<b>Chapter 1093: Northbound</b>
Li Qiye and the girls left the Machine World and came back to the Imperial Border.
Returning to the Imperial Border and actually stepping on ground made the girls let out sighs of relief; they felt as if they could see the sunlight once more.
Even though the imperial soldiers here were existences without life and flesh, this place at least had beautiful sceneries, unlike the Machine World. That place was like a solitary painting devoid of life. Anyone who stayed there would feel an atmosphere of death and a terrifying loneliness.
The group also heard about the chief ambassador after coming back.
“I'm afraid the Soaring Immortal Sect will not let this go!” Mei Suyao stated.
Li Qiye smiled and didn't care about it, he only leisurely said: “Let him bark if he wants. A dog that truly knows how to bite won't bark.”
“The soaring sect will definitely come down this generation.” Li Shuangyan felt a bit worried because Cleansing Incense and the Heavenly God Sect were mortal enemies, but the Heavenly God Sect might have the Soaring Immortal Sect as their backing. If the soaring sect was really going to descend, the situation would be quite unfavorable for Cleansing Incense.
“It is only the Soaring Immortal Sect.” Li Qiye noticed her concern and smiled freely: “If the geezers in the sect can grow some eyes, then it will be a good thing. However, if they are blind, then they are simply seeking death.”
Mei Suyao smiled wryly after hearing this. In all of the nine worlds, Li Qiye might be the only one who dared to look down on the soaring sect like this. Other people, even imperial lineages, wouldn't easily declare war on the soaring sect.
He completely disregarded the five days grace period from the ambassador and led the girls towards the northern region of the Imperial Border.
Along the way, they met many imperial soldiers and a few kingdoms as well. These imperial soldiers ignored cultivators from the outside like Li Qiye's group.
Of course, if someone dared to provoke them, they would have to suffer the wrath of an entire kingdom. Because of this, ordinary people would never mess with these imperial soldiers. Plus, Regal Gold was not useful for them.
Naturally, within the vast land of the border, there were other minerals and metals besides Regal Gold. This made it so that cultivators and imperial soldiers didn't have too much conflict. Imperial soldiers could go on excavating their Regal Gold while cultivators dug their own ores.
In the border, powerful sects had fruitful harvests because they had the power for large-scale excavations. Nevertheless, it was not hopeless for vagrant cultivators and smaller sects.
The smart ones specialized in finding abandoned mines that the imperial soldiers had gone through or just picked up the rubbish left behind.
Calling these things rubbish was slightly exaggerated. Many of them received decent treasure metals and divine ores. This was because the imperial soldiers only went after Regal Gold and wouldn't take another glance at other items. Thus, this was quite a fortune for the cultivators picking up the “trash.”
“A little vagabond obtained a Blood Transformation Stone.” At the border, there was news of people getting treasures by the day.
No one found it strange when the bigger sects found things through excavation. After all, they had this power. In turn, it was much more exciting when the little sects or vagabonds found some treasures.
“This guy is quite clever. After finding the stone, he immediately fled the lesser world and the plateau.” Someone felt like praising him.
“Picking up the Blood Transformation Stone is nothing. The White-cloud Shrine found a Soul Splitting Diamond. Unfortunately, they were too stupid and greedy and wanted to find more treasures. A great power took notice and immediately killed their disciples and the diamond changed owners.”
The greedy ones were often punished for not choosing to run away after finding some treasures. They would often be destroyed by stronger cultivators or sects.
While many cultivators were searching for treasures, Li Qiye's group continued north and entered a frozen world.
Snow and ice were all over the place. Snowflakes floated down from the vast expanse.
Even imperial soldiers were a rare sight this far up north. This location was not only extremely cold, it had been piled up with glaciers for millions of years. Excavating this place for treasures and Regal Gold was extremely difficult.
There was another reason why imperial soldiers didn't come here, a reason unknown to outsiders.
“Where are we going now?” Chen Baojiao asked along the way.
“Kingdom of the Emperors!” Li Qiye walked on the snow and glanced at the snowy flakes drifting down while smilingly.
“Kingdom of the Emperors?” The girls were intrigued by this title. Li Shuangyan murmured: “What a domineering title!”
“Because it really is that domineering!” Li Qiye leisurely responded: “At the Imperial Border, it can be considered the number one empire. No other kingdom can compare to it!”
“Number one!” Mei Suyao was surprised: “I've never seen any writings about this kind of empire in my sect.”
“Because your Eternal River School doesn't know about it.” Li Qiye smiled: “Right now, there are three strong empires known to others, but there is still one that has slumbered for millions of years. It is understandable that no one knows about it.”
Mei Suyao pondered for a bit before stating: “Our records claim that once an empire reaches a certain level of power, they would embark on the Expedition Path.”
“I understand what you are saying.” Li Qiye gently nodded: “Your sect is correct about this. However, there are always exceptions. The Kingdom of Emperors isn't the number one power throughout the history of the Imperial Border, but it is definitely among the top five. However, all the other extremely strong empires have embarked on the expedition while they remained here until now.”
“Are they sealed in this frozen world?” Bai Jianzhen, who was very sparing with her words, still asked.
Li Qiye glanced at this place and murmured: “Yes, right inside this frozen world.”
They continued forward and eventually stopped before a vast snow-capped mountain. It towered into the sky with no end in sight. It was practically piercing through the firmament.
Li Qiye stood before a straight cliff covered in ice. The ice slowly melted and revealed an inexplicable formation array underground.
“Buzz!” Several universal laws flew out from Li Qiye's forehead and activated the formation.
“Boom!” An imperial momentum gushed up into the sky like a geyser in a ferocious and endless manner.
Li Qiye was like a whale drinking water. In just a split second, he immediately swallowed all of the momentum, resulting in a humming sound.
Blinding imperial lights emanated from his back. At this second, his appearance didn't change, but something about his aura definitely did.
He resembled an Imperial King that sat above the nine layers of the heavens. Behind him were countless existences floating and prostrating. Among them were unreachable deities, but regardless of their own prestige, all were on their knees.
Such an image was too shocking. It was even more moving than the aura of Heaven Relinquish.
The girls couldn't help but tremble while standing in front of Li Qiye who had transformed into an Imperial King. His powerful imperial momentum was too oppressive and gave others the urge to kneel.
At this time, he put on an imperial armor. It was the one given to him by the Eternal River ancestor, the same one that he had lost back then.
After adorning this outfit, only his eyes were visible, the rest of his body was wrapped in this imperial armor. [1. This might be the picture, I could be wrong. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSs9pgReNPKi17JnrkiQzlOLKVX5vPlerKom43_gIAO3UzSTGBH]
Not only was his aura heavenly and oppressive, others felt that he had become an emperor of war that had carried out expeditions all over the world!
'The War Emperor fighting against myriad realms, he alone is invincible!' This was the feeling that the girls got while looking at him right now.
“It looks like you were possessed by a War Emperor.” Chen Baojiao commented.
“I'm not possessed.” Li Qiye smiled with an invincible imperial momentum: “I am the War Emperor, the supreme grand ruler of the Kingdom of Emperors!”
With this declaration, his eyes turned serious. His entire being became extremely profound. Anyone would shiver if they looked at Li Qiye right now.
“Clank—” The sound of something heavy moving came about. When Li Qiye made a mudra with his hands and spewed out an eternal mantra, the entire snowy mountain slowly collapsed. A huge gate appeared before them.
At this time, the girls found out that this huge mountain wasn't actually a mountain, it was a gigantic imperial citadel. However, it was sealed below the snow, so no one could see it fully.
He slowly walked into the city, his every step containing a particular rhythm. His steps slowly woke the entire city. The huge gate closed behind them to block off all prying eyes.