Imperial God Emperor

The shock in Ye Qingyu's heart became indescribable after he comprehended this all. 

It took a long time before he slowly calmed down. 

This discovery created new conundrums in his mind. 

Since this is what the 18th district of the Black Demon Abyss really is, in that case, given that the Black Demon Abyss is one of the twenty-four Chaotic cities, what was the status of the earliest Black Demon Emperor who created the Black Demon Race? Did he know about all this? And what background role does the Black Demon Race play regarding this? 

He remembered that the Little Princess of the Black Demon Race once said that the 18th district was not under the control of the Black Demon Race. When she wanted to enter the 18th district, she had to do so via a life gate, and nearly succumbed to the Four Stars Holy Girl's plot in here. Therefore, Ye Qingyu could more or less deduce that the Black Demon Race truly did not understand much about this place. Or perhaps, only the real higher-ups among the race knew a few secrets that nobody else knew. 

"Maybe I should pay a visit to the Black Demon Race next." 

This idea formed in his mind. 

However, he had to be clear about the main objective for now, and that was to find out whether the ruins of the Light capital were still hiding some secrets. 

Arriving before a black tombstone, he examined the hole beneath. With a jolt of his thoughts, his divine consciousness turned into a cobweb-like net and extended into the hole. 

He wanted to find out where exactly the odd-shaped skeletons suppressed under the black tombstones came from. After all, this place was the ruins of the former Light capital, and thus could not possibly be where these skeletons were buried. There were tens of millions of tombstones and odd-shaped skeletons. Who could be so bored as to spend time burying these dunces here? 

Wherever his divine consciousness passed, everything in the black cavern beneath the tombstone was transmitted into Ye Qingyu's mind, as though he saw it personally. 

Soon, he revealed a "sure enough" expression on his face. 

There were neither caskets nor graves in the depths of the black cavern. After extending several hundred meters downward, the passage led to a place of seemingly nothing, much like a cosmic black hole. It contained an extremely terrifying asphyxiation force, such that most beings would certainly die if they entered. 

Ye Qingyu felt that this space of nothingness was probably a transfer station or a space-time-traversing micro-portal through which the odd-shaped skeletons were teleported to here. Subsequently, a path was opened up for them to break through the suppression of the black tombstones and arrive in the ancient Fiendgod City. 

What's on the other side of the space-time-traversing micro-portal? 

The odd-shaped skeletons' lair? 

Or another world? 

Ye Qingyu was uncertain. 

He tried several times to make his divine consciousness pass through the space-time-traversing micro-portal, but was blocked off each time by a supreme power of laws that was superior to Emperor qi. It had an insurmountable repellent effect on Ye Qingyu's divine consciousness. The more forcefully Ye Qingyu tried to break through, the greater the repellent force grew. 

After several attempts, Ye Qingyu had a clear idea of what it was. 

This repellent force was not some formation power or being deliberately blocking him off, but was instead a kind of force of universal chaos and an embodiment of the universal laws. It was the entire universe that did not want to allow Ye Qingyu to pass through the space-time-traversing micro-portal and see the world on the other side. 

"Perhaps there's truly another world on the other side of this space-time-traversing micro-portal. It's very likely to be the plane in which the Fiendgod sovereigns from a different space-time live in." 

To forcefully enter another world of a different space-time dimension was a matter of great causality and risk, and was not permitted by the Sky Emperor laws of the universe. Back then, when the Fiendgod sovereigns from a different space-time, namely the Bloodied-Spear Daoist Grandmaster and the Ancient Ghostly Emperor, wanted to enter the Vast Thousand Domains, it was only thanks to the reception offered by the "mole" that was the Sky Emperor that they were able to pass through the Gate of Blood. 

Moreover, the stronger one was, the harder it was to enter. 

The Bloodied-Spear Daoist Grandmaster and the others were able to enter in their true forms, but because the Ancient Ghostly Emperor was much stronger than the former, his strength was heavily reduced after entering. As for those beings who were even stronger than the Ancient Ghostly Emperor, only projections of themselves could enter. 

This was because the stronger one was, the greater the energy on one's self. And when great energy shifted away from its rightful area and position, the universal order would become muddled, which was something that heaven and earth did not allow. 

This was a truth of the martial way, and even Ye Qingyu was not exempted from it. 

He was currently also considered an absolute expert in the Vast Thousand Domains, and so for him or even a strand of his divine consciousness to enter would be met with obstruction by the universe. 

"In other words, the odd-shaped skeletons came from a different world, and under every tombstone is a space-time-traversing micro-portal that can teleport beings of Emperor-level battle strength or thereabouts. In that case, there are probably thousands upon thousands of space-time-traversing micro-portals linking the Vast Thousand Domains to the other space-time in the ruins of the ancient Fiendgod City. If the Vast Thousand Domains is said to be a domain, then the other space-time constitutes all of the other domains, just like the relationship between the Heaven Wasteland Domain and the other domains." 

He inwardly straightened out his train of thought. 

He then examined hundreds of other caverns beneath the tombstones in succession, each time making the same discovery as he did in the first cavern. 

Were these space-time-traversing micro-wormholes naturally or artificially created? 

Perhaps different space-time worlds are just like different domains. After they've grown to a certain degree, they would link up with one another, and would naturally create wormholes in the same way that domains created domain gates.

Eventually, Ye Qingyu walked out of the ancient Fiendgod City.

Proceeding along the narrow main path, he passed by a field of Yellow Springs flowers. Swaying in the wind, the bright-red flowers were brimming with a strange charm that was as sweet as death. Compared to his last visit, these flowers of death seemed to have grown fatter and richer in color. 

After passing through this sea of deathly flowers, he arrived at the true entrance of the 18th district's small world. 

Inside the small world, all kinds of strange flowers and herbs could be seen everywhere. Any outsider who saw such a divine garden would certainly be excited to the point of madness. Many of these divine herbs had already been lost to the outside world, and were said to only be found during the legendary Fiendgod Age. However, from Ye Qingyu's perspective, they no longer excited him. Firstly, this was because divine herbs were no longer of great value to him, and secondly, because he had seen even more luxuriant herb gardens on several occasions. 

He guessed that this place was probably a herb garden created by the former Divine Light Court, and was not destroyed during the battle in which the court collapsed. Having fortunately been preserved until now, it had developed into this state. The formation that surrounded and protected the garden had withstood the test of time, turning the garden into a small world. 

The last he came here, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden was still alive. Attracted to the divine herbs, she had a tussle with him over them. At that time, she was cold outside yet warm inside, pure at heart, and very adorable. Unfortunately, she was now already dead, leaving behind only a few wisps of her soul to assuage Ye Qingyu and Song Xiaojun. 

Soon, Ye Qingyu arrived before the hill on which a parasol tree once grew. 

A weird expression was revealed on his face. 

He remembered that during the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's attainment of nirvana the last time, the nearly-withered parasol tree was already damaged, and the few remaining green leaves it had eventually fell off as well. It was supposed to have lost all vitality, yet unexpectedly, on this visit, it had regained some vitality instead, with dozens of jade-green leaves swaying at its top. 

"Wonderful." 

Ye Qingyu was delighted. 

One of his objectives for coming to the 18th district this time was to find the parasol tree while holding on to a glimmer of hope. 

The Phoenix Race fell and attained nirvana on divine parasol trees. To the beings of this race, parasol trees symbolize rebirth, and the power contained within them was one of the primary conditions for phoenixes to attain nirvana. During the process of trying to resurrect Liu Shaji, Old Fish and the Ferryman of the Netherworld had both mentioned before that the chances of resurrecting the Celestial Phoenix Maiden would be much higher if a truly living divine parasol tree could be found. 

A living parasol tree was right ahead at this time. 

Arriving below the parasol tree, Ye Qingyu felt a strange power emanating from it. As the leaves swayed and appeared indeterminately, he reached a hand out to caress the bark of the tree. It was only in this fortunately-surviving herb garden of the Divine Light Court where a divine parasol tree with vitality could be found, whereas such a tree had probably long become extinct anywhere else in the world. This was heaven giving the Celestial Phoenix Maiden a chance. 

Releasing power gradually while examining the condition of this parasol tree carefully, he attained not only a thorough understanding of the crown and trunk that he caressed but also the shape of every root hair, the surrounding soil, and such. 

Eventually, he tried to move the divine parasol tree. Grabbing hold of the soil and vegetation of the entire hill, he kept them into his dantian world and planted this sparsely-leafed parasol tree directly on the island of the enormous World Tree. 

"Hope that the vital force of the World Tree can allow the parasol tree to regain vitality as quickly as possible. Once it flourishes, I can try to resurrect the Celestial Phoenix Maiden." 

He heaved a sigh of relief inwardly. 

This plan was the result of much deliberation. 

Subsequently, he left the small world. 

On the way back, he made another strange discovery - 

Although he had only spent a few dozen hours in the small world, the field of Yellow Springs flowers seemed to be more luxuriant than before. The petals were even more charming, appearing as if they had been soaked in blood. Wisps of a strange aura diffused from them, turning into a mist that painted the entire field and even the sky in pale red. From afar, this was a sight of transient beauty. 

However, Ye Qingyu's instinct informed him that the blossoming of these inauspicious flowers of death probably foretold the coming of a disaster. 

He returned to the ruins of the ancient Fiendgod City once more.