Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The pirate captain’s cape flapped in the ocean breeze as he looked down at his men being slaughtered. From the way his eyes flickered, he definitely viewed himself as an important general whose subordinates were little more than dirt beneath his feet.

After all, he was a peak Terrifying expert.

He could control the true energy of the god world outside of his body, making him a Quasi-God.

In the god world, the full measure of rankings went from the Plebeians, Despots, and Quasi-Gods, to the actual gods, the Lesser, Common, Greater, Consummate, Perfect, and Paramount Gods.

The Lesser Gods were all peak Terrifying experts, and as for this pirate captain, all he had to do was completely form his godhood, and he would reach godly ascension; then he would be able to call the wind and summon the rain.

“Where did these savages come from?” he asked.

“We don’t know,” one of his pirate subordinates said. “They showed up as soon as our men reached the beach. It seems they’ve been living here for some time. We were thinking of selling them to a wretch-god, but then they started slaughtering our men. They’re obviously very strong, with extremely impressive fleshly bodies. They’re not like the normal Plebeian savages. Plus, they obviously have extensive fighting experience.”

“Those are some incredible moves,” the captain murmured. He had been about to make a move when he realized that Yang Qi and his people were slaughtering the pirates with such incredible skill that they were obviously veterans of countless battles, people who had climbed mountains of corpses and swam through seas of blood to reach their current level of skill. The pirates were generally much more skilled fighters than the average person, but in this particular fight, they seemed like children play fighting.

“Captain!” one of the pirates exclaimed, “how could these people have such abundant experience in battle? It almost looks like they’re playing with the crew down there. None of them are even hurt! All of us are good fighters, but we can’t compare to them at all!”

“They seem as experienced as gods!”

“Don’t tell me....”

“There’s only one possibility. They're as strong as us, but have vastly more fighting experience. That means they must have ascended from the lower worlds.”

The captain listened to the discussion between his men, and his eyes grew even more piercing. Then his expression changed, becoming somewhat delighted as he threw his head back and laughed heartily. “You’re right. Thanks for reminding me. With fighting experience like that, these people can only be from the lower worlds. People like that are considered treasures here in the god world. We could sell them at a huge profit! In fact, people from the lower worlds haven’t been seen here for years. In the past, Ascendants always fetched astronomical prices, and we just happened to run into an entire group of them.”

The other pirates on deck roared with laughter.

From the way they were acting, it was as if they had just run into a mountain of gold and silver.

It was just as the captain had said; people from the lower worlds were considered very valuable. In fact, in the past, there had been certain powerful entities who rose to the god world and became very important.

SNICK!

Yang Qi stamped his foot on the ground, causing a few dozen dropped sabers to fly up into the air and into the chests of a dozen or so nearby pirates, dropping them dead.

Of the hundred or so pirates who had charged them, all were now corpses.

At that point, a round of cheering rose up from the deck of the pirate ship. Initially, Yang Qi was confused. Why would the other pirates be cheering after they had killed so many of their fellows? Were they addled from being caught outside in the recent storm?

Before anything else could happen, Brahma suddenly blurted in a fearful voice, “This is bad! There’s a peak Terrifying expert there! The pirate captain! They must be cheering because they realize we're from the mortal world. Didn’t I tell you how valuable people from the mortal world are? Only the top figures from the mortal world can come to the god world, and they’re always extraordinary people who have the potential to become very important. Some gods like to get their hands on people like that to study them and strip them of their destiny. They even turn them into puppets or out-of-body incarnations, and sometimes even absorb their experiences directly from their minds.”

“So you're saying we’re all considered invaluable?” Jadefall asked.

“That’s right,” Brahma said, smiling bitterly. “They’re cheering because we're worth a lot of money. Even those hundred dead pirates are like nothing compared to us. They’re going to capture us and sell us to wretch-gods, or perhaps one of the noble clans. With the money they’ll make, they can stop being pirates and probably even reach godly ascension. The pirate captain is coming, we have to run! He's a peak Terrifying expert, you can tell from how he's gliding off the ship!”

A caped figure shot off of the grounded ship, flitting like an enormous seagull to land on the beach. He was followed by a host of other pirates.

In the mortal world, people in the seventh phase of Energy Arts could fly, but things were different here in the god world. To even be able to glide, one had to be a Quasi-God with virtual godhood. And such people couldn’t possibly compare to the actual gods.

Before rising to the god world, Yang Qi had never seen someone with a psychic scale like this man, not even Proud Heaven. After all, Proud Heaven had been in the mid Terrifying level, not the peak.

The pirate captain landed on the sand and looked Yang Qi and his companions up and down. Thanks to the immense energy field surrounding him, all of them were locked in place and couldn’t move.

That was how strong peak Terrifying experts were.

“You people ascended from the mortal world, didn’t you?” he asked, speaking ordinary Godtongue. “It’s been a long time since anyone like you has shown up. I almost can’t believe I’ve run into such a large group of you.”

“What do you mean?” Sectlord Will Manifestation said. “I don’t follow. We're god world natives, not people from the mortal world. You’re mistaken.”

It was obvious that they weren’t going to just admit to being from the mortal world. They knew how valuable they were, and wouldn’t just hand themselves over to certainly horrific consequences.

The pirate captain snorted coldly. “Refusing to admit it won’t change anything. We’ll just take you captive and have you assessed. Then we’ll find out whether you're god world natives or people ascended from the mortal world. Don’t worry, we won’t kill you. Just cooperate and surrender. Why would we ever hurt anything as valuable as you? Of course, if you fight back, we’ll make you suffer.”

“We said we’re not from the mortal world,” Sword Seventeen said. “Why go through all this trouble?”

“Fine. If you refuse to do things the easy way, we’ll do them the hard way!” The pirate waved his hand, sending a stream of empyrean godpower out of his sleeve, which swirled like a vicious dragon right toward Sword Seventeen.

“Not good!” Sword Seventeen blurted. He knew he couldn’t fight someone at the captain’s level, yet his fighting instincts were so sharply honed that he immediately twirled in midair, using his sword technique to throw out the saber he had acquired. In the blink of an eye, he unleashed over a hundred moves, all of them exquisitely executed. Targeting the weakest aspects of the energy being sent in his direction, he slashed an opening for himself and fell back across the sand.

A moment later, the dragon-like stream of energy slammed into the beach, leaving a gaping crater behind.

“Well done,” the pirate captain said. “And you’re still trying to convince me you’re not from the mortal world? My Divine Snake Lance is a top energy art even among Lesser Gods. The fact that you, a mid Terrifying cultivator, could dodge it, just shows how skilled you are. You have a lot of enlightenment of the fundamental nature of heaven and earth, of vital energy, and of magical laws. Only someone who’s lived for millions of years could do something like that. And in the god world, people who aren’t gods simply can’t even dream of living for millions of years.”

Sword Seventeen had just used a technique that took advantage of his enlightenment of magical laws and vital energy. It allowed him to use one sword technique to destroy a myriad of laws, and had taken many years to master in the lower worlds.

There was no way someone with a lifespan of a few hundred years could possibly match that.

The difference between him and the god world natives was like the difference between the sky and the land.

“What exactly do you want, Sire?” Yang Qi said. He was well aware that it wouldn’t be possible to remain incognito forever in the god world. And it didn’t seem possible to pull the wool over the eyes of the pirates. Respectfully clasping his hands, he said, “Since you realize that we’ve only just risen to the god world, and are certain to become important people, then why not get on our good side by letting us go? We could definitely make it worth your while in the future.”

“What did you just say?” the pirate captain said, hardly able to believe his ears.

“I said you should let us go, Sire. It would be to your benefit. One day, when we become Paramount Gods, we’ll owe you a favor.”

The pirate captain started laughing so hard he nearly had a paroxysm. “Ignorant fool....”

Swish!

Even as he laughed, a stream of saber light shot toward him as fast as lightning. It was a saber Yang Qi had picked up from one of the pirates, backed by the power of the Mammoth King’s God Whip.

Yang Qi was the strongest of them all, with power that was equivalent to the peak Terrifying level. Although he couldn’t achieve his breakthrough right now, it would happen eventually. And despite not being able to use his true energy externally, he could imbue it into other items and propel them with force capable of smashing god formations.

In a flash, the saber was right in front of the pirate captain’s head.