. There was indeed something in there. Some said that it was a supreme medicinal root, others said that it was a treasure with its own spirituality, or a young divine beast…

Because of this, people have searched this land before it became part of Insane Court. Unfortunately, they all failed and had to give up.

Later on, Insane Ancestor found out about the thing here as well, deep in the mountains. Because of this, he brought the entire vein here to be part of his system. 

He once captured it but also failed to truly grasp it before having to leave Three Immortals. Thus, he left it behind for the fateful ones.

“Interesting, let’s see how you run away.” Li Qiye chuckled, finding out more about the item after the ancestor’s failures.

He took out an item - a dazzling gourd of a yellow shade as if it was made from gold. Thunderous rumbling came about as if the gourd was filled with lightning bolts.

This gourd had a great origin. Li Qiye got it back in Stone Medicine World after destroying Heavenhoof and got a yang vine out of it. The gourd came from this vine.

It took a long time and a lot of effort from Li Qiye before maturing. When it was ripe, he took it off the vine and name it: “First Yang Gourd.” 

It had many uses or he wouldn’t have wasted so much effort in cultivating it. He opened it and a golden liquid poured out, like melted gold - beautiful and enchanting.

It flowed across the runes of the dao foundation and seemed to have its own mind. It didn’t take long before all the runes in Ivory Gap were permeated.

As time passed, the liquid condensed into yellow strands fusing into the runes. Next, they disappeared completely as if nothing has happened.

After preparing this trap, he put away the gourd and smiled: “I want to see just how much space you can traverse. As long as you’re in this area, you won’t be able to escape my grasp. You shall be mine.”