The gate master wryly smiled and shook his head at this question: “I’m not sure about this. A long time ago, our disciples were indeed fine in all of Godhalt. Later on, the suppression gradually affected us. Nowadays, we are fine in our ancestral ground but not anywhere else. Moreover, our cultivation speed has slowed down. Who knows the specific cause?”

“You’re not being very honest right now.” Li Qiye, who had been gazing into the distance, turned back and chuckled: “I can understand that you don’t know why your ancestral ground is untouched. However, if you say you don’t know why the suppression has begun for the rest of the continent, it would be too much of a lie.”

“Young Noble Li, I really don’t know.” The gate master quickly defended himself: “As the gate master, I also want for my disciples to not be suppressed by Godhalt and for them to cultivate faster. Unfortunately, I am powerless.”

“Not knowing and being powerless are two different things.” Li Qiye chuckled: “You are powerless, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know.”

“Ah…” The gate master awkwardly replied: “I am also eager to know, but this matter completely eludes me.”

“Since there are no outsiders here, I’ll comment on it for a bit.” Li Qiye glanced at the mountain ranges in the sky and smiled.

The gate master respectfully said: “Please enlighten us, Young Noble. This lowly one is ready to learn.”

“There is a very simple reason why your ancestral ground is untouched — the topography. This place is extraordinary because it is the beginning of the Divine Tree Ridge.” He withdrew his gaze and continued: “How is it special? Your progenitor has understood some mysteries of the ridge and made some transactions before establishing a grand plan with a supreme imperial foundation. This is why this ancestral ground is unaffected and why the Undying Gate has yet to be destroyed. Even if the other sects took over this area, their cultivation would slow down because they’re not the descendants of the Undying Gate!”

He glanced at the gate master at this point and laughed: “As for why the disciples are now suppressed in the other locations of Godhalt? There is only one reason for this. Moreover, you know this reason very well. There is a special worldly energy in this place, or at least there was in the past. Your emperor had gone inside and changed the Earth Vein in the inner world. He used a heaven-defying method to imprint his own lineage into this Earth Vein. This allowed for the disciples to gain access to a different worldly energy than everyone else. This is why the members of your sect aren’t suppressed in Godhalt.”

The gate master was aghast after listening until this point.

“Unfortunately, a few things happened to your sect so this extraordinary energy became increasingly thin, hence the slower cultivation speed as well as being suppressed in the other locations. It’s a pity that your descendants don’t have the same heaven-defying means as your emperor and can’t change it again.”

The gate master turned pale and immediately took several steps backward upon this revelation.

“Gate master, am I right?” Li Qiye grinned while staring at him.

The old man was scared speechless and remained shocked for a long time. He could feel chills and sweat running down his back.

“This secret has never been recorded in your sect and is something only passed down by word of mouth.” Li Qiye smiled leisurely: “In each successive generation, at least one person from your sect would know this secret!”

The gate master was completely shaken. Li Qiye was right, this secret was passed down for generations, and he was the only one who knew it in the present. However, an outsider like Li Qiye actually knew this heaven-shattering secret.

He swore that this secret couldn’t be leaked, at least not by the previous generation, so how could Li Qiye be privy to this information?

Li Qiye continued in a contemplative manner: “Who could predict the rise and fall of a lineage? Although Immortal Emperor Bu Si had created a supreme imperial foundation, later on, your sect still tried to send disciples to build up more bases on the edges of the world. Alas, your sect is on the verge of death today.”

This conversation had satiated Xiaoxiao’s inquisitive mind. In fact, Yujian also listened with relish.

Xiaoxiao found this quite intriguing and asked: “If one won’t be suppressed after establishing a lineage here, how come the previous emperors, sea gods, and treefathers don’t do so?”

Li Qiye replied with a smile: “There are many things in life that happen because of the word ‘fate’. This is the interesting part about Immortal Emperor Bu Si. Any other emperor wouldn’t have this fate with the area. As for sea gods and treefathers, there is even less of a chance. Not to mention that they can’t build a lineage in this place, very few sea gods and treefathers — without factoring in the Trident and ancestral weapons — could actually stand as equals with emperors. Without heaven-defying abilities, trying to change the Divine Tree Ridge is virtually impossible!” Li Qiye shook his head at this point.

“Hmph, not necessarily. Treefathers and sea gods have stood shoulder to shoulder with emperors throughout the generations. Moreover, treefathers return to the earth after death. Even emperors can’t do anything to them, so how can you say that they are inferior?!” Xiaoxiao was very unhappy with Li Qiye’s statement.

She was a treant and her Golden Isle had produced two treefathers, so she naturally found his words irritating.

Li Qiye couldn’t help but chuckle after seeing her dissatisfied look: “Little girl, there’s no need to be angry, I am simply stating the truth. Emperors have the Heaven’s Will — this isn’t something sea gods and treefathers can compare to. Even with the Trident and ancestral weapons, they can only keep the same pace as an emperor and do not have the ability to defeat them!”

She defiantly claimed: “Hmph, our treefathers aren’t weaker even without ancestral weapons.”

Each treefather had their own ancestral weapon. However, after their death, these ancestral weapons would crumble and return to the earth. Rumor has it that these weapons could borrow the supreme strength of the forefathers, allowing their master to become extremely powerful and capable of suppressing myriad realms.

Li Qiye shook his head: “You can’t argue against the truth. Without the Trident, there aren’t many sea gods that are at an emperor’s level. The Prime Sea God can be considered one of them. He was truly unfathomable. During his era, his fame even exceeded Immortal Emperor Mu Zhuo’s.”

Prime was the progenitor of the Seven Martial Pavilion. By the virtue of the seven styles, he fought all over the world without equals. After becoming a sea god, he deterred all the nine worlds.

For the sea demons, Prime was the strongest sea god of their race and was praised as a supreme overlord!

As for Immortal Emperor Mu Zhuo, future generations knew very little about him. Despite being an emperor, his tales were too mysterious and difficult to research. Some even said that the emperor had never performed any earth-shattering deeds his whole life!

The reason why he was often mentioned was because of Immortal Emperor Yan Shi since the latter was the descendant of Immortal Emperor Mu Zhuo. The empress had Immortal Emperor Mu Zhuo’s bloodline coursing through her veins.

Ye Xiaoxiao found it difficult to refute because Li Qiye had been stating facts. Without a doubt, treefathers and sea gods wouldn’t be able to contend without their respective weapons.

However, there was no way of passing on these artifacts to future generations, hence a common belief that these artifacts didn’t belong to them!

“Okay, we’ll go to the Crane Beak Peak now.” Li Qiye chuckled while looking at the dazed gate master.

The shaken gate master calmed down and quickly said: “This lowly one will lead the way for Young Noble Li and Princess Ye.”

The Crane Beak Peak was a strange peak, but there were too many of them in the Undying Gate, so it didn’t seem out of place.

True to its name, it was long like a crane’s beak and arched into the clouds. There was a pavilion built near a cliff with a bottomless abyss. While inside, one could see the beautiful sceneries of this place.

It had been abandoned long ago by the Undying Gate. Even though the building was still here, there were weeds and grasses overgrowing everywhere. However, the gate master didn’t dare to be careless when Li Qiye was staying here, so he had ordered for disciples to clean it up.

When the group finally arrived, the peak was changed beyond recognition. The pavilion was cleaned completely and had proper arrangements.

After settling the two guests in, the gate master respectfully told Li Qiye: “Young Noble Li, we have disciples stationed at the base of the peak. If you have any needs, just let them know.”

“No need, let them leave.”Li Qiye gently waved his hand.

The gate master obeyed without daring to say anything. In fact, he was all-too curious about why Li Qiye picked this particular peak. He didn’t believe that Li Qiye was only here to look at the sceneries.