589: humble origins

The Incinerating Heaven Holy King was quite weak, belonging to the easiest category of Holy Kings to deal with.

However, he seemed to have a strong stress response; before Li Qi could even finish two sentences, the guy had already lost his cool.

He was constantly shouting about fighting and killing, making a racket, and could not sit still for a moment.

Li Qi did not indulge him either; he directly cast a secret technique to Seal him.

Under the astonished gaze of Holy King Qing Shang, the Incinerating Heaven Holy King stood frozen on the spot. The "Cloud Pattern Divine Seal" was activated, and tiny runes crawled all over his body...

Soon, the Incinerating Heaven Holy King's body writhed and deformed, shrinking continuously... In no time, he transformed into a palm-sized bronze figurine!

It was not just Holy King Qing Shang who was surprised; the nearby crowd also let out gasps of shock.

It was broad daylight, and they were in the middle of the street, surrounded by people everywhere.

Originally, Li Qi and Holy King Qing Shang descending from the sky had attracted many gazes, but now that a conflict had broken out in the street, with one side launching a fierce attack only to be subdued and Sealed into a small bronze figure in the blink of an eye, it immediately caused quite a commotion.

"Oh, heavens! That person turned into a bronze statue!"

"Monsters! These two are monsters!"

"The mystery is solved... He used a Demonic Technique!!"

"The monsters are hurting people!!"

"Run for your lives!"

"Everyone, hurry and run!!"

The commotion here intensified, even attracting the attention of the local city guards; Li Qi could already see large groups of armored soldiers rushing toward them.

Li Qi looked at Holy King Qing Shang: "This matter is settled, let us go."

Holy King Qing Shang nodded, and both figures rose from the ground, shooting straight into the sky, immediately departing the Nilo Realm.

They were merely passing through, arriving and departing in a hurry, never lingering once their business was done; in the blink of an eye, they had vanished without a trace...

In the days that followed, Holy King Qing Shang accompanied Li Qi as they roamed across the starry sky, constantly shuttling between different worlds.

Holy King Qing Shang was horrified to discover that Li Qi could truly, accurately, and without error find every hidden Holy King!

He did not even take a single unnecessary detour!

Because every Holy King had completed a deep Fusion with their Sacred Throne and was very adept at hiding... but that was useless against Li Qi!

He found them one by one without a sound.

Moreover, every Holy King blocked by Li Qi wore an expression of horror; some were almost scared to the point of wetting themselves.

After dealing with another hidden Holy King, the number of Sacred Thrones in Li Qi's hands was approaching the three-hundred mark, causing Holy King Qing Shang to click his tongue in amazement.

"Li Qi, your reputation seems to be quite loud..."

Almost every Holy King who saw Li Qi was startled into jumping up, looking as if they had seen a ghost.

All the Holy Kings knew him; once they saw him... they were like mice seeing a cat.

Li Qi laughed softly: "You flatter me, Holy King. I only have a meager reputation..."

A meager reputation?

Holy King Qing Shang shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly: "Do you have some misunderstanding about what a 'meager reputation' is..."

Since leaving the Leaving Dust Realm, Holy King Qing Shang and Li Qi had traveled through the starry sky for over half a year, their footprints covering every corner of the stars as they dug out one Holy King after another.

Even those Holy Kings who had never shown their faces from beginning to end were dug out; the process was so smooth it was simply astonishing.

"Alright, it is over. These hidden Holy Kings have all been found... not one escaped."

"Let us go back."

Having been busy for so long, Li Qi also felt a bit tired; it was time to go back and rest.

The two did not linger and set off toward the Origin Realm...

Upon arriving at the Origin Realm, Holy King Qing Shang looked at the familiar sights and could not help but feel moved.

"The Origin Realm..."

"It has been a long time since I have been here; I used to live here for a long time."

Since retiring many years ago, Holy King Qing Shang had lived in a corner of the starry sky; he never thought he would have the day to set foot in the Source Realm again.

After smoothing out the various thoughts in his mind, Holy King Qing Shang looked at Li Qi and asked.

"Li Qi... so you are from the Origin Realm?"

"The Origin Realm is truly a place where outstanding people emerge..."

Li Qi was silent for a moment before speaking leisurely.

"No, you are mistaken. I am not from the Origin Realm..."

"I came from the Lower Realm."

The Lower Realm?

Holy King Qing Shang doubted if he had misheard and cried out involuntarily.

"What? The Lower Realm?!!"

Li Qi nodded without speaking.

Holy King Qing Shang fell completely silent; he had never imagined... that Li Qi would actually be from the Lower Realm.

What is the Lower Realm?

In the eyes of Holy King Qing Shang, the Lower Realm was an existence like a sewer; the environment there was extremely harsh, there was nothing, and it was a place without hope.

Who knows how many people sank in the Lower Realm, rising and falling throughout their lives, unable to find liberation for generation after generation...

Those who could break free from the shackles, shatter the Void Realm, and ascend to the Upper Realm were, after all, a tiny minority—they were rare as Phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

And Holy King Qing Shang never imagined that Li Qi was such a person.

Even "humble origins" was not enough to describe Li Qi; it was so humble it could not be any humbler, and his starting point could not have been any lower.

After a long while, Holy King Qing Shang said with a complex expression: "Li Qi, I finally know why you can stand at the peak of the Holy Kings..."

"Only someone like you... could reach this point today!"