Imperial God Emperor

Chapter 1274 - The Unparalleled Sovereigns 

Back when Marquis Tingtao Lin Xuan had attacked the rebel troops at the Fire Province, he chanced upon the Expansion Way of the Universe and said that he saw many events of the ancient past. Ye Qingyu was almost certain that rebellion against the Divine Light Emperor was what Lin Xuan had seen. Lin Xuan had also mentioned that many unparalleled sovereigns from different time periods had gathered to ambush that peerless figure... 

Therefore, the blurry figure who rescued the Sky Emperor at the torrent of space and time today must have been one of the unparalleled sovereigns from a different time period. 

He had only caught a glimpse of the blurry figure's silhouette and appearance, but this was enough proof for him to be certain that he had been part of the ambush. 

Ye Qingyu felt pressurized by this discovery. 

According to Lin Xuan, those unparalleled sovereigns were once true divine kings, demonic kings, and other sovereigns who had presided over an era. They were not from this time period but they didn't mind paying a high price and even risked being attacked by the Heavenly Dao when they messed around with time and space on the Heavenly Dao, because they felt threatened by the Divine Light Emperor. They joined forces to attack the Divine Light Emperor to nip that threat in the bud. 

Ye Qingyu couldn't understand why these peerless sovereigns from a different time period would feel threated by the Divine Light Emperor. His understanding of the Divine Light Emperor barely scratched the surface, so he could not make a clear judgement. 

He also guessed that these unparalleled sovereigns might have incited the Sky Emperor to stage a rebellion. 

It was very possible that these unparalleled sovereigns had made use of the Sky Emperor in the past. 

He was sure that the Sky Emperor also knew that he was a mere pawn in their plans, but he was extremely ambitious and allowed them to make use of him. Thus, he risked sleeping with the enemy and embarked on a different path that ultimately brought about the collapse of the Divine Light Court. 

The Sky Emperor was a very valuable pawn to these unparalleled sovereigns, both in the past and in the present. 

Otherwise, the blurry figure of an unparalleled sovereign would have not shown up today to rescue the Sky Emperor. 

"I have to understand what happened in the past and perhaps, the key to unlocking this mystery lies with Lan Tian," Ye Qingyu mused as an idea came to him. 

Then, he cast aside all distractions and sat cross-legged within the formation of the Light Palace, as he recuperated and healed himself of his wounds in self-isolation. 

The battle with the Sky Emperor had been fierce and intense. If it weren't for the World Tree unleashing abundant energy at the very last moment, he might have been defeated. However, to a combat genius like Ye Qingyu, the more intense and fierce the battle was, the more effective it would be for his future development. He had cultivated a habit where he would immediately take some time after a battle to analyze the positive and negative points of each battle. 

This time, he wanted to understand and reflect on the miraculous effects of the World Tree. 

Evidently, the World Tree contained a massive power and since this power could cause slight changes in his Emperor qi and also crush the most powerful attack of the Sky Emperor, this meant that it was something more powerful than Emperor qi. He figured that he might be able to become even stronger if he could comprehend the mystery behind this, and even peek into a cultivation realm that surpassed a Martial Emperor. 

He peered into his dantian world. 

There was an abundant ocean in this vast world where giant yuan qi waves howled across the ocean and moved like a tsunami. The World Tree was located on an island in the middle of this ocean. This island was the largest island dantian world and all yuan qi waves would disappear when they came within a thousand-kilometer radius of the island. At the same time, the waves were also much calmer around the green islands that were formed from the leaves of the World Tree. Divine herbs grew abundantly; the place constantly throbbed with abundant life force that would then become part of his yuan qi and Emperor qi. 

The World Tree had been slightly damaged after the previous battle—hundreds of leaves were scattered everywhere. 

If the life force contained within one leaf was so powerful that it could resurrect Liu Shaji, then how much more precious were a hundred leaves from the World Tree? 

However, a hundred leaves weren't that significant to the leafy and towering World Tree, which appeared as if it could support the weight of the heavens. 

He took a closer look and discovered to his surprise that the leaves that had been shaken off the World Tree during the battle did not transform into green islands like the other leaves that had fallen naturally. Instead, they drifted along with the current and gradually sank to the bottom of his yuan qi ocean, then several strange underwater plants silently grew on the seabed. 

"This is truly a miraculous sight," Ye Qingyu exclaimed in wonder. 

He had once visited the south ocean territory of the Heaven Wasteland Domain and knew that mysterious underwater plants would grow in the depths of true oceans, but he didn't expect to see this phenomenon in his own yuan qi ocean. Did this mean that certain hypotheses and rumors about the martial way were accurate? Will a martial artist only reach the maximum limits of his cultivation when his dantian world transformed into a new domain? 

Moreover, he could tell that after these underwater plants appeared in his yuan qi ocean, the waves in the ocean seemed to be imbued with greater vitality. As they constantly throbbed with this newfound vigor, just like the herbs that grew on the green islands, they silently transformed his Emperor qi. 

He didn't need to cultivate to increase his strength when he was in such a vast environment; his strength silently soared. 

The Nameless Quasi-emperor had once said when they met in the Underworld that after the World Tree had matured, it would stop frantically absorbing energy from its host, but it would start to exhibit strange and miraculous benefits. The Nameless Quasi-emperor had been right after all. After countless Martial Emperors and brilliant martial artists had sacrificed themselves to nourish the World Tree, Ye Qingyu alone had reaped all the benefits. 

He felt a little uneasy, but he was also filled with gratitude. 

I should find some time to head back to find the Nameless Quasi-emperor and the others and try to figure out if there's any way I'd be able to resurrect them... I hope Liu Shaji will be able to come back to life. If all goes smoothly, this would bode well for any future resurrections, Ye Qingyu thought. 

The moment this thought occurred to him, the World Tree seemed to sense his thoughts and its towering canopy rustled as it swayed and it gave off happy vibes, as though it was responding to him. 

Ye Qingyu was surprised by its reaction. 

The World Tree evidently still remembered the experts who had once nourished it. 

Ye Qingyu gradually cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and exerted the nameless breathing technique. He deliberately attempted to use and exert that meager life force within his dantian world and then let it mix with his Emperor qi. Then, he moved this combination of forces throughout his body in accordance with the nameless breathing technique; after continuously exerting this technique and moving these forces around his body, he finally merged them into his blood and body. 

He had also sustained several injuries from his battle with the Sky Emperor that would take some time to heal. 

Time flew by. 

Approximately three days later, he finally ended his period of rest. 

His physical injuries had completely healed while the injuries of his [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] had also mostly disappeared. 

He slowly stood up in the Light Palace and he felt more powerful than ever before. 

"I've already completely recovered while my strength has increased even more... If I were to battle the Sky Emperor again, I would be able to directly block his [God-Killing Slash] this time," he mused as he felt the strength flowing through his body. Now that he was so powerful, he wouldn't be able to gain much from simple cultivation, but rather, he would have to battle a true expert in order to effectively increase his strength. 

"Now, I'll have to use this time to carefully understand the mysteries of the power contained within the World Tree," he said as he attempted to communicate with it. 

His 'One Slash from the [Life Sword]' that he used against the Sky Emperor had only been a prototypical version, so he would now need to work on perfecting it. 

After a person became an Emperor, he would be able to use the power of laws to produce millions of divine techniques and magical abilities, and imbue a simple move with supreme power. No matter how powerful the divine skills and mysterious techniques were in the mortal realm, they could not compare to a simple move by a Martial Emperor; this was why Martial Emperors were so powerful. However, as Martial Emperors continued to progress and cultivate, they would rediscover the importance of combat techniques. The combat techniques employed by Martial Emperors were known as Emperor techniques, and there were millions of them found in the [Fiendgod Titled Chart] in his bronze book, but none were able to stop the Sky Emperor's [God-Killing Slash]. 

This was because the [God-Killing Slash] was far more profound than the Emperor techniques contained in the [Fiendgod Titled Chart]. 

The [God-Killing Slash] was so powerful that it could be known as a fiendgod technique. 

His 'One Slash from the [Life Sword]' was the prototypical version of the fiendgod technique he was developing for himself. 

He needed to use this time to comprehend and craft his own personal fiendgod technique, to bring the power of his 'One Slash from the [Life Sword]' to another level. He didn't want to just surpass the [God-Killing Slash]; he wanted to defeat those unparalleled sovereigns who were controlling the Sky Emperor—it was clear from his exchange with the blurry figure at the torrent of time and space that these unparalleled sovereigns viewed Ye Qingyu with undisguised hostility. 

After all, his origins and background were definitely connected to the Divine Light Emperor in some way. 

"Damn it!" the feeble Sky Emperor let out an angry growl from the depths of the Ghostly Realm. 

He laid in a pool of blood. 

The pool of blood bubbled like a pot of boiling water and hot steam rose from it. White bones that had been scraped clean piled up horrifically like a mountain by this pool of blood. It was clear from the state of these bones that it hadn't been long since whoever had once possessed them had died. The feeble wisps of Emperor qi that circulated around them signified that these people had once been Emperor-level experts. 

"I had to destroy those who I've painstakingly groomed for millions of years in a day, but this is the only way I'll be able to recover my strength," the Sky Emperor said with a sigh. 

He had groomed hundreds of Martial Emperors in hopes of making use of their Emperor qi to fight for a chance to escape when the catastrophe came. However, everything had been destroyed after his battle with Ye Qingyu. If he hadn't been rescued at the very last moment, his soul would have been destroyed and then there would be nothing left to fight for. 

The Sky Emperor calmed down after returning to his old nest. 

He did not show that he had been severely weakened, but secretly formulated a plan. He immediately leveraged on the fear that these Martial Emperors of the past from the Dark Realm had always felt about him and led them into a trap. Then, he killed a hundred Martial Emperors of the past one at a time, then used their Emperor blood to fill this pool of blood to heal his wounds. 

Time passed one day at a time. 

He had recovered around sixty to seventy percent of his former strength. 

His formerly dark blue soul had turned as red as blood. 

A shadow suddenly fell over the Ghostly Realm and a blurry but terrifying figure gradually appeared as he led the forces that were almost destroyed throughout the entire realm and landed beside the pool of blood. 

"You have disappointed us," the blurry figure said.