Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘What a great medicinal pill!’

However, Yang Qi wasn’t a rash person, and didn’t make a move. After all, the pill emanated a terrifying aura that marked its godpower as being shockingly high, and nothing to be taken lightly.

Medicinal pills that had achieved human form weren’t particularly common, but neither were they a total rarity. Any pill that achieved that would be invincibly powerful and could seize good fortune from heaven and earth.

From what Yang Qi could sense, this wasn’t a pill he could deal with by using force.

As he measured up the pill, it seemed to be measuring him up in return. The pill looked like a daoist in dark robes, middle-aged, with a solemn, contemplative look in his eyes.

“You haven’t even formed your godhood yet?” the pill asked. “What’s a pup like you doing here? In the god world, Quasi-Gods are little more than ants. This is really strange. Do you know that you’re in the Chaos-Forge God-Shrine of the Pill-King’s temple ruins? This is a core location in the Pill-King’s god kingdom. It was once an enormous pill furnace, originally built to conform to the twenty-four solar terms, thirty-six heavenly spirits, seventy-two earthly fiends, eighteen arhats, one hundred and eight ghost-gods, three hundred and sixty cycles, seven hundred and twenty acupoints, three thousand great daos, and millions upon millions of heavenly rivers. Although it was damaged in the fighting with King Hypertoxin, it still maintains its might and dignity. This specific location is some distance away from the main battleground where the Pill-King God fought King Hypertoxin, but the toxic energy here is still very strong. Not even Greater Gods would dare venture here, but you, a mere Quasi-God, have made it this far? That’s definitely heaven-defying. No one from ancient times until now has done this.”

Smiling at the middle-aged daoist that was the medicinal pill, Yang Qi said, “You flatter me, Senior. Might I ask who you are? Presumably you’re a medicinal pill from yesteryear that cultivated its way to intelligence?”

“That's right. I'm a Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill, originally concocted over a period of one thousand god world years by a group of countless gods working together. Then, from primeval times until now, I remained in the Chaos-Cavern Bottle Gourd until three thousand god world years ago, when I developed a will of my own and experienced nirvanic birth. Unfortunately, the sea of toxins around me trapped me here, making it impossible to leave. And if it weren’t for the Chaos-Cavern Bottle Gourd keeping me safe, I would long since have become devilized. When you opened the lid just now, I had to waste a lot of vital energy to keep the toxic energy out. So, how exactly are you going to make it up to me?”

“You want compensation, Senior?” Yang Qi said, intentionally plastering a look of surprise onto his face.

“Why wouldn’t I?” the pill daoist replied. “It's not as though I can recover my godpower inside here. And the fact that you, a mere Quasi-God, has reached this point indicates that you must have some sort of medicinal pill to bolster godpower. And you probably have some magical treasure that can fend off the toxic gas.

“What?!” Yang Qi said, looking even more surprised. “But if I give you my medicinal pills and magical treasure, how am I supposed to get out of here?”

“Don’t worry. Give me the pills and treasure, and I’ll take you out with me. The Chaos-Forge God-Shrine has nine floors that are filled with all sorts of great things, including medicinal pills and pill concocting ingredients. Some have been devilized, but others have fended off the toxic energy. Those things will make everything worth it.” The pill daoist wasn’t being polite at all, and it looked like he was only moments away from trying to lay hands on Yang Qi.

“Nine floors?” Yang Qi was actually surprised by that. If the third floor had a medicinal pill this strong, then what else lay above him? As for the pill in front of him, if he assimilated it, he would definitely get much closer to finishing his monarch godhood. At the least, he would save a sixty-year-cycle worth of time.

“In that case, why don’t the two of us just work together? I’ll use my magical treasure to keep you safe on the way out.”

The pill daoist chuckled, and a nasty grin appeared on his face. “You think you qualify to ‘work together’ with me, boy? You made me waste a lot of power just now, and the only thing I can do inside this place is hibernate. I need medicinal ingredients to make up for what I just lost. Besides, how could I ever trust you? What if you betray me as soon as we’re out, and I get devilized? No, you need to give your assets to me.”

“I guess negotiating isn't going to do any good.” Shrugging his shoulders, he said, “After all, I'm not giving you my magical treasure or medicinal pills.”

“Oh?” The pill daoist laughed. “Apparently you don’t know how amazing Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pills are. Even if a measly Quasi-God like you was many times stronger than you are, could you ever hope to achieve Paramount will convergence?”

“I see, Senior. You’re saying you’re going to use force?” Yang Qi settled into a fighting stance.

“Hmph! Lucky for you I’ve been stuck in this Chaos-Cavern Bottle Gourd since ancient times, with nobody to talk to. All of my knowledge is based on what I received from the people who concocted me, otherwise I would’ve killed you already. How about you chat with me a bit to relieve my boredom. If you do, I won’t kill you. Just torture you a bit.” The pill daoist started walking toward him. “I can kill a Quasi-God as easily as turning over my hand, so don’t even think of trying to escape.”

“Aren’t you worried I might break open this bottle gourd and let the toxic energy inside? The bottle gourd is strong, but I could easily open the lid. Then what would happen?”

“Very funny,” the pill daoist said. “You think you can open the lid from inside?”

“I know I can!” Yang Qi had already assessed his surroundings, and knew that while the bottle gourd did have some mysterious spell formations built into it, they had no godstones to power them. Without activating those formations, there was no way for the pill daoist to escape the situation.

“Cut the crap and give me that magical treasure!” The pill daoist shoved his palm out with enough force to topple mountains and drain seas, causing intense rumbling sounds to fill the interior of the bottle gourd.

Yang Qi immediately smiled. Although this pill daoist was strong, he had virtually no fighting experience. He was launching a simplistic attack with godpower, little more. A foolish person who had mountains of gold and silver could easily have such things taken away from them, ending up with nothing.

This medicinal pill’s memories came from the people who had concocted him, so although he had some divine abilities and impressive godpower, he had never actually left the bottle gourd. How could he possibly compare to a veteran of numerous battles like Yang Qi, who had killed too many enemies to count?

Besides, Yang Qi also had access to the battle experience in the God Legion Seal, which included the experiences of the King of Godmammoths. There simply wasn’t anyone who could compare to him in that regard.

“Myriad Tribulations Dhāraṇī Incantation. Sovereign Lord’s Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse!” Yang Qi casually sidestepped the incoming godpower, then waved his finger and released his own godpower, backed by Paramount will. Although the movement seemed as slow as a turtle crawling across the ground, it was actually as fast as lightning. It pierced through space and completely wiped out all the force the pill daoist had unleashed.

The pill daoist backed up, a look of shock on his face. “Y-y-you... you actually have Paramount will convergence? You’re a miracle! No Quasi-God has ever reached the Paramount level!”

“Well I have. What do you think?” Yang Qi strode forward aggressively, showing not a hint of fear. The pill daoist had incredible godpower that clearly surpassed Yang Qi's, but unfortunately he had absolutely no control, and deeply unimpressive energy arts. And he had so little fighting prowess that he was essentially a moron in that regard. His attack just now was completely unfocused, allowing the godpower to leak out in all directions. It was really pitiful.

Truth be told, compared to Yang Qi, the pill daoist may as well have been a mere child. And now that Yang Qi had Paramount will, he could dismantle the pill daoist’s godpower. Other than him, the pill daoist would probably have been able to easily crush anyone under the Paramount level.

Sadly for the pill daoist, Yang Qi had seen through him on all levels.

Anyone else with this level of power who had fighting experience, even experience on the level of Bai Yin’s, would definitely be difficult for Yang Qi to deal with. In fact, maybe he would even be at a big disadvantage.

“You lack experience. Let me show you what real fighting is like!” Spinning, Yang Qi unleashed a stream of sword energy from the dao of King Life-Killer. He only used a tiny bit of godpower, but it created a huge net of swords that enveloped the pill daoist.

“Die!” the pill daoist screamed, chopping out with his hand again. Godpower raged, destroying the net of swords, yet Yang Qi’s smile only grew wider. He had only used a fraction of his power to back that net, while the pill daoist had used full force. If they kept fighting like this, the pill daoist was definitely going to lose.

He might as well be a turtle in a jar.