Emperor’s Domination

Chen Cangsheng bowed again and said: "Your foolish disciple's learning is insufficient, please correct my mistakes, Ancestor."

"You're more wily than you appear, wanting to climb up my branch." Tie Jian assessed.

"I have to work hard to compensate for my limited abilities, Ancestor." He rubbed his palms together and smiled wryly.

The princess chuckled after seeing his appearance, thinking that the guy was far smarter than Illusory Princess and the others.

"True, the Ten Sword Prodigies have both smart and foolish members." Li Qiye smilingly joked.

Cangsheng couldn't retort and kept on smiling. Of course, he was one of the smart ones, wanting to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Though he didn't know who this senior was, he still knew that being taught by the man would be better than a century of meditation.

"Fate brought us together." Tie Jian said, clearly liking the boy: "There is a bright path right in front of you if you wish to learn."

"Please teach me, Ancestor." Chen Cangsheng became ecstatic and bowed again.

"I won't display my slight skill before an expert." Tie Jian shook his head and actually smiled for once.

"Huh…" Cangsheng was confused since Tie Jian was clearly an invincible master.

"No need to look far because Mount Tai is right before you." Tie Jian explained: "The young noble's attainment is beyond the reach of normal people like us. It is a lifetime of benefits being taught by him." He pointed at Li Qiye.

Cangsheng didn't quite disagree. There was no doubt that Li Qiye was an inscrutable existence. However, in terms of cultivation, the guy wasn't keeping up…

Nonetheless, he reacted quickly enough by bowing towards Li Qiye: "I am a blind frog unable to see Mount Tai and your greatness, Young Noble. Please forgive me."

Meanwhile, the princess became emotional as well. She already had a good idea of Li Qiye's true ability but to hear confirmation from Tie Jian's mouth? That struck way harder.

"You sure know how to take advantage of the flow." Li Qiye shook his head while smiling at Tie Jian.

"The kid has potential but unfortunately, my meager ability can't produce anyone decent. I'm sure you'll be able to make something out of him." The latter smiled back.

It became obvious for Chen Cangsheng about the power dynamic at play here.

"Young Noble, I would truly appreciate any pointer from you." Cangsheng grasped onto this rare opportunity.

Li Qiye smilingly spoke to the youth: "Daoist Sword Ground is a lineage with three dao lords and deep historical roots. Your sect's foundation is not lacking, the same for treasures and merit laws. Whatever I teach might not be that effective here."

Cangsheng was surprised but he still agreed with the assessment. The thing he was missing had to do with his personal cultivation.

"He's lacking comprehension." Tie Jian elaborated.

"Indeed." Li Qiye smiled: "But everyone has a different style of learning. Some shine at the very start while others require trials and tribulations, or merely time…"

"Please go on, Young Noble." Cangsheng asked.

"As Tie Jian said, fate brought us together." Li Qiye concluded: "I shall grant you a fortune, what you get from it is up to you."

"Thank you, Young Noble." The ecstatic youth bowed again.

With that, Li Qiye approached the cliff and placed his palm on the hard surface. Strands of dao light poured into the cliff, seemingly alive.

They flowed along the craggy lines until the entire cliff was covered by Li Qiye's dao light. The two entities combined together and created a continuously-morphing diagram - the image of the sun and moon, the rotation of the five elements and the yin and yang…

Chen Cangsheng and the princess had a hard time keeping up. Tie Jian, on the other hand, paid full attention.

Li Qiye started pulling his hand back. "Creak…" There seemed to be multiple layers beneath the cliff's exterior. They started pulling out and looked like puzzle pieces.

He started shifting the individual pieces with a blinding speed until he obtained the desired result.

"Is this still a sword grave?" Cangsheng didn't expect how complex it would be.

At first, he noticed that there was something strange about this place. He didn't have time to check due to Wavesplitter.

In reality, even without Wavesplitter and Illusory Princess' involvement, he still wouldn't have learned anything. This applied to the erudite Snowcloud Princess as well.

"Back to its original shape." Tie Jian understood what was going on.

"Crack!" The final form of the cliff had a dao platform protruding outward from the edge like a tree.

"This is the grave?" Cangsheng asked.

"Keep on watching." Li Qiye smiled.

***

On the other side of the cemetery, the Dragon Palace has been flying and attracting everyone's attention.

Cultivators followed right behind, hoping for it to land.

"Boom!" The palace suddenly stopped.

"Is it landing?" The crowd became ecstatic.

Suddenly, another blast came along and the palace became resplendent. It turned around and flew towards Li Qiye's direction.

"Keep up!" One expert shouted.

"It has to be landing soon!" An ancestor speculated.

"Maybe." His friend, a high elder, replied: "This is rather unexpected, there must be a reason."

"Either way, this is our chance to enter." The ancestor said.

"Easier said than done, but at least once it lands, we'll actually have a fighting chance even if it is only one out of a million." Another replied.