In truth, both Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child were very strong, even more powerful than the Sect Leaders and Emperors of typical Great Teaching Territories. It was just their misfortune to be born in the same era as the Three Heroes of the Netherworld. The radiance of Emperor’s Throne was so brilliant that it left them in the shadows, which was why people often mentioned Emperor’s Throne while forgetting about geniuses like them.
"KILL—" The Ghost Insect Demon Child and Saint Child Ji Que roared as one. In an instant, dazzling light erupted from them, soaring into the sky. At that moment, it was as if they had drained all the Heaven and Earth Essence Qi from the world, as if they had borrowed the power of the Heaven and Earth Ten Thousand Paths.
A resplendent Great Dao now circled them like a river of stars. Their Blood Qi surged wildly, the Ten Thousand Techniques returned to their origin, and boundless Celestial Destiny Power erupted majestically from their bodies!
"A Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill—" Seeing this, the expressions of many in the crowd changed. For the Ghost Insect Demon Child and Saint Child Ji Que to use a Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill right from the start—they were clearly trying to kill Li Qiye!
"OPEN—" Seeing the two Heavenly Destiny Secret Skills bearing down on him, Li Qiye let out a long roar. BOOM! His Life Wheel spun rapidly as his Yin Yang Blood Sea opened, and endless Blood Qi instantly poured into his body. In that moment, Li Qiye seemed to contain the Blood Qi of myriad seas. The torrent of energy shot into the sky, piercing deep into the celestial vault and instantly scattering clouds for millions of miles!
At this moment, it was as if Li Qiye shouldered the azure heavens. His presence created a polar day that bathed the Nine Realms and Myriad Realms in light, leaving no place for darkness to hide. A Great Dao wrapped around his entire body.
"A Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill!" Seeing that Li Qiye had also used a Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill, many were shocked.
"No, that’s not the Qianli Immortal Emperor’s Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill. What kind of Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill is this?" a powerful figure exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Li Qiye’s technique.
Everyone knew Li Qiye was the Defender of the Faith for the Qianli River. If he were to use a Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill, it should have been one from the Qianli Immortal Emperor. Yet, the skill he was using now was not. How could this not be shocking?
The three of them unleashed their Heavenly Destiny Secret Skills simultaneously. Li Qiye shouldered his polar day, his body becoming the daytime sky itself. Behind Saint Child Ji Que, a colossal deity manifested, like a Celestial God standing at his back. As for the Ghost Insect Demon Child, his Ghost Qi surged to the heavens. His Nether Insect Emperor flew from its pouch, absorbing all the Power of the Great Dao and transforming into a terrifying Demon Insect.
In that instant, all three were dueling with Heavenly Destiny Secret Skills. This left many cultivators dumbstruck, while others watched with envy and jealousy. To open a fight with a Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill—only the successor of an Emperor Immortal Gate could afford such a luxurious move!
"BOOM—" Finally, Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child launched a pincer attack on Li Qiye. The Saint Child’s Celestial God pressed down to kill, while the Demon Child’s Demon Insect sought to devour heaven and earth and consume the Ten Thousand Realms. It could even swallow Laws. It opened its maw, about to devour Li Qiye.
But Li Qiye, shouldering his polar day, stood upon endless Blood Qi. Instantly, the polar day expanded infinitely. In a flash, Li Qiye’s polar day replaced the world; his Heavenly Destiny Secret Skill supplanted the heavens and the earth.
"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—" The Celestial God’s suppression, the Demon Insect’s devouring, and the polar day’s crushing pressure—the three Heavenly Destiny Secret Skills instantly clashed, tearing the sky asunder. The three combatants rushed into the Nine Heavens, each seeking to slay their opponents in their most powerful state.
"BANG—" In the end, the three Heavenly Destiny Secret Skills unleashed their ultimate attacks simultaneously. In this Ultimate Strike, Li Qiye’s polar day gained the upper hand. Its expansion instantly forced back the Celestial God and the Demon Insect.
"THUD, THUD, THUD." In the air, the Ghost Insect Demon Child and Saint Child Ji Que were knocked back several steps, their expressions falling drastically.
"Nine Stars and Ten Palaces! Even as an Ancient Saint, he can challenge a Great Saint Venerable!" Seeing this, countless cultivators from the Ghost Race, including many powerful figures, were filled with both jealousy and hatred.
Everyone knew that Li Qiye possessed the Nine Stars and Ten Palaces. On the day he massacred a myriad of foes, he had earned both their hatred and their fear. Now, seeing him single-handedly hold off Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child, and even gain the upper hand, everyone understood the terror of the Nine Stars and Ten Palaces.
"Nine Stars and Ten Palaces!" Hearing others mention this, Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child couldn’t help but grind their teeth in hatred. In truth, they were both green with envy over Li Qiye’s achievement. They would have even been willing to trade the Dao Practice of a Great Saint Venerable for such an accomplishment. It was simply too infuriatingly enviable!
Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child were both extraordinary geniuses, but achieving the Nine Stars and Ten Palaces was no easy feat. Even a peerless genius like Emperor’s Throne couldn’t achieve it!
Seeing this, Lan Yunzhu said nothing. This was all within her expectations. Moreover, she knew that for Li Qiye, the Nine Stars and Ten Palaces was already a thing of the past; he was on the verge of achieving the Nine Stars Twelve Palaces.
’Nine Stars Twelve Palaces,’ Lan Yunzhu thought. ’Once he reaches that stage, what is a mere ’genius’? Utterly insignificant. At that level, even Emperor’s Throne will be nothing, let alone Saint Child Ji Que or the Ghost Insect Demon Child.’
"Nine Stars and Ten Palaces!" Even the Ju Que Saint Master couldn’t help but curse hatefully. ’If my disciple possessed such a stunning achievement, how could he not stand shoulder to shoulder with Emperor’s Throne?’
At this moment, Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child were seething with hatred. They hated the Nine Stars and Ten Palaces, and they especially hated it when others brought it up! They were driven mad with jealousy over such an achievement!
Saint Child Ji Que and the Ghost Insect Demon Child took a deep breath. They stepped forward, once again blocking Li Qiye’s path.
"Li Qiye, it’s not too late to surrender!" Saint Child Ji Que said coldly.
Li Qiye glanced at them and said lazily, "Stop wasting time. Bring out your Killer Lanthanum. If you don’t use it now, you’ll never get another chance!"
"Heh, Brother Ju Que, since he’s so eager to die, let’s grant him his wish!" the Ghost Insect Demon Child said with a sinister smile. As soon as his words fell, a bell chimed with a DING. He had already summoned a treasure.
The Ghost Insect Demon Child’s treasure, once summoned, floated above his head. It was a Giant Bell that exuded a monstrous Ghost Qi. Within the roiling energy, countless heads appeared. Each face wore a miserable expression, seeming to scream in despair, as if the Giant Bell had been forged from countless living people.
"The Demon Bell!" Upon seeing this Giant Bell, many from the Ghost Race paled. One Emperor gasped and said, "That’s the Insect Emperor Immortal Emperor’s most powerful Immortal Emperor’s Treasure, second only to his Lifebound True Artifact!"
"That was once known as the Emperor Artifact with the heaviest baleful aura. It once devoured an entire great clan—that was hundreds of thousands of living beings!" An expert from another race who knew the Demon Bell’s origin couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.
The Demon Bell was the Insect Emperor Immortal Emperor’s most powerful Immortal Emperor’s Treasure, and it was said to be one of his favorite weapons. Legend has it that this bell was refined from the skull of a Ten Thousand Demon Insect. The Ten Thousand Demon Insect was the most vicious and bloodthirsty venomous creature among all Celestial Beasts. The Insect Emperor Immortal Emperor once slew a Ten Thousand Demon Insect that was said to be Wudi, and refined its skull into the Demon Bell.
Legend says that the Insect Emperor Immortal Emperor used this bell to slay countless powerful enemies, absorbing their remnant souls into the Demon Bell for refinement. The bell’s resentful aura surged to the heavens, making it terrifyingly powerful.
Before this, many people had assumed the Ghost Insect Demon Child would be carrying an Emperor Artifact, but no one had expected him to bring the most powerful Emperor Artifact of their Insect Emperor Dynasty!
BUZZ! Spacetime fluctuated. At this moment, Saint Child Ji Que also held nothing back and brought out his own Killer Lanthanum. A treasure appeared.
Saint Child Ji Que’s treasure was a Giant Bell. This Giant Bell was entirely pitch-black, as if forged from Black Gold, and one could tell it was incredibly heavy at a glance. There weren’t many decorative carvings on its surface, only a single image: a grand and majestic mountain shrouded in clouds and mist.
Although the mountain was carved onto the Giant Bell with just a few simple strokes, one could feel its immense scale, as if such a mountain could suppress the Nine Realms.
"Th-this is the Tuo Mountain Bell! The Ju Que Holy Land is being too generous, aren’t they? To actually entrust the Tuo Mountain Bell to Saint Child Ji Que!" Seeing this Giant Bell, many people’s eyes went wide with a mixture of shock and envy.
"Is that the legendary, Heaven-Defying, invincible treasure that the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor obtained in Fengdu City?" Someone who had never seen the Tuo Mountain Bell couldn’t help but stare at it with wide eyes.
"That’s the one. Legend says the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor benefited immensely from this bell. While one can’t say it was the reason he became an Immortal Emperor, rumors claim its value is no less than that of an Immortal Emperor True Artifact," a powerful figure said while looking at the bell.
Many people had also guessed that Saint Child Ji Que must have an Emperor Artifact on him. However, they never imagined that what he had was not an Emperor Artifact, but the Tuo Mountain Bell.
The story of how the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor obtained a supreme, Heaven-Defying treasure from the Ghost River in Fengdu City was a tale told with great relish by later generations. Many people in later times traveled to the Ghost River in Fengdu City precisely because of this story, all of them hoping to become the second Giant Sky Immortal Emperor.
Although a single treasure couldn’t possibly allow someone to become an Immortal Emperor overnight, the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor did indeed gain many benefits from it. Rumor had it that he once spent a great deal of effort on the Tuo Mountain Bell! A little-known rumor even suggested that this was because the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor believed the Tuo Mountain Bell was more than just a simple weapon.
However, this was just a rumor. Outsiders had no chance to get close to the Tuo Mountain Bell, so no one knew what kind of mysteries it held.
The Ju Que Holy Land had always treasured the Tuo Mountain Bell. Yet, in this generation, they had bestowed it upon Saint Child Ji Que! The Holy Land hoped that Saint Child Ji Que, like the young Giant Sky Immortal Emperor, could comprehend some of the Tuo Mountain Bell’s mysteries.
In the eyes of the Ju Que Holy Land, only when Saint Child Ji Que could completely master the Tuo Mountain Bell would he be qualified to contend with a peerless prodigy like Emperor’s Throne.
Saint Child Ji Que also yearned to master the Tuo Mountain Bell like his ancestor, the Giant Sky Immortal Emperor. If he could, he would have the capital to contend with the Three Heroes of the Netherworld!
"The Tuo Mountain Bell..." Looking at Saint Child Ji Que’s treasure, Li Qiye narrowed his eyes, a smile creeping onto his face as he licked his lips.