Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

This was another benefit that Yang Qi had gained from being a Fateless One.

When a high-level expert was about to face a dangerous situation, they would often experience a sudden strange feeling, and as a result they would often be able to ascertain the nature of the upcoming event. But with Yang Qi, that didn’t happen. When he plotted against some top expert, the fact that he didn’t exist in the river of fate meant that they wouldn’t be able to sense him.

Archmonk Dharma Treasury knew that, which was one reason why he recruited Yang Qi to help deal with the Shepherd.

Given the level of the Shepherd’s cultivation base, and his deep understanding of the workings of heaven, he should have easily been able to discern what was going on. Archmonk Dharma Treasury should never have been able to secretly plot to take the jade medallion from him.

But now, even if the Shepherd’s cultivation base were stronger, he would still have no idea what was going on.

This was another reason why Fateless Ones were considered much more deadly than any of the other three thousand constitutions. Not even professional assassins could do what Fateless Ones could do.

“Senior, I did just have a strange feeling,” Yang Qi said. “Whenever that happens to me, something big happens. Unfortunately, I don’t have Terrifying will, which makes it impossible for me to divine the details.”

“Sadly, there’s nothing that can be done about that. However, thanks to being in your vicinity, I was able to borrow your aura to hide from the workings of heaven and divine some new information. Thanks to you being a Fateless One, the Shepherd still has no clue of what we’re doing. I’d say we have a very good chance of getting our hands on the jade medallion. However, I do have one request that I hope you can agree to, Young Hero.”

“What is it? Please, just ask, Grandmaster.”

“I hope to have a drop of your blood, Young Hero,” Archmonk Dharma Treasury said. “With it, I can power my buddhist predestination divine abilities to an unprecedented level. I should be able to divine much more information; for instance, the exact location of both the medallion and the Shepherd. That would improve our chances even more. I was able to confirm that the Shepherd is working on his cultivation and is in the middle of working on a very powerful divine ability. If he succeeds, we’ll most likely fail and die. Therefore, we have to identify a weakness in his cultivation and use that to strike at just the right moment, get the medallion, and make our escape.”

Yang Qi thought about it, and it made sense. It was common for people to experience moments of weakness during their cultivation. The lower the cultivation level, the longer those periods of time could last. In the mortal world, some people would end up stuck in such a state for years.

For immortals, it usually wouldn't last for more than a few hours.

For Godmyths, the time would be even shorter. And for those in the Terrifying level, it might last for the blink of an eye, or even a fraction of that amount of time. For someone as incredibly powerful as the Shepherd, a moment like that would pass by so quickly that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to take advantage of it.

Archmonk Dharma Treasury wanted to use a drop of Fateless blood to take advantage of that moment of weakness. It was a very dangerous plan, and they would likely die if it failed.

“In that case, Grandmaster, take a drop of my blood.” Yang Qi waved his finger, sending out a single drop of scintillating blood that thrummed as though it were a universe of its own, pulsing with incredible fluctuations filled with the sound of slaughter, war drums, and thunder and lightning.

“This blood contains the godpower of the True Devil, as well as the power of a Fateless One. I can also sense the constitutions of an Eternal One and a Fortuned One. Don’t tell me you….” Archmonk Dharma Treasury looked over in shock.

“I did. I killed both an Eternal One and a Fortuned One, and assimilated their blood. My blood contains many aspects, Grandmaster, and they should all prove helpful.”

“Sādhu, sādhu! Another rare prodigy has appeared in heaven and earth. Who you kill is your business, young friend, and although it's not my place to offer my opinion, I can’t hold back from reminding you that the less killing you do, the better. When you kill living beings, you accept their karma. The more killing you do, the more karma you accept. And in the end, there will always be a reckoning….” [1]

“You're right, Grandmaster,” Yang Qi said. “However, influxes of karma can also come when taking the faith of others. And if the original Buddha himself could ask for the faith of his followers, doesn’t that mean that he accepted the karma of all living beings?”

“As a representative of the original Buddha, I can accept the karma of living beings,” Archmonk Dharma Treasury said. “Compassion cometh from Buddha. You see, buddhism is an empty void. When the faith of living beings returns to that void, it becomes lifeless and destructionless. Buddhism destroys karma. That said, there are some Seniors of the buddhist schools in the god world who haven’t achieved the true state of the void yet, and end up being destroyed by karma. It’s a true tragedy.”

“So, that’s how it is.” Yang Qi was impressed by how blunt Archmonk Dharma Treasury was being. The fact that he directly stated that there were buddhas in the god world who died as a result of being unable to deal with karma indicated that he had truly engaged in deep study and research of the truths of buddhism. It made sense. Otherwise, how could he claim to be an Archmonk?

“Grandmaster, please, refine that drop of blood,” Yang Qi said.

“Compassion cometh from Buddha. Young friend, the fact that you’ve given your blood to subdue the devils will bring future blessings to you. Your ill fortune shall turn to good luck, and danger will become auspicious for you.” Archmonk Dharma Treasury pushed his palms together in front of him, enclasping the drop of blood, which he quickly absorbed. A moment later, he shivered, and buddhist light sprang out from him.

Within that buddhist light were countless streams of karma that eventually locked on to a certain individual, revealing him and his surroundings.

He was dressed all in black, including a flowing cloak with a hood that hid his facial features. He sat cross-legged with a shepherd’s crook on his knees. He wasn’t moving or emitting any magical fluctuations, yet from what Yang Qi could tell, he obviously had profound devil arts that were in the realm of the Four Devils Combined.

Heaven-devils. Earth-Devils. Man-Devils. Heart-devils.

When those four devils were combined, they created a true devil, one that could dominate the universe and conquer the god world. The ‘sheep’ from the sheepskin scroll was the same sheep from ‘shepherd’, and it represented all living things. And thus, the Shepherd was someone who tended to all living beings.

“This person’s cultivation base is terrifying! If Archmonk Dharma Treasury hadn’t used my Fateless blood, he definitely would’ve noticed us. And killed us! His cultivation base is definitely at or above the level of whatever expert recently tried to kill me with sword energy.”

Up to this point, the strongest expert Yang Qi had ever faced was the mysterious person that rescued Empress Joyflower.

He had almost lost his life in that encounter, and it was his first time since beginning to cultivate the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body that he had been seriously injured.

“Pay attention,” the Archmonk said. “When my physical body starts to crumble, you must infuse me with your true energy. Then I’ll use my Buddha Goes to a Strange World to try to locate the jade medallion.”

More light spilled forth, and the image expanded.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi could hear creaking and cracking sounds coming from inside Archmonk Dharma Treasury. It really did seem like he was using some powerful divine ability that was about to cause his body to crumble.

Thankfully, Yang Qi’s true energy had already surpassed that of an actual Terrifying expert. Quickly drawing on the power of twenty-four tribulations, he bolstered the archmonk's body. As a result, the power causing the crumbling was transferred to him, and cracking sounds rang out from inside him.

Remaining calm, he used the power of tribulations to suppress it.

After getting the Three Lives Stone, he had reached a higher level of enlightenment, and his body had become so strong that it could sustain forces that even Terrifying experts could not. In fact, the force right now was so strong that it definitely would have killed the Wretch God Apostle.

Archmonk Dharma Treasury had recruited the perfect person.

“Your physical body is incredible, Young Hero. It even surpasses the indestructible vajra bodies of the buddhist schools. Once, long ago, I met a devil who cultivated the same body technique as yours, a devil who had joined a buddhist school and cultivated a combination of righteous and evil cultivation methods. However, after reaching the level of thirty tribulations, he died. I have to say, if that devil were here today, not even he would be able to stand up to the destructive force of Buddha Goes to a Strange World. I'm completely astonished.”

“Don’t worry, Grandmaster, I’ll make sure to keep your body intact. Please, just use your divine ability to find that jade, then we can get out of here.”

“Very well. Young Hero, keep your divine will and tribulation energy focused on my nascent divinity, and we can both act together. If necessary, I’ll hold the Shepherd at bay while you take the jade and escape.”

“Er… Grandmaster, there’s no need for you to sacrifice yourself. Really.”

“That’s the only plan that will work. Young friend, I know that you’re from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, which is a righteous and orthodox sect. Remember, that jade medallion is not a magical treasure, it’s something extremely dangerous. And it’s a symbol to these wretch-devils that we cannot allow to exist.”

“Alright,” Yang Qi said. “I’ll do what I have to.”

“In that case, the success of this mission will be up to you.” Archmonk Dharma Treasury continued his work, and his body began crumbling even more dramatically.

That was when an altar became visible in front of the Shepherd, upon which was a jade medallion.

1. Sādhu literally means “excellent”, and it’s a relatively common Buddhist saying. As soon as you see this in a Chinese fantasy novel, you know that the person saying it is a monk or Buddhist of some sort. Instead of translating it into “excellent, excellent” I’m using the sanskrit to keep the Buddhist flavor.