Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

It was a bit of a surprise to have run into another faction leader so quickly.

Summer Soundfyre clearly had a profound cultivation base, and was no weaker than Summer Vastcold. By now, Yang Qi realized that all the young women in the Nacrelight Sageland were surnamed “Summer”, the reason being that the High Priestess was also surnamed Summer. Anyone who joined the Nacrelight Sageland would change their name to match.

The women in the sect were all surpassingly beautiful, and the leaders stood head and shoulders above the rest of the disciples. As for this Summer Soundfyre, she moved with entrancing grace and splendor, and was surrounded by an intoxicatingly fragrant aroma. A natural result of the bewitching techniques cultivated in the Nacrelight Sageland, it could entrance any man who encountered it.

Just being in Summer Soundfyre’s presence caused warmth to spread through Yang Qi, and filled his mind with strange thoughts.

‘Hmph!’ He snorted coldly inwardly to clear his thoughts. However, he didn’t let anything show on his face other than a faint smile. “I am your humble servant, Void Qi. I performed a minor favor for Miss Vastcold, nothing more.”

Standing firmly in their path, Summer Soundfyre said, “You dropped billions without even thinking about it. That’s wealth that most people would fight to the death over. Not even Paramount Gods could talk lightly about that much money. Just what exactly is your family background, Void Qi?”

“What does his family background have to do with you?” Summer Vastcold said coldly. “He’s my friend, Summer Soundfyre, so don’t even think of stirring up trouble for him. That will only cause more friction between our two factions.”

Summer Soundfyre laughed. “That's the wrong attitude, little sister Vastcold. Good things should be shared. If you’ve found a rich young patron, you shouldn’t be keeping him to yourself. I think all of us should benefit, don’t you agree, Young Sir Void Qi? I’ve been running low on cash recently, maybe you can loan me a few billion godnotes. I’ll be sure to pay you back later.”

The other young men and women flanking Summer Soundfyre burst into laughter, and one of the men said, “With money, you can do anything, right, boy? Unfortunately, while having money is nice, it’s nothing compared to power and cultivation level. Without them, how can you keep your money safe? How about you fork over thirty or forty billion godnotes to give to our Soundfyre Society as protection money? We’ll make sure nobody goes after your wealth.”

“Oh really?” Yang Qi said, looking the man up and down. He was a Consummate God with a faint destiny that seemed to imply he had an impressive background. Leaning over to Summer Vastcold, Yang Qi asked, “Who is this guy?”

“He’s an expert from the Proud Clan named Proud Realm, who’s been chasing Summer Soundfyre for some time now. She’s simply toying with him, forcing him to spend huge amounts of wealth on her. But he seems to enjoy it, and doesn’t complain at all. That said, his energy arts are impressive, so be careful.”

Summer Vastcold obviously wasn’t going to underestimate him. He was “only” a man, but he was still an early Consummate God, with impressive godhood and even more impressive connections. Obviously, ordinary people couldn’t possibly tangle with him.

‘An expert from the Proud Clan? You can wear out iron shoes in a fruitless search, then find what you're looking for without even trying!’ Yang Qi thought back to when he had first arrived in the god world, and encountered a member of the Proud Clan in the Lightningbolt Continent. Of course, it was only a member of an auxiliary branch, one so obscure it was possible the headquarters didn’t even know it existed.

In contrast, this Proud Realm was a Consummate God, which meant that he surely had an important standing in his clan. Perhaps he even knew something about Proud Heaven.

Looking at Proud Realm, Yang Qi said, “What did you just say? You want me to give you billions of godnotes? I'm happy to talk business with Miss Summer Soundfyre, but do you really think I want to hear some fool like you jabber in my ear? What a joke!”

WHOOSH!

Yang Qi blurred into motion, piercing through space in the blink of an eye and appearing right in front of Proud Realm, where he unleashed a vicious palm toward the man’s face.

Proud Realm sensed the killing intent surrounding him and knew he had almost no time to react.

“Hidden Universe!” he shouted, unleashing a killing move that caused energy to swirl around him, taking the shape of a nascent universe. Flickering lights surrounded him, as though an entire universe was collapsing as radiance and light fought darkness and gloom.

Yang Qi was shocked as he realized that his opponent was fighting with something that resembled Proud Heaven’s Ten Universes. It was different, but seemed to have similar origins; it apparently connected to some mighty plane of existence, which provided the power for an immense attack.

‘This is a move the likes of which no ordinary person could possibly evade. Thankfully, I have experience dealing with the Ten Universes. Furthermore, I’ve put a huge amount of thought into analyzing how to deal with it. Considering that, dealing with this punk won’t be difficult at all.’ His hands shifted back and forth between being blades, whips, and cudgels as he targeted what he knew was a central power nexus in the Hidden Universe move. His move struck home and the nascent universe exploded, sending a massive, chaotic shock wave out in all directions.

SPLAT!

A glob of blood erupted from Proud Realm’s mouth as he was flung dozens of kilometers in the opposite direction, cracking sounds ringing out as his meridians and godhood shattered.

Yang Qi glided back to Summer Vastcold’s side. Flicking his sleeve, he said, “Everything’s fine. I smacked the pesky fly away.”

‘This guy is incredible,’ she thought. ‘I assumed he was rich, but lacking in strength and energy arts. In fact, I thought that was why he was currying favor with me, because he wanted protection in the Nacrelight Sageland. Who could ever have guessed that he’s actually this powerful?’ The brief exchange had completely changed Summer Vastcold’s impression of Yang Qi.

“You vanquished the energy arts of the Proud Clan?” she said. “The founder of that clan is extremely mysterious, and provided them with extremely enigmatic energy arts. Even I would have to work hard to handle Proud Realm. But you defeated his killing Hidden Universe move without even breaking a sweat?”

“I just got lucky,” Yang Qi said, declining to explain, which only furthered his air of mystique.

“Well, go help him up and give him some of these medicinal pills. Then send him back to the Proud Clan.” As Yang Qi complied, Summer Vastcold continued, “It's a big surprise to find that you’re not just wealthy, Young Sir Void Qi. You also have a shocking cultivation base, making you more than strong enough to protect yourself. That said, you would still be in danger if you encountered an Unbounded enemy.”

Yang Qi smiled faintly. “I'm not too worried. I'm fully confident that once you reach the Unbounded level, I’ll have nothing to fear from anyone.” Of course, his words were very pleasing to her.

Meanwhile, Summer Soundfyre chuckled harshly. “Sounds like you’re taking a gamble, Young Sir Void Qi, In the end, Wisdom and Knowledge God Pills aren’t easy to concoct. Even with your help, there’s only a fifty percent chance of success. And if the pill fails, you’ll have lost your investment.”

“Nonsense.” Summer Vastcold said. “The Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill won’t fail. You just wait, Summer Soundfyre. Once I’m an Unbounded expert, I’ll do everything in my power to dismantle your faction and make you one of my subordinates.”

“Nothing is certain. Even if you concoct the Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill and consume it, there’s still only a fifty percent chance that you’ll achieve your breakthrough. And you’ll also have to deal with the tribulations. There have been plenty of people throughout the history of the Nacrelight Sageland who have gathered all of the precious materials needed to reach the Unbounded level. But how many of them succeeded? Relying on medicinal pills is an easy way to experience cultivation deviation.” Smiling radiantly, she said, “I have a proposal, Young Sir Void Qi. You see, I like gambling as well. So why not meet me at the Destined Marriage God Temple later tonight? I’ll be waiting.”

With that, she turned and left with her retinue.

“We got really unlucky today,” Summer Vastcold said, her face ashen from anger. “Let’s go. I'm not interested in staying here in the Warfare God Temple.”

“What's the Destined Marriage Temple?” Yang Qi asked.

“Summer Soundfyre said she’d wait for you there, are you going to take her up on it?” Summer Vastcold asked.

He turned up his nose. “Like hell I well. You think I take orders from her?”

She laughed. “Actually, I think you need to go. I give you my permission.”

“What?!” Yang Qi said, putting on a front of being extremely confused. “Hold on, what’s going on here?”

“Oh, nothing. She just wants you to hedge your bets, right? Who knows, maybe she’ll be the one to reach the Unbounded level first.”

In response, Yang Qi threw his head back and laughed heartily.

“What’s so funny?” she said, obviously not sure what he was laughing about. “You think I'm joking or something?”

“You want me to probe her for more information,” Yang Qi said bluntly. “She didn't seem nervous at all when you mentioned the Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill, so now you’re wondering if there’s some conspiracy afoot. After all, whoever reaches the Unbounded level first will obviously be able to crush the other. If you know yourself and know your enemy, you’ll always be victorious, right?”

“You’re very smart!” Summer Vastcold said. “You pick up on things quickly, and you understand what I'm thinking. There’s much more to you than meets the eye, Void Qi.”