<b>Chapter 499: Simple Precious Tree</b>
“Scram!” Li Qiye didn't bother to give the Yin Yang Master a glimpse as he dismissively spoke: “While you are still a guest, scram immediately. Even if you are a Virtuous Paragon, annoy me and I'll cut off your head to use it as my chamber pot! The Ancestral Realm ain't shit! I don't give a damn about a bunch of ghosts hiding underground. Go back and inform those old geezers that if they threaten me, I'll go and dismantle their nest!”
These aggressive words left everyone silly, including the stunned group of Daoist Bao Gui. Too domineering! This was the Ancestral Realm! Since time immemorial, no one had ever talked about dismantling it. Even an Immortal Emperor had to think twice before saying these words.
Now, he had done it; Li Qiye opened his mouth and talked about destroying the Ancestral Realm. This sentence was too overbearing and was capable of creating a total mess of everything.
“Gate Master Yin Yang, please take your leave. Our Guardian will not hand the Prime Ominous Key over. Since the key is in the possession of our Guardian, it is also the Thousand Carp River's possession! We will not hand the key over with both hands extended.” As they reached this impasse, Daoist Bao Gui came forward to force the guest to leave.
The Yin Yang Master's expression kept on changing colors in an unsightly manner. Today, being yelled at by a junior left him in an extremely humiliated state. He coldly scowled before saying: “When the Ancestral Realm's punishment descends, you all better be ready.” Having said that, he started to walk away without waiting to sit on his palanquin. Staying any longer would only result in further humiliation.
After he left, Daoist Bao Gui forced a smile and said: “Did we need to make it so tense? We could have just refused to hand it over.”
Forcing the Thousand Carp River to hand over the key was absolutely out of the question, but there was no need to break all pretense; a polite refusal could have worked.
“It is fine. Sooner or later, we would fall out with them anyway.” Li Qiye said with a smile: “Sooner or later, I'll dismantle the Ancestral Realm.”
“You are talking about the Ancestral Realm!” The elders and Venerable Yang couldn't disguise their astonishment at Li Qiye's words.
“So what?” Li Qiye continued on: “Even Immortal Emperors will disappear one day, let alone the Ancestral Realm. As long as it is my will, tearing it down isn't a big deal.”
The group from the southern Distant Cloud couldn't help but awkwardly smile. This was too crazy! Even an Immortal Emperor would not say such a thing, but Li Qiye had declared it so. If anyone heard this, they would think that he had gone insane.
Lan Yunzhu finally got the chance to ask now that Li Qiye left his cultivation session: “Do we open the Prime Ominous Grave now?”
“Not yet. For the last several days, I've been busy cultivating a new merit law. In the future, it will be an emperor's law or something even better.”
The older group couldn't help but shudder inside. They knew that Li Qiye was not speaking nonsense. He was at such a young age with a low cultivation, yet he was already able to create his own merit law, and one that was on the path of the emperor at that. How heaven-defying was this?
Lan Yunzhu was quite curious. Her dual saint talents were quite formidable no matter which era it was; she was the type that would always garner attention. However, she couldn't take the same steps as Li Qiye.
The Myriad Bones Throne and the Yin Yang Gate both came, as well as the Bronze-Carapace Insect Tribe from the far Misty Field. All the other ghost tribes in the Sacred Nether World came one after another. There were even some ancient and reclusive clans.
Among them, the one that received the greatest fanfare was the All-Eras Ancient Kingdom. A huge continent flew from the horizon and swept through the sky. It was majestic and the size of an entire country.
On this continent were towering pavilions and ancient buildings — both mysterious and powerful. This giant landmass was a source of shock. The unknowing would think that it was an entire country.
It landed right outside of the Prime Ominous Grave, and Tian Lunhui himself came to greet its people. He trod on sky and flew upward. A mysterious aura that spanned for miles like an endless grand dao paved the path below his feet.
People couldn't help but swoon at his style. As one of the three heroes and someone called the reincarnation of an Immortal Emperor, Tian Lunhui's style was no less than anyone else's.
With the arrival of these great powers, the grave became filled with people eagerly awaiting for Li Qiye to open the Prime Ominous Grave as soon as possible.
If it was like before, these people would have already taken action to seize the key. But now, anyone who wished to do so would have to think very carefully.
People shivered at the thought of Li Qiye killing tens of thousands by himself in one battle. Moreover, the elders of the river sect were also here and they completely supported him. Even an emperor's lineage wouldn't want to declare war on the Thousand Carp River just for the Prime Ominous Key. So in the end, everyone waited for Li Qiye to quickly open the grave.
Many smaller sects were nervous at the sight of so many great powers. A weaker sect master began counting and gasped: “Hidden Earth Ghost Tribe, Hundred Saints Clan, Nine Dragons Peak… Even the War Clan is here! This is a reclusive clan that produced an Immortal Emperor once.”
Someone else added: “Not only the War Clan, but even an ancient ghost tribe like the Iron Ghost also came.”
The Prime Ominous Grave was opening, but there was ample time so even the reclusive clans of this world came out to play. All the smaller powers became frightened by their auras. This was the biggest event in the recent years; all of the most powerful tribes and sects in the Sacred Nether World were here.
“Rumble!” While many people were still stunned, the earth suddenly shook. A tree suddenly grew from right outside the grave and instantly pierced up to the sky, covering half of the horizon.
The fog lingering above made it difficult for others to see what was happening up there, but there were faint shadows on the tree.
“Simple Precious Tree!” A person took a deep breath and exclaimed.
“Even the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom came.” Countless people were stunned once they saw this tree. Even great characters inside the throne of bones' ancestral mountain and the elders above the giant All-Eras continent were surprised.
Inside the ancestral mountain, a great character murmured: “They moved the Simple Precious Tree here, just what are they trying to do?”
Many people were jealous of this huge tree: “Simple Precious Tree — this is something left behind by the legendary Immortal Emperor Di Yu.”
The Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom was just like the Thousand Carp River, a lineage erected in the southern Distant Cloud. It could be said that it was the number one power in this region, a one sect, two emperors lineage.
At a certain level, both the immortal kingdom and the river sect represented the human race!
The kingdom's first emperor, as well as its founder, was Immortal Emperor Di Yu, and he was a Charming Spirit. Its second Immortal Emperor was Immortal Emperor Fan Chen, a human. [1. Fan Chen = Mundane World.]
Because of this, they had produced many powerful human experts that had reached the peak in the past.
In the southern Distant Cloud, human cultivators considered the Thousand Carp River and the Immortal Kingdom as the two main human lineages. Because of them, human cultivators had a place to stay in the Sacred Nether World.
All were shocked to see this precious tree, including the throne of bones, the All-Eras Ancient Kingdom, and even the reclusive clans.
This precious tree came from Immortal Emperor Di Yu, and there were many speculations about its origin. Some thought that Immortal Emperor Di Yu used his blood energy to cultivate this tree, but later on, people thought that he obtained the tree from the Prime Ominous Grave at a young age.
All the way to the present day, this tree was a very powerful treasure of the Immortal Kingdom, and it rarely left the kingdom's territory. The Sacred Nether inhabitants even considered this tree to be the ancient kingdom's defining and protecting treasure. Its mysterious wonders were on par with Immortal Emperor True Treasures. In fact, it might even be greater than such treasures.
Now that the Immortal Kingdom decided to bring their precious tree right outside the Prime Ominous Grave, many became alarmed at the kingdom's intentions.
“What does the Simple Mountain Immortal Kingdom want to do? It is understandable if they bring an Immortal Emperor True Treasure, but to bring this tree along… Is it that they actually want to find the mythical method for everlasting life?” An ancestor standing on top of the All-Eras continent exclaimed.
All the emperor's lineages brought along emperor's weapons to this grave opening. This was no secret since everyone knew the dangers of the grave, but the Immortal Kingdom bringing its defining treasure caused others to become shocked.
“A big storm is brewing.” Everyone eventually came to this conclusion. All of the powerful forces of the Sacred Nether World were here, and all of them brought along emperor's weapons so when a fight broke out, even the earth would be rended!
“Bang—bang—bang!” A thunderous sound came about as a sea of scarlet flames incinerated the heaven and earth. Everyone started to run, but after a while, they began to calm down. The flames shot into the sky but didn't burn anyone at all.
When the scarlet flames subsided, everyone saw a divine beast standing proudly in the air — a qilin. Its entire body was golden and covered in fiery sparks. It had an incomparably gallant figure as it stood above the nine heavens like a descending divine god.
[spoiler title='499 Teaser'] Stealing this from another novel, but it is quite apt here.[/spoiler]