Imperial God Emperor (Web Novel)
chapter-776

"Goodness, at long last, you have finally hatched..." Ye Qingyu looked at the purple figure in the Phoenix nest with elation, then he became slightly dazed.

He could not detect any energy waves from the Celestial Phoenix Maiden at all. She was just like an ordinary human, a completely blank slate that closely resembled the primeval aura, and she gave off a faint orchid fragrance.

It was as though she had returned to her original state.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden's aura had returned to simplicity, just like an ordinary mortal. However, Ye Qingyu knew that she had definitely become many times more powerful than before, and had become even more terrifying. This was his gut feeling as an expert, and he could not be wrong.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden had become even more ethereal, more otherworldly and elegant than before.

At the top of the parasol tree.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden was surrounded by rainbow mist, which obscured her features. She put on her mask again and jumped down from the tree, coming to join him under the parasol tree.

"Let's go!"

She glanced at Ye Qingyu, then flew off and headed for the foot of the mountain without saying anything else.

Ye Qingyu immediately understood that the Celestial Phoenix Maiden must have already sensed or known about the murderous intent that filled Heaven and earth and knew the predicament they were in. There was no need for any further explanation.

They had to escape before the Door of Life slammed shut.

If they continued wasting time here, once the 18th district had completely transformed into a dangerous death zone, even a Quasi-emperor at the peak of the martial way could be instantly killed, let alone people like them.

Ye Qingyu trailed behind the Celestial Phoenix Maiden and followed her to the foot of the mountain.

He did not notice that a strange look had flashed through the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's eyes when she caught sight of his true features. It could have been surprise, amazement, or even a bit of relief.

It was just an instant before that look disappeared.

After all, she was a cold and clever female Heaven's prideling. She did not probe further into Ye Qingyu's change in looks and aura—in fact, she still had some awareness even as she underwent nirvana, so she had an idea of what had transpired during that time.

Ye Qingyu was in a hurry to leave, so he did not notice these details nor did he provide any explanations.

Their top priority was to escape this place alive.

They stood at the foot of the mountain.

All around them, the [Red Lotus Hellfire] raged wildly like ferocious creatures.

"We'll need to come up with a plan to break past the [Red Lotus Hellfire]. You should proceed with caution, the flames are terrifying..." Ye Qingyu said, warning the Celestial Phoenix Maiden to be careful, just in case she did not know how scary these flames could be.

However...

Her expression turned grave.

Under her mask, her red lips parted slightly as she faced the [Red Lotus Hellfire] and sucked in a huge mouthful.

The unbelievable happened.

Ye Qingyu watched dumbstruck as the raging hellfire turned into tiny wisps, as though a mysterious power had drawn them in, each as big as a clear spring, before they were sucked into the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's belly.

"Uh..."

Ye Qingyu stared at the Celestial Phoenix Maiden in astonishment.

He thought he must have been seeing things.

This woman's power was just too heaven-defying.

These flames were said to be able to burn all things, and yet this woman had eaten them up as if they were cotton candy. Was she not afraid that she would have diarrhea after this?

Three breaths passed.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden had sucked in more than half of the hellfire in the surrounding tens of kilometers.

Ye Qingyu had started to catch a few clues.

Now that the Four Stars holy girl was not around to control it, the [Red Lotus Hellfire] had lost its intense murderous spirit and spiritual qi consciousness. Although it was still scary, it was now like a creature without volition and it stopped consciously resisting. It was thus a lot easier to handle now.

"Hey... wait... wait... wait..." Ye Qingyu's eyes lit up as he suddenly thought of something and rushed to stop her.

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden stopped and turned to look at him, only to see Ye Qingyu waving at her.

The [Cloud Top Cauldron], which was slowly turning in the Void, then buzzed and vibrated. It recalled the yellow silk ribbons that dangled from it, then shrank into the size of a fist and appeared on his palm.

"Hehe... Since this [Red Lotus Hellfire] is so powerful... let me have half... Hehe..." His lips curved into a smile and he ignored the look of disdain that the Celestial Phoenix Maiden shot him. He muttered some ancient characters and the [Cloud Top Cauldron] started to turn once again.

The next moment.

Whatever remained of the ordinary [Red Lotus Hellfire] swarmed crazily toward it and transformed into a gigantic blood-colored funnel before it was absorbed by the [Cloud Top Cauldron].

Just as he expected, now that the Four Stars holy girl was not around to control it, the [Red Lotus Hellfire] had become like a poisonous serpent in hibernation. It had lost its attacking edge and was thus easily absorbed into his bronze cauldron.

The Four Stars holy girl had left the [Red Lotus Hellfire] behind to kill both of them. Never would she have thought that she had left them with a precious gift instead.

"Let's go!"

The Celestial Phoenix Maiden transformed into flowing light and hurried toward where they had come from.

Ye Qingyu activated a pair of yuan qi wings and followed closely behind her.

They traced their way back at maximum speed, covering a distance of ten kilometers with every step.

A while later.

As they flew past the grassy plains they had passed by earlier, Ye Qingyu looked over and was alarmed when he saw Black Demon qi surging all across the land. The demonic waves billowed and black clouds rolled, instantly blanketing half the land. The area that had been conquered by the demonic qi started to give off a terrifying aura.

This was probably what an apocalyptic murderous spirit would look like.

They moved at the speed of light, breezing through the Void and cutting the cloud layers open like a sharp sword. They moved as though they were about to tear the heavens open, the loud roaring noise overriding the surrounding rolls of thunder.

They were running for their lives and did not have the time to care about anything else.

As they passed by the grassy plains once again, Ye Qingyu looked down and discovered an extremely odd phenomenon.

"That is..."

His pupils shrank.

The grassy plains were once lush and green, but suddenly, blocks of things that looked like black bamboo started to emerge from the ground.

"These... are... tombstones!"

Upon closer inspection, Ye Qingyu immediately recognized this "black bamboo" that dotted the landscape. These were the black, wordless tombstones from the sea of tombstones. However, these black tombstones were not fully erected and were still half-buried in the ground. They looked like plants that had been reawakened and were slowly growing at their own pace, not reaching full maturity yet.

"How could this be? Why would tombstones appear here?" Ye Qingyu was shocked and he suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

They had to leave this place as soon as possible.

They frantically sped up and traveled at their maximum speed.

Ye Qingyu would look down periodically.

He discovered that the tombstones they had come across at the start at the mountain had only just revealed their arches. The tombstones grew taller the further they traveled. As they approached the mountain from where they had entered this universe, the tombstones on the ground were almost half-grown, revealing their original form.

Ye Qingyu could also sense that the aura of the ancient city of the fiendgod was exactly the same as the silent black tombstones in the sea of tombstones. All the tombstones that had grown from the pretty landscape below were giving off a chilly murderous spirit.

As they drew closer, he could sense an extremely scary power bursting forth from within, as though it was about to be swallowed by this murderous spirit.

Beside him, the Celestial Phoenix Maiden had also noticed the changes on the ground.

She did not reveal anything but as she used all her might to move even faster, rainbow-colored lights burst forth from her. They both sprinted across the Void at increasingly faster speeds—an average expert at the Immortal Step realm would probably not be able to see them with his naked eye.

Fifteen minutes later.

The exit area of the gigantic tombstone universe was already quickly approaching.

A terrifyingly powerful murderous spirit that was completely unlike the black tombstones surged beneath them.

Ye Qingyu looked down and saw a large grey-bronze divine temple below.

He remembered this grey-bronze divine temple because the Celestial Phoenix Maiden had warned him not to approach it when they had first passed by. There had been a giant palm print and a sword slash on it, which had left a deep impression on him.

Ye Qingyu gave the divine temple a second glance subconsciously. He then discovered other strange things.

"Hmm... That is..."

He caught sight of a chubby figure next to the divine temple. That chubby, blue, bald man had attracted his attention.

"Haha... It's Sheng Yan! I can't believe he is still alive."

Ye Qingyu recognized this person as the weird fatty that had entered the Door of Life together with him initially, but later, he did not know what had become of this person.

This was truly a pleasant surprise.

Although they were not close friends, Ye Qingyu had a pretty good impression of this fatty. He had been worried about this fatty earlier. After all, the appearance of the Celestial Phoenix Maiden and the others had become a major variable. Ye Qingyu had assumed that this bald fatty would not be able to survive past the murderous spirit of the 18th district or the guerilla attacks of the other experts, but unexpectedly, this fatty must have had nine lives, for he was still running around.

Ye Qingyu was secretly slightly pleased.

He slowed down, approached the divine temple, and inspected it closely.

He spotted that scaredy-cat fatty, Sheng Yan, running circles around the divine temple surreptitiously. He could not figure out what he was trying to do, but Sheng Yan looked very odd—his expression was grim but his eyes flashed with urgency.

He had a tattered licorice gourd in his hand and this gourd gave off the aura of a mysterious power that protected him within. This was how this fatty could run freely around the divine temple, which was filled with terrifying murderous spirit. Otherwise, he would have become a pool of blood.

"Stupid fatty! Time is running out, if we don't leave now, we'll lose our chance... Why are you not leaving?" Ye Qingyu paused in the Void and shouted out a warning.

Beside the divine temple.

Sheng Yan continued to rush forward, only pausing for a moment at Ye Qingyu's warning. He clearly recognized Ye Qingyu's voice but he did not look back. He carried the bottle gourd in his hands and walked around the grey-bronze divine temple. Nonetheless, he waved toward the exit, motioning for Ye Qingyu to ignore him and leave.