High Martial Arts Era

Chapter 744 The Nine Imperial Guards
"Back then, the two supreme halls submitted. Even though I was once the vice leader of the Yu Alliance and had extremely high authority, I shouldn't have been able to open it directly." Xiao Mu was extremely astonished: "That Cloud Moon God Emperor, who was Brother Beihe's personal disciple, couldn't do it either... Li Yuan, could you be the successor of the Hongying Supreme?"

At this moment, Xiao Mu was merely a celestial being from the universe, with very weak external perception, so he was not quite sure what that silver light was.

and!

Regarding the Heart Dream God Emperor, the Ancient Universe Realm, and the origin of the Ancient Universe Realm, Li Yuan only told him part of the information... Some deeper speculations, Li Yuan kept to himself.

But when Li Yuan looked up at the ancient palace door that was slowly opening, and then looked down at his palm, he already understood seven or eight parts of the situation.

It is the Ancient Universe Realm.

"Upon arriving here, the Ancient Universe Realm seemed to have been summoned by some force, and it flew out of control and merged into this Supreme Palace of the Primordial Shadow? Even I, its master, couldn't control it?" Li Yuan sighed inwardly. "Based on the information I know from the past... this Ancient Universe Realm is most likely a treasure crafted by the Supreme Primordial Shadow."

The Ancient Universe Realm has been confirmed by the small tomb to be a Dao-Merging Emperor Weapon, belonging to the top-tier Emperor Weapons, which cannot be forged by anyone but a Supreme Being.

Back then, although the God Emperor Xinmeng claimed that he had successfully created the Ancient Universe Realm using the treasures left behind by the Supreme Lord Hongying, Li Yuan didn't really believe it.

"Even if it really is related to the God Emperor Xinmeng."

"At most, the Ancient Universe Realm has suffered calamities and is somewhat damaged... but it has been repaired by the Heart Dream God Emperor," Li Yuan thought to himself.

Although the Heart Dream God Emperor was mysterious and powerful, Li Yuan couldn't believe that he could forge a complete Dao-Merging Emperor Weapon on his own.

Top-tier imperial weapons can only be forged by those of supreme status.

This is an ironclad law that has existed for billions of years in the universe.

"It is so difficult for the Ancient Universe Realm to recognize a master."

"The Ancient Universe Realm seems to be the key to opening the Supreme Palace of the Primordial Shadows... According to the message left by the God Emperor Xinmeng, recognizing the Ancient Universe Realm as the master and ultimately controlling the 'Eternal Divine Palace' are inextricably linked..." Many thoughts flashed through Li Yuan's mind.

The convergence of numerous hidden messages led him to consider many possibilities.

However, it is not possible to confirm this completely in a short period of time.

"The secrets of the Heart Dream God Emperor can be explored slowly in the future..." Li Yuan's gaze swept over the Hongying Supreme Hall.

The gate was fully open, but a vast, hazy mist obscured everything. This mist contained extraordinary power and completely blocked Li Yuan's investigation.

It seems that only by personally stepping into the Supreme Hall can he know what the Supreme One left behind.

"Li Yuan? What exactly is your relationship with Supreme Hongying?" Xiao Mu couldn't help but ask telepathically.

"I don't know." Li Yuan shook his head and said, "It's the Ancient Universe Realm... The Ancient Universe Realm opened this Supreme Hall, but I don't know what's inside the Hongying Supreme Hall. I just have a feeling that there might be some danger."

Reaching Li Yuan's level allows one to glimpse many variables of the future through fate at crucial moments.

This is the timeline of the deduction.

“Danger?” Little Tomb nodded: “Before the Supreme Ones passed away, they were very clear about the cycle of reincarnation in the universe. They could have left behind many arrangements. Since they left behind the Supreme Hall… I think it must contain some great secrets. If you did not open it normally, you might have touched the Supreme Ones’ backup plan.”

Li Yuan listened.

An abnormal activation? He had a feeling that activating it using the Ancient Universe Realm was probably the most correct way to do so.

"Li Yuan."

“In that case, don’t rush to enter the Hongying Supreme Hall.” Xiao Mu transmitted his voice, “Come with me to the Beihe Supreme Hall first. After you get the treasure I left for you, then you can enter the Hongying Supreme Hall… By then, even if there is any danger, your chances of survival will be greatly increased.”

"Okay." Li Yuan nodded.

From Xiao Mu's words, he deduced that among the treasures Xiao Mu had prepared for him, there were probably some extremely powerful life-saving items.

As for the Supreme Hall of the Primordial Shadows... Li Yuan was filled with curiosity.

Sharpening your knife won't delay your wood-chopping work.

It won't make a difference if we wait a little longer.

Li Yuan also didn't believe that anyone could overcome all the obstacles and reach this place in a short period of time... Even the Overlord couldn't do it in the long past.

call!
With a wave of his hand, Li Yuan sent the child-shaped tomb flying out of the magical treasure, radiating a life force at the level of a god-king.

As the only Holy Spirit of the Universe within Li Yuan's inner universe, Xiao Mu's body is not weak.

"open."

Xiao Mu flew down to the front of the Supreme Hall of Beihe. Suddenly, his palms burst forth with dazzling light. Then, countless cyan threads flowed from his palms and merged into the gate of the Supreme Hall. A moment later, the gate of the Supreme Hall of Beihe began to tremble slightly, and the countless secret patterns on the gate revealed their light.

The light distorted, and the secret runes activated.

In an instant, the gates of this supreme hall also began to open slowly... but the opening was extremely slow, much slower than the opening speed of the gates of the Hongying Supreme Hall.

After a long while, the ancient, dusty door finally revealed a small crack.

"Don't wait any longer."

“I’m not strong enough right now. Even if I had the authority, I couldn’t fully open the door using the Dao Seal Secret Technique.” Xiao Mu said, “This gap is big enough for us to get in. Let’s go.”

Whoosh!
The small tomb transformed into a stream of light, flying along the crack into the Supreme Hall of the Northern River. Li Yuan no longer hesitated and followed suit, flying in as well.

It had just flown in.

Then I felt time and space shift, the surrounding scenery flickered, and then quickly stabilized.

Li Yuan and Xiao Mu were now in a strange space.

"So beautiful," Li Yuan couldn't help but exclaim.

They were standing on a majestic mountain. The space seemed not very large, about 100,000 square miles in circumference, with countless mountain ranges stretching out in an exceptionally beautiful landscape.

With Li Yuan's perception ability, he can perceive every area of ​​the entire space with a single thought.

Nestled among the mountains are countless villages, towns, and even cities... It's like a mundane world.

“This is the scene of Brother Beihe’s hometown when he was in the mortal world.” Xiao Mu said with emotion, “Before leaving Supreme Star City, he created an identical space in the Supreme Hall.”

Li Yuan suddenly realized.

"Don't underestimate this space; it's actually the energy source of the entire Supreme Star City... Although the Star City has become ownerless, its energy source hasn't dissipated yet." Little Tomb laughed, "It's just the two of us. If it were anyone else, without sufficient authority, daring to enter... even a Sovereign would find it difficult to escape."

Li Yuan understood.

Although the Supreme One is dead, the things he left behind in his residence are not something that anyone can easily take away.

"The Supreme Hall of the Primordial Shadows is still open. I'll hurry and retrieve all the treasures," said Xiao Mu.

His two chubby little hands were clasped together in a mudra.

An incredibly complex rune pattern quickly appeared before him and then merged into the mountain beneath their feet... Li Yuan had long ago realized that this mountain was the core of this space.

A buzzing sound emanated from the entire mountain, causing it to tremble slightly.

Call ~
A streak of light shot up from a pool of water halfway up the mountain and landed in front of Li Yuan, who looked at it.

It was clearly a storage treasure.

"What is this?" Li Yuan asked.

"You can take a look," Xiao Mu said with a smile.

With a thought, Li Yuan sent a wisp of his divine sense to probe the storage treasure, where he saw a vast wasteland with mountains of Eternal Crystals.

This was an enormous fortune that Li Yuan had never seen before.

"One hundred billion cubic meters of Eternal Crystals?" Li Yuan asked.

"Hmm." Xiao Mu nodded: "In my original plan, even if your potential is comparable to Brother Beihe, 10 billion cubic meters of Eternal Crystals would be enough for you to cultivate to the God King stage."

Li Yuan listened.

Back when they were on Beichen Star, Xiao Mu did say that if he obtained the treasure he left behind, he would no longer need to worry about resources when cultivating to the God King stage.

In retrospect, what was said was true.

“However, I really didn’t expect that your strength in the God King Realm would far surpass Brother Beihe. Now that I think about it, these 10 billion cubic meters of Eternal Crystals aren’t that much.” Xiao Mu shook his head and said.

"That's enough, that's more than enough," Li Yuan said with a smile.

With billions of cubic meters of Eternal Crystals... there's a chance to buy a top-grade Emperor Weapon.

Even a powerful master like Juexing, who accumulated strength for hundreds of millions of years, paid a huge price to obtain the 'Abyss-Slaying Divine Spear' for himself. The rulers might not care.

But for Li Yuan now, it is still a great help.

"This is the second treasure."

"I have prepared four treasures for you, which I will gradually give to you as your strength increases," Xiao Mu said. "According to my plan, you should cultivate for at least tens of thousands of years before you can hope to obtain all four treasures... But your strength has grown so rapidly that it has exceeded my expectations. I don't need to delay any longer, so I will take them out and give them to you today."

"Four treasures?" Li Yuan was surprised.

Previously, Xiao Mu had never revealed this, only saying that he had prepared two treasures.

But after a moment's thought, Li Yuan realized what his strength was when he first arrived in the Immortal World, and what his strength was now.
It's normal that Xiaomu didn't say some things.

"The third treasure is a protective puppet." Little Tomb suddenly hissed, "Nine Imperial Guards, why aren't you here at once?"

Imperial Guard?

Li Yuan suddenly turned his head to look.

Whoosh!Whoosh!Whoosh!
Amidst the rolling mountains, the once tranquil lakes suddenly trembled, then gathered and rose, transforming into rivers.

Like a celestial river, it surges and flows mightily.

It quickly landed in front of Li Yuan and Xiao Mu, and then countless streams of water condensed and gathered to form human-shaped figures.

There were nine figures in total.

Nine women.

Each of their figures was flawless, pure, and perfect... Despite their unparalleled beauty, they were so beautiful that it was impossible to feel any desire to desecrate them.

The most crucial thing!
Nine figures, each exuding an aura that made Li Yuan's heart tremble. Clearly, beneath their beautiful appearances lay terrifying strength, capable of threatening Li Yuan's life.

Li Yuan held his breath.

"Greetings, Master." Nine women bowed respectfully to the small tomb, their voices melodious, like heavenly music.

Master? Li Yuan couldn't help but look at the small tomb.

“Back then, when I was traveling, I was the vice leader of the Honghe Yu Alliance.” Xiao Mu grinned and said, “So, in order to make me more comfortable in the Immortal World, my elder brother equipped me with an Imperial Guard.”

"All nine of them are Emperor-level puppets."

Li Yuan couldn't help but look at the nine women.

The nine imperial guards all looked respectful, showing no sign of displeasure.

"How does it compare to the Immortal Emperor and the Black Dragon Puppet?" Li Yuan asked curiously.

"Haha."

“Li Yuan, you underestimate them too much.” Xiao Mu laughed: “The Immortal Emperor’s black dragon puppet is just for show. Several Emperor-level black dragons working together are only equivalent to a peak Emperor-level expert.”

"And each of my nine Imperial Guards possesses peak Emperor Realm strength, and is especially adept at binding enemies and physical defense."

"With the nine Imperial Guards joining forces, even when facing the Sovereign's attack, we are confident of survival," Xiao Mu said solemnly.

Could they rival a ruler? Li Yuan was shocked.

His perspective is now extraordinary, and he knows very well that even a ruler cannot create an Emperor-level puppet under normal circumstances.

Within the Immortal Realm, most Emperor-level puppets are obtained by powerful individuals through exchanges within the Immortal Temple.

Li Yuan had also seen the exchange prices for some Emperor-level puppets in the 'Treasure Catalog'. Puppets with ordinary Emperor-level strength usually cost billions of Immortal Merit Points.

A peak Emperor Realm expert? Their value is ridiculously high.

As far as Li Yuan knew, even among the three supreme star cities, only the Hanxing Supreme Star City had a large number of puppets with peak Emperor Realm strength, all of which were personally crafted by the Hanxing Supreme.

They are collectively known as the 'Frosty Guardians'.

As for Supreme Beings like Chi Jun and Tian Yue, I have never heard of them being able to refine Emperor-level puppets with peak Emperor-level strength.

“This Imperial Guard is now in your hands, starting today,” Xiao Mu said.

Li Yuan took a deep breath.

Even though he had already expected it, Li Yuan was still somewhat excited when he heard it from Xiao Mu himself. Such an imperial guard was truly extraordinary.

Most rulers probably don't have such an absolutely loyal force under their command.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that for a considerable period of time, they will become another trump card for Li Yuan.

"This is Xinyuan Quasi-Saint, a peerless genius who has the potential to rebuild the Honghe Universe Alliance. From today onwards, he will be your new master. You will obey his orders and protect him closely," Xiao Mu said solemnly.

"Yes," the nine stunningly beautiful women replied respectfully.

"Master, my name is Yunyu." The leading woman bowed respectfully to Li Yuan and smiled, "I am also the eldest of the nine Imperial Guards."

Li Yuan nodded.

"Master, my name is Yun Xin, and I am the little sister," the most lively imperial guard, who resembled a young girl, said with a giggle.

“Master, my name is…” the nine imperial guards said one by one.

Li Yuan accepted them one by one.

As puppets of the Emperor Realm, they possess extremely high intelligence and are not much different from normal life forms, except that their strength cannot be improved and their combat moves are relatively fixed.

Immediately.

Li Yuan then imprinted his life mark on the core essence of each of the nine Imperial Guards... The nine Imperial Guards did not resist in the slightest.

Only then was the recognition of mastery completely completed, and only then were Li Yuan and the nine imperial guards able to communicate with each other.

Further down the line, if the two sides join forces to fight, it will be much easier.

"Li Yuan, let's put them all into our magic treasures first," Xiao Mu said. "We'll release them when we need them to fight."

"Hmm." Li Yuan nodded, and with a thought, he temporarily stored the nine imperial guards in a high-grade God-King level 'Cave World'.

Even in such a high-level grotto-heaven world, it is difficult to perfectly conceal the aura of the nine imperial guards. If the enemy is strong enough, they can easily detect it in advance.

but.

Li Yuan wasn't in a hurry. Once he took back the Ancient Universe Realm, the nine Imperial Guards could stay there for a long time... The Ancient Universe Realm had an extremely strong ability to conceal its aura, so even a Supreme Being would probably be unable to detect it.

"Li Yuan."

"These nine Imperial Guards were crafted by Brother Beihe with the help of Supreme Hongying," Xiao Mu said. "Supreme Hongying is an expert in crafting artifacts."

"However, as an Emperor-level puppet, it also has many flaws, which you should be aware of," Little Tomb said.

"Understood." Li Yuan nodded.

These Emperor-level puppets, crafted by powerful individuals, do not have as many restrictions as the Emperor-level puppets obtained from the Immortal Temple.

However, it also has some drawbacks.

For example, Emperor-level puppets cannot fight and kill within the universe because they also possess the 'Emperor-level Origin' within them, which would be rejected by the universe's origin...

Meanwhile, in some mysterious places in the universe where Emperor-level beings are not allowed to descend, Emperor-level puppets are also unable to descend, and they are also regarded as Emperor-level beings...

On the other hand, the mana recovery speed of an Emperor-level puppet is far slower than that of a normal Emperor-level puppet. Therefore, after a fierce battle, it takes a very long time to recover its peak combat power.

However, it was still a great help.

At least in most areas of the many eternal ruins, Emperor-level puppets are able to fight and kill each other normally.

"Some people from the ancient universe are escaping for their lives."

"With the addition of nine Imperial Guards, my ability to protect myself has been greatly enhanced," Li Yuan thought to himself.

"The Nine Imperial Guards are only to give you more self-protection. They won't be of much use once you reach the Emperor Realm," Xiao Mu said solemnly. "The last treasure is the most important."

(End of this chapter)