Meanwhile, everyone outside Fire Domain waited for Li Qiye, curious about the content inside the inferno.

“He’s out, I see him!” An excited spectator shouted.

All eyes were on Li Qiye who had just left the inferno. They carefully looked at him from top to bottom but didn’t notice anything special. His expression - a stoic look - didn’t divulge any hint either.

“What did he see and get in there?” One wondered. The harvest in that inferno should manifest in some emotions.

“What was in there?!” Someone finally shouted at him.

After all, even Skylight Dao Lord wanted to go in. There must be a rare and precious artifact within that inferno.

However, Li Qiye ignored them and continued heading towards the peak with the dao portal.

“Shit, this is so unfair. He already got the treasure in the inferno and now he wants that imperial treasury too? What about us?” Jealousy permeated the crowd.

In their mind, the imperial treasury should far exceed the content of the inferno. Now, Li Qiye was being too greedy, or so they thought. 

“The legacy of the phoenix is all his, that’s already an incredible fortune. If he can get the treasury all for himself too, nothing can top that.” One ancestor said with envy.

Just think about it, Yin Yang Gate and the other two countries wanted to share the treasury. This was already enviable enough. Li Qiye, on the other hand, was going to monopolize the entire thing.

“I wish someone would rob him after.” Someone couldn’t help but say.

Hearts started beating faster because the thin paper had been penetrated. Everyone had this thought; they just didn’t want to express it. They exchanged glances, overwhelmed with greed.

Fire Domain was one thing but if Li Qiye were to leave… The majority of the crowd had their own nefarious plans right now.

“Buzz.” Li Qiye made it up the peak and disappeared into the portal.

“Damn that bloodline.” Someone gritted their teeth and said. They also wanted to come into the domain for that treasury but this was impossible.

By this point, many experts and ancestors had quietly left the scene. The ones left behind eventually realized the thinning crowd.

“They all left? Don’t want to take a look at all?” One clueless spectator said.

“What’s the point?” A friend glared at him and signaled for them to leave.

It didn’t take long before only around ten percent of the mass still lingered behind.

“Why are they leaving?” The innocent Shi Wawa asked curiously.

“Because this is Fire Domain.” Pearlstone Saintess naturally understood the reason why.

Li Qiye was the king here because he could control the domain’s power due to his bloodline. Thus, trying to rob him here was suicidal.

The best example was the coalition army earlier. No one wanted to repeat this mistake.

They left early in order to come up with plans to ambush him in a different location. It would be extremely easy without the power of the phoenix aiding him.

“Idiots.” She murmured and shook her head.

Those scheming against Li Qiye was as dumb as can be. Their death would not be pretty.

***

The area through the portal wasn’t a treasury. No golden and silver mountains, no supreme imperial weapons and merit laws either.

Li Qiye saw a vast land with an ancestral vein brimming with life force. This place seemed to be the source of life in the north.

It’s just people didn’t know about the story and secret behind the dao portal. It has been too long; very few were privy to this fact.

He crossed the vein to enter a secret location. His pace seemed relaxed. 

However, when he got there, he found that nothing existed in this place.

“Drystone Courtyard.” He said with a hushed tone.

He was back in an old place, one of the most dangerous areas in the nine worlds - Drystone.

Alas, the only thing left was a bottomless abyss. It seemed as if the entire courtyard had fallen down and became swallowed.

Even back in the Nine Worlds Epoch, only a selected few knew about its existence. Thus, its disappearance might not be known by others.

Li Qiye focused his gaze towards the bottom of the abyss. Upon closer inspection, he found that the abyss wasn’t caused by the ground collapsing.

Something had drilled down there and dragged the entire courtyard down this hole. This was an unlikely guess.

Remember, as one of the twelve burial grounds, this place was immensely dangerous. Even Immortal Emperors couldn’t take it down; the villainous heaven itself turned a blind eye.

Now, some unknown force had dragged it away. Was there someone capable of doing this? No, absolutely not!

Alas, this was indeed the case. This abyss seemed to be leading to hell itself. No one could ever explain this event, not even Li Qiye.

“How strange, this isn’t your style. What happened?” Li Qiye murmured while looking at the sky.

No one answered him; perhaps no one had the answer. Only the villainous heaven knew what happened here.

Li Qiye became silent because this was unprecedented. Such a thing never occurred even in the legends or any older epoch. Otherwise, the lords of the burial grounds wouldn’t have lasted so long.

He eventually crouched down and touched the abyss’ fringe; his brows slightly furrowed.

Though millions of years have passed, he still sensed a few things. He decided to jump down the abyss without any hesitation, disappearing from sight.