Everyone focused on Li Qiye, just waiting for him to pass on his throne to Eight Formation True Emperor.

“Nine secrets…” Li Qiye smiled while sitting on his throne and resting his legs on the table, seemingly not in a hurry at all.

“Is he buying time?” Someone murmured after seeing him just sitting there.

“It’s useless since he can’t delay for a lifetime. Not to mention taking out all nine, if he can’t comprehend them, he’ll have to abdicate.” A senior shook his head.

The two old men next to Hanyu didn’t miss a single move. In their mind, his attempt was utterly futile so they waited for the inevitable announcement. If he dared to renege, they would attack without holding back.

Unfortunately for the waiting spectators, the guy continued to stare towards the horizon with a grin on his face.

“Hurry up and try to comprehend the nine words already, so that we can broaden our horizons.” One spectator in the distance couldn’t help but shout.

“That’s right, learn them now. We haven’t seen anyone capable of this until you.” The crowd loudly chimed in.

The humiliated geniuses back in the stone forest were even more boisterous: “Don’t play the hero if you can’t do it, just announce your abdication. Who doesn’t already know that you’re a useless and idiotic king? No need to waste time.”

They didn’t want to miss the chance of kicking the man when he’s down as payback for the previous humiliation. Although they couldn’t personally dish it out, this was still a rare chance to vent.

Li Qiye didn’t care about the taunts and sarcasm, evident by the persisting smile on his face.

“How long until you start?” Bingchi Hanyu finally spoke.

Of course, she wasn’t in a hurry because victory was already within her grasp. The only thing she needed to do was prevent him from reneging.

He asked with a question instead: “You’re trying so hard to give him an advantage, do you think he would risk his life to save you once you’ve become my prisoner?”

“Such a thing will never happen.” She strongly responded.

“Don’t be so sure now. I’m about to learn the nine words and your fate will be up to my whims.” He smiled.

“You can say this again after learning the nine words.” She snorted.

“I suddenly have another interesting thought.” He grinned: “Tell me, after I make you my slave and train you, do you think your fiance will still marry you, someone who had been a slave?”

Hanyu’s expression was shrouded by coldness from annoyance.

“Watch your words!” One of the two old men shouted again, eyes brimming with murderous intent.

He rubbed his chin and kept on speaking: “I suddenly feel that there are still fun things to do in this world? Maybe I should spare Eight Formation True Emperor and we’ll see if he can ever escape from my shadow?”

The crowd glanced at each other, thinking about something else. Whether the king was a piece of trash was still up for debate, but one thing was for certain - the fact that he was a perverted  . Only someone with these characteristics would have such a crazy thought.

The saber saint’s eyes narrowed, becoming a bit skeptical after hearing the insanity of it all. Could a useless king come up with such a bold idea?

Jianyao felt a jolt of fear out of nowhere, thinking that this king was a terrorizing existence, a dark hand behind the curtains controlling everything.

“Hurry up now.” Hanyu uttered: “Buying time is useless, just give up and pass your throne to Eight Formation True Emperor.”

“Stop wasting people’s time! A king like you only brings trouble to the people!” Someone else shouted.

“A piece of trash like you can only figure out the nine words in your dream! Even a True Emperor can’t do so, so who do you think you are, clown!” More and more people started to protest, especially those who have kneeled before Li Qiye before.

Li Qiye’s eyes became serious but the smile was still there: “Just the nine words, can’t reach the apex. Watch how easy it is.”

With that, he casually raised his right hand.

Everyone suddenly felt as if the land of Nine-linked Mountains was being torn apart. The place itself was a massive primal beast but with a wave of his hand, its fur and skin were flayed in entirety.

People thought that the ground felt soft and light, on the verge of collapsing at any moment despite being solid.

A small maelstrom took form in his right palm. With quiet buzzes, the space in this place flapped like a cicada’s wings. In this blink of an eye, needle-like strands of lights drilled out of the dao land. Each was around a meter long with a brilliant, golden glow. As they slowly floated to the air, the entire mountain range became an ocean of light. 

These golden needles spanned as far as the eye can see. If they were to fall down, the sect would turn into a sieve.

Everyone became slack-jawed since they didn’t know what was going on. Jianyao turned pale and couldn’t believe her own wide eyes from astonishment.

The saber saint had no knowledge of this either but he could tell that the profundities within were beyond his comprehension.

Keep in mind that he had trained in numerous merit laws but he couldn’t tell anything from the countless strands of light.

Hanyu was also unaware but she felt something ominous in this instant as if her fate was no longer her own. Someone else had grasped it and she was powerless to stop them.

Hexiang put on a serious expression and gripped his golden spear tightly, eyes flashing with murderous intent.

Deeper in the mountain range, the woodcutter was also watching, his brows slightly furrowed. He couldn’t do anything but sigh: “For millions and millions of years, so many try for a lifetime only to fail, but for a few existences, it comes so easily. The cultivators and gods are mere insects before a real overlord.”

He continued smoking his pipe without taking action for he knew just how terrifying Li Qiye was. Even his soulbound artifact was taken so easily. The guy must be, at the very least, a progenitor - not someone he could handle at all.