The lean, white figure was dressed in white and roughly forty years in age. His face was scraggy and had distinct edges, with a black, beautiful, and long beard dangling in front of his chest. He was holding a seven-bird feather fan as his black, long hair flowed down like a waterfall behind his back, giving off an otherworldly aura which was as carefree and elegant as that of an Immortal.

“Good day, Your Highness.” The lean middle-aged man saluted Ye Qingyu.

The latter nodded and offered an introduction to the crowd, saying, “This person is [The Beginning]. Before my return, he shall be responsible for all administrative matters that the Royal City is in charge of.”

Everyone was stupefied.

n.o.body had heard of someone like that before, and he was apparently little-known. However, the way he made his appearance earlier was extremely bizarre and enigmatic. There was no yuan qi fluctuation and only the flash of a splendor before he appeared. Unable to see through his mystery, everyone wondered if he had attained the highest martial realm. Moreover, he had obtained the deep trust and use of the new Emperor, and thus was probably of uncommon origin. Otherwise, such an unknown person could not possibly be on equal status as Sun Yi. The policy of giving Sun Yi the last say on military affairs and [The Beginning] the last say on internal affairs confirmed that these two men were of the highest status.

The other n.o.bles saluted and greeted [The Beginning].

Since he had been given an important position by the Immortal G.o.d Emperor, one could foresee that he would become an influential person in Royal City for a long time to come, deciding the fates of countless people and perhaps even the n.o.bles present. This was why the more quick-minded ones among them had already begun to offer goodwill to him.

He behaved politely and spoke softly as he saluted them back. He had quite the elegance of a refined scholar and a sharp spirit about him. Devoid of any yuan qi fluctuation and too deep to be fathomed, he gained a favorable impression from many people.

An arc formed at the corner of Ye Qingyu's mouth before he disappeared among the main hall.

The so-called [The Beginning] was naturally that cosmic-level optical brain, albeit not its true body but a robot doppelganger instead. Over the past half a year, the optical brain had created countless doppelgangers for itself, and was able to control and direct them as long as it was connected to the already-built optical brain sky net. Because it was exactly like a real person, formation martial experts who did not know its origin could not distinguish it from a real person. Moreover, Ye Qingyu also knew that this optical brain doppelganger possessed peerless battle strength, containing hundreds of the most terrifying weapons known to the earth civilization, and was able to battle against a peak Quasi-emperor. While it looked harmless on the surface, it was actually a vicious thing that had no trouble defending itself.

Having handed everything to [The Beginning], given the optical brain's computing capabilities and experiences of past civilizations, dealing with this situation was a piece of cake.

Ye Qingyu returned to the residence of the Military Judge of the Nine Swords, and, after setting up a few Emperor formations, he began to self-isolate and heal his injuries.

Until this day, his injuries from the battle against the Sky Emperor on the starry sky battlefield had not completely healed. In particular, the injuries he incurred from the Martial Emperor's true form had hurt his foundation, and thus the recovery was extremely slow. Over the past days, Ye Qingyu had been suppressing and concealing his foundational injuries. Now that the situation in Royal City had stabilized somewhat, he could take time out to cultivate and recover.

“It's a pity that, following the departure of the Sky Emperor, the entrance to Immortal Domain has been sealed. After all, Immortal Domain is in the Sky Emperor's grasp. Otherwise, if I can enter the environment of the Immortal Domain, my recovery will be much easier.”

Ye Qingyu sighed.

He did possess a few trump cards for treating his injuries, such as the [Deathlike Pills].

However, the [Deathlike Pills] were not true divine pills after all. While they may be effective for ordinary martial experts, their effect was next to nothing for a Martial Emperor like Ye Qingyu. He had thus brushed them aside, knowing that it would be a waste of s.p.a.ce to carry them along.

After a brief contemplation, he thought of an idea.

First, he took out the [Blood Drinker Sword] and held it in one hand, absorbing the power contained within it.

During the starry sky battle, the [Blood Drinker Sword] had drunk the extremely distilled blood of Martial Emperors, absorbing their vigor, blood qi, and foundation power. Aside from a portion that it expended during the battle, some of these still remained within the sword. As Ye Qingyu worked it up, a steady flow of purified energy was injected into his body.

The energy purified by the [Blood Drinker Sword] could not be any purer and more vigorous. After all, being converted from the Emperor qi of other Martial Emperors, it was extremely great help to the recovery of Ye Qingyu's Martial Emperor true form.

A day and night's time pa.s.sed.

The pure Emperor qi contained in the [Blood Drinker Sword] was fully injected into Ye Qingyu's body.

He began to circulate this force to heal his injuries.

The injuries of the Martial Emperor true form were embodied in Ye Qingyu's body as damage to the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] of the dantian world. At this time, the arms, shoulders, and waist of the true-self doppelganger, which was completely similar to Ye Qingyu in terms of size and appearance, contained horrific wounds. In particular, a wound at its waist nearly severed it into two. If the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] could not be healed in time, Dao injuries may be left behind, and might even lead to a fall in realm.

Ye Qingyu worked up the power from the [Blood Drinker Sword], using its front portion to treat the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger].

Like a bottomless vortex, the human-sized doppelganger frantically absorbed the pure Emperor qi. As time pa.s.sed, the horrific wound on its waist gradually disappeared.

By the time the power from the [Blood Drinker Sword] was fully depleted, only this wound was healed.

Evidently, the energy required to heal Ye Qingyu's injuries was way more than his initial estimations.

He did not know that this was because his martial mental state and Dao law comprehension had rapidly deepened following that Emperor battle despite his extremely heavy injuries. The most direct effect of this kind of change on the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] was that the doppelganger silently increased in level. Given this kind of change, healing the injuries of the doppelganger naturally required more energy.

“It looks like I still have to cut flesh and draw blood.”

Ye Qingyu had no choice but to summon the [Cloud Top Cauldron] again.

During the Immortal Domain cultivation process earlier, the [Cloud Top Cauldron] had absorbed a large amount of the spiritual qi, and more so the Immortal materials, in the Immortal Domain. Ye Qingyu was originally not prepared to tap on this power, taking it to be his final trump card when he needed it at the eleventh hour. However, he decided to use it up at this time.

After all, the best trump card was matchless power. As long as he had sufficient strength to crush any opponent, there was no need to use a trump card.

The [Cloud Top Cauldron] suspended above Ye Qingyu's head and shook gently, hanging down tens of millions of bright yellow silk streaks which resembled misty, chaotic tentacles. After entwining Ye Qingyu, they ran along his skin and permeated it to nourish his limbs and bones.

Ye Qingyu was somewhat surprised.

The effect of the [Cloud Top Cauldron] was much stronger than that of the [Blood Drinker Sword].

At this time, the power that the cauldron drew from the Immortal Domain seeped into his skin bit by bit through these bright-yellow silk streaks, as if moistening him silently. This was different from the [Blood Drinker Sword's] injection of power into Ye Qingyu's body like the surging of the Yangtze River. Comparatively speaking, the effect of the cauldron was more astonis.h.i.+ng.

After seeping into Ye Qingyu's skin and nouris.h.i.+ng his body, the Immortal Domain power did not enter the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] directly. To Ye Qingyu's surprise, he discovered that, as his body was getting nourished, the [Yuan Qi True-Self Doppelganger] also displayed strange changes, becoming dazzling and giving off a divine splendor. Moreover, the injuries on its arms and shoulders disappeared little by little.

The [Blood Drinker Sword] is already my life Emperor weapon, yet the power of the [Cloud Top Cauldron] remains above it. Where exactly did this cauldron come from? This is a little frightening, Ye Qingyu thought to himself.

Time went by.

Ten days and ten nights pa.s.sed in a twinkling.

Because the power seeped into his skin bit by bit, the time needed to absorb it was longer.

Ye Qingyu gradually felt his body becoming saturated, like a balloon that was nearly pumped to its limits. Every cell throughout his body was filled with vigorous energy. However, the [Cloud Top Cauldron] shook gently and rotated lightly, continuing to hang those bright yellow silk streaks down and causing power to seep into Ye Qingyu's body endlessly.

“This won't do. If this continues, I'll explode...”

Surprised, Ye Qingyu wondered exactly how much energy the [Cloud Top Cauldron] absorbed in the Immortal Domain, such that it could cause a Martial Emperor like him to be unable to bear for much longer.

By this time, the injuries in his body had completely healed.

Ye Qingyu felt full of energy, while the doppelganger was sparkling and never in better shape.

However, just as he was about to end the recovery, the branches and leaves of the World Tree that occupied the central island of his dantian world suddenly quivered slightly and made a joyful rustling noise. At the same time, a strange vortex force was felt from the crown of the tree. It had actually begun to absorb the Immortal Domain power in Ye Qingyu's body on its own accord.

This change was not what Ye Qingyu had expected.

Ever since the World Tree entered his body, it had fed Ye Qingyu on several occasions, and was a key reason why Ye Qingyu could become Emperor during a critical moment. As described by that nameless Quasi-emperor, it had never absorbed energy from Ye Qingyu's body before. However, this time was an exception, causing Ye Qingyu to feel greatly shocked at once. It must be known that World Tree could absorb the power of a Martial Emperor to grow. Could it be that, this time, it...

However, the very next instant, he felt a strand of thought coming from the World Tree. Amid its joy was a hint of intimacy and absolutely no malice.

At the same time, strange changes appeared.

Every wisp of Immortal Domain power absorbed by the World Tree led to the falling of a jade-green leaf.

The leaves fluttered in the void of the dantian world, rising and falling in the air above the yuan qi ocean. When they finally landed, they turned into a boundless green on the surface of the water, forming a green island on which verdant vegetation grew and which instantly became full of vigor. Like the creation of nature, all kinds of rare divine and Immortal herb began to grow on the island.

“This...” Ye Qingyu's eyes could not help widening as he looked inward.

In a twinkling, three or four leaves had drifted in the air above the yuan qi ocean before landing on the water surface and forming green islands of various shapes and sizes. The islands instantly became full of vigor, with all kinds of plants, many of which had been extinct divine things in this world, frenziedly growing on them.