<b>Chapter 230: Empress Hong Tian (2)</b>
Li Qiye couldn't help but become lost in a daze while thinking of Empress Hong Tian. As the Dark Crow traversing through infinite moons, he personally trained many Immortal Emperors, and Immortal Emperor Min Ren was not considered the most brilliant!
Empress Hong Tian was definitely not the most naturally gifted, but she was one of the greatest Immortal Emperors! When they swept through the heaven and earth to reach the apex, she cried with tears of joy; during the torturous moments of suffering, she wept in sorrow. No matter if it was during their conquest or time spent for the Grand Dao, there was always a secretive shadow accompanying her in both happy and sad times!
There was a time when all of this laughter of happiness — along with cries of anguish — was embedded in their memories!
Unfortunately, they eventually went their separate ways and even nearly turned into enemies. Everything turned into nothingness in a flash, becoming scattered ashes and dispersed smoke.
The most painful thing in this world was not watching your loved ones die, but to break into a life or death feud with each other!
Thinking about the past, the by-gones, and the moments forgotten by time, Li Qiye was lost in a daze for a long time without being able to regain his composure.
Empress Hong Tian! Millions of years had passed. No matter whether it was that year or the present, he did not blame her. There were some things that were against his wishes, but he had to make a decision. No matter if it was the most difficult era or the most miserable year, he — from beginning to end — always had a bottom line. He always persevered no matter what happened!
Empress Hong Tian! A distant memory of their fight was still clear in his mind. Even when it was millions of years later, Li Qiye still couldn't help but become sullen in the end.
“Young noble, what is wrong?” Chen Baojiao and Li Shuangyan wondered about the strangeness in their Young noble's demeanor.
Li Qiye then regained his mind. He let out a smile and shook his head to say: “It is nothing.” Afterwards, he became silent.
The two girls looked at each other; they felt that their young noble's mind was preoccupied with heavy thoughts, and it didn't look like he was worrying about the matter of the Underworld Boat.
The Underworld Boat still did not appear after two or three days. There were very few sects that arrived during this time. The sects that were going to make it were already present while those absent would most likely not make it in time.
However, in the last two or three days, more than ten Treasure Lords along with three Earth Immortals arrived. They were all extremely frightening existences that were invincible during their own eras.
In the end, these Treasure Lords and Earth Immortals could not resist the temptation of the Underworld Boat even though they hesitated for a long time before coming. Leaving their Feng Shui Treasure Earths and Dragon Veins meant that they were using their lifespan that had been accumulated from countless years. They had no backup plan; the two options were to either successfully increase their longevity and leave the burial ground, or to become Earth Corpses forever in the future!
Treasure Lords and Earth Immortals were different from Earth Corpses for they had their own intelligence and awareness. Even though a few of them were buried after their deaths, at this moment, they could still be considered living beings.
All of the Earth Corpses were squeezed into their own group, far away from the living. They were true corpses without awareness and intelligence. Their only instinct was to board the Underworld Boat!
The Treasure Lords and Earth Immortal occupied their own area without any interactions with the others. They all carried solemn expressions for this was their last battle. If successful, they could gain a few hundred years or even a few thousand years of lifespan to leave the burial ground and escape from its chains. However, if they were to be unsuccessful… Becoming an Earth Corpse for all eternity was a worse fate than death.
Legend has it that the dead can still enter the reincarnation cycle, but Earth Corpses will never have that chance.
At the ferry, the atmosphere was very tense as everyone quietly waited while gazing at the Underworld River's silently flowing stream.
Finally, on the fifth day, the Underworld Boats finally came out! Inside the vast Underworld River, the first Underworld Boat flew out from the layers of fog.
“An Underworld Boat!” When the first boat came out, the entire ferry became rowdy because no one could sit still at this time. They all stood up — both the dead and the living. At the same time, the eyes in the coffins opened. Outside of actual dead people, all of the undying beings covered in Era Blood Stones opened their eyes one after another to look at the approaching Underworld Boats.
The boat that flew from the layers of fog was completely silent and entirely black, including its sails and hull. It gave off the feeling of a ghost ship as it quietly floated out from the fog.
One boat, two boats, three boats, four boats… After the first one flew out, there were more and more Underworld Boats flying out from the layers of fog.
“Here we go…” The moment the first boat flew out, Li Qiye stood up right away with his gaze fixed on the Underworld Boats. At this moment, his eyes were like flames, lighting up each Underworld Boat without missing a single detail.
In a flash, the War God Temple's camp made their move and all of the elders immediately lifted the ancient coffin and appeared right behind Li Qiye. Their speed was lightning fast and didn't make the slightest of sounds.
When the first ship flew out, everyone at the ferry all stood up, including the Earth Corpses.
At this time, even the spectators who only came for the entertainment were also tense, let alone the great powers who wanted to bury their coffins on the boats.
Inside the fog, boat after boat flew out in complete silence, creating a ghastly scenery.
“Rumble!” The Earth Corpses were the first group to take action. Countless Earth Corpses — like dumplings jumping into a steaming pot — all rushed towards the Underworld River.
Keep in mind that the Underworld Water was very harmful to most cultivators, especially those with ordinary Physiques. It would destroy the life essence of mortal bodies, but it had very minimal effects on the Earth Corpses!
“Boom boom!” At this moment, all the Earth Corpses rushed into the Underworld Water, wanting to get on the Underworld Boats. The scramble began immediately with Earth Corpses activating their Life Treasures in order to kill those who aimed for their boats regardless of whether it was the dead or the living!
Earth Corpses did not have plans nor schemes; everything came down to their instinct, its sole purpose was getting on the Underworld Boats. They would kill everything as long it pertained to the competition for the boats.
In a trice, many Life Weapons deafeningly soared to the sky as the first wave of massacre was led by the Earth Corpses. They were the first to successfully reach the boats that were floating into the vast Underworld River that was covered in fog.
“Board the ship, now…” The great powers from all over the world did not sit still as their experts personally paved the way while their disciples carried the coffins towards the boats and competed against the Earth Corpses.
There were also ancient coffins that flew up by themselves towards the boats.
“Boom Boom!” Mixed with screams and pitiful bellows, different explosions resounded along with the cracking noises of broken bones. In a flash, blinding lights filled the sky with powerful auras sweeping the Underworld Water surface!
The Treasure Lords also took action right after as they rushed towards the boats. Each of them aimed for a particular one, and right when they believed that it was possible to board, they recklessly rushed forward. In just a moment, even the Earth Immortals became impatient.
Within a few moments, both Treasure Lords and Earth Immortals all opened their eyes, releasing extremely frightening bloody glints.
One shouldn't underestimate Earth Corpses. Even though they belonged to the lowest level of dead corpses, the truth was far from so. There were a few powerful Earth Corpses beyond imagination. At this time, along with its encompassing corpse energy, there was an Earth Corpse wielding a divine saber with extreme might. This divine saber did not only slay other Earth Corpses, even a Treasure Lord was killed. Three coffins from the great powers were split open as the three living ancestors inside were slashed to death on the spot.
“Kill!” In a flash, countless ancient coffins that were rushing towards the Underworld River all opened up. Dead existences from the legends initiated their advance to seize the Underworld Boats and to kill all of their oppositions.
“Over there, isn't that the Wise Heaven Sect's Eighth Generation Sacred Buddha?” An ancient buddha rushed out from a coffin — with a momentum capable of suppressing all evil beings — to slay all of his enemies and to board an Underworld Boat.
“That is the Sky-Blood Reservoir's Fu Shimo, wah! Rumor has it that he died 80,000 years ago.” A bloody shadow rushed out of a coffin, instilling terrifying fear into all spectators. [1. Shimo = Generation's Evil/Demon]
“Ahh…” However, this once-extremely powerful existence couldn't board onto an Underworld Boat. Another Treasure Lord descended from the sky and slashed him into two halves, then he used this unbeatable momentum to board as the boat gently wafted along the Underworld River.
“Phoosh!” At this time above the Underworld River, an old woman fought in the sky with another Treasure Lord, shattering everything in their path. Both sides wanted to seize another boat! The Life Treasures of these two caused all creatures to tremble the moment they swept through the world.
“Damn! This old woman is the protector of the Sacred River-Mountain; she actually managed to stay alive till now! Her opponent is the legendary Treasure Emperor Jun Sheng from Immortal Emperor Tun Ri's era. They are both invincible existences from their eras!” [2. Jun Sheng = Spirited Saint/Sacred Steed]
Witnessing the earth-shattering battle between the two caused a spectator who recognized their backgrounds to exclaim in horror.
Finally, the old woman — with a tyrannical and unbeatable aura — slayed the Treasure Lord and boarded an Underworld Boat.