Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Brahma was actually an ancient Consummate God.

Because of a unique set of circumstances, he had ended up perishing. However, his experience and knowledge related to the god world remained with him, and no one else in the group could possibly match up to him in that regard. Yang Qi had the God Legion Seal, of course, but still had many of its secrets and abilities to unlock.

When it came to the everyday ins and outs of the god world, Brahma understood far more than Yang Qi. The God Legion Seal couldn’t help Yang Qi with such matters.

For example, it didn’t contain information about how to use Godsieve Pills in a medicine formation.

On the other hand, it required the ability to use godpower externally, which no one else but Yang Qi could do.

He flicked his finger, causing godpower to converge into a point of light, which he then sent over to the chests. The Godsieve Pills in the chests instantly evaporated into medicinal dragons that he took control of with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

The dragons transformed into a host of fist-sized medicine formations, which he then sent into everyone present.

It was a minor skill, but something that required exquisite control over his godpower. That said, the ability to quickly master such a minor skill was something the natives of the god world couldn't do. Only old-timers who had practiced cultivation for millions upon millions of years in the mortal world would be able to pull off something like that.

Everyone settled down cross-legged into meditative states as the Godsieve Pills vanished.

Normally speaking, medicinal pills like this would take three days per pill to assimilate, lest one explode. But with the adjustments of the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi could extract the ultimate medicinal efficacy from them and provide benefits that would be far better than consuming them individually.

RUMBLE!

Almost immediately, everyone’s auras began growing stronger.

Crack!

Two hours later, Brahma’s godpower reached a peak and he began to transform as he broke through to the peak Terrifying level. However, his flows of godpower seemed thin and weak compared to Yang Qi’s.

“Why are they so weak?” Yang Qi said, looking surprised.

“What were you expecting?” Brahma replied. “These results aren’t bad at all. Look, I can already release godpower externally. There’s no way we could achieve breakthroughs like this in the immortal worlds. Did you think everyone would be as freakishly powerful as you?”

A tremor passed through him as he sent a stream of true energy out of his palm, as thin as spider web. It wrapped around a nearby chair, which subsequently rose up into the air, then dropped back down with a thud.

“As we further our cultivation, our godpower will strengthen and we’ll get more powerful.”

“Right,” Yang Qi said, nodding. “At least you're stronger than the average expert. Going forward, I’ll try to find more god pills to help bolster your cultivation base and help you advance by leaps and bounds.”

“Is Mr. Yang Qi here?” a voice said on the outside. “Are you still working on your cultivation?”

“How can I help you?” Yang Qi asked, frowning.

“The young lady has invited all of you to attend a banquet,” the voice replied.

Yang Qi walked out to find some servants, one of whom bore an invitation card from the Wang Clan.

“Wonderful,” Yang Qi said, accepting the invitation. When he tapped the surface, it rang like metal. “Unfortunately, my companions are all in the middle of a session of cultivation. Only Brother Brahma and I are free to attend. Can you lead the way?”

“Of course,” the servant replied respectfully. The servant was a Despot and Yang Qi was already a Quasi-God, so there was no way he would speak to him in any other tone.

Brahma walked out, and was joined by Jadefall, who was holding the purrling in her arms.

“I’d like to come as well, Yang Qi.” she said. From her energy fluctuations, he could tell that she had also experienced a breakthrough. Even after arriving in the god world, the purrling hadn’t taken to eating or drinking anything. Other than crawling around, it didn’t seem to do anything, nor did it seem to require any power.

Yang Qi had previously assumed that it would transform once it reached the god world. At the very least, he had expected it to absorb the vital energy; but it seemed to disdain the vital energy of the god world. So far, Yang Qi had only seen it expend energy, never take it in. It was as if it existed on a level that completely defied the normal logic regarding energy conservation.

In the end, though, that only made it more terrifying. Of course, Yang Qi hadn’t stopped observing it in the hopes of gaining further enlightenment of its secrets. And he couldn’t forget how he had seen the purrling’s porcelain godspore being attacked by the ancient gods in primal-chaos, only to have it flee and never be caught.

Even King Heaven-Devourer was among the ones who had tried to consume the purrling, only to fail. It just went to show how completely strange and bizarre the purrling was.

Jadefall had brought it to life. She was a Reincarnated One, and as such was clearly blessed by heaven, which explained how she could achieve such quick cultivation advancement. In fact, her godpower was actually superior to Brahma's.

‘Two more Quasi-Gods?!’ the servants thought in shock. They all knew that the wanderers who saved Wang Juan were led by a Quasi-God named Yang Qi. But the rest of the wanderers were supposed to be Despots. However, these were clearly two Quasi-Gods, which was nothing short of astounding.

Of course, it wasn’t their place to speak, so they simply led the way out.

At the main entrance of the inn, a carriage was waiting, harnessed with four fine horses. They were god steeds, with horns on their heads and hooves that caused miniature tornadoes to spring up when they moved. And their fine, sleek coats looked like they were made of gold.

They took their seats in the carriage, and the horses began to trot smoothly. The ride wasn’t bumpy at all as the horses sped along, their hooves not even touching the ground. It felt like they were floating.

It took only a short time to reach a heavily guarded castle. There were Despot guards with sabers and spears at all the entrances, as well as a large number of carriages and sedan chairs parked outside the main entrance. Obviously, other famous people from the city were also attending this banquet.

As soon as Yang Qi, Brahma and Jadefall stepped out of the carriage, another servant approached and said, “Invitation card, please!”

Yang Qi handed him the card, whereupon he was led inside. As soon as the servant announced their names, Wang Juan went over to meet them. Upon looking at Brahma and Jadefall, she said, “You two achieved a breakthrough in one night? How did you do that?”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Brahma replied. “We have a special technique. Plus, with plenty of medicinal pills to consume, it wasn’t a problem.”

“Plenty of medicinal pills to consume?” Wang Juan said, visibly surprised. “I sent you so many medicinal pills that even if all of you consumed one every three days, it should’ve taken three or four years to reach the Quasi-God level. And that would’ve been considered fast. Most people would need at least ten years to consume so many Godsieve Pills. Otherwise, the convergence of godpower would be difficult to sustain.”

“Like I said, we have a special technique,” Brahma said, smiling.

“Could it be that you used to be in a higher level, but somehow experienced a decline? So you’re really just recovering?”

Brahma looked at Wang Juan as if he were considering something new about her. Nodding, he said, “That's right. I used to be a Quasi-God in the past. Someone destroyed my virtual godhood, so my progress is naturally faster than normal.”

Lowering her voice meaningfully, Wang Juan said, “Are you sure you were only a Quasi-God...?”

“What?!” Brahma said, instinctively unleashing some killing intent. Apparently, Wang Juan realized that he was actually a perished god who had been resurrected.

“There’s no need to show killing intent,” she said, smiling. “It was a guess, that's all. Your group has a mysterious background, and you’re getting stronger far faster than normal. It's going to be hard to avoid speculation. However, I’ll do my best to keep your secret. Surely you have enemies, and our Wang Clan can offer you protection. After all, you saved my life, so it only makes sense for us to cooperate, right?”

“We’ll follow your lead, Miss,” Yang Qi said coolly. Keeping his words as vague as possible, he said, “Right now, we’re solely focused on getting as strong as possible. Please consider us friends, not enemies.”

“Alright!” she replied. “This banquet is being held in celebration of the death of Pirate King Deku. With him dead, the surrounding seas will be much more peaceful. All of the important people in Lightningbolt City are here, and not a single one of them is lower than the Quasi-God level. Truth be told, some members of the clan didn’t want to invite those of you who weren’t Quasi-Gods. Considering you’ve broken through, we don’t have to worry about that now.”

Yang Qi nodded. “Of course. So, who from Lightningbolt City do you suggest we meet? Perhaps some people from the Proud Clan?”

“Proud Clan? Well, it’s a given that they’re here. In fact, the most important member of the younger generation will be coming, Proud Radiance. He’s the top Quasi-God in Lightningbolt City, and in fact, probably in the entire Lightningbolt Continent. They say that he's invincible, and it will only be a few years before he reaches godly ascension.”

“Is that so?” Yang Qi said. “Sounds very impressive. The gap between a Quasi-God and a true god is an insurmountable gulf that many people can't cross. I wonder if he’ll actually succeed.”

Even as the words left his mouth, a cold snort echoed out from across the room. “Unsurmountable gully? As far as I'm concerned it’s a ditch that I can walk across at any time.”

Yang Qi looked over to the entrance to find a young man walking in, hands clasped behind his back. He was followed by a group of burly Quasi-Gods, all of whom had cold, calculating eyes.

As for the young man, he wore a wide headband; and although he looked like someone who had gone through many years of bitter cultivation, he was also the picture of arrogance.

This was the top young expert in the Lightningbolt Continent, Proud Radiance.