It would be easy to a.s.sociate the Divine Light Emperor with the Light Palace.

Since the Light Palace was part of the Snow Empire of the Heaven Wasteland Domain, did this mean that there was a relations.h.i.+p between the two?

Or was this merely a coincidence?

There were several mysterious experts who appeared during the battle at the Light Palace back then, including the five divine generals, the experts from the shadows, Wen Wan and the others, and that peerless expert who looked suspiciously like his own father. Could all these people be related to the Divine Light Emperor in some way?

Countless questions whizzed through his mind.

His confusion and shock only grew as he learned more of the subject.

Theoretically, a small place like the Snow Empire shouldn't be related in any way to the existence that had almost ruled over all things in ancient times. However, there were far too many coincidences to ignore the relation between them. Ye Qingyu suspected that the peerless figure might have been one of the divine generals under the Divine Light Emperor and was probably comparable to an ancient hero like the Sky Emperor.

In other words, there was a high possibility that he was somehow connected to the Divine Light Court.

Ye Qingyu felt that the mystery behind his birth seemed even more convoluted after he heard the sovereign of the Sun clan's words.

There wouldn't be any use in letting his imagination run wild at this point in time, so he hoped that he would be able to slowly investigate this issue at a later time.

The Palace General Gao Diping was still at the Heaven Wasteland Domain, so he would be able to question him once he returned. Gao Diping was a mysterious old man, and as for Wen Wan and the rest, no one knew where they were... Ye Qingyu felt a headache coming on at the thought of Wen Wan.

"If the Sky Emperor had betrayed and successfully turned against the Divine Light Emperor, why was he so reluctant to show himself over all these years?" Ye Qingyu dismissed all the other distracting thoughts in his head and continued to ask, "Whether he is a formidable hero or an ordinary man, his actions would only reflect his desires. Does this mean that the Sky Emperor is not seeking fame and fortune? Or does he derive pleasure from controlling the major forces of the world behind the scenes?"

"You're right. Regardless of intellectual ability or strength, the desires of all living creatures would ultimately drive their actions. The Sky Emperor used to be a follower of the Divine Light Emperor and was fiercely loyal, but he eventually betrayed the Light Temple. There could only be one reason for his betrayal, and that was the fact that he desired more than whatever the Divine Light Emperor was offering him—after he successfully betrayed the Divine Light Emperor, he did not show himself to accept the wors.h.i.+p of all living creatures and did not deliberately try to whitewash the truth, so I guess there could only be one reason for this: fulfillment was not achieved even after betraying the Light Temple, so he was forced to continue plotting in secret to reach his ends."

The sovereign of the Sun clan started coughing intensely after he said those words and his aura weakened even more.

His origin power had already been exhausted due to the several occasions where he had used the [Light Emperor Detection Technique] and he was now on the verge of death. He had forced himself to hang on so that he could divulge the secret he had guarded for countless years to his chosen successor, Ye Qingyu—obviously, the other reason as to why he managed to survive this long was because of the Emperor qi that Ye Qingyu had injected into his body.

Did this mean that the Sky Emperor had yet to fulfill his desires?

Ye Qingyu nodded to himself and admitted that it was plausible. Since the Divine Light Emperor was such an outstanding talent of the ages, he wouldn't have been tricked so easily and must have had set up several defenses. If the Sky Emperor failed to achieve his ends, it was possible that the Divine Light Emperor could still be alive and the Sky Emperor was in hiding because he was fearful.

"The Sky Emperor is extremely terrifying and has almost all the sovereigns of the Dark Realm under his control. He was invincible in his generation so why did he retreat? He has such a powerful a.r.s.enal of sovereigns at his disposal and could have commanded several dozen sovereigns to ascend to their true Martial Emperor cultivation. If he had done so, it is highly likely that they would have managed to kill me. So why did he order all the sovereigns to leave Royal City and abandon the base that he had painstakingly built? Why is he trying to avoid me?" Ye Qingyu asked the question that was troubling him.

This was a rare opportunity to speak to someone who knew the secrets from those days, so naturally, he wanted to find out as much as he could.

"This is also part of what he seeks," the sovereign of the Sun clan said, "He might have ama.s.sed a strength that could easily overcome anyone in this generation, but there is still a vast gap between what he has now and what he desires. Therefore, he needs to conserve his strength since he doesn't want to exhaust it before the crucial moment. You might have only just become an Emperor yourself but you managed to kill the three Martial Emperors in succession during the battle in s.p.a.ce; the strength you displayed has caused him to hesitate. He has to weigh the consequences and decide whether it is worth it to kill you. In fact, he had even once planned on using you to detect the whereabouts of the Divine Light Emperor since he feels that you're definitely in contact with the Divine Light Emperor. This is very similar to the strategies he had used against me back in those days. However, I'm now at the end of my days and since he failed to obtain what he wanted from me, he would naturally seek a replacement. You've appeared at the right time and met all his requirements."

Ye Qingyu understood the sovereign of the Sun clan's words.

The elderly sovereign continued, "Moreover, I've used the [Light Emperor Detection Technique] and managed to derive some information about the Sky Emperor. I vaguely sensed that something out of the ordinary has happened to him which led into a major loss of his cultivation. There's something wrong with his current state and I can only detect his spirit but not his physical body... Perhaps this may be due to the fact that he is cultivating some kind of technique, or he might be on his guard against someone or something."

There's something wrong with his current state?

Something suddenly clicked in his mind.

He seemed to have grasped something but at the same time, he might have understood nothing. The final piece of the puzzle was like a piece of paper that seemed so near but was unable to tear it apart.

He believed in the sovereign of the Sun clan's words.

This was because the Sky Emperor's doppelganger had appeared during the battle in s.p.a.ce in its spiritual state and during the final battle; he even had to make use of the Great Emperor of the Sky-reaching clan's corpse. This seemed to match the sovereign of the Sun clan's inference after using the [Light Emperor Detection Technique].

"The [Light Emperor Detection Technique]'s essence is recorded in the divine jade that I have just given you. If you're interested in this powerful detection technique, you may refer to it. However, bear in mind that it would take a great toll on your mind so you shouldn't use it unless it is absolutely necessary, since it would exhaust your lifespan," the sovereign of the Sun clan warned.

Ye Qingyu nodded in thanks.

He was indeed interested in this Emperor Detection Technique.

According to the sovereign of the Sun clan, this detection technique that was founded by the Divine Light Emperor was far more powerful than any ordinary Emperor Detection Techniques, being especially effective against the Sky Emperor. If he managed to grasp this technique, this might come in handy one day when he faced off against the Sky Emperor—he had already decided that both he and the Sky Emperor were on opposing sides.

He paused for a moment before he finally asked, "What exactly is the Sky Emperor seeking?"

He was extremely curious to know the answer to this question.

The Sky Emperor had gone to such lengths for the sake of achieving his goal. He had betrayed the Light Temple, concealed himself in the ancient darkness, tolerated the sovereign of the Sun clan and himself, abandoned the entire Guardian's Royal City—which was equivalent to abandoning the entire Guardians camp. He had given up everything that he had painstakingly ama.s.sed over the years and had only taken all the sovereigns of Royal City with him.

"He is seeking eternal life, one that transcends reincarnation and would be able to reign supreme over thousands and thousands of generations to come," the sovereign of the Sun clan said.

Ye Qingyu froze for a moment and nodded after he knew it.

He had guessed as much.

He had already guessed that this might be the Sky Emperor's goal.

This was a very 'predictable' goal, but it was unquestionably something that all intellectual lifeforms had been working toward since the day they were born.

Back in those days, the Light Temple and the Sky Emperor were extremely powerful, but they were still unable to escape their destiny of facing reincarnation, let alone ordinary Martial Emperors. Martial Emperors might stand at the pinnacle of the formation martial way, bear the mandate of Heaven, and were invincible amongst their generation, but they would not be able to withstand the pa.s.sage of time and would ultimately fall from their peak. This was why the sovereign of the Sky-reaching clan and the Dark Feather clan had supressed their own cultivation and maintained peak Quasi-emperor cultivation to prolong their lifespans and tried to linger on with their dying breaths.

Reincarnation was the nightmare of every Martial Emperor.

Time will ebb and flow like a cycle and generations and time will change. New Martial Emperors would be born and those at the peak of the formation martial way will find that their golden days would eventually fade. There could only be one star in every new era, and that star would only be able to reign over a single era.

The legendary Divine Light Emperor might have been able to break all records and extend his reign over an era longer than anyone before him which resulted in the formation of the Divine Light Court and commanded divine generals who were Martial Emperors as powerful as the Sky Emperor. Still, he was unable to fully transcend the fate of reincarnation. Otherwise, he would not have been tricked and betrayed, with his life possessions having been scattered like ashes.

"He did not mind giving up everything and even chose to back down instead of confronting me, so does this mean that he is nearing a window of opportunity to achieve his goal?" Ye Qingyu asked.

The Sky Emperor had given him a much wider berth as compared to how he had treated the sovereign of the Sun clan back in those days. There was no reason for him to do so unless he was trying to conserve energy to achieve his ultimate goal. Otherwise, the Sky Emperor could have easily commanded several dozen sovereigns to exhaust their life force and ascend to their Martial Emperor cultivation to kill him, then spend the next few hundred years to slowly train and groom dozens of new sovereigns. After all, since the Sky Emperor had a wealth of experience in grooming sovereigns, this was not a difficult feat for him to achieve.

There could only be one explanation for this odd behavior—time was running out.

He didn't have enough time to groom several dozen new sovereigns, so he could not afford to lose any sovereign under his command.

"You're right. According to my final calculations with the [Light Emperor Detection Technique], it is almost time for the reincarnation of the formation martial way civilization. The Sky Emperor's ultimate goal lies within this destruction," the sovereign of the Sun clan let out a long breath after he uttered those words.

His complexion visibly darkened.

It was clear that he was unable to hold on for much longer despite Ye Qingyu pumping his Emperor qi into his body.

Ye Qingyu frantically exerted his Emperor qi and pumped more into the sovereign of the Sun clan's body.

"There's no need to waste your Emperor qi on me since you're still injured. My fate has already been cast in stone and the fact that I've managed to survive to see this day is a miracle in itself," the sovereign of the Sun clan was very receptive to his fate and said, "After this incident, the Sun clan might bask in its moment of glory but if anyone within the clan grows arrogant because of your kindness, goes against your orders and commits an unforgivable crime, there's no need to spare them for my sake."

There was a strange flicker in his eyes.

He was once a young man himself many years ago who had attained Quasi-emperor cultivation and was considered a prodigy, but he was definitely not the most outstanding or influential figure of his generation. He wasn't ambitious either but had stumbled into a crack in time during his travels and come across a legacy of the Divine Light Emperor that resulted in him becoming an Emperor himself. He had once ruled over an era and a time period, became a figure who was wors.h.i.+pped by countless living creatures, and had resolved to stand against and get rid of all the evil in the world to bring light and goodness back into it.

Unfortunately, as time slipped by and he looked back on his past memories at the end of his life, everything seemed like a fantasy.

He hoped that this young man with an empty fate would be able to put an end to everything just as the oracles have predicted.

The sovereign of the Sun clan closed his eyes with a faint and exhausted smile.

His body completely disappeared in the air.