Imperial God Emperor

Chapter 864 - Mysterious Change

"Hehe… I can't believe he gave these puppets to you. Ren Puyang must really have high hopes for you." Old Fish's face broke into a smile and his eyes twinkled mischievously as he toyed with the token in his hand.

Ye Qingyu could not help nodding.

Ren Puyang and Xiao Lin had said something similar, but most of the time, one's actions would speak louder than words.

Ren Puyang first fought for the opportunity for Ye Qingyu to enter the [Infinite Arsenal], then gifted the Heaven Wasteland Domain with the Black Gold Battle Puppets. He also guessed that Ren Puyang must have played a part in carving out a space for the Heaven Wasteland Domain's representative station as well. Coupled with the fact that the respected leader of the Divine Guard, Xiao Lin, had been by his side these past few days… All of that was enough to show that Ren Puyang genuinely supported Ye Qingyu and truly had high hopes for him.

He would remember the kindness that Ren Puyang had shown him.

"Why do I and Wen Wan get to lead ten puppets each, while that old thing gets to lead eighteen by himself?" Ximen Yeshui complained after he scanned the contents of the token.

Ye Qingyu ignored him.

Even Wan Wan shot him a look of disdain.

Was there even a need to ask such a question?

With the exception of the time that the envoy mission hid in the Chaotic Windstorm after being ambushed during the grading process, Old Fish rarely displayed his skills. No one else within the envoy mission other than Ye Qingyu knew his true prowess, but from the respect that War God Ye Qingyu had always shown him, and from the few times he displayed his extraordinary moves, it was obvious that he was definitely no weakling and was probably a formidable character. No one else in the entire envoy mission dared to underestimate Old Fish, but Ximen Yeshui thought that he was extraordinarily powerful and remained unconvinced of Old Fish's prowess. He always compared himself to Old Fish in every aspect.

"Respect the elderly and care for the young. You little punk, don't you know how to respect your elders?" Old Fish glanced at Ximen Yeshui and smugly stroked his long beard.

There was a reason why Ye Qingyu had divided the Puppets in such a way.

These Battle Puppets would constantly need to be controlled by one's consciousness power during the journey back to the Heaven Wasteland Domain.

Old Fish had sustained Dao injuries and, although his strength seemed formidable, it was weak in reality. Nonetheless, his consciousness power was the strongest in the entire envoy mission and thus, controlling eighteen Black-Gold Puppets would be nothing to him. He could even easily bring eighty puppets with him back to the Heaven Wasteland Domain. As for Wen Wan, Ximen Yeshui, Yan Buhui, and the Empress, their consciousness power had all been severely depleted during the Chaotic Windstorm. They seemed as though they were in good condition, but they would still need time to cultivate before they returned to their peak condition.

Most importantly, these people were worthy of his trust.

Ye Qingyu was very comfortable leaving the Black Gold Puppets with them and knew that they would be able to bring out the true abilities of these puppets.

As for himself… He did not plan on taking any puppets with him. With his current strength, if he ran into an enemy he could not handle, even if he unleashed these Battle Puppets, the effect would be negligible.

They continued to discuss other miscellaneous matters.

The meeting only ended late at night.

After the meeting ended, Ye Qingyu went to the western courtyard again to visit Great Dragon Turtle Demon.

Great Dragon Turtle Demon's condition had deteriorated significantly. His complexion was sallow and his breathing was shallow. He was now bedridden and lay quietly in bed. Under the care of Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan, he could still speak with some effort, but he no longer had any appetite and returned to his true form of a green-shelled Dragon Turtle that was as big as a stone bed. His original form should be as big as a mountain given his long lifespan, but now that his life force was completely exhausted, his true form had shrunken.

Nonetheless, he remained in good spirits and his eyes still twinkled. He looked very contented and managed to exchange a few words with Ye Qingyu.

Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan wiped the tears from her eyes.

As usual, Ye Qingyu checked on Great Dragon Turtle Demon's condition and discovered that the inner core of his demonic qi only had a glow that was as tiny as a firefly. It flashed faintly as though it could be easily extinguished by a gust of wind. He knew that once this tiny glow was completely extinguished, Great Dragon Turtle Demon would then reach the end of his lifespan.

However, this tiny glow was weak but resilient. Upon careful observation, one could sense a wisp of Phoenix nirvana aura lingering in its core.

This wisp of nirvana aura was far too weak to change the situation.

Ye Qingyu also started to feel powerless to change the situation.

He looked at Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan, who stared hopefully at him as though he was her savior as she wiped the tears from her eyes, and he thought of those who had died during the grading process—Jin Tuodao, Shi Potian, Qu Hanshan, and the rest. He was then filled with grief. These people were heroes of the Heaven Wasteland Domain but had their lives tragically cut short. He had brought them out of the Heaven Wasteland Domain and it would be far too cruel if he could not save them.

However...

Ye Qingyu could not bring himself to face Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan's hopeful gaze.

He heaved a secret sigh and started to say something, when for some reason, those words strangely came back to him.

"The Great Dao is as vast as the blue sky. Yet, I find myself unable to leave!"

As though he had gained sudden enlightenment, those words appeared in his mind and shone as brightly as the sun, instantly driving all the doubt and confusion away. Ye Qingyu grasped a faint shred of enlightenment. This shred of enlightenment flashed as brightly as a fiery spark and he could dimly sense it overlapping with the faint glow in the core of Great Dragon Turtle Demon's demonic qi. The entire process was extremely mysterious.

"...One's destiny is in the hands of heaven, one's path is trodden on the ground, and one's heart lies within oneself. The foundation is beyond the universe… Therefore, to be inducted into the Great Dao, the foundation lies in one's heart ."

There seemed to be a solemn voice chanting these words in his mind.

The words that this voice was chanting were from the final technique he read in the [Infinite Arsenal]—the [Great Dao Induction to Rebirth Scripture].

The voice was like a divine decree, as though a Quasi-emperor had spoken. It was mysterious and profound and each word seemed to contain a law of the Great Dao and resounded in his mind as thunderous as heavenly lightning or the wrath of the deities. Its voice surged and echoed like a big bell and his mind was so shaken that it turned completely white. He could not sense the existence of any organism and it was so quiet that he did not know where he was. There seemed to be a thick fog of chaos in front of him, as though every single organism had been obliterated, as though the universe was first created, as though the universe had returned to its very foundation.

He was not sure how long it was before the whiteness in front of him slowly parted. The purer and lighter particles floated upward, while the murkier and heavier particles fell toward the ground. A ray of light appeared between the cracks and entered his line of sight. Then, this light exploded and it was so dazzling that Ye Qingyu could not open his eyes.

Then—

"Lord Ye Qingyu, Lord Ye Qingyu..." He heard a clear voice beside him.

He felt very dizzy and the dazzling bright light gradually faded from sight while the voice became clearer. It seemed as though someone was calling out to him. He struggled hard and finally freed himself from this strange state to open his eyes. He could dimly see some figures and when his vision cleared, he saw an anxious and child-like face staring at him.

It was Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan.

He looked at her in bewilderment, then when he looked around, he found that he was still in Great Dragon Turtle Demon's quiet room. He suddenly recalled what he had been through, but at the same time, he sensed that something was wrong, so he asked, "What happened? I was..."

Before he finished speaking—

To his surprise, he realized that a small crowd had gathered in his quiet room.

Yu Xiaoxing, Wen Wan, Old Fish, Ximen Yeshui, and a few core people of the envoy mission were all present and they were all looking at him in surprise. From the bright rays of light that flooded the room, he discovered to his surprise that it was daytime.

"Haha, this is great. He is alright." Old Fish pinched his cheeks and pulled at his hair as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "That was extremely odd. You were just meditating here when you almost Dao-dissolved into oblivion. What the heck was that? We were so scared that we did not sleep the entire night..."

Dao-dissolved?

Ye Qingyu was stunned.

Did I spend the entire night in this state?

He turned around and saw that Great Dragon Turtle Demon continued to lie quietly in bed but he was now shrouded by a mysterious white mist. A life force that looked weak but had boundless energy slowly rose from his withered figure, and low and even popping noises could be heard from his body. These sounds were very bizarre and sounded like a divine drum. Its rhythm and pace were grand and majestic and it contained Dao sounds that caused the surrounding space to quiver each time it sounded!

"This is..."

Ye Qingyu was astonished.

This were signs of the recovery of life and the restoration of vitality.

Great Dragon Turtle Demon… Was he about to walk out of the jaws of death?

His heartbeat was slow and dull but it was strong and energetic, like the heart of a large dragon. Even when Great Dragon Turtle Demon was at his peak strength, his heart probably did not even beat as powerfully. What… could have happened?

Ye Qingyu was slightly confused but he knew that this had something to do with his earlier strange state.

"Cousin, are you alright?" Yu Xiaoxing asked worriedly.

Everyone's gaze fell upon him.

Ye Qingyu was now the pillar of the entire Heaven Wasteland Domain, which meant that nothing must happen to him.

Ye Qingyu shook his head and said, "I'm fine. I must have read too many manuals of the martial way in the [Infinite Arsenal] and earlier, I comprehended something and slipped into a state of sudden enlightenment… Don't worry, we should first check on Great Dragon Turtle Demon."

He was well-aware of his own condition and he could sense that a mysterious force continued to swirl within his body. He could not really identify it but he knew it was good for him, for the unshakable bottleneck of the Immortal Gate seemed to show signs of loosening.

His face remained expressionless as he placed a hand on Great Dragon Turtle Demon's shell and sent his yuan qi within to check on his condition.

Little Dragon Turtle Zhong Xuan's heart was in her mouth.

A moment later—

There was a strange expression on Ye Qingyu's face as he lifted his hand from the shell and smiled, "Things seem to have taken a turn for the better… Wen Wan and Ximen Yeshui, stand guard outside the quiet room to protect Great Dragon Turtle Demon. As for the rest, you may leave. That includes you, Zhong Xuan. Your grandfather's life isn't in danger anymore but he needs time to recover. You mustn't disturb him."

Everyone heaved a sigh of relief and a look of happiness flashed past their faces.

"I will be entering self-isolation to meditate on whatever I've comprehended."

Ye Qingyu did not provide any further explanation but hurriedly left the room after those words.