Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The morphblight virus had caused true fear to fill the hearts of the immortals.

It was highly contagious and would change one’s genetic structure, turning them into something beastly. Furthermore, the effects were said to be as irreversible as the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Once someone was infected and turned into a morphling, they were essentially doomed to die. Even low-level Godmyths were defenseless against it. Only those in the fifth division or higher could block it, and even then the slightest mistake could lead to infection. At that point, some could manage to expel it, but would sustain severe damage to their vital energy in the process.

Worse, the future world had recently developed a special version of morphblight to use on higher-level cultivators.

“Elder, don't worry,” said the burly disciple. “Our boss here can actually reverse the effects of morphblight! He can save immortals who have been turned into morphlings! It’s something he learned from a Chaos God of the Dragonfolk. This is going to be a blessing for the Nine Yangs God Sect! As the war drags on, it's impossible to say how many experts will come here for treatment!”

The elder’s eyes went wide. “What? Y-y-you… you can save people from morphblight? How is that even possible?”

But then he thought about how mysterious and unpredictable the Dragonfolk were, and how powerful a Chaos God would be. After a moment, he realized it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

“This is big! Men, lock down this hall and make sure no one comes in. I'm going to report this matter to the patriarchs. This is a great opportunity for the Nine Yangs God Sect!”

This Godmyth elder was no fool, and had instantly realized how much the sect could profit. Not only would they be able to provide a huge service to the alliance, they would also gain an incredible boost in reputation.

He quickly lit a stick of incense and closed his eyes to issue prayers.

RUMBLE!

A moment later, an immense aura filled the entire hall and Yang Qi caught sight of an elder who was clearly a fourth division Shattered God.

Right now, Yang Qi was strong enough to defeat a person like this with his own power. And if he used the Cruiser of Civilization, then even a fifth division Nirvanic God would be within the scope of his ability to handle. In fact, it might even be possible for him to take on sixth division Revisionist Gods.

Many of the disciples in the hall recognized this newcomer and immediately dropped to their knees.

“Greetings, Paragon Elder!”

“Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron!” [1]

In the Dao Defense League, first division Godmyths were elders, while those in the second division were grand elders. The third division earned the rank of prime elder, fourth division paragon elders, fifth division prime paragon elders, and sixth division elder kings.

The ranks were divided according to cultivation level and were strictly maintained.

“There’s no need for formalities,” Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron said. “Is what you said true? Is there someone who can cure morphblight? Where is he?”

“It’s him,” the elder said, pointing at Yang Qi. “Imagine what the Nine Yangs God Sect will be able to do now! People will be lining up to get in!”

“It's you? So, boy, you’re from the Dragonfolk? And you just recently joined the Nine Yangs God Sect?” Elder Yang Cauldron’s eyes glittered brightly. “There’s a time and place for jokes, but this isn’t one of them….”

Keeping his cool, Yang Qi replied, “If you don’t believe me, Paragon Elder, I'd be happy to prove my capabilities. There must be some morphlings held captive here in the Nine Yangs God Sect. Why not give me one to save?”

All of a sudden, another booming voice echoed out seemingly from nowhere and another Shattered God appeared, an old man with flowing white hair. “Alright!”

“Greetings, Paragon Elder Yang Rainbow!”

“No need for formalities!” the old man said, walking forward to stand in front of Yang Qi. “My son was infected by the future warriors’ morphblight! He was changed into a morphling, forcing me to keep him locked in a cage. If you can save him, I’ll give you anything! Anything! You would be a benefactor to my entire clan!”

“Please let me see your son, Paragon Elder,” Yang Qi said coolly. Obviously, the best way to surprise the elders and begin his rise to power in the Nine Yangs God Sect was to actually make a demonstration.

Paragon Elder Yang Rainbow waved his hand and an enormous cage appeared, within which was a morphling that was fully three hundred meters tall and covered with scales and keratin spikes. It had bright red eyes and roared constantly, making it obvious that if it escaped its cage, it would kill anyone in its path. Occasionally, drops of blood would fly out of its mouth and corrode the cage around it; it seemed likely that the cage would be eaten through sooner rather than later!

Yang Qi sighed. “This morphblight is particularly strong. So the young sir was also a Godmyth. No wonder no one can save him.”

“What?” Paragon Elder Yang Rainbow shouted. He almost looked like he wanted to rip Yang Qi to shreds right then and there. “Are you saying you can’t save him?”

Yang Qi remained unfazed. “I meant no one else could save him. Of course I know how to.”

Even as the words left his mouth, Yang Qi’s eyes blazed, sending a stream of intense light slamming into the cage. The cage rattled and Paragon Elder Yang Rainbow edged backward, unsure of what exactly Yang Qi was doing.

Cracking sounds echoed out as the cage shattered and the huge morphling emerged, emanating spatial fluctuations filled with the elements of water, fire, light, and darkness.

“Be suppressed!” Yang Qi said, waving his hand.

Instantly, another stream of light wrapped up the morphling and the scales began vanishing. Contaminated blood began to seep out and gather on Yang Qi’s palm. The morphling went quiet, and over the course of the next few moments it shrank down into the shape of a young man, who lay there on the ground with severe vital energy injuries.

“My son!” Paragon Elder Yang Rainbow blurted, rushing forward, wrapping his arms around his son, and sending vital energy into him.

Yang Qi sent flames out to engulf the sphere of blood that had gathered on his palm, burning it into nothing.

“Eight Tribes Dragonfire!” said Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron, his eyes shining. “Such intense and mysterious power. You really do have noble Dragonfolk blood in you. How did you cultivate the Eight Tribes Godfist to such a high level?”

“It’s not my personal power,” Yang Qi said, extinguishing the flame. “It was given to me by an elder in my clan. Afterward, he sent me out into the world for training and experience.”

“Excellent! The fact that you can save people infected with the morphblight virus makes you a god-doctor! Even the brightest of patriarchs can do little to morphblight victims other than kill them and burn away the poison. Actually extracting the poison is as difficult as reeling silk from the cocoon, and can only be done by almighty beings who understand the power of life force and genetics.” Raising his voice to issue orders, Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron said, “Henceforth, Young Sir Dragon Proudheaven is the most honored guest of the Nine Yangs God Sect and will receive the same pay as a paragon elder. Now we need to discuss what price the Nine Yangs God Sect’s god-doctor will charge to heal people.”

All of the elders knew that this was an important matter.

With Yang Qi stationed there as a ‘god-doctor’, experts from countless sects would definitely come asking for treatment. It was almost impossible to predict how much they could earn, or how many good relationships they could form. There was no question that the Nine Yangs God Sect was going to profit handsomely.

Of course, Yang Qi would get his share. The elders and patriarchs of the sect were no morons, and had no intention of trying to take advantage of him.

Perhaps if he had been a loner, they might have considered imprisoning him and forcing him to work for them. But he had firmly established the fact that he was Dragonfolk, and no one would dare to cause problems for them. And no one questioned his story. After all, he was a mere Demolisher, so other than having boundless divine will and an incredible technique given him by a Dragonfolk elder, how else could he accomplish such things?

The Nine Yangs God Sect was strong, but there was no way they could take on the legendary Dragonfolk. Therefore, the elders unanimously agreed to treat him like the most honored of guests, and not do anything to put pressure on him.

RUMBLE!

Even as the various elders continued discussing the matter, an enormous roaring sound erupted outside of the temple, causing everything to tremble violently.

“Who was that? Who would dare to act so atrociously in the Nine Yangs God Sect!?”

The elders were all furious, and Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron waved his hand, sending a stream of light out to open the main doors of the temple hall. Outside in the main square were a group of young people led by a vicious, animalistic young man with sinister eyes. “We heard one of the disciples of the Nine Yangs God Sect can cure morphblight!” he cried out in a piercing voice. “He's coming with us, right now! One of the disciples from our Immortal-Slayer’s Sect contracted morphblight, so if you don’t hurry it up, your ass is fucking mine!” [2]

His loud and piercing voice struck deeply into the hearts of the disciples of the Nine Yangs God Sect.

Of course, Yang Qi’s expression remained calm.

“You're from the Immortal-Slayer’s Sect?” Paragon Elder Yang Cauldron said angrily. “You really defy all laws and principles, even of those of the heavens! How dare you be so ridiculously rude here! Young Sir Dragon Proudheaven is an honored guest of the Nine Yangs God Sect, and yes, he can cure morphblight. But he only performs healings here within our sect. If you have someone for him to treat, bring them here. And you’ll also need to pay the fee, which is no small amount!”

“How impudent!” shouted the young man from the Immortal-Slayer’s Sect. Looking like the picture of arrogance, he said, “We have a lot of infected disciples in the Immortal-Slayer’s Sect. You want us to bring them all here? We have orders directly from Young Master Leaf to bring your healer to our sect. Of course he will be rewarded properly, assuming he really can perform the healings. If not, he won’t be returning.”

“That's right,” said another of the young men, chuckling coldly. “If his healing doesn’t work, then you’ll never see him again. But if he's got any amount of skill, he’ll get a big reward. What gives your Nine Yangs God Sect the right to keep a treasure like this to yourselves!?”

1. Just be clear, the ‘yang’ here is not the common surname that Yang Qi bears, but the yang from the name of the sect, the same as from ‘yin and yang’. In this series, it’s common for disciples of a sect to use one of the characters/words from that sect as their surname, creating a very contrived name that I will translate to preserve the wordplay.

2. I normally try to keep in the various colorful idioms and expressions that appear in Chinese. But this paragraph has a rather uncommon phrase that is just too over-the-top to translate directly. The “vicious” young man is literally described as having “the vision of an eagle, the hearing of an ape, the face of a vulture, the ears of a wolf”, an idiom that means, vicious, violent and animalistic. It repeatedly uses this idiom to describe him, but I’m just going to stick with “animalistic”.