Chapter 1240 – Above a Martial Emperor
Ye Qingyu could not be any more shocked.
The nameless Quasi-emperor had said that the World Tree had already grown fully, and would bring unexpected benefits to Ye Qingyu if planted in his body. At first, Ye Qingyu was rather expectant of this, but he later discovered that it was not very active, and was instead indifferent toward him. He thus gradually lost expectation.
Who would have thought that, on this day of coincidence, it would offer up such a huge surprise.
He could clearly feel that, as the leaves of the World Tree drifted on the yuan qi ocean, green islands appeared, and the vegetation on the islands grew frenziedly, the vitality in his dantian world was abruptly increasing, such that its entirety began to brighten and liven up.
The green vegetation on the islands were absorbing the spiritual qi and yuan qi from the dantian world. Reasonably speaking, this kind of change would form a burden upon Ye Qingyu, causing his power to be taken away. In reality, however, these strange green vegetation seemed to be performing some kind of energy conversion and exchange. For every portion of spiritual qi and yuan qi that it drew, it would quickly spit out a strange and vigorous vitality, causing Ye Qingyu's dantian world to become ever more replete with spiritual qi, like an Immortal Domain of its own.
“I wonder if I can pluck those spiritual herbs.”
Ye Qingyu formed an idea as he looked at the green vegetation on the dozens of islands.
These were all spiritual and divine herbs rarely seen in the outside world. Although they did not look ripe in age, their growth was highly vigorous and pure. Compared to the later-day spiritual herbs cultivated in various formations of the outer world, its herbal effect was clearly greater.
However, what surprised Ye Qingyu was that, at the very instant that he focused his inward sight on a blade of [Three Heart Dragon Grass] and formed an idea, the blade of [Three Heart Dragon Grass] disappeared and then reappeared in his palm without warning.
“This… can actually be plucked, for real?”
Ending his inward gaze, Ye Qingyu looked at the blade of [Three Heart Dragon Grass] which was circulating spiritual essence in this palm. After a brief daze, a bout of joy surged in his heart.
The divine and spiritual herbs on those islands in his dantian world were actually material objects instead of illusions, and could be extracted. Moreover, their herbal properties were not reduced at all. This discovery was simply too crazy. It meant that, henceforth, Ye Qingyu would have a divine herb garden that belonged to himself, and would not have to fear the herbs being stolen by outsiders. Besides, many of the herbs on the green islands were already extremely rare or extinct in the real world. The few herbs that Ye Qingyu casually took were all entirely unique.
This kind of feeling was akin to a little white rabbit being stunned by a carrot that fell from the sky, seeing nothing but tiny stars.
With these nearly-inexhaustible supply of herbs, Ye Qingyu could refine several divine and spiritual pills that could only be found in ancient times. In fact, he might even be able to refine large batches of them. In doing so, he could probably expedite the breeding of babies artificially and create a large batch of experts and aces to form a large army of top-level formation martial experts so as to deal with the coming disaster of reincarnation.
Placing the blade of [Three Heart Dragon Grass] in his mouth, he carefully chewed and distinguished it. A faintly astringent-tasting juice began to fill his mouth.
He was distinguishing its herbal properties and potency.
Soon, he was fully certain that this blade of [Three Heart Dragon Grass] was of the highest grade.
He then looked inward with his divine consciousness once more, and tried several times to pluck a few other varieties of divine and spiritual herbs from the green islands. Like the [Three Heart Dragon Grass], they turned out to be pluckable, and possessed the herbal properties and potency as described and recorded in the ancient texts, completely confirming Ye Qingyu's earlier prediction.
“I really had never thought that the World Tree would actually have such an extraordinary effect.”
He was excited like never before.
He vaguely felt that the powers of the World Tree did not end here.
Time passed.
Eventually, the Immortal Domain energy in the [Cloud Top Cauldron] fully entered his body.
By absorbing this kind of power, the World Tree grew three or four times in bulk. Standing dozens of kilometers high with its giant crown spreading outward like a lofty and magnificent green mountain range, it covered the vast yuan qi ocean, while its luxuriant leaves made soft rustling noises. A full one hundred green leaves had already fallen, eventually landing on the yuan qi ocean and turning into one hundred green islands of dozens of kilometers in circumference.
The divine and spiritual herbs on the green islands incessantly absorbed yuan qi and spiritual qi from Ye Qingyu's dantian world, eventually being converted into a strange kind of life power that diffused throughout.
This kind of life power was extremely similar, yet not completely similar, to the Immortal energy of the Immortal Domain.
When Ye Qingyu tried to work up this power to enter his limbs and bones, he later discovered a phenomenon that shocked him like never before – the martial techniques and battle skills worked up by the life power were many times more powerful and terrifying than when worked up by normal Emperor power. This meant that the life power was actually of a higher grade and level than Emperor power.
“Emperors are matchless and invincible because we possess Emperor power. I’d thought that Emperor qi was the highest form of formation martial power, but now...” Ye Qingyu was shocked by this discovery.
There’s a highest grade of power than Emperor power. Does that mean there’s also a higher realm than that of the Martial Emperor?
Is the Martial Emperor realm actually not the true pinnacle of the formation martial way?
This discovery caused Ye Qingyu to feel that his understanding of this world was flipped upside down once again.
If that’s the case, what is the realm above the Martial Emperor called?
Ye Qingyu was a little baffled.
He had read a tremendous number of martial secret books and classics of an extremely wide range. Be it contemporary books or ancient texts, he had certainly read a considerable amount. Moreover, he had a photographic memory. Throughout the contemporary age, it would probably be very difficult to find beings that had read more than him. Yet, among the books and documents he had read, there had never been any description of a realm above that of the Martial Emperor.
Among the various contemporary legends, there had never been any mention of such a realm.
All contemporary beings and experts considered the Martial Emperor realm to be the pinnacle of the formation martial way.
Therefore, Ye Qingyu had believed this all along too.
But now, he realized that everyone was wrong.
This could explain many questions.
For example, despite also being a Martial Emperor, why was the Sky Emperor able to compel so many hidden sovereigns to serve him? The reason was definitely not that he had nurtured and promoted them, but instead that their strength was not comparable to his and they were thus controlled and intimidated by him, such that they had no choice but to follow his orders. This could also explain why the Divine Light Emperor once lorded over all Martial Emperors, and even the Sky Emperor had to take orders from him.
This was not just because the beings of the Martial Emperor realm differed in strength, but more so because there was another even more powerful and incredible realm above that of the Martial Emperor.
Just as a Martial Emperor could crush and intimidate myriad pinnacle Ninth Step Quasi-emperors, a being above the Martial Emperor realm could crush and intimidate myriad Martial Emperors.
“I wonder, what is the realm above the Martial Emperor like exactly?” Ye Qingyu pondered.
This discovery made him feel that a never-seen-before, mysterious door was gradually appearing in front of him while cracking open slightly, waiting for him to unearth the mystery and break through.
Later, he realized that the legendary Divine Light Emperor was very likely to be a being that was above the Martial Emperor realm.
As for the Sky Emperor… the best guess was that he had not attained that realm. However, judging from the methods he used to control all of the hidden sovereigns, he was probably within touching distance of it.
Moreover, the old sovereign of the Sun clan had said that, by inferring from the Light Emperor’s detection technique, he had discovered that the Sky Emperor’s condition was rather strange, only possessing a divine soul but not a true body. Perhaps, he had run into some problems in his technique cultivation, or perhaps he was using some kind of risky technique to initiate an attack on something. Therefore, the good news for Ye Qingyu was that the Sky Emperor should not be of much threat for a period of time while cultivating his technique.
Ye Qingyu's mind was clear like never before.
He worked up the strange life power and continually circulated it in his body, feeling the terrifying aspects of this kind of power. At the same time, he tried using this power to nourish his body and increase his physical strength to the extreme.
He was very clear that mastering this kind of life power would be equivalent to grasping the key that led to the gate of the realm above that of the Martial Emperor.
He was already ahead of the other Martial Emperors.
He also discovered that, following his working up and circulation of this life power, the green vegetation of divine and spiritual herbs on the hundred islands in his dantian world seemed to offer some response. A strange resonant boosting effect caused the vegetation on the islands to become even more vigorous and to grow faster, thereby releasing and diffusing even more life power.
“Indeed, this is also a form of cultivation.”
A spiritual light flashed across Ye Qingyu's mind as he abruptly grasped a truth.
Since ancient times, normal warriors below the Saint realm repeatedly worked up their yuan qi, produced in the Spirit Springs of their bodies, in their meridian channels for several days so as to enhance their cultivation and invigorate their yuan qi. However, from the Saint realm and on, this method would be of little effect to a martial expert. To enhance one’s strength, one would have to use external power to supplement their own, and comprehend the universal laws. This was why nobody at the Saint realm or above used the several-day circulation method to cultivate themselves.
However, this simple and ancient form of cultivation seemed to have a peculiarly great increase effect on life power.
In other words, the best way to cultivate toward the realm above that of the Martial Emperor could possibly be to return to simplicity and make use of the most primitive cultivation method.
Ye Qingyu became excited.
If this was really the case, it would mean that, with the help provided by the World Tree, he had not only seen the path and door that led to the new martial realm, but also found the cultivation method that could open this door and lead to true reincarnation immortality. This more so meant that, given sufficient time, he would eventually be able to surpass the Martial Emperor realm and reach a truly invincible state.