Reincarnation meant coming back to life for an entire generation. Thus, it was discussed and sought by many invincible characters alongside immortality. Even Emperors were no exception.
However, these two topics were impossible to reach. The emperors failed to reach immortality, let alone reincarnation.
Because of a wondrous medicine like the Reincarnation Nine-Leaves, many of these great beings came to the Divine Tree Ridge in order to find this mythical item.
Some emperors and sea gods actually managed to find it in the past, but they came back empty-handed since the leaves had yet to mature completely. Even if they took it, it would have been useless, the leaves would only be ordinary dried grass.
After years of waiting, it was finally ripe in this generation.
“There are still several old monsters in Heaven Spirit.” Ruonan slowly said: “They won’t come out so easily. This is probably why Zhentian’s group want the nine leaves, they want to invite them.”
“The more the merrier.” Li Qiye smiled and said: “I’m more afraid of people not coming out. If that group doesn’t come, it would be problematic for me. It’s looking good now, though. Zhentian and the Prince of Darkness are still quite young — full of blood energy and life force!”
Ruonan smiled. She immediately understood his intentions after hearing him.
“I won’t participate in this important matter then. If I go, they might hesitate, and that will ruin your business. We’ll just take advantage of this opportunity and give them a chance. Maybe they will think they are in control and certain of victory.”
“I hope they think so too.” Li Qiye grinned.
Ruonan couldn’t help but chuckle. After following him for so long, she naturally knew what he was scheming. Zhentian and them aren’t the only victims to fall for this. Many arrogant existences thought that they had victory within their grasp, but in the end, the Dark Crow hiding behind the scenes devoured them completely without leaving behind bones.
Those who truly knew the Dark Crow were also aware of how terrifying he was. The wise move would be to stand aside or simply not come out at all.
After the destruction of the Ancient Ming, few people in the world could stop his path. After all, they risked being massacred!
After a long silence, he looked at her and offered with great sincerity: “If you want, I can leave you one leaf.”
“No, I don’t want to keep such a thing either.” She gently shook her head.
Li Qiye replied: “I know you don’t need it, but it can be a good backup plan. If it comes down to it, you will have a certain chance to start over.”
She pondered for a long time before directly answering: “No, I won’t gamble on the chance to come back. I feel that I am ready to face both success and failure. Otherwise, I won’t be able to handle the everlasting mission since who knows how long it will last?”
At this point, she sighed with some sadness: “I have shined in my life with incredible accomplishments. I just need to face the final mission so that it can end already. I know that regardless of the outcome, I will have tried my best. Leave it for the heavens to decide.”
Their hands were still intertwined. He could understand her feelings.
“I’m no match for you, Young Master.” Ruonan wryly smiled and lamented: “I am gifted with some intelligence, but in the end, the wisest is still you. Throughout the long years, you explore and fight in succession before building up even more, never feeling discouraged in defeat and no complacency in victory...
“... Your shadow has always wandered across time itself with great perseverance. From the nine worlds to what lies above to the nine worlds, you never gave up in accumulating and consolidating your power.”
She let out another long sigh and bitterly said: “I don’t have the same dao heart as you and might not be able to persist after such a long time. Seeing those close to me leave one after another and finding myself alone on this path... At that point, I think I might go crazy.”
Li Qiye sighed as well. The long years were truly endless.
“Thus, you have always been my pride.” She was still tightly clasping his fingers as she smiled: “You shouldn’t waste something like the nine leaves on me. Make good use of it in other places instead.”
“Reincarnation.” Li Qiye chuckled in response: “I’m afraid I’ve never thought about reincarnating at all. I’ve grown weary of living for so long, I just want to go all out in the end regardless of the outcome. In this generation, I’m not thinking about starting over after losing. At the very best, I might just leave some backup plans.”
“I trust you, Young Master. Whether you win or lose, you will be the last one smiling. Defeat won’t get you down since you will have a way of lifting your head again. I don’t want to see you talk about defeat like this since you will certainly rise and become even stronger in order to take down your enemies.”
“Even if I have some backup plans, I wouldn’t gamble on the twenty percent chance of the nine leaves.”
She smiled back at him. Ruonan knew that although her young master was always smiling, this was not the case for his heart. He rarely had moments of sincere happiness.
Eventually, Li Qiye and Su Yonghuang left the island to enter the Reincarnation Valley.
Once they arrived, cultivators from all over Heaven Spirit were constantly rushing into Godhalt for the Divine Tree Ridge. More than seventy percent of this group consisted of the white-haired elderly, some were even on the verge of death. These were the ones most desperate to prolong their lives.
“If the medicine for immortality doesn’t exist, why did this news come out? Is someone deliberately misleading people? Is all of this a conspiracy?” Su Yonghuang noticed something was strange after seeing the horde of old ancestors coming to the ridge.
“It’s not something big or anything, but it is indeed a ruse.” Li Qiye smiled and explained: “Meng Zhentian might not know anything, but the prince certainly knows a bit. After all, this is his territory.”
“The Spirit Abyss must be the sect spreading this, they’re the only ones capable of this at Godhalt.” Li Qiye stated: “Both Zhentian and the prince must be trying to mislead others.”
Yonghuang asked: “What is the purpose of this move?”
“It’s easy to guess Zhentian’s motive. He wants the Heaven’s Will and is in an advantageous position at Heaven Spirit. If the Lunargrasp Fairy does not compete, he’ll be able to do whatever he wants without competition. However, he alone can’t go against the other geniuses in the nine worlds. After all, everyone has backings and powerful lineages...”
Li Qiye smiled at this point: “The competition for the Heaven’s Will has grave consequences to everyone’s rise and fall. Because of this, the geniuses aren’t the only ones fighting. They have ample resources and dao protectors to subdue their enemies. It doesn’t matter how strong Zhentian is, he still won’t be able to take care of the rest of the nine worlds. He needs an Emperor Assailant to protect him and preside over everything...”
Yonghuang went straight to the point: “So he wants to use this medicine to attract Emperor Assailants for protection.”
“You can put it that way. Even if such existences won’t fight for him on the battlefield, he still wants some of them to guard his base. Otherwise, if his base were to be attacked before the war even starts, he would be on the passive end right away. Of course, it isn’t that easy to invite them. Ordinary treasures can’t get into their eyes. These old men are most scared of death, so nothing is more tempting than an object of immortality.”
Yonghuang understood just how cruel the battle for the throne was. Even a character like Meng Zhentian would need to ask people for help in order to be successful regardless of his personal capabilities.