The Qilin Empress was one of the most powerful people on the planet. She was also one of the four sovereigns in the Primordial World.
She wanted Jiang Yi to submit to her?
If other people had been in Jiang Yi’s place, they would have knelt down and kowtowed to the Qilin Empress a long time ago. After all, to be favored by the Qilin Empress was such a privilege. Other King-Ranked martial artists may not even have been qualified to meet the Qilin Empress personally. As much as they wanted to show her their loyalty, it might be very difficult.
Jiang Yi’s expression became awful!
If the Qilin Empress had spoken to him nicely and tried to politely persuade him to submit to her, perhaps he would have considered. After all, to be on the same side as the Qilin Empress would mean that he had someone to rely on. With this person to rely on, not only would he be comfortable in the Heaven Domain, but he would also have nothing at all to worry about in the Earth Domain. Nobody would dare to provoke him again, and he would be able to pass time as he wished—in peace.
Yet…
The Qilin Empress’s tone disgusted Jiang Yi immediately. Submit or die? This sounded like something a champion would say to someone he or she just defeated. It seemed almost like the Qilin Empress wanted to force Jiang Yi to bow down to her.
Jiang Yi had used this method to take a few soul slaves for himself before. Formidable martial artists had their own pride as did he. What’s more, he was more stubborn and strong-headed than most people he knew. Thus, his expression became awful.
In his heart, he did not think about whether he had a choice or not, but why the Qilin Empress was acting this way towards him. It was very easy for the Qilin Empress to obtain information about him. Jiang Yi guessed that she would be able to dig up every detail about him with just a single command.
Favor talent?
This was not the way one showed how much they treasured talents. The Qilin Empress was not lacking in subordinates like Jiang Yi. Since that was the case, there was no other good reason that the Qilin Empress could have to treat Jiang Yi this way.
Could she be treating Jiang Yi this way because of the Fire Dragon Sword and the mysterious elder within? The Fire Dragon Sword was a real Heavenly Thearch Divine Weapon. Was that why she wanted to force Jiang Yi to become her soul slave? Did she think that this was the only way she would be able to obtain the Fire Dragon Sword? Did she think that this was the only way she would be able to learn the Nameless Divine Art?
After pondering for a while, Jiang Yi remained confused. He averted his gaze and bowed, saying, “Qilin Empress, my choice is… the latter. Qilin Empress, please kill me.”
“I’ll grant you your wish, then.”
The Qilin Empress’s voice echoed throughout the surroundings before ripples appeared in the water once again, and a pillar of water shot out of the stream. The water pillar congealed into a huge bird, which was not considered extraordinary in size. Its aura was comparable to a thousand-year-old Chaos Beasts. What’s more, it looked extremely aggressive and terrifying.
After the huge bird was congealed, Jiang Yi immediately felt pressured into kneeling down. As the huge bird called out and before it even got near to Jiang Yi, Jiang Yi felt all the bones in his body threatening to break under the pressure. His internal organs were injured. Even though he was donned in Dao Heaven Spiritual Treasure as his battle armor, he felt like the treasure was absolutely useless.
“Horrifying!”
Although he had seen King-Ranked martial artists attack before, and the tree branch had really been frightening, Jiang Yi was truly shocked this time. His mind was completely blank. In fact, he closed his eyes and waited to die.
Swish!
The huge bird formed with the water charged at him as a terrifying aura enveloped Jiang Yi and pressed him down to the ground. The bird was moving too quickly. In a second, it struck him. A clear aura could be felt from the deepest recesses of his soul spirit: the aura of death.
However, even in the second before he died, he gritted his teeth and straightened his back, making sure not to make a single sound. He did not even beg for mercy or choose to submit to the Qilin Empress.
Boom!
The huge bird struck Jiang Yi harshly, causing Jiang Yi to immediately feel like every bone in his body had been crushed to pieces. Even his skull was fractured. His soul spirit was beginning to fall apart. In fact, so much pain was searing through his body that he could not scream even if he wanted to. Slowly, his vision became darker. Soon, he fell onto the ground, motionless.
Crash!
The huge bird collapsed, becoming water droplets and drenching Jiang Yi completely.
Then, something mysterious happened.
The water droplets seeped into the Heavenly Wind Armor and entered into Jiang Yi’s body. The wounds on and in his body began healing at a visible speed. His broken-down soul spirit was fixed as well. What’s more, his body and soul were both becoming stronger by the second. At the very least, they were twice as strong as they were before he got injured.
Jiang Yi passed out and remained motionless, not knowing what exactly had happened. The Qilin Empress made no moves as well. She waited for four full hours before Jiang Yi regained consciousness.
“How comfortable…”
When Jiang Yi regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was comfort. His entire body felt warm as if he were lying down under the sun on a cold, winter day. He thought he was dreaming. He blinked several times and then went back to sleep.
“En?”
Soon after, he jolted awake again, widening his eyes. His divine senses shot out and scanned his surroundings before looking inward at his own body and soul. His expression turned ghastly as if he had just seen a ghost. Then, he bounced up and looked into the pond, stuttering, “This… this…”
“Congratulations!”
There were no more ripples in the pond. The Qilin Empress’s voice transmitted outwards: “Jiang Yi, you successfully passed my test. From now on, you will be allowed to pursue Nongying. Whether you can win over her heart or not will depend on your abilities. Of course… your chances of succeeding are quite high.
“There are countless talents in the Heaven Domain, and there are as many handsome men as there are fish in the sea. However, you are the first one whom she has brought back to the Qilin Empress City. This shows her liking towards you.”
“Uh?”
Jiang Yi was shocked. He did not expect this to be a test. What’s more, the test was aimed at helping He Nongying find a partner? Jiang Yi could not help but burst into laughter. This Qilin Empress was too insane. She took his life and death as a test. He really thought that he had died just then.
He had no intention to woo He Nongying. At the same time, he did not think she harbored any intentions towards him as well. The Qilin Empress was gravely mistaken. She thought that He Nongying had brought him home because she liked him. This was why she decided to personally test him.
Here he was, thinking that the Qilin Empress wanted to steal his Fire Dragon Sword.
Jiang Yi was not in the position to get angry at a time like this. After all, even though the Qilin Empress had caused him to ‘die’ once, she had also rewarded him for it. In such a short time, his body and soul had become twice as strong as before. He did not even know how the Qilin Empress managed to achieve this.
Jiang Yi plucked up some courage and cupped his hands, saying, “Qilin Empress, if there’s nothing else, I will take my leave.”
“Keke!”
Jiang Yi was such a character. Not only did the Qilin Empress not take offense, but she even started laughing. She said: “Let’s talk about something serious. Jiang Yi, did Qing Ling tell you when she will be returning to the Heaven Domain?”
“Qing Ling?”
Jiang Yi was astonished. He asked, “Who is Qing Ling?”
“Who else can it be?” The Qilin Empress explained, “Who else but that old, undying divine tree that has been in the Purgatory Mystic Realm for thousands of years…?”
“The divine tree?”
A realization dawned on Jiang Yi all of a sudden. Her name was Qing Ling? The Qilin Empress actually knew of her existence? However, on further thought, there were only so many Thearch-Ranked martial artists in this world. It was no surprise that the Qilin Empress knew about the divine tree.
Jiang Yi cupped his hands and said, “Reporting to the Qilin Empress: although I stayed under the divine tree for a while, that lord did not talk to me at all. Later, she saved me twice. However, when I returned to the Purgatory Mystic Realm to thank her, she was gone. I don’t know whether she’s still there.”
“She must still be there. Hehe, she was scared out of her wits by the Netherworld Thearch. She doesn’t dare to return to the Heaven Domain anymore.”
The Qilin Empress’s tone turned cold as she said: “If you can go back there, look for her for me and tell her something: when a bird’s nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. Ask her to come back out.”
“Yes!”
Jiang Yi nodded. The Qilin Empress then sent another voice transmission to him: “Go on your way. I will give you one last piece of advice. If you want to win over Nongying’s heart, you should not remain in the Lin Region. Go and join another army and fight the Netherworld Race! Once you become a Great General Lord of that army, Nongying will surely fall for you. Of course… you must be able to survive. If you cannot even handle the Dao Clan, you won’t be fit to marry my Little Nongying.”
“Jiang Yi will remember this.”
Jiang Yi laughed mirthlessly, before bowing expressionlessly. Then, he teleported into the distance.
The Qilin Empress did not give Jiang Yi the impression that she reigned as a sovereign in any way. Instead, she felt a bit like an elderly lady, fearing that her own granddaughter would not be able to marry. She seemed quite desperate to sell her off.
Buzz!
After Jiang Yi teleported away, ripples appeared in the pond once again. The Qilin Empress’s beautiful face congealed once more as she looked in the direction of the Teleportation Formation. She sighed and mumbled to herself, “This Jiang Yi is really not a bad furnace. The only downside is that his cultivation level is quite low. Little Nongying is too kind. If she doesn’t find a furnace soon, she will surely explode and die. Should I force Jiang Yi to stay behind and consummate with her?”
