Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“What’s your name?” Liege Beast asked, quashing any thoughts of fighting. Although he found this young man terrifying, he was also extremely curious about who exactly he was.

“Just call me Future One,” replied the young man in yellow. “I don’t have a surname or given name. You won’t find any evidence of my existence, so don’t even bother wasting time trying to investigate me. No trace of me exists anywhere in the Titan Emperor planetary system.”

“What?” Liege Beast said, looking a bit pale in the face. “Future One? Are you telling me that you're from a different aspect of space-time? That, somehow, you’ve traversed the paths restricted by the legion of gods?”

“Yes. And that's enough about that subject. I want to work with you, which is why I’ve revealed some of my secrets and showed how much I know about you. You can’t hide anything about yourself from me—not your past, your present, or your future.”

Liege Beast thought for a moment, then said, “This is all simply… terrifying. Will working with you be a blessing, or a curse?”

“A blessing, of course. Meeting me is probably the best thing that ever happened to you. You can't change the past, but you can definitely change the future. Your future ends in death, but now that you’ve met me I can provide unheard-of blessings. Not only will you escape death, but you will break the fetters of fate. And you can kill your greatest enemy. Anyone can change their fate, as long as they meet the right person. According to an ancient daoist text, if you fly as high as a dragon in heaven, you will profit by meeting a benefactor. You’ve met a benefactor in me, so naturally, you will fly like a dragon.” [1]

Liege Beast snorted coldly. Although he was losing face, he really had no choice but to believe this yellow-garbed young man. Everything he had said was true, and, at the same time, there was a strange and unidentifiable power within him. It almost seemed like the merest wave of his hand could destroy starry skies and eradicate divine abilities. Liege Beast wasn’t confident in being able to beat him in a fight, and also wasn't willing to turn him into an enemy.

“Well then, Liege Beast. Consider me the newest disciple of your Beastmaster Society. I hope that you can keep the news of my presence a secret. Otherwise, it could bring disaster on our heads. Believe me, Yang Qi is not the buffoon he seems to be. He’s very smart, and is likely aware that I escaped from the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. If he leaks information about me to the collegium leadership, it could be dangerous.”

The young man stopped for a moment, as if in thought, then continued, “By the way, working with you is a risk for me as well. After all, you could easily betray me. In fact, let’s be frank. If you tell anyone about me, our cooperation ends immediately. And if you betray me, I won’t reveal any details about your future, which means that you’ll be fated to die. Don’t even think of trying to trap me in some sort of spell formation. I could escape without even trying. Chancellor Demi-Immortal, why don’t you tell Liege Beast about my little secret?”

“Exalted Liege Beast, he knows many secrets about King Immortal-Slayer. In fact, he can freely enter and exit the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Not even the Titan Emperor Collegium’s deadly Three Yang Auspicious Titan Devil-Exterminating Grand Formation would be able to do anything to him. If you work with him and gain his trust, you’ll definitely be able to get into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to search for treasure. Think about it. If people in the collegium found out about all this, would you be able to maintain control? There are definitely key items in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart that you could use to ascend to the Titan Emperor Heaven above, and perhaps become a leader there. After all, what does the Titan Emperor Heaven count for? The ancient King Immortal-Slayer, King Mourn-Parting, and King Heaven-Devourer could consume that place without even thinking. There are more imperial snakecharms to be had in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and if you can get all three thousand of them, would you be afraid of immortals?”

Liege Beast’s jaw nearly dropped from shock. “Freely enter and exit the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart? I didn’t even realize that power existed in the universe.”

At this point, the yellow-garbed young man glanced at Chief Snake, August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven, and Elder Brother Vermillion. “These three need to have their memories erased now. If you don’t do it, I will. The secrets we’ve discussed here are too big to risk letting them get out.”

“Fine,” Liege Beast said. With a wave of his hand, he erased their memories.

“That vermillion bird still has some room to grow,” the yellow-garbed young man said. “Give him to me as a servant and I’ll impart a godly-class energy art to him. Incidentally, Liege Beast, the only reason you can't compare to the Invincible Dugu is that you don’t have a godly-class energy art. I’ll give you a lesser art that should make you the top domineering figure in the Titan Emperor Collegium.”

“How many godly-class energy arts do you have?” Liege Beast asked, shocked.

“However many King Immortal-Slayer had in the past, that’s how many I’ll eventually have. Now, I want you to put all of the Beastmaster Society’s eyes and ears to work trying to get information on Yang Qi and what he’s doing.”

“No problem. First, give me that godly-class energy art. Pretty soon, the Immortal Army Battlefield will open, and the top students from the collegiums will go inside for training. A lot of immortal worlds will be involved. Yang Qi will be there, and I can arrange to sneak both of us in as well. Hopefully, we can get others to do our dirty work for us. The Megaplexus Collegium will be there, as well as the Highest Clarity Collegium and the Coiling Arc Collegium. There will be plenty of students, all fighting and killing each other.

“In fact, perhaps that’s what the initiators want. They must be after Yang Qi’s godly-class art. By the way, do you know where Yang Qi got it? It’s incredibly powerful. He can even summon greater fiend-devils from hell with it.”

“Unless I’m mistaken,” the young man replied, “it’s a consummate godly-class art or higher. It’s completely terrifying, the kind of thing that can destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth. As for what energy art it is, I’ll look into it on my next journey to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Don’t worry, I’ll take you with me when I go. Remember, the rest of the Invincible Society is in there, including Yang Qi’s Eldest Brother and Elder Second Brother. It might be a good idea to capture them to use as hostages. Either way, with the two of us working together, Yang Qi is dead.”

“Good idea. I never liked those people from the Invincible Society. I would have wiped them out a long time ago if it weren’t for the Invincible Dugu….” All of a sudden, his eyes went wide. “The Invincible Dugu! Do you know what happens to him in the end? What’s his future like? Do you think I could kill him? If so, I’ll go do it right now. No matter how much he begs and grovels, I’ll cut him down and assimilate him.”

“The Invincible Dugu? He exists in the future. He acquires the legacy of a god-spirit and achieves incredible glory. However, he meets a bitter and tragic end. That said, he lives longer than you, all the way until the great war between immortals and gods. That’s when he perishes. Of course, everything is different now, so his fate could change. You see, in the future, he has no disciple named Yang Qi. Now that the two of them are connected, it's similar to you and I in that his fate could be different. Maybe he won't perish in the end. In any case, there’s no way you could take him down right now. He’s already ascended, and earlier than in the future. In other words, his fate is already starting to ripple and distort.”

“What? He already ascended? Are you sure?”

“Of course. There’s no mistaking it. What, you doubt my power?”

Liege Beast burst out laughing. “If he ascended, that's perfect! Now we can just make a move directly against Yang Qi. We don't even need to wait for the Immortal Army Battlefield!”

“Yang Qi’s cultivation base is constantly advancing. Right now, I'm not confident that we could handle him. I need to finish cultivating an incredibly powerful energy art beforehand. When I have the right trump card, I’ll make my move and kill him. Why don’t you send people to check into what he’s doing? And see what's happening with the Sage Monarch planetary system. Maybe that will give us some good clues to work with.”

“Alright!”

Thus, a conspiracy was born.

**

Meanwhile, back in the Sage Monarch planetary system, heaven and earth were changing dramatically as the place combined with the Hanging Mountain. How large was the Hanging Mountain? It was made up of hundreds of thousands of planets and countless continents, as well as numerous planes of existence that were ancient ruins of the past. For example, the golden tree that was home to the Rocfolk was part of the Hanging Mountain.

Combining the Hanging Mountain with the Sage Monarch planetary system was an immense task that ordinary phrases and idioms could not be used to describe.

At the moment, countless hosts of Demonfolk were gathering. Above them was an enormous dharmic likeness of the Holy Mother, surrounded by a kingdom of jade, waiting as the gargantuan Sage Monarch planetary system floated toward them.

Dozens of gigantic fiend-devils worked tirelessly to assist, all of them eighth order Universal Demi-Immortals. That was Yang Qi’s current summoning limit. If he tried to do any more, his Hell Portals would crumble and he would lose control of the fiend-devils, allowing them to attack him.

It was a big difference from Revered Demi-Immortals, of which he could summon as many as he wished.

Among the Rocfolk was Great Sage Ultra-Heaven, who was flanked by his son and daughter.

“That’s the Holy Mother’s son, Yang Qi,” he said. “He’s so strong! He can even move planetary systems! It’s only been a few short years since the training competition and he's already dominated this entire starry sky.”

“Father,” Princess Saddharma said, “is this combination of the Hanging Mountain and the Sage Monarch planetary system going to be a blessing or a curse? August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven already left for the Titan Emperor Collegium. He might have lost his power here, but, in some ways, he's been promoted.”

1. This quote is directly from the Book of Changes, one of the ancient Chinese classics.