Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Holy Daughter Manyflowers was becoming a Legendary, and in many ways, it was an eye-opening experience for Yang Qi.

Strange signs appeared, subterranean quintessence erupted, and lightning gathered. Yang Qi had never seen so much lightning before; it was filled with celestial winds and the roars of dragons and tigers, heavenly palaces, heaven-devils and earth-fiends, and more.

In fact, countless stars above seemed to emit destructive starlight, as if to rip Manyflowers Peak out of the ground and crush it into ash.

Yang Qi got the feeling that if he were in that tribulation, he wouldn’t make it out alive.

All prospective Legendaries had to pass this massive tribulation to reach the next level.

‘Crap,’ he thought. ‘Aunt Susu is on Manyflowers Peak too, which means that she might get killed if Holy Daughter Manyflowers doesn’t pass the tribulation. Well, I guess the only thing I can do is prepare to charge in there and rescue her if things go bad.’

Meanwhile, the surrounding experts were discussing the goings-on.

“Her Legendary Tribulation is profound to say the least. Having a cultivation base that strong shows that this girl is really a genius. She reached Nonary Lifeseizing twenty years ago, and now she’s doing this? I wonder if she’ll succeed. If so, our institute will have another Legendary.”

“It’s hard to say. That tribulation is nothing to take lightly. Look, there’s a heavenly palace in the lightning! The rulers of heaven aren’t happy at all!”

“Her apprentice Yang Susu is there with her. You know, I’ve always wondered about that. Yang Susu doesn't seem particularly talented. Why would Holy Daughter Manyflowers pick her as an apprentice? Was it really worth it?”

“Supposedly, Yang Susu has a unique background. She’s been here at the institute for ten years, but only has a middling cultivation base as far as I’m concerned. Well, you can’t compare her to Holy Daughter Manyflowers or the Crown Prince. In any case, she’s no weakling. I heard that she hasn’t opened her apertures, but if she does, she’ll be extraordinary beyond belief.”

“Opened her apertures? What does that mean?”

“Even I'm not really sure. It has something to do with a physique-type from the distant past.”

“Look, the heavenly tribulation is growing more intense. Incredible! Her apprentice Yang Susu is actually fighting by her side. Is Holy Daughter Manyflowers crazy? She’s actually using the power of the tribulation to temper her apprentice! Wait, don’t tell me she’s using the tribulation to help her open her apertures?”

More and more people were gathering to watch the events playing out at Manyflowers Peak, including elders, conclave students, and even some elite students who happened to be around at the time. Mixtures of both envy and fear could be seen on the faces of those present.

On the one hand, some people envied the fact that Holy Daughter Manyflowers was becoming a Legendary, and on the other hand, some people feared the power of the tribulation.

Yang Qi could sense two auras in the tribulation, one strong, one weak. Obviously, the weaker one belonged to Yang Susu.

To his surprise, he realized that Holy Daughter Manyflowers was actually guiding some of the tribulation power into Yang Susu.

‘What heaven-defying secret magic is that? Can Aunt Susu take it?’ He had just overheard people talking about Yang Susu having some sort of special physique, and that if she ‘opened her apertures’, she would make astounding progress.

The fact of the matter was that Yang Susu was only a bit over twenty, and had just started to make a name for herself. She was already a Secondary Lifeseizer, and because of that, was considered something of a prodigy. And yet now they were saying she would become vastly stronger if she opened her apertures?

WHIZZZ!

The lightning above swirled together to form a huge bell, which descended to encompass the entirety of Manyflowers Peak.

Many people were now letting out exclamations of shock.

“I can’t believe she provoked tribulation lightning like that!”

“That’s the Universal Polarity Godbell! Its appearance indicates that the person in question cannot be permitted in this heaven and earth, and has aroused the rage of both the legion of gods, and heaven and earth! What is that kind of tribulation lightning doing here? Our Demi-Immortal Institute is a righteous, orthodox organization. From what I've heard, this type of tribulation would only appear for the most evil wretch-devils in the distant past.”

“That phenomenon is incredible. About a hundred years ago, I was in the deep mountains when I saw an incredibly powerful wretch-devil facing a tribulation like this. He set up countless grand spell formations, and even performed blood sacrifices. And yet, the bell came and reduced him to ash. Don’t tell me that Holy Daughter Manyflowers cultivates some sort of devil art?”

“How is that even possible? If she cultivated a devil art, the elders would have found out about it a long time ago. I’d guess it's because her strength is literally heaven-defying. She’s forcing the tribulation to help her apprentice, which is inciting even more tribulation to come. She's really got some guts, I’ll give you that. Isn’t she afraid of dying? Not only does she have to worry about passing the tribulation herself, but she also has to take care of her apprentice.”

“She’s killing two birds with one stone. I heard that last time she went to the Minorcosm World, she got in an argument with Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, who said that her apprentice doesn’t match up to their new apprentice, Yun Hailan. Maybe that's why she decided to go and defy heaven to this degree.”

“She’s going to get herself killed.”

WHIZZZ!

All of a sudden, the bell that had covered Manyflowers Peak began to vibrate, as though something inside were banging against it with incredible force.

Ninety-nine times, the bell trembled, cracks spreading out on its surface until, finally, it exploded into countless fragments that became a vortex swirling around the area.

“Void Severing!” It was Holy Daughter Mayflowers’ voice, accompanied by a projection of Humanoid True Energy. As it floated above the mountain like a goddess, it hefted a sword and then slashed it upward, causing a bizarre black rift to open up in the air. The resulting imbalance with heaven and earth instantly caused the heaven-devils, lightning, and other tribulations to be sucked inside.

In the blink of an eye, the heavenly tribulation vanished.

At the same time, a voice spoke out that would incite any lesser person who heard it to drop to their knees in worship.

“Success! This is the Legendary level!” With that, Holy Daughter Mayflowers’ energy projection sank down and merged back into her.

The experts in the area were all muttering amongst themselves. “I can’t believe she broke through. She actually destroyed the Universal Polarity Godbell! Come on, let’s go pay her a formal visit to offer congratulations. Her status in the Demi-Immortal Institute will be completely different from now on. I wonder if her apprentice opened those apertures?”

Soon, a stream of experts was heading toward Manyflowers Peak.

Yang Qi also flew over.

By the time he arrived, the place was already buzzing with activity. Experts of all types had come: old, young, men, women. After all, the rise of a new Legendary was no small event.

When Yang Qi touched down, he saw that, in the palace halfway up Manyflowers Peak, there were two prayer mats, upon which knelt Holy Daughter Manyflowers and Yang Susu.

Yang Susu shone with brilliant light, making her look like a living treasure. She had concentric halos floating behind her, and she emanated the fluctuations of a Tertiary Lifeseizing cultivation base. Even more marvelous, her blood seemed to contain seven colors, making her look more like a god from heaven than a human. However, there was some power within her concealing some aspects of her true strength.

“A Seven Apertures Sprite Body!” one of the experts exclaimed. “That’s a Seven Apertures Sprite Body! According to the legends, it exists only in the blood of an ancient race of sage-like beings from the distant past. It's a saintly body-type of the Spritefolk. No wonder Holy Daughter Manyflowers was always so devoted to that apprentice of hers! Who would have thought that she actually had that type of holy body?”

Yang Qi looked over to a nearby expert, a conclave student who was a Quinary Lifeseizer.

“What's a Seven Apertures Sprite Body?” he asked.

“The Spritefolk were a people from the distant past who had boundless potential in cultivation,” the student explained. “Later, as heaven and earth transformed, they disappeared. However, some people still have their blood in them, and every once in a while, a person like that will awaken their bloodline and become a top expert because of it. Who would have thought that Yang Susu would have Spritefolk blood in her? Now that she's opened her apertures, it will definitely attract the attention of the leaders in the Minorcosm World. I wouldn’t be surprised if the chancellor himself shows up. Reaching the heavens in a single bound. That’s what she’s done.”

‘I can’t believe Aunt Susu has powers like that!’ Yang Qi thought. All he remembered was that his grandfather had raised his Aunt Susu for a time before she was taken away by Holy Daughter Manyflowers. To think that she possessed the holy body of an ancient race of people, the Spritefolk.

At this point, Holy Daughter Manyflowers said, “Ladies and gentlemen, reaching the Legendary level was very draining. I'm afraid I’m not up to entertaining all of you. If you don't mind, I’d like to be alone for a time to recover. After I report to the leaders in the Minorcosm World, I’ll make sure to take time to visit all of you.”

“Rest well, Holy Daughter Manyflowers. We just wanted to offer our congratulations. We’ll come again on a more appropriate occasion to offer gifts.”

It was with such words that everyone took their leave, until only Yang Qi remained behind.

Looking at him, Holy Daughter Manyflowers waved her hand, causing dense mists to spring up and cover the mountain. “So, you’re back. How strong are you now?”

Silence reigned. Yang Qi could sense the immense magical power within Holy Daughter Manyflowers, and knew that not even his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth would be a match for her now. Her true energy had transformed significantly, to the point where it was now connected with the natural and magical laws around them.

That was the Legendary level.

Yang Qi was already very wary of people like this. After all, he could handle Nonary Lifeseizers, but Legendaries were a totally different story.

And yet, it turned out that Holy Daughter Manyflowers was actually more shocked than Yang Qi was right now. The last time they had met, he had been strong, but only in an ordinary way. Now, he was completely different. He seemed like a sword sharp enough to rip the sky apart and slash the earth to pieces. His sword techniques had obviously reached the point where ghost-gods could hardly fathom them.

“Did you start studying a new sword technique?” she asked. “And is that the aura of a divine sword I sense on you? Let me see it.”

“Yes,” Yang Qi replied. With the wave of his hand, he summoned the Ice-Soul God-Sword, which became a streak of green as it flew toward Holy Daughter Manyflowers.

Reaching out, she grabbed it. Upon running her finger down the length of the blade, and reading the characters inscribed there, she said, “What?! The Ice-Soul God-Sword!?”

1. As the dialogue makes clear, it isn’t obvious even in Chinese what it means for her to “open her apertures”. To “open the apertures” is a real word which has a few meanings. One meaning essentially means to achieve enlightenment. Another meaning relates to traditional Chinese medicine, and refers to clearing passageways within the body. My initial assumption on reading it was that it was referring to the latter, or maybe something like Might Guy and Rock Lee’s Eight Gates (from Naruto). Again, though, the dialogue implies that even the top experts in the story don’t really know the details.