Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi was really surprised. He had known for some time that the Three Lives Stone could help deal with the tribulation energy and ensure that the technique didn’t lead to catastrophic results. But he had never heard of this Mahātmā Jade. Not even the sheepskin scroll bore any mention of it. All of a sudden, he had a sinking feeling, and was worried that he might have been cultivating the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body incorrectly. What if he had unwittingly fallen onto the wretched path?

The blackish violet entity chuckled. “The Mahātmā Jade was created by the boundless mahātmās of the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās. They pooled their power to create a precious piece of jade similar to the God Legion Seal or King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. When you cultivate the Unspoiled Body, you can unlock the wisdom contained in the Mahātmā Jade. Supposedly, those mahātmās left a boundless psychic power inside of it that can be used to reach the Annulled level.

“You see, as the successor of the Wretch-God, I have a basic understanding of such things. Unfortunately, the Mahātmā Jade is similar to the God Legion Seal in that it was broken into numerous parts that were scattered throughout heaven and earth. From ancient times until now, nobody has ever managed to track all of them down. However, times are changing. People from the past and future are gathering in the Great Necropolis. The best of the best from all ages are here, and it’s impossible to say who will ultimately seize the upper hand and reach the god world.”

“The Annulled level?” Yang Qi was shaken yet again. Will convergence was described by the levels of Normal, Stupendous, Destabilizing, Terrifying, Paramount, Unbounded and finally, Annulled.

According to legend, the Sovereign Lord himself had only reached the verge of the Annulled level, but hadn’t been able to break through. Yet apparently, this Mahātmā Jade contained psychic information describing how to fully step into the level.

The Terrifying was the level of the gods. When one’s power index surpassed ten thousand, it was possible to reach the limits of the Ancient Road to the Gods and have a chance to break through to the god world. The god world was the home of the legion of gods, where even the lowest-level Lesser Gods were ten times beyond ordinary immortals.

Up to this point, Yang Qi had only encountered people in the early Terrifying level. Even Ghost Ace and his compatriots weren’t in the mid Terrifying level, although they had extremely formidable psychic scales.

As for this Wretch-God Apostle, it was doubtful that he was in the mid Terrifying level. Someone that strong would be able to completely dominate people in the early Terrifying level.

“You know, boy,” the Wretch-God Apostle said, “you may very well have fallen onto the wretched path by cultivating that technique wrong. Do you even realize the error you’ve made?”

“What error?” Yang Qi suddenly asked.

“To cultivate the Unspoiled Body, you have to have the Three Lives Stone and the Mahātmā Jade. Do you know why?”

“The Three Lives Stone is used to absorb the tribulation energy that builds up in you,” Yang Qi replied. “If you don’t do that, you’ll experience cultivation deviation and eventually die. But I'm not sure about the Mahātmā Jade. Do you mind providing some insight, Senior?”

“Well, you’re right. The Three Lives Stone can absorb the tribulation energy and convert it into nourishing elements that can make you stronger. However, all of that is connected to body cultivation and has nothing to do with your psychic will. Do you know why the Unspoiled Body was created to begin with?”

“To fight the godmammoths that the legion of gods created. They created the technique in the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās to be the bane of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.”

“Oh? Well, surprise surprise! You actually know about the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth!” The Wretch-God Apostle didn’t bother hiding his amazement. “Don’t tell me you cultivate that too? Probably not. You can’t cultivate the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth without the God Legion Seal.”

“I'm an enemy of Magister Proud Heaven from the future world. So of course I know about that energy art.” Yet again, Yang Qi was trying to direct attention to Proud Heaven.

“You talk big, child,” the Wretch-God Apostle laughed. “Do you know who Proud Heaven is? In the past, he threw the entire Ancient Road to the Gods into chaos and killed so many powerful entities that everyone lost track. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact the executors’ top emperor ended up injuring him, he might have reached the god world. I'm sure he’ll recover from that blow eventually, though. In any case, do you really think you qualify to call him your enemy?”

“He’s plotting to take my constitution,” Yang Qi said. “You see, I'm a Fateless One.”

“What? Really? A Fateless One? No one like you has ever been seen on the Ancient Road to the Gods! At least, not by me.” All of a sudden, the Wretch-God Apostle’s eyes glittered with a strange light, and he sniffed the air. “Well, you really do have an interesting aura. No wonder that junior superintendent wanted to devour you and your constitution.”

Not wanting the conversation to go too far in the wrong direction, Yang Qi said, “Senior, please, can you tell me more about this Mahātmā Jade? Why do you think I’ve fallen onto the wretched path?”

“You think I'm going to just reveal secrets like that?” An enigmatic smile appeared on the Wretch-God Apostle’s face. “Maybe if you show me the sheepskin scroll, I’ll consider it. You definitely can’t cultivate the technique without that scroll, which indicates that you definitely have it on you.”

“I don’t have the sheepskin scroll with me,” Yang Qi replied coolly. “You should have been able to tell that when we clashed just now. If you don’t want to answer my question, fine. I guess we can just settle down and try to think of a way out of here.”

Turning, he walked away and found a corner off in the distance, where he sat down and entered a zen samādhi trance.

“Hey. Hey! HEY!” The Wretch-God Apostle tried to use the same sound attack as from before, but it had no effect.

Once Yang Qi entered a zen samādhi state, his defenses were significantly boosted. Right now, he was surrounded by pulsing tribulation fluctuations that negated the Wretch God Apostle’s attacks and kept him perfectly safe.

RIP!

The Wretch God Apostle flicked his finger, sending a burst of black flame toward Yang Qi’s head like a swirling dragon that howled with rage.

“You dirty swine!” he shouted. “You think you can haggle with me? Just wait till you see what it’s like to have your nascent divinity consumed by my flame!”

The flames caused hissing and popping sounds to ring out for the following several hours. Eventually, a look of astonishment could be seen on the Wretch God Apostle’s face. Waving his finger, he pulled the black flame away from Yang Qi, who wasn’t hurt in the least bit. In fact, the tribulation fluctuations coming off of him seemed stronger, as though he had successfully cultivated another character from the sheepskin scroll.

“Damnation!” the Wretch God Apostle growled. “If it weren’t for these damned chains holding me down, I wouldn’t have any problem dealing with you, brat. I have all kinds of divine abilities I could use. Listen up, boy, you just wait till I finish assimilating this flame. Then I’ll peel the flesh off your bones!”

However, Yang Qi didn’t respond.

More time passed, until eventually, the Wretch God Apostle couldn’t hold his tongue any longer and said, “Come on, kid. Get over here and chat. What's going on outside in the Great Necropolis? Any big developments?”

However, Yang Qi was deep in his zen samādhi trance, and might as well have been a stone statue.

“Do you really want me to use my Wretch-God Bloodbane Consummate Astral Devastation on you? It’s far worse than Wretch-God Ultimate's Obsidian Flame.”

Yang Qi just stayed in his trance.

“Little punk! Get over here and talk with me. I’ll tell you how you’ve gone down the wrong path!”

“Oh?” Yang Qi said, opening his eyes. “In that case, go ahead and start talking. Otherwise, I’ll just go back into my trance.” He was actually trying to provoke the Wretch God Apostle into attacking him again, which would allow him to push his Unspoiled Body to a higher level.

He was now at the level of twenty-four characters. And of course, each additional character required more power and more dangerous tribulations.

The Wretch God Apostle snorted coldly. “I never thought the day would come when someone threatened me.”

Seeing that he was beating around the bush, Yang Qi just closed his eyes again.

“You swine!” the Wretch God Apostle shouted angrily. “If you go into a trance again I'm going to kill you! Open your eyes and talk with me! Fine! I’ll tell you what you want to know.” Baring his fangs, he continued, “The True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body is like the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Both involve apex levels of power, and both are body cultivation techniques that lead to being deathless and undying. However, the stronger one’s fleshly body gets, the more of a restriction it places on the mind and psyche. You, for example, would have long since reached the Terrifying level if you weren’t cultivating the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body. In that sense, the technique is holding you back. And if you keep going down this path, your body will get stronger and stronger, but your sea of consciousness will be further and further locked down. Can you imagine what the end result will be?”

“What will it be?” Yang Qi asked.

“You’ll lose your mind and become an imbecile! Only the Mahātmā Jade can be used to open the psychic door, the door of wisdom. With that jade, you can continue cultivating your psychic elements, achieve balance, and advance by leaps and bounds.”

‘That sounds about right,’ Yang Qi thought. For most of his life, his cultivation had involved advancing his fleshly body and psychic power at the same time. But now, he was facing problems.