Emperor's Domination

He sat on the imperial throne and glanced at the crowd, then the entire city before slowly uttering: “Anyone else dissatisfied or have some comments to say about me?”

It was so quiet that one could hear a needle drop. Many people held their breaths; even the Blood ancestors didn’t dare to say a single word.

“Very good.” Li Qiye stood up and calmly said: “If anyone has grudges against me or find that I am unpleasant to their eyes, both one on one or group fights are fine, I will gladly accept the challenge. However, if they involve the people around me with their feud, then wait for a sect-destroying disaster!”

“Tell the Blood-devil Tribe that I am a merciful person and will give them one day to prepare. I will personally go after one day and destroy their sects and ancestral grounds. This is the result of those who maneuver against my people.” His voice was not loud, yet everyone in the city heard him clearly.

In the past, someone would have mocked Li Qiye. The Blood Race was the sun at noon with geniuses appearing one after another, especially within the Blood-devil Tribe. Their solidarity was unrivaled. No one would dare to oppose them, let alone talk about stamping out their lineages!

Today, Li Qiye dared to utter such words, but the Blood-devil ancestors here didn’t have the guts to retort! He wasn’t even afraid of an emperor’s sentiment — just how heaven-defying was he?!

“Boom!” Eventually, Li Qiye opened the imperial decree and casually threw it to the ground like a piece of trash.

Yi Chuan was quite smart; he noticed and quickly picked it up. Even though this imperial decree no longer had any power, it was still a great treasure to a small country like Suhuang.

“Young Noble Li...” The Thunder Tower Lord, who had been trapped in the tower, quickly bowed after seeing Li Qiye and apologized: “It is my Crimson Night’s fault for all this to happen, please forgive us.”

Li Qiye remained seated on the throne and looked at the tower lord. He gently shook his head: “To tell the truth, I’m very disappointed. Someone of your realm can’t even take out an imperial weapon, this is quite embarrassing for an ancestor.”

Such words left the tower lord feeling awkward. He didn’t know how to respond and could only smile wryly: “Well... the Storm God had full control of the kingdom. Old geezers like us had our hands tied.”

The imperial princess naturally had full sovereignty over the kingdom. Even ancestors stronger than her were still suppressed!

The tower lord quickly apologized once more: “This time, I and several other ancestors were discussing how to settle this problem, but we didn’t expect for the Storm God’s first branch to be so aggressive. They dismissed several ancestors preemptively. Our kingdom absolutely does not wish to oppose Young Noble Li.”

“Unfortunately, it is a little late. Right now, I have plans to visit your kingdom. Without a baptism of blood, a few people will never understand my mercilessness.” Li Qiye said dismissively.

This scared the soul out of the tower lord. He quickly prostrated on the ground: “Young Noble, please give my kingdom a chance. I promise that we will definitely remove the Storm God’s first branch from the kingdom’s order. I guarantee it with my life. Yuanyuan will become the Crimson Night Royal Lord and we shall pledge loyalty to you!”

The tower lord knew Li Qiye had obtained the legacy of the Blood Progenitor and would definitely rule the Blood Race in the future. Without showing him their commitment right now, their future would be quite grim.

“Please give us a chance!” The tower lord’s head met the ground. Even an ancestor of his level could only ask Li Qiye for forgiveness.

Li Qiye glanced at the tower lord and then Si Yuanyuan. At this moment, she didn’t dare to intercede. She knew that his decision was not something she could influence.

“Fine, I will give your kingdom a chance.” After a while, he slowly spoke: “If you still can’t fix this problem, then I’ll do so myself. You should understand that my personal visit will not end without blood.”

“Rest assured, Young Noble, it will go as you wish this time.” The kneeling tower lord solemnly promised: “Once Yuanyuan is in control, our kingdom will obey all of your orders!”

Li Qiye gently nodded then told Si Yuanyuan: “I have taught you everything that should be taught. The path that you take is up to you; whether you can become an amazing ruler or not depends on your own effort. None of my proteges have turned out to be weak, do not disappoint me.”

Si Yuanyuan kneeled on the ground and quietly bowed her head towards Li Qiye. All she had today was given to her by Li Qiye. She was a disciple exiled from the kingdom. To be able to return was already too great of a wish. She never thought that she would be able to rule the country one day.

His declaration and feats spread to the entire Barren Earth overnight. Countless humans became excited. The young humans had been far too quiet in this region, but finally, a prodigy appeared. Perhaps he would be able to lead the humans to newfound glory.

“A second Lin Tiandi!” Someone emotionally commented after hearing Li Qiye’s tales.

“No, he’s even more heaven-defying than Lin Tiandi!” Someone else murmured: “Just climbing the Prime Peak alone is enough to make him matchless. No matter how great Lin Tiandi is, he couldn’t climb it.”

In a southern desolate area, a young man was traveling across the world in a transcendent and mysterious manner. Myriad dao accompanied his steps as if he was the ruler of the dao. He was referred to as the number one genius of the Barren Earth — Lin Tiandi.

“Amazing! Such accomplishments... even the most era-defying genius would have to chase him from behind.” Lin Tiandi was in awe after hearing the news and became absent-minded for a moment. He eventually regained his senses and smiled: “This generation will not be boring, it shall be a brilliant one. Otherwise, with just Jikong Wudi and the others, how could they compete against my senior brother?”

With that, he continued on with the same carefree and unrestrained attitude as before. It seemed that nothing could prevent him from having peace of mind.

***

The Mysterious Bamboo Mountain, one of the most powerful lineages in the Barren Earth, was on the same level as Heavenguard. It was a sect with three emperors. Among them, one was a demon, another was a golem, and the last was said to be either a demon or a dragon.

Many demon tribes considered Mysterious Bamboo to be their leader and followed its orders. However, after Immortal Emperor Yin Tian, Mysterious Bamboo maintained a very low profile and became strangely reclusive.

There was an ancient pavilion in Mysterious Bamboo with a young man lying there. Even his casual posture would leave others with the feeling that the heavens was being devoured. To describe him as being among the heavens was not an exaggeration at all.

This youth seemed to just be waking up. The door opened. An ancestor came in and reported the news of the Barren Earth to him.

“A silver arrow!” The youth immediately sat up after hearing this; the nine heavens shook with his movement. A glint emerged in his eyes like the radiance of three thousand worlds. This glint was extremely terrifying. Even Godkings would quake with fear if they were standing before him. This youth was absolutely mighty beyond imagination!

The youth asked again: “Are you positive that it was a silver arrow?!” He had a hard time believing this.

“Honorable ancestor, I’m completely certain.” This Mysterious Bamboo ancestor held great reverence for this youth.

The youth’s expression shifted. He was lost in a daze as he murmured: “Is it... can it be...”

The moment this youth calmed down, he quickly disappeared. In the blink of an eye, he crossed time and space. Each of his steps took him through countless locations. If one could see his method, they would be jolted. Just taking a few steps allowed him to cross an entire area — this was too heaven-defying!

When the curtain of night fell, the youth appeared right outside of the Holy City. No one knew that he had arrived. He stood in the sky, untraceable as if he was one with the heaven and earth. Not even Godkings would be able to detect him, let alone God-Monarchs.

He opened his eyes, revealing a glare capable of crossing time itself. It eventually fell upon the Thunder Tower.

Inside the tower, Li Qiye was sitting down and meditating quietly. When the youth’s gaze reached the Thunder Tower, Li Qiye suddenly opened his eyes to look in the youth’s direction. Afterward, he closed his eyes again, reaching a state of zen once more.

“Thump, thump, thump!” The youth took several steps back in shock. He left without saying another word and returned to Mysterious Bamboo in an instant.

“Damn, how am I going to live now?!” The youth pulled on his own hair in great distress.

The ancestors here were dumbfounded to see the youth acting like this. They glanced at each other in confusion, not knowing what had happened.

One of them quietly asked: “Ancestor, what happened?”

“I want to commit suicide, suicide, do you understand?!” The youth jumped up. His handsome face became sour like a bitter melon: “Go, go now, to the town down the mountain. Buy me ten thousand pieces of tofu so that I can kill myself by ramming my head against them!” [1. Chinese joke to describe a helpless situation/feeling.]

The ancestors here didn’t know how to respond to this young man.

The youth sat down in his chair with a dejected expression and reluctantly spoke: “I finally climbed out of the ground and wanted to act cool for a bit, kill some monsters, claim the Heaven’s Will, but I have only completely wasted my time!”