Imperial God Emperor

Nodding his head, the Third Prince saw that, despite being badly injured and bloodied, Ye Qingyu's battle intent continued to burn. The latter's broken body did not waver in the slightest, resembling an iron spear stuck firmly into the ground. To the Third Prince, it was as if seeing his own figure of many years back. After staring for quite a while, he sighed and turned to leave.

He did not try persuading Ye Qingyu to admit defeat again.

As a fellow human, he knew what an insult it would be to urge a person like this to admit defeat in a situation like this.

It was unfortunate that this person chose to oppose the Four Stars holy girl.

No matter who it was, anyone who obstructed Little Yu's path toward gaining Dao had to die.

The Third Prince backed out of the field of thunder and lightning and returned the spear to its sheath on his back.

As the holy girl's eyes fell upon Ye Qingyu, she did not immediately take action and instead said, "Young man, I see the potential and dignity in you, and shall take back my earlier words. I won't make you a slave or kill you as long as you pledge allegiance to me and assist me in gaining the Dao by fighting for me and clearing the way. I'll even bestow you a status that you can't even imagine and give you anything you want from the Vast Thousand Domains..."

While coughing out mouthfuls of blood, Ye Qingyu did not say anything.

"You won't be the first genius that I've killed. Young man, you don't have many chances, so don't challenge my patience." The holy girl's tone gradually turned ice-cold as she looked at Ye Qingyu. Due to the passing of time, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's attainment of nirvana would soon be complete, and once that happened, her strength would escalate sharply and there would then be many troubles for the holy girl. Therefore, as much as she appreciated Ye Qingyu's talents and will, she absolutely would not indulge him to this extent.

"No more patience? Then get going." Blood flowed out of his mouth endlessly. On the surface, the spear only punctured a bowl-sized hole on his body, but in reality, a dark force from the spear shattered his viscera, and thus his condition was a lot worse than it appeared.

Fortunately, the rigorous strength and inexhaustible vitality of an Immortal Step realm expert meant that as long as at least one strand of true spirit remained in his body, he would not only not die but also possess battle strength.

"Alright." A chill swept across the holy girl's eyes.

She had rarely given an unfamiliar man repeated chances like she did today and, in line with her martial disposition which only cared about benefits, did so despite Ye Qingyu's display of extreme contempt and disdain toward her. However, his repeated refusals - and unhesitant refusals to boot - caused her killing heart to stir.

However, at the very last moment before she acted, she glanced at the giant golden egg on the distant parasol tree and suddenly conceived an idea. Hence, she paused for a while before asking, "I have one last question. Can you clear the doubts in my heart?"

Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Ye Qingyu raised his head with a smile that was as warm as sunshine. "Okay, ask away."

"The Celestial Phoenix Maiden and I are both Heaven's pridelings, and I'm no inferior to her be it in terms of background, status, talent, strength, looks, or temperament. Moreover, with that cold nature of hers, she remembers neither kindness nor hostility, doesn't interact with people, and is accustomed to traveling alone. She speaks the same blunt way to everyone and is immature in thought and tact. I'm way ahead of her in these aspects, no matter how you look at it, and thus my chances of a successful pursuit of a Great Dao are much greater than hers. Why would a person like you choose her over me?"

While asking this question, the holy girl did not show any killing intent and spoke in an extremely sincere tone, as if she was genuinely consulting a friend on something.

Seeing her seriousness, Ye Qingyu could not help laughing out loud.

Many a genius person could understand world affairs of the past and present and could see through and calculate everything so as to devise appropriate strategies, yet on a few small matters, they simply could not see the woods for the trees.

"Simple. I'll tell you the true reason why I've been rejecting you if you tell me why you killed Priest Yu Sheng, Tian Huayu, and the others." His expression also became serious.

The Four Stars holy girl nodded, "They aren't my people and naturally had to be killed. However, I didn't kill indiscriminately. Every one of them has a reason why they had to die. Their deaths are very valuable to me and so it was all for the better," she spoke very frankly.

Smiling, Ye Qingyu furthered, "So, that's to say, no matter their background or status, or whether they are good or evil, weak or strong, or whatever else, they would have to die as long as you feel that their deaths are beneficial to you, right?"

The holy girl nodded her head as if that went without saying.

Still smiling, Ye Qingyu sallied, "This is the reason why I rejected you."

Given her intelligence, the holy girl understood what he meant at once.

However, showing no repentance, she instead shook her head gently, "Actually, I've misjudged you and didn't know you're so lacking in self-confidence. If you constantly prove the value of your existence to me, you'd never end up like them... This is truly disappointing."

Ye Qingyu laughed languidly, "That kind of life is too pressurizing and meaningless... Besides, no matter how much I prove to you, there'll come a day when you feel that my death is more valuable to you than my life. And most importantly... do you really think that in this world, only you are destined to gain the Dao? Why should I submit to you when it would be better to build an emperor's road and reach the pinnacle on my own?”

Two piercingly cold beams of light shot out abruptly from the holy girl's eyes and locked on to Ye Qingyu.

A wicked suppressive force pervaded her eyes.

Paying no heed to this, Ye Qingyu laughed once again and supplemented a line, "Of course, these aren't the main reason, which is that..."

The holy girl's expression changed as she listened carefully, hoping to find out what the most important reason was.

"Most importantly..." Ye Qingyu enunciated every word. "She's more pleasing to my eyes than you."

A grim luster flickered in the holy girl's eyes.

She nodded without saying anything else.

Clear moonlight surged all over her body. Unlike the sharp and matchless power of the Mizar Race's Third Prince, the holy girl's cultivated crafts were unknown secret techniques. Her chilly and indifferent yuan qi and aura were as pure and otherworldly as the silver brilliance of the winter moonlight, and only a single sparse layer of them shrouded her entire body, effectively making her appear to be a full moon which emitted a sprinkling of silver light that partitioned the field of thunder and lightning and diluted the purple lightning radiance.

Ye Qingyu's expression became grim like never before.

He immediately realized how frighteningly powerful this woman was. She was way superior to the Third Prince, giving off a chilly, otherworldly moonlight, while possessing a will that could control and perceive everything in the field of thunder and lightning. Ye Qingyu's perception, however, seemed to inform him that she was not in the human world at present.

Moonlight gathered.

A crescent moon appeared in her palm.

"People experience the sorrows of parting and the joys of reunion, while the moon waxes and wanes... [Waning Moon Strike]!"

As a chilly shout rang out, the waning moon spun and struck elusively from an indeterminate angle and trajectory.

"Field of thunder and lightning... [Chaotic Protection]!" Daring not to be negligent, Ye Qingyu activated the hundreds of formations in the surroundings and collected an endless stream of primeval fiendgod world spiritual qi. The field of thunder and lightning was roused to its peak state, with its core's chaotic thunder liquid turning into six bright stars which evolved into a giant shield that circulated chaotic qi and protected around Ye Qingyu's body.

Tink...!

A soft ringing noise was heard.

As it struck the shield, the [Waning Moon Strike] let out a fine metallic noise which echoed faintly yet endlessly, piercing everyone's eardrums.

The shield made a clicking noise as several crevice lines appeared on it.

As if suffering a terrible injury, Ye Qingyu's countenance changed dramatically and a layer of evil blood qi emanated from his facial features.

"Puff!"

He spat a mouthful of blood essence out of the shield that was on the verge of breaking.

Dark red blood suffused along the crevices and instantly repaired the chaotic shield.

However, the waning moon had yet to dissipate. After its initial impact, it swept at a strange curved angle across the void and came mercilessly once more.

"[Waning Moon Continuous Strikes]!"

The holy girl's voice sounded like she was bringing judgment to this world.

Tink...!

The long and piercing demonic voice rang out once again at a frightening overtone, agitating the field of thunder and lightning and eliciting fine ripples.

Click.

The shield was broken again.

"F*ck it, how can... this woman be this strong?" Ye Qingyu felt anxious inwardly. The strength displayed by the holy girl was comparable to that of a lower Saint, and every one of her strikes contained Saint-level power. Yet, if she was really a Saint, she should not have been able to get through the Door of Life.

Setting these thoughts aside, Ye Qingyu promptly spat out another stream of blood essence on to the shield.

The field of thunder and lightning around him boiled wildly and howled like a stormy ocean, before the power within hit its maximum level and injected power into Ye Qingyu's body frenziedly. All of the power in the world within a hundred kilometers was now for him to manipulate.

Facing him.

In a strange sight, two moonlight lotuses shot out of the holy girl's eyes and allowed her to become an otherworldly goddess of sorts, who possessed no human feelings and was terrifying like no other.

"People experience the sorrows of parting and the joys of reunion, while the moon waxes and wanes... [Waxing Moon Strike]!"

Completely emotionless words spouted from her mouth.

The crescent moon spun and landed between her brows. Subsequently, as its moonlight swelled, the crescent moon became a perfectly-round and flawless full moon. Buzzing and vibrating, it gradually rolled and ground its way toward Ye Qingyu.

Hardening his heart, he spat out several mouthfuls of blood essence in succession and dyed the shield blood-red. His blood circulated on the surface of the shield, rousing a mysterious power that caused the chaotic aura on the shield to circulate frenziedly once more.

Boom boom boom!

The silver dish-like waxing moon, lacking the gracefulness of the earlier waning moon, smashed hard on the shield.