Imperial God Emperor

Capital Sky Peak was in the southwest area of the Wei River Mountain Range.

It was a mountain peak of more than ten kilometers, resembling a sword-shaped token which stood tall on the land of the Clear River Domain. Although it was not the highest peak in the Wei River Mountain Range, it was the most magnificent and extensive one, taking up several kilometers of land. And while it was not dangerously steep, it had a royal grandeur about it as it overlooked the surrounding mountains, as if it was governing the landscape on behalf of the heavens. Hence why it was called the Capital Sky Peak.

For a long period of time, it could not be considered famous.

This was because, being excessively magnificent and vast, it suppressed the landscape and rendered the underground Spirit veins unable to pass through. As a result, it was extremely sparse in terms of spiritual qi and naturally could not become an Immortal abode. It was covered in ice and snow throughout the year and was constantly assailed by howling winds, such that it was extremely cold. Given the harsh natural environment, it was natural that few intelligent beings and no martial force would establish their base here.

Aside from its extremely imposing name and magnificent terrain, this mountain peak could be considered a barren land.

However, this was all in the past.

The experts from many races who now appeared in the area surrounding the Capital Sky Peak were all very clear that this mountain peak would soon become a legendary place and play an important part in the history of the Vast Thousand Domains, regardless of the future development of the Vast Thousand Domains and whichever race or force came into power.

This was because three Quasi-emperors were now engaging in a large battle here.

“Ten days and nights have gone by. I wonder what the situation on the mountain is like?” someone asked softly.

Nobody replied.

The number of experts from various races who had gathered below the Capital Sky Peak already exceeded several hundred thousand.

It could be said that, over the past period of time, any expert who did not die among the bloody massacre in the Wei River Mountain Range had already arrived here, regardless of race or force. By this time, the massacre had lost its meaning and ended. Only the Quasi-emperor battle on Capital Sky Peak would decide the fate of all humans.

However, it had been ten days and nights since [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei], the Four Stars Sect’s Quasi-emperor, and Quasi-emperor Mushan set foot on the Capital Sky Peak, yet no news had been heard from them.

Even the world-destroying aura expected of a large Quasi-emperor battle had not diffused from the mountain top. 

The winds swept along a blood-red fog which obstructed all sight.

The path to the mountain top was under the control of Dark Great Saints whose origins were unknown, and was also being blocked by several super forces. Hence, even the pinnacle Great Saints did not dare to climb the mountain and could only wait below for the Quasi-emperor battle to end. Earlier on, someone had self-professed to be of uncommon status and, out of confidence in their own strength, tried to force their way up the mountain, but was soon chopped into two, with their bones freezing into ice crystals! 

Throughout the silent wait, everyone’s heart was in their mouth.

They had little choice.

This was because the entire Wei River Mountain Range had been locked up by a Quasi-emperor formation such that none of the several hundred thousand experts could even think about leaving.

This had been verified by countless experts.

An invisible sky shield inverted over a circumference of several hundred thousand kilometers. As a result of this Quasi-emperor’s method, the experts from various races had nowhere to go, much like lambs trapped in a pen to await slaughter.

“If you all don’t surrender, I shall kill all of you after Li Xiaofei dies.”

This was the Four Stars Quasi-emperor’s proclamation before he went up the mountain ten days ago.

This proclamation was like a sharp sword which hung over the heads of the crowd and could chop them off at any time to cause these several hundred thousand experts to die here without burial.

Everyone had heard the news that [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei] was surprise-attacked in the Reincarnation Hall and was thus already heavily injured. Moreover, according to news from various sources, Quasi-emperor Mushan, who had appeared out of nowhere, was secretly in cahoots with the Four Stars Quasi-emperor. Hence, by all accounts, there was little chance of victory for [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei], whose name had awed the world.  

In other words, these experts from various races were all but dead if they did not yield.  

Nobody would doubt a Quasi-emperor’s proclamation.

Therefore, everyone was afraid.

On top of that, nobody knew when this imperial battle would end. It could be a day, two days… or a month… In any case, time went by at a snail’s pace, as if the heaviest of judgments could befall at any moment. Every expert was thus perpetually in a state of extremely nerve-wrecking torment.

To not surrender was for one’s dignity and freedom.

On the other hand, to surrender was for one’s life.

Hence, over the past ten days, nearly ten thousand experts had already decided to surrender.

The way to surrender was very simple.

It could be done simply by swallowing a [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill] and then pledging one’s allegiance using one’s martial soul.

However, the simpler the conditions, the more frightening they were.

This was the first time everyone had heard the name [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill].

Even a fool could guess its effects.

After the pill was consumed, one would become controlled by the being one subsequently pledged allegiance to for the rest of eternity, with no chance of escape, to be used like a frontline puppet. This was confirmed by deed. For those experts who swallowed the pill and surrendered, their eyes turned completely black, their spirits weakened, and their foundations became unstable, giving every indication that they were under someone else’s control.

Six days ago, several hundred thousand experts personally witnessed what happened to a Saint who had decided to surrender but felt a little reluctance after swallowing the [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill]. Simply because he did not salute a Four Stars petty official who was in charge of registering the names of those who surrendered, the latter used a secret technique to work up the pill, instantly tormenting this pinnacle Saint to the point of lunacy. After displaying all sorts of ridiculous behaviors, he turned into a pile of sludge…

It was utterly audacious of this petty official, who was only a pinnacle Immortal Step realm warrior, to kill a pinnacle Saint by using the pill. Everyone could see that this was to serve as a warning. 

The Four Stars Sect deliberately wanted to use this kind of explicitly humiliating method to obliterate everyone’s martial heart and cause them to forget their pride and dignity, thereby turning them into nothing but subservient robots.

After swallowing the pill, one would become a lackey with no chance of ever regaining one’s backbone.

Now that things had developed to this stage, every expert knew full well that the descent of the Reincarnation Hall had all along been one huge conspiracy plotted by the Four Stars Sect. By setting up an Asura killing field in the Wei River Mountain Range, the sect intended to completely lay bare the wild ambitions they had bottled up for countless years and annihilate the elite experts from various large races and forces in one swift stroke.

Killing these hundreds of thousands of experts from various races was as good as wiping out an entire generation of talented young experts. Of course, it would be even better than killing them if they could be manipulated to serve one’s purpose. The [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pills] were apparently prepared for this scheme.

Once this objective was achieved, everything would be under the Four Stars Sect’s control.

Aside from the lofty Alliance of Domains, there would only be a handful of forces among the Vast Thousand Domains which could match the Four Stars Sect.

The precondition for the Four Stars Sect to actualize this wild conspiracy was to have a Quasi-emperor.

At the entrance to the sealed mountain path was a simple stone table at the back of which sat more than ten petty officials from the Four Stars Sect who laughed grimly as they watched over the experts below. They were clearly the weakest beings around, yet the expressions in their eyes were akin to those of lions and tigers looking at lambs.

“Hehe, there are still thirty thousand [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pills] remaining.” The petty official who had humiliated and tortured the pinnacle Saint to death stood up and shouted bossily from above, “Listen well, you sitting ducks. After these pills have ran out, it’d be useless even if you kneel and beg us. Hehe, when that time comes, you won’t even have the right to surrender, and death shall be your only outcome. And it won’t be just you, but also your friends and sect mates who shall be killed.”

This petty official was certainly extremely arrogant to alone threaten several hundred thousand experts from various races.

“Dammit...” A Celestial Race Great Saint with a violent temper finally snapped having been continually humiliated by the petty officials. He shouted angrily, “Little wretch, how dare scum like you threaten us? I’ll kill you. Think I’m afraid to die? I’ll follow you down to hell.”

With that, he flashed into a beam of flowing light and intended to strike this petty official.

“Haha, I shall fulfill your wish for death.” The petty official guffawed. “Hold him down, I want him alive.”

From among the ten thousand-plus experts who had chosen to swallow the [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill] and surrender, several hundred figures zipped out and held down the Celestial Race Great Saint. After a messy fight, the Great Saint took down more than twenty surrendered experts but was ultimately outnumbered and captured alive.

The young petty official maliciously pried open the Great Saint’s mouth and forced a [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill] down him.

An agonizing howl was heard.

The Great Saint was quickly tormented into a pile of sludge. Being quite the tough one, he never surrendered until the end, but the horrible condition he ended up in having been torn apart alive was simply bone-chilling to everyone. The abject manner of his death certainly caused him to lose all dignity as a Great Saint.

“Anyone else?”

Standing high up on the mountain path, the petty official looked down and questioned.

Nobody else below dared to rebut in defiance.  

The scene could not be any sadder.

The petty official’s sight swept like a blade across the crowd and suddenly fell upon several humans. Recalling a few things, he snickered as a hint of malice flashed across his eyes. He then raised a hand and pointed, saying, “You humans over there, get your ass over here right now… Yes, the few of you over there. You have three breaths’ worth of time to do so. Don’t make me take action!”

Among the crowd below.

The countenances of Tan Tianzi, Zhang Wudao, Situ Kongming, and Tao Jieqian changed dramatically.  

As a party, they had narrowly managed to walk out alive from the Reincarnation Hall. After obtaining several opportunities, they were pursued by several factions and barely survived as they made their way here, and were thus terribly exhausted already. All this time, they had been hiding low-key among the depths of the crowd, and thus they certainly did not expect to be discovered and pointed out by the vicious young petty official. 

Apart from them, the Thousand Illusions Elder and Orchid Saintess were also pointed out.

Six human experts were pointed out in total.

As the saying went, one has to lower one’s head while in another’s house. Without daring to hesitate too much, the six of them walked out with their flesh creeping. “Since we’re all humans, I shall grant the six of you the [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pills].”

A sinister radiance flashed in the young petty official’s eyes as he looked at them with a rattish expression.

“Thank you, Your Excellency, thank you...” The Thousand Illusions Elder was overjoyed upon hearing the petty official’s words, and was already smiling fawningly and eagerly.

“However, I have a request.” The petty official’s eyes swept across the two female Saints with an expression of amazement as he laughed lewdly. “You two women shall vow to be my cultivation companions for the rest of your lives and to perform any mission I assign you without a hint of disobedience. That’s all you two have to do. As for the other four? Hehe, there shall only be two [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pills] for the four of you. Haha, you shall have to fight against one another, and only the two who remain alive will be able to obtain this slice of fortune.”

“What?”  

“You...”

Except for the Thousand Illusions Elder, the human experts were enraged.

Especially Tan Tianzi and Orchid Saintess, who were both awe-inspiring heroines out there and heavenly human maidens whose names had spread far and wide. They had been chased and cared for by countless Heaven’s pridelings and heroes, and it was only because of their devotion to the martial path that they had not become the cultivation companions of others. Nobody had ever dared to so brazenly disrespect and belittle these pure and noble figures before. 

How dare an insignificant petty official of the Four Stars Sect have such a filthy mind?

“In what way are you compatible with us?” Tan Tianzi stared angrily while giving off a heroic spirit.

Orchid Saintess’ expression also became frosty. “Shameless! You’re also a human, yet you’re so eager to cause infighting among your own race. You’re truly contemptible to an extreme… Do you know that even the holy girl of your sect would call me Elder Sister Orchid when she sees me? How dare you treat me so disrespectfully? Are you tired of living?”

“Huh?” The young petty official was shocked when he heard this.

However, the next moment, he carefully recalled the order handed down by the holy girl and calmed down before saying sneerily, “How could someone of the holy girl’s status recognize your kind? Hoho, how dare you casually bring her into this? Hehe, I shall give you another chance to become my cultivation companion, otherwise, after you have consumed the [Three Corpse Yuan-Stealing Pill], I shall make you willingly strip off all your clothes in front of everyone and kneel on the ground crying and begging me.”

“Dream on.”

Orchid Saintess flatly refused.

Tan Tianzi’s posture also revealed a willingness to fight till death.

“Fine, great, bitches who don’t know what’s good for you… Seize them.” As soon as the young petty official waved a hand, several hundred figures zipped out from among the surrendered experts and surrounded the two women.

Meanwhile.

In the depths of the mountain path of Capital Sky Peak.

“Orchid Saintess was an associate of yours. Are you not willing to let her go?” Sitting cross-legged among the wind and snow with a long spear across his knees, the Third Prince of the Mizar Race sighed.

To one side, the quiet and graceful Four Stars holy girl gently shook her head, “I won’t allow my personal relationships to compromise an important sect matter.”  

Yin Kaishan revealed a look of sympathy. “But, they’re humans too.”

“Whether they’re humans or other races, only those who submit to us can be considered our people. Otherwise, there’s no difference in my eyes.” The holy girl’s heart was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old dark ice and there was practically not a trace of humanity left in her. “Look at the hundreds of thousands of experts below. They’re a strong-willed bunch, and so we’ll have to completely break their will if we’re to bring them to submission. I naturally had my considerations when I chose these crafty, little petty officials for this task. They are the best people for this… We have to be unsentimental if we’re to unify and attain hegemony over all races.”

Yin Kaishan did not say a word more.

However, there was a somewhat confused expression in his eyes.

Unify and attain hegemony… What kind of hegemony will that be? And whose hegemony?

The holy girl did not explain this.

She looked indifferently at the several hundred surrendered experts below who, like a black tide, quickly captured Tan Tianzi, Orchid Saintess, and the others and brought them in front of the young petty official. Throughout this process, she was like a goddess watching a bunch of ants fighting against one another from above. There was not a flap in the depths of her heart as she watched Orchid Saintess, who used to be a sister to her, raving and struggling.  

“Hehe, it’s too late for regret.”

As he stood in front of the two female Saints, the young petty official’s eyes flickered with an obscene expression.

He pinched hold of the chin of Orchid Saintess, whose cultivation had been sealed such that she was currently no different from an ordinary person. Under her angry gaze, he smiled wickedly and said, “I gave you a chance but, unfortunately, you didn’t heed my words. I said that I’d make you strip off your clothes and kneel down begging me...” With that, he stuffed a black pill which emitted a red mist toward her mouth.

She struggled desperately but was unable to break free.

A clear teardrop flowed from her eyes.

Just as the pill was about to enter her mouth, a beam of flowing light suddenly flashed by.

Bam!

The black pill exploded and turned into nothingness.

Utterly shocked, the young petty official quickly stepped back and hid behind the surrendered experts. With a ghastly pale complexion, he yelled, “Who did that? How dare you sneak up on me like that. Get your ass out here now. Are you hoping to die?”

“If heroes don’t show up, crooks would engage in crafty and evil business.”

A voice rang out.

Almost as soon as it was heard.

A white-robed figure with waterfall-like black hair landed beside Orchid Saintess.

As a sword light flickered, the dozens of surrendered experts surrounding Orchid Saintess were sliced into ice crystals and meat paste, instantly perishing.

Orchid Saintess subconsciously raised her head, only to see a not-quite-familiar yet certainly unforgettable face. With great astonishment, she asked, “You… it’s you?”

With a smile on his handsome face, the figure lifted her up and replied, “Of course it’s me. I’d once promised on the black beach of the Netherworld Sky River that I owe you a favor and will fight a battle on your behalf. Luckily, I arrived here in time.”

At the same time, Tan Tianzi eagerly and overjoyedly exclaimed, “Brother Ye Qingyu, you… you’re finally here.”  

Indeed.

Ye Qingyu was finally here.