The particles were beautiful indeed; the refinement process looked holy as well. However, remembering that they used to be beasts and humans made people shudder. 

After they dispersed away, people finally saw a lone survivor - Wu Ke.

He was pinned to the ground by the Sword of Repentance, unable to move an inch with his eyes wide open. 

He was still alive but his body could sense death already to his horror. Strands of sword lights have drilled into his body. This invasion didn’t instill pain. Moreover, the hole where the sword pierced him wasn’t bleeding either, not even a single drop could be seen.

His physical form consisted of light and darkness right now, not flesh. He could sense pieces of him turning into light particles - the same fate as those before him.

Moreover, his evil desires and darkness were being refined as well. The sensations remained but his body was a holy manifestation brimming with power.

Alas, he couldn’t become excited about this new power since death was coming soon enough.

“You’ve lost, looks like you’re not fated to have the sword.” Li Qiye smiled while looking at the youth.

“You, you can’t kill me… I am a member of Dawn and Divine Beast Legion. The empress and our legion will avenge me!” Wu Ke was scared out of his mind and bellowed.

“It’s useless to tell me this, speak to the sword. If it thinks you’re not evil, it will let you go.” Li Qiye shook his head.

“You, you can take it off.” Wu Ke was still shouting.

Everyone watched with bated breath, realizing just how incredible this sword was - truly desirable by all.

Just imagine, Li Qiye was just an ordinary student from Repentance. He didn’t even need to control the sword yet it could still exert enough power to kill powerful Ascenders. Now, what if its master could actually utilize its full potential?

“What an incredible power.” A sonorous voice came about. A real master has been attracted by the power of Repentance and started heading over.

This person’s imperial aura preceded him and engulfed the entire area, washing over the mountains and rivers.

The people nearby felt something smashing onto their chest and were nearly blown away. 

A figure finally landed. His presence heralded dao runes, turning the place into an ocean of dao.

He was an exceedingly young True Emperor. Imperial laws poured down from the sky like heavenly waterfalls.

“A True Emperor…” Everyone knew his cultivation level right away due to the various phenomena.

When looking into this youth’s eyes, one could see the venerable dao within - a stark contrast to his young age.

His figure shined like crystallized corundum and jade for he was not made out of flesh. It seemed quite tough too.

Numerous runes and symbols were engraved on his frame, perhaps engraved by the heaven itself at birth.

“Stonecarver True Emperor!” A spectator shouted.

“I heard Goldpython True Emperor is here too, so this shouldn’t be too surprising.” A student with a good information network said.

“Stonecarver True Emperor might not be on the same level as Holyfrost True Emperor, but he’s still the pride of our academy as an incredible genius.” A native of the academy proudly said.

All eyes were on him now. Though his aura stopped directly suppressing the crowd, many still had to look up to him in reverence. Some even had the urge to kneel.

He was a student of Sacred Bank Academy to the west, a native of the Academy of Light just like Holyfrost True Emperor. 

He came from the Celestial Stone Tribe. The members of this tribe were born half flesh and half stone. They had two potential paths as they cultivated, either to gain all flesh or all corundum.

Stonecarver True Emperor was born with ancient runes - an extremely ominous sign and a blessing from their progenitor.

Thus, even as a baby, he was instantly recruited by Sacred Bank. He didn’t waste his innate talents either, becoming a two-palace emperor at such a young age.

“Repentance.” He gazed at the sword, astonished.

A native such as him naturally understood the significance and the origin of this sword.

He turned towards Du Wenrui next. In his opinion after looking at the students here including Li Qiye, only the dean could actually bring the sword here.

“Dean Du.” The true emperor still showed respect to Du Wenrui because of the guy’s seniority.

“Don’t look at me, this isn’t my sword, it’s his.” Du Wenrui smiled and pointed at Li Qiye.

“Really? How strange.” The emperor looked over at Li Qiye and became surprised.

He was aware of the difficulties innate in taking this sword away from Repentance. Now, an unknown student managed to do so? 

“Your Majesty, save me!” Wu Ke was ecstatic to see this emperor and saw hope.

Stonecarver finally looked at Wu Ke and didn’t have any impression of him. Though Wu Ke was an Ascender, Stonecarver has seen plenty of True Gods. How could he remember this person?

“Your Majesty, I am Wu Ke of Divine Beast Legion. I was there during Her Majesty’s previous banquet.” Wu Ke hurriedly said.

“Ah, Brother Wu.” Stonecarver vaguely recalled this person.

“Please be benevolent and save me.” Wu Ke begged. Dignity and reputation didn’t matter when death was so close.

The emperor’s eyes narrowed. He looked over at Li Qiye and cupped his fist: “Fellow Student, it’s better to end a feud than start another one, you don’t have to kill him.”

Of course, Stonecarver didn’t care about Wu Ke himself but he didn’t mind doing a favor for the empress.

The spotlight fell on Li Qiye. It was very rare for Stonecarver emperor to ask someone for a favor in his own system. Ultimately, this emperor would owe Li Qiye if he were to agree to release Wu Ke. This could be a start of a beneficial relationship.