Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had long since identified Brahma Echo-Silk’s aura with the Wheel of Fate, which would allow him to launch an attack at her any time he wished as long as he was close enough to her. He could also use it to summon her to him, but she could resist that call if she wished, albeit with great difficulty.

Right now, he had no interest in attacking her. After all, he was fairly certain that she had secrets and perhaps even mysterious backers. If he made a move against her, it could lead to a whole string of problems. It might even place himself right in the path of the future world’s invasion.

For now, he just wanted to talk to her.

He didn’t plan to go talk to her as Hu Yanmeng, but rather, as Yang Qi. After locating her soul fluctuations, he issued a summoning call to her, then left the Brahman Immortal World and flew out into an alternate dimension, a high-level plane that drifted randomly within the universe of immortal worlds.

That was where he would wait for her.

**

Brahma Echo-Silk sat meditating in her personal kingdom in the depths of the Brahman Institute. All of a sudden, she opened her eyes. ‘What’s this? Someone's calling to me? They want to talk? This is no hallucination or heart-devil. I'm a Godmyth now, as well as an Enlightened One, so I should be able to fool even the dao of heaven. I need to get to the bottom of this.’

Suddenly, power erupted from her head and transformed into a treasure banner, the surface of which glittered with representations of magical treasures, śarīras, pearls, jade jewelry, necklaces, and all sorts of other items.

‘My Myriad Treasures God Banner is an invincible god item, able to extrapolate information about all living things, all wills, and the rotations of the universe.’ She was using a godly-class energy art, and not one from the Brahman Immortal World. Instead, this was some divine ability from an enormous god-spirit.

Clearly, she did have a very mysterious background.

The Myriad Treasures God Banner improved with her own cultivation base, and was like a conglomeration of thousands upon thousands of magical treasures that provided her with immense defensive capabilities.

‘So that’s how it is. Some top expert locked onto my aura and issued a call of summoning to me. He says he wants to talk, but who knows whether or not it's an ambush. Not going isn’t an option, though. He could just keep calling out to me over and over, and that would get frustrating very quickly. I might as well go see what he wants. Besides, there aren’t very many people who would be willing to stir up trouble with me.’ Brahma Echo-Silk, who had deceived the divine likeness of Proud Heaven himself, blurred into motion and quickly vanished from the Brahman Immortal World.

Following the summoning call, she traveled out into the depths of space to a location that seemed to hover between reality and illusion. It was almost like a thirty-third ranked immortal world, but at the same time it seemed unlike such a place. It existed, and it didn't exist. It went back and forth between such states in a mysterious and profound way that defied description.

Within that mysterious aspect of space, Yang Qi rose to his feet. Not beating around the bush, he said, “Miss Brahma Echo-Silk, I'm honored by your presence. Please excuse me for not coming out to meet you. I am your humble servant Yang Qi, one of the leaders of the Titan Emperor Heaven. I'm also the ruler of the Sage Monarch planetary system, one of the lower worlds. I heard about how you acquired some pure virtual godhood, and would like to ask how you accomplished that. Although I'm capable of slaughtering Godmyth patriarchs and simply taking their virtual godhood, I'm currently incapable of actually reaching the Godmyth level.”

After assimilating August Patriarch Fire Dragon, he had given the resulting virtual godhood to his clone to improve his cultivation base. But that wasn’t enough to push the clone to the Godmyth level, much less himself.

Even the heaven-devil śarīra and virtual godhood of the Incarnated God Jade-in-Stone had only been enough to reach the eighth stage, making his clone an immortal emperor.

All those types of power were far beneath the pure virtual godhood that had been created by the technology of the future world and imparted to the Brahman Immortal World by means of photonic computers.

“Yang Qi? Titan Emperor Heaven? Sage Monarch planetary system?” Brahma Echo-Silk had originally assumed she would be dealing with some extremely important individual. As it turned out, she was talking with a nobody from a first ranked immortal world. And his true origin was the mortal world. At first, killing intent flickered on her face; it was a big insult for someone like this to casually summon her to talk. But then he spoke of slaughtering Godmyths and taking their virtual godhood and she was profoundly taken aback, although she didn't let it show on her face. That said, considering the level of her cultivation base and her willpower, she wasn't just going to take his words at face value.

“What exactly do you want from me? I remember hearing about the Titan Emperor Heaven before. It's some tiny location that falls under the administration of the Brahman Immortal World, but has risen up in rebellion. And now you’re saying you’re one of the leaders from there? You've got a lot of guts, that's for sure. You actually came here to the Brahman Immortal World and called for a meeting with me? I'm a Godmyth matriarch now, aren’t you worried I might attack you and wipe you out of existence?”

Yang Qi chuckled. “Cut the comedy, Brahma Echo-Silk. Forgetting the issue of how weak you are compared to me, let’s talk about how you’re working for someone very powerful. Just like me, you’re a mole, an infiltrator working against the Brahman Immortal World.”

“Oh?” Even as the words left her mouth, she summoned her Myriad Treasures God Banner, which she could use to attack Yang Qi at any moment. After all, he had just spoken some of her greatest secrets out loud. “You're a real psycho, aren’t you? Maybe you thought some crazy talk like that would frighten me, but in the end you’re nothing more than a rebel leader, and therefore, you're going to die beyond the shadow of a doubt.”

“I'm not interested in banter,” he replied, waving his hand dismissively. “You used the powers of a Fraudulent One to convince Proud Heaven’s divine likeness to give you virtual godhood from the future. You might have fooled everyone else, but you didn’t fool me. The Brahman Immortal World is a very dangerous place, far more dangerous than a tenth or even a twentieth ranked immortal world. You and I both know that. It contains a passageway leading to the future world, making the place a stronghold they’ll use as the launching point for an invasion. Every warrior that comes here will be baptized by space-time, making them Future Ones. Think of what it would mean to have millions upon millions of such warriors invading us and our culture. I somehow doubt that whoever is backing you will simply sit idly by while it happens. You’re an Enlightened One, and your backer is a Fraudulent One. Why don’t we join forces? We can work together to destroy the Brahman Immortal World, dismantle the time-traveling efforts of the future world, and make sure there is no invasion. What do you say? If we work together, we both win.”

“You….” With each word that Yang Qi said, Brahma Echo-Silk's shock mounted. Never could she have guessed that this Yang Qi would know so many tightly kept secrets.

“You know too much,” she said, and without any warning she flicked her finger, sending a beam of dazzling light shooting toward Yang Qi. Right in front of him, it exploded, creating a host of scintillating planets like a river of light.

“People who know too much never live long. I can’t risk those secrets being revealed, and therefore you have to die! This is the Myriad Planets Comprehensive Destruction. According to the stories, when the legion of gods perished, their corpses entered countless mysterious planets, locations of profound deathliness and desolation. Such places lack will or life, and upon entering them you will die, and remain dead for all time.”

POP!

This was an attack that could slaughter Tempered Gods, and it made it more than evident that the Enlightened One Brahma Echo-Silk was no ordinary cultivator.

Yet Yang Qi just looked on coldly, not moving a muscle. A shield of light sprang up and the countless destructive planets slammed into it, unable to proceed any further.

Yang Qi’s drop of the Blood of the One God had reached the level of one hundred percent. He had assimilated the devil will of Jade-in-Stone, the Heaven Moving powers of Brahma Erudite, and the arm of the Jade Emperor. That made him strong enough to kill peak Incarnated Gods, and even treat Shattered Gods with impunity.

Although Brahma Echo-Silk’s attack was profound and deadly, it was incapable of overcoming the God Legion Paradise.

“Stop it, Brahma Echo-Silk. You’re no match for me. In fact, even your backer probably couldn’t do anything to me. Let’s get down to business and discuss how to work together. If you insist, go ahead and keep attacking me. Hit me with everything you’ve got. If I can last for three days and three nights, will that convince you of my superiority?”

Gasping, Brahma Echo-Silk let loose another volley of attacks, a host of brilliant lights that could have destroyed an immortal world. But Yang Qi didn’t even flinch. He just looked at her with a sarcastic smile.

“What are you, a girl playing house? Come on, hit me harder!”