Dominator Emperor

The blue-robed woman was widely knowledgeable, and her sect had a profound origin. Even so, she had only read a description of the World Tree’s Young Leaves in an ancient tome. The book had no illustration, only a description stating that the young leaves were wreathed in Golden Lightning, peerlessly rare. Legend had it that only the Hao Hai Immortal Emperor had ever obtained one.

The blue-robed woman never dreamed that the World Tree’s Young Leaves—a treasure said to be rare even for an Immortal Emperor—would be in Li Qiye’s hands. She couldn’t believe she was seeing the eon-rare World Tree’s Young Leaves on an inconspicuous little island.

While the blue-robed woman was still reeling from shock, Li Qiye had already carefully placed the World Tree’s Young Leaves into the purified resin. He then controlled the furnace fire, beginning the Refinement of the World Tree’s Young Leaves.

The furnace fire seemed to come alive as wisps of flame wormed their way into the World Tree’s Young Leaves. In the blink of an eye, the leaves dissolved into a medicinal liquid, merging with the resin amidst flashes of Golden Lightning. Then, like ink sinking into paper, the furnace fire vanished completely into the resin.

The process seemed to stretch on for an eternity. After an unknown amount of time, the resin slowly began to boil. The furnace fire had transformed into threads of Law Divine Rank, each as fine as silk, which began the Refinement within the resin.

Gradually, the once crystal-clear resin began to change, eventually turning into a medicinal liquid that resembled Golden Liquid.

The blue-robed woman watched this scene, utterly speechless. ’A leaf from the World Tree... something that can bring the dead back to life, a treasure of immeasurable value... and Li Qiye is using it just to melt some resin? This is too extravagant, too ridiculous!’

"This is such a wanton waste," the blue-robed woman couldn’t help but say.

"Even the best things are worthless if they aren’t used in the right place," Li Qiye said with a smile as he looked at the Golden Liquid-like juice in the Fire Furnace.

Next, Li Qiye tossed the Ghost Source Ancestor Key into the medicinal juice. The moment the key entered the liquid, even without Li Qiye activating the furnace fire, the juice began to boil, and it grew more and more violent!

As the juice boiled, the Ghost Source Ancestor Key began to act like an ink stick, releasing wisps of black ink. In no time at all, the entire furnace of golden medicine had turned a pitch-black.

"You... you... you’re being too wasteful!" The blue-robed woman had the urge to drag Li Qiye away. A peerless World Tree’s Young Leaf, wasted just like that. ’Is there a bigger spendthrift in this world than him? Compared to him, other profligates aren’t even worth mentioning.’

However, at that moment, something incredibly bizarre happened. Ghostly wails echoed from within the Fire Furnace, and then, one after another, ghost heads began to emerge from the medicinal juice.

The sight of the ghost heads baring their fangs and brandishing their claws within the juice was enough to make one’s blood run cold.

HUM— Just as the blue-robed woman found it all too strange, the Ghost Source Ancestor Key submerged in the juice began to radiate light. This light was filled with Immortal Divinity, as if it were eternal and indestructible.

"Success." Seeing this, Li Qiye was overjoyed and muttered, "So it really is like this."

At this point, the juice in the furnace calmed down, and the clawing ghost heads had vanished. Overjoyed, Li Qiye retrieved the Ghost Source Ancestor Key and sealed the medicinal juice in a Medicine Altar.

Seeing that Li Qiye had finished refining the juice, the blue-robed woman couldn’t help but ask, "You... what kind of concoction did you just make?!" ’In her eyes, Li Qiye clearly wasn’t refining any Divine Elixir and Immortal Medicine.’

’Not to refine a Divine Pill or Immortal Elixir, but to use an eon-rare World Tree’s Young Leaf for... this? It’s too outrageous. If that leaf were used as the main ingredient, one could refine the most precious Immortal Pill in the world. And yet, Li Qiye had used the world’s most precious World Tree’s Young Leaf on a jar of murky black juice whose purpose was unknown. Such a wanton waste was enough to infuriate both gods and men.’

"Ghost-Attracting Medicine," Li Qiye said with a grin. "Girl, seeing as you’ve been following me around so diligently, I’ll give you a chance to see something eye-opening. Come with me." With that, he turned and left, carrying the Medicine Altar.

Filled with curiosity, the blue-robed woman immediately followed. Li Qiye didn’t go far. He ascended to the highest point of the small island and stopped before a tree stump that was about three feet tall.

The withered stump was completely devoid of life. Its center was hollowed out, and the pitch-black wood resembled an outstretched palm.

Such a stump would go completely unnoticed in this jungle. However, Li Qiye now cautiously opened the Medicine Altar and poured the freshly refined juice over the stump, layer after layer. Before long, the entire stump was coated. As the juice air-dried, it looked as if it were covered in a black shell.

Seeing this, the blue-robed woman had the urge to commit murder. ’That juice was made from a World Tree’s Young Leaf, and Li Qiye just poured it on a dead stump! Is there anyone more wasteful in this world? To squander a treasure to such an extent... it truly infuriates both gods and men.’

However, Li Qiye simply held the Ghost Source Ancestor Key and stared intently at the juice-coated stump, and even he couldn’t help but feel nervous. For the sake of this dead stump, he had invested a World Tree’s Young Leaf. If this failed, he would have wasted a priceless World Tree’s Young Leaf for nothing.

After an unknown amount of time, the entire estuary suddenly shifted. Many Cultivators on the Thousand Islands felt it, even Hall Master Lu Baiqiu felt the entire Thousand Islands tremble for a moment, and then all was still.

Many Cultivators thought it was just their imagination since the estuary had only trembled for an instant, so no one paid it any mind. However, truly powerful experts, like the blue-robed woman, felt something different.

At that moment, she sensed something deep beneath the Thousand Islands. It was as if, with a THUMP, a heart had suddenly started beating, only for the steady rhythm to silently vanish back into the deepest depths of the earth.

Despite this, she could still feel that something in the deepest part of the earth had awakened. It seemed the most powerful existence from across the eons was slumbering down below.

If anyone could have seen the cut mark Li Qiye had made on the Ghost Locust Tree of the Thousand Islands at this moment, they would have discovered that the mark had come to life. The Dao Patterns on it flowed, channeling themselves deep underground.

This was the Great Trend that Li Qiye had laid. His research into the Thousand Islands had not just begun. He had studied them long ago, and though his gains were few, he had managed to glimpse some of their secrets. Unfortunately, he had always been missing two things: the World Tree’s Young Leaves and the Ghost Source Ancestor Key!

Especially after he comprehended some of the Profound Secrets of the Ghost Source Ancestor Key, he finally understood some of the mysteries that had long plagued his mind—riddles from the Ghost Sacred Realm that no one had been able to solve for countless eons!

Li Qiye held his breath, staring at the dead stump plastered with the medicinal juice. After an unknown amount of time, a soft CRACK was heard. At that moment, a tender green shoot sprouted from the dead stump! The delicate shoot had only a single young leaf, but it was a vibrant, captivating green. This tender shoot pushed its way out from the thick coating of juice, heralding its vigorous growth.

"Success." Seeing this tender green shoot, Li Qiye was instantly overjoyed.

Just as Li Qiye was celebrating, a thick fog erupted from the hollow center of the dead stump. The fog was as black as ink, just like Ghost Qi, and its sinister chill was enough to send a shiver down one’s spine. It was a hair-raising sight.

Li Qiye immediately tossed the Ghost Source Ancestor Key in his hand into the fog. With a HUM, the key floated atop the fog. Then, it began to emit wisps of light, each filled with an eternal and immortal Divinity.

These wisps of light instantly drilled into the hollow of the stump, boring down into the earth.

Then, the blue-robed woman thought she heard a wave of cheering, but she felt it might have been an illusion. She couldn’t tell if it was real or not.

While the blue-robed woman was still wondering if the cheers were real, Little Ghosts began leaping out one after another from the hollow of the stump. Each Little Ghost was wreathed in mist, and each had a different form and demeanor.

Some Little Ghosts wore a Golden Robe and looked like a Ghost King; some had two fangs, and others even had wings...

The Little Ghosts that rushed out of the hollow stump immediately drilled into the Ghost Source Ancestor Key. The key, which was over three feet long, was already engraved with ninety-nine Little Ghosts. Now, as the Little Ghosts rushed out from underground and into the key, each one found a carving that was its exact likeness and merged with it.

The dumbstruck blue-robed woman was a little dazed, but she still counted the Little Ghosts emerging from the ground. When the last Little Ghost appeared, there was a total of ninety-nine.

All ninety-nine Little Ghosts merged into the Ghost Source Ancestor Key. Each one found its own carving on the key and instantly fused with it.

It seemed that the ninety-nine Little Ghost carvings on the Ghost Source Ancestor Key had been sculpted in the exact likeness of the ninety-nine Little Ghosts that just emerged from the ground.

When all the Little Ghosts had entered the Ghost Source Ancestor Key, the key itself seemed to come to life. It began to emanate a fog-like Divinity. For a time, Ghost Qi swirled around the key, but this ghost-like mist was not sinister. Instead, it was filled with an eternal, immortal Divinity. It was the aura of a Ghost Immortal!