“Yes, I was in a rush so only brought a tiny piece with me. Just a minor gift, not enough to show my respect.” Li Qiye answered.
The resin of a dragon was a priceless treasure but it wasn't much for Li Qiye. When he destroyed Soaring Immortal and the other top lineages, he obtained a monstrous amount of treasures. His treasury back in the nine worlds was quite impressive.
This time, he also brought a few good items along to be prepared for any situation.
“Uhh…” Peng Yi was petrified. Such a tone was too much to take in; it was as if the guy was an emperor.
Even High Gods wouldn't necessarily be able to obtain the resin of a True Dragon and would salivate after seeing them, only emperors were truly qualified to use them. So when Li Qiye was saying that this was only a minor gift, it sounded so unbelievable.
Peng Yi didn't feel like he was being too outrageous, only generous to a peerless level. Imperial children and successors wouldn't spend as much as him.
“This is too precious of a gift.” Peng Yi didn't dare to accept this resin. His hands were trembling just from holding the box.
“Take it, it's for the High God, not you.” Li Qiye ordered.
Peng Yi took a deep breath and solemnly accepted it before bowing: “I will accept it in my forefather's stead and will hand it to him in the future. The entire clan appreciates your generous gift.”
“The High God's contribution and effort are more than worthy of this gift.” Li Qiye nonchalantly said.
Peng Yi naturally didn't know Li Qiye's underlying meaning and thought that he was only showing respect towards the forefather. After all, he had participated in Emperor Hunt so the members of the hundred races respected him.
“Will you give me a chance to show you around the clan?” Peng Yi suggested.
Li Qiye agreed with a smile so Peng Yi acted as a tour guide, explaining the clan's layout and a few legends.
The clan itself was large with an ancient atmosphere. Each building and temple had their own origin and legend.
Peng Yi enthusiastically took Li Qiye to the majority of the sites in the clan. In fact, even without this tour, Li Qiye still knew more about the clan than Peng Yi. He had stayed in this place many times in the past.
Nevertheless, Li Qiye still listened attentively with a smile on his face.
“Has Star Stomper High God returned?” Li Qiye casually asked during their stroll. He hadn't seen the High God in a long time now, not wanting to disturb him in Exploration Grounds.
The casual question made it difficult for Peng Yi. He hesitated with a strange expression.
“Is something wrong?” Li Qiye immediately noticed and asked.
“Have you not heard about it, Brother Li?” Peng Yi said softly.
Li Qiye answered: “I was occupied with reading the sacred texts in the past and rarely asked about outside events, thus I'm not privy to the chaos of the world.”
“Oh, I see.” Peng Yi didn't doubt this at all. He pondered a bit before continuing: “Something big happened in the last few years and our forefather came into being.”
“War.” Li Qiye's eyes became serious since he was able to read the boy.
“Yes.” Peng Yi smiled wryly and had to tell the truth: “When Ren Sheng from Arrogance ambushed Jin Ge's ascension, many ancestors from the hundred races heeded the call. Our ancestor personally came out and attacked the High Gods from the War-Monarch Clan, so Ren Sheng was able to ambush Jin Ge and stopped him from gaining some Heaven's Wills.”
“Was the High God injured?” Li Qiye asked.
“I'm not sure, I was too young during this conflict, unaware of the details. Alas, after this war, there has not been any news of our forefather, so the elders from the clan believe that he was indeed injured.” Peng Yi revealed.
There was no point for Peng Yi to hide this matter because many big shots from Pure were aware of it.
Jin Ge was a supreme genius and was one of the most hopeful candidates to become a top emperor. His talents were amazing enough and he was highly regarded by the Heaven Race.
If Jin Ge had three smooth seizing events, the most common and conservative estimate was that he would get ten wills. If all stars aligned, he might even be able to obtain twelve wills to become someone like World Emperor.
Having twelve wills meant becoming a top emperor. If one were to come out in this generation, it would reshape the political landscape of the thirteen continents.
In history, only nine emperors had twelve wills and only four were still alive to the present.
Of the four, the only person from the hundred races was Immortal Monarch Yi Ye. [1]
Outside of the extremely mysterious Purewood Divine Emperor, the other two emperors were World and Profound. World Emperor came from the Heaven Race while Profound Emperor came from the Divine Race.
Because Purewood was too elusive, the other three top emperors created a balance of power situation.
If Jin Ge were to catch the right wind and become a twelve-wills emperor, he would definitely stand by World Emperor's side since he was a heavener as well.
Moreover, the War-Monarch Clan always had a great relationship with World Emperor. At that point, World Emperor's faction would have two top emperors. Even if Profound Emperor maintained a neutral stance, the Heaven Race would have an absolute advantage and became a great threat towards the hundred races.
Even though Immortal Monarch Yi Ye was a supreme existence, he wouldn't be able to fence off two other emperors at the same level.
Because of this speculation, Star Stomper High God joined the ambush without any hesitation.
Wen Sheng from Arrogance was also a top genius in the contemporary. Only Jin Ge was his match so the two of them have been rivals for a long time. Each of them had different strong points so a victor was virtually impossible to decide.
However, one generation simply couldn't have two emperors with twelve wills. First, not to mention the high chance of a Heavenly Execution from the appearance of two top emperors, no one in the world wanted to see it either. It would deliver a great blow to the thirteen continents' current political landscape.
A Difficult Dao Era would start as well. These two emperors would absorb all the primordial chaos energy of the origin during their reign. Thus, other emperors would immediately interfere whenever this possibility arose.
Because of this, if two top emperors were to come out in this generation, it certainly would be Jin Ge and Ren Sheng.
That's why Ren Sheng had this plot during Jin Gen's ascension attempt. Killing Jin Ge would have been the best outcome but stopping him from becoming a top emperor would have been fine as well.
Ren Sheng went to find Star Stomper and stated his plan and the High God didn't refuse at all. Despite not being an Ancient God, Star Stomper was crazily powerful due to his set of nine totems and prestigious bloodline. Moreover, he was battle-hardened and experienced after surviving Emperor Hunt.
Thus, he alone was able to stop the High Gods from the War-Monarch Clan and contributed greatly. In the end, the ambush was a success. Even though Jin Ge came out without heavy injuries, he lost his chance to seize the Heaven's Wills. He would never be able to become a top emperor with twelve wills from that point on.
1. I can't translate this name without more context. It can be One Leaf, Harmonious/Solidarity