Chapter 1119 Black Haired Dark Ones
The Emperor Detection Technique could only be used by an expert at the Quasi-emperor level or above. After someone became a Quasi-emperor, he or she could sense and would bear the destiny of the Heavens. It was a mysterious technique that was similar to space-time reversal, and it required a certain medium to re-enact what happened some time ago.
The medium Ye Qingyu needed was the battleground of that ill-fated day.
He wanted to use the battlefield to help re-enact the true incident to know the identities of all of Ren Puyang's assailants. After all, the memories the wyrm had absorbed from the Great Ancient Dragon Emperor and the other experts were incomplete. First, this was a limitation of the process of absorbing memories, and second, the Great Ancient Dragon Emperor and his accomplices did not know the complete truth about the inner workings of the entire incident.
Strange waves of energy kept emanating out of Ye Qingyu's body that filled the entire valley around the battlefield, like water rippling through and cleansing the surrounding area.
Scenes of that unfortunate incident appeared in the void.
Ren Puyang and Lin Yutang were suddenly attacked while walking. Their assailants were incredibly tough, and there were a total of sixteen figures, all of them extremely strong.
Ye Qingyu looked at the images flicker, as if they were holographic images projected onto a screen.
He was shocked shortly after.
This was because Lin Yutang had fainted and suffered serious injuries the instant they were attacked, but Ren Puyang had displayed incredibly strong power. It was a power that only experts at the Quasi-emperor level possessed, and each of his moves was groundbreaking.
Mr. Ren Puyang's level of cultivation was at the Quasi-emperor realm?
This was extremely shocking news to Ye Qingyu.
Before this, the power displayed by Ren Puyang while in the Vast Thousand Domains was, at most, at the peak Great Saint realm. He was definitely not as powerful as a Quasi-emperor. Not long after the battle began, Ren Puyang had completely suppressed all sixteen skirmishers and even managed to rescue Lin Yutang. The outcome was not as terrible as everyone expected, and this result was evidently incredibly shocking to the assailants.
However, a scarlet gold ray of light shot down from the sky eventually, containing immense power within it, that killed Ren Puyang.
It was a terrible force that could slay Quasi-emperors as if they were chickens. Ren Puyang's Quasi-emperor realm power was powerless to stop the reddish-gold ray of light from shattering his protective barrier the instant it appeared. It pierced through his body but did not harm his flesh. Instead, his soul seemed to have been directly extinguished, thus ending the battle.
After that, Lin Yutang was spared his life by the sixteen skirmishers, and they even allowed him to carry Ren Puyang's corpse back.
The whole process was exactly the same as Lin Yutang's description.
A moment later, all the strange images in the void disappeared.
Ye Qingyu stopped using the Emperor Detection Technique.
Sixteen skirmishers, along with that ray of reddish-gold light... These images were already seared deeply into Ye Qingyu's mind, and he committed the figures, auras, and techniques of the sixteen to memory. Coupled with the memories absorbed by the wyrm, he was confident in hunting down all of them. As for the reddish-gold light ray, it was definitely not something unknown. If it had the might to kill Ren Puyang, who possessed a Quasi-emperor realm strength, it had to be an awe-inspiring presence in the entire Dark Realm. Ye Qingyu was sure that he could track it down as well.
No matter who Mister Ren Puyang's assassins were, anyone who harmed him had to die.
An eye for an eye.
Murderous intent circled around the deepest part of Ye Qingyu's pupils for a while, before he kept them well in check.
"We can't move around while maintaining our current appearance. We have to change our identities."
Ye Qingyu had some ideas after a moment's consideration.
Soon enough, there were a few changes to his figure. His bones began rattling, and very quickly Ye Qingyu grew one head taller until he was more than two meters tall. His figure had turned tall and sturdy like a small giant. His black hair had turned flaming red, as if he had dyed it with blood. His body shape had turned svelte and his posture ramrod straight—he looked like a javelin stuck in the ground. There was a sharp and untamed air about him.
The clothes on his body were torn apart.
"Come out, [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]s."
With a single thought, swirls of flowing clouds emanated from his eyebrows and enveloped his entire body before eventually transforming into a long robe and cloud-stepping boots that were as red as blood. It made his body look increasingly tall and straight like a blazing ball of flames.
Ye Qingyu had refined the magical artifact known as the [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds]s after obtaining it and had altered it slightly with the secret technique of one hundred eight ancient characters. Its shape had been completely changed, and he contained the aura of shifting clouds that it originally gave off. He believed that even if Ye Chen were reborn, he would not have discovered that this red long robe and cloud-stepping boots used to be the [Formless Armor of Drifting Clouds].
After a round of transformation, Ye Qingyu had completely changed into another person.
Even his aura had been completely changed. The usual icy aura was gone, replaced by an energy that was a mixture of lightning and fire. It gave him a dangerous and overpowering presence.
Ye Qingyu thought of something. He turned to look at the wyrm at his side.
The wyrm immediately howled. Its body trembled as its coat of white fur turned fiery-scarlet red. This caused it to turn from a white tiger with wings into a flaming winged tiger, instantly matching the outer appearance of Ye Qingyu.
"Hahaha." Ye Qingyu laughed.
This wyrm was becoming more attuned to human behavior.
After that, he turned to glance at the old butler, feeling a little hesitant. Logically speaking, if they wanted to completely change their identities, this person should not be tagging along with them. This was because the inside story of Ye Chen's death could not be kept secret for much longer. He believed that the Forsaken Ye Clan would eventually be able to find out the truth, and also that they could possibly deduce his true identity if he brought the old butler along with him.
The old butler immediately realized why Ye Qingyu was hesitating. He became incredibly afraid, as though his soul had fled his body, and he hurriedly knelt down. "No, my lord, spare me, don't kill me. I can change myself too. I'm very familiar with the Dark Realm, and I can act as your guide, my lord. I, I, I, I... I'm familiar with the language of the Dark Ones. My lord, you need me here..."
The old man was so scared that he was speaking incoherently.
Ye Qingyu thought about what he said. He felt that the old butler was indeed somewhat useful, and allowing him to change his identity would delay the Ye Clan's investigations a little longer.
Ye Qingyu nodded, deep in thought.
The old butler let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly used a certain secret technique to change his appearance into that of a wretched-looking page about ten years of age, his makeover actually pretty accurate.
Ye Qingyu created a hand sign, forming the "Wei" formation of the one hundred eight ancient characters before striking it deep into the butler's body. In this way, even a Quasi-emperor would not be able to discover the true identity of this "page".
"In the future, your name will be… Little… er, Eleven," Ye Qingyu said.
"Yes, sir." The old servant was relieved to know that he would not die for the time being.
Ye Qingyu stroked the wyrm's head fondly and said, "As for you, you'll be known as Little Ten from now on." It was looking fearsome after turning into a flaming winged tiger, so it was a little strange to keep calling it a wyrm.
I don't know what the silly dog Little Nine would think of having two juniors now.
Ye Qingyu's lips curved into a smile at the thought.
He thought about Nan Tieyi, Hu Bugui, and the silly dog Little Nine.
When he was in Sunrise City, the old Quasi-emperor had told him the last time they met that the people he was seeking were in the Dark Realm. At that time, Ye Qingyu did not take his words to heart, but after careful consideration, he recalled that the old Quasi-emperor seemed to have used the Emperor Detection Technique to extrapolate the positions of Little Nine and the others with the help of a medium. Therefore, his friends should really be within the domain.
"Let's go to Central City of Luoshen Ridge to meet Zhang Longcheng."
Ye Qingyu jumped onto Little Ten's back.
There was a city built upon ruins in the central district of Luoshen Ridge. It was known as Central City, and it did not cover a large land area. Roughly more than one hundred thousand Guardians resided within the city, and it had an organized army. The lord of the city, Zhang Longcheng, was a noble who had the title conferred upon him by the Guardian camp. He had a high standing among his people and could be considered a small feudal lord of the Dark Realm.
Soldiers kept strict watch at the city gates.
This was not to prevent enemy forces from invasion, however. Invaders were not commonly seen within the borders and administrative districts of Luoshen Ridge. The main activity of the soldiers was to prevent the majority of the lowly Dark Ones from entering the city. This was because Zhang Longcheng, the lord of the city, despised them and thought that they were simply too filthy.
Ye Qingyu rode the flaming winged wyrm tiger and landed about thirty kilometers away from Central City. The wyrm had shrunk itself, but it still gave off a fearsome aura. Ye Qingyu rode upon the beast, while the old butler, Eleven, followed beside them.
The area was filled with all sorts of buildings haphazardly built against the mountains. There were grass huts, houses of stone, grottos, and caves everywhere, and it looked like a vast slum. Countless numbers of Dark Ones resided here like dogs and powerless beings. Their lives were hard, but they were hanging on grittily.
Ye Qingyu rode on the tiger along the main road. He lost count of the number of aliens who looked at him fearfully as he passed them by. They took measure of him from afar, and a few of them were so afraid that they knelt and automatically paid their respects to him.
They thought that someone as imposing as Ye Qingyu must have come from the camp of the Guardians.
Ye Qingyu observed them somewhat curiously as well.
He realized that the so-called Dark Ones or aliens of this district looked nearly the same as humans of the Vast Thousand Domains. Aside from their slightly thinner and shorter build, there was nothing strange about their black irises or hair. He arrived at the conclusion that this was their natural look even after scanning them with his divine sense. They were no different from the humans of the Vast Thousand Domains.
This made Ye Qingyu very shocked.
"What's going on?"
Could the title "Alien Dark Ones" actually refer to humans?
Ye Qingyu turned around to glance at Eleven.
Eleven hurriedly came over to explain. "My lord, the administrative district that Luoshen Ridge is located at was part of a planet known as 'Earth'. This information was discovered from a few ancient ruins, and as such, this area is known as the 'Earth Province'. The majority of the Dark Ones who reside on the shard of this planet look extremely similar to the humans, but their meridians are naturally condensed and narrow. They possess a frail physique and congested dantian, resulting in an inability to learn formation magic or martial arts. It is also for this reason that the Guardian camp does not recognize them and treats them like defective humans and incomplete beings. Their social status is lower even than that of slaves, but they can reproduce at an alarming rate and have a fierce vitality, just like ticks... In times of famine and starvation, not only are they used for cannon fodder, but they will also be eaten as food..."
Ye Qingyu frowned.
At this moment, they suddenly heard crying and shouting in front of them.