Imperial God Emperor

Ye Qingyu immediately realized that this was because the divine power of the god-level yuan liquid he had gulped down was too volatile, such that it had a destructive effect on his body when it burst out. The aftereffects were highly obvious, and were even more frightening than the strikeback damage earlier.

Thankfully, the risk he took did have a positive effect.

During that earlier instant, he wielded all of the power contained in that mouthful of god-level yuan liquid, resulting in the strange change to the [Cloud Top Cauldron], from which appeared the phantom of the stone spear ancestor that broke through the Great Saint's defenses with one strike.

The phantom was not something he had expected.

Under normal circumstances, even if his vigor steeply increased, he would not be able to so easily defeat the dark-green-mist-covered Great Saint, whose strength remained unimaginable despite his lifespan waning. However, the illusory stone spear hurled by that equally-illusory ancestor instantly shattered the Great Saint's emerald-colored shield and more so his protective Great Saint force field, and thereby completely turned the situation on its head.

This allowed Ye Qingyu to realize suddenly that the secrets and powers contained in the [Cloud Top Cauldron] were even more frightening than he had thought. The momentary eruption of power from the god-level yuan liquid had elevated his power to the level of a pinnacle Saint. In other words, if his true cultivation could reach the Saint level, he would become able to summon the phantom ancestor from the [Cloud Top Cauldron] at any time and unleash its power properly.

Moreover, the surface of the [Cloud Top Cauldron] was drawn with several murals, including varied scenes of ancestors offering sacrifices, hunting, setting out on expeditions, and celebrating. The earlier stone spear ancestor figure was but one of the hundreds of hunting ancestors drawn within the hunting mural. Ye Qingyu thus wondered if, given enough strength, he could materialize all of these figures, and if that was so, how powerful would they be.

After pondering briefly, he became excited.

However, this kind of excitement was swiftly displaced by the immense pain in his body.

When the power from that mouthful of god-level yuan liquid was completely expended, he immediately felt that his aura, vigor, and blood qi were retaliatively attenuating. This was the kind of feeling one felt on one's deathbed, thus indicating the horrifying extent of his decline. As his eyelids became heavy, a desire to doze off and not wake for ten days crept upon him.

Feeling a piercing chill in his heart, he drank another mouthful of the god-level yuan liquid without hesitation.

The scorching pain like that from a divine fire arrived once more.

As the divine power in the liquid burst out, it again caused tremendous damage to Ye Qingyu's body. This time, however, he did not take much note of it, knowing that there was no turning back, for all of his previous efforts would be in vain if he was unable to persevere now.

No matter the cost to himself, he knew he had to remain unrelenting in keeping Zhong Yuan and the others trapped within the [Red Lotus Hellfire] until either he or they collapsed. At this time, it had become a contest to see who could tough it out longer.

When the divine power in this mouthful of god-level yuan liquid had completely burst out, he strenuously diverted it into the [Cloud Top Cauldron], following which his rapidly-declining power skyrocketed once more while he seemed to regain vigorous qi and blood. The cauldron glowed in a dazzling bright-yellow splendor...

"How can this happen?"

"This little brat, he..."

"What black magic is this?"

"I know, this cursed one must have used the divine herbs he obtained in the 18th district of the Black Demon Pool to spur the vitality in his body... Dammit, he's an absolute madman!"

The facial expressions of the ten or so experts who were trapped in the [Red Lotus Hellfire] changed dramatically.

Having been warned by what happened earlier, the black-iron-masked Great Saint, who, together with his green-misted counterpart, had provoked Ye Qingyu and threatened to exterminate all of the beings of the Heaven Wasteland Domain, did not expect Ye Qingyu to burst out with this kind of strange power a second time, and thus he could not prevent a sense of fear from arising in his heart. Taking steps backward, he could clearly sense that he was Ye Qingyu's target this time.

He was not wrong, as it proved.

Firing up the [Cloud Top Cauldron] and turning into flowing light, Ye Qingyu charged murderously toward him.

What more so terrified him was that not only did a huge and indistinct phantom of an ancient ancestor appear behind Ye Qingyu's back again, but this time, unlike the earlier stone spear ancestor, this phantom was a figure with both hands raising an oddly-shaped rock above its head, in a posture which suggested it could hurl the rock at any time.

This was also an ancestor figure which was engraved on the mural of the hunting ancestors.

The ancient ancestors used stone spears, rocks, branches, and animal bones as hunting weapons. The hunting mural on the cauldron certainly provided incisive illustrations of their hunting scenes, of which the stone spear ancestor and the rock-raising ancestor were but two among hundreds of ancestors in hunting postures.

The black-masked elderly Great Saint roared angrily as he struck back.

Boom!

A violent bursting noise was heard.

The rock-raising ancestor phantom indistinctly hurled the rock forth.

While being watched by countless pairs of eyes, the black-masked elderly Great Saint screamed as he was sent flying. The Great Saint force field was indeed broken, allowing the [Red Lotus Hellfire] to enter through its every opening and into his body, engulfing him completely...

Yet another Great Saint had fallen.

Gasps were heard all around.

The experts from various factions, all of whom had thought that Ye Qingyu was destined to be drained dead, were astounded by the sudden reversal of the situation.

They looked dumbfoundedly at the white-clothed youth, afraid to imagine how many cards he actually held. He seemed to be born to create miracles, for he made the impossible possible time after time. Many experts became aware that, no matter the day's outcome, the name Ye Qingyu would probably be forever immortalized in the imperial annals of the nineteen cities of chaos.

With only Immortal Step realm cultivation, he had slain nearly a thousand experts, obliterated several dozen Saints, and struck three Great Saints dead. A battle record like this was probably something which even those legendary martial emperors were unable to achieve when they were in this realm.

Realizing this, the hearts of these experts abruptly began to quiver.

They suddenly understood what this meant.

It was no simple miracle to be able to do what no martial emperor had done prior to gaining the Dao. Perhaps, it meant that this youth would one day ascend the pinnacle divine throne of the martial emperor, provided that he did not perish before that.

Having come around to this idea, the experts from the different races gasped involuntarily.

This judgment of theirs was shocking and hard to believe, yet the more they thought about it, the more reasonable and possible they felt it to be.

At the same time, the experts trapped within the [Red Lotus Hellfire] finally perceived the coming of the greatest mortal danger to themselves. They realized that the idea of draining Ye Qingyu to death was a complete mistake, and that if things carried on like this, it would be hard for them to escape being killed.

They were overawed by the insanity and tenacity of this youth.

Indeed, a pack of monsters, which had walked past mountains of corpses and seas of blood and experienced multiple cataclysms, was now being overawed by a youth who had just arrived from a lower domain.

It sounded unbelievable but was in fact true.

Many experts, including Zhong Yuan the Great Saint, were appalled.

Having lived for such a long time, their lifespans were now running out and they already had one foot in the grave. They had experienced what they should have experienced and enjoyed what they should have enjoyed. In their daily lives, they had even begun to mock their own old age. However, this did not imply that they would willingly accept death. In fact, on the contrary, they were even more afraid of death and more reluctant to leave behind the bustle of this world than those young people with exuberant blood qi.

This was why they were terrified.

"Go!"

"Run!"

"Let's get out of here first..."

They were unanimous in their choices.

At the risk of being engulfed by the [Red Lotus Hellfire], the ten or so figures simultaneously scooted in different directions. Despite being terrified, their experience and awareness remained intact. Without prior discussion, they made conforming choices such that Ye Qingyu would be able to hold back and catch at most four of five of them, while keeping all of them back was virtually impossible.

As their figures jolted into motion, their saintly might became positionally unstable and they ran the danger of having the [Red Lotus Hellfire] invade their bodies. Nevertheless, scared out of their wits by Ye Qingyu's insanity and bravery, they no longer cared as much.

"Dammit, these old fools have done it."

Ye Qingyu became antsy.

I absolutely cannot allow these bastards to get away.

Drinking yet another mouthful of the god-level yuan liquid, he repeated the same trick as before. However, just then, his footsteps staggered and his body felt an unprecedented feebleness. His vision blacked out and he began to feel dizzy, as if his body was no longer under his control, before he collapsed softly...

Bam!

A gentle noise was made.

He fell to the ground.

As if it was a spiritual object, the [Cloud Top Cauldron] drooped its bright-yellow sashes down to protect Ye Qingyu as his body collapsed. However, the ancestor patterns on its surface had completely disappeared, and thus its might was no longer as great as before, while its aura rapidly attenuated to less than one-hundredths of what it was previously. It barely withstood the curling burn from the [Red Lotus Hellfire], and could not keep the flames several dozen meters away like it did previously.

"Boom!"

Ye Qingyu's body and the [Cloud Top Cauldron] were together engulfed by the [Red Lotus Hellfire].

Those frantically-fleeing figures did not meet with any impediment this time, and all of them were able to escape to a safe zone outside. Exhaling a long sigh, each of them felt like a disaster survivor and was still badly shaken.

"We're finally out."

The Great Saint Zhong Yuan felt as though his back was near-completely drenched, but this was actually just in the mind. His behavior was similar to any normal person who had faced the peril of death and was overcome by fear.

Ye Qingyu is simply too scary. I have to report back to the palace master as soon as possible. This lower domain kid cannot be underestimated anymore and must be treated with caution, or otherwise, the entire Black Moon Divine Palace would soon be destroyed.

As he thought of this, the Great Saint Zhong Yuan felt bouts of post-event fear.

"Let's get out of here before saying any more. There'll be trouble if this cursed imp catches up." Zhong Yuan had lost the courage to fight on and wanted nothing but to run away.

But, just then, he suddenly sensed something amiss in the surrounding atmosphere.

Neither angry shouts nor chasing footsteps were heard from Ye Qingyu behind.

There was also not a trace of battle intent surging.

Ostensibly, Ye Qingyu had not given chase.

From atop distant buildings, several figures projected scorching rays of light from their eyes toward the [Red Lotus Hellfire] in the Black Moon Divine Palace’s representative station, and slowly surrounded the [Red Lotus Hellfire] like a pack of wild beasts who were about to contend for their prey.

What's going on?

Zhong Yuan subconsciously turned his head back to look.