“The Heavenly God Sect would have to think twice before declaring war on us.” The sound of the Demon King Lun Ri rang again: “With two tigers fighting, one will definitely be injured. They only established their sovereignty for thirty thousand years, yet they dared to call themselves a Kingdom? Wait until they actually have the strength of a Kingdom, and then we’ll talk.”

Whether it is the Grand Middle Territory or the Mortal Emperor world, there are standards for sovereignty. Frontier small nations were not enough to join the standards, and they were not enough to reach the apex. The real powers have three different names, Country, Kingdom, and Ancient Kingdom.

So to speak, an Ancient Kingdom has the strongest power, Kingdom was second, and Country was last. As for smaller nations, they were not included.

There are also standards for these names. If it wasn’t of an Immortal Emperor lineage, then it would be a Country. An Immortal Emperor lineage forming a nation would be called a Kingdom, and, if it had two Immortal Emperors, then it would be called an Ancient Kingdom.

In addition to having two Immortal Emperors, there were a few ancient nations that could have been called Ancient Kingdom. These nations must have been created long ago, and they had extremely great influence.

For an example, when the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect created their nation, it was called the Cleansing Incense Ancient Kingdom because their nation was founded during the beginning years of the Emperor Era; Immortal Emperor Min Ren was also the first Immortal Emperor of this era. The Cleansing Incense Ancient Kingdom made it through a whole era, so, even when it couldn’t have a second Immortal Emperor, it was still called an Ancient Kingdom by others.

In fact, the Nine Saint Demon Gate’s nation was also extremely ancient, but their influence that year was much less than the old Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect; this is the reason they only proclaimed themselves as a Country.

As for the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom, according to the standards, they don’t have the qualification to be called a Kingdom; at most, they are a Country. However, they relied on the Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor still being alive, and he was self-proclaimed to be invincible; thus, they considered themselves a Kingdom.

Of course, many people feared the ancestor of the Heavenly God Sect, so they didn’t dare to criticize them.

Demon King Lun Ri’s words shook the spirits of the elders. They glanced at each other before one of them began to ponder. He then said: “Your Majesty, in terms of strength, our Old Ox Country is no weaker than the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom, but the ancestor of the Heavenly God Sect is truly dreadful.”

Bringing up the Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor struck fear into the hearts of the elders currently present! The Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor was truly too heaven defying. Not mentioning just the Grand Middle Territory, even gazing through the whole Mortal Emperor world, the ancestor was still a character that others were wary of.

“If Mu Shaodi from that year was still here, it wouldn’t be the Heavenly God Sect’s turn to dominate the Grand Middle Territory.” Mentioning Mu Shaodi fifty thousand years later would still put listeners in awe. Mu Shaodi was the key character for the revitalization of the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect. Many considered him to be the second Immortal Emperor of the sect after Immortal Emperor Min Ren.

Mu Shaodi was heaven defyingly invincible. The moment Immortal Emperor Ta Kong was without the Heaven’s Will, Mu Shaodi would be the strongest rival of Ta Kong. Rumors had it that when they were young and competing for the vacant Heaven’s Will, they were at three wins and three defeats each. This record was such a brilliant glory!

“According to reliable sources, the Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor is still alive. Even though he had not appeared for thirty thousand years, he is definitely alive in this world.” Another elder couldn’t help but say: “If the Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor comes into being, I’m afraid our Nine Saint Demon Gate would have a difficult time opposing him, ah.” [1]

Regarding the ancestor of the Heavenly God Sect, no matter who they were, three parts caution had to be given. So, regarding this matter, the expressions of the elders of the Nine Saint Demon Gate became solemn.

“The Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor…” Demon King Lun Ri slowly spoke: “The Difficult Dao Era had passed, and a new era is coming. The Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor’s evening is already swiftly approaching. In the future, this world belongs to the young people.” [2]

The Difficult Dao Era was only the last thirty thousand years. Fifty thousand years ago, Immortal Emperor Ta Kong carried the Heaven’s Will, and he became an Immortal Emperor to rule over the universe. However, for unknown reasons, thirty thousand years ago the Black Dragon King suddenly became torrentially angry, and he extorted the Heaven’s Will.

It was heard that the Black Dragon King, in this war against Immortal Emperor Ta Kong, fought one battle and tore apart the sky’s curtain. Rumor has it that after this battle, in the end, the Heaven’s Will was torn apart. Afterward, because of this, the world’s energy was depleted, and the cultivators had a hard time practicing the Dao. This was why this era was called the Difficult Dao Era since this era had entirely tortured cultivators of the Nine Worlds for thirty thousand years. It was only ten years ago, when the Difficult Dao Era had come to pass, that the world’s energy began to recover.

At this moment, Lun Ri paused, and then he said: “I greatly value Li Qiye. His future potential is second to none.”

Hearing Lun Ri’s words, the elders couldn’t help but glance at each other. An elder did not completely agree: “Your Majesty, even though Li Qiye is a bit demonic, he is only of Mortal Physique, Mortal Life Wheel, and Mortal Fate Palace. With this innate talent, it is difficult to achieve anything in the end.”

An elder couldn’t help but exclaim: “That is correct. Your Majesty, with regards to physiques and life wheels, Shuangyan is countless times stronger than him.”

In reality, Li Shuangyan’s mission to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was not agreed upon by all of the elders. However, Demon King Lun Ri overturned the opposition in the end, and he pushed for Li Shuangyan to go to the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect.

Lun Ri slowly said: “I did not misjudge his character.”

The elders contemplated upon Lun Ri’s words. Lun Ri, at the Nine Saint Demon Gate, had an extremely high status! Normally, the elders would not refute the opinion of His Majesty.

An elder who was still worried asked: “What if the ancestor of the Heavenly God Sect comes into being?”

“The Heavenly God Sect has its ancestor, but we have the four Heavenly Guardians! With the support of Li Qiye, we will have the support of the four Heavenly Guardians!” Demon King Lun Ri deepened his tone: “We will just have to see whether the ancestor of the Heavenly God Sect is powerful; or if our Heavenly Guardians are invincible! Our Progenitor was a generation’s peerless demon. He left behind the four stone statues to be our Heavenly Guardians; this is enough to indicate their sufficient strength.”

Even until now, no one knew how powerful the four Heavenly Guardians were; this was a complete mystery!

***

The Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect emphatically executed Dong Shenglong and Lie Zhan Hou, and this matter was spread like a storm throughout all of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom! This was a sudden shock to all cultivators and sects inside the Kingdom.

Especially the part where the Mortal King’s will was destroyed, this made the sect masters hearts continuously quake.

Wary of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom’s strength, everyone didn’t discuss it publicly; however, there were many secretly discussing and dissenting.

“Could it be that Liu San Jian was truly alive?!” Many older sect masters that knew the inside information couldn’t help but mumble: “These thirty thousand years ago, Mortal Kings from the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect could be counted on one’s fingers. Outside of Liu San Jian, who else could be so heaven-defying?”

Remembering the gigantic hand that easily destroyed the Mortal King’s will caused many people’s hearts to sink. The power of this gigantic hand was absolutely far above a Mortal King.

A cultivator excitedly asked: “This is the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect flipping the sky. They dared to even destroy the Mortal King’s will; is this a war declaration against the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom?”

A few big characters thoughtfully said: “It could be that the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was laying low, quietly, for thirty thousand years. They must want to wash the shame that year away and rebuild their Ancient Kingdom.”

“Even though it is unknown about who made the move behind the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, them wanting to rebuild their Ancient Kingdom, I’m afraid is without hope. Even protecting their nest would not be easy.” Someone from the previous generation that had witnessed the battle thirty thousand years ago shook his head: “That year that Liu San Jian was still alive, they still weren’t able to hold their Ancient Kingdom, and they had to run back to their nest in the end! The Heavenly God Sect’s ancestor is still alive! It doesn’t matter if Liu San Jian is still alive. They no longer have the chance to beat the Heavenly God Sect and rebuild their Ancient Kingdom.”

Suddenly, there were all kinds of discussions. Some were on the sidelines waiting for the results while some were sharpening their blades. Even though the breaking of the status quo of the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom could be a calamity to some cultivators and sects, to the bigger sects, this was an opportunity to rise and fish in troubled waters.

Destroying the Mortal King’s will – the entire Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect was boiling in excitement. Before, the sect didn’t dare to compete with the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom, but, today, even the Mortal King’s will was destroyed; this caused the disciples of the sect to have their blood boil, allowing them to see a hope for revival.

The disciples weren’t the only ones who were shocked by reality. Even the protectors and the five elders were ecstatic. This was a matter that they couldn’t ever imagine.

Within the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, Gu Tieshou was the strongest. He could be considered the number one of the sect, but the one word “Amnesty” of the Mortal King was enough to suppress him! However, not even mentioning the word “Amnesty”, even the will of the Mortal King was destroyed! In the midst of everything, the five elders placed extremely high expectations towards Li Qiye!

Returning to the sect, all five elders were present; Li Qiye was also in the party. Today, Li Qiye was entirely on equal footing with the five elders, and they all considered him as the sect’s revitalization leader!

“We don’t need to be excited.” In the party, Li Qiye said: “After all, our sect is still very weak and without any means. Regarding strength, we are not enough to compete against the Heavenly Jewel Kingdom and the Heavenly God Sect.”

Li Qiye’s words were the truth regarding the situation of the sect, the five elders did not object. After the initial excitement, their hearts were heavy because outside of Li Qiye, their ace card, they didn’t have any other secret cards.

Li Qiye said: “In terms of internal and secret foundation, we are stronger than the Heavenly God Sect. Even though our Emperor merit laws are limited at the moment, it cannot be denied that we have a large amount of Virtuous Paragon merit laws and Heavenly King methods… In the end, we don’t need to worry about not having merit laws; it is only unfortunate that we don’t have the inheritors.”

Even though the sect had lost the majority of their Emperor merit laws, in the end, they were still of Immortal Emperor lineage; they had a great number of Virtuous Paragons and Heavenly Kings, so they had many merit laws from them. In reality, the sect having these merit laws still made countless cultivators and sects drool from greed.

“We are short of good masters.” In the end, Gu Tieshou bitterly smiled and said: “I’m going to speak without being afraid of jeers. In reality, our brother’s cultivations were essentially self-learned. We crawled back and forth trying to practice them.”

[1] There are special Chinese words that don’t translate as well literally, ‘comes into being’ is one of them. It just means that he will show himself publically in this world and take action – not that he is being born.

[2] Evening is swiftly approaching means that his time is running out.