After stepping out of the grotto, a buzzing noise came about and sure enough, a tiny maelstrom emerged on his forehead as well, signifying him being recognized by the Heaven’s Will.

It wasn’t surprising at all. If his thirteen palaces couldn’t get this recognition, no one else in the world would.

Li Qiye had no reaction outside of a chuckle: “It’s finally here. Time for me to start.”

Having said that, his forehead lit up with lights consisting of three different colors - gold, silver, and iron. They twisted together and time seemed to stop because of their continuous flow.

The three lights became increasingly dazzling before three maelstroms emerged. They looked as if they could refine the entire world.

“Buzz.” In a jiffy, the three maelstroms seized the tiny one from the Heaven’s Will. It was the scene of a spider having its way with its prey stuck in the net.

Even though the Heaven’s Will maelstrom struggled, it was nothing before the other three. It didn’t take long before it was refined into a strand of light.

Remember that the Heaven’s Will contained the power of a generation and all the dao of the nine worlds. Yet, it was refined so quickly by these three maelstroms, making their might apparent.

The maelstroms disappeared, only leaving the flowing lights. Meanwhile, the strand of light that used to be the tiny maelstrom followed right behind the other three flowing lights in the back.

“Clank! Clang! Clank!” The three lights shot out three laws aiming straight for the vortex in the sky.

“Rumble!” The Heaven’s Will quaked along with the sky. Next, the same combination of lights infiltrated the circulating laws. It seemed to have left a mark on the Heaven’s Will.

Li Qiye chuckled at this sight. Everything was in the palm of his hands.

Meanwhile, something has happened in the nine worlds to the horror of everyone. Their soul flew away and scattered.

“Ah!” A miserable scream resounded in a certain sect within the nine worlds. It was their divine prince who was recognized by the Heaven’s Will yesterday.

The entire sect was shocked to hear the scream so the ancestors immediately rushed to his place.

“What’s going on?” One ancestor shouted after coming in.

The prince was scared out of his mind. He could barely give an answer: “My, my… my little maelstrom is gone.”

“What do you mean?” This ancestor didn’t know what to say at all.

The prince erupted with fury. He raised his head and shouted: “The recognition of the Heaven’s Will! It’s missing now, what the hell?!”

The ancestors in the sect noticed that there was nothing on his forehead. They seemed to be struck by thunder as well and had no response.

Just one day ago, the tiny maelstrom was a supreme symbol of glory. Its disappearance was too much to take.

“No, someone has become an Immortal Emperor after shouldering the Heaven’s Will!” The oldest ancestor cried out.

“Who?!” The other ancestors were perplexed. The competition had yet to begin yet someone had ascended already?

“But the Heaven’s Will is still there, look up there!” A different ancestor screamed and pointed at the sky.

His peers looked up. Sure enough, the Heaven’s Will was still floating in the sky while rotating continuously.

“How strange!” The oldest ancestor couldn’t believe his own eyes and was completely astounded.

“Ancestor, what, what is going on?” The prince couldn’t accept this reality and hurriedly asked the oldest ancestor.

The oldest ancestor’s wits returned eventually. He bitterly smiled and said without confidence: “I have never seen this, this situation before. Normally, only, only when there is a victor would everyone else’s mark disappear. But the Heaven’s Will is still there so no one has become emperor just yet, thus your mark should still be there. This is usually the case.”

“No way!” On this same day, miserable screams came all around the nine worlds from the geniuses that have previously won the recognition of the will, such as Sacred Supreme and the monk from Vajra.

Their mark has also disappeared so they were terror-stricken.

“The mark of all the candidates has disappeared.” In a short time, this explosive news erupted across the nine worlds.

“How, how can this be?” Ancestors shouted after receiving the message.

The ones who have witnessed the imperial ascension found this astonishing. One said in a stupor: “How can this be?! The Heaven’s Will is right there!”

In the beginning, many people thought that this was only a coincidence. It wasn’t until the news spread and people found that this was a widespread phenomenon.

Everyone was spooked out of their mind. Their first reaction was to look at the sky but this only worsened their confusion. Everyone couldn’t come up with an answer, not even the most knowledgeable ancestor or old monsters that have seen the ascension of several Immortal Emperors before. No one could imagine this development.

“Strange… is this generation different than all the others?” A different ancestor murmured.

“A new age is coming…” A true invincible character has woken up from their sleep. He shuddered and said: “The ruler of the nine worlds is shocking indeed. Something big is happening and people better start praying. The blind ones will die for sure.”

Even though he didn’t know what was going on, he could sense that this had something to do with the Dark Crow, and that the Dark Crow was planning something great.

Those who have experienced the Dark Crow first hand were aware of the incoming change, just like how the Ancient Ming was usurped by his plans.

They didn’t know what was going to happen next, but they warned their disciples to not leave the sects in order to avoid causing trouble.

“This must be Ugly Qiye spoiling the fun.” Long Jingxian angrily shouted after her mark disappeared and ran around Cleansing Incense, wanting to fight Li Qiye.

She was aware that he was the only one capable of this deed. The other girls were smiling wryly. This was indeed a terrible prank on the nine worlds. He let the geniuses became excited first before taking it away from them. It was the same as pouring cold water over their head.

“He has controlled the Heaven’s Will. The thing itself is only a type of embellishment on this path.” Bu Lianxiang smiled and said.

Jingxian was not happy after failing to find Li Qiye. She gritted her teeth and claimed: “I’ll challenge him when he comes back, we’ll see if his thirteen palaces are better or my twelve!” [1]

1. Say what? I know who I’m betting on.