Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘Aha!’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Well, I already learned quite a bit. So, it turns out the Heaven’s Net Consortium really is full of schemers. They have an altar that they’re preparing to collect the heavenly will and essence of the Titan Emperor Heaven! The heavenly will of an immortal world is like the soul of a human, and is nothing to be taken lightly. It can be used to do all sorts of mysterious and unfathomable things, like controlling countless living beings.’

Yang Qi and Titan Duelbringer were out of the Heaven’s Net Consortium, and in fact, had already left the business plane.

As they walked down the street, Yang Qi was fairly certain they were being followed. Thankfully, Yang Qi had plenty of energy arts to deal with situations like this. Upon turning a corner, he created projected incarnations of himself and Titan Duelbringer, which continued to walk along. Meanwhile, he cast a cloak of invisibility on their true selves, then followed along some distance behind. At the same time, he used his Lord's Eye to check in on what was happening in the Heaven’s Net Consortium.

Of course, he saw all of the black-robed men muttering ancient god curses, as well as the individuals in cinnabar. Right now, all of them were in the middle of sending vital energy into the altar they were situated around. Within that altar was a primal-chaos elder-snake, swirling back and forth, absorbing the essence of the surrounding immortal world to produce Heaven-Devouring True Energy. Obviously, the primal-chaos elder-snake was made from King Heaven-Devourer’s imperial snakecharms. Yang Qi could tell that this snake was made of a total of six hundred and sixty-six individual snakecharms, making it incomparably powerful. It also meant that the number of snakecharms could be represented with the numerals 666.

‘Well, isn’t this wonderful….’ he thought, his heart pounding a bit as he thought of what it would mean to acquire six hundred and sixty-six of King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans.

Even with the mere one hundred and eighty-five that he currently had, his primal-chaos elder-snake was strong enough to fight heavenly soldiers and commanders and vanquish immortal formations. If he could get six hundred and sixty-six more, and refine them with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he wouldn’t need to fear anyone in the entire Titan Emperor Heaven.

He would also no longer need to worry about the tribulation that would come when stepping into the Demolishing level.

He had already divined that his Demolishing tribulation would be able to shake macrocosms and would arouse the jealousy of the horde of devils, the host of immortals, and the multitude of demons. In fact, it might even incite the envy of the magical laws and essence of the universe itself. If demons, immortals, and devils all tried to interfere, it could be a moment of unprecedented danger that vastly surpassed the situation when he faced that fiendslave battalion.

Entities from the Hell of Mahānata, the Hell of Gloom and Darkness, and the Tusita Heaven would all sense the matter, and would likely try to prevent him from breaking through. And they would definitely take advantage of the moment to try to capture him, assimilate him, and use his blood and energy to create out-of-body incarnations.

It was a common belief that the aura of heavenly tribulation would bring the most incredible dangers imaginable. However, if he had an additional six hundred and sixty-six imperial snakecharms, his powers of devouring would increase by thousands or tens of thousands of times. In that case, he could simply consume the tribulation, along with any devils or immortals which came to cause problems. With Heaven-Devouring True Energy, he could pass any tribulation, and simultaneously increase the power of his genes and his overall strength.

Right now he was strong enough to beat first stage Void-Demolishers, second stage Space-Demolishers, third stage Thought-Demolishers, fourth stage Origin-Demolishers and even fifth stage World-Demolishers. Whether it was immortal soldiers, immortal warriors, immortal officers, immortal generals or immortal marquises, none were his match.

Unfortunately, the Titan Emperor Heaven was a place where there were as many experts as the sky had clouds, which meant that there were definitely old-timers with profoundly powerful cultivation bases. They were definitely people higher than the level of immortal marquises. When it came to immortal paragons, immortal ancestors, immortal emperors or sovereigns of heaven, a fight with them would end up with him being defeated and captured.

But with an additional six hundred and sixty-six of King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans, everything would be different.

His main purpose in ascending to the immortal world had been to search for clues about Proud Heaven. But right now, he was in something of a bottleneck that needed to be passed.

The downside to all of this was that he had no idea how to deal with the Heaven’s Net Consortium and actually take those six hundred and sixty-six imperial snakecharms. They obviously had many powerful experts in their organization, otherwise they would have long since been overthrown.

Therefore, he needed to take his time.

Titan Duelbringer could tell what Yang Qi was thinking, and said, “Milord, why don’t we go to Princess Jadefall’s mansion? I know one of the stewards there, and he should be able to get you a job as a bodyguard. Then you can just wait for the right moment to make your big debut. Right now, most of Princess Jadefall’s forces are stationed at the border, defending against foreign invaders. Considering the level of your cultivation base, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to eventually get transferred there and perform some meritorious services. You’ll definitely get promoted quickly, and that should make it a lot easier to deal with the Heaven’s Net Consortium. In fact, if you get promoted high enough within the army, you might even have enough authority to lead a campaign to purge them.”

“Agreed. Let’s go!”

Soon the two of them arrived at another plane of existence within the imperial city. It was a quiet and peaceful place, filled with immortal energy and protected by warding magics that would make it impossible for anyone to enter unlawfully.

In the middle of the plane was an enormous structure that was clearly a paradisiac blessed land. It contained multiple levels and roads and passageways of all sorts, all of them filled with guards, menservants, and maidservants.

It was a place where high officials and noble persons resided, and the atmosphere here was very different from the business plane. It was a tranquil place where the immortal energy was so dense it was almost liquid in nature.

Obviously, random passersby would never be admitted.

However, Yang Qi and Titan Duelbringer were both imperial clansmen now, plus they were loaded with brahmanints. Therefore, any guards in their way let them pass almost immediately.

Eventually, they reached a towering, majestic mansion, guarded by a host of troops who clearly took their duty very seriously.

A servant, who was waiting for them at the entrance, waved them over and took them in through a side door. Only very important people could go through the main entrance. Everyone with lower status, even imperial clansmen, had to use the side entrances.

‘Such strict rules,’ Yang Qi thought. That said, even the side doors were crafted from pure gold and protected by miraculous warding magics. In fact, the entire mansion was made from incredible materials from ancient times.

As soon as they were inside, the servant turned and said, “I never thought you would come back from the lower world, Titan Duelbringer. And you’re rich, too? According to the rumors, you committed some grave crime down below, but instead of getting punished for it you were rewarded? Not only that, but you greased just about every palm that exists in the Department of the Imperial Clan?!”

“Look, it's simple,” Titan Duelbringer said. “My friend is looking for a place to stay. We know that Princess Jadefall is an important person in the Titan Emperor Heaven, and we're hoping that sticking with her will be good for him in the long run. Once he builds up some military credit, maybe he can start a business.” Titan Duelbringer was the type of person who had a lot of connections. Although many of those connections were lowly in standing, the fact that they worked for powerful people made them invaluable. As long as he had enough money to fund his efforts, he could curry favor anywhere.

“This will be worth it for you too,” Yang Qi said, handing a bag to the servant.

The servant opened the bag, and his eyes went wide at the sight of all the brahmanints. Smiling, he said, “I can take care of everything. And from now on, you come to me if you need any help. As you may know, Princess Jadefall has the top mansion in the imperial dynasty, and we have too many bodyguards to count.”

Even as he spoke, the servant led them to a side chamber.

“This is the steward’s hall, go ahead inside.”

Standing by the door, he gestured for them to enter.

Titan Duelbringer and Yang Qi entered the hall, which was narrow and wide. A tall, slender man stood inside, with eyebrows like swords and eyes that glittered like stars. His expressionless face seemed threatening without being angry, and overall, he was as imposing as a mountain.

“Greetings, Steward!” Titan Duelbringer said and bowed deeply, as did Yang Qi.

“Rise,” the steward said, and his voice caused Yang Qi’s heart to thump as he realized that the man’s gaze seemed to be piercing into him. Thankfully, the techniques of the primeval infernal deities kept him safe.

A moment passed, and the steward said, “Oh? Who would have thought you have an energy art like that? And your genes are very strong. So, a real genius. Excellent. And here I thought you just came to ask for favors, Titan Duelbringer. Instead, it turns out you’ve done quite well. I’ll arrange some training for your friend, and afterward he can join one of the princess’ armies. Once he goes on a few missions and builds up some military credit, it should be an easy thing for him to get a promotion.”

“Many thanks, Steward. Many thanks, truly.” As Titan Duelbringer nodded in appreciation, Yang Qi produced a bag of brahmanints which he handed to the steward.

The steward gave an enigmatic smile but didn’t take the bag. “I heard that you encountered some ancient ruins and got power stones with magical laws from the Tusita Heaven. Mind giving me some of those instead?”

“Of course, no problem!” Fully aware that this steward was an important person, Yang Qi immediately produced some power stones and handed them over.

Around that time, a voice could be heard from outside. “The princess is back!”