Chapter 921: Secret In The Pond
Li Qiye didn't mind the angered shadow as he explained: "I don't blame you for blaming me. Honestly, I corrupted you back then by contaminating you with emotions. I'm guilty of that. All along, I've always wanted the item in this place, I won't deny what I've done back then. If you want to blame me, then wait until the day you are free, then you can come at me at any time. At that moment, we won't be betting or scheming against each other." Li Qiye gently sighed after finishing.
The shadow contemplated in silence after hearing this. It seemed that it had accepted Li Qiye's explanation.
Li Qiye sighed and slowly walked towards the pond. The shadow had no response and the dao runes on the ground didn't shift at all. Without a doubt, it had implicitly given him permission to pass.
Without its permission, even an Immortal Emperor would be teleported outside once they set foot into these thick arrays of dao runes!
Standing next to the lake and looking down at the pond full of Provenance's Splendor, Li Qiye immediately jumped in without the slightest hesitation.
He continued to sink after entering. This pond was very deep; after a long while of sinking, he finally saw the bottom.
There was a golden maelstrom at the base of the pond. It slowly swirled around as if it was the rhythm of this world.
It was unfathomable and seemed depthless. No one could tell where it led to.
Li Qiye floated above the maelstrom with rampant thoughts in his mind because there was a heaven-shattering secret regarding this matter. Moreover, this golden maelstrom was only a part of it.
However, time did not allow Li Qiye to contemplate at this moment. He took a deep breath and opened his sea of memories. With a series of explosions, a universal law that contained countless secrets flew out.
"Open!" The universal law pinned itself to the edge of the maelstrom. While Li Qiye's hands were busy forming profound mudras, he shouted and a mantra flew out.
"Boom!" A mark emerged above the maelstrom, one that belonged to Li Qiye.
He had the chance to come here last time after defeating the blurred shadow. Because of this, he already had something amazing stored at the edge of the golden maelstrom. Naturally, this was something that only he was aware of.
"Go." Li Qiye then hid another item in this mark. It disappeared inside and completely hid itself. At the same time, the mark also disappeared from the maelstrom so that no outsiders would ever find out what just happened.
After doing so, his thirteen palaces loudly blared and activated the Nirvana Heavens. The vessel of life and vessel of genesis emerged as well and poured down their endless blood energy and power.
"Let me help you so that you can come out in this generation!" Li Qiye poured his blood energy and life force into the maelstrom.
At the same time, a silver glimmer came out from his mind. He obtained this silver glimmer from the deepest location of the Ancestral Realm back then!
"Rumble!" Waves of golden swirls escaped from the maelstrom, causing the earth to spin. Right when these swirls erupted, a golden light flew into Li Qiye's mind.
The blurred shadow simply stood there and quietly watched the surging water in the pond. At this second, it was being itself, emotionless and unstained by the mundane world.
After a long time, Li Qiye climbed out of the pond with a splash.
He was very worn out at this moment and seemed that he would crumble at any time; his complexion was completely pale just like how his blood had been drained.
"Your endurance is pretty good, you haven't fallen yet." The blurred shadow coldly stared at Li Qiye without any emotion.
Li Qiye sat on his butt and smiled. However, due to his fatigued state, his smile was even uglier than crying. He leisurely said: "I have always endured till the very end, even in near-death situations."
The shadow only glanced at him without saying anything.
"Before dying, how, how about I bring up one more request?" Li Qiye was heaving heavily, completely out of breath. He didn't have the strength to speak at this moment, he was only holding on before breathing his last breath.
The shadow coldly said: "Speak." It didn't seem to want to argue or be angry at him.
"I, I don't know what fortune the Death Seal will give me, but, but before my final breath, can you send me to the Mortal Emperor World? This… this shouldn't be difficult… for you…" Before he could finish his words, he fell flat down on the ground.
At this point, he could still move a bit and spoke: "I'm, I'm telling you, we… we will still be able to meet again. At, at that time, it still won't be late if y-you want to deal with me…"
With that, his life finally faded; he died before finishing his sentence!
The curse of the shadow was indeed very frightening. Although it didn't destroy Li Qiye's true fate, just one imprintation made sure that his death was unavoidable.
Alas, Li Qiye was very heaven-defying. He didn't die immediately and actually withstood it until everything was over!
"Too much blabbering." The shadow coldly uttered. A light began to move along with the dao runes.
"Buzz." Li Qiye instantly disappeared inside the dao runes, teleporting him away in a flash! Although it didn't say that it would do so, it still sent him off.
It was absent-minded afterward. The shadow was a universal law without any emotions. However, Li Qiye had stayed at this place for a very long time and taught it many things. Under Li Qiye's influence, it gradually changed and was no longer a pure universal law!
Although it knew Li Qiye came with a goal and tricked it twice, it didn't hate Li Qiye. Because of him, it was able to learn just how beautiful this world was! It understood much more things outside of universal laws and orders. It wasn't able to derive or transform into such things!
The shadow eventually murmured: "I want to be a person, someone with emotions, just like those in his stories." Li Qiye did not hear these words. This universal law without life wanted to see the outside world.
"Li Qiye, remember well. Once I am free, I'll beat the crap out of you for tricking me!" The shadow laughed before disappearing.
After being sent outside, Li Qiye quickly crossed the void and entered the pathways between worlds. He was instantly brought into the territory of the Mortal Emperor World.
"Buzz!" His body lit up at this moment. A white flower emerged from his mind with eighteen petals. This was the Death Seal, one of the four great techniques from the Death Scripture.
Three of the petals were bright, signifying that Li Qiye had died three times. Outside of the death this time, he had died to Jian Wushuang once and another time back at the Beast Vein.
Li Qiye should have revived the moment the Death Seal appeared, but the seal didn't immediately resurrect him. The light on the three petals began to move and turned into a fate loop!
The Death Seal had other effects outside of just revival once the number of deaths reached a particular amount.
One fate accumulated from three deaths, one item formed from six deaths, one life changed from nine deaths, and eighteen deaths to reach the high heavens!
This meant that after dying three times, the energy of death would turn into a fate loop, giving him a new fortune.
"Buzz!" After Li Qiye flew to the Mortal Emperor World, the Death Seal dragged him through the spatial fabric of the realms towards the Barren Earth. 1
Mortal Emperor World, Barren Earth! It was located in the southern region of this world and spanned endlessly.
As one of the five great realms, the territory here was no less impressive than that of the Eastern Hundred Cities or the Grand Middle Territory. Although it had the name Barren Earth, it was not a parched land. 2
It was completely wrong to think of this land as a desert because it was full of water sources. Many areas in this realm were even known for their fertileness!
Thus, very few people could explain the reason for the name. There were a variety of stories. One stated that during an ancient era, a war of the immortal level took place here. Immortals were able to incinerate the entire realm with a swing of their sleeve, scorching this great location.
Later on, under considerable efforts from supreme existences, they were able to turn this land back into a land of fish and rice. 3
921 TeaserLi Qiye didn't mind the angered shadow as he explained: "I don't blame you for blaming me. Honestly, I corrupted you back then by contaminating you with emotions. I'm guilty of that. All along, I've always wanted the item in this place, I won't deny what I've done back then. If you want to blame me, then wait until the day you are free, then you can come at me at any time. At that moment, we won't be betting or scheming against each other." Li Qiye gently sighed after finishing.
The shadow contemplated in silence after hearing this. It seemed that it had accepted Li Qiye's explanation.
Li Qiye sighed and slowly walked towards the pond. The shadow had no response and the dao runes on the ground didn't shift at all. Without a doubt, it had implicitly given him permission to pass.
Without its permission, even an Immortal Emperor would be teleported outside once they set foot into these thick arrays of dao runes!
Standing next to the lake and looking down at the pond full of Provenance's Splendor, Li Qiye immediately jumped in without the slightest hesitation.
[collapse] Barren here can also mean crimson/barren/naked/bloody in nature/southern, but there are a few reasons why I chose crimson over barren in the early chapters. First, crimson is relatively safe before getting the details of the land. What if it was a lush land? Crimson can at least be the color of the mud. The second reason is due to a particular race in this place. Some names are always problematic to translate if the author doesn't give sufficient details. This particular word 赤 is an example. Changing names for accuracy is something I do want to do for ED, but it can be troublesome with the current client. If the new website provides an easier outlet, then name changes will be carried out more often for older chapters. ↩ Okay, nevermind, Barren wins. I initially had Crimson Earth for it like back then before getting to this paragraph. Translating can be so fun… I won't be changing footnote 1 so that people can read my initial thoughts on this particular word. ↩ Idiom for fertile and other synonyms. ↩Chapter 922: Sky Dome
There was another legend about this realm. In the ancient era before the myriad races came about, this place gave birth to something. Right when it was born, the creature opened its mouth and devoured the heaven and earth. It siphoned the blood of the billions of existences here as well as all the worldly energy in the surrounding area.
A long period later, this creature finally reached the end of its lifespan. It came back to the place that gave birth to it and met its end.
After it died, all the blood energy and essences were returned to this land. Many years later, this land became verdant once more, a land of plenty.
This creature was called the Blood Forefather later on, the progenitor of the Blood Race!
Some from the Blood Race scattered across the nine worlds accepted this theory while clan members denied it. The origin of the clan remains a mystery.
Although the legends of this creature and the Southern Barren Earth couldn't be proven, one thing was certain — this Blood Forefather truly existed, and the first branch of the Blood Race had been thriving till this very day.
At the most southern region of this realm was a huge desert. Sand was flying everywhere among the dunes. If one could cross this desert, then they would be able to reach a certain location.
This location was called the primal ground of the Blood Forefather, the holy mecca in the minds of many from the Blood Race.
The Blood Forefather's primal ground was where their progenitor was born. Legends went on further to state that back in the ancient era, one blood drop from an immortal fell down to this place. It turned into the creature that ended up giving birth to the entire Blood Race.
This legend was considered the most orthodox belief of their origin and was accepted by many.
Of course, there were also other legends besides this common one. Two of them were spread quite far.
One of them stated that during a dark era, the Blood Race's ancestors were a group of evil creatures hiding in the darkness, monsters that relied on siphoning blood to survive.
It wasn't until later that a master among these evil creatures got together with a woman. Their offspring eventually came to be the new Blood Race. This new Blood Race went to war with their ancestors and replaced them completely.
The other legend claims that their progenitor was a devil. This devil later on mated with a female corpse, and then came their race.
The majority of the Blood Race accepted the first legend. They considered themselves to be pure and righteous and naturally, they would deny the second and third legends. At the very least, the Blood Race members located at the Barren Earth believed that these two legends were fabricated by the other races to discredit their clan!
Thus, the Mortal Emperor World mainly accepted the first legend. This made the Blood Forefather very prestigious and influential among the Blood Clan members in this world.
This primal ground was controlled by a group that claimed to be the first branch of the Blood Race, the forefather's direct descendants.
For a very long period of time, this primal ground was able to command all the Blood Race's members across the nine worlds. Today, though its prestige was not as great as it was in the past, it was still very influential in the Barren Earth. Many blood tribes and even the imperial lineages situated here all acknowledged the prestigious position of the primal ground!
"Boom!" Li Qiye fell to the ground. The Death Seal lit up and seemed to be reversing time. Everything recovered, including Li Qiye's true fate that was imprinted with the curse.
He opened his eyes and flexed his blood energy. There was a horrible feeling as if an invisible force was locking down his dao foundation, not allowing him to activate any laws.
"This is too devious. It is one thing to let me die, but it even added this. This is just torturing me on purpose." Li Qiye felt that his dao foundation was sealed and couldn't help but smile wryly.
He knew that the blurry shadow was angry at him, so it did this to his dao foundation. When he came back to life, he wouldn't be able to channel his merit laws; he would become a man who couldn't even do a good job of tying down chickens. 1
This curse was simply too powerful. Even Immortal Emperors would die if their true fate was subjected to its effect. The reality was that the law only sealed Li Qiye's dao foundation and didn't destroy it — this was already showing mercy. It didn't want to ruin him, it only wanted to make it a bit difficult for him.
Li Qiye stretched his body and heard the sounds of bones breaking beneath him. He turned around to look and noticed that below him was a mountain of bones. Countless skeletons were piled on top of each other in this place. It was too messy to determine how many people had died here.
However, this was not the worst part. A frightening death aura was spread throughout the atmosphere, an endless amount of death energy that could corrode all things. Any living creatures that came here would die to this corrosion.
This might be fatal to others, but for Li Qiye who cultivated the Death Chapter, this was only a meal or even a great medicinal supplement.
Li Qiye finally had a good look at his surroundings. This was a huge stone cavern with bones everywhere.
Those who were more cowardly would be soiling themselves if they were lost in this place.
Li Qiye relaxed on top of the bones and looked around before murmuring: "Not bad." He was still as nonchalant as ever despite being on top of countless skeletons.
His eyes fell upon the roof of the cave. Strangely enough, it wasn't made out of rock. An endless amount of red lights moved at the dome as if this was not a roof but rather a sky. There were also clouds of a red shade floating around!
These red clouds continued to change as if they were trying to form something. These transformations were definitely creepy and gave off the sense that there was something secretive going on.
"This is…" Li Qiye's eyes turned serious after he saw the transforming light in the sky, especially the bloody clouds. He tilted his head to take a better look around.
"Sky Dome…" Li Qiye finally felt a familiar sensation. He confirmed his location after seeing the transforming clouds in the Sky Dome.
"What fortune shall this grant me?" Li Qiye usually didn't care for all the creations in this world. He was, however, a bit excited after recognizing this place.
"Crash!" After a while, a fate loop flew out from the bloody clouds and pulled out a long universal law. This law was dazzling and extremely profound. No one could look straight at its radiance.
"Rumble!" Li Qiye's master palace opened. In the blink of an eye, it took in this universal law. Meanwhile, the fate loop flew to the Death Seal before disappearing. The Death Seal that resembled a lotus flower exploded once before re-entering his body.
"This is…" Li Qiye checked the law inside his palace closely before murmuring: "Did I get really lucky this time? If this is real, then this fate is too incredible."
One fate accumulated from three deaths. Li Qiye had died three times, so the Death Seal took him to this place. Moreover, the fate loop even brought him an item like this. All of this was for a good reason. This was to give him an extreme fortune, a grand creation.
"Did I really get this?" Li Qiye meticulously looked inside his palace again. He wasn't completely certain right now.
After a while, Li Qiye revealed a faint smile: "Just have to go out and give it a try to know if it is real or not."
With that, he looked around and smiled: "Sky Dome, eh. The Blood Race has always wanted this secret. If this is real, then this really is a case of being unable to find the destination after wearing out iron soles, then inadvertently finding it without any effort!"
Very few people would recognize the name "Sky Dome". Even in the Blood Race, especially the younger generation, they wouldn't know what it is.
However, the Sky Dome had a special significance for the origin of the Blood Race and their primal ground.
Li Qiye had come to this place before in a distant era, and not just once since he wanted to obtain the legendary item in the Sky Dome.
However, as the Dark Crow, even though he was able to scheme from one era to another, he couldn't obtain this legendary item. This was because there were no rules to the item, it was all based on fate.
In fact, all of the Blood Race and the primal ground had always wanted to obtain it because it was related to their origin — a heaven-shattering secret.
People from the clan came and gone to this place. They all obtained some benefits, just not the legendary item!
Idiom for weak and useless men. ↩Chapter 923: Sky Dome
Eventually, Li Qiye looked at the huge stone cavern and smiled: "This is just in time for the Blood Primal Ground's baptism test as well. It seems like I came right at the perfect time." Li Qiye looked around before stepping on the mountain of bones and departed towards a certain direction.
He didn't get too far before he saw a few new skeletons. The death energy had yet to corrode the muscles from these skeletons, so it was easy to tell that they had only recently died.
As he went further, more fresh corpses could be found. These corpses paved a path as the powerful death energy slowly ate away their bodies. The closer he was to the exit, the more bodies he would find. This meant that the weaker cultivators would die very quickly upon entering this cavern while those who could go further were much more powerful.
"After many years, the disciples from the Blood Race are still coming and failing in waves. They want to obtain the blessing of their progenitor in the Sky Dome to pass the baptism of blood." Li Qiye smiled and gently shook his head while looking at the fresh skeletons.
Li Qiye's location was called the Sky Dome, a place desired by countless cultivators from the Blood Race. It was also very dangerous.
The disciples of the clan believed that if they could enter the Sky Dome, they could obtain a great fortune — their progenitor's blessing. Experiencing the baptism of blood was the same as a carp jumping through the dragon gate!
There was a myth regarding the Sky Dome. It stated that after the Blood Forefather died, he left his skull behind, and it became the Sky Dome.
It was precisely due to its origin that a horrifying death energy that could devour all living things existed here. The disciples from the clan aspired to enter despite the numerous deaths because of the secret hidden within along with the many other great creations.
Passing through a baptism successfully after obtaining the forefather's blessing meant that one's value would increase a hundredfold over night!
Both the Sky Dome and the blood pond for the baptism were under the jurisdiction of the primal ground. Every once in awhile, they would organize a baptism with the name Blood Legacy. No matter the sect, any member of the Blood Clan was eligible to participate as long as they were able to enter the Sky Dome and obtain the blessing. Success was all dependent on their own abilities.
Eventually, Li Qiye left the Sky Dome and crawled out from the cavern's entrance. This was the only way inside the Sky Dome.
At this time, it was completely surrounded by four different groups. They camped there quietly while gazing at the cave.
The groups were led by four women that all had their own charm. The only thing similar was that they were all very young with great figures.
They wore embroidered dresses. However, these loose dresses still couldn't hide their tall and voluptuous bodies. One could see the rolling hills and faintly discernable valleys.
Moreover, they all wore masks so no one could see their faces. All four masks had different colors, same with their dresses.
One had a golden mask with a yellow dress, another had a red mask and a red dress. The third had a blue mask with a blue dress while the last had a white mask and a white dress.
Dozens of experts were behind these four ladies. They all wore the same colors as their leaders as well. It was clear that they were from the same branch.
The four groups came from the Blood Primal Ground. Although the primal ground claimed that they inherited the legacy of the forefather, they themselves were divided into four branches.
The four leaders were the primal ground's Skymatrons. They had extraordinary bloodlines and represented the four branches.
They usually never showed themselves to the world and were not famous at all in the Mortal Emperor World. However, they had an exceedingly important position in the hearts of the Blood Race's disciples. Their existences were crucial to the race itself.
At this time, they commanded the experts from their groups to guard the entrance to the Sky Dome. However, after several days, the Sky Dome had no reaction.
For the baptism this time, many disciples entered but no one came out alive after all this time. Thus, when Li Qiye crawled out from inside, all eyes were immediately fixated on him.
The four women and the experts were looking at him intensely. After several days, Li Qiye was the only person who came out alive. More importantly, he was not from the Blood Race, he was only a human. How could they not be taken aback by this?
"A human…" The experts all glanced at each other in confusion. A lot of their clan members entered the Sky Dome, but no one noticed the entry of a human back then.
"Where are the others?" One of the Skymatrons finally spoke with a voice as clear as an oriole. This matron had the yellow embellishment.
The four matrons represented the four seasons. Yellow was spring, red was summer, blue was autumn, and white for winter.
Li Qiye looked at the matron and smiled: "The legendary Primal Skymatrons, interesting… What is going on this generation for even the matrons to run here and show their faces I wonder?"
The Spring Matron that spoke earlier shouted: "How presumptuous!"
"Bam!" A dragon-like rod immediately aimed for him and coiled around his body in an instant.
"Girl, take it easy. I am the only person who made it out alive from the Sky Dome, so I have become your forefather. If you do this, I'll make you clean the toilet." Li Qiye was still as carefree as always.
The other three matrons were intrigued after hearing this. The Autumn Matron attacked as well. She raised her pretty hand, sending her sleeve towards Li Qiye while speaking: "Lil Sister Spring, you can't have him all to yourself."
The Spring Matron's whip suddenly shifted and lunged forth like a dragon towards the sleeve.
"If he is the only survivor, then he belongs to me." The Winter Matron also rushed forward to grab Li Qiye.
"Big Sister Winter, there's no need to be so hasty. The changes in the Sky Dome this time is strange. There must be something going on if he is the only survivor, so how can you monopolize him?" The Summer Matron also smiled and attacked the Winter Matron.
All of a sudden, the four matrons were fighting each other because of Li Qiye. Although none of them were truly angry, their techniques did not show any leniency.
Li Qiye gently shook his head after seeing the four women going at it without any consideration for anything else. He gently walked forward and stood together with the experts from the four branches. He placed his right hand on the shoulder of one of them and cheerfully asked: "Are your matrons the ones in the legends, or are they part of a newer generation?"
The experts at this moment all looked at him in confusion. This brat was being a bit too bold, right? It was one thing to run into their primal ground, but now, he was completely undaunted! They didn't know whether the fella was stupid or insane.
They would never dare to discuss the four maidens openly, so naturally this expert didn't answer his question.
"Aizz, it is said that your matrons all have extraordinary bloodlines. If they are part of a newer generation of matrons, then their actions are just too childish. They're like children fighting for a piece of candy." Li Qiye shook his head and smiled: "However, if they are the generation in the legends, then that would be scary. Do you know what mortals say is the scariest thing in this world?"
This expert didn't dare to say anything. The four matrons were right in front of him, so how could he make a comment?
Li Qiye continued to smile after seeing the non-responsive expert: "One mortal told me that the scariest thing in this world is not the heavens, not sickness or death, but an old woman! An old woman is already so scary, so a group of old women is even worse…"
Such a comment left the experts speechless. Black lines could be seen on their foreheads as they looked at Li Qiye as if he was a madman.
Not to mention disciples like them, even their ancestors wouldn't dare to make comments about the four Primal Skymatrons. But now, this brat had done it. He was just a junior from the human race… The guy was either insane or dumb as a rock.
Sure enough, after Li Qiye said his piece, the four matrons that were fighting each other immediately stopped and all glared at him.
If a stare could kill, then Li Qiye would have died countless times already!