Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Oh?”

Bastard Seacliff’s words struck fear into the heart of the junior pontiff. He had been hoping to use the man to do his dirty work for him. But who could have guessed that Bastard Seacliff, who had cut down Prince Nobledeath of the Executors of the Ancient Road, would also be afraid of the purrling? It only went to reinforce how terrifying the thing actually was.

The people from the Royal Palace of Assassins had died as quickly as ants tossed into boiling water, the sight of which still lingered in the junior pontiff’s mind. And here Bastard Seacliff was saying that he wasn’t sure if even his own father could do anything to the purrling. In fact, the junior pontiff suspected he wasn't telling the truth, because wouldn’t that imply that the purrling was completely invincible? And if the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was going to dominate the sect assembly, then what would everyone else be able to gain?

Looking as cynical as ever, Bastard Seacliff said, “Apparently you’re unaware of the fact that the Woodfern Couple Palace is responsible for spreading rumors about your recent humiliation. They wanted you to try to take the purrling down, hoping that you would reveal more about it in the process. Thankfully, you’re smart, and hired the Royal Palace of Assassins to probe the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. And now you know the truth. That thing can drag people out no matter where they’re hiding, and kill them.”

“It's strong, that’s true,” the junior pontiff said. “But I'm still not convinced that it's invincible, just uncharacteristically powerful. I want to know what exactly it is.” Although the junior pontiff had finally managed to suppress his normal arrogance and conceit, he couldn’t help but add, “Your House of God Bastards is really patient, eh? Instead of making a move on the purrling, you’re waiting to see how things play out. In the end, the worst loser of all is the Royal Palace of Assassins. They really suffered some horrific casualties.”

“Yes, but the Royal Palace of Assassins won’t just let the issue drop, Junior Pontiff. In fact, that's the reason I came to see you. Considering how many assassins just died, I can tell you that they’re going to be coming to you for compensation.”

The junior pontiff’s face drained of blood, but he still managed to snort coldly. “I paid the godhood they asked for. It's not my fault they weren’t strong enough, and failed the mission as a result. In fact, according to our agreement, they should continue with the assassination attempts. Either that or give me back my godhood. They can’t just bite the hand that feeds them! That's a basic principle of doing business.”

“A basic principle of business?” Bastard Seacliff laughed loudly. “Didn't you know? The Royal Palace of Assassins doesn’t operate on the principles of reason. They're not going to hold the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect responsible for killing their assassins. They’ll hold their client responsible!”

“Yeah, well so what? If they want to be unreasonable like that, I’ll call on the full power of the Genesis Sanctum to wipe them out of existence. Their King of Assassins is already dead, killed by the Executors of the Ancient Road. If the surviving losers think they can cause problems for me, well, they're just courting death!”

“Curse them all you want, it's not going to change the fact that the King of Assassins isn’t dead. In fact, he recently returned to full strength. Nervous now?”

“What?!” the junior pontiff said, a tremor passing through him. “The King of Assassins is alive?! How is that possible? I thought he died a long time ago! If he’s alive, that’s simply—”

“Simply terrifying,” Bastard Seacliff said. He chuckled. “Think about it. The only reason you weren’t afraid of the Royal Palace of Assassins is that you had your father to rely on. But if the King of Assassins takes on your father, then both of you are going to be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt. Meanwhile, the Woodfern Couple Palace is lurking off to the side, just waiting for you to be taken out. Furthermore, the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect obviously knows that you’re the one who hired the assassins, which means that they have it out for you as well. It seems to me the Genesis Sanctum is doomed to be destroyed!”

“You...” the junior pontiff spluttered, and then he sat there for a long moment. Finally, he said, “So what’s the point here? You want to team up with me? You want my support in your bid for the spot of league-lord? If so, there’s got to be some benefit to me. What are you offering?”

“What am I offering? To help you deal with the Royal Palace of Assassins, for one thing. I can keep you safe. All you have to do is support my bid for league-lord.”

“How do you know you can pull it off?” the junior pontiff said suspiciously.

“Simple. I’ll give them enough godhood to ensure they don’t cause any trouble for you. In the end, they operate for profit. By the way, I can also help you deal with the Woodfern Couple Palace.”

“That’s not a bad offer, but I need more. If I support you, it’ll likely involve crossing my father. He's a mid Terrifying expert and no weaker than you. Besides, there are plenty of other powerful old-timers in the Genesis Sanctum, so it's not as if I'm all that important.”

“Okay, take this distiller’s yeast. I'm sure you realize how valuable it is, although I don’t have much use for it.” When Bastard Seacliff produced the very same distiller’s yeast he had taken from the banquet at the Woodfern Couple Palace, the junior pontiff’s eyes suddenly glittered with bright light.

“Fine. I promise to help you become the league-lord.”

“Then swear an oath,” Bastard Seacliff said. “It's not as if I'm going to give you this distiller’s yeast based on your word alone.”

“Alright!” Clearing his throat, the junior pontiff continued, “I hereby swear that if you give me that distiller’s yeast, and I don’t help you become the league-lord, I’ll die and never be properly buried. However, you’re responsible for dealing with any contenders. I've heard that the Woodfern Couple Palace is grooming both the junior sectlord from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect and Star Swordlife. If they attack you, it won’t have anything to do with me.”

“Are you kidding me?” Bastard Seacliff laughed coldly. Tossing the distiller’s yeast over, he said, “You think I'm worried about ants like them? Remember your oath. I know that some people don’t take their oaths seriously, but I can tell you that if you go back on your word, the oath will come true sooner or later....”

With that, he vanished into thin air.

When the junior pontiff was sure he was gone, he spat, “Motherfucking asshole! You think I care about oaths? You have no idea how many oaths I’ve taken in my life, and I never keep my word. But nobody has ever been able to do a single thing about it. You actually believed me, dickhead?” He burst out laughing. “Considering how easily you’re fooled, it's not going to be hard at all to kill you!”

Looking down at the distiller’s yeast, he continued, “This definitely has some powerful warding spell placed in it. But it's not like I can’t get rid of it. You've underestimated the Genesis Sanctum. With the power of this distiller’s yeast, and the spirit medicines we make here, I’m going to push my cultivation base to the next level! With the right opportunity, I’ll easily be able to step into the mid Terrifying level.”

With that, he vanished into the depths of the Genesis Sanctum.

**

In a secret room in the Woodfern Couple Palace, Mu Renwang and Su Xin were splitting their attention in three directions. First, the eighteen godpower seeds. Second, the Mahātmā Jade. And third, the events playing out with the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect and the purrling.

After watching Devil King Smeltgold and the experts from the Royal Palace of Assassins all get killed by the purrling’s bubbles, they exchanged shocked glances.

“How could this be happening?” Mu Renwang said. “That level of power.... Those assassins pierce through space with their attacks. Their true selves were definitely back in the Royal Palace of Assassins. If they tried to kill us that way, we might have been able to use a spatial interception technique to strike back, but we would never have been able to pull them to our location. That type of power is unimaginable.”

Piercing through space to attack enemies was something that mid Terrifying experts could do with hardly any effort.

But pulling corporeal objects from another location to their own was a higher level of power that was definitely beyond them. In other words, the purrling had powers that could render them completely helpless.

“Is that thing really invincible?” Su Xin said. “This is bad. We need to kill that brat as quickly as possible. If he reunites with the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, we’ll never be able to pull it off.”

“You're right,” Mu Renwang said, nodding. “Although, I think we're safe for the moment. The kid isn't interested in opposing us, and is even willing to be our pawn. In fact, killing him under the current circumstances wouldn’t be appropriate. Furthermore, we haven’t sensed any errant thoughts as he works on his cultivation. If he were plotting against us, the Heart-Linking Hex would’ve notified us.”

“True,” Su Xin replied. “We shouldn’t discard our pawn so blithely. Besides, the purrling can’t be used as an offensive weapon. It only seems to protect its owner. As long as we don’t do anything threatening to that girl, we’ll be fine. Besides, that beast’s power is so heaven-defying that it's a foregone conclusion the dao of heaven will eventually do something to restrict it.”

“That’s exactly right,” Mu Renwang said. “Right now, our main focus should be getting Mu Yexi into the mid Terrifying level. With the three of us working together, who under heaven could possibly defy us? Let’s try this again, and hope we succeed. We’ll go all out to finish cleansing these eighteen godpower seeds. Afterward, we should have even more enlightenment about the Great Necropolis, which should advance our energy arts and cultivation bases. Hmph! That bastard Huangfu Genesis has no idea how strong we are now. It's going to be a big surprise when he finds out.”

“Huangfu Genesis has been our enemy for so many years. It's definitely time to kill him.”

Meanwhile, Yang Qi opened his eyes. ‘Incredible,’ he thought. ‘The purrling is so strong! It can actually pierce through space to grab opponents. It completely ignored the magical laws and restrictions of space. I wonder if I could pick up some of those abilities as well....’