It was a struggle for the fallen Nan Huairen and his master to stand up. When Li Shuangyan stood up firmly, her face was also deathly pale. The immortal explosion from earlier was truly frightening. Under this light, no matter whether it was a Royal Noble, an Enlightened Being, an Ancient Saint, or even a Heavenly King, they were merely ants and insects!
At this time, Nan Huairen and his master were in awe, watching Li Qiye. They finally understood, at this moment, that Li Qiye was a terrifying existence way beyond their imaginations.
“You dare to look at my sea of knowledge and search through my memories? This thing can't tell life from death!” Li Qiye's expression was as cold as is. Even though his body no longer possessed the raging Immortal Emperor's aura, at this moment, he still caused others to shiver without being cold; it was as if he was a grand Immortal Emperor that was unable to be challenged.
The giant snail's origin was heaven shattering, but unfortunately, he absolutely shouldn't have tried to look into Li Qiye's sea of knowledge!
Since the Desolate Era from long ago, Li Qiye fell into the Immortal Demon Grotto, and his soul was sucked out to be refined into the Dark Crow. Afterward, he was involuntarily summoned back to the Immortal Demon Grotto, and his memories were read by the existence inside.
It was not until much later that Li Qiye had the sufficient capacity to scheme against the whole world. He obtained the help of countless immortal sages to plan against the Immortal Demon Grotto and escaped the mind reading.
From then on, Li Qiye's most dreaded fear was his sea of knowledge being opened by other people and having his memories read. After he gained power and was able to cultivate Immortal Emperors, he once again reinforced his soul, sea of knowledge, and memories.
It could be said that his soul, True Fate, sea of knowledge, and memories were reinforced by Immortal Emperors. Not only Immortal Emperor Min Ren, but also Immortal Emperor Xue Xi, Immortal Emperor Tun Ri, Immortal Emperor Ba Mie, and even the Black Dragon King all reinforced his memories.
If anyone touched his sea of knowledge or his memories, it would be equivalent to touching the reinforcements laid down by Immortal Emperors! They would absolutely be suppressed by the immortal reinforcement! What this meant was that besides himself, no one else could read his sea of knowledge or memories, not even Immortal Emperors!
This was the result of him floating through millions of years, and the fruit of hard effort throughout the eras; he was able to defend against the one matter that he feared the most!
Today, this unknowing snail dared to use a godly method to read the memories of Li Qiye, this was — without a doubt — seeking his own death!
Li Qiye commanded: “Drag him back here.”
Protector Mo and his disciple busily followed the order and left. After half a day, with loud thunderous sounds, they finally dragged the giant snail back; it was as if they were dragging a small mountain.
The giant snail dragged in front of Li Qiye was motionless.
Nan Huairen dragged him here and asked: “Oldest Brother, is he already dead?”
“I'm only temporarily sparing his life. It'll depend on his performance.” Li Qiye commanded: “Take out the pot and the medicines, then cook him.”
Protector Mo and his disciple immediately took out the huge pot from his magical storage, and they threw all of the medicinal herbs inside. They put in the giant snail as well.
It didn't take long before the water in the pot started to boil, and all of the medicines became a medicinal concoction.
At this moment, the giant snail slowly but eventually regained his consciousness. Even though he woke up, he couldn't move because of the Immortal Emperor's suppression! At this moment, he was the meat on the chopping block, leaving Li Qiye to do whatever he wanted to him!
“You, who are you?” Submerged in the pot, he struggled to have his tentacles reach outside of the water. He opened his huge eyes to look at Li Qiye. His eyes were filled with horror. This person's memories were protected by Immortal Emperors! Who on earth was he?
Seeing the fourteen-year-old boy in front of him, this matter was simply impossible to understand. The last Immortal Emperor's era was thirty thousand years ago. Logically speaking, this boy in front of him essentially couldn't meet with an Immortal Emperor.
However, this boy before him had clearly not only met with an Immortal Emperor. The protection inside the boy's sea of knowledge suppressed him in just a flash. This impression left a heavy mark on him, completely unerasable. Under this absolute power, the fear in the deepest part of his soul realized that it could only be from an Immortal Emperor!
At this moment, Li Qiye's expression was much better. He slowly replied: “Who I am is no longer important. You have encroached upon my most important taboo.”
Unknowingly, the moment Li Qiye's expression became normal, the other three sighed a huge breath of relief. When Li Qiye was enraged, they felt a heavy boulder taking away their breath, like a furious Immortal Emperor, instilling fear into their souls!
“You… What are you doing…?” At this time, the giant snail knew that trouble was coming, and he asked as he lost all colors.
Li Qiye leisurely said: “What else is there but to cook you in the pot? You tell me what I am doing? Cooking your longevity blood, and at the same time, cooking a nice snail soup to ease us in this hot sun. They have never tasted nor tried this kind of dish, before; maybe after they try it, they'll never be able to forget it.”
The giant snail yelled out: “This, this is absolutely impossible! M-my body isn't something that a mortal flame can refine, nor can I be boiled by ordinary water!”
Li Qiye smiled and said: “Someone else would try that, but, as for me, ah! I would never attempt this. If I know your origin, then I can immediately deal with you. Do you know what the water boiling you consist of? This is definitely a recipe to cook a snail soup; it is not only delicious, but it is also extremely nutritious!”
Hearing these words, the snail couldn't help but taste the medicinal concoction inside the pot. Tasting this, he was immediately frightened. These medicinal herbs, once combined, would definitely remove his body's protection!
At this moment, Li Qiye jumped onto the pot. He took out the Invisible Dual Blades and slowly said: “You should know that taking the blood of your tribe is an art. I'm aware that your body is like a treasure, impervious to weapons and Life Treasures; however, after being boiled in such a concoction, you should be clear about the consequences!”
Finished speaking, he unleashed a blade as fast as lightning.
In the blink of an eye, Li Qiye left many blade-shaped cuts on the giant snail's body. Marks and marks intertwined together, creating a mysterious pattern. This pattern seemed like it was just a formation, but it was also a sermon of the heavens. It was a profound dao that collapsed the defense of the giant snail!
At this time, inside the many lines left behind by the blades, blood slowly seeped out. These drops of blood were extremely beautiful; they were like priceless jewels. They dripped down into the pot and mixed together with the medicinal concoction, emitting wave after wave of charming medicinal fragrances that caused others to drool and swallow their saliva.
“Longevity blood…” Seeing the drops of blood dripping down, Protector Mo was quite moved. To cultivators, longevity blood was extremely precious. There was a saying that one drop of blood was equal to ten thousand drops of worldly essence.
This method of Li Qiye caused the giant snail to be scared out of his soul. The snail belonged to a mysterious creation; it was not part of the Demon race, Heavenly Beasts, nor the Longevity Spirits. Its origin was heaven shaking and it was extremely rare in this world.
They had a body that could be considered impenetrable, but today, Li Qiye knew how to open their defenses; he also knew the method of obtaining their longevity blood. He knew that he had met his nemesis today!
Feeling the loss of his longevity blood, the giant snail felt his soul being sucked out and his True Fate becoming weaker and weaker. If this continued, he would truly be boiled into a pot of snail soup.
Finally, the heart of the giant snail shivered as he yelled: “You, what do you want? Y-you, say what you want to say!” If he kept on acting strong, then he would truly become a boiled snail soup!
Li Qiye took a while before he slowly glared at him. Finally, he spoke: “How about this? I just happen to be lacking a mount, so you can be by my side.”
Li Qiye's words caused the group of Nan Huairen, standing at the side, to be silent. A grand character always picked a mount with a nice external appearance. Not to mention the types of supreme existences like True Dragons or Phoenixes, but even a dragon horse was cooler than this giant snail in front of them.
The giant snail contemplated over Li Qiye's words. Even though their tribe's numbers were few, they had a proud history. Not to mention, its cultivation was absolutely powerful. Becoming a mount for a human; this would be unbearable to him.
Li Qiye glared at the silent giant snail and said: “Don't be prideful just because of your three parts bloodline. Even if the patriarch of your first tribe was still alive, seeing me, he could only call himself a junior!”
Li Qiye's words shocked the snail. Its huge eyes looked at Li Qiye and asked: “You, who are you?!”
“Who I am is not important. Either you follow me or I will boil you and turn you into soup.” Li Qiye happily said: “In the future, if you diligently work hard with loyalty, I will pass down the Twelve Solutions to you!”
This phrase from Li Qiye caused the snail to be ecstatic. He wasn't willing to become a mount for Li Qiye, and he would even prefer being boiled into a meat soup; however, when it came to the Twelve Solutions, this was a completely different matter.
He was aware that since the beginning of time until now, only one existence knew the Twelve Solutions, but Li Qiye clearly was not this existence!
“Good, I promise you!” The giant snail surrendered by making a choice.
Li Qiye was without any surprise and said: “Use your True Fate to make the oath.”
In the end, the giant snail swore with his True Fate. This scene caused Nan Huairen and his master to be touched. A True Fate oath, to cultivators, was an extremely serious matter. Once the oath was made, one absolutely had to comply with the oath. If violated, they would be subjected to a backlash.
Of course, a True Fate oath had to be willingly taken by both parties.
After making the vow, Li Qiye let Nan Huairen and Protector Mo drag him out of the iron pot.
[1] I think the author made a mistake here, it should be the Eighteen Solutions, not the Twelve. Unless 12-18 were all unknown by their tribe.