Chapter 990: Risking It All For Love
Many people sighed while watching this scene play out. A few even had teary eyes.
A female cultivator's front dress was completely drenched in tears as she murmured: "So touching. If someone in this world was willing to die for me, I would definitely marry him!"
Li Qiye only smiled and shook his head in response to Chi Tianyu's request: "A man cannot break his promise. I said yes to her, so I have to take her life. Don't worry, after killing her, I will let you go, I promise."
"Li Qiye, you are a bastard!" Chi Tianyu had to loudly cry out.
Li Qiye ignored the scream and asked the kneeling princess: "Any last words?"
The princess took a deep breath and stared at Chi Tianyu before speaking from her heart: "Goodbye, you must live a fulfilling life from now on!"
Although she was very reluctant about many matters, she still turned her head and resolutely told Li Qiye: "Do it!" She then closed her eyes.
"Don't…" Chi Tianyu couldn't bear to watch. He turned his head away, not willing to see the princess die to Li Qiye's hands.
The world became still at this passing moment. A second seemed to be an eternity, no one could bear this slow torture.
But after a while, nothing happened. Eventually, the princess opened her eyes and Chi Tianyu turned his head back as well.
They saw Li Qiye still standing there with a leisurely smile.
The princess firmly spoke: "Do it!" She was ready to die and didn't hold onto any hope. She only wanted Chi Tianyu to live on.
"I am someone with a really bad habit. When others want me to do something, I wouldn't want to do it even more." With that, he smiled and casually waved his hand.
"Clank!" The universal law that pinned Chi Tianyu to the ground instantly flew back into his hand.
"Today, I will spare your life. I hope that you won't let down this girl who is so devoted to you." He stared at Chi Tianyu who was lying on the ground and grinned before leaving.
Both the princess and Chi Tianyu along with the experts watching in the distance found this development hard to believe. No one expected Li Qiye to spare the two of them like this.
"Oh right." Li Qiye suddenly turned back and spoke while the two were still bewildered: "In the future, stay far away from where I am. Provoke me again and I'll kill you two without showing any mercy!"
He coolly walked away afterward, leaving the two behind in a daze.
After a long time, the princess calmed down and quickly helped Chi Tianyu up: "Let's get out of here!"
Chi Tianyu didn't say anything and quietly let the princess prop him up. In an instant, the two of them disappeared into the horizon.
The crowd watched their departure. From then on, no one in this world saw them again. The Half-moon Princess and Chi Tianyu seemed to have disappeared without a trace, as if they no longer existed.
Both the Half-moon Tribe and the Pureblood School were very tight-lipped and never brought up their location.
After killing the monarch's group, Li Qiye acted as if nothing had happened and continued burying items on the peaks. In a few short days, he went from the Myriad Peaks to the Deca-myriad Peaks. Now, he was heading for the Million Peaks.
After the big commotion, there were significantly fewer Blood cultivators on the Godwar Mountain while the Blood-devil cultivators were nowhere to be found.
Prior to this, the Bloods took more than half of the mountains, but after Li Qiye killed so many ancestors from the tribe, the majority of the Blood Race retreated, and this went double for the Blood-devil Tribe.
At this moment, among the Blood cultivators who stayed behind, both the young geniuses and the old ancestors and even God-Monarchs took the long way around the moment they saw Li Qiye, let alone trying to stop his path.
Nevertheless, many were very curious about him. They saw him climb up one peak after another and found that even Million Peaks wasn't a challenge for him. He still leisurely walked up these high peaks as if he was not subjected to the suppression of the mountain.
The bizarre part was that these Million Peaks didn't give him any fortunes either. There were no discernible changes at the summit. Everyone knew that those who could climb to the top of these peaks were eligible to gain something. However, Li Qiye had been to the top of many, yet there was not a single reaction. Anyone who saw this would be completely astonished.
"Is Li Qiye really cursed then?" Someone who was puzzled couldn't help but murmur after seeing this strange event.
All the cultivators here found his situation to be quite incredible. They continued to watch him bury the items on these Million Peaks. Not a single one of his actions was missed.
Someone nervously asked: "Does he want to climb up the Prime Peak as well?"
Most were waiting for a miracle to happen. They wanted to watch Li Qiye reach the Prime Peak with their own eyes.
"No way." A cultivator felt that a miracle like this wouldn't happen: "For millions of years, no one has ever been able to climb the Prime Peak. Even the most brilliant genius wouldn’t be able to do so, let alone Li Qiye. Not long ago, Lin Tiandi failed as well, and Li Qiye is not necessarily stronger than him, so how could he make it up there?"
At this time, Li Qiye finally took the first step towards the Prime Peak. People started palpitating after seeing this first step and became quite tense.
"No way…" The next scene shocked everyone. Some couldn't help but scream from shock.
They saw the impossible; Li Qiye had entered the Prime Peak. Moreover, he was able to walk towards the summit as well.
"This, this can't be real…" Someone gasped and didn't dare to believe their own eyes: "Am, am I dreaming?" They pinched themselves and felt the sharp pain, realizing that it was not a dream.
Despite feeling incredulous, they knew that this was the reality.
An absent-minded spectator murmured: "It's a miracle, a miracle of the ages! For countless years, no one has ever been able to climb the Prime Peak, but today, Li Qiye has done it. How shocking, this is enough to shake the eons!"
"Only a genius from our human race would be able to create a miracle like this!" The human cultivators became quite proud and celebrated.
"What is this about Jikong Wudi and Lin Tiandi? They are nothing compared to the Fiercest of our human race!" The young humans were especially proud of this.
Under the watchful gaze of the crowd, Li Qiye continued his ascent. The spectators held their breaths and focused on watching his every move.
However, right when he reached the halfway point of the mountain, his figure suddenly disappeared. He vanished as if he had evaporated from this world.
"What's going on?" The attentive crowd was stunned. Many began to rub their eyes.
Some opened their heavenly gaze to find traces of him. However, despite their efforts, no one could find him; it seemed that he was no longer in this world.
"What happened?" Someone was completely jolted.
His successful climb was a miracle across all the eons. Many people were eager to watch him reach the summit. They wanted to know the legendary items at the top of this unclimbable peak.
But now, he disappeared into thin air before he could reach the top, leaving many people unable to react in time. There was no precedence to this, so the crowd was completely lost.
Someone murmured: "Perhaps the Prime Peak is different from the others. There are dangers here beyond our imagination."
This type of sudden disappearance had never happened before at the other peaks on the Godwar Mountain. Thus, without a reference point, the crowd couldn't come up with an answer.
"Hmph, even Immortal Emperors wouldn't dare to climb the Prime Peak. Li Qiye is only a junior, he is truly daydreaming if he thinks he can climb to the top of the Prime Peak." A Blood expert saw his disappearance and sneered. He was happily gloating.
In fact, many Blood cultivators felt a sense of relief. Their Blood Race was feeling pressured when someone as fierce as Li Qiye was in the Barren Earth.
Chapter 991: Mysterious Underground World
Li Qiye disappeared in the blink of an eye and no one knew where he went. He was the only one privy to his current location.
A split moment after disappearing, he emerged at a hidden location. There was nothing here except a stone gate in front of him.
This was the deepest location of the Godwar Mountain. After the final battle, very few people were able to make it here.
This place hid a frightening secret, something coveted by even Immortal Emperors! During the Ancient Ming Era, many of their emperors tried to obtain the items located underground here.
Li Qiye took a deep breath while staring at the stone gate. He slowly pushed it open. Many stone steps were waiting for him beyond the door to take him to the deepest area underground.
No one knew how many steps there were in total. The stairway continued to spiral downward. Li Qiye walked for a very long time before reaching the end. Here, a bottomless abyss was waiting for him.
Looking out from the last step of the stairs, one could only see a vast darkness.
When one stood here quietly, they could hear loud roars accompanied by the auras of primal beasts coming from the abyss. Even the most powerful cultivator would quiver in the face of their aura with chills.
Li Qiye took one step forward into the abyss. Clanking sounds instantly appeared. Intertwining laws appeared below his foot, forming something that resembled a long arrow.
These laws were very simple yet ancient with a faint sheen. Nevertheless, this light still had a soul-crushing power. Even the strongest would be startled before this faint light. Their legs would shake and would no longer be able to stand straight.
It seemed that the arrow below could annihilate gods and devils or even an Immortal Emperor. Li Qiye continued forward on his path. After each step, the mysterious laws beneath his foot would continue to coil together to be his support.
"Raaa!" During his journey, a shadow that carried a frightening evil aura came out of nowhere and rushed forward. It seemed to be a devil set loose from hell. It raised its fangs and claws to come culling towards Li Qiye, aiming to tear him into pieces.
Even a Virtuous Paragon would tremble before this devil's aura, yet Li Qiye didn't bother looking at it.
"Plufff!" Before this thing that came out from below could come close, the universal law arrow beneath Li Qiye's feet instantly shot it to death.
When the arrow penetrated the devil's huge body, it disappeared like mist without leaving any flesh or blood behind.
"Raarr!" He didn't make it much further before another huge shadow rushed out. It had a ferocious visage that would instill fear into any spectator.
"Just an evil sentiment of the dead, yet you still dare to act so audaciously in front of my Immortal Emperor Slaughtering Formation? Truly does not know life from death." More shadows rushed out to kill Li Qiye, but all were put down by the arrow below his feet.
From start to finish, he didn't give these shadows a second glance. In his eyes, he was the ruler of this area. No matter how powerful these evil sentiments trapped in the abyss might be, they couldn't reach the apex before Li Qiye at this moment.
Eventually, he reached the end. Rotating waves of that buzzed caused this space to tremble.
Gigantic wheels emerged and began to slowly rotate while buzzing. There were too many to count. Each of them radiated light while rotating.
If one gazed at this scene for too long, they would become dazzled with dizziness.
These rotating wheels continuously changed locations. Moreover, they all looked exactly the same. Under such a circumstance, no one would be able to distinguish them in a short amount of time.
"Chaotic Wheel of Time, just how many time-continuums have been shattered to create this mess?" Li Qiye emotionally commented while staring at these wheels.
These chaotic wheels were not part of the natural order. This was because, in an ancient era, many heaven-defying existences such as Immortal Emperors had unleashed attacks that pierced through time and shattered its fabric. This eventually gave birth to these chaotic wheels.
Li Qiye stared intensely at these wheels. Because there were so many chaotic temporal distortions here, only one wheel would lead to the right temporal-space. If one took the wrong wheel, they would never be able to return. Even an Immortal Emperor would have a hard time returning.
"Buzz!" Finally, Li Qiye picked a particular wheel. He took action to freeze it before jumping towards it.
"Zzzz—" This Chaotic Wheel of Time instantly sucked Li Qiye inside.
In the blink of an eye, he was taken into a long pathway with a disturbed timeline. It gave off quite a disorderly feel. The entire pathway was as clear as jade. However, there were many broken locations with terrifying temporal storms. Even a tiny storm of this nature could easily mutilate a Virtuous Paragon.
There were rough cut marks along the way. Moreover, they still emitted an eternal aura. This was the divine might of Immortal Emperors; no matter how much time passes, they still wouldn't dissipate.
"Just how much effort is required to open such a pathway? Even an Immortal Emperor would find this task extremely challenging." Li Qiye said with a tinge of emotion while walking on this pathway.
This was a jade pathway that led to a different timespace. Countless Immortal Emperors had attempted to create these pathways before finally opening one successfully.
Time did not flow in this place. Even if one kept on walking, the time spent would be no more than the blink of an eye.
Eventually, Li Qiye came out of the pathway. A bronze radiance flooded his vision. To be more exact, it was a sea of bronze.
Gazing ahead, nothing but a huge ocean could be found in this place. However, it was not flowing water but bronze liquid!
One would never be able to imagine this scene! Just how much divine bronze was melted to create this vast sea?
One would feel that the world was still while standing before this ocean. There was no life, not even time. Everything here had stopped.
It was as if this bronze ocean was the end of the world. No matter what kind of existence one might be, there was no way of crossing this ocean. This was the stop of all passengers.
"Bronze ocean…" Li Qiye was dazed by this spectacle. He had many thoughts running through his head at this moment, secrets unknown to the world!
"How many wars and how much blood was spilled to create this ocean…" He eventually calmed down and gently sighed.
He took out a mirror. This was not the Yin Yang Immortal Refining Mirror but a treasure he brought from the Heavenguard Sect. It was a bronze mirror.
It didn't seem too special. If it fell into someone else's hands, they would only think of it as an ordinary bronze mirror.
"Om—" The mirror shot out a light and illuminated the ocean. Once the light reached its target, the unbelievable happened. Wherever the light touched, the water would gradually become clear and eventually turn into clean water.
In this manner, Li Qiye used his mirror to shine a path amidst the bronze ocean. He slowly walked down this path into the ocean and sank to the bottom.
This bronze ocean was an incredible location. If one entered recklessly, there would be no return. They would forever disappear in this place.
Without Li Qiye's bronze mirror, even an Immortal Emperor would never be able to enter where they wished to go, to the end of this ocean. The powerful emperors could come back alive, but the secrets they coveted on the other side would continue to elude them.
Chapter 992: Bronze Citadel
"Pop!" Li Qiye, who had sunk into the bronze ocean, finally reached the bottom. The moment he made contact, it gave off a unique sense of mind — free from anxiety.
Looking up, one would see a flashing brilliance of a bronze shade on the far horizon. It seemed that the vast bronze ocean was over there.
Looking all around would result in finding a certain citadel. It was gigantic and enough to house millions of people.
Pavilions were packed together with floating temples. The roads were wide and capable of holding ten carriages side to side.
But on a careful look, one would find that many of the buildings inside this city had collapsed. This was not due to the erosion of time but an external force. It appeared that something had happened here; perhaps a war or a natural disaster…
What was even more shocking was that the entire citadel was built with divine bronze.
All the close buildings, wide roads, and majestic walls were made from bronze without exception. This was a world of bronze. It seemed that there was nothing here outside of bronze, not even a pebble!
This bronze citadel was very quiet, giving off a melancholic atmosphere. This sensation was accentuated from the passing of time within these buried bronze structures.
If an outsider could see this now, they would be jolted from astonishment. This was because the city looked exactly the same as the strange images that appeared above the Godwar Mountain a few days ago.
The only difference was that the city ahead was completely quiet. There were no busy pedestrians or the prosperity accompanied by the hustle and bustle of the main streets. All the bronze inhabitants inside the strange images could not be found here.
Li Qiye slowly walked inside this vast citadel. This was not his first time here, so he knew all the ins and outs.
Outside of Li Qiye, there was no other living creature here, making it seem like a city of the dead.
This place was full of mysteries. No one knew where it came from or what it was. The creator of this bronze city was unknown as well…
"An incredible piece of work. Even gods and emperors wouldn't be able to create this masterpiece!" Li Qiye said with feelings while walking along the silent paths.
In this world, it would be difficult to find someone who knew about the existence of this city. However, in the distant past, many Immortal Emperors had searched for this city, especially during the Ancient Ming Era. Numerous Ancient Ming emperors tried to trace back to this city and had spent tremendous efforts.
This was because of the secret hidden in this city, a secret everyone wanted to know. Even Li Qiye, as the Dark Crow, thirsted for this ultimate secret.
Eventually, he made it to the highest point. There was a bronze palace in this place — grand and towering.
It seemed to be the dwelling of gods or the rulers of this location!
A sacred air permeated this palace. Although millions of years had passed and many parts in this palace had become tarnished with rust, it still gave off a holy and untouchable air!
"Clankkk—" Li Qiye slowly pushed the heavy bronze gate open to enter.
It was enormous and had many supporting pillars. Each of them had a different engraving that included flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, a war between deities, and a scene of millions of worshipers…
There was no divine throne at the end of the palace as one would come to expect. There was only a big bronze tablet. It had stood strong for countless years. The vicissitudes of time couldn't affect it at all.
Li Qiye walked up to this tablet. It emitted a faint bronze shimmer, but this light was not what attracted his attention. All of his focus was on the text carved on the tablet.
There were more than ten thousand words. Each word seemed to have their own sentience and was floating on the tablet like swimming fish.
The words were ancient to the point that no one could recognize which era they belonged to.
"Finally coming back to life." Li Qiye murmured while staring at these ancient words: "This day is long overdue. How many people and emperors had been waiting for such a day?"
The words continued to move without any pattern. Their chaotic nature would leave readers completely confused.
Li Qiye gently rubbed it and smiled: "The legendary bronze runes… how many in this world know of your existence? Not to mention the nine worlds, perhaps there are only a few in that place that can recognize you, let alone being able to read with mastery!"
These archaic words dated back to before the Desolate Era. It was prevalent during the mythical Legendary Era! Not to mention the current nine worlds, few people could read this text even back in the ancient times.
Coincidentally, Li Qiye was one of the people who knew this language. He had spent many years with great effort to learn these words. He traveled to many places along his journey of learning — the blue sky above and the underworld below!
"Omm—" Space suddenly trembled. As Li Qiye moved the words, the tablet exuded an even more dazzling bronze light.
At the same time, the others words became more lively just like carps in a pond that were being fed. Eventually, he finished arranging all of these words into a complete inscription. This caused the palace to light up and emit waves of sad hymns.
The sad hymns would make listeners drown in grief. It painted the image that long ago, a supreme existence had fallen. His billions of citizens were attending his funeral.
This funeral music would put one's heart at ease and seemed to be retelling the majestic feats of this supreme existence.
"Om—" The firm tablet turned into a bronze door. It was simple without any decorations, but this did not take away from its stately appearance. Others couldn't help but look at it with reverence.
"Clank—" Li Qiye opened the door and entered without any hesitation.
A boundless starry sky appeared before him. He could only see the vast space above that contained rivers of stars. It was a beautiful celestial scene in the middle of the night.
However, what stupefied others was that there was a gigantic bronze statue lying among the stars! Anyone would be shocked to see this bronze man.
It was difficult to describe its enormous size with mere words! If this statue was lying down on the southern Barren Earth, then it would occupy more than half of the land!
It quietly lied in this space with its eyes closed as if it had fallen into an eternal slumber. Or perhaps it could have been buried here after death.
No one knew how it was created or if it was once a bronze man with life.
"Endless life yet it still disappeared within the river of time." Li Qiye murmured while looking at the statue among the stars.
After analyzing the statue, he finally climbed on top of it. He found himself to be walking on top of a vast land of bronze. It was hard to discern this place visually since the bronze shimmer was quite distracting. People would find themselves to be insignificant while traveling on this vast land.
The statue had both of his hands placed on his stomach. It was a very peaceful sleeping pose.
After walking for a very long time, Li Qiye finally reached the stomach, or where the two hands were together. At this place, he found that the hands were holding a bronze box.
The chest was already quite large, but compared to the bronze statue embracing it, it appeared to be incredibly tiny, like a speck of dust!
This bronze box was playing music. One could even feel that it was jumping around, as if it was not a box but a living being.
"Tens of millions of years of waiting, the time is finally right." Li Qiye felt the rhythm of the box and smiled.
This box was the item coveted by the Ancient Ming and their emperors. However, because time was not on their side, they couldn't retrieve it successfully, not even the peerless Immortal Emperor Tian Tu! 1
I wonder if Tian Tu is comparable to Hong Tian or Jiao Heng. ↩