"How ignorant," the Sky Emperor said icily.

He clapped his hands together in front of his chest and pulled them apart.

A dark blue [Ghostly Blade] appeared as his hands moved apart. It was shaped like a saber used for beheading. It was thick and was circled by nine rings of fire. The mouth of the saber was thin and sharp with Taotie markings; the saber handle was shaped like the tail of a flood dragon and blue ghostly fire circled around the entire saber. It exuded a frightening power of death and spilled over to the surrounding area as it merged perfectly with the blue ghostly souls of the universe.

This was his ghostly Emperor weapon.

This weapon didn't use to look that way. It used to be known as the [Heavenly Slash Blade], and this was his personal Emperor weapon when he had been a follower of the Divine Light Emperor. Later, when he changed his cultivation way, he also crafted a new personal weapon, and this weapon was the [Ghostly Blade]. Ye Qingyu had shown such strength earlier that despite his contemptuous words earlier, he did not dare to actually underestimate him. He had officially acknowledged that Ye Qingyu was a worthy opponent by summoning the [Ghostly Blade].

The [Ghostly Blade] arced through the void and gathered the energy from the world of death to form a luminous arc and charged out horizontally.

Boom!

This was the first clash of supreme forces on the stone steps of the Light Palace.

Two sword wills, one which contained the living force of the people, and the other, the deathly force of ghosts, clashed together with a loud bang.

When these two completely different forces that were as different as fire and ice clashed together, they produced a strange reaction and a frightening aura that even caused both Ye Qingyu and the Sky Emperor to s.h.i.+ver in fear.

Ye Qingyu exerted the life force from the World Tree that then surrounded him and also exerted the [Limitless Divine Way]. This caused his aura and force to skyrocket rapidly. His [Blood Drinker Sword] that had drunk its fill of Emperor qi and blood qi from the Martial Emperors of the Dark Realm hummed loudly. His body suddenly expanded and he a.s.sumed his true form of a Martial Emperor; he looked like an ancient sword G.o.d who stood tall in the torrent of s.p.a.ce and time, with the power to destroy all enemies, past and present alike, and his aura was extremely close to the Sky Emperor's.

"Hahaha, great. You've now proven yourself a worthy opponent, and also worthy of dying by my [Ghostly Blade]," the Sky Emperor said with a chuckle. His soul also expanded rapidly, just like Ye Qingyu had done earlier, and the true form of his soul appeared. He was also from the Human Race and looked exactly like Lan Tian. The [Ghostly Blade] he held in his hand released thin rays of dark blue light that delved into the void and seemed to pull something out of it before returning to the blade. Ye Qingyu clearly sensed that the thing it had pulled from the void was death qi.

The [Blood Drinker Sword] had absorbed the energies from the blood essence of the Martial Emperors who he had killed earlier, but the Sky Emperor's [Ghostly Blade] had absorbed all the despair, resentment, anger, sorrow, and death qi that these Martial Emperors had left behind during their final moments. These negative energies and ripples were all absorbed by the [Ghostly Blade]. Then, its dark blue ghostly fire burned even brighter.

"The [Ghostly Blade] absorbs and draws its power from death energy," Ye Qingyu thought.

He had already formed a vague idea of the martial way that the Sky Emperor had chosen to cultivate.

The next instant, a battle broke out once more.

The stone steps of the Light Palace could no longer handle the presence of the true forms of two Martial Emperors.

The two figures quickly went to the torrent of s.p.a.ce and time, and their swords flashed as the battle intensified.

The torrent of s.p.a.ce and time that had the power to destroy countless lifeforms did not affect them at all.

Boom!

The Dao sounds generated as blade and sword clashed repeatedly caused huge ripples across the torrent.

Yu Xiaoxing and the others watched the battle anxiously from a crack in the main gate behind the defensive formation of the Light Palace. Wen Wan, Ximen Yeshui, Gao Diping, and the others were extremely nervous but at the same time, they were astounded by Ye Qingyu's surge in strength. They had wanted to go out and help him when they saw the Martial Emperors of the Dark Realm ascending to their true cultivation earlier, but when they saw how effortlessly Ye Qingyu had killed those Martial Emperors who were at their prime, they finally relaxed. However, when he came up against an ancient majestic presence such as the Sky Emperor, they became extremely anxious once again. The more they understood how terrifying the Sky Emperor could be, the more anxious they became.

Empress Shui Xiu was also watching that peerless battle in the torrent of s.p.a.ce and time.

She had always locked herself in self-isolation, cultivated, and relied on the methods, techniques, and resources left behind by the ancestors of the Seven Fingers Race, so she had cultivated in solitude and confinement. She had become an Empress because of that wisp of luck to become Emperor, and because she was ill-informed, she did not know much about Ye Qingyu's latest feats and had a.s.sumed that she was as powerful as he had been when they last met. As she watched the battle, she finally realized that she had not even caught up to her benefactor, and in fact, the gap in their strengths had only gotten wider.

"That's true. After all, he's an incredibly outstanding man of this world..." Empress Shui Xiu mused to herself.

She was quickly captivated by the peerless match unfolding in front of her. As a Martial Empress, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Gao Diping, Wen Wan, and the others were quickly immersed in the profound and Heavenly Dao mysteries that could be seen from the battle in the distance.

Rumble!

Dao sounds constantly rang out.

Clicking noises could be heard from the [Blood Drinker Sword] in Ye Qingyu's hand and a sea of blood exploded from it, spreading to areas within a thousand-kilometer radius and completely blocking out the torrent of time and s.p.a.ce. His power was almost boundless and limitless in this sphere. This was the sword sphere; it was a strange phenomenon that occurred when the power of his [Blood Drinker Sword] was at its peak. This sphere would have been even more terrifying under normal circ.u.mstances. Not only did the [Life Sword] sword will explode from his sword each time he slashed out, but it also stirred up the power from the sea of blood. It was as though he could destroy planets, galaxies, countless lifeforms and the universe with a single thought.

The [Ghostly Blade] seemed to produce almost the same effect as the [Blood Drinker Sword]. He also opened up a ghostly death sphere and his dark blue body was like a G.o.d who had the power to command death.

This battle was no longer a battle between sword and blade; it was a clash of the power of spheres, and a clash of the highest form of Emperor qi.

The battle lasted an entire day and night.

The power they released was so powerful that it produced a huge vacuum with a radius of several million-kilometers in the chaotic torrent of time and s.p.a.ce.

"We won't be able to determine the victor if we continue battling in this manner," Ye Qingyu tried to think of a way to kill his enemy.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The [Cloud Top Cauldron] spun out.

"Kill!"

The sounds of slaughter and killing that seemed to come from an ancient past rang out from the painting on the walls of the [Cloud Top Cauldron]. Then, dozens of ancient ancestors charged out from the painting and formed a mysterious formation. They either raised the stones in their hands high, or held their stone spears tightly, or raised their torches high, or led a saber toothed tiger, a salamander, and other ancient fantastical creatures as they charged toward the Sky Emperor.

"What is that?" the Sky Emperor was slightly taken aback.

The [Cloud Top Cauldron] did not appear during the battle in s.p.a.ce because it was guarding Song Xiaojun and the Celestial Phoenix Maiden, so the Sky Emperor was not aware of its combat abilities.

He waved his [Ghostly Blade] and slashed at the stone spear that flew toward him.

Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew all over.

The [Ghostly Blade] did not manage to break the stone arrow apart as he had imagined it to. It merely left a mark on the stone spear and sent the ancient ancestor who held this spear flying.

"How could these things be so powerful?" the Sky Emperor became even more surprised.

A ball of fire and a huge rock came hurtling at him before he could even react.

"Break... them open!" the Sky Emperor yelled and held his blade with both hands. Then, ghostly fire lit up the blade like an evil dragon and exploded from the blade.

Clang!

Boom!

The ball of fire was slashed apart, and the huge rock was almost carved into half and was sent flying.

"Roar!" A fiery ancient salamander came toward him and its mouth opened wide as it attempted to bite off the Sky Emperor's head.

At the same time, a saber toothed tiger slowly prowled toward him, its eyes gleaming with killing intent as it marked its prey. Its front legs bent slightly before it suddenly transformed into a ray of flowing light and pounced at him.

"Humph, how could a bunch of barbaric people who lack intellect even dream of hunting me down?" the Sky Emperor yelled angrily.

He had already noticed that the formation that these ancient ancestors displayed earlier was clearly the formation used by ancient tribes when they went hunting, and he was the prey that they had surrounded. During the early days when the universe was formed, these ancient ancestors were matchless in might and were even as strong as primitive lifeforms. The hunting formation that had been refined over the pa.s.sage of time was the basis for all battle formations and military formations later in the future. Even the killing formations used by the various battle divisions of the Divine Light Court had been an evolution of this primitive hunting formation.

The Sky Emperor was trapped in this formation. Individually, none of these ancient ancestors was a match for the Sky Emperor, but they worked together in such unison that the Sky Emperor found to his surprise that he was not able to escape from the formation after several attempts.

"With this blade, I will crush the reincarnation cycle and everything under the sky will be under my command... [Reincarnation Slash]!" the Sky Emperor yelled.

He sucked the death sphere from the [Ghostly Blade] and the ghostly flames on the blade into his mouth, like a whale gulping water. The chest and belly of his true form suddenly expanded. Then, he opened his mouth with a loud yell and a matchless saber radiance shot out from his mouth.

Rumble!

The saber radiance instantly slashed the ancient salamander and saber toothed tiger in two.

It did not lose any momentum as it continued on its destructive spree. It destroyed a torch held by an ancient ancestor, and slashed an ancient ancestor and his stone spear in two.

"Retreat!" Ye Qingyu was taken aback and immediately exerted the technique to recall all these ancient ancestors to the painting on the [Cloud Top Cauldron]. When he took another look at the [Cloud Top Cauldron], he saw that the saber toothed tiger and the salamander had been slashed into pieces, the ancestor who held the stone spear was seriously injured, his stone spear broken, the fire on the ancient ancestor's torch had been put out... and many knife slashes had appeared on the painting.

The [Cloud Top Cauldron] was damaged.

Ye Qingyu was extremely upset.

He had not expected this to happen at all.

Since he came into possession of this [Cloud Top Cauldron], this cauldron seemed like it could do anything, and the Sky Emperor was the first person who had managed to damage it.

However, there was a ripple of consciousness from within the [Cloud Top Cauldron], and after Ye Qingyu sensed and comprehended the message, he took another close look at the cauldron; he realized that bright yellow mysterious mist circulated around the damaged painting on the walls of the cauldron that seemed to be repairing everything. The damaged portions of the painting seemed to heal at a visible pace. He finally relaxed when he saw that this damage was not permanent, but it would take some time before it would revert to normal.

The Sky Emperor took some time to adjust his breathing. Evidently, the [Reincarnation Slash] had exhausted his origin power.

However, his aura surged once again after several breaths.

"You're not the only person who can summon soldiers to fight for you... [Ghostly Gates], open!" the Sky Emperor said with a cold smile as his [Ghostly Blade] carved out an ancient spectral gate in the void.

The doors opened and countless dead creatures charged out from within.