Chapter 1287: A Pair Of Eyes
These eyes seemed to be quite archaic, as if they were plucked out from a living being and left in this corner long ago.
They have been well-preserved in this place, not at all withered by the passage of time.
They suddenly lit up at this very moment. Prior to this, they seemed to be closed, but now, they were opening. The eyes suddenly shifted, not in a tumbling sense, but the gaze seemed to be rotating in a very bizarre manner. Anyone would be frightened by this weird scene.
Li Qiye couldn't help but grin. He understood something after seeing it and said: "Bu Si, you brat. It looks like you have hidden your eyes in this place. You must have paid a great price to do so."
Everyone in the world knew about the collapse and destruction of Immortal Emperor Bu Si. Who would have thought that he had left his pair of eyes in this eternally secluded location, capable of evading everything and anything?
"Geezer, let's do it." Li Qiye touched the fence made from dragon bones and looked at the sky with a smile.
"Squeak—" A heavy sound came about. At this time, the fence slowly rose to the sky and the cavern was made available to Li Qiye.
"Neigh—" The horse was especially excited to see the seal being removed and lifted its hooves up high. It had been waiting for this moment and quickly rushed for the cavern in order to take the pair of eyes.
However, it immediately stopped and slowly retreated to the entrance. Despite being all bones, it could tell that the black liquid inside the cage was quite dreadful.
"Neigh—" The horse raised its hooves again and stared helplessly at the eyes in the corner.
Li Qiye smiled when he saw the horse's appearance and leisurely asked: "Do you need my help now?"
The frustrated horse looked back at Li Qiye. It still had the same hostility as before.
Li Qiye noticed this but didn’t care too much. He shrugged and continued with a smile: "You can hate me or whatever, I won't mind since I am such a benevolent person. However, what can you do in this situation? Will you continue to act hostile, or will you let it go and ask me for help?"
The horse glanced at Li Qiye then the eyes in the corner. With another neigh, it seemed to agree with Li Qiye. Despite this being the case, there was still a trace of caution in its demeanor.
Li Qiye chuckled: "Don't look at me like that. If I really wanted to take you down, you wouldn't be standing here right now. Your background might be incredible, but I could have pinned you to the ground long ago."
"Neigh—" The horse roared again as if it found this reply displeasing. Nevertheless, its hostility had been greatly reduced.
Li Qiye grinned and revealed: "My demand isn't high for helping you get those eyes. I just want to ride you for a bit later on, I believe this is quite fair."
The horse tilted its skull while contemplating. It resembled a human more than a skeletal horse.
In its eyes, Li Qiye was not a nice person at all. Its sentient self remained very cautious towards him.
Li Qiye laughed and added: "Okay, what other choice do you have if you refuse?"
The horse let out another neigh before nodding its head. Without a doubt, it has accepted the condition.
"Very well, now that's a good horsey." Li Qiye satisfyingly beamed and reached out to pat the horse's head.
It still didn't completely accept Li Qiye, so it shook its head to get his hand off. Li Qiye's smile disappeared as he withdrew his hand and then proceeded to enter the cavern. He went to the corner and picked up the pair of eyes.
He didn't immediately give it to the horse and instead carefully inspected it. The eyes met his stare with a curious glance as they darted about like the inquisitive eyes of a baby.
After a careful examination, Li Qiye couldn't help but smirk: "Immortal Emperor Bu Si, it looks like you still have an opportunity to turn things around. Brat, you are indeed full of schemes, to actually come up with something like this."
The eyes didn't understand what Li Qiye was saying. They looked like they weren't only curious about Li Qiye, they wanted to find out everything about the outside world.
"For generations, no one has been successful, but you have actually done it, not bad at all." Li Qiye grinned while looking at the eyes: "Fine, I'll lend you a hand. I will help you open your eyes."
With that, universal laws formed in his palm and rippled like the surface of a lake. He further derived these laws to expose their boundless potential and pointed at the pair of eyes.
"Neigh!" The skeletal horse by the entrance grew nervous and loudly howled. It wanted to rush in several times, but the black liquid truly frightened it. It was afraid that Li Qiye was doing something unfavorable to the eyes.
"Buzz—" When Li Qiye's finger touched the eyes, the boundless laws instantly jumped into them. At this point, a new world seemed to be opening in these eyes. It was colorful with swelling water — a magnificent scene.
Inside the eyes, a sun rose while a moon fell. A great sky emerged with winds and clouds. Generations changed from one to the next with continuous transformations between prosperity and stagnation… A grand universe was floating up and down within them.
The tense horse finally became relieved after seeing this. It had misunderstood Li Qiye; he was helping the eyes instead of harming them.
Meanwhile, the pair of eyes, full of curiosity, looked at the universe within. Everything seemed to be new and full of surprises.
Li Qiye then took it out of the cavern and looked at the horse while smiling: "If I wanted to harm them, would I have bothered to make a deal with you?" Having said that, he put the eyes into the horse's eye sockets.
"Neigh!" The horse excitedly roared. It took several steps backward to slowly adapt to its new eyes.
The truth was that this scene was incredibly bizarre. A horse comprised of only bones had gained a pair of eyes that belonged to a human — anyone would be creeped out after seeing this.
Li Qiye ignored the horse and entered the cave again. With runes in his palm, he carved them on the cage and then lifted it up: "Open!"
"Clank!" The other half of the cage under the ground was slowly being lifted by Li Qiye. Eventually, the whole cage was lifted up.
The black liquid in the pit began to stir in the midst of this process. It seemed as if Mt. Tai, that weighed trillions of pounds, had been removed from its body.
It stretched out a bit and slowly streamed out from the pit. A more accurate description would be that it was crawling out from its imprisonment.
"Neigh!" The horse was very afraid while watching this. It retreated to maintain a certain distance with this liquid.
The liquid cheered after finding out that it was finally free. Even though no sound came out, its shape and form made its jubilation apparent.
Just like that, it darted out of the hole like a gust of wind; it was excited to see the sun again.
Chapter 1288: Item Left Behind
Li Qiye followed the liquid out of the cave. After seeing the sun, the liquid found itself to be free and happily soared into the sky. Shortly after, a black ray short towards the Bonesea.
Li Qiye smiled and patted the horse: "Go, follow right behind it. This will make it easier for you to enter the forbidden zones in the Bonesea."
"Neigh!" The skeletal horse let out a roar and raised its frontal hooves before leaping into the sky. It disappeared towards the black liquid's direction.
Li Qiye murmured after seeing this: "Brat, I hope you can do it. It will definitely be a miracle, but of course, your current self is already a miracle."
Li Qiye was not in a hurry to chase after the horse and the black liquid. He took his time leaving the mountain range.
Jian Longwei was already waiting outside for him with a wooden box in his hands.
Jian Longwei looked towards the Bonesea's direction and curiously asked: "Is the Bonesea about to emerge?"
"It'll be lively for some time at the western Bonesea. Many people who have been coveting items from there won't be able to sit still." Li Qiye smiled while staring at the horizon.
Jian Longwei didn't comment. Even though the items there might be precious, he wanted nothing to do with them. Plus, this was a different generation; he didn't want to leave Rainbow City at all.
He calmed down and respectfully raised the wooden box with both hands towards Li Qiye: "Your Excellency, the progenitor wanted me to give you this. He said that this is something our ancestral aunt left behind; it is related to Empress Hong Tian. Before passing away, the ancestral aunt gave this to the progenitor, but he didn't know when to give it to you. He said that this might be your last time visiting our Jian Clan and perhaps the last meeting, so he ordered me to give it to you." The ancestral aunt was Jian Wenxin.
Li Qiye accepted the box and opened it to take a look inside. After a while, he gently closed it and sighed.
"It is all in the past." He put the box away and spoke with a hint of sadness: "I had already let go of this matter back then and didn't blame anyone. Immortality… perhaps I was wrong…"
Jian Longwei hesitated for a moment before stating: "The progenitor said that before she passed away, she also hoped that you could forget about the issue with Empress Hong Tian…"
"You don't know Empress Hong Tian, and Wenxin didn't either." Li Qiye smiled and gently shook his head: "I'm not blaming her for it. She has always been incredibly stubborn, and I don't want her to change. Pride is part of her nature, her stubbornness is actually a little adorable…"
He recalled the olden days with the stubborn girl and couldn't help but smile.
Even though they got into quite a fight and went their separate ways despite trusting each other completely, Li Qiye had never blamed her.
Longwei was quiet since he didn't know too much about his predecessors. Sometimes, he heard his progenitor talk about the relationship between the Dark Crow, Empress Hong Tian, and the ancestral aunt. It was too complicated for outsiders to understand.
After a long time, Li Qiye glanced at Longwei and said: "Your Jian Clan can co-exist with the dragon kingdom, so I'm not worried at all. You are the lord of the clan, but I don't have any good advice for you. Just keep trying your best and continue to pass down your bloodline. It hasn't been easy for the clan to last this long; your progenitor has spent a miraculous amount of effort. This is also the reason why he has been hanging on to dear life all this time…"
"… He is too reluctant to leave his descendants for he is full of love. His aspiration is to protect the children forever, to give them a peaceful life. He loves you all and this land wholeheartedly. His reason for living is not something personal, it isn't because he fears death. It's because he can't bear to leave, there are too many things in this world that make him worry." He gently sighed at the end.
Jian Wendi's life experience only bolstered his self-perceived responsibility for his children. He didn't want to be like his father who abandoned his own children for a selfish cause.
Jian Wendi was willing to do everything for his descendants. He was a good father and a proper ancestor to protect his descendants for generations to come.
"Your Excellency, I will keep your words deep in my mind." Longwei bowed with great reverence.
"I have to go now." Li Qiye looked back at the mountain range with yearning sentiments. Then, he casually pointed forward to open a portal and quickly crossed through many territories.
In recent days, there had been sudden changes at the Dragon Demon Sea. A black star came out of nowhere and crossed the sky with great speed like a falling meteor. Because it was too swift, the void shattered and issued bursts of explosions.
This meteor was followed by a skeletal horse whose speed was no lesser than the star itself. The horse continued to maintain a certain distance behind this meteor. This bizarre scene attracted the attention of many cultivators in this region.
What was even more concerning was that when this meteor crossed the sky, the skeletons in the nearby vicinity would begin to move. Some of them seemed to have been granted life and began to crawl.
However, after the meteor disappeared over the horizon, the skeletons would lose their strength and fall apart once more, scattering all over the ground.
This was quite a creepy spectacle that frightened all the nearby cultivators. Some experts and even seclusive ancestors had no choice but to pay attention to this event. Many speculations and theories arose.
"Maybe this is a demon star that will bring about a calamity to the Dragon Demon Sea. After all, only a devilish star such as this would be able to revive the dead." Plenty of big shots were worried.
Of course, a few ancestors were ecstatic. Their eyes flashed after seeing the moving skeletons powered by the star, and some even murmured: "This star can revive skeletons. Perhaps there is an immortal item within that will allow people to become eternal!"
In fact, many ancestors reached this conclusion. For those on the verge of death like them, nothing was more tempting than eternal life. The appearance of this black star gave them hope.
In a short period of time, the ancestors of many sea god and imperial lineages came out one after another. They thought about pursuing this black star.
Soon, news regarding the location of this star was spread. Someone personally saw it flying into the Bonesea with a skeletal horse right behind it.
"Into the Bonesea?" A big character murmured while his eyes sparkled: "Does the Bonesea really have an item that grants immortality?"
Another answered: "Maybe this is the case."
After coming up with this possibility, these ancestors became unbelievably excited like chickens with their heads cut off. They all excitedly stated: "There are so many tempting items in there. It looks like the momentum of the age is about to change, an item that can grant immortality is about to appear."
"An immortal artifact is coming into being at the Bonesea!" Someone released this news to the entire region.
An item that could grant immortality was mouth-watering. Many ancestors would be driven even crazier with such a thing. This news turned into a storm that swept up all the experts nearby. Heaven Spirit itself was affected. The powerful inhabitants of the Abyss and Jade Seas immediately departed for the Dragon Demon Sea and headed straight for the Bonesea.
Even the rare existences that had been buried under the earth since the dawn of time were startled after hearing this news.
An ancient existence calmed down and murmured: "Who is the mastermind?"
Even though this particular existence didn't know the real mysteries behind the Bonesea, they had heard stories about it, legends, even.
They immediately understood that someone was the puppetmaster behind all of this. However, the exact reason eluded them.
This was precisely why these near-death existences didn't want to come into being even after hearing about this immortal artifact. Whether it was real or not, they didn't dare to be involved.
Only truly powerful existences like them understood that very few in this world would dare to concoct such a plan.
This was a level beyond them, an even more fearsome type of existence that belonged only in legends. Despite being unstoppable for so long, they were unwilling to mess with such an existence because it might bring about extinction to their race.