Imperial God Emperor

Ye Qingyu looked at it from afar but did not dare to draw closer, for the aura that the gray copper temple gave off was just too terrifying. It felt as though there was a Fiendgod held captive within.

Furthermore, whoever could leave a palm print and sword mark on such a divine temple had to be quite the remarkable being. Shuddering at the thought, Ye Qingyu knew that the situation was becoming more and more dangerous and that a murderous spirit was lurking under the calm veneer of the Immortal world. There were many things in this world that were beyond one's understanding. One moment of carelessness, mistake, or touch of the wrong thing could spell the end of one's existence.

He continued moving forward.

He came across many divine herbs which were said to only exist during the Fiendgod age. This time, he pulled out a few larger ones without hesitation, as though he was pulling turnips and stored them all in his [Cloud Top Cauldron].

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden looked at Ye Qingyu with disdain at first, but as the divine herbs he pulled out became more and more heaven-defying, this prideful maiden finally could not help herself.

When she thought Ye Qingyu was not looking, she secretly plucked a strand of divine herb that was at least one hundred thousand years old. According to legend, it had been drizzled with the blood of a true Phoenix that had reached nirvana. It clearly proved to be incredibly alluring to this Celestial Phoenix Maiden.

Ye Qingyu had noticed her actions, but did not call her out on it.

He gleefully pulled out the 'carrots' from the ground and left a hole each time he pulled something out. He spotted many divine and rare herbs that only existed in the ancient records and could not be bought with money in the foreign domain. Yet here, they grew like cabbages that lined the road and he managed to land one with every pull. This small place with excellent feng shui was just like the herb garden of the Fiendgods; even if he closed his eyes and simply pulled something out, it would be a priceless treasure.

"My f*cking god, I bet if a pig chewed on the grass here for several days with its eyes closed, it could become a demon king," Ye Qingyu could not help but curse.

He felt like his morals had been eroded by that greedy, dumb dog. Otherwise, he could not have lost his composure so easily.

However, when Ye Qingyu turned back to see the Celestial Phoenix Maiden harvesting those divine herbs with shining eyes, he suddenly felt much better about himself. Since this cold Celestial Phoenix Maiden had lost her cool, he could afford to let himself be a little greedy. He guessed that even a small rabbit which found itself in a pile of carrots would start nibbling at them like crazy.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden sensed Ye Qingyu's gaze on her.

"What are you looking at? Turn around," she commanded coldly even as a blush spread across her pretty face under the Phoenix mask.

"Pfft," Ye Qingyu snorted as he tried to rein in his laughter.

Her words could be easily misunderstood since she was acting as if he had spied on her bathing.

Nonetheless, he still turned back obediently.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden stood rooted to the spot, a herb with its roots still covered in mud still dangling from her hands and for the first time, a strange dazed look crossed her face. She stared at Ye Qingyu's back in anger, clearly understanding why Ye Qingyu had laughed earlier. "I forbid you from ever mentioning this again," she eked out through gritted teeth after a while.

Ye Qingyu's figure folded forward and he used one hand to hold on to his belly.

This was the first time he discovered a different aspect of this prideful maiden.

He was suddenly curious to know what she looked like beneath her Phoenix mask and cool words. From her earlier actions, Ye Qingyu deduced that she was a young girl and could even be of the same age as him.

"Don't worry. I won't speak of this and neither should you ever mention my behavior today to others. I, too, have an identity in Snow... the foreign domain." Ye Qingyu almost let slip that he was someone of importance in Snow Empire as well, but thankfully caught his slip in time. He only made this comment to alleviate the awkwardness this Celestial Phoenix Maiden felt since this was probably the first time she had ever acted like that in her life.

"Humph, I can't be bothered with you," she said as she turned her back to him.

Her voice was finally not as cold as before and now carried a cool aura, just like the taste of mint ice cream, neither sweet nor cloying, cool but not cold.

Ye Qingyu smiled and did not make any further comment.

Just as he was about to bend down to pull out another 'carrot', he noticed the faint glow of space rippling behind the Celestial Phoenix Maiden. It gave off a faint silver glow, just like the glow that the river gave off when sunlight bounced off it.

Then, a black claw that was encircled with black flames stretched out soundlessly from that ripple in space like a ghost and moved, quick as lightning, to pierce the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's back.

Ye Qingyu's expression changed.

"Oh no," he screamed silently.

It was too late now to warn her.

He thought quickly and immediately activated the formation. Almost simultaneously, the True Will of the Sky Dragon appeared behind the Celestial Phoenix Maiden. His palms transformed into a pair of dragon claws, filled with the terrifying power of thunder and lightning. It gave off such an intense purple glow that his dragon claws were hidden from sight as he reached out and grabbed at that black claw.

This time, Ye Qingyu did not hesitate nor hold back.

He threw almost everything he had behind this attack.

After all, in this world, even a tree could kill someone of the Saint realm, let alone someone of his cultivation.

Sizzle!

There was the sound of lard sizzling on a hot plate.

The air was filled with black and purple flames.

The moment Ye Qingyu held that pair of black claws in his hands, he felt an intensely powerful force coming at him. He knew that he would not be able to block it and hastily retreated.

"Damn it."

Someone muttered a soft curse.

This voice sounded extremely familiar.

Ye Qingyu lifted his head and found himself looking into a pair of familiar eyes that were filled with arrogance and quick to anger.

"I'll kill you first since you messed up my plans," the owner of those black claws growled.

A powerful force burst out from those black claws and all of a sudden, Ye Qingyu felt like he was unable to breathe.

Crack!

He heard the sound of bones breaking.

Ye Qingyu's arms twisted in odd angles and then, he was sent flying.

Those black claws followed closely behind and reached out to dig Ye Qingyu's heart out.

At that moment, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden finally came back to her senses.

Swish!

She immediately transformed into a rainbow flowing light and wedged herself between Ye Qingyu and the black claws.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A powerful explosion sounded and the ripples of the blast swept across the surroundings, destroying all the surrounding vegetation.

Both the rainbow and black figures were engaged in a fierce battle in a ten-meter radius and continued to clash repeatedly like twinkling flowing lights. They moved at incredible speeds and one could not even see what kind of attacks they deployed.

Ye Qingyu landed on the ground and breathed out heavily.

"Damn it," he cursed when he saw that his arms were broken to the point where even his bones could be seen sticking out of them.

He cursed not because of the pain, but because there was no way to heal himself.

The force seeds of the three different kinds of Martial Emperor-level powers were locked in a face-off within him and his inner yuan had stagnated, resulting in his recovery rate slowing down. Up until now, his body was still in its tattered and torn shape, but at least he could still behave like any other ordinary human. Now that his arms were in such a shape, he thought as he let them hang limply, he would have lost the use of his arms for now.

Ye Qingyu's eyes turned red as he looked at the divine-level herbs around him.

"Damn it, I am going to kill this black claw." Without his arms, he could no longer pull out 'carrots' and demon king Ye Qingyu grew anxious.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Dozens of meters away, the sounds of multiple collisions could be heard.

He could not track the movement of either the black or rainbow flowing light.

"Are you alright?" the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's voice rang out from the melee.

He heard the trace of concern in her cool voice.

"I'm fine," Ye Qingyu replied through gritted teeth. "My arms are broken, but don't concern yourself with me. Kill him, I want him dead!"

Ye Qingyu was going crazy with rage now that he could no longer harvest these herbs.

He could also tell that the Celestial; Phoenix Maiden had the upper hand, so he was not too worried.

After some thought, he decided to ignore the ongoing battle and chose a million-year-old purple-gold magic ginseng nearby. He then used his foot to slowly pry it out of the ground and his face to pluck the leaves above. He chewed at it like a carrot and its purplish gold juices flowed out from the corners of his mouth.

Ye Qingyu knew that once the Celestial Phoenix Maiden finished off her opponent, they would need to leave this place as soon as possible since they were not here to harvest herbs in the first place. Besides, he had collected more than enough by now. He also was curious to know where this military medal was leading him to.

As expected, the winner of the battle was soon unveiled.

"Ah!" a scream rang out as the black figure's arms were both hacked off. He hastily retreated and turned into a black fog that escaped through the Void. Instantly, not a trace remained of his aura, but his furious voice still echoed through the Void. "Lowly slave girl, just you wait, I will be back for revenge! Ha ha. Once I have fully absorbed this new force, I will make sure you suffer the worst kind of hell under me. Ha ha ha!"

Ye Qingyu immediately recognized the owner of this voice.

It was Lu Li.

He was surprised that it was Lu Li from Divine Sky Sect.

He had exchanged blows with Lu Li earlier when he rescued Ge Ming and Shui Xiu and although Lu Li's cultivation had been strong, Lu Li had not been his match. However, during their earlier exchange, the strength that had burst from those black claws could only be described as terrifying. His physical body's cultivation had not even managed to block the blow at all, resulting in his arms being broken.

This was definitely not Lu Li's original strength.

The successor of Divine Sky Sect must have had a miraculous encounter in the 18th district.

Lu Li had mentioned absorbing some power earlier; this was probably what he was referring to.

Ye Qingyu could not help but feel slightly depressed at the thought of that.

Even scum like Lu Li had experienced a miraculous encounter resulting in his strength surging, but why was he still like this...

"Are you alright?" He heard the Celestial Phoenix Maiden ask, her voice restored to its earlier cool detachment. He caught a whiff of faint fragrance as she approached him and threw two black arms in front of him.

"Uh, I'm fine..." Ye Qingyu said unintelligibly as he continued to chew on the ginseng with its purplish gold juices still flowing out of his mouth.

"These are for you," the Celestial Phoenix Maiden kicked the black arms she had hacked off Lu Li toward Ye Qingyu.

"Ah? What are these even for?" Ye Qingyu almost choked.