Chapter 21: The Biography of the Great Emperor of the Eastern Pole

“How fierce!” Dugu Bieli’s back was drenched in cold sweat. Even as he was bathed in the blazing radiance of the ten suns, he felt a chill run through his limbs, a coldness settle in his heart.

He had been careless.

Never would he have imagined that even a mere wisp of the power cultivated by a king could be refined to such an indescribably terrifying degree. The Power Spring he had opened, which could contain twenty times his combat capacity, was almost ruptured by it!

Fortunately, it was just a sliver.

“How is it?” Both Wuying and Su Xiruo stared at him, extremely anxious, afraid that in the end, it would all be another empty hope.

Dugu Bieli examined himself, and seeing that the Power Spring in the Laogong point showed no ill effects, he finally let out a breath. Hearing their inquiry, he pondered for a moment, then frowned and said, “It’s hard. Very hard.”

“Alas…” Su Xiruo let out a long sigh, then forced herself to be optimistic. “Perhaps this is simply my fate…”

“Wait a moment.” Wuying interrupted brusquely, his eyes flashing as he demanded, “You say it’s very hard, not impossible, is that it?”

Dugu Bieli nodded affirmatively. “The difficulty is immense, but it’s not unachievable.” But before Wuying and Su Xiruo could rejoice, he added gloomily, “Though there is an effect, it’s minuscule. At my current level, it would take decades of constant effort to completely resolve it, to finally devour the power the Immortal King left behind…”

“As long as there’s hope!” Wuying shouted, almost delirious with joy.

Su Xiruo froze, then tears suddenly streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed. After all these years of waiting, at last, there was good news.

Wuying hesitated, not going over to comfort her. He could see that she needed to let her emotions out at last. Instead, he strode to Dugu Bieli and clapped him heavily on the shoulder, speaking with bold resolve, “If you can save Xiruo, you are the greatest benefactor of Wuying. I won’t make empty promises, but so long as you’re at Butterfly Academy, under the Queen’s domain, whoever dares to lay a finger on you, I’ll destroy them. If I can’t, I’ll swallow my pride and beg the Queen’s intervention. Do whatever you wish, enjoy complete freedom. If you run into trouble, cause a mess, rest assured—this old man will take responsibility.”

“Then I must thank you.” Dugu Bieli responded formally, “I have but one request: take care of my sister and the child.”

“Not a problem.” Wuying accepted the task with gusto. “I’ll see that you have nothing to worry about. Just focus on your cultivation and helping Xiruo. If you need a teacher, I’ll arrange it; if you have any doubts, come to me. I’ll hold nothing back.”

“Big brother, I’m hungry.” The child ran out of the house, looking up at him.

Wuying burst into hearty laughter. “That’s my oversight. I’ll see to it at once. We’ll have a grand feast to show our gratitude, to celebrate, and, most importantly, to keep the little one from going hungry.”

In the vast world, after the devastation wrought by the ten suns, the land was nearly barren and vegetation struggled to survive. To have food was a blessing. Ordinary Sovereigns ate only to fill their bellies, rarely indulging in any pleasure of taste.

Still, there were delicacies to be found.

Those at the Marquis level could channel the waters of the Star River to irrigate designated lands. With sufficient water, some crops and fruit trees could still be cultivated. Kings, with their mastery of domains, could obtain rare treats that, to most, were mere diversions—a luxury, a pleasure, a taste.

Of course, at the King’s level, food was no longer a necessity.

As a Minister, Wuying was below a King, but far surpassed a Marquis. He had a meticulously tended orchard and crops unique to the Star River, mostly prepared in the past for Su Xiruo. Now, they would serve as a feast for Dugu Bieli and his companions—more than enough.

From that day on, Dugu Bieli finally bid farewell to a life of constant battle and could at last enjoy a period of leisure.

His little sister, in the alchemy group, quickly revealed her talent and took to healing magic with ease. The child, thanks to Wuying’s arrangements, was well treated by the teachers. Wolf and Little Flower attended classes daily, often returning from the forbidden zone battered and bruised, cursing Coldsha the teacher as a heartless fiend, claiming his blood was cold—fitting for someone named Cold.

Su Xiruo took up residence in the forbidden zone, becoming Dugu Bieli’s neighbor—never far from one another. When not cultivating the Way of Forging, she would cautiously use the Yuanming Art to draw out a sliver of power.

After several days, Dugu Bieli clearly felt that his five Power Springs were full and the spaces he’d opened had reached their peak, stretched taut. He believed it would not be long before he could attempt to connect the five springs, unifying their strength into a single cycle.

At that point, he would become a Sovereign.

But since the power he was absorbing did not come from his own hard cultivation and was progressing too quickly, he deliberately suppressed it to prevent an unstable foundation. Sometimes, he would stay in the now tidy library, reading about cultivation techniques, miscellanies, and records of travels, broadening his knowledge and absorbing the experiences of his predecessors.

Unconsciously, after Su Xiruo regained the use of one finger and could touch freely, the Way of Forging also improved; out of every ten attempts, he could produce one marching weapon. Compared to contemporary weapons, their quality fell short and their hardness needed improvement, but in terms of doubling combat power, they showed a clear advantage, even breaking the usual limit of only doubling the wielder’s strength—exceeding it by a full fifth.

Wuying cared deeply for Su Xiruo, but the Grand Dean kept a close eye on things. Whenever a new weapon was forged, he would appear “just in time,” find an excuse to observe or experiment, and then take the weapon away, never to be returned.

Dugu Bieli didn’t mind. He knew these were all defective products. When his Way of Forging was truly mastered, the weapons he crafted would be flawless—sharp, hard, and capable of multiplying power with no shortcomings.

He was confident in this.

The days flowed by, one after another.

On this day, as usual, Dugu Bieli headed to the library to finish reading “The Marvelous Record of Ores.” The book described special minerals—God’s Tear Stone, Demon’s Blood Stone, Heavenly Dao Stone, and others—all deeply fascinating to him.

The beast hide it was inscribed on had been left by a traveler. In his quest to find the quintessence of the five elements and advance his cultivation, he had almost traversed the entire Eastern Wilderness and, in the end, had to venture into the Star River World. The journey was fraught with peril and monstrous beasts, yet, miraculously, he wandered into the depths of the Star River without harm. Only when the world’s power began to reject him did he return, recording his experiences on this hide and donating it to the academy.

After reading for a long while, the images of those special ores—their shapes, colors, places of origin—kept replaying in Dugu Bieli’s mind. As he rolled up the hide and returned it to the shelf, his gaze happened to fall on another hide, a palm-sized corner peeking out, with the words “Great Emperor” written on it. Surprised, Dugu Bieli reached for it and opened it, discovering it to be a biography—an account of the Eastern Emperor’s life.

He read every word from start to finish, then closed his eyes. Combining the text with his own imagination, that long-buried historical tapestry slowly unfolded before him…

Nearly ten thousand years ago, among the Five Emperors of the human race, the Eastern Emperor of the Eastern Wilderness harbored a secret identity—he was, in fact, a spy for the Celestials. After seizing the throne of Emperor, he slaughtered cultivators throughout the Eastern Wilderness, killing many Marquises, Ministers, and even Kings under various pretexts. In those days, everyone in the Eastern Wilderness lived in fear, society was unstable, bandits roamed unchecked, and the people suffered terribly.

Even the three other wilds—North, South, and Center—were affected.

His wicked deeds finally drew the attention of the other four Emperors, who came to question him and investigated his background in depth. When the truth was revealed, a great upheaval erupted. The Celestials dispatched their nine leaders, many Kings and Ministers, countless Marquises and travelers, and a hundred billion divine and demonic beasts descended upon the world, killing until their arms were numb, blood flowing in rivers that even the blazing ten suns could not dry for months.

The balance was broken. The Celestials launched a frenzied assault, and humanity teetered on the brink of destruction.

Then, the Eastern Pole Emperor appeared out of nowhere. With the strength of a peak King, he fought the Eastern Emperor, displaying unparalleled, godlike powers, and killed him in a single battle, seizing his imperial secrets and becoming the new Eastern Pole Emperor. Thereafter, he led the Five Wilds, stabilized the situation, and drove the Celestials back.

Not long after, he ascended alone to the ten suns, fought battle after battle—large and small, unrecorded—destroyed all nine of the Celestials’ leaders, and even reached the Celestial Mother’s residence, intent on eradicating their very foundation. The Celestial Mother dared not fight, chose to compromise, and a peace was brokered: she acknowledged him as Emperor of Emperors and promised that as long as he lived, the Celestials would not set foot in the world.

At last, peace returned.

In the end, it was recorded that, moved by the hardships of the human race and the perils of cultivation, forced to venture into the Star River and always on guard against the Celestials, the Eastern Pole Emperor used his unrivaled power to lay down seals throughout the Star River World, restricting entry to only those below the Marquis level. If your cultivation had not surpassed Marquis and you could enter the Star River, you were free to come and go.

The only regret was that, whether human or Celestial, none could remain in the Star River World forever. After a certain period, one would be repelled; to linger forcibly would invite disaster—mysterious forces would strike, draining vitality, and life would swiftly ebb away.