Imperial God Emperor

However, what astonished everyone was that the disintegrated body did not spill any fresh blood. Instead, like jade, it split into several dozen pieces amid explosive noises and fell on the ground, becoming faint silver stones which contained no spiritual energy or light. Clinking sounds like those of gold were heard when these stones collided with one another. This was not a body of flesh and blood.

It was...

A doppelganger.

This was only a doppelganger.

After a momentary daze, Ye Qingyu immediately understood.

It turned out that the Four Stars holy girl who appeared today was not her true body but a doppelganger which seemed to be made from divine jade and infused with spiritual energy using supreme magical abilities. It actually possessed strength similar to that of the true body and could not be told apart from a living person. The holy girl's methods were truly extraordinary, and her ideas were frightening. It appeared that she had predicted the likelihood of danger while dealing with Ye Qingyu this time and thus did not show up in person, leaving Ao Tianzun and the experts of his sect to die here.

To one side, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden seemed as though she had realized this during the battle earlier, and hence she offered little response.

"A doppelganger, really?" The Little Princess of the Black Demon Race was taken aback, her eyes flickering a tinge of excitement. "Gooood, if she's not dead, that means I have the chance to take revenge. Next time, I'll kill this bitch myself."

Ye Qingyu was speechless.

The Little Princess was a downright vengeful battle maniac.

At least, she could clearly distinguish between kindness and grudge.

Because, right after she uttered those vicious words, she pranced grinningly toward Ye Qingyu, as if she suddenly reverted to the pure innocence of childhood, saying, "Brother Ye Qingyu, I've already told my father everything that happened in the 18th district. The Black Demon Race has requested the Alliance of Domains to relinquish control over you. I believe that your name will be removed from the wanted list very soon. My father thanks you for saving my life and hopes that you can visit the Black Demon Pool again one day. When that time comes, our race will certainly treat you as a distinguished guest... Heehee, in any case, I've designated you as my elder brother, and so you cannot decline."

As he looked at this dimple-faced young girl, it was hard for him to relate this well-behaved, delicate, pure, and pretty face to the tough girl who fought and killed at every turn earlier. However, he could see that her nature was pure and kindhearted, except that she had been living in the Black Demon Pool for too long and hence had been affected by it since she was young.

"Thank you, everyone, for your help this time." Ye Qingyu expressed his thanks to the other Saints of the Black Demon martial hall.

"You're welcome, Lord Ye Qingyu. For saving the Little Princess, you've become an honored guest of the Black Demon Race, and so it was our obligation to do all of this."

"That's right."

"Lord Ye Qingyu, if you have any need in the future, feel free to send word to the martial hall."

The Saints of the Black Demon Race's martial hall also saluted him back with utmost respect.

"I've troubled senior this time." Ye Qingyu thanked a guardian Saint of the Phoenix Race once more.

As he was talking, Li Shengyan came running from afar, excited like never before, laughing out loud, "Hahahaha, what a harvest this time. I've taken quite a few things from these dregs..."

Thanks to the secret formation given to him by [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei], he easily destroyed the remaining evil elements and took away several treasures of the dead. His yield was obviously a huge one, for he smiled so widely that his mouth almost cramped.

Ye Qingyu shook his head silently.

The battle had finally drawn to a close.

With close to ten Saint deaths, this was absolutely the craziest battle to have taken place in the Vast Thousand Domains for nearly a century. While the Four Stars Sect and the Divine Sky Sect suffered considerable losses, the Blood Taster Sect's losses were disastrous. Their leadership was destroyed, their arsenal was plundered, and, beginning from that legendary and mysterious master, practically their entire top-end military was wiped out. By and large, this betokened that they would soon be delisted from the Ancient Banyan City and even from the Vast Thousand Domains.

Li Shengyan aside, nobody else showed much interest in their arsenal and riches.

After a round of giving thanks, Ye Qingyu parted from the crowd.

This time, it was a real farewell.

For a long time to come, it was highly unlikely that the Four Stars holy girl's camp would do anything to him. And, once word got out, those creatures and schemers harboring intent to surprise attack him would probably wise up and not dare to act. After all, with a Quasi-emperor and two super forces beside him on two successive occasions, who knew whether there would be a third time?

Being quite a shrewd man himself, Li Shengyan had deliberately kept a few experts alive to serve as runaways who would spread news of today's battle and invoke fear far and wide.

...

The sunlight was radiant and beautiful.

After an indeterminate period of time, the formation that shrouded above the mountain manor suddenly disappeared when a gust of wind blew past.

Terrifying energy waves dispersed from within.

Nobody noticed this initially.

However, before long, several experts in the Ancient Banyan City became aware. In their shock, they formed a file of figures that cut through the sky and arrived in the mountain manor to investigate. Standing on the periphery, they were dumbstruck by what they saw.

"What's going on?"

"The mountain manor... has been destroyed?"

"Gosh, how is this possible?"

"This place is associated with all kinds of evil, and should have been destroyed a long time ago, reasonably speaking. But, with several Saints protecting this place, and allegedly some mysterious forces supporting from behind, it's so powerful that even the City Lord is unwilling to lay a finger on it. So how did it end up getting destroyed?"

"That's right, who could have done this? And in such a brutal fashion to boot, wrecking the entire place. Could it have been done by Saints? I sense some Saint auras about."

"I don't think only Saints were involved. There are Saints guarding this place, to begin with. Look, that's clearly Saint blood over there that has dyed the air red. Saints must have died. My goodness, this battle must have been horrifying."

"Immediately send people to ask about and find out what happened."

"Go dispatch people to investigate."

"Pass down orders that I want to know exactly what happened within a day."

Many high-level officials from the large forces of the Ancient Banyan City were astounded.

Within half a day, the forces stationed here had been wiped out completely. This kind of power was simply too horrendous. Had it been used against them, these large forces would probably end up no differently. Many of them thus felt unnerved. With the balance of power in the Ancient Banyan City thrown off by this, a storm was most likely on its way.

...

Ye Qingyu did not remain long in the Ancient Banyan City.

He left the city as soon as he could, hoping to catch up with the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission at the quickest time possible and link back up with Yu Xiaoxing and the rest. With only around ten days left until the deadline for the domain rating, great speed was required.

However, he suddenly thought of something upon exiting the city gate.

Instead of entering the chaotic portal immediately, he waited for a while on the portal plaza and lit an incense stick.

Within several dozen breaths' worth of time, an emaciated and ice-cold figure arrived beside him.

It was none other than the elder from the Alliance of Domains, Shuang Wuyan.

"Did you summon me so that I would appear in public?" Shuang Wuyan asked in a frigid tone as he looked at Ye Qingyu.

The latter nodded.

As a matter of fact, their earlier separation was something they had discussed. Shuang Wuyan pretended to be lured away by the assassins, when, in reality, he concealed himself in the dark in coordination with Ye Qingyu. It just so happened that the events regarding the Black Armor Race and the 18th district sprung up so suddenly that the duo was unable to work together much, and thus he did not prove to be of much use.

As soon as word got out regarding today's battle, there would probably not be anyone who still dared to touch Ye Qingyu, who thus felt that Shuang Wuyan had no need to remain hidden and would be much more useful beside him. Working together, they could catch up with the Heaven Wasteland envoy mission at the fastest speed possible.

The duo entered the portal and advanced toward the next giant chaotic city.

Their destination was the ninth chaotic city - Sky Mirror Sea.

Along the way, Shuang Wuyan briefly introduced the origin of the Sky Mirror Sea to Ye Qingyu.

The Sky Mirror Sea was established by a martial emperor of the Water Demon Race several million years ago. Although it was considered one of the giant chaotic cities, it was actually an inland salt lake, at the very depths of which, tens of kilometers below the surface, was a huge underwater city made of halite and crystal.

After millions of years, the rulers of the Sky Mirror Sea at present were still the descendant race of the founding martial emperor, while the inhabitants were mostly the old water races derived from ancient times.

This time, Shuang Wuyan talked more than usual. In his introduction, he even mentioned that the depths of the lake contained a huge diversity of oceanic crystals which were replete with spiritual energy and could be considered top-grade medicinal materials. These were also the main commercial specialties of the Sky Mirror Sea currently.

Although Shuang Wuyan mostly spoke as concisely as possible, Ye Qingyu nevertheless became rather interested in this unique city after acquiring a fair idea of it.

Four hours later.

They had already entered the sphere of influence of the Sky Mirror Sea and were less than a hundred Kilometers from the actual sea area.

Walking behind, Ye Qingyu suddenly paused his footsteps.

He turned his sights to a wooden hut to the left of the road.

It was a terribly simple and practically undecorated log house.

Placed inside were several wooden chairs and tables, on which were arranged tea sets and tableware that were also carved from wood. Outside, hanging on a beam was an oilcloth which was written with a large [Tea] in ancient characters.

Every time he passed by such tea shops and taverns since leaving the Ancient Banyan City, Ye Qingyu would survey it for a while. If there were many people gathered within, he would enter and sit around for some time, hoping that he could hear some news regarding the Heaven Wasteland Domain.

At present, the people resting in this nameless tea house appeared to be mostly merchants and hawkers who conducted trade between the giant cities, as well as some weirdos who used mist to conceal their figures and faces. The walkers on the road of chaos each had their own secrets and purposes. Regarding this, Ye Qingyu had seen too much to be surprised.

"Let's head in and drink a cup of tea before we continue." Ye Qingyu's heart jolted as he walked toward the tea house.