Imperial God Emperor

Ye Qingyu met Shangguan Wu at the City Lord's residence of Storm City. 

"Greetings, Your Majesty," Shangguan Wu said respectfully as he bowed to Ye Qingyu. Things change with time; the youth who had once arrived for the assessment, enduring the insults without any protest when Huang Lin and the others had made things difficult for him, was now suddenly the most supreme Emperor who ruled over the entire world. His rise to power had been so fast that it seemed unbelievable. 

"There's no need to stand on ceremony," Ye Qingyu said. 

If it hadn't been for Shangguan Wu's assistance back then, the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission would have never been able to pass the assessment so smoothly. The supervisor of the City Lord's residence was an upright and righteous man, so Ye Qingyu was very grateful toward him. 

Ye Qingyu met the current City Lord of Storm City at the City Lord's residence. He was the descendant of the previous Storm Martial Emperor and a middle-aged man who looked like he was in his thirties. He exuded a special aura, similar to what an ancient recluse would produce. 

However, he was unable to replicate the glory days of his ancestor; his cultivation was probably at the Quasi-emperor realm and he had only managed to advance because of the recent surge in universal powers. 

They had a good talk. 

The City Lord also took Ye Qingyu's arrival very seriously. 

"Back then, I had encountered a highly-skilled person when I was in the water cell..." Ye Qingyu shared the miraculous encounter he had when he was participating in the assessment, because he felt that he should reveal the secret of Storm City to the City Lord. 

"Did such a thing truly happen?" the City Lord asked in astonishment. 

Evidently, he did not know that there was another world under the water cell and that a highly-skilled person who was not of this world lived in it. Moreover, this highly-skilled person might just be his ancestor. 

Soon, everyone arrived at the water cell. 

Ye Qingyu used his divine sense to sweep the surroundings and quickly found the water cave that was deep underwater. 

"Follow me," he said. 

He used his divine sense to part the waters. 

The City Lord and the others followed him into the water cave. 

"I had never realized that a water realm was right underneath the water cell the entire time. I didn't know that such a place existed within Storm City itself," Shangguan Wu exclaimed in shock. 

Was this a secret place designed by the Storm Martial Emperor at Storm City back in those days? 

There was a vast and boundless water realm under the water cave. 

Ye Qingyu exerted his Emperor qi to part the waters around him and everyone else followed behind him. 

Soon, they saw a flickering halo ahead; they could barely make out a stalwart figure in the depths of the water realm. 

It was a power that they were extremely familiar with—the power of storm. 

"This aura... my ancestor?" the City Lord exclaimed in excitement. He could tell the aura that the vigorous figure exuded was an exact copy as the aura from the relics his ancestor had left behind. In fact, the figure's aura was even more well defined as compared to the aura from those relics. 

He was overcome with emotion. 

Was his ancestor still alive? 

The City Lord of Storm City was a well-known figure within the Vast Thousand Domains. But at that moment, he couldn't tamp down the excitement he felt. He knew that if his ancestor was still alive, this would have a significant impact on Storm City. 

Ye Qingyu was also slightly surprised because this aura was exactly the same as before, but it was much denser and more well-defined than when he had first encountered this person. Did this man's strength skyrocket because of the arrival of the golden age of prosperity? That didn't seem right either... 

He thought about it. 

The City Lord, Shangguan Wu, and the others eagerly rushed over to greet their ancestor. They wanted to find out the truth of what had happened, since this discovery was monumentally significant to them. 

The situation changed all of a sudden— 

Boom!

Countless green storm divine dragons suddenly exploded from the stalwart figure, like green vines that swept across the area at lightning speed. These divine dragons wrapped themselves around the City Lord and the others, dragging them toward him. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

These vine-like dragons wrapped themselves so tightly around the dozens of Purple Golden Divine Guards from the City Lord's residence, that they immediately exploded and turned into pools of blood. 

A fierce killing intent spread across the water realm. 

"Oh no!" 

Ye Qingyu immediately realized that something must have changed in this place. It was a meticulously laid out trap, but how did it manage to evade his detection? 

Someone had schemed for a long time to plant this trap! 

"Who are you?" 

He summoned his sword will that circulated within the water realm at a single thought and countless rays of indestructible silver splendor hurtled toward the storm divine dragons, as he attempted to rescue those men. 

"Hahaha, many thanks for bringing the descendant of the Storm Martial Emperor here, Brother Qingyu. I'll be able to fill the gaps of the storm body after I've obtained the blood of his descendant. Hahaha," a familiar voice rang out. 

It was none other than Jiang Xiaohan. 

As though a mysterious qi activity had been activated, the entire water realm seemed to bubble and boil as her voice resounded. More green storm divine dragons appeared; they howled as they charged in such large numbers that they covered the entire water realm. They managed to block his sword will and splendor, and even had enough remnant strength in them to charge at him. 

"There was a way to heaven but you rejected this path. Instead, you chose to force your way into hell when there wasn't a gate in the first place," Ye Qingyu said as killing intent appeared in his eyes. 

Emperor qi circulated within his body. As he retracted and released his Emperor qi, the entire water realm seemed to contract and expand to the beat of his heart; while the space suddenly expanded, a terrifying power swept out to instantly destroy all the green storm divine dragons. 

At the same time, he had reached the stalwart figure and his index and middle fingers pointed out like swords toward him. 

His sword will ripped through the air and killed everything in its path. 

"Haha, Brother Qingyu, you're still as cruel and heartless as before. Didn't we plan this together? Didn't you agree to trick the City Lord of Storm City, to have him come to this place and assist me in extracting his blood essence to repair the final flaw in the storm body? Haha, why are you so angry?" she said. 

The splendor from the stalwart figure faded, to reveal Jiang Xiaohan's svelte body wrapped in red robes. 

He hadn't seen her for several years but this ruthless woman had become even more beautiful than before. She had a peerless charm about her; each word, each glance, and each smile carried a frightening allure that could enchant almost every creature. 

She was also many times more powerful than before. 

Swish! Swish! Swish!

His sword qi swept across the skies, slashed countless green storm divine dragons, and managed to save some of the experts from Storm City who had come with him to the water realm, but Shangguan Wu and the City Lord were still in Jiang Xiaohan's hands. 

There was a strange energy within the water realm that managed to exert a frightening suppressive force over Ye Qingyu's strength. 

"Did your [All Energy-Absorption Body] managed to absorb the Storm Martial Emperor's strength as well?" Ye Qingyu asked with a frown. 

He realized that Jiang Xiaohan had already been fully prepared for his arrival, and had used some kind of formation to block his divine sense from detecting anything amiss. This was why he didn't manage to detect any suspicious activity, even when he was so close to her. She had thus managed to gain the upper hand, and drew on the formation power within the water realm to prevent Ye Qingyu from rescuing the City Lord and Shangguan Wu. 

Although he had been surprised when he heard Bai Yuqing's description of the [All Energy-Absorption Body], he didn't think too much about it. He didn't expect her strength to reach such terrifying heights. She was probably just a whisker away from attaining the Martial Emperor realm and she was much stronger than Bai Yuqing. 

Jiang Xiaohan froze for a moment, before she quickly realized what had happened and said, "Haha, you must have run into Bai Yuqing." She figured out that Bai Yuqing must have told Ye Qingyu her secret. "It doesn't matter whether or not you've discovered my secret, since the [All Energy-Absorption Body] is the most powerful divine body type in the world, and it has been that way since ancient times. I can absorb all things and after devouring anything just once, I'd be able to obtain the power from any body type, as well as the mysteries it contains. I've devoured countless Martial Emperors, so does it matter to me that the Storm Martial Emperor was part of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors? I'd still be able to obtain his powers, hehehe!" 

She looked at Ye Qingyu defiantly, and didn't seem flustered even in front of this peerless Great Emperor. 

She had faith in her own abilities and was confident that her plan would work. 

Green power of storm laws surged from her body, transforming into tentacles that were like countless divine dragons circling around her; they wrapped themselves tightly around the City Lord and Shangguan Wu, controlling them like puppets. 

These two men were also highly-skilled experts, but they were rendered completely helpless when the tentacles wrapped themselves around them. 

Evidently, Jiang Xiaohan was now extremely familiar with the art of controlling the storm power. These green storm tentacles were part of the foundation laws of the Storm Martial Emperor, who had once been part of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. When she unleashed their power, she controlled them with an ease and strength that rivaled the Storm Martial Emperor from those days. 

Did this mean that she had already devoured the mysterious figure who had originally lived in the water realm? 

Ye Qingyu's heart sank. 

That was a terrible discovery. 

"Brother Qingyu, thanks for sending the City Lord right into my trap. You've saved me quite a lot of effort," Jiang Xiaohan smiled smugly when she saw that she had finally one-upped Ye Qingyu and basked in that glorious feeling. 

"I didn't want to kill you but you're forcing my hand," Ye Qingyu said. He was truly angry at that point. 

"Haha, is that so? Did you really not mean to kill me? If I have a battle to the death with Bai Yuqing, I wonder who you'd side with," Jiang Xiaohan said with a smile; her eyes were full of contempt and disdain. 

Ye Qingyu said clearly, "I will stand with whomever is right." 

Jiang Xiaohan burst out laughing and said, "Whomever is right? Who's right and who's wrong? Aren't you saying that I'm wrong and she's right? Haha, the Brother Qingyu I remember would never give such a lame excuse. What's wrong? Do you not even dare to verbalize your thoughts?" 

Ye Qingyu remained silent. 

Jiang Xiaohan's face hardened as she said, "You... Ye Qingyu, haha, I knew it. You'd always take Bai Yuqing's side because she's more demure and puts on a better pretense, right?" 

"Men would always fall for the weak and ethereal image, but they'd always be repelled by strong women like me, since they would feel threatened by my power, isn't that so?" 

"You're thinking too much into this," he said frankly. "It is very easy to differentiate right from wrong. At this moment, you're wrong. It's as simple as that. Everything else you're saying is rubbish and meaningless."