Emperor’s Domination

"Is that true?" Li Qiye became interested and smiled.

"Yes." The old man said: "Buddha Holy Ground is prosperous and peaceful. It flourishes and people don't even need to close their doors at night. There are no bandits and thieves."

"I see." Li Qiye said.

"Vajra Dynasty is in charge of the sacred ground. This has been the case for millions of years, ruled by generations of wise sages and Vajra Dao Lord. This is nothing short of a golden age…" The old man took his time explaining the current situation of the holy ground for Li Qiye. He clearly had a high evaluation of the dynasty. Of course, he was also telling the truth.

Buddha Holy Ground was a special entity - a lineage that has lasted for eras and was different from the others.

Though the land was considered to be under Buddha Holy Ground's jurisdiction, it actually had very few disciples. The only power truly belonging to this lineage was Sacred mountain. Its location remained unknown.

The three thousand kingdoms and eight thousand sects all believed in Buddhism. Their merit laws and ancestors were most likely from Buddha Holy Ground so they could be considered side branches. They would also always listen to the holy ground's command.

But overall, this was only a general outline and the title of the area. The actual lineage in charge, Sacred Mountain, didn't meddle in mundane matters nor cared about authority.

Because of this, the other powers still needed a ruler in order to govern the vast territories. This ruler needed to represent the entire holy ground.

In this generation, the one in charge was the Vajra Dynasty. It didn't use to be called this in the past. Its previous name was Archaic Sun Kingdom or Archaic Sun Dynasty. This title eventually changed after Vajra Dao Lord. The connection added more prestige to their dynasty.

The current king was capable and magnificent. His reign allowed the powers in the holy ground to have peace and prosperity.

"From what I know, the Vajra Dynasty doesn't have much to do with Vajra Dao Lord." Li Qiye smiled and said.

"No, no, that's an unfair statement." The old man responded:" There is a deep connection between them. The dao lord used to be the prince of Vajra and joined Sacred Mountain later for training. After becoming a dao lord, he also returned to rule Vajra for a bit and left many treasures there…"

He laid out a comprehensive history of Vajra for Li Qiye. His facts were true, albeit not without bias.

The dao lord was indeed from the dynasty but he wasn't a prince, only a bastard child from a side branch. He had no status to speak of during his youth.

However, his talents were peerless, allowing him to join Sacred Mountain and accomplishing great things.

Due to this, the dynasty known as Archaic Sun naturally wanted to elevate his background so they bestowed him the title of a prince.

He never represented the kingdom while ruling the holy ground either, only himself. Nonetheless, the kingdom decided to change its name to Vajra. This successfully raised their position in the region.

The dao lord didn't oppose this. He actually remembered his roots and even taught at the dynasty before. This truly benefited them and laid a strong foundation for the future.

The old man continued to teach Li Qiye about this history. In his words, the dynasty and the dao lord were virtually the same - both are orthodox branches of the holy ground.

This was a forceful explanation since technically, the dao lord was from Sacred Mountain. Nonetheless, Li Qiye didn't say anything.

"The dynasty has done an amazing job ruling the holy ground, definitely a top contributor among all the powers." The old man praised.

"True." Li Qiye chuckled.

Of course, the old man was right because the dynasty has reigned several times in the past. This time, their reign has lasted for a while until the present. Plus, the holy ground definitely prospered.

A while later, the old man glanced at Li Qiye's ring, whether on purpose or otherwise. He asked: "Where did you come from, Customer?"

"The abandoned land." Li Qiye said flatly.

"You're funny, Customer." The old man shook his head and said: "That's an ominous location with no inhabitants."

"It's fine if you don't believe me." Li Qiye nonchalantly said.

"Of course not, I only found it strange and didn't mean to question you, my apology." The old man smoothed things over.

"Your ring seems unique, is it an heirloom?" Finally, he couldn't help but ask.

"This crappy ring? It's not an heirloom. I found it along the way, probably doesn't worth anything." Li Qiye smirked and stared at the old man.

"Haha…" The old man laughed and dropped the issue.

Li Qiye didn't pursue this and closed his eyes to rest. He didn't bother to ask the old man about his background and status.

"Customer, have you heard of Sacred Mountain?" A long journey consisted of boredom so the old man occasionally chatted.

There were plenty of powers in Buddha Holy Ground. However, there was only one capable of determining its path - Sacred Mountain. It served as the core and the soul of this region.

Buddha Dao Lord reached the dao at Sacred Mountain and started the holy ground. Later on, Vajra and Dhyana Dao Lord did the same.

All four dao lords were from Sacred Mountain, more or less. Thus, the mountain was everything to the region. The holy ground wouldn't exist without the mountain.

That's why everyone here knew Sacred Mountain. Though few disciples from there could be seen, the place remained prestigious.

"And if I haven't?" Li Qiye said.

"Are you a visitor, Customer? Everyone in the holy ground knows about Sacred Mountain. Only outsiders haven't heard of it." The old man became surprised.

"Oh?" Li Qiye asked the old man: "Looks like you know Sacred Mountain very well, have you been there?"

The old man smiled and shook his head: "Of course not, I'm only a driver, not qualified to enter Sacred Mountain. I'm only repeating what I've heard before. Plus, you have a special aura, a dragon among men, so I thought that you might be from there."

These words didn't come out easily. He called Li Qiye a dragon among men despite his ordinary appearance, probably needing to abandon his principles in order to say so.