Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The pulsing energy quickly transformed into streams of holy magical symbols, dazzlingly bright, like heavenly flowers fluttering through the air. Although they were not deathless, the godpower they contained made them seem like they stemmed from some sort of false god.

Truth be told, the Godmyth level was sometimes referred to by another name: the False God level.

In other words, such individuals were not true gods, but rather imposter gods. That said, even the imposter gods were still able to brush shoulders with true gods, and were powerful enough to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth.

Yang Qi knew that he could fight against some Godmyths. But the Godmyth level was divided into nine divisions, each one of which was vastly superior to the previous. As for what exact type of Godmyth level he could fight, Yang Qi wasn’t sure. He would need to reach that level himself before he had an idea.

‘So this is the power of the Godmyth level, huh? Those heavenly flowers are like worlds of their own. Worlds within worlds, an endless cycle.’

The heavenly flowers gave birth to worlds, which in turn produced more worlds, creating a never-ending cycle that surpassed ordinary immortal flowers.

WHIZZZ!

Up above the congregated children of Brahma, an enormous, ancient figure appeared, with eyes like suns and moons, whose mere gaze seemed able to penetrate the very souls of those he looked upon.

“Greetings, Patriarch!” the children of Brahma said, dropping to their knees to kowtow. Yang Qi had no desire to attract the attention of a Godmyth, so he followed suit.

Of course, it was no rarity for children of Brahma to keep secrets, and have a variety of strange and unusual auras. The patriarch didn't seem to have any interest in looking closely at them, and as they kowtowed he simply nodded in approval.

“Rise,” he said.

“Yes sir!”

Many of the children of Brahma yet again resorted to various divine abilities in the hopes of standing out. Some turned invisible, some began thrumming with various magical powers, and others simply stood there calmly.

“Welcome to the centennial meeting of the children of Brahma,” the patriarch said. “Today, your recent service to the institute will be assessed, and you will be assigned new missions. There is nothing unusual about today’s meeting, so I won’t go into any unnecessary explanations.”

“Yes, Patriarch!” the children of Brahma all said. “Please, let’s begin!” [1]

“You are the cream of the crop in the Brahman Society, the top disciples who will eventually go on to be leaders in our organization. Even now, your position vastly surpasses the countless ordinary disciples outside. You have access to plentiful resources, and can cultivate all sorts of remarkable abilities that are normally kept secret. However, the greater your experience and strength, the more responsibility you bear. You get more, but you must give more in return. That is why, every one hundred years, you are assessed, and depending on the results are either rewarded or punished. Now, we will begin announcing your accomplishments!”

As the words left his mouth, streams of power swept over the children of Brahma, who remained completely silent. Within that energy was a streak of killing intent, and they knew that any who failed to meet up to the proper standards would instantly be punished!

Yang Qi could feel the immense pressure and kept his true aura tightly locked down to prevent the Godmyth from noticing anything unusual about him.

An enormous ledger suddenly appeared in the Godmyth’s hand, as well as a quill pen.

“Brahma Echo-Silk! Step forward!”

“Yes sir!”

A figure floated up from among the children of Brahma. Unlike most everyone else present, this person didn't seem to fear the Godmyth and, in fact, was close to him in cultivation. This was the legendary number one figure in the children of Brahma. She cultivated four of the five phases godly class energy arts, which meant that, although she couldn’t compare to Yang Qi, she was vastly beyond almost anyone else.

‘She’s strong,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘So strong that I might not be able to kill her in a fight!’ Brahma Echo-Silk was a beautiful young woman, but she wore men’s clothing. Yet that didn’t do anything to mask her good looks or lithe figure. At the same time, she had a cold look to her that made her seem aloof, and perhaps even narcissistic. Even more relevant, Yang Qi was sure that she had a unique constitution.

As his Wheel of Fate turned, he realized that she had an aura of enlightenment regarding great daos. And she seemed uniquely connected to the magical laws of heaven and earth, as if she were tied directly to the immortal world around her and the universe at large.

‘She’s an Enlightened One!’ he thought. The second floor of the Scripture Pavilion had contained plenty of information written by Godmyth patriarchs, including information about the various unique constitutions that existed. Because of that, Yang Qi knew that Enlightened Ones were far superior to Heaven Moving Ones.

Throughout the years, a total of three thousand unique constitutions had been identified, all of them particularly powerful in some way. The number itself represented the operation and principles of the three thousand great daos.

Of course, some of the constitution types were ranked higher than others.

For example, Fateless Ones were considered to be in the top three.

Future Ones and Past Ones weren’t even in the top ten, nor were Reincarnated Ones. In contrast, Enlightened Ones most certainly were in the top ten. They could master any daoist technique or energy art with absolutely no instruction, merely by looking at it. No matter what type of cultivation they practiced, it would go smoothly, and they would not risk cultivation deviation under any circumstance.

‘Incredible. An Enlightened One. It's too bad there aren’t any Eternal Ones, Fortuned Ones, or Timeflow Ones. Only people like that could possibly stand a chance of dealing with me.’

That was especially true of the terrifying Fortuned Ones and Eternal Ones. Those were the other two constitution types which occupied the top three with Fateless Ones, and it was impossible to say how they matched up in terms of the top spot. It was no wonder that Proud Heaven was dead set on devouring Yang Qi.

Even just one of those constitution types would be enough to dominate all of heaven and earth and make one invincible.

“Brahma Echo-Silk, you have done well in recent years. You succeeded in the mission you were assigned one hundred years ago, by going to the seventh-ranked immortal world the Azure Sacrifice Heaven and stealing the treasure of Patriarch Chemdawn, the Preheaven Vital Energy Golden Pill. You also saved the life of one of the prime elders. For your meritorious service, you are being rewarded with a god item, the Nine Clouds God Cassock, as well as an infusion of Godmyth true energy. In addition, you can spend a month practicing cultivation on the third floor of the Scripture Pavilion!”

Many of the other children of Brahma were visibly shocked by the reward, but when they thought about how difficult it must have been for Brahma Echo-Silk to accomplish what she had, they realized it made sense. Going to a seventh ranked immortal world to steal a golden pill from a Godmyth eccentric was no easy task.

“Many thanks, Patriarch,” Brahma Echo-Silk said. Accepting the reward, she returned to her seat. There, true energy streamed around her like silk, wrapping her up into a dazzlingly beautiful cocoon.

“Brahma Peace-War!” the patriarch said. In response, a lanky young man stepped forward hesitantly, nearly trembling as he dropped to his knees. “Brahma Peace-War, you are one of the elites among the children of Brahma. Unfortunately, you failed your most recent mission. You were tasked with infiltrating the sixth ranked immortal world, the Buddhaflame Heaven. Even more outrageous, you devolved into madness and killed the proctors who had been sent to check your progress, then framed someone else for the crime."

The Godmyth patriarch’s words were like bolts of lightning that slammed into the trembling young man.

“No!” he cried. “I didn’t kill the proctors! Someone else did! And there’s a good reason I failed the mission!”

“You thought you could hide the truth from us? That we wouldn’t find out what really happened? That’s a joke if ever I've heard one.” The Godmyth patriarch smiled coldly. “Your crimes cannot be forgiven. I hereby sentence you to death!”

RUMBLE!

Immense pressure weighed down, and Brahma Peace-War exploded into a haze of blood and gore. It immediately began to wriggle and twitch, as if it wanted to pull back together, but before it could, flames erupted and burned it out of existence. A piteous scream rang out, but the Godmyth patriarch ignored it.

Eventually, the screams died out. All that was left of Brahma Peace-War was a glittering internal pellet, which the Godmyth patriarch quickly transformed into a medicinal pill.

Everyone else present shivered like cicadas in winter. The level of brutality on display surpassed anything that Yang Qi had anticipated. The children of Brahma were experts and geniuses, yet one of them had been slaughtered without the slightest bit of mercy.

“Brahma Erudite!” the patriarch called. Brahma Erudite was the Heaven Moving One that Yang Qi had fought on the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion. “You’ve done well. You accomplished your mission of searching for ruins of that lost civilization. It was a very difficult and dangerous mission, and for the one section of ruins you recovered you shall be rewarded with the medicinal pill created from the remains of Brahma Peace-War. Assimilate the energy arts he cultivated, and his destiny, and your own divine abilities and quintessence energy will dramatically improve.”

“Many thanks, Patriarch!” Brahma Erudite said, accepting the medicinal pill. Then he turned and cast a vicious glare in the direction of Yang Qi and Hu Latu.

Thus, things proceeded. The Godmyth patriarch went through all of the names, either rewarding or punishing the various children of Brahma. It was obvious that, in the Brahma society, no one could escape the law.

It also became clear to Yang Qi that the identity medallions the children of Brahma carried also served to monitor their actions. That said, he wasn't worried about that. His Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning could be used to create illusions that would fool even that identity medallion.

Hours upon hours passed, until the patriarch finally began assigning new missions. One mission immediately attracted Yang Qi’s attention.

“Brahma Drakefame. Brahma Coldmoon. Hua Mengxin. Zhou Datong. Chen Da. You five are hereby assigned to travel to the Titan Emperor Heaven and investigate recent disturbances. Identify the culprits and kill them all. Understand?”

1. It’s common in Chinese culture to have situations where a group of people all say things together. Whether it’s during a session of imperial court, or other formal situations, the idea is that there are prescribed bits of dialogue that everyone is familiar with and will recite in unison.