Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi was now filled with the power of two thousand ancient megamammoths. The Physique of the Sovereign Lord was beginning to metamorphose, and yet, he still had not yet reached the second Legendary transformation.

Although the psychic tempest enabled him to sense the variations of space around him, he could not enter them.

The Spirit-Soul Transformation was very powerful, and allowed one to insert one’s spirit and soul into space, and sense the slightest fluctuations therein.

Unfortunately, no matter how strong one's spirit and soul, and no matter how powerful the psychic tempest, it was only possible to sense space, not literally tear it or pierce through it. That ability only came with the third transformation, the Space-Void Transformation.

At the moment, Yang Qi’s psychic tempest could not fully permeate space, and therefore, he couldn’t yet reach the Spirit-Soul Transformation.

He didn’t mind. After all, it would only take a bit more cultivation to succeed.

Most people who used the same number of spirit stones would easily have been able to reach the eighth or ninth transformation. But for Yang Qi, the amount of energy provided was simply not enough. A godly-class energy art could consume massive amounts of spirit stones.

He reined in the psychic tempest, and cast his senses into his body to examine what transformations had occurred. For one thing, the power of the Sovereign Lord within him made his true energy vastly stronger than before.

If his previous true energy could be likened to water, then his current true energy was like mercury. They existed on two completely different levels.

Before, he would need to pour a sizeable portion of true energy into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to get it to work. But now, it took a single exhalation for the spell formations to work like mad.

As of this moment, the might of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda had reached another level.

Inside the pagoda, Patriarch Frost-Drake and Blightczar Manyrivers could sense the changes, and were deeply shocked. In fact, they both dropped to their knees to kowtow.

“Milord, your powers are incredible!” Patriarch Frost-Drake said. “Your energy arts are strong enough to pluck stars and snatch moons, and even unite the continent under your control.” He no longer considered himself part of the Shroud-Heaven Alliance. He served Yang Qi, and remained in the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, where he would help power the spell formations.

Truth be told, Patriarch Frost-Drake wasn’t very important to Yang Qi anymore. Even Nonary Lifeseizers were like ants to him now.

On the other hand, Blightczar Manyrivers could be slightly more useful. He was in the third transformation, high enough that, without the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, Yang Qi would have a hard time beating him in a fight.

“You two focus on your cultivation,” Yang Qi said. “The stronger I get, the more it will benefit you.” Putting the Grand Emperor's Pagoda away, he pulled out an imperial-grade spirit stone, which emanated a powerful aura as he looked at it. The main question he had was how to use it to reach the Spirit-Soul Transformation.

After all, if the Grand Emperor's Pagoda was already so much stronger, then if he reached the Spirit-Soul Transformation, and gathered more Sovereign Lord True Energy, then how much more powerful would it be? He couldn’t wait to find out.

With that, he opened the door of his dimensional palace, allowing the Nine-Yang Immortal Energy from the Minorcosm World to pour inside. Harnessing the energy, he condensed it down until it was like an immortal serum. Then, he tightened his grip on the imperial-grade spirit stone, causing true flame to erupt out and ignite the serum. At the same time, the Hell Portal appeared behind him, which he used to summon powerful devil-spirits. That, combined with the power of the asura’s flesh and blood, yet again transformed into Sovereign Lord True Energy, one of the highest forms of power in the universe.

Of course, there were many sources of power in the universe, virtually an infinite number.

Nine-Yang Immortal Energy. Great Void True Energy. Clear Heaven True Energy. There were many types and kinds, some of higher level, some of lower. In ancient times, the term ‘universal power’ was used to rank a certain high level of energy. However, such practices had ended many years in the past.

As for Nine-Yang Immortal Energy, it was of only moderate use. Although it was better than nothing, compared to Sovereign Lord True Energy, it was actually like nothing.

Without the flesh and blood of a Never-Dying asura, it would not have been as easy for Yang Qi to bolster that energy. At the moment, he needed to just continue the process, push harder toward the transformation, and become a Spirit-Soul Legendary.

However, just as he was about to continue his session of cultivation….

“Not bad at all, Brother Yang Qi! You really can absorb that energy. If you keep it up, you’re going to suck this place dry of Nine-Yang Immortal Energy.”

“That’s right. Now that you’re a holy neophyte, Brother Yang Qi, we absolutely must come to offer our congratulations. Would it be possible to enter your mansion?”

“Who might the two of you be?” Yang Qi asked, maintaining full vigilance. Although he was in the Minorcosm World, he knew that dangers lurked everywhere, and that he couldn't be lax.

“Master Wind Gentleman.”

“Unparalleled Lightning.”

In accompaniment with the voices, two individuals appeared. And shockingly, they were so powerful that they could completely ignore the defenses of his mansion. Instead of waiting outside, they entered immediately.

“Master Wind Gentleman. Unparalleled Lightning. The leaders of the Gentlemen’s Society and the Five Lightnings Society, the two most powerful organizations in the institute next to the Crown Prince Society.” Yang Qi knew exactly what was going on here. These two individuals were far more powerful than Master Jadecrux, and were at the very least in the fifth Legendary transformation. Obviously, they could either produce their own personal domains, or had magical treasures that could produce the same effect. It was only natural that people like that could bypass the defense of his mansion.

Master Wind Gentleman looked Yang Qi up and down and then said, “You made quite the scene at the Academy of Sage Studies, Brother Yang Qi. You decimated the Seven Preheaven Masters, Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, and the Three Pure Yang Elders. And then you killed Grand Elder Feat-Virtue. Talk about a rule-breaker! You caused a storm the likes of which comes around only every few thousand years. You definitely put the Crown Prince Society in their place for the time being.”

Yang Qi smiled faintly. “I just got lucky and scared the chancellor. Considering my cultivation base, I probably should have ended up dead. I apologize for the crude accommodations here. I don't even have tea to serve. Please, I hope you don’t take offense.”

“It’s fine,” Unparalleled Lightning said. He was a tall, burly fellow who, even with his hands clasped behind his back, seemed like a mountain. He also seemed to be constantly surrounded by the muffled rumble of thunder.

“The reason we've come today is that we want to join forces with you to fight the Crown Prince. Now that you’re a holy neophyte, you qualify to start your own society if you wish. If you’re unfamiliar with all the particulars, we can help. After all, it would befit you to build a power base. There are always things that important people like the three of us can't do personally. Having minions to help out with minor tasks can be very beneficial.”

“Well, I actually founded my own society some time back. I just never announced it publicly. It's called the Sage Monarch Society. It’s based on that old adage you hear around the institute: sage inside, monarch outside.”

“Sage Monarch Society….” Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman exchanged a glance, then nodded.

“It’s a good name,” Master Wind Gentleman said. “Well then, let’s get to business. We need to decide what to do about the Crown Prince Society.”

Yang Qi had known all along why these two had come to visit, and so he didn't waste any time getting to the important matters. “As you know, the Crown Prince and I are mortal enemies, and there’s no way we’ll ever reconcile our differences. Once he comes out of seclusion, the first thing he's going to do is come looking for me. Unfortunately, I'm not a match for him right now, and not even the two of you are strong enough to take him on. Do either of you have any ideas about what to do?”

“We were going to ask you the same thing. The Crown Prince is a Never-Dying Legendary, but his power vastly surpasses that level. I think even some Great Sages would have a hard time killing him.” Master Wind Gentleman’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Brother Yang Qi, we heard that you're backed by a Great Sage, someone that even the chancellor fears. Is there any way we could call on the help of this Senior? If he or she had any advice for us, we would take it.”

Yang Qi could immediately tell that Master Wind Gentleman was digging for information. After all, this supposed Great Sage was the reason everyone was scared of him; if it turned out he didn't actually have that backing, things would get very difficult. “I don’t think that's possible. I was provided help to get the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, but nothing more.”

“What?” Unparalleled Lightning said. “Helped you get the Grand Emperor's Pagoda? What do you mean, exactly?”

Yang Qi chuckled, then went on to give an account of the incident in the Heavendawn Quarry. He talked about how he killed the asura, wrecked the chancellor’s plan, and took the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. Of course, he left out the part about the God Legion Seal, and instead, said that the “nameless Senior” was the one who had helped him.

Overall, Master Wind Gentleman and Unparalleled Lightning believed most of his story.

“The chancellor really is being too partial. He’s too focused on helping the Crown Prince.” Master Wind Gentleman didn’t sound very pleased at all, and in fact, somewhat envious. “If the Grand Emperor's Pagoda had ended up in the Crown Prince’s hands like the chancellor intended, he would already be a Great Sage. And if that happened, we would be dead already. Not even our families would have been able to keep us safe.”

“That’s right,” Unparalleled Lightning said, a bead of cold sweat dripping down his temple. “He’s vicious and merciless to the core. Considering how much we’ve fought with him over the years, there’s no imagining how horrific our ends will be. We can only be glad that you got it instead.”

“Don’t be too quick to rejoice,” Yang Qi said, quickly taking back the initiative in the conversation. “From what I've heard, the Crown Prince won’t need five years to recover. The truth is that he’ll reach the Great Sage level within a year and a half. Then he’ll make his comeback. And that, my friends, is when we’ll die.”

“What? A year and a half?! But he was hurt so badly by Young Master Shroud-Heaven! He shouldn’t even be able to recover in that amount of time, let alone break through to the Great Sage level.” Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman were visibly shocked.

After all, a year and a half was definitely not enough time to make the needed preparations.

“You aren’t just being alarmist, are you Yang Qi?” Unparalleled Lightning said. “How come you have information like this that we haven’t even heard of? We're aware of the unusual activities of the Crown Prince Society recently, including their attempt to get spirit stones from the Western Continent, but that should just be to help the Crown Prince’s recovery.” Clearly, he was yet again probing for information.