Chapter 1188 - His Secret Was Exposed
As the half-black half-white phantom figure in the void grew clearer, the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan completely descended upon this world. Once he completely materialized, it would signify the appearance of a Martial Emperor.
"Die!" the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said like a grim reaper doing a roll call. He sounded very impatient as though he was trying to rush through an errand.
Two strands of hair, one black and one white, suddenly sprang up and charged toward Ye Qingyu like two thin dragons.
These strands of hair didn't seem to contain any Emperor power but only Ye Qingyu understood just how terrifying they were.
Slash!
Ye Qingyu slashed out horizontally with his [Blood Drinker Sword].
His sword light flashed and dazzling divine splendor burst from his sword as the black and white strands of hair were slashed into pieces.
However, these strands of hair did not disappear after they were broken.
Instead, they attacked with even more vigor as though they were enraged serpents and hurtled toward Ye Qingyu once more.
Ye Qingyu placed his sword over his chest and barely managed to block that blow.
Clink! Clink!
The sounds of Immortal metal clashing against each other rang out and after the two strands of hair stabbed at the sword body, they paused for a brief moment before they were sent flying.
He had successfully warded off the first blow from the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan.
However, Ye Qingyu suddenly felt a slight pain in his left and right shoulder joints as though needles had pierced through his skin. He was surprised and immediately knew that it was a bad omen. His back muscles instinctively tensed and became as hard as Immortal metal that blocked the strange force that was attempting to invade his body.
His back suddenly shook and two strands of broken hair, one white and one black, were forced out from his body.
Those were the same strands of hair that he had cut earlier.
After these strands of hair had been cut, their spiritual energy did not leave them and they were still lethal weapons. If they managed to enter his body, the consequences would be unimaginable. This attack was extremely mysterious.
Before Ye Qingyu could even catch his breath, the black and white strands of hair rushed toward him like black and white water that poured down from the Heavenly River.
The sovereign of the Sky Fox clan attacked at lightning fast speed, perhaps because he had been provoked, or he might have other reasons for doing so, but in any case, he seemed to want Ye Qingyu dead as soon as possible. He stopped trying to convince Ye Qingyu to pledge allegiance to him and attacked with a ferocity that bordered on impatience.
...
"Sir, are you not going to intervene?" General Sun Yi said, unable to rein in his anxiety any longer.
He was in the ancestral home of the Sun clan and beside him, several dozen upper echelons of the Sun clan also looked on, their worry written all over their faces.
They were all very concerned for Ye Qingyu's safety.
None of the Sun clan members went to the Azure Cloud Square to watch the match, but they were still able to see everything that was happening on the Azure Cloud Platform thanks to their ancestor's water mirror.
No one else within the Sun clan other than the sovereign of the Sun clan as well as the clan elder General Sun Yi thought highly of Ye Qingyu, especially after the public opinion turned against Ye Qingyu. They felt that their clan might have to pay a high price for their support of Ye Qingyu.
No one expected Ye Qingyu to unleash such incredible power on the Azure Cloud Platform. He had displayed a power never before seen in this world and entered a mysterious realm that only heavenly deities could attain to kill the King of Zhenyuan who possessed an Emperor weapon. It was as though a divine Emperor had descended upon the earth and displayed a strength that was almost comparable to a Martial Emperor.
After he emerged as the victor of that battle, the upper echelons of the Sun clan were unable to control their excitement and their opinions of Ye Qingyu immediately changed. If they could, they would even worship Ye Qingyu as their ancestor because through his battle result and strength, they saw a glorious and sustainable hope for their clan's future even after their ancestor passed away.
Ye Qingyu had adopted the appearance of a middle-aged man when he assumed the identity of Zhang Longcheng but for someone as highly-skilled as a Quasi-emperor in the formation martial world, a middle-aged man would be considered a youth and he still had a long lifespan ahead of him. If he was already so outstanding at this stage, this meant that there was a very high possibility of him becoming a Martial Emperor in the future.
In other words, Ye Qingyu had become a treasure in the eyes of the Sun clan even before he became a Martial Emperor and they could not afford to let him be in danger. These people would feel bad for him even if he lost a strand of his hair.
Thus, how could they stand idly by after the Sky Fox clan interfered when the battle had ended and the Azure Cloud Platform was supposed to descend and announced their intention to kill Ye Qingyu without a valid excuse?
General Sun Yi who was usually very calm and collected was no longer able to maintain his silence.
General Sun Yi would have probably given up his life in exchange for Ye Qingyu's safety —— he would do anything to bring honor upon his clan.
Everyone looked at their ancestor anxiously.
Despite how feeble and old their ancestor seemed, he was still a Martial Emperor and was still extremely powerful. They knew that their ancestor would be able to save Ye Qingyu from the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan.
However, the sovereign of the Sun clan gently shook his head.
There was a trace of uncertainty in his eyes, as though he was mulling over something.
...
At the Azure Cloud Square.
"Kill him, kill him, kill him..." the Crown Prince of the King of Zhenyuan’s residence yelled like a lunatic. He stood on his stone chair and stared at the hologram formed out of Emperor qi through bloodshot eyes, then at Zhang Longcheng's figure as though he wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
Poison Flower Princess, the Second Prince Yuan Wenguo and the others from the King of Zhenyuan's residence reacted in a similar manner. They were either filled with intense hatred or they were completely lost and dejected.
The demise of King Zhenyuan meant that they had lost their leader.
Their psychological crutch had shattered the moment King Zhenyuan was turned into ashes. Every single one of them was aware of the fact that the Yuan clan was useless without King Zhenyuan and it was as though they could even see the soldiers of their residence falling apart in front of them. They were surrounded by their enemies and when King Zhenyuan was still alive, he could still keep those ravenous wolves at bay, but once he was dead, there was no one to stop them...
The Yuan clan was doomed to collapse.
The Crown Prince and the others couldn't think of anything else. All they wanted was for the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan to kill Ye Qingyu to avenge King Zhenyuan's death. As for the others... the Yuan clan could always pledge allegiance to the Sky Fox clan if push came to shove. They could put their ambition and pride aside to serve the interests of the Sky Fox clan for the rest of their lives.
...
At the battlefield in the firmament.
Ye Qingyu was covered in blood and he was in terrible shape.
His powerful physical body that had been cultivated to peak condition was covered in scratches that looked like knife slashes and layers of tiny blood droplets oozed out of his injuries that combined to form a large river of blood. He looked as though he had just crawled out from a bloodied river.
These were the injuries inflicted upon him by the black and white hairs from the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan.
These thin hairs were in fact as sharp as divine weapons and as terrifying as Emperor weapons. Moreover, each strand of hair seemed to have a mind of its own and kept charging tirelessly at Ye Qingyu. He was unable to keep up with the past of these attacks and ultimately ended up injured.
However, he continued to hold the [Blood Drinker Sword] tightly in his hand.
As his sword radiance continued to slash across the sky, countless strands of broken hair flew all around but these broken hairs soon transformed into terrifying weapons that frantically wriggled toward Ye Qingyu and clung to him like maggots feeding on a corpse.
"Goddamnit..." he couldn't help but curse.
The sovereign of the Sky Fox clan was not a woman, so why would he be using his hair as a weapon? He was acting like a pervert.
"[Life Sword Mantra]... [Sword Tempest]!"
He unleashed his combat technique.
His sword will spread throughout the air and finally managed to send all these wriggling black and white strands of hair flying. Ye Qingyu's injuries also healed immediately and even the blood that splattered across the void swarmed back to his body.
"Sovereign of the Sky Fox clan, I swear I'm going to chop off all the hair off your head if you continue to hide your true strength," Ye Qingyu said with a loud chuckle as an incredibly powerful sword will exploded from the [Blood Drinker Sword] in his hand and a visible light mist burst forth from its sword body. Its aura made this sword will seem like it could absorb everything in this universe.
This move was almost as powerful as an attack from a true Martial Emperor.
"I regret not killing you earlier," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan finally spoke once more.
He had been forced to channel his Martial Emperor strength and reveal his true self in front of Ye Qingyu but to his surprise, he found that he was still unable to kill Ye Qingyu during this short period of time. This was a great setback for him because like the sovereign of the Sun clan, he had been an Emperor for an extremely long time and was already approaching the twilight of his life. His condition was only slightly better than the sovereign of the Sun clan, but he had also extended his lifespan by sealing his own cultivation.
The Martial Emperor was such a powerful existence that no divine artifact could extend the lifespan of a Martial Emperor. However, if he sealed his own cultivation and dropped his cultivation to fake Emperor realm, he would be able to extend his lifespan significantly. Thus, every second and minute was critical to him when he was forced to return to Martial Emperor realm.
This was why he didn't wish to waste any time and tried to kill Ye Qingyu as fast as he could the moment he appeared.
Nonetheless, he had failed to do so.
"The Sky Fox clan has always been good at capturing the mysteries of the heavens and after I became a Martial Emperor, my deduction abilities have become far more accurate. I can see destruction and extremely dense bad karma from your body and I know that the Sinner's blood flows in your veins. You are a Sinner who has entered Royal City in disguise and managed to worm your way into a military position. You're a demon who will destroy the entire camp... I must kill you," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said fervently.
As he spoke, an authentic Martial Emperor's aura completely exploded from him and his figure rapidly grew taller to stand in the heavens like a pillar, his long hair grew even longer, and an image of a bagua with Nine Opposites appeared behind him. He looked like a fiendgod standing tall in the universe who had power over every creature in the universe.
Ye Qingyu's expression finally turned grim because he sensed the aura of the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan starting to merge with the universe as though he had become one with the Great Dao of the universe.
An invincible and lofty aura started to gush out from his body and it was as though the universe was willing to send out punches and swords for him at his command.
The sovereign of the Sky Fox clan was no longer a person, nor a living creature but instead, he was a manifestation of the will of the universe.
A Martial Emperor who bore the mandate of heaven.
This was the power of a true Martial Emperor.
The sovereign of the Sky Fox clan had depressed his own cultivation in hopes that he could kill Ye Qingyu, but he had finally given up on that idea and ascended to become a Martial Emperor so that he could kill Ye Qingyu.
He had immediately pointed out the Sinner's blood that flowed in Ye Qingyu's body.
This was a secret that only Ye Qingyu knew about.
Did the Sky Fox clan truly have the ability to peer into heaven's secrets?
The black and white strands of hair charged swiftly toward Ye Qingyu once more and this time, the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan also entered the fray. Ye Qingyu used his sword to defend himself and countered with all his might. He slashed apart countless strands of hairs but ultimately failed to stop the force of destiny. Two strands of black and white hair wrapped themselves around him and turned into a black and white round ball as they formed a cocoon around him.
"I shall refine a Sinner's body today," the sovereign of the Sky Fox clan said as he exerted his divine abilities. His hair glowed as they prepared to refine Ye Qingyu's body.