<b>Chapter 1094: Kingdom Of Emperors</b>
After entering the city, the girls were astonished by the scene before them. It was gigantic, capable of housing millions. There were no pavilions or houses here, the architecture was completely flat. Instead of calling it a city, it was more accurate to call it a massive martial arts stage.
This martial stage held imperial soldiers sitting down in a meditative pose with their eyes closed. Their weapons were placed on their knees during their slumber.
Each soldier emitted a terrifying imperial momentum like a flood dragon flying in the sky. This scene was more than just majestic and awe-inspiring. There were hundreds of thousands of imperial soldiers. All of them were masters with powerful auras.
What was more astounding than these soldiers was the huge pyramid in the center of the city. It was of an unbelievable scale and towered up high like a mountain.
Moreover, this pyramid was built upon many blocks of Regal Gold. Each was as big as a brick and had been through many refinements, making them quite pure. They emitted the golden luster unique to this type of metal.
A project of this size must have required millions and millions of golden blocks. This quantity was truly shocking and left people aghast.
The luster of this pyramid enveloped the entire city. The unique imperial momentum from the gold gently poured down and bathed all of the imperial soldiers.
It seemed that these meditating soldiers were receiving great benefits from just breathing in this atmosphere.
At this time, Li Qiye gestured for the girls not to follow him. He walked to the pyramid alone. As he crossed through the huge stage and passed by the soldiers, they remained asleep as if they didn't notice his arrival.
Eventually, he climbed to the top of the pyramid. At this time, the girls noticed that there was an imperial throne at the peak. Next to the throne was a meditating general whose goal was to protect it.
At the top of the pyramid, he could scan the entire city with a glance. This grand army, this invincible legion standing before him.
He slowly sat down on the throne in a leisurely manner. The imperial momentum coming from his body was still suffocating all the same, regardless of how powerful one might be.
As sat down, all the meditating soldiers suddenly opened their eyes; they had awakened from their slumber.
In this instant, the girls became nervous and found it difficult to breathe as they trembled. As all the soldiers opened their eyes, the girls clearly felt something akin to an eternal giant waking up.
They immediately understood that this grand army shared the same mind, heartbeat, and rhythm. They must have incomparable unity!
The general guarding the throne kneeled on the ground and held a treasure box in front of Li Qiye with both hands.
Li Qiye opened the box and slowly took out an item — an imperial sword.
“Clank.” The sword left its scabbard and exuded a boundless light all the way into the sky. This light engulfed Li Qiye, making him resemble a supreme God-Emperor among deities!
“Clang—” The boundless light intertwined to form an imperial seal, resulting in an old and mysterious totem emerging on top of Li Qiye's head.
At this moment, he was a God-Emperor with a supreme totem from the kingdom of gods. He was capable of ordering the heavens with the universe in his grasp.
The kneeling general shouted with reverence: “Your Majesty is everlasting and invincible across the eons!”
“Boom!” The great army instantly got down on one knee as well. Their motion was uniform and the earth shook from the force.
This army cried out: “Your Majesty is everlasting and invincible across the eons!” Their chant was like a tsunami that shattered the sky and shook the stars. Even a Godking would be scared out of their wits if they were standing here.
Li Qiye's imperial momentum surged through the great army. He was imperious; both gods and devils would have to kneel before him right now.
The girls quivered as well. Even though they were quite far away, they still felt an urge to kneel before his invincible and threatening aura!
Li Qiye slowly spoke before the army: “Rise, my warriors.” At this time, he was the emperor of gods!
War Emperor — in a distant year, this was a title that deterred the entire Imperial Border! It was even more threatening than the title Heaven Relinquish back at the Devil World.
Li Qiye had stayed at the lesser world by himself in the past. He trained his imperial heart to become a soldier. His troops slowly grew stronger from the journey, from having just a few men to building a great empire!
The million-strong army stood up at the same time with a majestic momentum.
He spoke in a stately manner: “Zhan Qi, how is the harvest?”
“Your Majesty, our soldiers and the Regal Gold share the same rhythm. The resonance is quite great.” The defending general of the throne reported: “Our men are absolutely as strong as any other empire in the history of the Imperial Border! With your order, we can rush to the Expedition Path any time.”
This imperial general's name was Zhan Qi. He was the first soldier to follow Li Qiye, so Li Qiye gave him this name. [1. Zhan means war, Qi means seven.]
Li Qiye looked over the army and declared: “Time passes quickly; tens of millions of years have gone by in just one slumber. This is the time for us to begin the expedition. Our eternal wait, our success will depend on this.”
The army stood there silently with solemn demeanors while listening to Li Qiye. Outside of Li Qiye's voice, there was no other sound.
Back then when he established the Kingdom of Emperors, he had promised that he would lead them to embark on the Expedition Path one day.
“However, the path is unfathomable. No one knows the challenges that await us ahead, so we need brave men to open the way.” Li Qiye stated: “The day when I find the right vanguard shall be the day we embark on our journey!”
He paused for a moment to examine the troops: “Even though we don't know what is waiting for us, I trust that our heroic soldiers will be carrying a victorious banner!”
“Heroic soldiers of the Kingdom of Emperors shall wave the banner of victory!” The army shouted in unison, causing the earth to shake in fear. Under this momentum, masters would feel their legs shaking while weaker cultivators would be paralyzed by fear and fall to the ground.
“Zhan Qi, send a message to the three Imperial Kings. Tell them that I wish to have a discussion.” After the cry of the army, Li Qiye ordered: “I will meet them at the City of Emperors!”
Zhan Qi acknowledged the order and sent out some soldiers.
Li Qiye didn't stay behind in the city. After giving the command, he took the girls out of the city.
Chen Baojiao curiously asked: “Where did the real War Emperor go?”
She thought that Li Qiye was doing the same thing he did back in the Devil World and was pretending to be the War Emperor. They didn't know that Li Qiye was the real deal.
Li Qiye didn't answer and only smiled while staring into the distance.
“Such a great army should be invincible. If this heroic legion showed up in the nine worlds, all lineages would quiver. Even the legion of an Immortal Emperor can't be any better than this.” Mei Suyao gently sighed.
“That's impossible. They will never be able to appear in the nine worlds.” Li Qiye gently shook his head and sighed as well.
If imperial soldiers could leave the lesser world, he would have brought this legion to the nine worlds already.
Bai Jianzhen asked: “Could it be that the only way out for imperial soldiers is the Expedition Path?”
“Perhaps. They can choose to stay as well. The path is full of uncertainty, who knows what awaits them?” Li Qiye spoke with a tinge of emotion.
If he could continue to wait, he wouldn't let the army of the Kingdom of Emperors enter the Expedition Path. He would rather them continue to wait just like before.
However, since he knew a few secrets and that the Buddhist Funeral Plateau was planning to take action very soon, perhaps even in this generation, he had to send his army on their way.
There was another reason for this. It was because he must fight to the end in this generation, so this could be their final parting.
No matter the reason, his army must leave this place. Staying would only turn them into cannon-fodder for the Buddhist Funeral Plateau. It was better for them to take that gamble and enter the Expedition Path.
Li Shuangyan wondered out loud: “What in the world is here that keeps them from leaving?”
This was a question that had haunted countless minds for millions of years. It remained an unsolved mystery.
For example, it wasn't that the sacred monks of Spirit Mountain couldn't leave the Buddhist Funeral Plateau. However, they wouldn't leave after converting because ascension would become their new pursuit. Throughout history, there were invincible sacred monks who left the plateau for some reason or another, but the story always ended with their passing not long after leaving the plateau.