Sword Emperor was the most famous Grand Emperor in the last few generations. This was indicative of his clan’s resources and influence - capable of producing such a great talent that nearly got twelve wills.

Despite missing one, his bloodline allowed for him to make up for this deficiency. Many believed that he would succeed World Emperor later on.

Of course, a few people quietly criticized his prestigious position. World Emperor was already very important in the Celestial Court on top of leading Heaven Authority.

If Sword had become a twelve-will emperor, then the Qian Clan would have two of them. This would allow them to crush any imperial lineage or even any race in the world.

Thus, the outcome was rather favorable to everyone else since the Qian didn’t become as large of a threat.

“Sacred Teacher, I have heard of your fame.” Sword Emperor came before Li Qiye and remained audacious.

Li Qiye looked at him with a thick grin: “The descendant of the Qian is indeed capable. A tiger will never birth a dog or it would be a stain to your ancestor’s reputation.”

Having said that, he looked over to World Emperor beyond the portal.

World didn’t respond and simply sat there - no one could read his thoughts.

“I, Sword Emperor, do not need to rely on the ancestors.” Sword laughed proudly and declared: “The world is afraid of you but I wish to see if you are invincible like the rumors or not.”

“You should be afraid of me.” Li Qiye shook his head and said: “Go back and ask your ancestor to tell you the old tales between me and him.”

He then shouted at the portal: “Hey, geezer, did you not tell him anything? Looks like you’re not teaching your kids very well, look at this one, an eleven-will Grand Emperor but is still so hot-headed. You have failed him.”

World Emperor calmly responded: “The young ones have their own style. They are the masters of their life.”

“Cease your disdainful rhetoric.” Sword was very displeased with Li Qiye’s attitude: “I am me, the Qian Clan is the clan, I am simply challenging you today, not representing anything else.”

The emperors glanced at each other after hearing this, not just because of the bold challenge.

More importantly, the content was worth musing over. Sword was the ninth emperor of the Qian and was highly regarded. They groomed him to potentially be the successor of World Emperor.

However, rumor has it that the two of them didn’t have a good relationship. It escalated to the extent where they drew weapons on each other.

Because of this, Sword joined Celestial Court and rarely represented his own clan.

No one knew the exact reasons for the fight. Some speculated that Sword wanted to escape his ancestor’s control in order to reach a greater height. If he continued to stay at the clan, he would always be under the shadow of World Emperor regardless of his actual achievements. This might be the reason why he joined Celestial Court instead of Heaven Authority. 

“Oh, I take it back, looks like its a degeneration of generations.” Li Qiye smiled and shook his head: “Only an eleven-will emperor, can’t reach the apex. Your ancestor might be able to do something before me, but an ant like you will only be able to jump once or twice.”

“Such a big tone!” Sword scowled with his eyes scarily flashing before retorting: “I want to see if you actually live up to your invincible reputation!”

“No need for that. You won’t be able to handle it and the old geezer will be sad about losing a descendant like you. Plus, I wonder what he will pay as a ransom for your life.” Li Qiye teased with a playful smirk.

He then turned towards World Emperor: “Hey, old geezer, how much is your descendant worth? If you pay this price, I’ll consider sparing him.”

The emperors had nothing to say after hearing this. Who in this world was bold enough to talk to World Emperor like this? Even someone like Profound Emperor wouldn’t dare to call World an “old geezer”. It was as if World was really nothing more than an old man in Li Qiye’s eyes.

“Little Sword, don’t be careless.” World Emperor warned. [1]

“Hmph, I know.” Sword scowled.

This response made everyone understand that the rumors were rather plausible. These two had a foul relationship and Sword was more of a rebel.

Sword raised his brows at Li Qiye and uttered coldly: “Sacred Teacher, do you dare to fight me? Just consider me a junior wanting a lesson!”

“No need for Sacred Teacher to teach you. Sword Emperor, let me and you discuss the supreme dao of the sword.” A voice as clear as a jade came about.

The new arrival was a middle-aged man with his fluttering cloak and a long sword as his weapon of choice. His jade-like body didn’t emit an oppressive aura but something akin to the radiance of a gentle scholar. In fact, he didn’t look like an emperor at all.

“Immortal Emperor Ren Xian!” His characteristics were unique enough for someone to recognize him with haste.

“Another emperor with an invincible sword dao, this will be a fight worth watching.” Another murmured.

This was the fifth emperor of Soaring Immortal with a negligible amount of Ancient Ming bloodline. Because of this, he endured boundless torment in order to remove it.

He used actions to prove that he was part of the human race and the nine worlds. He overcame the temptation of this bloodline and chose his own grand dao.

The guy was also enamored with the sword dao just like Sword Emperor. Rumor has it that after arriving at the tenth world, he focused on this path and came up with something unique.

Thus, Sword Emperor was still considered a junior in this aspect despite reaching an unparalleled height.

“Sacred Teacher, long time no see.” Immortal Emperor Ren Xian bowed deeply after seeing Li Qiye.

Li Qiye nodded approvingly: “An emperor from Soaring Immortal is the pride of the nine worlds, the jewel of the human race.”

“Thank you for your high praise, Sacred Teacher.” The emperor bowed again, understanding the implication of the latter sentence.

In the past, he was definitely considered a human from a certain angle. Back then, the Dark Crow couldn’t erase the Ancient Ming completely because its bloodline was too powerful. Even an impure version could boost one’s power and cultivation potential.

Because of this, so many were unable to withstand this temptation. People tried to bring the race back or its cultivation methods. This left the Dark Crow no choice but to eradicate it again and again via large-scale massacres.

Due to his faint bloodline, he gained an unbelievable level of aptitude. Though Li Qiye didn’t kill the emperor, he opposed his ascension. Nevertheless, the ancestors of Soaring Immortal supported him enough for him to reach the throne.

For some unknown reasons, Li Qiye chose to watch instead of interfering despite having legions capable of sweeping through Soaring Immortal.

Furthermore, the emperor swore to never walk on the path of the Ancient Ming. He carried out this promise by peeling off his own blood. He maintained a cautious attitude and outlook after ascending in order to let himself and others know that he was a human, not an Ancient Ming.

“The younger generation will surpass us. Quite a cold and lonely sword dao, I have the urge to fight now after seeing a potential rival, will you entertain me, Sword Emperor?”

The crowd was excited right away. Sword Emperor was certainly talented enough; this was why he could create his own organization. Meanwhile, Immortal Emperor Ren Xian was long famous with his dao of the sword even before Sword Emperor made his debut.

Though everyone came for the academy this time around, to watch two top emperors dueling with their sword was definitely a brilliant spectacle - a visual feast.

1. Looks like Sword Emperor’s real name is also Jian, the character for sword. The problem here is that I don’t know if I should leave it as Jian or Sword since it could be his actual name now