Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Everyone looked in surprise at Yang Qi and Battle Resister.

After the dramatic turn of events from moments before, many of these sect leaders viewed Yang Qi as a mysterious and unpredictable figure, and definitely not someone to look down on. For him to suggest himself and Battle Resister to fill such a role was essentially a way of telling everyone that his status in the alliance was on the same level as Battle Resister.

It was essentially psychological warfare.

“Alright!” Battle Resister said. “Yang Qi and I will watch over the medicinal pills. We can even set up a spell formation to keep them safe. Agreed?”

After a moment, the sect leaders began nodding in agreement.

With that, Yang Qi and Battle Resister quickly set up a spell formation, then took the bottle and put it inside. Then everyone sat down cross-legged again, the only difference being that it was Leaf Dao-Denier in the middle instead of Yang Qi.

Yang Qi was curious to see how this Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic worked, which would be easy to do now that he had inserted a devil embryo into him.

Never in Leaf Dao-Denier’s wildest dreams could he have imagined that something like this would be happening. Leaf Dao-Denier had his many secrets, but when it came to schemes and plots, he was completely surpassed by Yang Qi.

As Leaf Dao-Denier sat there in the middle of the group, he twisted his legs around into a very strange position that made him look almost like a pretzel.

He looked quite comical, but at the same time, there was something very profound about the posture. After getting into position, he began to writhe and wriggle in a very strange fashion, causing a high-level universal power to begin to converge within him, something that was clearly from the god world.

Soon, strange things began happening. Specifically, nine of his acupoints each sprang up into a vortex.

“Everyone, pour your true energy into the vortexes. When you do so, follow this mental dharma: Empty, but not empty. Let the heart be as long as the night, let the will be transmitted through the aeons. Move, but don’t move. Be still, but not still. Simply wait for movement. Be like the hibernating dragon in the earth. Be like the floodwyrm lurking in the yellow springs. Be like the dragon hiding in a cave of eels....”

Everyone listened carefully to the mental dharma being spoken by Leaf Dao-Denier, which was none other than the mnemonic for the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic. Following the prescribed methods, they sent their true energy into him.

Yang Qi followed along as well, and could sense something strange building up within his true energy, something powerful and indecipherable. He sent the true energy into the vortexes, and it quickly disappeared into Leaf Dao-Denier.

However, by means of the devil embryo, Yang Qi was able to see what was happening on the other side. The true energy from the sect leaders flowed into Leaf Dao-Denier’s sea of energy, where it formed a character that resembled the very posture he had assumed. It was none other than the character for “mother”, and it radiated strength and the feeling of ancestry. [1]

At first, it was small and weak, but as the power flowed in, the character grew larger and more solid. Eventually, a portal opened within Leaf Dao-Denier, which connected to a secret location of immense power in the ancient godworld.

Leaf Dao-Denier nearly burst out laughing.

‘These pieces of trash have no idea that I acquired a mysterious magical symbol from the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic. With it, I can connect to the god world, to the temple of the queen mother of all buddhas. I can acquire the pure power of the Vajra Māyādevī, gathered from the great heaven of the god world, filled with qualities of all types of gods, buddhas, and devils. Even a scrap of that power will make me vastly stronger, boosting my cultivation base in ways that these foolish people from the mortal world could never comprehend.’ [2]

In yesteryear, the ancient buddhist schools had very nearly established a different line of gods in the god world. Although they were eventually destroyed by the Sovereign Lord, a centipede does not stop wriggling even after being stomped on. Remnants of their schools survived down to this day, and their methods could still be used to reach godly ascension.

‘The Vajra Māyādevī Portal... the basis of all portals... the portal of utility, open....’

Thanks to the blessing of power from the surrounding experts, the tiny portal began opening.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was shocked as he realized that the surrounding experts just continued to pour true energy into Leaf Dao-Denier, and seemed completely focused on deciphering the meaning of the mental dharma at the same time. It was almost as if they weren’t in control of their own energy output.

‘Incredible,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘I almost can’t believe Leaf Dao-Denier is capable of this. It's a good thing I put that devil embryo in him, otherwise I might have been sucked into the trap as well. Well, if he's going to use all these people to cultivate the Vajra Māyādevī art, or whatever it is, I might as well take the chance to harvest some benefits myself as well!’

The devil embryo stirred and began absorbing the Vajra Māyādevī power, then sending it into Yang Qi. He quickly realized that the principles of mutual augmentation and suppression applied between this power and his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Soon, the wisdom and knowledge of countless buddhas and buddha-kings began to gather within him.

For now, he wouldn’t assimilate the power, but he could at least research it, and perhaps even learn some of the secrets of the buddhas of the god world. As Leaf Dao-Denier continued working with his technique, vajra-like power swirled around him, gathering into the mysterious and enigmatic character that existed in his sea of energy. It was something marvelous that could crush all wretch-devils, and it could even suppress devil embryos. Thankfully, Yang Qi’s will surpassed Leaf Dao-Denier’s, therefore the devil embryo wasn't affected. If Leaf Dao-Denier’s will had been on the same level as Yang Qi’s, then the devil embryo wouldn’t have been strong enough to remain hidden from him and he might even have been able to assimilate it.

The process continued.

As Leaf Dao-Denier continued working, he began growing stronger, as did Yang Qi. In fact, Yang Qi was actually improving more quickly in terms of his will, cultivation base, and enlightenment.

Slowly but surely, a portal was becoming visible within this power double, which was none other than the Vajra Māyādevī portal.

The Vajra Māyādevī power that flowed out of it was nearly liquid, incredibly firm, powerful, and eternally deathless. It was filled with countless bizarre transformations from the god world, and seemed to border on godhood. At the same time, it moved incredibly slowly and was as delicate as a strand of silk as it gathered in the sea of energy.

RUMBLE!

Sensing that he was nearing a point of completion, Leaf Dao-Denier sent the streams of true energy back to those who had provided them. At the same time, Yang Qi severed his connection to the devil embryo, and smiled faintly at the fact that Leaf Dao-Denier still didn’t realize what he had done.

“I succeeded!” Leaf Dao-Denier declared, laughing heartily. All of a sudden, the projection of a heaven-god appeared behind him, clasping a vajra scepter in one hand and a vajra sword in the other, with lotuses beneath its feet and apsaras scattering flower petals down onto it.

And the energy it radiated was impossible to assess.

Cipher Ever-Heaven’s expression flickered as he realized that, in this short period of time, Leaf Dao-Denier’s cultivation base had come to surpass his own. Although his true energy reserves weren’t greater, the strength of his power was definitely superior.

In fact, if they both used the same level of power, Cipher Ever-Heaven knew that he would be beaten, like how ten pounds of flowers would instantly be crushed by ten pounds of steel.

‘His cultivation base is progressing so rapidly!’ the other sect rulers thought. All of them were now starting to wonder if helping Leaf Dao-Denier had been a good idea after all. In fact, some of them were already secretly communicating with each other and making agreements to kill him after dealing with the Joyflower Palace.

As Leaf Dao-Denier reined in his energy arts, Battle Resister and Yang Qi distributed the god pills. They were multi-colored, a reminder that they had been made from countless flowers. The sect rulers all popped the pills into their mouths, apparently anxious to make as much progress as they possibly could in a short period of time.

Soon, fragrant aromas emanated out from all of them, and they nodded, their energy arts having significantly advanced thanks to the pills.

Yang Qi had his power double assimilate it. By this point, his power double was almost the same as his true self, to the point where not even Battle Resister could tell the difference.

The full session of cultivation in the world forest lasted for over a month. Everyone had greatly benefited, and they were just about to start work on the main task of dealing with Empress Joyflower when the entire Great Necropolis suddenly trembled. Even the bubbles in the world forest were affected, with many of them flying out of the forest.

‘What’s happening?’ Yang Qi thought, shocked.

1. The character for mother is 母, so if you can picture him somehow assuming that posture, more power to you XD.

2. In “real life” Māyādevī is the mother of Gautama Buddha. More here.