Chapter 1085: Evil Slaying Platform
"Fiercest is here." Someone shouted once Li Qiye arrived, attracting countless gazes.
Li Qiye was standing on top of a distant hill and gazed at the platform with the rest of the girls.
He was in quiet contemplation after seeing the profound light being emitted from the guillotine. He was once a devil king back then during his long stay in this world.
Outside of searching for certain things, there was one question that beckoned his focus. It was whether dark cultivators could go to a new world after coming to the Evil Slaying Platform.
"What are the requirements for a dark cultivator to go up there?" Chen Baojiao inquired.
Li Qiye shook his head gently: "Nothing. Any dark cultivator can do so. However, their strength does influence the result."
"In what way?" She asked once more.
He glanced at the blade and answered: "Wait a bit for when a dark cultivator goes up there, you will understand right away."
Even Bai Jianzhen, who treated her words like gold, had to ask: "Is there really another world?"
The girls had heard Li Qiye and the dark cultivators talk about another world, but they didn't know the specifics.
"I don't know." Li Qiye answered: "Maybe, maybe not. It is hard to say. Plus, each person has a different opinion about this other world."
Eventually, a dark cultivator climbed up the Evil Slaying Platform before the huge crowd. He had a human form that exuded a terrifying evil aura. Even God-Monarchs would be wary of such an existence.
He gazed across the vast expanse beyond the precipice in silence while standing on top of the platform.
The spectating cultivators were stirred. To be able to watch a dark cultivator on the platform was truly a rare event.
Eventually, this dark cultivator made up his mind. He stood before the guillotine that faced the precipice and slowly closed his eyes before placing his neck on top of the frame.
Some cultivators felt their hearts hanging up high after seeing this dark cultivator situated right beneath the blade. They nervously tightened their fists.
"Crank!" The extremely sharp blade fell down. It immediately decapitated the dark cultivator like cutting tofu. His head rolled down from the platform.
"Bang!" In the blink of an eye, a great amount of dark energy rushed out from his severed neck.
This vast energy rushed for the vast expanse beyond the precipice like a tidal wave. This particular dark cultivator was extremely powerful, thus this energy was as majestic as a sea. It tore apart the void and traveled with an unstoppable momentum.
This process continued on with the energy gushing out of his neck for a long time. Eventually, all the energy was gone and the scene became calm again.
At this time, people found that the energy formed a bridge from the precipice to the depths of the expanse.
"Clack!" At this moment, the unbelievable happened. The head that rolled on the ground suddenly cracked and a tiny person walked out from inside.
This tiny person looked exactly like the dark cultivator from earlier. However, he didn't have a physical body as he was only an accumulation of dark energy.
Li Shuangyan asked: "Is that his true fate?"
"No, it is a devil soul, completely different from our true fate." Li Qiye shook his head gently.
Everyone held their breaths while watching the tiny person walking out of the skull in astonishment.
The tiny person quickly walked towards the bridge made out of evil energy that stretched into the vast expanse.
At this split second, another shadow suddenly lunged forward. It was a cultivator whose withered blood energy clearly told his old age.
This old man rushed to the long bridge in an attempt to follow the devil soul into the other world.
"Ahh…" However, when he stepped onto the bridge, his feet didn't make contact as one would expect. The bridge did not accept his body, so he instantly fell into the abyss below.
Cultivators could fly, but not in this vast expanse. Once one fell, it was a fate of death without a grave.
People gasped with shocked expressions after seeing this scene. Perhaps a few of them had the same idea as him and wanted to follow the dark cultivator into the other world. However, it looked like this train of thought didn't lead to a destination.
The tiny person disappeared into the vast expanse after walking along the bridge. After some time, this energy bridge disappeared as well.
"Just what is it over there?" Someone murmured.
In fact, all were curious and wanted to know about the other side. Many stood there and gazed at it for a very long time. It was still nothing but void without any changes.
Eventually, the crowd slowly dispersed because they understood no answer would come out of this.
"Is he at the other world now?" Chen Baojiao spoke with concern for the dark cultivator.
"Who knows, this is a trip with no answer." Li Qiye sighed: "Because after entering the platform, there is no turning back. No one has heard of a dark cultivator being able to return either."
Chen Baojiao became absent-minded and murmured: "Leaving to never be heard from again."
Going to the platform was similar to going missing. This was a journey with no return. No one knew if it was a successful trip or not. The people on this side would never find out.
"Dark cultivators already have eternal life, why must they go to that other world?" Li Shuangyan was skeptical: "They should know that it is a road of no return."
"They know full well about the journey they are embarking on." Li Qiye glanced at the vast expanse: "As they have said before, this is their will and their fate! No matter how much time it takes, one day, they will step onto this path. This is something all dark cultivators will have to face."
"The dark cultivators' Evil Slaying Platform and the imperial soldiers' Expedition Path." Mei Suyao joined in: "These are unanswered mysteries across the ages. No one knows what lies beyond these paths."
"Outside of dark cultivators, can others not go to the other side? Have Immortal Emperors tried it?" Li Shuangyan curiously asked.
Mei Suyao slightly opened her mouth, wanting to answer, but she stopped herself since she didn't know how to put it.
Li Qiye glanced at her and said: "It's fine to say it. After becoming an emperor, Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan had tried it before. He started from the platform and tried to forcefully reach the other side through the expanse." 1
"Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan." The girls were shocked to hear this. All of them looked at Mei Suyao while Chen Baojiao exclaimed: "Legend states that he had a grand completion Furious Immortal Tyrannical Physique!"
An Immortal Emperor was already invincible enough, but one with a grand completion Immortal Physique was even more incredible. Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan was the second emperor from the Eternal River School. He was even more powerful and frightening compared to their progenitor, Immortal Emperor Xiu Shui.
"That's right." Mei Suyao gently sighed and admitted: "My sect has records of this. After becoming an emperor, he had tried this before."
"What was the result?" The quiet Bai Jianzhen was drawn in as well: "Is there really another world?"
"I don't know the exact details because there are several different theories. The records themselves aren't very clear. As juniors, we have no way of researching for verification." Mei Suyao spoke softly.
"An Immortal Emperor failing is not really a shameful thing. It is just that the Eternal River elders don't want to talk about it. Otherwise, people will be disappointed thinking that an Immortal Emperor is not unstoppable. A layer of shadows has been cast over their might from this event." Li Qiye said dismissively.
"Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan failed as well?" The girls were horrified by this. In everyone's opinion, Immortal Emperors were unstoppable! Not to mention one with a grand completion Immortal Physique!
"That's a possibility." Mei Suyao spoke unwillingly: "After Forefather Nu Zhan came back, he never brought up this matter with anyone. However, the elders from the sect speculated from his words that he couldn't do it, so they don't wish to talk about it either."
The others could understand why the Eternal River School was hesitant about this matter. An Immortal Emperor should be a symbol of invincibility. If even they have failed, it would besmirch their lifelong prestige.
Nu Zhan = Furious War. ↩Chapter 1086: Imperial Border
While the girls were surprised, Bai Jianzhen was in such awe that she blurted: "Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan, he had a grand completion Immortal Physique too…"
The nine worlds have a particular belief. When a grand completion Immortal Physique user was at their peak, they could assail Immortal Emperors. Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan was not only at the top already, he ended up becoming an emperor as well!
Just think about it, his power must have been unfathomable.
"Are there existences in this world that are even more powerful than Immortal Emperors?" Li Shuangyan murmured in a daze.
Li Qiye slightly shook his head and answered: "In the nine worlds, there might not be something stronger than an Immortal Emperor. In a one-on-one fight, Immortal Emperors have always been invincible. The fact that Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan couldn't get to the other side doesn't necessarily mean that he wasn't strong enough."
"Then for what reason did he fail?" Chen Baojiao quickly asked. Anyone would be curious about a secret like this.
Even Mei Suyao looked over at Li Qiye. Even though she was the main successor of the Eternal River School, not even its ancestors knew this matter very well, let alone its disciples. Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan rarely talked about this matter. At best, he only left behind a few words. The majority was all speculated by the future generations.
Mei Suyao realized that Li Qiye knew a lot more, even things that weren't privy to her ancestors.
Li Shuangyan looked at her Young Noble and couldn't help but ask: "What is the reason for the emperor's failure in crossing to the other side?"
In her mind, there was nothing that her Young Noble didn't know or couldn't do. If he didn't know, then others definitely wouldn't know.
"Because there were too many uncertainties on the other side." Li Qiye didn't want to talk about this matter. Back then, Immortal Emperor Nu Zhan had specifically asked him about this before, but he wasn't willing to disclose its secrets unless he was capable of solving this mystery.
"Okay, let's go to the Imperial Border. I'll take you guys to have a look at a certain place, it will definitely defy your common sense." Li Qiye smiled.
Having heard this, the girls became happy and excited even. They came with their Young Noble for the experience and to broaden their horizons.
Even the otherworldly Mei Suyao felt quite happy. She didn't come with Li Qiye for treasures or merit laws. She wanted to see a world unreachable and unviewable by others.
Li Qiye and the girls began to head for the Imperial Border at an extremely fast speed.
The Imperial Border was the other half of the Lesser Imperial Devil World. The Imperial Border and the Devil World each took half of the entire land.
No one knew why this lesser world was divided into two regions like this. What was even stranger was that imperial soldiers and dark cultivators existed together in this place, but they never mingled.
A boundary separated the two worlds. Even when the two different existences were close to each other right beside the boundary, it was a distance between heaven and earth.
The Imperial Border gave a completely different feeling than the Devil World. The Devil World was indeed majestic with great sceneries, but it was engulfed in dark energy. This, in turn, resulted in an oppressive atmosphere.
The Imperial Border was different. Anyone who stepped inside would instantly feel a sense of heroism and ambition.
Regardless of whether one was a big shot or a minor character, once inside the Imperial Border, they would instantly feel a free and unrestrained momentum amidst this vast world.
"Imperial momentum…" Mei Suyao couldn't help but murmur after sensing this atmosphere and feeling an ambition rising in her heart.
The imperial momentum was the foundation of the Imperial Border. It was the same as the evil energy in the Devil World and the Buddhist affinity in the plateau.
Because of this atmosphere or maybe the border itself, everyone would think that this scenic area was magnificent. Each peak and river gave off a royal and righteous aura.
The Devil World had dark cultivators and the Imperial Border had imperial "weapons". "Weapon" here was not referring to an Immortal Emperor Life Treasure or something of that sort but rather the troops of the border! 1
Both dark cultivators and imperial soldiers had a few similarities. The first was that soldiers didn't have blood energy and had eternal life as well. The second was that they didn't care for outsiders either.
However, dark cultivators were easier to provoke because at the Imperial Border, messing with one imperial soldier was the same as messing with an entire nation. Any powerful cultivator would still be trampled to bits under a great army.
"Kill!" The screams of war resounded on a plain. Two armies launched a great attack on each other. In the blink of an eye, the armies collided and an earth-shattering battle ensued.
This was a war between two empires of the border, causing the world to tremble.
In the face of such a battle, powerful cultivators didn't dare to come close. The powerful imperial momentum and fierce bloodthirst made them turn pale.
The majority of imperial soldiers wore armor. They didn't have blood energy but rather a powerful imperial momentum instead. Even a little footman would have quite a powerful momentum.
As for the generals, they were much more extraordinary. Their momentum was as powerful as a god's.
"Rumble!" The two armies raged on in this ruthless battle. However, imperial soldiers couldn't die. A very strange scene appeared. After imperial soldiers defeated their enemies, they would instantly absorb their imperial momentum. At that point, the losing victim's momentum level would reach an all-time low.
After doing so, the victors would let go and instantly attack someone else while shouting: "Kill!"
The losing side eventually retreated. They didn't abandon their comrades who had been sucked dry of their imperial momentum and instead carried them along to flee.
The victorious side didn't give chase. They headed for a different location with a mine.
After seeing this, many people learned quite a few things. A battle between imperial soldiers was completely different from that of cultivators. Moreover, it looked like imperial soldiers were quite united!
In fact, the wars between empires here were all like this. They happened quite often as competitions for the mines.
Chen Baojiao saw the losing side retreat and asked: "Do imperial soldiers want to absorb their enemies' momentum to become stronger?"
"That's one of the methods. Outside of absorbing momentum, the other is excavating the mines." Li Qiye explained: "Regal Gold is a very magical type of gold in these mines. Outside of increasing their momentum, it has other important uses as well."
"Such as?" Li Shuangyan asked further.
Li Qiye watched the victorious side rush into the mine and didn't answer. Mei Suyao had to answer instead: "For the Expedition Path. If the soldiers want to go there, they have to use Regal Gold. Something that is different about dark cultivators and imperial soldiers is that dark cultivators are solitary beings. For example, when boarding the platform, they will not form teams. This is not the case for imperial soldiers. If they wanted to embark on the Expedition Path, their entire empire would do so. All of the soldiers would follow their imperial monarch, so they require a huge amount of Regal Gold."
At this point, the victorious side had entered the mine shaft. This mine could be described as spectacular. From the ground to the area where the veins were located, a mighty imperial momentum could be found surging to the sky like a spring. The unsuspecting would think that it was spewing out pure gold.
"Can we dig up Regal Gold as well?" Chen Baojiao asked curiously.
"Just watch and find out." Li Qiye smilingly responded.
At this time, a cultivator had watched the whole event play out for the first time in their life. He noticed that the entire army was inside and that there was no one guarding the entrance, so he sneaked in, wishing to excavate some Regal Gold as well.
He jumped to a vein inside the mine. What came next was a burst of screams. Everyone saw this cultivator being pushed out into the sky by the gushing momentum. He was instantly torn into pieces and created a bloody downpour.
After seeing this, the other cultivators who also wanted to get closer to the mine lost their courage and quickly retreated far away.
"Let's go. Even though Regal Gold is essential to imperial soldiers, no one has found any uses of this material for cultivators, at least for now." Li Qiye smiled and turned away.
The girls followed him as they continued on. They saw a huge citadel along the way. It was no lesser than a great city back in the Mortal Emperor World.
This sentence won't make as much sense in English. The word 兵 has the following definitions: soldiers; a force; an army; weapons; arms; military; warlike. In ED, it is often translated to weapons, which is why this paragraph is necessary. I knew they were soldiers from the start due to the context. ↩Chapter 1087: Lost Era
The grand imperial momentum from the citadel gave an incomparable feeling of stateliness, the home of an emperor.
The citadel was closed and no one could enter. There were no signs of patrolling soldiers on the city walls either. The entire citadel was quiet, giving off the feeling that it was a city of the dead.
"Each kingdom will have a citadel, the gathering place of all their imperial soldiers." Li Qiye glanced at the huge citadel from the distance and explained: "When imperial soldiers aren't excavating or deployed, they will basically all be asleep."
"Can an outsider enter such a citadel?" Li Shuangyan asked.
Li Qiye gently shook his head: "In theory, outsiders can't enter, but of course there are always exceptions. And there is only one method of entry — a direct assault."
"Fighting against the entire kingdom!" Li Shuangyan understood the implications of fighting against an entire kingdom by attacking their city.
"It seems like the Space Trample Mountain is strong enough. Jikong Wudi actually barged into a royal palace and took a cauldron from there." Chen Baojiao mentioned an exciting event that recently happened.
"They only dared to pick a minor kingdom. They wouldn't dare to do so against a real empire with just Venerable Ninesword. It is simply impossible." Li Qiye gently shook his head.
"How many kingdoms are there in the Imperial Border?" Li Shuangyan asked.
Li Qiye stared towards the horizon and replied: "Quite a few lesser kingdoms. However, in the older ages, there were more imperial soldiers compared to dark cultivators, even more than the monks at the plateau."
He paused for a moment: "After millions of years, many kingdoms have embarked on the Expedition Path. Even though there are still many lesser kingdoms, there are not more than three or four empires left."
With that, Li Qiye didn't say anything else and continued forward. The girls followed him to a new location, an ordinary looking valley.
He took out the map drawn by Blazing Devil and did some calculations before confirming: "This is the place."
Mei Suyao asked: "Isn't Blazing Devil a dark cultivator? Why was he born at the Imperial Border?"
Li Qiye responded: "I am not looking for his location of birth but a vein similar to that place."
With that, he smiled at the girls and said: "Ladies, is everyone ready? What you will face is an unbelievable world, a lost civilization."
"A lost civilization!" Mei Suyao was shocked after hearing this since she knew more than the others. When Li Qiye said the words "lost civilization", she vaguely thought about a few things because she had read records of an extremely ancient era before.
Li Qiye took out the Insect Pipe and inserted it on top of a special location. With his motion, the countless little pieces on the pipe began to rotate.
"Let's move a little further away." He pulled the group back to a certain distance before stopping.
"Buzz!" The unbelievable happened. Earlier, the pipe was only a tiny item, but its little parts were continuously changing and building upon itself at this moment with extreme speed.
After a short amount of time, a fortress was erected in the sky from countless intricate parts. From the placing of the pipe to the creation of the city, this was truly a shocking and mysterious spectacle.
This fortress was supported by the tiny pipe on the ground so it seemed like a flying fortress.
"We need to go now or we'll miss the chance." Li Qiye took out the Mechanical World Vessel from Vedas Vajra. With its activation came a rumbling noise.
This small item also assembled itself into a huge ship with many different metals coming together in a very strange manner.
The group entered this vessel and, under Li Qiye's control, it instantly flew into the fortress in the sky. There was a field hovering on top of the fortress where Li Qiye parked the vessel.
"Hum—" In the blink of an eye, the fortress instantly became tiny again and took the bronze vessel with it. It turned back into a small pipe and drilled deep into the ground.
At this moment, Li Qiye flew the vessel along. They were traveling inside an incredible world.
Here were countless huge parts with spinning gears and gigantic pendulum clocks swinging back and forth.
They had entered a metallic world as if they were inside a machine with countless wheels, gossamers, and moving iron teeth. The girls were instantly stunned. Despite their knowledge, all of them were still astounded. They didn't know what world they were entering.
After a while, Li Qiye finally flew the vessel out of this area towards a blue sky.
The ship eventually landed on the ground. Li Qiye jumped out first and took a deep breath: "It really is here."
The girls disembarked one after another. They were still quite shaken since this was an entirely new experience. A bit later, they calmed down and looked up at the blue sky. Strangely, it was different from the sky of the nine worlds.
From a glance from afar, one would see the moon hanging in the sky. However, this moon was split in half. The sun was there as well, but something had penetrated it, leaving a huge hole in the middle.
The girls withdrew their gazes and noticed that they were standing in a desert. They had been through deserts before, so they felt that this desert was different somehow. There was a scorching feeling as if this place used to be a rich and verdant land, but later on, a terrifying power had incinerated it, leaving behind a desert.
"Just what is this place?" The quiet Bai Jianzhen stated her bewilderment.
Li Qiye flatly replied: "An ancient lost civilization with no records in the modern age." His eyes swept through a faraway place and became quite profound.
"Before the Legendary Era." Mei Suyao murmured. This was an era that existed only in myths without any real records.
"This is unbelievable, the legend is real." Mei Suyao was shaken. She was now standing on the ground of an actual lost civilization.
"Perhaps even older." Li Qiye softly spoke: "Who knows how many eras have gone by amidst the river of time? Legendary Era, Desolate Era, Desolate Expansion Era, Ancient Ming Era, Emperors Era…"
"Right." Mei Suyao added: "Some ancient people speculated that there are eras much older than the Legendary Era."
The other girls were surprised too. In the present times, the oldest traceable era was the Desolate Era. Moreover, there weren't that many records of it. The Legendary Era only existed in speculations.
If there were even more eras before the Legendary Era, then it would be quite unimaginable.
"There are too many things purposely hidden from the world across the long eons." Li Qiye lightly commented: "If we were to divide the river of time, then in fact, from the Desolate Era till now, it can only be counted as one era."
"Why?" Bai Jianzhen was quite inquisitive at this moment.
"Development." Li Qiye looked at her and answered: "Why did the Legendary Era disappear? Why were cultivators during the Desolate Era so weak? From the barren Desolate Era to the rising Desolate Expansion Era to the prosperous Emperors Era, this is a process of development!"
"What happens after the development process?" Mei Suyao's heart skipped a beat. She knew a little about this, especially after Li Qiye let her see some of his past.
"War!" Li Qiye's expression sank. He didn't say anything else and continued forward with the girls.
"This is…" They didn't get too far before Chen Baojiao felt that she stepped on something. She dug it up but she found that this item buried in the sand was much bigger than expected. The other girls came to help her.
After a while, Mei Suyao finally excavated the item underground. It was a huge iron man that looked just like a god of war.
Li Shuangyan and Chen Baojiao both exclaimed after seeing this iron man: "The Mortal Monarch!"