Imperial God Emperor

Ye Qingyu nodded.

He had expected Ren Puyang's reaction and verbal response.

Having gone through this series of matters, he had already gained a vague sense of the intricacies inherent within them, and knew that what he had seen was only the tip of the iceberg. Allowing Ren Puyang, who definitely had a clearer sense of the actual situation, to handle them was much better than trying to figure them out alone. This was a better choice not just for himself but also for the entire Human Race and even the Vast Thousand Domains.

This was because the implicated parties were far from confined to only the Black Moon Immortal Palace and the Four Stars Sect. The so-called [Camp] was a big tree with deep roots, metaphorically speaking, and to completely excise this tumor was not something which Ren Puyang or just one race was able to accomplish on their own.

At present, the room became somewhat silent.

Ren Puyang's expression became grimmer as he read those letters and looked at the things discovered in the Black Moon Immortal Palace warships.

Ye Qingyu quietly waited.

The atmosphere in the room only became slightly milder when Ren Puyang had roughly looked through everything and stopped.

"How will the issue of the Black Moon Immortal Palace's surprise attack on the envoy mission of a domain ultimately be handled?" After some thinking, Ye Qingyu changed the topic and asked.

By now, Ren Puyang's expression had already returned to normal.

He glanced at Ye Qingyu and sighed before he slowly stood up from the carved mahogany armchair and walked over to the lapis floor-reaching window. With his back facing Ye Qingyu, he said with some regret, "Regarding this issue... I'm still unable to give you a proper answer. The congress still hasn't reached a final verdict, for there's a huge debate even among the Human Race, and so it'll take some more time and may even disappoint you. After all, the Black Moon Immortal Palace is also a Human Sect and has a deep culture."

Ye Qingyu gently nodded his head.

This reply was what he had anticipated.

But it did not affect the plans he had already made.

He would investigate the Black Moon Immortal Palace to the end whether or not the people of the Alliance's congress were able to handle this issue impartially.

"If that's the case, then I shall take my leave first." Ye Qingyu stood up and bade farewell.

It was rare enough for Ren Puyang, who had countless public affairs to attend to, to spare so much time to meet him. Having said what he had to, for him to sit down again would be a waste of the former's time.

In front of the lapis window, Ren Puyang nodded and turned around to bid farewell.

Ye Qingyu suddenly remembered something just before stepping out the door. Pausing his footsteps, he looked at Ren Puyang and asked, "Mr. Ren Puyang, how will the two warships of the Black Moon Immortal Palace eventually be disposed of?"

Ren Puyang was caught in a daze for a moment but quickly understood what Ye Qingyu meant and guffawed. "Hahahaha... what's the matter? Is it that you want these warships?"

"That goes without saying. These are my spoils of victory," Chuckling, Ye Qingyu openly confessed. "Besides, the Alliance won't have any need for them, right? After they have been verified, they'll have served their function and can be handed to the Heaven Wasteland Domain, eh?"

When their formations were fully activated, the two warships, especially the flagship, possessed sufficient artillery firepower to collapse a giant city in a mere instant. This sort of battle power would indubitably boost the self-defense of any domain immensely. Given the Heaven Wasteland Domain's current strength, it would take them several hundred years, not to mention tremendous resources and unimaginable manpower, to be able to create warships of this grade. Therefore, for a new domain like them to be able to obtain these two warships directly would essentially raise their defensive capabilities to a whole new level.

"Hahaha, child, don't let my praise get to your head... I can directly make a decision on this matter. You may have the warships... However, for the month ahead, you are not to leave Heaven Connect City and shall remain in the Heaven Wasteland Building. There'll surely be a few things which the Alliance's congress will have to ask you about. After the issue of the Black Moon Immortal Palace has been settled, I'll send men to efface the formations on, refine, and modify the warships before handing them back to you. Don't thank me for this, just treat it as your reward for the errand you ran for me." Ren Puyang shook his head and laughed, feeling a little helpless about Ye Qingyu's thick skin.

Overjoyed, Ye Qingyu hurriedly expressed his gratitude, before nodding and agreeing to Ren Puyang's request. He then gave a salute and turned to depart.

...

...

That night.

In the Heaven Wasteland Building.

Ye Qingyu was self-isolating in a quiet room on the fifth floor.

Ever since stepping on to the martial path, it had been a habit of Ye Qingyu to self-isolate as soon as possible after a large battle to sum up his gains and losses from it. He had many miraculous encounters in the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain, while the battle on the isolated peak was more so the first time he had fought against Saints and Great Saints. Although the battle only lasted for a moment's time, he gained a lot from it nevertheless.

He sat cross-legged on the floor with an empty mind, continually visualizing the scene of and reenacting the battle, to see if he could have defeated the five Great Saints even faster and better than he did. He even imagined being unable to escape from the array and thus having to fight face-to-face against Zhong Yuan, who was holding the [Green Wind Black Moon] Great Saint weapon.

Time flew by.

Beads of sweat seeped from his forehead and temples.

After a full two hours, he opened his eyes abruptly.

During this moment, a divine sword light seemed to flicker in his eyes. It took a long while before it finally abated and his eyes returned to normal.

"Had I been trapped within the array and was forced to fight against Zhong Yuan, it would've been a fifty-fifty battle. After all, him being a Great Saint expert who wields a Great Saint weapon, I would've needed to summon the [Cloud Top Cauldron] and use the mural ancestors in order to match him. But if more Great Saints were to assist him in the fight, I would've lost without question. With the cauldron around, I'd remain trapped in there, albeit my life wouldn't be threatened..."

This was the final conclusion he derived.

He was not too happy with it.

Because, this implied that his optimal battle strength at present was at the middle stage of the Great Saint realm. Against Zhong Yuan, who was not considered the most powerful expert of the Great Saint realm, this kind of battle strength would have comfortably allowed him to protect himself. However, it was far from sufficient for him to settle accounts with and take revenge on the Black Moon Immortal Palace, which certainly had more Great Saints than just Zhong Yuan alone.

"I have to continue cultivating and working hard."

He closed his eyes back up.

Instead of continuing to restore his yuan qi, he began to introspect his martial way once more.

By now, he had obtained a more than diverse range of battle techniques from the bronze book [Fiendgod Titled Chart]. However, he knew very well that it was the three major sword mantras of the [War God Sword Mantras], namely Human King, Divine Emperor, and Commoner, which could truly increase his might without end.

The more one comprehended these three mantras, the more frightening their might would become, such that Ye Qingyu felt them to be even more powerful than the Fiendgod battle techniques in the [Fiendgod Titled Chart]. Having already completely grasped the [Human King Sword Mantra], his sword will could shoot forth like irresistible threads of web, as he had used in earlier battles. However, based on his introspection, the [Human King Sword Mantra] was only the basic one among the three. Though invincible against enemies below the Great Saint realm, it was not good enough against those at or above said realm.

"I must comprehend the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] if I am to confront Great Saint realm experts. The ancient records say that a small attainment of the Divine Emperor sword will would allow me to mentally summon forth an invisible sword will which takes only a moment to kill deities and demons..."

He racked his brains.

Aside from the three major sword mantras, he needed to further uncover the potential of and optimize his advantages, such as his physical strength, the bright-yellow divine weapon, and the various devices kept in the [Cloud Top Cauldron].

A night's time went by in a flash as he introspected and thought hard.

On the second day, he continued to self-isolate after conversing and arranging a few matters with the Great Dragon Turtle Demon. He needed to comprehend the mysteries of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] and the mural ancestors in the [Cloud Top Cauldron], for they would serve as his means of self-defense for a long time to come.

Time flew by rapidly.

Ten days went by just like that.

On the eleventh day, a white-robed divine guard came to invite Ye Qingyu to the Alliance of Domains to answer a few questions. As such, Ye Qingyu soon stepped once more onto the Saint Hearing Platform and responded to inquiries from various parties. However, unlike the last time, he did not know which forces were asking these questions, to which he only provided a few brief and general responses.

The process nevertheless went considerably smoothly, and he did not come across any deliberately challenging questions.

After this, Ren Puyang did not seek a one-to-one meeting with him again.

He returned to the Heaven Wasteland Building, where he continued to self-isolate and cultivate.

During the following month.

Apart from contact with the Great Dragon Turtle Demon, who managed all affairs in the Heaven Waste Buildiong, and signs of visits by several dozen experts, Ye Qingyu lived mostly in seclusion and seemed as though he had disappeared once more. Even those forces and experts who watched  from nearby did not detect any aura related to him.

As the Alliance of Domains had no new cases they needed to inquire him about, he did not show himself again.

It was as if he completely disappeared from the public eye.

As a result, all kinds of rumors regarding the whereabouts of the [Ice Sword Killing God] emerged in Heaven Connect City.

In line with his known movements from earlier, there were various rumors that he had been arrested by the Alliance of Domains and was awaiting trial, that he had absconded to another domain, and even that he had hidden into the Black Demon Abyss to elude the pursuit by the Dragonblood Dynasty.

No matter what the version was, each rumor sounded like it was well-founded on evidence, as if Ye Qingyu's whereabouts had really been seen but could not be proved.

In any case, the discussions only grew even more intense with Ye Qingyu's disappearance. As all kinds of rumors swirled, fact and fiction became hard to distinguish and the accounts became increasingly outrageous, one even claiming that Ye Qingyu had been secretly sent to the Dragon Human Domain to be executed...

At this time, there finally arrived a considerable amount of news and updates from the Dragon Human Race.

According to them, Ye Qingyu had incurred the wrath of the Dragonblood Dynasty by refusing to return the [Dragonblood Halberd], assassinating the old emperor and the left assistant minister, and capturing the Third Princess. As the matter continued to ferment, the dynasty's royalty was eventually led to declare their stand on it, and even the incumbent emperor directly threatened to make the Heaven Wasteland Domain pay a terrible price.

This implied that the dynasty was preparing to officially declare war on the Heaven Wasteland Domain.