Chapter 2187: Ba Shang

The destruction of the Peng only took a brief moment. Li Qiye sat on his throne the entire time without even needing to stand up. Just a wave of his hand alone was enough to instill both destruction and dread.

The seven ancestors felt their legs quivering; their pale expression said it all.

He didn’t need to exert a dominating pressure or a massive amount of true energy. Just his leisure attitude on the throne let the rest of the world know how supreme he was.

People exchanged glances. Though lips didn’t move, they began to believe that he was a reborn ancestor. Only a being like that would be powerful to this level.

“Will you all commit suicide or must I do it myself?” Li Qiye glanced at the seven gods and leisurely said.

The seven gods were naturally startled and didn’t know what to do. Grand True Gods like them were helpless, realizing they couldn’t replicate the task of instantly killing the Peng even if they all worked together. Of course, it was possible but not with such ease.

“Don’t, don’t push it!” Mighty Mountain roared furiously.

“I’m pushing it. Told you the ending for those who oppose me already.” Li Qiye smiled.

“What kind of reborn ancestor are you? You should be ruling with magnanimity!” A cold snort came about.

At this moment, a person emerged right next to Mighty Mountain. No one saw how he got there as if he only needed from one step to travel from horizon to this place.

It was an old man dressed in a red robe with yellow embroidery of a fierce and noble dragon raising its claws.

He looked stately, capable of shouldering the heaven. This was a lord no matter where he went.

“Ancestor!” The four gods from Upper Faction performed a grand ceremony while the three from Sacred Institution bowed their head.

The youth here didn’t know who he was but judging by the gods’ respectful attitude, the old man certainly had a big background.

“Ba Shang!” Even Fierceblade became serious after seeing him.

“Ba Shang!” The elders and ancestors from the clan were thunderstruck after hearing this name.

“That’s the legendary number one in Upper Faction.” One elder took a deep breath: “But shouldn’t he be dead a long time ago, why is he still around?”

This name was too resounding for those of the previous generation. When Ba Shang was still around, he established Upper Faction’s role in the system. Back then, this power actually reigned for a bit.

They eventually lost this authority after rumors of his death.

“So you have been in isolated cultivation.” Fierceblade was careful when looking at this guy.

The guy was already a first-level True God back then so he certainly would be much stronger after so many years.

“It’s been a while.” Ba Shang spoke: “I met a bottleneck during the first level and now, I’ve finally returned after reaching the third level, not expecting to see something like this.”

The crowd was astonished at this revelation. Some even screamed: “A third-level True God!”

If this was the case, he might be the strongest True God in the system, its next number one.

For many cultivators, reaching grand True God was the end of their journey.

There were two paths forward, to either eventually become an Ascender or an emperor. However, the latter path was much harder compared to the former. 

If a cultivator could break through the bottleneck after reaching the grand level and open a second palace, they would become an Ascender.

Opening the third palace would grant them the title of being a first-level True God. The fourth palace would let them be at the second level, and so on and so forth…

The heaven has nine layers, or firmaments. Thus, the strongest True God was at the ninth level with eleven palaces.

After reaching the peak of this level, if they could break through another bottleneck to open the twelfth palace, they would become an Eternal!

The path of the emperor was different. This cultivation path started with the four symbols, or images, inside the fate palace. They needed to refine the four symbols into dao springs before proving their dao. That’s when they could become a True Emperor.

After proving their dao, a True Emperor would naturally have twelve fate palaces. Of course, this wasn’t invincibility. They still had a long way to go before they could light up all of the palaces. This was the prerequisite of becoming a progenitor.

This latter path was much, much harder than godhood, and going from an emperor to a progenitor was thousands of times harder.

Each era could produce several True Emperors. A prosperous one could create more than ten, but a progenitor? Who knows how many eras it would take?

Due to the disparity in difficulty, at the proportional level, a True Emperor was much more powerful than a True God. One would need to be an Eternal before trying to fight against an emperor.

In Emperor and Immortal Lineage, a third-level True God wasn’t much. But for Insane Court right now, this realm was virtually unbeatable.

Thus, Ba Shang’s presence was commanding respect and fear from the spectators.

He looked at Li Qiye and slowly said: “If you are indeed a forefather, you should toil for the greater good of the system and rule with mercy…”

“It’s not your place to tell me what to do. Kneel now and I can spare you from death.” Li Qiye interrupted him and said flatly.

Telling a third-level True God to kneel? How unbelievably fierce. The crowd was shocked after hearing this declaration.

No one dared to question Li Qiye’s identity anymore. Only a forefather of their system would dare to demand this.

This was a contest between the past and present. Li Qiye represented the old generation while Ba Shang the current.

Ba Shang’s expression turned ugly with a murderous flash in his eyes: “I will overestimate myself and see just how strong you are, so-called forefather.”

“You are indeed overestimating yourself.” An old voice came about. Another old man holding an ancient sword came to the front.

Yang Shengping was one of the few who could recognize him. It was the person they met back at Relinquished Bones. 

“Li Qian, it’s you!” The old man took one step back after seeing the newcomer.

“Indeed, it’s me.” The sword user’s presence alone was enough to deter Ba Shang, no need for a flashy aura.

“Li Qian, the Dao Protector Sword God!” An ancestor cried out.

Fierceblade and the other ancestors all bowed to show their respect towards the old man.

Shengping’s jaw dropped to the ground. He knew that this old man was a big shot, but not this big.

“Who is that?” A junior wasn’t aware of this title.