Imperial God Emperor

First place, Ye Qingyu.

Ye Qingyu!

At the top of the Storm List, the highest ranked name was none other than Ye Qingyu!

Countless people were instantly rooted on the spot in shock and deprived of their wits and verbal ability by those two vividly sparkling words at the top of the list.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Just like the strangest and most oppressive silence in the sky before the sweeping by of a tempest.

Many Heaven Wasteland experts could not believe what they were seeing. They desperately rubbed their eyes, gathered their spirits and qi, and operated their yuan qi before carefully staring at the Wall of Storm once more.

Huang Tayun's trembling legs were almost unable to support his body any longer.

His entire being had suffered a huge blow and was on the verge of collapse, just like a tree branch after being hit by a storm.

Standing in front of him was Shangguan Wu, whose expression was also that of disbelief and shock.

He was feeling somewhat numb in the head from the excessive shock.

He had originally thought that Ye Qingyu's ability to get on the Storm List represented the Storm Martial Emperor's approval of the Heaven Wasteland Domain, and had certainly felt inspired and proud that the Human Race had once again produced a list-worthy expert.

But he totally did not expect his inspiration and pride to be this explosive and intense.

Ye Qingyu had topped the Storm List!

The absolute top of the list!

Heavens, when was the last time the Human Race produced a genius who got on the Storm List?

At least a few thousand years ago, no?

And it was a rather unconvincing position to boot.

Based on all the information he was aware of, Shangguan Wu could confirm that Ye Qingyu was the second human demon-like talent to top the Storm List.

The last human to top the list had once nearly taken away the heavens of the Vast Thousand Domains.

Unexpectedly, a new human had emerged at present.

In the middle of the plaza.

The members of the envoy mission, Empress Yu Xiaoxing, the First Princess, Hu Jue, Ximen Yeshui, Wen Wan, and even Yan Buhui were each a genius expert who usually kept a straight face, but all of them were looking pleasantly surprised at this point in time.

Even Old Fish and the silly dog in his arms both had their mouths wide open, looking flabbergasted.

Ye Qingyu himself was very much amazed.

He was always confident in himself and also had a fortuitous encounter in the underground chilly lake, but after listening to Yan Wushuang's account of the Storm List's origin, he did not believe he could place top five on the list, let alone first.

Right then.

Rooted in front of the Wall of Storm, Shangguan Wu suddenly seemed to regain his senses.

Abruptly, an unprecedented grave expression appeared on his face as his body jerked. Having made his decision, he raised a hand.

Swish!

A token which emitted a pale green halo flew out from his palm and zipped toward the hurricanes and vortexes surrounding the test plaza.

In a twinkling.

The towering wind pillars, which had been spinning rapidly, suddenly transformed into giant rune statues which shone in a dazzling green radiance. As if they were green dragons, these statues traveled forth densely and twiningly, and instantly covered all sides of the test site and sealed it tightly.

All of a sudden, the entire plaza was sealed up by an extremely strange and terrifying power.

"This matter will be too mind-blowing to the various large domains, and so word must never get out. Nobody is to leave the test plaza!" Shangguan Wu looked at Huang Tayun and Ye Qingyu, his expression becoming serious and grave like never before.

Given some time, and as long as he did not die, the person who topped the Storm List would inevitably become a quasi-emperor.

News that the Human Race had produced a supreme demon-like, heaven-defying expert would undoubtedly rock the countless domains of the Vast Thousand Domains, and especially the human forces of the various large domains.

It was imperative that the present day's rankings did not leak out. Not even a single rumor.

Otherwise, Ye Qingyu would unquestionably become targeted by the foreign race forces of other mature domains, and would perpetually be in danger henceforth.

Shangguan Wu's prompt decision to seal up the test plaza was precisely intended to keep this matter as confidential as possible. This would protect not only Ye Qingyu but, more importantly, the future of the human forces of myriad domains.

Because of Shangguan Wu's words, the scene on the test plaza quickly became unusually serious and tense.

Many people had become aware of the interests involved in this matter.

In the meantime.

Shangguan Wu walked to the left side of the plaza and called together all of the Violet Gold Divine Guards. Enunciating every word clearly, he said in an extremely fierce tone, "Listen up. Nobody is to divulge any information regarding what happened today on the test plaza. If any of you speaks half a word, the Violet Gold Divine Office will issue an all-out chase-and-kill order. No mercy will be shown!"

"Yes!"

The Violet Gold Divine Guards looked extremely solemn.

As fellow humans, they naturally felt a sense of common pride when they saw Ye Qingyu's name topping the Storm List.

But they could also understand the dangerous after effects which Lord Shangguan was worried about.

Therefore, as a member of the Violet Gold Divine Guards, a subject of the city founded by the Storm Martial Emperor, and a member of the Human Race, they could feel a sense of mission to guard the secret and protect Ye Qingyu.

Of course, there were exceptions among the fifty or more guards.

Huang Lin, who was one of the leaders, and three or four of his colleagues, were currently trembling in fear.

In fact, when Ye Qingyu's name appeared in the top spot, Huang Lin's body shook and fell on the ground because the fear in his heart became too huge.

Another person who absolutely could not control himself because of excessive fear was Huang Lin's uncle, Huang Tayun.

In the middle of the plaza.

Inconspicuously, Huang Tayun was already leaning against a black rock wall at the base of the test platform, gasping heavily for breath.

An extremely complicated expression of shock and anger appeared on his face as he bit his teeth forcefully to control the trembling of his body.

What should I do now?

Never thought that lil' prick's talents would be terrifying enough to be recognized as first place on the Storm List.  

If his "wings" develop in the future, he'll surely become a quasi-emperor level leader.

However, Huang Lin and I have both offended this kid already... what can be done? If he pursues this matter after he grows up, I'll be nothing more than an ant in front of him, even despite being one of the front court supervisors of the Violet Gold Divine Office. And the office would certainly not want to offend such a dreadful being simply because of me.   

This won't do... I cannot let him have the chance to continue growing. I must find a way to get rid of him.

Huang Tayun looked toward the white-robed figure in the crowd.

An unprecedented malicious, venomous, and grim cold light broke out from within his pupils.

In the distance.

The envoy members who crowded around the Wall of Storm also gradually understood the implications for the Heaven Wasteland Domain, the Human Race, and the Vast Thousand Domains of the events which happened in front of their eyes.

Everyone's expression started to become unusually excited, and their entire beings entered a state of hyperactivity and agitation.

Standing in front of them all was Ye Qingyu, who remained calm-faced and looked as if he was deep in thought.

He had been extremely shocked and pleasantly surprised when his name appeared at the top of the list.

After all, since the Storm List appeared until after Yan Wushuang's description of it, he knew that his name would appear on the list, but did not expect to emerge in first place, which was excellent news both for himself and the Heaven Wasteland Domain.

But on the other hand, as the saying goes, ‘fortune lies in misfortune while misfortune hides in fortune’. They should not start celebrating too early for, as Yan Wushuang said, if news leaked out and happened to attract the killing intent of forces and beings which were enemies of the Human Race, it would be a huge disadvantage to himself and his domain.

‘The wind inevitably blows down the tree which outgrows the forest’.

Other domains, especially the higher domains and forces of other races, would absolutely not allow the Human Race of any domain to successfully raise a supreme expert who had the potential to become a quasi-emperor.

Besides, this hostility would not just come from the forces of other races, but the various large factions in the Alliance of Domains, the enemy forces from various mature domains, and even various human forces...

To one side, Empress Yu Xiaoxing, too, figured out the interests involved in this matter.

She glanced at her elder cousin, who remained lost in thought, with eyes full of resolve. As the empress of the Heaven Wasteland Domain, she would absolutely not allow her domain to slip into any kind of crisis, and all the more would not allow anyone the possibility of harming her one and only sore spot - Ye Qingyu.

Aside from the personnel of the Violet Gold Divine Office, every member of the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps was also liable to maintain the secrecy of the matter!

Yu Xiaoxing looked at the contingent and was just about to give her orders.

But just then, a strange and sudden change occurred.

Above the test plaza.

A peculiar power which resembled an extreme volatile wave suddenly appeared. Among the rune seals in the green wind layer above, a distorted green wind cluster of approximately four to five meters in diameter emerged and seemed to devour all of the surrounding energy.

In a twinkling, the entire plaza was shrouded by a magnificent and uncontrollable power.

Everyone's hearts sank, and they instinctively conceived an impulse to kneel on the ground and submit.

What's going on!

Ye Qingyu's countenance turned cold.

This power was simply too terrifying.

Everything on the plaza had been restrained before he was able to respond.

Wherever a faint green breeze passed through would become motionless and silent. Ye Qingyu astoundedly discovered that, within his sights, people and objects had stopped moving and were completely frozen as if time had stopped, such that even the wind and clouds became static.

Only a small number of people remained moving.

He was one of them.

The other person from the Heaven Wasteland diplomatic corps was Wuzhao Empress Yu Xiaoxing.

"Elder cousin!" Yu Xiaoxing glanced at Ye Qingyu.

The latter was inwardly shocked and felt that the suddenly-appearing power was omnipresent. He remained calm and cautious as he walked up to Yu Xiaoxing.

Just then, in the air above.

An indistinct green wind cluster which resembled a convergence of breezes appeared out of nowhere.

"Master!"

When the two examiners on the plaza, Shangguan Wu and Huang Tayun, saw this, their expressions became solemn and respectful like no other. With perfectly straight postures, they respectfully saluted in unison toward the phantom in mid-air.