Emperor’s Domination

“What do you think?” Li Qiye chuckled and gazed into the horizon after hearing the question.

“Everlasting life and indestructibility?” She said softly.

He looked back at her and smiled: “You are describing immortality and it does not exist nor does it need to exist.”

She was surprised because becoming immortal was the ultimate goal of cultivation - a beautiful legend. What did he mean by this?

“The world places their hope in others, in the non-existent.” Li Qiye said: “Even if immortals exist, are they the embodiment of all that is wondrous?”

She contemplated the matter - legends regarding immortals were all wonderful tales. The most popular one might be with Blessed Dao Lord - the man who was enlightened by an immortal.

He became one of the strongest dao lords, not only in the upper continents but also in the immortal continent. Alas, others weren’t so lucky and desired such a meeting. 

She hasn’t thought about this issue extensively. After all, immortals were unreachable in her mind.

Obtaining anima was already difficult enough, let alone everlasting life. Only immortals could possess this.

“If you were to become an immortal, do you think that’s a good thing for this world?” Li Qiye asked.

She thought about it again and focused on those closest to this level - the apex cultivators. Would their ascension be a blessing to the world?

“No, it’s nothing positive.” She eventually concluded.

She was already merciless and indifferent to the rest of the world at her current level. The same might still apply after becoming a true immortal. Living beings would live in fear under her shadow, always trembling and worrying about the future.

“If top cultivators such as yourself can’t expect to do good things for the world after becoming immortals, why expect others to do so?” Li Qiye said.

“Right, perhaps no immortality is for the better.” She understood.

Mortals dreamed about becoming cultivators and the latter dreamed about becoming immortals. Given the way certain cultivators behaved, it was a good thing that they couldn’t become cultivators.

“Although there are no immortals, anima is the replacement.” Li Qiye remarked.

“Could you elaborate?” She asked.

“It is in the heart, if immortality is in your heart, you are an immortal. Life or death is not the core behind immortality.” Li Qiye elaborated.

“Is that so?” This topic has not been on her mind since there was a door blocking her path.

In reality, the apex cultivators weren’t close at all even when compared to the mortals.

Mortals, through sheer fortune, could find ways to eventually become conquerors. However, there was no known shortcut for a conqueror to become an immortal.

Nonetheless, she hasn’t heard this notion of anima being immortality previously.

The conversation halted when Li Qiye stopped at a collapsed world filled with tribulation lightning bolts. 

Conquerors and dao lords were free from tribulation lightning since they had no associated karma with the high heaven. Only a selected few had to go through this ordeal. Nonetheless, they were still afraid of tribulations due to how fatal they could be.

Thus, they didn’t dare to come close to this area.

“It’s an old battlefield.” She said: “According to the legends, it is the resting place of many powerful cultivators after fighting an unimaginable lair of evil.”

Li Qiye gazed at the battlefield with heightened focus and could witness the battle again. He noted a particular unstoppable figure, cutting through the evil and destroying everything in his path.

“Here’s another instance of a historical figure being praised as an immortal.” She said: “He was the one who finally destroyed the evil entities here.”

The full extent of the illusory realm remained unknown. Most believed that they were fallen worlds. When the first adventurers visited, they already had this appearance. This ancient battlefield was rumored to be older than the six continents themselves.

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“There’s no lair of evil, it’s just the first wave of scouting.” Li Qiye said.