Imperial God Emperor

The last time Ye Qingyu came to Taowu Mountain Range, he had to wait for a Door of Life to open before he could enter the 18th district. Every Door of Life had a limit on the number of people who could enter. Back then, to fight for the spots to enter the Chaotic Door of Life, a life-and-death battle broke out on Taowu Mountain Range, causing many experts of the Vast Thousand Domains to be buried here forever. 

It was also because Ye Qingyu had gained the good graces of the Celestial Phoenix Maiden that he unexpectedly earned a spot. 

This time, however, now that his cultivation was practically sky-reaching, he broke through the spatial barriers with just a thought and directly entered the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss. 

"I'm back." 

Standing a hundred meters up in the air, he looked all around the strange yet familiar environment. 

It turned out that the scenery in the 18th district had not changed much. A faint killing intent pervaded the entire place, and ruined walls could be seen everywhere. As he moved forward, he saw several rock constructions which became increasingly clustered. Eventually, large stretches of ruins of the ancient Fiendgod City came within sight. 

"Interesting. I remember that the entire ancient Fiendgod City was turned into ashes when a heaven-and-earth massacre broke out back then. How is it that the sights of this place remain the same, as if that heaven-and-earth massacre never happened?" 

He felt a strange aura pervading throughout. 

The ancient Fiendgod City that should have been destroyed had instead been restored, as if everything back then was just a dream. However, when running for his life after rescuing [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei], Ye Qingyu had turned back and seen the sights of everything turning into ashes, as caused by that heaven-and-earth massacre... 

Could it be that, like the three-eyed white-boned giant, this ancient Fiendgod City also possesses undying materials or laws, and that's why it's able to regain its original appearance despite being destroyed? 

As he thought about this, his divine sense spread like a tide and observed the entire place. 

In reality, compared to the reappearance of the ancient Fiendgod City, he was more interested in the source of that heaven-and-earth massacre. Back then, because his strength was way too inferior, he felt that the massacrous power truly came from heaven and earth. As the saying went, ‘murderous spirit unleashed from heaven causes the constellations to shift, while murderous spirit unleashed from earth causes dragons and snakes to appear’. Such a scene would be terrifying to an unimaginable extent, as if heaven and earth had produced the will to wipe out all beings in between them. However, he changed his view now that he thought about it. Heaven and earth would not spontaneously unleash murderous spirit, and would at most only engender strange changes to the power of the universal laws, which would not be without reason either. The scene back then was more likely to be caused by some being of absolutely terrifying cultivation using martial spirit and divine consciousness to unleash murderous spirit and kill. 

Ye Qingyu suspected that a fiendgod sovereign-level being from a different space-time was hiding in the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss. 

He observed as he moved ahead. 

He did not discover anything special at first. 

Thus, he landed in the ancient Fiendgod City and followed along the path of green tombstones. 

Back then, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden had told him that the only way to avoid danger was to follow along the main path. Otherwise, great calamities would be encountered. Ye Qingyu had also seen that several experts who did not follow along the main path eventually perished in the ancient Fiendgod City, their bodies incomplete. 

However, given his present strength, he did not have to worry about anything at all. 

He walked off the main path. 

Indeed, an evil and ice-cold killing intent instantly surged up to him, as if appearing out of thin air. Then, with a booming noise, the gravel beneath a black tombstone not far away blew up. A white-colored beam of flowing light burst out of the soil and headed toward Ye Qingyu threateningly. 

"Freeze!" 

Ye Qingyu groaned. 

Like a mired snail, the white-colored beam of flowing light froze a meter away from Ye Qingyu's body. Upon close inspection, Ye Qingyu saw that it was an odd-shaped skeleton of three to four meters in height, resembling the skeleton of a dead violent monkey. However, the astonishing thing was that the bones of its legs and claws were as sharp and slender as machetes, while all of its bones were grown full of barbs that looked like white steel needles, practically making it out to be a white-boned devil from hell. 

"This is what's being held down under the tombstones," Ye Qingyu mused. 

This was because he discovered that the aura of this odd-shaped skeleton was similar to that of the Invaders, albeit somewhat more solid and pure than that of the Invaders from outside the borders of the Great Wall of the Dark Realm. It was also quite similar to that of the Fiendgod Sovereigns of Time and Space who had arrived in this world by passing through the Gate of Blood. Of course, it was infinite times weaker than that, and was approximately equivalent to the battle strength of human experts of the Great Saint realm. 

Although he had already noticed the peculiarities of these tombstones the last time he came here, this was nevertheless the first time he truly saw the entire process of these changes. Thinking about it, he believed that it was this kind of odd-shaped skeleton that killed the experts of various races who perished here. 

With a jolt of his thoughts, the odd-shaped skeleton instantly turned into powder and dissipated. 

Unlike the three-eyed white-boned giant, the odd-shaped skeleton could not regenerate after turning into powder. Although both were clearly from Invaders, the difference in cultivation between them determined that there was no undying material in the bones of this odd-shaped skeleton. 

Ye Qingyu proceeded ahead in the ruins of the ancient Fiendgod City. 

Bam bam bam! 

Without end, odd-shaped skeletons broke out of the soil beneath the black tombstones and frenziedly charged at Ye Qingyu to strangle him. As he proceeded ever deeper into the ancient Fiendgod City, the strength and number of these skeletons increased wildly, and eventually, even fake-emperor-level skeletons appeared. 

The shapes of these skeletons varied greatly. Some resembled violent monkeys, some tigers, some leopards, some humans, some giant ants, some bone dragons, and others birds... Despite the diversity of their appearance, they were exactly alike in ferocity. They only had killing instincts, and did not have any sense of reason or clear consciousness. Even the fake-emperor-level skeletons were no exception. 

As if taking a stroll in a courtyard, Ye Qingyu caused Emperor laws to surge with a jolt of his thoughts. With that, any odd-shaped skeleton within ten meters of him turned into power and dissipated among heaven and earth. 

He arrived before the biggest black tombstone ahead. 

A huge hole had been punctured at the base of the tombstone and from it had emerged an odd-shaped Quasi-emperor realm skeleton, but which had already been killed by Ye Qingyu. As Ye Qingyu's gaze fell upon the black tombstone, he inspected it carefully and finally discovered a few shocking things among the black veins of the tombstone. 

"These black veins are not inherently from the stone material, but are engraved by someone instead..." He reached out a hand and gently rubbed the tombstone, feeling a strange warm sensation. Several pale-black patterns that were extremely difficult to perceive were circulating on the tombstone. Because they were extremely similar in color to that of the tombstone itself, it was impossible to notice them from a far distance. Ye Qingyu was only able to make them out when he came close. 

The reason he was shocked was because these black veins were somewhat similar to the mysterious formation technique of the one hundred eight ancient characters. 

"No, they aren't just similar. I should say that they originated from the same source. These black veins are the embryonic form of the one hundred eight ancient characters, could..." The more Ye Qingyu looked at them, the more he discovered, and the greater the surprise in his heart grew. 

He observed a few other black tombstones. 

"Every tombstone has several black inlaid veins that seem completely as one with the tombstone. Yet, they're evidently engraved by someone... and all of them are the embryonic form of the one hundred eight ancient characters. The person who engraved these veins probably didn't follow the pure form of the one hundred eight ancient characters. A few of the engraved lines seem correct but are actually wrong, yet they possess strange powers, and this is precisely why these black tombstones have the effect of holding the strange skeletons down." 

He gradually understood. 

He was considering a different question. 

Who was the person that engraved the embryonic form of these one hundred eight ancient characters back then? 

Could it be Ye Chongsheng? 

If that was the case, however, given that Ye Chongsheng had mastered the complete mysterious formation technique of the one hundred eight ancient characters, he certainly could have engraved the true mysterious formation technique on the tombstones. In that way, the odd-shaped skeletons would be forever held down beneath, instead of what was happening right now, whereby they would be provoked every time a being entered the ancient Fiendgod City, and would then break out of the black tombstones. 

Yet another conundrum. 

Ye Qingyu proceeded deeper into the ancient Fiendgod City. 

For some unknown reason, he gradually had an unprecedentedly strange feeling. 

It seemed to him that he had seen this ancient Fiendgod City somewhere before. In particular, there were a few damaged constructions that gave him a deja vu feeling - and this feeling was absolutely not caused by his previous visit, for he had followed along the main path the last time, and certainly had not been in the core area of the ancient Fiendgod City before. 

Along the way, he saw more and more densely-clustered black tombstones. 

As he proceeded even deeper, he saw ever more of these black tombstones. 

Odd-shaped skeletons would charge out from beneath every tombstone, each one stronger than the previous one. Eventually, the skeletons were nearly of genuine Emperor level. Moreover, on each tombstone, there were indeed veins of the embryonic form of the mysterious formation technique of the one hundred eight ancient characters. The deeper into the ancient Fiendgod City, the denser the black veins on the tombstones. 

Sparing no trouble in examining each and every tombstone, Ye Qingyu discovered a pattern... 

The black veins were growing in power endlessly, as if they were continually evolving. In particular, the veins on several large tombstones were increasingly similar to the mysterious formation technique of the one hundred eight ancient characters, with ever higher conformity. 

Ye Qingyu imagined that there was a figure continually engraving, studying, polishing, improving, and strengthening the formations on these black tombstones, and also continually revising and elevating the meanings of the black veins by making use of the reactions of the odd-shaped skeletons beneath the tombstones. 

In the end, after engraving innumerable tombstone veins, this mysterious figure had a eureka moment and comprehended the complete system of the mysterious formation technique, which was none other than the one hundred eight ancient characters. 

Indeed, Ye Qingyu finally understood how the formations of the one hundred eight ancient characters came about - they were continually engraved and polished on each and every black tombstone. 

These tombstones were the birthplace of the mysterious formation technique of the one hundred eight ancient characters. 

Almost at the same time, as a beam of lightning flashed across his mind, Ye Qingyu also understood why he had a deja vu feeling regarding this ancient Fiendgod City. 

This place is clearly the ruins of the former Divine Light Court capital. 

Years ago, during the battle in which the Divine Light Court collapsed, the Light Capital was destroyed by the Sky Emperorr using four blood formations, causing countless experts of the Divine Light Court to perish. This place was none other than the Light Capital after it was destroyed. The reason why he felt it to be familiar was that he had seen images of it in Lan Tian's memory. Although his impression of it was not deep because the moment back then was transient, now that he had gained realization, he immediately matched the scenery and buildings around him with the images in Lan Tian's memory. 

My goodness, I'd never thought that things would be like this. 

It turned out that the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss was none other than the ruins of the former Light Capital.