The empty flower terrace left Li Qiye shocked as he jumped closer. He instantly opened his heavenly gaze while picking up a handful of soil. When the soil fell down the gap of his fingers, he felt the tangible sensation of touch. This was no illusion.
He confirmed that this terrace was completely empty. There was no hidden and vision-obscuring arts.
“No way!” His expression darkened with confusion at this unfavorable development.
While looking at the memories of the Black Dragon King, Li Qiye saw the sudden appearance of the Ancient Ming while the Black Dragon King's group was attacking the grotto. They wanted to take advantage of the situation but there was no memory of the result.
However, Li Qiye guessed that all three sides suffered losses. Moreover, he believed that it was impossible for the Ancient Ming to kill the being in the grotto. It was someone of a monstrous level.
But this geezer and the were nowhere to be found!
This grass was one of the nine grand heavenly treasures, granting absolute immortality. The endless time, destruction, and attacks from enemies were useless before the owner of this treasure.
In other words, this was the only thing in the world that could directly grant immortality, allowing one to last as long as the villainous heaven.
Because of this grass, the grotto was able to create the indestructible Dark Crow. The grass itself wasn't only growing on the terrace but also the master of the grotto and Li Qiye's body.
It connected the grotto, its master, and Li Qiye together. Thus, as long as Li Qiye's body and souls were intact, the Dark Crow outside could suffer any damage and destruction.
The powerful master possessing the made it too difficult to steal Li Qiye's body back. Li Qiye was also aware that obtaining the grass was impossible as well. Even though the old geezer couldn't leave this place, he was simply untouchable even for emperors! The grass growing on his body made him even more impervious.
For generations, Li Qiye had schemed for this grass. Alas, he couldn't find the right opportunity. Such a chance would only come once. Failure meant losing the grass forever.
But now, the old geezer and the grass were nowhere to be found. All kind of possibilities popped up in Li Qiye's head and made him quite anxious. Even an eternal existence like him felt a sense of dread.
The worst case scenario was that the Ancient Ming had obtained the grass. If this was true, the consequence would be unimaginable. Not only would the nine worlds tremble, the tenth world wouldn't be spared either.
This race already had the Corporeal Zone. If it had the too, it would be too much to handle because no one has ever gotten two heavenly treasures at the same time. Plus, these two were different since they could be used as personal artifacts as well.
If someone or a race were to obtain one treasure, then they would be infinitely close to being unbeatable, if not that already. Possessing two at the same time would be impossible to describe with words.
Just the Corporeal Zone stopped Li Qiye and the full force of the nine worlds from killing the Ancient Ming. If they had the as well, the myriad races were doomed in the future.
Nevertheless, Li Qiye was still the ruler of the nine worlds, the eternal dark hand. He quickly took a composing breath and became determined to find out whether the Ancient Ming had really gotten the treasure or not.
He opened his eyes and released all of his energy. His eyes became brilliant and swept through the entire grotto without missing a single clue.
Finally, he focused on the cliff below this peak and carefully gazed downward with lightning speed. After the careful search, he placed his palm on the throne.
“Buzz!” Light spewed out of the broken throne. With cracking noises, the broken pieces came together again to form a perfect throne.
“Creak!” After Li Qiye fixed the throne, a body slowly rose from the mud.
It was completely dried with bones showing in many places. Plus, the bones were broken, evident of the terrible fight it experienced before death.
“Geezer!” Li Qiye was shocked and quickly held the body up from the mud. He poured a boundless amount of energy into the body.
It was an old man. Judging from the corpse, he used to be quite burly and muscular. Alas, after dying from the grave injuries, his body shrunk quite a bit.
“I'm, I'm… still alive…” After a long time, a feeble voice sounded. The old man struggled to open his eyes. When he opened his mouth to speak, there were three leaves inside that have lost their life force.
“Ah… brat… you… you're finally here. I knew, I knew you wouldn't give up.” He kept on stuttering.
Li Qiye continued to pour energy into the old man's body so he could speak.
“Your… your enemies are still, still alive…” He pointed at Li Qiye and stammered: “They're still alive and well…”
“I know.” Li Qiye calmly said: “If you didn't let them run back then, this wouldn't have happened. You were the one who left yourself this future trouble.”
With his muddled eyes, the old man smiled: “Ah… you're talking about back then, brat. So what if I tried to kill them back then… They had the Corporeal Zone, ah… ah… the price required to kill them is too heavy. Plus… wouldn't it be exactly to your wish? Brat… I, I knew what you were planning… you wanted both the Corporeal Zone and the .”
“Where is the grass?” Li Qiye didn't want to waste time.
However, the old man didn't answer him: “I lost, I, I have lost completely with no chance of rising again. Ah… brat, I didn't lose to the Ancient Ming or you. I, I lost because of the damned villainous heaven!”
“I just want to know if the grass has fallen to the Ancient Ming's hands.” Li Qiye repeated with a serious tone. This was the thing he wanted to know the most.
“No rush, no rush. I, I will let you know.” The dying old man was much calmer than Li Qiye. he said: “Ah… I'm, I'm about to die anyway, spare this time for me.”
What else could Li Qiye do after hearing this?
“Brat, no need to begrudge me. You should feel gratitude instead. Even though those bastards Ancient Ming have killed me, they're not much better right now, even with the Corporeal Zone. They, they will need to rest for a long time. I'm, I'm no slouch, not that easy to beat me…” He said weakly.
Li Qiye only stared quietly at the old man.
The old man continued: “Brat, I want to know, are you, are you thinking about going all out?”