Chapter 654: Which Path To Take?
Regarding this affair, the alchemy monarch and Ancient Pine held an optimistic attitude.
Another Demon Monarch also agreed: “Your Majesty, this is indeed an auspicious omen. Just think about it. If our country could have an Alchemy Emperor, then even the Alchemy Kingdom would respect us. Moreover, millions of years have gone by without anyone gaining the acceptance of our deity, so maybe Young Noble Li is the bringer of prosperity and the ruler of our Giant Bamboo.”
“I’m afraid we need to be more careful about this matter.” The Eagle Demon Monarch pondered for a moment and said: “If Young Noble Li agrees to stay in our country, then I will wholeheartedly agree to this. However, for him to act freely as the bringer of prosperity… This requires further consideration. We don’t even know of his background.”
When the title “bringer of prosperity” came up again, the monarch who spoke earlier had to cough with a slightly embarrassed expression. He misspoke earlier because Madam Zi Yan was the current Royal Lord of the country. If Li Qiye becomes the new ruler of prosperity, then where would Madam Zi Yan go?
“Brother Eagle is right, maybe Young Noble Li only came for our Bamboo Garden.” A different monarch agreed with Eagle’s view and said: “It is not that we don’t trust Young Noble Li, but we really know nothing about his origin. What if he came with a hidden agenda?”
“Although the phrase ‘bringer of prosperity’ is somewhat inappropriate…” The Ancient Pine Demon Monarch quickly tried to defuse the situation: “However, I think it is very unlikely for Young Noble to come with an agenda. Not to mention that his dao of alchemy is beyond the reach of all the sects, we can take a step back and pretend that Young Noble came here for our Bamboo Garden. However, is this at all plausible? Let’s forget about outsiders, even we don’t know what is inside the garden outside of our deity. We’ll take another step back and assume that Young Noble Li really came for our garden, but this in itself is impossible since everyone knows that outside of our progenitor, no one else had been able to enter before…
“… Even our strongest Virtuous Paragon couldn’t enter. Think about it, could Young Noble Li force his way in? We can all see that his entrance was permitted by our deity. Even though our deity hadn’t taken any action for millions of years, as disciples of Giant Bamboo, each and every one of us know that it has always been protecting us. It can see through all things and understand them more clearly than all of us. It definitely has its reasons for accepting Young Noble Li.”
In this situation, Ancient Pine was still supporting Li Qiye. Intuition told him that Li Qiye would definitely bring about a miracle and become a great figure.
At this time, the eighteen monarchs were stuck in a dilemma as they couldn’t make a decision. Putting aside Li Qiye’s mysterious background, it was difficult to make Li Qiye stay. Ordinary conditions would not be able to tempt Li Qiye, and perhaps only by handing over the reins of the country would he be willing to stay.
However, this situation had its own problems. There would always be unease in the monarchs’ minds by letting someone with an unknown origin become their ruler.
There was another problem. If Li Qiye were to become the ruler of prosperity for their country, then what would Madam Zi Yan do? She was a wise ruler with many notable contributions. As long as she was still on the throne, they couldn’t make her abdicate since it would be quite unfair.
“That’s fine.” Madam Zi Yan revealed a calm and gentle smile. She was aware of the current deadlock, so she slightly nodded and said: “If Young Noble Li truly wants to stay and take the reins, then I will happily abdicate for a better ruler. Until now, our Giant Bamboo Country had always let the most capable become our ruler — this is our tradition.”
“But, Your Majesty…” After her words came out, the eighteen monarchs couldn’t help but become shocked. She was a wise and open-minded ruler who was always kind to her subjects. Up till this point, she had been adored and supported by the entire country, so if she had to resign under such a condition, then many loyal subjects as well as the eighteen monarchs would feel ashamed for having done her wrong.
This conversation might have seemed like a forced abdication, but the monarchs had no intent of doing so. However, if the only way to keep Li Qiye was for her to abdicate… How would the monarchs choose?
“For our Giant Bamboo’s grand plan, my abdication is acceptable.” Madam Zi Yan calmly spoke. She was indeed extraordinary and had a will that couldn’t be found in others.
“What if Young Noble Li does not wish to stay?” At this time, another monarch presented a different view.
This question caused the monarchs to glance at each other while contemplating. Even the madam pondered for a moment. It seemed that everything was just one-sided and wishfully thinking on their part so far; they still didn’t know if Li Qiye wanted to stay or not.
***
Time passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, five days had come and gone. Inside the Bamboo Garden beneath the giant bamboo, Li Qiye withdrew his true fate treasure, the rock from the Divine Dragon Mountain back in the Metal Realm of the Prime Ominous Grave. At this time, the stone itself had turned into Li Qiye’s fate treasure.
After undergoing continuous transformations, it had now turned into a grand seal. Li Qiye named his fate treasure “World Seal”! After some research, he had understood the mysticisms of his World Seal. 1
At this time, Li Qiye spent another four days to finally imprint another seal on the giant bamboo. He gently touched the bamboo, causing the green lights from it to flutter. It poured down a gentle light as if it was answering Li Qiye.
Li Qiye gently sighed. Although the bamboo didn’t have intelligence and couldn’t talk, to him, this type of exchange was more than enough. This green bamboo was taken from an Ominous Ground and was personally planted here by him. He gathered the Elegant Azure Grand Vein to this place where the bamboo took root.
Who could understand it better than him? They didn’t need words since this was more than enough.
After putting the World Seal away, Li Qiye finally turned around to look back at the little cabin in the far distance. That place carried too many peaceful memories. Eventually, he sighed once more and left the Bamboo Garden.
The moment he appeared outside, he immediately saw Madam Zi Yan and the eighteen monarchs. The truth was that they had been protecting this place for the last five days.
The group immediately stood up and all eyes fell upon Li Qiye. Suddenly, the atmosphere became unprecedentedly heavy.
At this moment, it was unclear to them whether Li Qiye was friend or foe. Perhaps under such a tense atmosphere, one wrong move would result in a fight.
“What is it? Do you wish to fight?” Li Qiye stared at the madam along with the monarchs. He was still at ease since he didn’t mind if they wanted to take action.
The monarchs couldn’t help but look at each other before shifting their gazes towards Madam Zi Yan. At the moment, they still wanted to listen to the madam’s orders.
She took a deep breath and eventually calmed her mind. A pair of eyes as smooth as flowing water fell upon Li Qiye as she slowly spoke: “Young Noble Li, we do not wish to do so, we only hope that Young Noble Li can stay and lead our Giant Bamboo Country. Young Noble has obtained the recognition of our bamboo deity — this has immense significance to our country.”
Li Qiye only chuckled after hearing Madam Zi Yan. He responded by casually throwing a bottle to her while lightly saying: “Take it.”
“This is…” Madam Zi Yan caught the bottle and was taken aback. She couldn’t help but look at Li Qiye since she didn’t know what was inside.
Li Qiye didn’t say anything and only stood there, smiling. Madam Zi Yan composed herself and quickly opened the bottle. The moment it was opened, a powerful aura rushed out. Aftering recognizing what was inside, she began to shudder uncontrollably. She lifted her head and looked at Li Qiye then emotionally asked: “Could this be… Is this the legendary Immortal Nectar of our country?”
“Immortal Nectar!” The eighteen monarchs were astonished as well. They all had to take deep breaths. Even their country had never seen this nectar before, but now it appeared in Li Qiye’s hands.
“This treasure is extremely hard to come by. It’s a gift from the giant bamboo tree to the country! Be frugal since this bottle can last for several generations.” Li Qiye said in a nonchalant manner.
In this instance, the group couldn’t help but look at each other in confusion. They became a bit silly since they didn’t expect Li Qiye to give them something so precious.
Although they had never seen it before, they knew that this was something even an Alchemy Emperor from the Alchemy Kingdom had tried to find. One could imagine just how precious and priceless it must be, and yet, Li Qiye had just casually thrown it to them as if it was not enough to reach the apex.
While the rest of the group was in a daze, Li Qiye stretched his fatigued back and slowly said: “I’m tired, help me prepare a place to rest.”
The others calmed down and didn’t dare to delay his request. Under Madam Zi Yan’s command, the most quiet and comfortable courtyard inside the imperial palace was prepared for Li Qiye.
For the next few days, Li Qiye stayed in this courtyard. Outside of cultivation, he began to control the World Seal.
To a cultivator who wanted to reach the peak, their fate treasure was absolutely indispensable because this treasure could unleash their true capabilities as well as their strongest battle power.
Many cultivators preferred to have stronger weapons. For example, nothing could be better than an Immortal Emperor True Treasure to them. However, for the ones with extraordinary ambition, this was not the case. Even if they had extremely powerful weapons such as Immortal Emperor True Treasures, at the end of the day, those still belonged to other people. This only created a sense of dependency and was not the correct path.
For tens of millions of years, those who eventually became Immortal Emperors ultimately relied on their own weapons to sweep through the Nine Worlds and obtain invincibility! It could be said that a qualified cultivator was one who could refine their own weapons so that they were capable of exerting their strongest fighting potential.
The type of cultivator who depended on someone else’s weapon would never be able to reach the apex.
1. I believe it is a print stamp; this has more significance in Chinese since the most important object for a dynasty is often the emperor’s seal.