Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

During this major session of cultivation, Yang Qi took pains to identify which malicious sect leaders had inserted vicious curses into the true energy they provided him.

Such curses had been expertly hidden, and were designed to bind his nascent divinity before he realized what was happening. Considering they came from domineering figures from the Ancient Road to the Gods, they definitely surpassed anything Grand Emperors from the immortal dao civilization could come up with.

Unfortunately for them, no matter how powerful the curse, once it was inside the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart it could easily be dispelled by the power there.

Even someone as strong as Empress Joyflower would end up completely stymied by the power of the chart. Of course, even if he trapped her in the chart, it still didn’t ensure that he could completely subjugate her. She had a cultivation base that conformed to both yin and yang, as well as fire and water. She could command the dao of heaven and shred fate to pieces. Her profound levels of insight would definitely enable her to resist the powers of the chart that he could command. In fact, she could possibly even block the exit and trap him inside with her.

Yang Qi had managed to insert a devil embryo into Leaf Dao-Denier, who had no idea what was happening. It would remain there in his sea of energy, becoming a part of his true energy as he performed his breathing exercises, to the point where he eventually would think the embryo had come about as a result of his own cultivation.

The Sovereign Lord had created the Heaven-God Hell-Exterminating Devil Embryo technique to help eliminate hells. By using devils to control devils, it was possible to achieve the most enigmatic of results.

Of the dozen or so sect leaders who were present, Yang Qi made sure to infect nine of them with the devil embryos.

Of course, there were requirements to be met, specifically, his will must be stronger than the will of his target. Thankfully, Yang Qi’s will was now at the peak of the Destabilizing level, surpassing everyone present, including Battle Resister, who was only in the middle of the Destabilizing level. And even if they were at the same level of will, thanks to the tempering Yang Qi had experienced by conquering the knowledge-devils, he would still be superior.

That said, Yang Qi wasn’t inclined to place one of the devil embryos into Battle Resister. He was a straightforward and upright man, and the two of them were on the way to becoming friends. It was only with people who plotted against him that Yang Qi would demand a tooth for a tooth, and fight poison with poison.

As his ability to assimilate the godhood increased rapidly, his power index shot past five hundred and headed toward six hundred. At this point, he had pushed the godhood to the point where he didn't need outside help, and could continue assimilating it on his own.

Everyone else accepted their returned power and closed their eyes to study it. Upon finding nothing wrong with it, they sent it to their seas of energy to begin furthering their energy arts.

The sect leaders who had maliciously tried to learn of Yang Qi’s secrets looked disappointed. To them, it had felt like their true energy entered an area of darkness then slammed into a firm wall.

Of course, they had no idea that Yang Qi knew of their plotting, and had struck back viciously. Leaf Dao-Denier was among this group, and he was convinced it was the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart that had vanquished his curses.

‘This guy is really being careful,’ he thought, wishing he could just go over, kill Yang Qi, and take all of his treasures. Of course, he knew that was just wishful thinking.

Leaf Dao-Denier had no idea he had been infected with a devil embryo. Although he had recently grown much stronger, gaining some powerful abilities, his will convergence had only just reached the Destabilizing level and wasn’t anywhere near to Yang Qi's. He had been completely and utterly hoodwinked by the Heaven-God Hell-Exterminating Devil Embryo.

“Very well, all of you have improved your energy arts significantly,” Yang Qi said, rising to his feet. “And I made use of your true energy to refine certain aspects of myself. We're now in a much better position to deal with Empress Joyflower. And at this point, we can help Leaf Dao-Denier with his Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic.”

“Marvelous,” Cipher Ever-Heaven murmured, opening his eyes. His true energy creaked and cracked explosively within him, provoking a delighted expression. “Helping you has increased my own energy arts by an entire realm. My understanding of the Netherworld Ghost-Dao Prime-Intelligence Sutra has reached the twenty-seventh level!”

One of the other sect leaders said, “Cipher Ever-Heaven, do I remember correctly that your sutra has a total of thirty-three levels, and that once you reach the thirty-third, you can become a god?”

“That’s right,” Cipher Ever-Heaven said. Then he looked over at Yang Qi’s power double, and his eyes went wide. “If I'm not mistaken, your energy arts have significantly improved as well.”

During the process that had just played out, Yang Qi’s true energy capacity in his power double had increased twofold. Furthermore, he glowed with a godlight that contained magical laws, making it obvious that he had reached a higher level.

The other sect leaders all nodded in amazement, more convinced than ever of Yang Qi’s power. In fact, most of them actually viewed him as something of an enemy. After all, their alliance was not permanently binding, and had been formed only to deal with Empress Joyflower. In other words, it was eventually doomed to collapse.

In fact, if they did conquer the Joyflower Palace, there would definitely be fighting when it came time to split the loot.

Therefore, now was the perfect time to not only assess the strengths and weaknesses of the other members, but also grow as strong as possible. Then, when the time came, they would hopefully benefit greatly from defeating Empress Joyflower.

“We can help Leaf Dao-Denier with his technique,” Cipher Ever-Heaven said. “But if we do, it had better benefit us. We all significantly improved our energy arts, thanks to Yang Qi, so there's no way we’re going to just offer up our help for free.”

“That's exactly right, Leaf Dao-Denier,” said another of the sect leaders. “There needs to be a mutual exchange here. If we help you with your energy arts, you have to help us get stronger. Besides, it will only serve to help in our fight against Empress Joyflower. Our Chief Battle Sect is in this for profit, and don’t even think about trying to convince us that the spoils of taking down the Joyflower Palace will count toward that.”

“That’s right,” said Daolord Cloud Severing. “The fight against the Joyflower Palace definitely doesn’t count. Don’t even think of conflating them.” He looked like a typical daoist priest, with a daoist robe decorated with clouds. He resembled a transcendent being, although it was impossible to determine his age.

‘Damn them...’ Leaf Dao-Denier thought. Although he was furious, he didn’t dare to show it. ‘If Yang Qi hadn’t compensated them, they wouldn’t be forcing the issue now. It’s all his fault, that damned bastard. Well, once I get strong enough, I'm going to pay him all back for this!”

Although his heart was filled with viciousness, he said, “I would never allow any of you to suffer losses. Of course I’ll provide compensation.” Even as the words left his mouth, a bottle gourd appeared in his hand. Despite being closed, it emanated a medicinal aroma that everyone present could instantly detect.

All of them suddenly felt like they were floating in an ocean of flowers.

“What’s that?” Battle Resister said. “Are those Myriad-Flowers Honeydew-Jade Pills, which are refined from the quintessence of ten thousand god flowers?”

“That’s exactly what they are,” Leaf Dao-Denier said, his heart veritably dripping with blood. They were pills designed to strengthen the meridians and nascent divinity, even pushing one's cultivation base to a higher level. And they weren’t the type of thing that ordinary cultivators could use. Only something truly remarkable could impress these sect leaders.

As for the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic, he had come across that on his own, and Empress Joyflower didn’t even know about it. He had been secretly cultivating it for the purpose of eventually using it on her.

“Fine,” Cipher Ever-Heaven said, his eyes gleaming. “Give us all one of those pills, and we’ll help you with your cultivation. The fact that you’re offering a godly-grade medicinal pill like that at least shows you have good intentions.”

“Hold on!” Leaf Dao-Denier said. “How do I know you won’t just take the pills and then refuse to help me?”

“Hmph! Don’t you realize the reputation we have?” Cipher Ever-Heaven said angrily.

Leaf Dao-Denier chuckled darkly. “I don’t care about reputations.”

“How about this,” Yang Qi said. “By this point, you all trust me, right? So why not give the medicinal pills to me and Battle Resister for safekeeping. We’ll keep them safe for everyone.”