These words spoke of so many secrets.
Caroline was astonished, frustrated, and disappointed. Elder Wei’s expression was also complicated and lacking his usual subtlety.
Qianye realized in an instant that he had offended certain major characters. Now that he had obtained a part of the Pointer Monarch’s inheritance, they definitely wouldn’t allow his return to the empire in any form. So much so that every day he was alive was like a thorn in their hearts.
All of a sudden, many pieces of information regarding the Pointer Monarch came together, including how his name came to be. The man’s name was Ji Wentian and the words he left on the wall were “Herein, I bury my heart… and point at the heavens to seek the dao.” It was just that the emperor’s name contained the character for “heavens”. Pointing at him would be disrespectful, so Ji Wentian eventually became the Pointer Monarch instead.
Ji Wentian was of a genuine imperial bloodline, but he wasn’t in line for the throne since his mother was of low birth. He didn’t have such aspirations, either. Just like that, pointing to the heavens to seek the dao became pointing to the great dipper to seek the dao.
If even the Pointer Monarch was in such a situation, how could those bigshots who had managed to obtain some of the emperor’s power allow Qianye’s existence?
People in high places would always flaunt their power, rejecting outsiders while strengthening their own people. That was just how the world worked.
Qianye stroked the gun in his hand, saying, “Since that’s the case, I must see how the empire cannot contain me.”
Elder Wei snorted. “You overestimate yourself!”
He opened up the envelope at an unhurried pace, revealing a streak of purple light from within—but he wasn’t in a rush to attack just yet. He fished out a damaged ancient scroll from his robe and tossed it into the air. This tome was the third and last ancient scroll in Elder Wei’s possession. Half of it had been ruined during their ascent to the mountaintop, leaving only a dozen or so tattered pages.
After taking to the air, each page multiplied into ten, then a hundred pages, filling the air and surrounding Qianye in the blink of an eye. It almost looked like the hundred meters around them was filled with dancing snow. The pages—sharp as blades and suffused with a faint glow—descended onto Qianye in quick succession. Elder Wei was also within the perimeter, but the papers would go around him.
Seeing a single page flying over, Qianye reached out and flicked it with his finger. He heard a soft “ding!”, and it felt as though he had just flicked a sword edge. The page soon transformed into origin power and vanished, but not before leaving a red mark on Qianye’s finger. It had actually cut his skin. Apparently, these ancient-scroll pages contained significant power.
If Qianye were an ordinary rank-twelve champion, these pages would’ve minced him up immediately. This was Edler Wei’s domain.
Elder Wei’s pupils shrank upon seeing how Qianye had destroyed the page with a flick and was barely scratched in the process. He appeared fairly apprehensive because the hardness of Qianye’s finger was comparable to a premium origin blade. The old man had never imagined Qainye’s body would be this strong.
Human bodies were inherently weak and required clever use of origin power to fight on par with the dark races. Qianye’s const.i.tution, however, was so strong that it was abnormal—even more so than his Venus Dawn. In the blink of an eye, Elder Wei recalled some of the most difficult and powerful cultivation arts, all of which were notorious for their high demand on physical strength. If Qianye were to get his hands on one of them, then the outcome would be unimaginable.
A chill filled Elder Wei’s heart—his killing intent grew stronger as he came to a decision that Qianye had to die regardless of the cost. He would kill that odd Caroline, too, if she were to interfere.
Nonetheless, the Combatant Formula wasn’t among the cultivation arts the old man had considered. The demands of this widely known art weren’t just high; they were simply impossible. It would also obstruct one’s advancement for the same reason.
At this moment, countless pages were flying faster and faster around Qianye without attacking. Nonetheless, this was Elder Wei preparing to attack at the right moment. Thousands of pages would bear down upon Qianye once the opportunity presented itself, killing him instantly.
Seeing the incoming danger, Qianye revealed a cold smile as he activated the Skyheart Seal on his gun.
Once the Skyheart Seal came into action, the boiling origin power in the vicinity froze up as though it had encountered a frosty gale. Countless pages formed from origin power returned to their original form, dispersing into motes of light. In the blink of an eye, only a couple hundred pages remained out of the thousands, making the hundred-meter array look quite spa.r.s.e.
Shocked out of his wits, Elder Wei increased his power output, only to find that operating the domain and drawing upon the surrounding origin power had become oddly strenuous. If he needed one point of his own origin power before, to control the origin power around him, he now needed two to achieve the same effect. He hadn’t imagined that Qianye could be so proficient in the use of domains, to the point of suppressing his own.
The latter was only rank-twelve!
The pages in the air transformed again as Elder Wei poured in more origin power, going back to around a thousand. However, it was no longer possible for him to conjure several thousand of them in one go. A thousand pages was barely enough to launch a lethal blow, but there would be some trouble if Caroline were to interfere.
Elder Wei was shocked as a pair of luminous wings unfurled behind Qianye! Instantly, the new batch of pages vanished and the difficulty of operating domains stepped up once more.
Qianye let out a low grunt—the surrounding s.p.a.ce became stagnant, and a pressure akin to the vast oceans bore down upon Elder Wei. The force caused his body to bend, and his bones creaked and groaned under the pressure. Most of the flying pages fell to the ground, unable to withstand the weight of the great ocean. Only a dozen or so remained floating in the air.
Caroline broke into an astonished frown. She flashed back several dozen meters out of the domain and stared intently at Qianye.
At this point, Elder Wei still had a dozen floating pages, but the only dangerous ones were the two covers. Now that Qianye’s Oceanic Vortex was pressing on Elder Wei, it could be said that the two parties were in a deadlock—but Elder Wei was a Divine Champion!
At this moment, Qianye was calm and fully focused on Elder Wei. The man’s origin power flow couldn’t escape his True Sight. The power of the Skyheart Seal was even greater than Qianye had imagined. With the addition of the Wings of Inception, it weakened Elder Wei’s domain by half. Had the Pointer Monarch succeeded back in the year, he really might’ve produced a Grand Magnum.
With the domain contest ending in a draw, the only thing left was the sacred seal in Elder Wei’s hands.
The old man whisked out a purple slip of paper from the envelope and said, “You are indeed an astonis.h.i.+ng genius. I won’t be surprised even if you become a heavenly monarch in the future. Unfortunately, you’re not of our race and your heart is bound to be different. Besides, no one can be sure that you won’t go to the Zhao clan’s rescue if something happens to them. So, the more talented you are, the more certain I am about killing you!”
Qianye said with a frown, “The major clans are the foundations of the empire. Why do you people always target the Zhao clan? Isn’t the Zhang clan more powerful? The Bai clan is hiding wild ambitions, and the Song clan is on a sharp decline, wouldn’t it be better to deal with them instead of the Zhao clan?”
Elder Wei replied, “None of them have an imperial bloodline, they cannot reach for that seat.”
Qianye rebuked, “Nonsense! You would destroy the empire’s foundations just for that?”
Elder Wei laughed. “What’s the use of a strong empire when the emperor’s seat is lost?”
Qianye’s eyes grew cold. “I can finally confirm. Even if it’s just to help the empire, I must kill you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds!”
“If you want to kill me, that’ll depend on whether you have the power of a heavenly monarch.” With that, the purple paper in Elder Wei’s grasp erupted in a powerful radiance, flooding the battlefield with a stifling aura. It felt as though a pair of mysterious eyes had opened up in the depths of the void and was gazing in this direction.
Caroline felt a chill run down her body, and her origin power circulation slowed down a fair bit. Just the suppressive might alone was this powerful! She didn’t need anyone to tell her that this was the power of a heavenly monarch!
The purple talisman flew into the sky. Despite its slow ascent, Qianye knew that the attack would catch up to him no matter where he ran; even tearing through the void was no exception. s.p.a.ce was not a barrier before a heavenly monarch!
This attack had to be met head-on!
Qianye laughed thunderously. “A heavenly monarch’s power? I have that!”
The figure of a contemplative young girl emerged behind Qianye, followed by a loud rumble. An origin bullet emerged from the gun chamber, arced through the air, and exploded on the purple talisman.
The purple radiance on the paper receded like the tides, leaving only a faint hue. Elder Wei’s expression s.h.i.+fted drastically. The purple glow represented the energy within the paper—it was the work of that powerful character and could be considered a product of blood and sweat. What exactly was that gun, to be able to blast away half the power of a sacred seal?
Qianye fired once more without the slightest hesitation, and this time, the purple talisman could no longer endure the damage. Its color vanished entirely, and the slip was reduced to a shower of dancing paper-fragments.
A sacred seal, the work of a heavenly monarch, was thus destroyed.
Supported by the Wings of Inception and the effects of Lethal Strike, the gun in Qianye’s hand displayed a shocking amount of firepower, even blasting a sacred seal into smithereens! This meant that the overall power of this gun had reached grade-nine, and even a divine champion wouldn’t dare to take a shot from it. There was also a drawback to the high fire-power, however. Just the two shots had drained Qianye’s origin power entirely, and there was no way he could fire a third.
Elder Wei spat out a mouthful of blood as the sacred seal shattered. His aura began to fluctuate wildly and could hardly remain at the divine champion level. He reached for his pockets, but there was nothing left.
However, there were still a dozen pages floating in the air, and the front and back covers of the tome were especially active. Besides, Qianye’s condition at the moment wasn’t any better than Elder Wei’s. His Oceanic Vortex had long since dispersed, and he had no more power to use the Skyheart Seal.
“It’s a pity, but your luck is still not good enough in the end.” With that, Elder Wei bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed a mist of blood into the air. The two covers from the ancient scroll lit up with a sanguineous glow and their sharpness increased exponentially.
“I must see what other methods you have!” Elder Wei let out a sinister laugh as he controlled the leather cover of the ancient tome. In a flash, two beams of blood-colored light began spinning around Qianye.
Qianye’s body was strong and his regenerative capacity was powerful, but the old man was prepared to kill him in one strike once an opening was revealed. Elder Wei had some reservations about asking Caroline to attack and also kept a part of his attention on her. After all, the power of a wounded divine champion was still outstanding.
At this moment, Qianye was like a lamp that had run out of oil. The old man didn’t need to wait very long.
Yet Qianye was neither alarmed nor desperate as he had imagined. He glared deeply at the elder, his eyes full of sympathy and farewell!