Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The session of heating alcohol and discussing heroism with a group of elite young ones had experienced a sudden change. Just when Yang Qi had thought he was going to get the distiller’s yeast, boost his power index, and push his psychic scale to over fifty, it was to his complete surprise that a consummate expert showed up.

Bastard Seacliff from the House of God Bastards arrived, took the distiller’s yeast, and tossed Prince Nobledeath’s severed head onto the floor in front of the shocked eyes of everyone present. Considering that, there wasn’t a single person present who would dare to pick a fight with him.

The truth was that someone as strong as him wouldn’t need any distiller’s yeast to fight for the position of league-lord.

Who could possibly compete with an expert who was capable of slaughtering someone like Prince Nobledeath? Even an ordinary mid Terrifying expert would have to expend a huge amount of effort fighting Bastard Seacliff, and there was no saying it would result in a victory. Bastard Seacliff might very well escape from such an encounter.

After all, Prince Nobledeath had done that very thing, which was why he had been such a difficult target. If he had just been able to retreat to the executors’ headquarters, he would have been untouchable.

The junior empress began chatting with Bastard Seacliff. As for all the other experts, they soon grew bored and began taking their leave. Obviously, there was no hope for any of them to become the league-lord now.

Eventually, Star Swordlife cast a harsh glare at Yang Qi and prepared to say his farewells.

However, that was when a group of Inheritors approached Yang Qi and said, “Junior Sectlord, considering you killed the Flower-Seizing Marauder, is there any chance you might give us his godpower seed? We’ll pay a good price for it.”

“I’m sorry, friends,” Yang Qi said. “You see, my sect already has an Inheritor disciple, so I obviously need to give that seed to her.” He was referring to Zi Qiong, although considering how crafty and murderous she was, there was no way he was going to actually give the seed to her.

Right now, he had a collection of three seeds. One of them was in the Mahātmā Jade, and one of them was from Shi Yuan, and was under constant guard by his immortal-slaying clone in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. The third, obviously, was from the Flower-Seizing Marauder.

If he gave those seeds to Zi Qiong, even he had no idea how strong she would become. After all, the Flower-Seizing Marauder had himself killed two other Inheritors, which meant that his godpower seed was much stronger than an ordinary one. As for Zi Qiong, she had killed Xi Hua. That meant that if Yang Qi gave her all of his godpower seeds, it would be equivalent to her having killed a total of six other Inheritors. Adding herself in, that would be seven.

That was a level of cultivation base that Yang Qi definitely wouldn’t be able to deal with.

The Inheritors were obviously disappointed. Unfortunately, they had no way of forcing Yang Qi to hand over the seed. Although Yang Qi wasn’t on the level of Bastard Seacliff, he was still vastly superior to them.

Even as Yang Qi refused the Inheritors and turned to leave, Bastard Seacliff suddenly said, “Hold on a moment.”

Surprised, Yang Qi turned and said, “How can I help you, Sire?”

“Simple. Give me that Inheritor godpower seed you have. It’s not going to do any good in the hands of someone like you. We have some Inheritors in the House of God Bastards, and soon, our sect will actually be filled with them.”

His words struck surprise into the hearts of everyone who remained behind. The mere thought of a sect collecting large numbers of Inheritors was shocking. For one thing, Inheritors couldn’t truly form alliances. Everyone knew that in the end, they would fight and kill each other, with only one remaining on top. Whoever that person was, there was no way a sect could actually control him or her. It made many of the people present wonder if everyone from the House of God Bastards was crazy. Who would possibly try to gather a group of Inheritors?

Many people actually assumed that Bastard Seacliff was just bragging or exaggerating.

“What will you give me in exchange?” Yang Qi asked. “Unless it’s that distiller’s yeast, I'm very reluctant to just hand over a godpower seed.” He was actually quite nervous about this Bastard Seacliff. He was obviously not the type of person to just flat-out refuse. If you did, you would likely end up very hurt or even dead.

“You want something in exchange?” Bastard Seacliff laughed. “I already have plans for this distiller’s yeast; I'm going to use it to reach the mid Terrifying level. You think I'm going to give it to you? Besides, I never give people compensation for things I take. Didn’t you just hear that the junior empress here is going to support my bid for the position of league-lord? In a few days, the assembly will officially begin and I’ll take the spot. Then your Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, or whatever it's called, will simply be a subsidiary branch of the alliance. And I’ll demand everyone hand over their godpower seeds immediately.”

“What?!” Yang Qi blurted, his expression one of anger. “You want me to just give you my godpower seed? Did I hear that correctly?”

“Yes, that's right. You can become an official who follows someone's rise from a lower rank to that of emperor. Once I'm the league-lord, I’ll be sure to treat you well. If you wait until later to give me the seed, though, it’ll be too late. Think it through.”

“I’ll worry about it when you’re the league-lord.” The last thing Yang Qi wanted to do was get into an argument with Bastard Seacliff. Turning, he said, “Junior Empress, many thanks for your hospitality today. I’ll take my leave now.”

“You don’t know what’s good for you, do you?” Chuckling coldly, Bastard Seacliff flicked his sleeve, sending out an empyrean wind that could topple mountains and drain seas. In the shortest of moments, Yang Qi’s path was blocked in all directions. The level of power unleashed by that sleeve definitely surpassed Yang Qi’s God Legion Battle Robe.

It only took a moment for Yang Qi to calculate numerous avenues of escape, but in the end, he didn’t think it would do any good. His opponent was just too strong. In fact, he felt just like he had when he faced off against the Shepherd.

Suddenly, a purring sound could be heard, and Yang Qi’s true energy transformed into a bubble that surrounded him and blocked the path of the empyrean wind.

Crack! Snap!

The bubble popped and the wind slammed into him. His sea of consciousness felt like it was being hit by a sledgehammer. Despite having an Unspoiled Body, he felt himself being hurt, with his meridians thrown into chaos and all sorts of assorted energy flows erupting within him.

SPLAT!

He coughed up a mass of blood filled with chunks of internal organs. At the same time, steam rose up from the top of his head and he felt like he was being slashed by millions upon millions of sharp knives.

The force of the blow sent him flying backward until he slammed into the wall, then slid down to the floor, bedraggled and broken-down.

“Hmm?” Bastard Seacliff looked visibly surprised. He had assumed that his attack would actually rip Yang Qi to pieces. But in the end, it had only injured him. Believing a second blow would be beneath him, though, Bastard Seacliff just said, “Screw off. The fact that you stood up to one of my blows without dying shows that you’re a real genius. Therefore, I won’t stoop to hitting you again.”

Moments ago, Star Swordlife had simply stood off to the side when Yang Qi got hit. And instead of stepping in to ‘save’ him, he was actually considering whether or not to take advantage of the moment to capture him.

Before anything else could happen, the junior empress said, “Young Sir Bastard Seacliff, I personally invited Junior Sectlord Yang Qi here as a guest. Can’t you at least give me a bit of face?”

Bastard Seacliff laughed cynically. “Not a problem. Not a problem at all. After all, this brat isn’t capable of anything impressive anyway. Sure, I’ll give you some face, Junior Empress. But remember, when I'm the league-lord, the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect will either give me that godpower seed or face severe consequences.”

Yang Qi didn’t say anything in response. He just circulated his energy to heal himself.

“Attendants,” the junior empress said, “escort the junior sectlord to the pill repository and give him whatever spirit pills he needs for his recovery. I won’t allow guests of mine to leave here injured.” With that, she gave a meaningful look to two nearby handmaidens.

“Yes ma’am.” The two handmaidens helped Yang Qi to his feet and supported him as he hobbled out.

Upon seeing all of this, Star Swordlife kept his sword energy reined in; he could tell that if he tried to make a move on Yang Qi, the junior empress would intervene. In the end, he hurried away, his expression unreadable.

After they were all gone, the junior empress said, “Bastard Seacliff, would you like to join me in my study to chat?”

“How could I refuse an offer like that?” he replied, laughing heartily.

**

The two handmaidens escorted Yang Qi all the way to the pill repository.

“Young Sir,” one of them said, “don’t let yourself get discouraged because of a single loss. The junior empress asked us to bring you here because she plans to finish her discussion with Bastard Seacliff, then come to see you personally. She really does value you highly.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi said, struggling to nod. “Don’t worry, I'm not discouraged. That guy is strong. He killed Prince Nobledeath, so it's a foregone conclusion that I would lose to him in a fight.”

“Good. Just rest here for now, Young Sir. Take whatever medicinal pills you need. The junior empress will come soon to make sure you’re completely recovered.”

With that, the two handmaidens departed, leaving Yang Qi behind in silence.

As he lay there literally steaming, he calmly contemplated his situation. He had spoken the truth; he wasn't discouraged at all. He had participated in many fights throughout the years, and had long since developed the ability to achieve a state of detachment.

A while later, he coughed up not a mass of necrotic blood, but a ball of energy that looked almost like a dark, oddly rippling cloud. It immediately began spreading out to fill the room, but he quickly summoned a bubble to contain it.

It was a stream of energy that Bastard Seacliff had implanted into him to cause further damage, and if he hadn’t extruded it, it would have sliced away at his true energy like a tiny knife. Eventually, it would have damaged his flesh and blood. It was essentially Bastard Seacliff’s effort to kill him without even fighting. Little did the man know that Yang Qi would actually be able to expel it.