Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi waved his hand, strengthening the warding spells around them. As a result, anyone who tried to look at them would see nothing more than roiling fog. Considering his advancements, Yang Qi’s Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning was now stronger than ever, to the point where no one could possibly pierce through it.

Now that they were in private, Yang Qi explained everything that had happened with the imperial couple. Even the sectlord was sweating with anxiety when he heard about how dangerous things had turned out.

However, when he heard that Yang Qi had taken so many godpower seeds, then used them to break through to the Terrifying level and achieve a psychic scale of ninety-one, his eyes brimmed with tears of excitement. “The Will Manifestation Heaven Sect really is going to achieve great glory and will be able to act with complete freedom. Perhaps we’ll even be able to walk the Ancient Road to the Gods and become deathless in the god world!”

The truth was that although the old-timers in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect were powerful, they still couldn’t live forever.

Most of them were already billions of years old, and would eventually run out of longevity, then ultimately die. Their only hope of escaping death was to improve their cultivation bases and enter the god world. Unfortunately, breakthroughs were difficult. Generally speaking, the only way to succeed would be to enter the god world and make use of the magical laws there. Once they were members of the legion of gods, they would generally keep on living forever unless some disastrous tribulation hit.

To powerful cultivators, billions of years could pass by very quickly, especially if that time was spent in secluded meditation with the magical laws of time accelerated. In other words, it was possible for one day to pass on the outside for them, while simultaneously losing ten thousand years of longevity or more. Do that a few hundred times, and one could end up dying much sooner.

Nowadays, the old-timers of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect wouldn't dare to use such time acceleration magic, otherwise they would lose their life force and perish.

“Yang Qi, can you really devastate an opponent in the mid Terrifying level?” Peaklord Memory asked.

“You’ll find out when the assembly starts,” he replied with a smile. “Don't worry, you won’t be disappointed. Thanks to the purrling, I managed to turn ill fortune into good luck. I only wish I knew what kind of food it likes to eat so I could find something to reward it with.”

Yang Qi reached out and scratched the purrling behind the ears. It didn’t spit out a bubble, but it did purr a bit, apparently in pleasure.

The truth was that the purrling didn’t eat; it even looked at godhood with disdain.

Even the godlings described in the most ancient daoist texts were always said to enjoy consuming godhood. For example, King Heaven-Devourer consumed godhood and converted it into Heaven-Devouring śarīras to improve his cultivation base. Unfortunately, the purrling didn’t eat godhood. Perhaps it was like a peerless beauty from the nobility, or an imperial prince who, after sampling the most wonderful delicacies, would look at ordinary food as fare for dogs and pigs.

Yang Qi really was curious to find what it would eat.

Thankfully, it didn’t ever seem to get hungry.

Purr. Purr....

The purrling stretched and wriggled, looking so charming that anyone who looked at it for the first time would have no idea how terrifying it was. After all, if it weren’t for the purrling, the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect would likely have been destroyed by now. Instead, no one dared to trifle with them.

“More and more people are showing up,” Yang Qi said. “I should take advantage of the moment to make all of you a bit stronger. In the future, you’ll be on your own sometimes, and should be able to take care of yourselves.”

RUMBLE!

Suddenly, several true energy arms sprouted from his back, all of which thrummed with the empyrean energy of great daos and were surrounded by countless magical symbols.

The hands locked on to the heads of everyone present, and Yang Qi sent true energy flowing into them.

Peaklords Celestial and Memory, and the sectlord, had pushed their cultivation to the limit, gaining profound enlightenment of their divine abilities and pushing their energy arts to the peak. They were strong enough to fight virtually any powerful expert, yet with a simple movement of his hand, Yang Qi immobilized them. From that, they could tell that he was strong enough to kill them with a mere snap of his finger. They simply couldn't compare. At the same time, they were yet again struck with the realization that their sect had made the right decision. Without Yang Qi, they would have had to curry favor with some other powerful sect in order to survive, and would likely have ended up as little more than slaves or servants.

As the power coursed through their bodies, they felt themselves being purified.

Yang Qi imparted various energy arts and cultivation knowledge directly into them, extruded impurities, and generally baptized them, helping all of them to increase their psychic scales by a few points. That was especially true of Jadefall, whose psychic scale was now over thirty.

The sectlord felt his longevity increasing by at least a million years, which meant that he now had a chance to live a bit longer. Of course, he was very pleased.

At a certain point, a voice from outside reached their ears. “Is Young Sir Yang Qi present?”

Looking out, they saw that Junior Empress Mu Yexi from the Woodfern Couple Palace had come to pay a formal visit. People from other sects who were in the vicinity were shocked, as it was obviously a huge honor for anyone to have a formal visit paid by the junior empress.

“Come in, Junior Empress,” Yang Qi said, keeping a faint smile on his face. Obviously, the imperial couple were acknowledging his strength, and had sent the junior empress to discuss cooperating together, both to win the spot of league-lord and to fight the Genesis Sanctum.

After Mu Yexi entered, the warding spells closed behind her, making it impossible for anyone to determine what they were talking about.

“Have you thought things through, Junior Empress?” Yang Qi said. “Are we finally going to work together to get me the spot of league-lord? It's good to see that Mu Renwang and Su Xin have seen the reality of the situation. They have my admiration for making the right decision.”

“You played your cards well, Young Sir Yang Qi,” Mu Yexi said with a broad smile. It seemed that she had already put the past behind her. “You managed to escape from a seemingly impossible situation. Presumably, you have more than the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to rely on.”

“You flatter me,” Yang Qi said. “Look, whatever you have to say, just say it.”

“You’ve already assimilated those eighteen godpower seeds, haven’t you, Young Sir?” she asked, watching carefully to see how he would react to the question. “That’s a tremendous accomplishment that not even my father or mother could replicate. It just goes to show how truly invincible you are.”

“It wasn't really a big deal. I also assimilated a godpower seed I took from an Inheritor I killed in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. My psychic scale has risen, and I'm in the Terrifying level. Soon enough I’ll find a chance to see how my daoist techniques measure up to your parents’. What do you think?” Yang Qi casually revealed his brash ambitions in a very dignified and imposing manner.

All Mu Yexi could do in response was smile wryly. Obviously, she had already taken note of the fact that Yang Qi’s cultivation base had reached a very enigmatic level, and he had even gone so far as to suggest pitting himself against her parents. She hadn't forgotten that he killed the Flower-Seizing Marauder before he had even reached the Terrifying level, which begged the question of how strong he was now.

“If that’s what you wish for, Young Sir Yang Qi, then I'm sure it will happen eventually. It seems you’re fully confident in being able to kill Bastard Seacliff, but don't forget that a lot of Inheritors are also going to be vying for the position of league-lord. Just make sure not to lower your guard.”

“Why would I lower my guard?” Yang Qi replied. “I'm more than happy to have Inheritors offering themselves up to me. I was just recently worrying about how to reach the mid Terrifying level without more godpower seeds. Considering you’re throwing your support behind me, is it safe to assume that you have a plan for how to do that?”

“I’ve been sent here by my parents to offer the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect thirty pieces of godhood, which should help all of you improve your cultivation bases. We just hope that when you become the league-lord, you’ll pass the blessings of the sect to me.” Even as the words left her mouth, Mu Yexi produced a bag filled with godhood. Although all of the pieces were from Lesser Gods, they would still be very useful.

“I can agree to that,” Yang Qi said, nodding. “That power of blessing won’t be of any help to me; the last thing I want is a bunch of heterogeneous power. As for the Genesis Sanctum, if they agree to back me, I’ll let them off the hook for now. But if they refuse to acknowledge allegiance, they’ll end up dead. Their junior pontiff hired the Royal Palace of Assassins to kill me, which means the two of us are now archenemies whose feud will only end in death.”

“Your heroic spirit knows no bounds, Young Sir, and you have my utmost admiration. Now that matters are settled, I’ll make a formal announcement that the Woodfern Couple Palace is backing your bid for the spot of league-lord. That will definitely boost the reputation of your Will Manifestation Heaven Sect.” Stepping back out into the open, she raised her voice and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, the assembly will begin soon, and I'm sure it will be an occasion of much rejoicing. That said, I would like to take this opportunity to mention that Junior Sectlord Yang Qi of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect has a very profound and enigmatic cultivation base. As such, the Woodfern Couple Palace backs his bid to be the new league-lord. Of course, if any other young heroes can defeat him, then that person will be the league-lord. It will all come down to who’s strongest!”

Instantly, the crowd was thrown into an uproar.

Many of the sects were aware that the Woodfern Couple Palace had originally intended to support Yang Qi, and as a result, had laid to rest their own ambitions and thrown their lot in with the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. After all, even if Yang Qi was a puppet league lord, he would still be powerful enough to offer them protection.