Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘Just what exactly is the purrling? Does nobody know?’ Yang Qi shook his head. If the imperial couple of the Woodfern Couple Palace didn’t have any idea what it was, how could he possibly uncover any information?

Of course, the ultimate beast in the god world was definitely the King of Godmammoths. Strictly speaking though, he wasn’t an animal. He was second only to the Sovereign Lord. In fact, in terms of power, he actually surpassed the Sovereign Lord, and was only weaker in terms of will.

“Dear Nephew,” Mu Renwang said, “I also heard that you took a trip to the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās?” Instead of addressing Yang Qi as Young Sir, he had switched to calling him Dear Nephew, which was a much more intimate form of address. Obviously, it went to show that their relationship was now much closer.

There were very few young ones from the Ancient Road to the Gods that Mu Renwang would ever address as Dear Nephew.

That said, Yang Qi wasn't very familiar with all the ins and outs of the Ancient Road to the Gods, so this sudden change in the form of address wasn’t as meaningful to him.

“That’s right,” he said, nodding. After Archmonk Dharma Treasury publicly spoke of their mission in the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās, word of the matter had quickly spread, so it was little wonder that the imperial couple had heard.

“I did go to the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās, along with Archmonk Dharma Treasury. We foiled the Shepherd’s plan to unify the fiend-devils under his control, but unfortunately, the fiend-devils ultimately succeeded in forming their alliance. I have to say I'm ashamed at how it all turned out.”

“Ashamed?” Su Xin said. “There’s no reason to be ashamed, Dear Nephew. The Shepherd is an invincible expert among the fiend-devils, so the mere fact that you escaped from him with your life is amazing. I heard that in your clash with the Shepherd, you took a jade amulet that belonged to him. Do you still have it?”

“Of course,” Yang Qi replied. “Unfortunately, I don't know what it is, nor do I know how to use it. No amount of experimentation has produced any result. From what I understand, not even the Shepherd was able to use it.”

Su Xin and Mu Renwang exchanged a glance, then he said, “Would you mind letting us take a look?”

“That goes without saying,” Yang Qi replied, although inside he was chuckling coldly. Without the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body, it was impossible to do anything with the jade. Therefore, he didn’t mind letting them take it temporarily.

They definitely wouldn’t be able to benefit from it.

He offered the piece of jade respectfully to Su Xin and Mu Renwang, who were clearly pleased that he was being so cooperative. It seemed to indicate that he really was going to follow their orders. Truth be told, it was a test, and he had passed.

“Incredible,” Mu Renwang said as he studied the piece of jade. “Dear Nephew, are you saying you haven’t unlocked any of this thing’s secrets? Do you know anything about it at all?”

“I was actually hoping you could tell me something about it,” Yang Qi replied. “I asked Archmonk Dharma Treasury about it, and even though he’s read all sorts of ancient records from the buddhist schools, he doesn’t know anything about it. He just knows that it’s some sort of legacy treasure from the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās.”

Mu Renwang suddenly burst out laughing. “Not even that little monk Dharma Treasury knows about it? I guess his late Master, the famous Dharma Unbounded, never uncovered the truth. Well, since you ask, I suppose I have no choice but to tell you. This jade is actually incredibly famous. It's called Mahātmā Jade, and this is actually just a fragment of it.”

“Mahātmā Jade!?” Yang Qi said, feigning a look of surprise. “Sounds amazing. But why would that be something connected to the Devilfolk?”

“Long ago, some mahātmās from the god world descended into hell in the hopes of bringing salvation to the people there. But in the end, they joined the dao of devils. Later, they took all of their combined wisdom and inscribed it onto a jade amulet, in the hopes of using it to fight the God Legion Seal. In the end, they failed, and the Mahātmā Jade was broken into several pieces. Unfortunately, it's impossible to access any of that ancient wisdom by using only one piece of the jade. According to the stories, you have to collect all of the pieces before they’re useful.”

“Amazing. But what does the jade actually do?”

Mu Renwang took a long moment before saying, “It can be used to greatly improve your psychic scale. As I'm sure you’re aware, Dear Nephew, the psychic scale is broken up into the levels of Normal, Stupendous, Destabilizing, Terrifying, Paramount, Unbounded and finally Annulled. The mid Terrifying level is the hallmark of the god world. The Paramount level is the threshold to be considered in the legion of gods, and can call the wind and summon the rain in the god world. The Mahātmā Jade can actually absorb the psychic power of one person and convert it for use by another. Supposedly, it can even help push someone into the Annulled level.”

“So that’s how it is,” Yang Qi said. “Seniors, could you two possibly activate the jade?”

“We’ll need to study it first,” Mu Renwang replied. “Dear Nephew, would you mind if we keep it for a while?”

“No problem at all. It's not really mine to begin with, so consider it offering borrowed flowers to Buddha.” Yang Qi didn’t hesitate to offer them the Mahātmā Jade. The truth was that the moment he had arrived in their presence, he knew that he was trapped. There was no way he could use the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to escape, therefore he had no other option than to give them the Mahātmā Jade. Besides, it was always possible that they might learn a thing or two from the jade that could be of help to him.

The two experts yet again nodded in approval.

“Well then, Dear Nephew,” Mu Renwang said, “we accept your generous offer. Now, in the interests of helping you to become the league-lord, we're going to use a special technique to bless you with power. By strengthening your nascent divinity and will, you should be able to reach the Terrifying level.”

“Many thanks for your help,” Yang Qi replied, dropping politely to his knees. “Unfortunately, I cultivate a secret magic that has made it extremely difficult to reach the Terrifying level. Seniors, what exact technique were you planning to use?”

“Don’t worry,” Su Xin said, “the two of us working together shouldn’t have any problems. Incidentally, doesn’t the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect have a part of the Cruiser of Civilization. The psychic scaling systems?”

“Er... don’t tell me that you're planning to use the psychic scaling systems. If I use that, my path of cultivation would end. Besides, it's the sectlord who controls those systems. If you need them, I could always go ask for him to give them as a gift.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Mu Renwang said. “Dear Nephew, don’t tell me you think that we’re the greedy sort. You've already shown how generous you are by giving us that jade amulet, so of course we wouldn’t squabble over something as insignificant as the psychic scaling systems. Besides, we wouldn’t have any use for them without the Engine of the One God.”

Yang Qi shivered inwardly. Thankfully, he had left the Engine of the One God behind in the sect, well-hidden.

If word leaked and the imperial couple found out, it could cause huge problems. Obviously, they would demand it, and if it wasn’t handed over to them, could take it by force. It would be as easy for them to destroy the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect as it would be to flip over a hand.

Yang Qi was under no illusion that these people were somehow benevolent and kind-hearted. If they were, their sect would long since have been exterminated.

“But what other than the psychic scaling systems could actually help me improve my psychic power?” Yang Qi asked curiously.

“Simple,” Mu Renwang said with a faint smile. “You have a godpower seed from the Great Necropolis, right? We’ll just turn you into an Inheritor.”

“What?!” Yang Qi said in shock. “How could you possibly do that? Seniors, based on my understanding, you can only be an Inheritor if you acquired one of those seeds when they first appeared. And it’s common knowledge that only the Inheritors can benefit by killing other Inheritors and taking their godpower seeds.”

“Common knowledge?” Su Xin said. She chuckled. “Common knowledge isn't always correct. We’ve been researching the mysteries of the Great Necropolis for a long time. Furthermore, we’ve killed some of the Inheritors and, after studying their godpower seeds, have learned some of their secrets.”

“Secrets? What secrets?!” Yang Qi asked, shocked. He really was surprised, as he had always been under the impression that he couldn’t assimilate the godpower seeds.

“Even if we explained, Dear Nephew, you wouldn’t understand,” Mu Renwang said. “Suffice it to say that we’ve observed the transformations within the godpower seeds and have a way to use them to turn you into an Inheritor. The process will be dangerous, but thankfully, you have a very strong body. Our method has a fifty percent chance of success. Are you willing to take that risk?”

“Yes, I am,” Yang Qi replied. Of course, even if he had refused, he would still have had no choice but to do what they said. Obviously, they wanted to experiment on him to see if it really was possible to take the power of the godpower seeds. If the process worked, the two of them could also become Inheritors, instantly gaining a huge boost in strength.

But what secret method were they planning to use? Yang Qi was very curious. If you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off, and he was already on the tiger. So it only made sense to go for broke!