Chapter 1418: Void Li Tianwang

Outer Shenzhou, somewhere.

A majestic city stood between two enormous mountains. On the great avenue, an endless stream of figures galloped past, pouring into the city; the boiling, clamorous sounds that drifted out from within showed just how prosperous the city was.

On the avenue, two figures stood still. One was an old man with a stooped frame, looking quite kind and benevolent. He wore a black robe, upon which was etched a blood-red, eerie eye that blinked slowly like a living thing, giving off a hair-raising feeling.

The other was a man of imposing build, from whose body a faintly terrifying pressure emanated, causing the void to tremble slightly.

These two were none other than the Spirit Eye Underworld King and Qin Jiujie!

The two stood on the avenue as countless passersby came and went, yet even the titled Marquis-level experts passing by seemed unable to perceive them; no one cast so much as a glance their way.

Qin Jiujie paid no heed to the figures passing either; instead, with a slight frown, he gazed at the towering fortress-city ahead, because for some unknown reason, that city gave him a rather eerie feeling.

But exactly where the eeriness lay, even he could not say.

"There's a Sovereign here?" Qin Jiujie looked toward the Spirit Eye Underworld King and asked.

He had paid no small price earlier to persuade the Spirit Eye Underworld King to introduce him to the Sovereign of the Convergence, and the latter had dawdled for over half a year before finally setting aside the experiment in hand and leading him away from his old lair.

Still, the place the other had brought him to was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The Spirit Eye Underworld King smiled faintly and said, "Can you tell what's wrong with this place?"

Mysterious light flowed in Qin Jiujie's eyes. At the peak of the Double-Crowned King, his strength absolutely placed him among the top echelons of this heaven and earth, yet now, under his full scrutiny, he simply could not see through the city before him.

No—he could see it clearly enough, but he faintly sensed that what he saw was only the surface layer.

The city seemed to be wreathed in a mysterious aura; even standing outside its walls and sensing, he found it hard to glimpse its true face.

"Worthy of a Li Tianwang's existence." Qin Jiujie's face showed reverence. What power could inspire such awe and fear in him besides a Li Tianwang?

The Spirit Eye Underworld King, meanwhile, stepped forward; the void rippled slightly, and he appeared at the city gate, then walked straight into the city. Qin Jiujie hesitated for a breath, but finally took a deep breath and swiftly followed.

Now, he was already a traitor to the Qin Li Tianwang line. If he wished to go further, he had to board the great ship of the Convergence.

Following the Spirit Eye Underworld King into the city, the streets were bustling with traffic and the air rang with voices. Yet as the two kept walking along one long street after another, Qin Jiujie finally sensed something off.

The streets, buildings, and figures in his eyes were gradually fading, becoming illusory.

"These are all illusions?" Qin Jiujie said, somewhat astonished, yet what he had sensed earlier had been so utterly real that even he could not tell true from false.

"Everything you see is real, including those who have come to this city. However, once they walk into it, perhaps they can no longer be called real." The Spirit Eye Underworld King spoke in a hoarse voice.

"What do you mean?" Qin Jiujie was somewhat puzzled.

"Everyone who enters this city will be tainted with a wisp of 'Origin of Void.' In the future, whenever that lord takes a notion, all he needs is a single thought, and those people will dissolve into nothingness, becoming a thread of Void Thought that returns to his body," the Spirit Eye Underworld King said evenly.

Qin Jiujie's pupils contracted at once. Such a divine ability, such methods—simply horrifying.

"That lord..." Qin Jiujie's face showed reverence.

"The other Li Tianwang all address my lord as 'Void Li Tianwang.'" The Spirit Eye Underworld King swept his sleeve, and Qin Jiujie then saw the city begin to turn illusory, while in its deepest depths, an extremely ancient, mottled wall appeared.

"A Li Tianwang's existence cannot lightly reveal his true body. You were once the Grand Palace Lord of the Qin Li Tianwang line, so you should know the reason."

Qin Jiujie nodded slightly. Across the Ten Outer Shenzhou existed a supreme Ancient Alliance Covenant, reinforced by generation after generation of Li Tianwang-level experts of all races throughout the long river of time. This covenant could not be perceived even by King-level experts; only upon reaching the Li Tianwang realm could one sense it.

Therefore, once a Li Tianwang's true body was revealed, it would also be known to the other Li Tianwang existences.

And the Convergence loved to stir up trouble, so it was naturally feared and viewed with hostility by the various Li Tianwang-level powers across the Ten Outer Shenzhou—especially the Academy Alliance. It was said their Li Tianwang kept a constant watch on the Sovereigns of the Convergence.

Qin Jiujie looked at that ancient wall; upon it was a mural.

In the painting, there seemed to be a magnificent great river surging like a colossal dragon. The river's width and depth were unknown, yet it inspired awe. Faintly, Qin Jiujie even sensed quite a few extremely powerful fluctuations within that great river.

Then, on a steep reef in the middle of that great river, Qin Jiujie saw a figure.

It was an angler in white, holding a fishing rod, the line cast into the great river. The fishhook was ethereal and indistinct, and it was unclear what it was hooking.

The moment Qin Jiujie saw that figure, he felt an indescribable pressure surging toward him from all directions. At that moment, the white-clad angler in the mural also turned his head, casting a gentle gaze his way.

Then Qin Jiujie saw the world shifting.

Boom—boom—boom—the roar of rushing river water came, carrying dampness that hit his face.

Steadying himself again, Qin Jiujie found himself already standing on the reef in the great river. Ahead, the white-clad angler smiled and said, "Qin Jiujie."

Qin Jiujie looked over. The white-clad angler was an extremely fair and youthful-looking young man, yet he did not dare let the other's appearance give rise to the slightest disrespect, because in his eyes, the other's figure was far too towering—like a deity, filling everything he saw.

Qin Jiujie was no stranger to Li Tianwang experts, yet he felt that their clan's Qin Li Tianwang seemed, in bearing, to fall just slightly short of the man before him.

So Qin Jiujie bowed respectfully and said, "Qin Jiujie pays his respects to Void Li Tianwang."

The white-clad angler—no, rather, Void Li Tianwang—chuckled lightly and said, "Faceless does work under my command. You harmed him to such a state, and you still dare come before me?"

Qin Jiujie offered no defense for his ruthless methods, only saying deferentially, "My lord, the way I do things will be far more proper than his."

Void Li Tianwang stared at Qin Jiujie, smiling with keen interest. "Worthy of one who has led the Qin Li Tianwang line for so many years. Your courage and temperament are truly extraordinary. I'm rather taken with you. Your ambition burns strong—and that is good. My Convergence likes people like you."

"That old fossil Qin Li Tianwang has grown far too decrepit. He's lived too long and lost all his edge; now he's nothing but a lingering wreck."

"Perhaps before long, he'll rot away completely."

Hearing Void Li Tianwang's words, Qin Jiujie's heart stirred. A Li Tianwang-level existence's pronouncement only went to show how poor the state of their Qin Li Tianwang line's old ancestor truly was.

This left his feelings especially complex—regret, grief, and also a sense of relief.

Once Qin Li Tianwang fell, the Qin Li Tianwang line would lose its former glory, slipping from a Li Tianwang line. Perhaps in the end, he would be the one to revive the Qin Li Tianwang line.

"From this day forth, I am willing to take my lord as my sovereign." Qin Jiujie said respectfully.

Void Li Tianwang smiled faintly and cast his fishing rod. Qin Jiujie then saw a streak of dark light fly out from within himself and hang on the tip of the fishhook—it was precisely one of Faceless Underworld King's life-bound face-skins.

However, this life-bound face-skin now looked extremely dim, its eyes even tightly shut, because over this period Qin Jiujie had been refining and absorbing it constantly.

Void Li Tianwang glanced at the pale life-bound face-skin in his hand, then used the fishhook to pull a ferocious giant fish out from the depths of the great river. He casually pressed the life-bound face-skin onto the fish's face, then tossed it back into the depths of the great river.

As the giant fish sank into the depths of the river, Qin Jiujie could sense Faceless Underworld King's dormant aura gradually recovering. Yet he was not afraid—after such a grievous wound, even if Faceless Underworld King recovered, his strength would decline, and at most he would barely maintain King-level.

Moreover, now that everyone served the same lord, when everyone had the same backing, the backing ceased to be a backing.

Void Li Tianwang gave a faint laugh.

"From now on, you are the Convergence's new Underworld King—Underworld King Jiujie."

"Thank you, my lord."

Qin Jiujie expressed his thanks. Though this outcome was no surprise to him—after all, with his strength, even within this mysterious Convergence, he could truly be counted as a mainstay.

Still, only after receiving the promise of one Sovereign Lord could his heart truly settle at ease.

From then on, the Grand Palace Lord of the Qin Li Tianwang lineage, Qin Jiujie, was utterly dead, replaced by the Guiyi Hui...

Nine Tribulations Underworld King.