Shrouding the Heavens: The Ruthless Heavenly Emperor

Dao Yan's breathing was disordered, his body was covered in wounds, his white bones were exposed, and some flesh and blood were stuck to the ground.

Although it's just a brand, it's not much different from a real person.

He struggled to lift his head. In the vast white expanse, countless emerald green leaves danced incessantly in the air, occasionally splattering large amounts of blood.

There are also nine ancient characters that have trapped a place and have not disappeared for a long time.

Seeing this, Dao Yan laughed. After coughing up two mouthfuls of blood, he said weakly, "Although you have defeated me to the point of losing my fighting ability, you will also be defeated."

Xu Changqing's attack was too terrifying; even with his full defense, he couldn't withstand it.

"You're celebrating too soon!" Xu Changqing's voice suddenly appeared beside Dao Yan.

Chi!

The dazzling blade light rose again, and Dao Yan's smile froze. He was now unable to move and could not withstand this attack at all.

Then his head flew off.

Not far away, Xu Changqing walked out expressionlessly, covered in blood, his clothes torn to shreds by the green leaves.

His robust body was covered with wounds several tens of centimeters long, with green light shimmering around them. The wounds could not heal, and blood kept flowing out.

The numerous wounds were all left by those ancient characters and that ancient tree of life.

After the swordplay on the arena faded, the scene was a mess, with bloodstains everywhere and a pungent, fishy smell filling the entire space.

Xu Changqing looked at the headless corpse in front of him and breathed a sigh of relief.

He won. If Emperor Daoyan's true battle armor were still intact, perhaps he wouldn't have been able to break through the defense.

"I still have 40% of my strength left..." Xu Changqing murmured. After defeating Dao Yan, he still had 40% of his strength left.

This is because Dao Yan's attack power is not strong enough. If it were stronger, there would definitely be a price to pay.

"Dao Yan Emperor, how does it feel to have been defeated?" Xu Changqing asked softly.

A moment later, a loud laugh rang out, and the headless corpse slowly began to emanate light, with Dao Yan reappearing.

He laughed loudly, "Hahaha, not bad, not bad. I never expected that such a heaven-defying figure like you would appear in later generations."

"However, the taste of failure is truly unpleasant."

"I suppose you'll become an emperor in this lifetime."

But Xu Changqing shook his head and said, "Not necessarily."

"Oh, how so?" Emperor Daoyan was not angry or ashamed of his defeat. After all, he was already dead, so what was there to hold onto?

Xu Changqing slowly shook his head, saying nothing, but quietly looking at Emperor Daoyan.

Emperor Daoyan understood, pondered for a moment, and said, "The Ancient Tree of Life and my immortal robes are not here. The only thing I can give you is a little something I left here when I perished."

Xu Changqing nodded slowly, but suddenly heard Dao Yan Emperor's tone change, and he said coldly, "I hope that after you leave, you will not destroy the Eternal Starfield."

"You can retaliate against any creature that provokes you, but never involve innocent people, otherwise..."

Emperor Daoyan's gaze turned icy, while Xu Changqing nodded calmly and said, "Don't worry."

He also wanted to obtain the Dao Yan Emperor's possessions and then go into seclusion to cultivate, not wanting to cause any trouble.

"Hmm, come with me." Emperor Daoyan regained his composure, and the silver arena disappeared, replaced by a path.

It was a blue steel road, exuding a strong sense of technology, with smooth lines and dazzling lights.

I don't know what lies at the end.

But Emperor Daoyan was an emperor who proved his Dao through external objects. At the very least, he must have left behind some technological weapons or life-saving items, as well as precious elixirs that could enhance his strength.

.........

Chapter 24 Conditions

The bright interior was filled with sophisticated instruments, various items and high technology that Xu Changqing had never seen before, which caught his eye.

The place was the size of a sports field, filled with runes and silver light, brightly lit, and full of items, yet not very crowded.

At the center, there was a blood-stained spaceship. Just looking at its appearance gave Xu Changqing a chilling aura. The coldness emanating from it made his hair stand on end.

"These are my companions from when I fought on the Emperor's Road. I created them when I was at the Saint Realm." Emperor Daoyan's tone was filled with reminiscence and emotion.

Xu Changqing listened quietly. Sure enough, if Emperor Daoyan was a Saint, and he was only a Half-Saint, he would have no chance of winning against him.

Then he saw some semi-saint weapons hanging on the silver wall, which made him feel a sense of danger.

He was puzzled as to why the Dao Yan Emperor hadn't used these items to fight him earlier.

Emperor Daoyan seemed to understand what Xu Changqing was thinking and said, "Whether we take it or not, it may be the same. It will only result in a situation where we both suffer heavy losses and delay the battle."

He knew that while using these items might produce unexpected results, they wouldn't be fatal to Xu Changqing.

Then, Xu Changqing saw several more bloodstained mechs. The red bloodstains had not disappeared and were still stuck to the blue mechs.

The mecha didn't look very big, only two or three meters long, but Xu Changqing could feel an extremely dangerous aura from it. Just the runes hidden inside the mecha alone made him realize that it was not simple.

As expected of the technological emperor of the world, although he is weaker than other emperors, once he uses these things, he may be stronger than many ancient emperors.

An emperor who can prove his Dao through external objects is definitely not simple. Therefore, Xu Changqing was a bit arrogant in the battle just now.

If Emperor Daoyan were to use all his abilities, the outcome would truly be uncertain. Fortunately, Daoyan had no reason to make things difficult for a junior like him.

Immediately afterwards, Xu Changqing saw the immortal gold, namely a fist-sized piece of Eternal Blue Gold, a palm-sized piece of Divine Mark Purple Gold, and a four-finger-sized piece of Immortal Tear Green Gold.

Xu Changqing was also somewhat moved upon seeing the immortal gold. How exactly did the Dao Yan Emperor collect so much immortal gold?

Emperor Daoyan continued walking with Xu Changqing until they reached the door that emitted five-colored light. He gently pressed his hand on it, and instantly a dazzling blue light burst forth.

The five-colored gate slowly opened, revealing a pool that was only three meters in size inside.

"This is a precious elixir that I created myself. Back then, I spread it to every corner of the Eternal Starfield. People called it the strongest precious elixir, an item that can enable half-saints and saints to transform again."

"Actually, using external objects to prove the Way is not as weak as you imagine. External objects, external objects—how do people define external objects? Has anyone ever defined them?"

"Anything that can enhance one's own strength is not an external object. For example, spiritual energy and essence can be absorbed into the body to enhance external objects, but do you dare to call them external objects? What about divine sources, divine herbs, and various energy-containing crystals? Do you dare to call them external objects?"

"You young people from beyond the stars, are you skeptical of external things?"

"You rebuke me, unaware that you have already fallen to the lower classes."

Dao Yan Emperor's words made Xu Changqing realize that what he said made a lot of sense. As long as it could improve his strength, he didn't care whether it was an external object or not.

Emperor Daoyan is quite peaceful; he's not the taciturn or domineering type. He's the gentle and refined type, except he might crash his spaceship into people.

Xu Changqing listened quietly. At this moment, standing in front of him was not Dao Yan, who was only at the half-saint level, but the true mark of the Great Emperor Dao Yan, possessing unimaginable power.

I just don't know how he can maintain a single mark for millions of years.

"The fact that you came here already indicates that you want to obtain external protection, so what you just said..." Emperor Daoyan looked at Xu Changqing with a smile.

It seems he still cares about that statement.

That's true. As fellow emperors, to be judged as the weakest emperor without even fighting him, and to be considered human for not killing Xu Changqing, is already a good thing.

If it were another emperor, he might have severely injured him and thrown him out.

Xu Changqing's expression remained perfectly calm as he said, "I take back what I said earlier. You are not weak, and I find my own arrogance laughable."

He admitted that since his tribulation and battle against many ancient supreme beings and emperors, he had become arrogant and indeed looked down on Emperor Daoyan.

But at this moment, his understanding of Emperor Daoyan changed.

If the Dao Yan Emperor were to actually use all the semi-saint items inside, it would be enough to give him a hard time, and he might even lose most of his life to fight to the death.

Emperor Daoyan nodded and led Xu Changqing to the edge of the strongest treasure liquid, saying, "I'm giving you something, and you have to do something for me in return."

There are no free lunches in this world; if you want to gain more, you must pay a greater price.

"Let me tell you about the benefits first. The strongest treasure liquid contains the Primordial Life Stone from the Burial Emperor Star, as well as various rare treasures from the universe. It can allow you to transform three times between the stages of Half-Saint and Saint."

"You can take one of the spaceships outside. It contains the coordinates of the ancient human road, as well as the coordinates of some ancient life-bearing planets, such as the Burial Emperor Star, the Primordial Ancient Star, and the Ziwei Star."

"As for cultivation techniques, I won't give you any forbidden secrets from the Emperor's Scripture, but you can take everything else besides mine, including those of quasi-emperors."

"My only condition is that if you cannot become emperor, or do not see any hope of becoming emperor, you must seal yourself off and wait for my son to be born, to protect him and ensure his safety."

"If you become an emperor, then give him a portion of your cultivation techniques, along with your sword, and protect him for two hundred years. Can you do that?"

Dao Yan's words made Xu Changqing fall into deep thought, and then he simply nodded, having nothing more to think about.

This condition is very good for me.

After all, doesn't he know what the current conditions are?

The Daoyan Emperor spoke of the future; the future is the future, and the present is the present.

When Dao Yan saw that Xu Changqing had agreed, he didn't ask him to swear an oath, because such a strong person was naturally proud and would not break his promise.

"Alright, you may cultivate here on your own for a period of one hundred years. During this time, you may also..."

"You can leave at any time. If you want to leave, just go to the side of the warship; there's a teleportation array there."

As he spoke, the figure of the Dao Yan Emperor began to fade. At the same time, he pointed a finger, and a blue light appeared, directly touching Xu Changqing's brow.

Besides the cultivation technique, there is also the place where Dao Yi sleeps, where the Divine Source Liquid has been prepared.

After doing all this, Emperor Daoyan sighed and disappeared. He first went outside and touched his companion from his youth.

There were blood-stained spaceships, blood-stained mechs, and all sorts of weapons.

Finally, he disappeared completely from this place, leaving it and arriving in the outside world.

He saw that his name was no longer at the top on the Xinghai stone tablet, and he also saw the vast steel jungle outside, but those people did not notice him.

Without paying much attention, he walked through the night sky, step by step, into the Eternal Kingdom, looking at the bustling city.

This mark on him has been there for a very long time. It was left by him during his prime using some kind of object and means. If Xu Changqing doesn't come soon, it will disappear.

Once he dissipates, the sea of ​​stars will vanish.

He first traveled for a long time in the eternal kingdom, and finally he came to a place.

Before him was a divine source several meters in size. A young man who looked about eight-tenths like him lay quietly inside the divine source with his eyes closed. Beside him were various rare treasures such as immortal gold, divine medicine, and weapons.

Emperor Daoyan looked at Daoyi quietly, and finally turned to leave without showing any reluctance.

At the edge of the Five-Colored Divine Pool, Xu Changqing took off his clothes, revealing a dense array of wounds and bloodstains everywhere.