[Ninth place] Name: Cloud Emperor Crown Grade: Divine artifact Owner: Grand Duke Linglong Assessment: Contains the supreme laws of emperors; the sovereign of the nine and five, splitting heaven and earth!
Lines of text appeared.
Immediately afterward, a video emerged. In it, a man ascended upon the stars, dressed in black dragon imperial robes, an emperor's crown upon his head. One man, one sword, severing eternity.
He swung his sword. The gods of the eight wildernesses were like drifting clouds, splitting apart and vanishing within the sovereign's ultimate Sword Qi.
That was the Cloud Emperor.
Upon his head was the Cloud Emperor Crown!
Then!
The Heavenly Ranking bestowed its reward!
[Ninth-place reward] Eternal Dragon Qi The most powerful wisp of Dragon Qi in the world. Refining it will grant unimaginable imperial fortune!
Everyone looked up, and heaven and earth instantly erupted.
"The divine artifact, the Cloud Emperor Crown!"
"Legend says it was the Cloud Emperor's crown during the age of gods!"
"He was the mightiest emperor of all!"
"Grand Duke Linglong belongs to the Heavenly Dusk Dynasty of the Eastern Continent!"
The people erupted in excitement.
The world's magical artifacts were divided into classifications as well.
Mortal grade, spirit grade, king grade, divine grade, immortal grade, and saint grade.
When comparing magical artifacts of the same grade, their materials, the power they contained, and the enhancement provided by their owners' strength were also crucial factors.
The Taotie Bowl and the Cloud Emperor Crown were both supreme divine artifacts, but the latter had once belonged to the Cloud Emperor. The Cloud Emperor was the god of all gods, and his power surpassed Taotie's!
The Linglong Duchy.
Within a magnificent, solemn hall, a man sat upon a golden throne. His sweeping eyebrows reached toward his temples, and his face was handsome. He held a book, his brow slightly furrowed.
"The Heavenly Dusk Dynasty is like a setting sun, declining by the day, while my Linglong Duchy possesses soaring fortune. Through gradual accumulation, its strength has become extraordinary.
"I have painstakingly devoted myself to this for nearly a century, courting the Heavenly Dusk court's officials outside and bestowing favors upon the empire's close attendants within. Only after exhausting every means and promising lavish benefits did I persuade Mengju, Mysterious Shadow, and the other tribes to rise in rebellion. Now is the crucial moment!
"All these years, I have also pursued the ultimate blessings of the sovereign's path. Without that heaven-defying magical artifact, the Linglong Duchy's fortune would never have soared straight into the heavens!
"Speaking of which... I hear Jing Zhao intends to exterminate Mengju and the other tribes, and Murong Jue even wants me to assist. Heh..."
Grand Duke Linglong chuckled.
Suddenly, he set down his book and slowly rose from the golden throne.
With a quiet movement, he arrived at a secret chamber, its entrance protected by layer upon layer of defenses!
He entered.
Inside the chamber stood a raised platform, upon which a crown was prominently displayed.
It was dark black, carved with nine golden dragons. A sovereign's presence spilled out, forming imposing dragon silhouettes!
Vast fortune radiated from it.
The Cloud Emperor Crown!
This was the crown of the Cloud Emperor, the last supreme deity of the age when the gods fought for supremacy hundreds of thousands of years ago!
He was the king of all gods!
He commanded divine beasts and slew demon emperors. Taotie and Qiongqi had both served as his mounts!
The Cloud Emperor Crown, the crown of the supreme sovereign!
One could imagine how boundless its power was!
"Whoever obtains the Cloud Emperor Crown obtains the world.
"Murong Jue, the era of the Heavenly Dusk Dynasty is about to end!
"I will no longer be Grand Duke Linglong, bowing my head and declaring myself your subject. I will become the Emperor of Linglong! Hahaha!"
The corners of Grand Duke Linglong's mouth lifted, and he laughed. At that moment, ninth place on the Heavenly Ranking was announced!
He saw the Cloud Emperor Crown's ranking!
His laughter abruptly stopped, and his expression instantly shifted between light and shadow!
"How could this happen!
"The Heavenly Ranking... the Heavenly Ranking actually exposed me!
"If Murong Jue learns of this, it will be extremely unfavorable for me! It seems... I must hurry and pick up the pace!"
Just then!
The reward descended. He extended his hand, gazing at the Eternal Dragon Qi.
Joy appeared on Grand Duke Linglong's face.
"Heaven itself wants me to become the mightiest emperor!
"With imperial fortune in my possession, Murong Jue, just wait. The Heavenly Dusk Dynasty will be utterly destroyed by my hand!"
The Heavenly Dusk Dynasty.
"Ninth on the Heavenly Ranking is the Cloud Emperor Crown! The Cloud Emperor was the king of all gods!"
"Wait, look!"
"Its owner is actually... Grand Duke Linglong!"
At the Heavenly Ranking's announcement, the people of the dynasty burst into an uproar. Naturally, Murong Jue and the other two in the imperial palace saw it as well.
Jing Zhao exclaimed in shock, "The Cloud Emperor Crown is the crown of a legitimate supreme sovereign. A mere duchy subordinate to our Heavenly Dusk Dynasty actually dares to hide a divine artifact!"
The imperial preceptor condemned him. "His wolfish ambition is laid bare for all to see!"
Murong Jue was absolutely furious!
The Heavenly Ranking had actually exposed a traitor!
Grand Duke Linglong had submitted to him a hundred thousand years ago and had always been respectful and compliant, never revealing the slightest ambition. Without the Heavenly Ranking today, he would still have been kept in the dark!
Possessing the Cloud Emperor Crown meant...
Grand Duke Linglong wanted to become an emperor! He wanted to rebel!
Murong Jue's rage was uncontrollable. "Jing Zhao, assemble every army in the dynasty. I will personally lead a campaign against the Linglong Duchy and execute that treacherous subject!"
Jing Zhao cupped his hands. "As you command!"
The Heavenly Ranking shone with unparalleled brilliance.
Dong-
The rankings updated once more!
[Eighth place] Name: Fleeting Life Umbrella Grade: Lesser immortal artifact Owner: Empress Jialuo
Upon the Heavenly Ranking, a video slowly unfolded like a painted scroll. Every frame was shocking to behold!
In the video, there was only a crimson umbrella.
Drip...
Drip...
The crimson umbrella slowly revolved between heaven and earth, blood constantly dripping from it. Like a flood, the blood surged and swept toward the mortal world, drowning everything in existence!
The entire scene was blood-red!
No wind or clouds could be seen, no yin or yang, no heaven or earth!
That was the blood of all living beings!
Even through the screen, the dense, bloody baleful Qi made everyone's hair stand on end. Their innate fear of slaughter awakened at that moment!
"A lesser immortal artifact! A heaven-defying treasure second only to an immortal artifact!"
"In this world, immortals are all but extinct, and no one even knows in what age immortal artifacts vanished!"
"The Fleeting Life Umbrella is a treasure of the Central Continent's Jialuo Holy Land. It can be called the most terrifying, most bloodthirsty magical artifact!"
"That empress is a ruthless, vicious figure!"
"Back then, to expand her territory, she wiped out nineteen sects in a single night. Those were all divine sites!"
"The Fleeting Life Umbrella is only eighth?!"
"It should be in the top three at least!"
Everyone discussed it, eyes wide with utter shock. In their minds, few magical artifacts could compare to the Fleeting Life Umbrella!
The Central Continent.
The Jialuo Holy Land.
"Eighth?
"My Fleeting Life Umbrella is actually eighth?
"Hmph, what a joke!"
Before Jialuo Hall, beneath the forbidding palace steps, Empress Jialuo, Jiang Fei, laughed coldly as she received the homage of her officials.
She wore red robes, her face alluring and icy, yet lacking none of an empress's majesty and nobility.
She was the ruler of the holy land.
Enchanting, proud, and powerful.
Hundreds of years ago, to expand the holy land's territory, she had destroyed nineteen divine-site factions in a single night, teaching the world the strength of the empress.
Her weapon was an umbrella.
The Fleeting Life Umbrella, only one step away from becoming an immortal artifact!
Even as a lesser immortal artifact, it contained might no divine artifact could rival!
One umbrella of fleeting life, the blood of hundreds of millions of asuras!
At that moment!
The Heavenly Ranking flashed, and the reward appeared-
[Eighth-place reward] Spirit Pool Spirit Pool: A treasure of creation that increases cultivation speed a hundredfold and never runs dry.
"I have long been troubled by a bottleneck in my cultivation. This Spirit Pool has arrived at just the right time. As expected of a reward from the Great Dao. The Spirit Pool is a legendary treasure!
"Still, that cannot conceal my disappointment!
"The color of the Fleeting Life Umbrella is still not red enough.
"It seems it needs a soaking in the filthy blood of those bald donkeys to deepen its color!"
Jiang Fei's red lips curved slightly upward.
Fury ignited within her beautiful phoenix eyes!