World Emperor eventually answered Li Qiye's sincerity: “I will do what I should but Dark Crow, today is when I take off your head. The tenth world does not allow your existence!”
He spoke from the heart. The ambush today wasn't only because of his personal feud or the kidnapping. He has been a top Grand Emperor for so many generations; vengeance wasn't his greatest motivation.
He stood on the side of the three races. It wasn't only because Li Qiye was powerful. The guy simply had an extraordinary charisma and influence in the tenth world. No other emperors from the nine worlds could compare to him in this aspect.
Perhaps there were some powerful Immortal Emperors that could sweep through the thirteen continents. However, only the Dark Crow could make these being sit down for a peaceful talk. Only this dark hand behind the curtains could gather these emperors.
Such a being was too great of a threat for their three races. The Dark Crow had started several wars including Emperor Hunt. Their races suffered heavy losses and had to compromise with the hundred races. Thus, a covenant was signed, stating that all the races were equal, at least on paper!
Who knows what will happen when the Dark Crow was up to the tenth world again. But an easy guess would be a great blow to their three races, one that could shake their status!
Because of this, World Emperor gathered the emperors here in order to kill him before he could reach the tenth world.
Li Qiye continued on with a smile: “Geezer, don't forget the covenant back then. You have twelve people here, no, thirteen Grand Emperors with you and at least forty Heaven's Wills since I don't know how many you have brought yourself. This is a violation of the covenant. One of the three clauses included that when our emperors come up, no more than three Grand Emperors and twelve Heaven's Wills will participate in the ambush. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you this.”
The Emperor Hunt War was equally devastating for both sides. Thus, they decided to come up with this three-point covenant.
One of them was a restraining requirement, limiting the ambushers' number and power.
Of course, this was still a great pressure for the ascenders. Facing three Grand Emperors and twelve Heaven's Wills was definitely a challenge. Defeating them was even harder.
However, such a battle didn't require a direct confrontation. The ascender could run and fight or just choose to escape altogether since the hunt would stop the moment they make it to the tenth world. Thus, the probability of a successful ascension was quite high using the latter method.
Ultimately, this was three emperors working together, not one having twelve by themselves. This was a great disparity since a single emperor with this number of Heaven's Will would obliterate the other three.
One emperor with twelve wills would render a new ascender helpless. There wouldn't be a chance to escape.
Nevertheless, these beings couldn't personally come because they were afraid of the Heavenly Execution. Unless a monumental event was happening, they would never come out. Flame Emperor was the defining example. No one wanted to die to these tribulations.
Since the start of the covenant, only one Immortal Emperor had died to the ambushes. Because of this, the emperors from the tenth world gradually lost interest in the hunt. Part of this was due to the restrictions dictated by the covenant.
Emperors with six wills or below had trouble ambushing a running emperor. The investment didn't have a big pay off so fewer Grand Emperors participated in the future. The ones above wouldn't get involved due to the Heavenly Execution problem.
In the past, many emperors with two or three wills were very eager to participate in the ambush. For them, successfully killing an emperor from the nine worlds meant a great harvest. The Heaven's Will and blood were priceless treasures.
Because of this, heavy casualties happened during the ambushes, especially if other emperors from the nine worlds didn't come to help. After the covenant, only one emperor had died while the others managed to escape even without help.
Thus, the ambush today was a violation of the covenant, hence Li Qiye's comment.
“That's right, this was a clear rule in the covenant, no more than three Grand Emperors and no more than twelve Heaven's Wills, plus, the hunt must be stopped at the tenth world.” World Emperor spoke coldly: “Our three races and the hundred races have signed the agreement. We have adhered to the rules, even now!”
“So you have found a loophole?” Li Qiye smiled.
“Don't forget how we drafted and wrote this agreement back then. We respect and abide by the rules when ascenders come from the nine worlds. However, you are the Dark Crow. We don't care if you have shouldered the Heaven's Will or not, you are not an emperor or an illegal ascender since you could travel freely between the worlds. Thus, you weren't part of covenant! The only identity you have is the dark hand behind the curtains or the Dark Crow, and neither are included!”
“Looks like my meticulous self can still be neglectful and got figured out by you.” Li Qiye didn't mind at all: “That's true, I am indeed not part of the covenant just like your explanation. This ambush is not a violation.”
Li Qiye didn't think about himself during the initial draft. After all, the emperors of the nine worlds fought for it with their blood. Thus, the main focus was for the future generations.
Moreover, he was immortal back then, capable of traveling between the worlds without worrying about any ambush despite the Grand Emperors' multiple attempts in the past.
“It shall end today!” World Emperor raised his voice: “Don't think Immortal Emperors will come to save you. The thirteen continents have been sealed so they won't be able to locate your coordinates so easily. Once they found it, you would be ashes already, so don't bother delaying for more time, let go of this futile hope! This is my advice as an old friend.”
These two enemies have always tried to kill each other but they were very frank and honest with each other on the battlefield.
“Geezer, why do you think everything is under your control? Don't you think I have planned for this? That the emperors know that I am coming and my coordinates? It's just that I already told them that assistance is not necessary.” Li Qiye leisurely smiled.
This made his opponents slightly bat their eyes. If anyone else postured like this, the group would think that they were lying. This might not be the case when it came from the Dark Crow.
World Emperor glared at him and spoke: “Then let us see who is the better schemer. Dark Crow, even if you have emperors coming, I'm sure it won't be that many. First, Min Ren had already started the fifth expedition and Qi Zhen with the sixth. There aren't that many left from the ones you have groomed, how many that are still around do you think are willing to sacrifice everything for you?!”