Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

In front of Yang Qi was the corpse of a scholar, completely lifelike, and so strong that it seemed untouched by the toxic mist around it.

Normally speaking, when gods died, their corpses would eventually weaken and rot away. But that wasn’t the case here, which just went to show how incredible the corpse was.

‘What kind of scholar was this?’ Reaching out, he touched the scholar and found that his skin felt almost metallic. No wonder the toxic mist couldn’t get into him. He actually felt less like a human and more like a statue made from some sort of metal.

RUMBLE!

More and more toxic energy was building up in the area, making it difficult for Yang Qi to even remain standing, yet the scholar’s corpse just sat there completely still and unmoving.

There was also a sense of profound history on the scholar.

He was definitely someone from ancient times, perhaps someone who had fought the seventy-two monarchs. In any case, this was the fifth floor, a place that no other person had ever explored. It was a place that not even Yang Qi could handle, despite having just consumed a Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill and being very close to completing his monarch godhood.

He made another grasping motion, but this time the mist didn't clear. Instead, the black hole he formed actually collapsed because of the influx.

Whooosh!

In addition to the general mist, there were spatial aspects that formed tiny blades, which slammed into Yang Qi’s defensive empyrean energy, causing sparks to shower down.

It was only thanks to his recent advances that he wasn’t instantly skewered. When he had just reached the Paramount level and descended from the mountains, Yang Qi had attempted to open spatial paths, only to fail.

But now his cultivation base had advanced, and things weren’t as hard as before. That said, he still couldn’t let his guard down. He still needed to form his monarch godhood and reach godly ascension before he could truly control spatial godpower.

“Senior Scholar, you might be dead, but your corpse is so strong it can survive in this toxic mist. I honestly can’t stand the idea of you being tormented this way day and night. I'm taking you out of here!” Reaching out, he grabbed the corpse.

However, the corpse was so incredibly heavy that he actually couldn’t move it. Curious, he walked around it a few times, then sent out some godpower to see if he could pierce inside the corpse and inspect it that way.

What happened, though, was that the corpse began devouring his godpower as if it were a gobblewock. It happened so quickly and forcefully that Yang Qi felt like it might start sucking away his essence.

‘What? The corpse is trying to absorb my godpower? Don’t tell me this scholar isn’t actually dead? Is he just hibernating?’ If the scholar wasn’t dead, it begged the question of how strong he actually was. After putting some godpower into the corpse, it wasn’t as heavy as before. Taking out his Chaos-Cavern Bottle Gourd, he threw a godstone into it and directed the gravitational force at the corpse, sucking it inside.

Some of the toxic mist came along with it, forcing Yang Qi to spend some time getting rid of it. Later, he would take some time to study the scholar further to try to figure out exactly who he was.

Yang Qi looked around the fifth floor again, but didn’t see anything else of note. Then he glanced at the stairs leading to the sixth floor.

The Chaos-Forge God-Shrine was located in the heart of these ruins, and had nine floors in all, each of which contained amazing items. So far, he had acquired antidotal pills, sword pellets, a Chaos-Cavern Grand-Magnate Pill, cauldrons filled with medicinal ingredients, and the corpse of a scholar.

And that meant that there were still four more floors to explore and loot.

Unfortunately, the toxic mist rolling out from the staircase was so incredibly strong that it was like a black sludge. And it had spatial fluctuations that seemed capable of boring through anything. It would obviously be difficult to last in those circumstances, even if he did have the God Legion Seal.

‘Might as well give it a shot!’ he thought. Drawing on the mysteries of the God Legion Seal, he summoned a golden shield of light around himself, then walked toward the staircase. However, after only taking one step, booming sounds rang out as his sea of consciousness was hit with force like a sledgehammer.

Then he heard a popping sound! His defensive energy had burst!

He had no choice but to step back and form it again.

Bracing himself, he took two steps, but the toxic godpower was so strong he was sent flying backward until he slammed into the wall, stunning him. And the toxic mist very nearly entered his body.

It seemed that the sixth floor might not be possible for him right now.

Although he was disappointed, the truth was that if word got out of what he'd already done, it would be considered a miracle. Even peak Greater Gods would have trouble reaching the fifth floor, and only Consummate Gods might have a chance at reaching the sixth. And that would only be with a huge supply of medicinal pills to bolster their godpower.

That said, he had benefited dramatically. He could turn in the antidotal pills for a hefty reward of merit points, use the sword pellets to groom top experts for his forces, and give the medicinal ingredients to the Sage Monarch Consortium to fuel growth of the business. And as his income grew, he could definitely be able to form monarch godhood sooner.

‘I suppose I should work on my monarch godhood before coming back. I have to see what mysteries lie in the rest of the nine floors.’

Having no need to remain behind, he headed down the stairs; he had spent roughly two months exploring the ruins.

As for the return trip, he was even less worried about the toxins. In fact, considering he had the Life-Death Void-Destruction God-Lightning from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he was able to use the mist to create toxic lightning pellets that would make great trump cards for use when fighting a Greater God.

Of course, he wouldn’t need items like that. But they would make great signature weapons for the Sage Monarch Consortium to use in its defense.

In almost no time at all, he was out of the Toxic Continent and putting godstones into the teleportation portal. In short order, he was back in the god kingdom of the House of God Ordainment, walking into the Missions Sanctuary.

“Junior Brother? You’re back!? Did you finish the mission?” The same two disciples from before were on duty, and they actually remembered Yang Qi. Obviously, they looked quite surprised.

“I finished it,” Yang Qi said, handing over one of the antidotal pills. “This is an antidotal pill concocted by someone with Paramount will convergence. I found it in the Pill-King’s temple ruins on the Toxic Continent. Go ahead and inspect it. How many merit points will I be getting?”

“You really got a Paramount medicinal pill?” The disciples took the pill and studied it for a long moment. Eyes glittering, one of them said, “Come with me, Junior Brother. The merit point rewards for Paramount medicinal pills have to be handled by an elder.”

“Okay.” Yang Qi followed them into a small room occupied by three Lesser God elders, all of whom were sitting with eyes closed in meditation. Looking them over, Yang Qi found that they had godhood ratings of two, three, and six. That made them so weak that Yang Qi could kill them with a glance if he wanted.

“Elders, this Junior Brother just returned from the Toxic Continent. He finished a mission there by acquiring a paramount medicinal pill. Can you please confirm the merit point reward for that?” The disciples handed the medicinal pill out on a jade platter.

“A Quasi-God disciple actually went to the Toxic Continent?” The elder with the godhood rating of six opened his eyes and looked over at Yang Qi. Seeing nothing that caught his eye, he took the antidotal pill and looked at it. His eyes opened wide. Meanwhile, the other two elders exchanged a glance. “It’s of average quality. In fact, it’s on the lower end of Paramount products. Because it’s been in close contact with toxic energy for so long, it’s become much less effective. In other words, it's only worth twenty percent of its normal price. Give him two thousand merit points.”

“What?!” Yang Qi frowned.

Paramount medicinal pills, even low-quality ones, were still supposed to be worth at least ten thousand merit points, and the antidotal pills he had acquired were of much higher quality. They were so good they should have been worth twenty thousand, and if they were auctioned, they would probably go for even a higher price.

But now these elders were trying to give him two thousand?

It was highway robbery. Of course, there was bound to be a certain amount of corruption in the Missions Sanctuary. Most of the time, the elders would make sure to earn a bit of personal profit, and the disciples would never dare to say anything about it.

For instance, a treasure worth ten thousand might only net eight thousand from the elders. A twenty-percent discrepancy was considered normal because of that.

But here Yang Qi was being cut from twenty thousand down to two thousand. They were really looking down on him.

Although he had squeezed some profit off of people back in the Scripture Pavilion, he and Bai Yin always made sure to operate within the rules. Therefore, what these elders were doing was a bit too much to take.

Yang Qi smiled coldly. “Elders, we all know what’s going on here. You’re trying to squeeze a bit too much out of me, don’t you think?”

“What incredible gall!” the lead elder said, slapping the table. “Who the hell do you think you are to talk to us like that?”