Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Seven days passed, during which Yang Qi sat there still and unmoving. Of course, he was practicing cultivation, seeking enlightenment of profound mysteries, building up resources, and splitting off more sage monarch magistrates.

The process of making more sage monarch magistrates was providing him with a deeper understanding of all sorts of profound matters, including secrets of thralls, the quintessence of the martial path, and the substructure of Fateless Ones.

It was also pushing his cultivation base toward a higher level.

His progress was rapid. He had added seven sage monarch magistrates during the past seven days, and each one improved his breathing exercises, vital energy quality, and his cultivation base in general. It was similar to how an increase in population would benefit a nation. Although it would need to expend resources to sustain such citizens, when they went to work for their country, they could make it stronger and wealthier.

Sage monarch magistrates were different from ordinary thralls. Ordinary thralls required a constant intake of resources, similar to how mortal soldiers in the impure lands needed to be fed.

But the sage monarch magistrates could absorb power from the void itself. After all, they also had the aura of the God Legion Seal within them. Of course, they couldn't absorb that power as quickly as the God Legion Seal itself. But even the slow rate they were capable of was nothing to look down on. In the future, as they built their power and propagated further, they would become their own race of people, self-sustaining and forever-growing.

That was one of the outstanding features of the sage monarch magistrates.

During the course of Yang Qi’s cultivation, he had learned a lot about ancient angels, and knew the differences between them and his sage monarch magistrates. And he had used that knowledge to make something more perfect.

In some ways, he had become like heaven and earth.

Heaven and earth had given rise to humans, which meant that humans were a part of heaven and earth. And Yang Qi had given rise to the sage monarch magistrates, which were a part of him.

In that respect, they were actually superior to thralls, and existed as a higher state of being. Furthermore, they weren’t clones. Their profundities could be understood, but not fully explained with words.

As Yang Qi sank into further enlightenment, he understood more and more of the secrets related to the Sovereign Lord and his angels. And he unraveled one riddle after another regarding them.

All of a sudden, Princess Charming appeared outside of his cultivation chamber. “Mister Second?” she said in a soft voice. “Mister Second?”

“What happened? Why have you come to see me?” Yang Qi opened his eyes, and they flashed with coldness.

A look of disappointment flitted across Princess Charming’s face. She had been waiting on Mister Second for so long, and was considered so beautiful and skilled at the arts of seduction that she had hoped to have long since taken advantage of him, luring him into giving her some or all of his wealth. But Mister Second seemed as cold as ice, and no matter what she did, it didn’t seem to have any effect on him.

She was even starting to get the sense that Mister Second was actually some sort of ancient devil king who she couldn't afford to provoke.

“Well, it’s like this. The experts from the Nine Dragons Court and Sumeru Temple have sent messages saying they want to meet up to prepare for the coming mission to the Bastille of the One God. So we wanted to know if you have any special instructions. Our team is assembled, but Patriarch Deva gave orders that you’re to take the lead. So we’ll follow whatever orders you give.”

“We won’t be going to meet up with them right now,” Yang Qi replied, his expression flickering. “I'm currently in the middle of cultivating a special ability, and I’ve reached a critical juncture. I need another month. Then we can go. Tell the people from the Nine Dragons Court and the Sumeru Temple that they need to wait. If they refuse, they can go into the Bastille of the One God ahead of us.”

“What? You want them to wait a month? I'm afraid that won’t work. The Nine Dragons Court and Sumeru Temple won’t agree to that.”

“I don’t care if they don’t agree. I need to work on my cultivation, and I’m immediately going into seclusion. Come back in a month.” Yang Qi’s tone of voice brooked no argument, which was just what people would expect of the Second Devil General.

Princess Charming could tell that ‘Mister Second’ wasn't going to back down, so she quietly left to pass along the message.

“What? Mister Second wants to wait a month? We spent a lot of effort getting ready for this, and now we’re supposed to just sit around waiting?”

In a palace hall not too far away, a host of large thrones had been set up. On the thrones sat bald-headed monks and Dragonfolk experts, all of them Unbounded experts and Paramount Gods. Young Sir Buddha Tyrant was nowhere to be seen; apparently he had been kicked out of the group, leaving only the elite experts behind.

Buddha Lawtongue was still there.

One of the burly Dragonfolk experts viciously slapped the table in front of him and said, “There's absolutely no way we’re going to just sit around here for a month!”

“That’s fine,” Princess Charming said, not feeling very pleased at all by the Dragonfolk expert’s outburst. “Mister Second made it clear that if you don’t want to wait you can go ahead without us. He’s working on a divine ability and needs a month to finish. Then we’ll go into the Bastille of the One God. If you don’t want to wait a month for our help, that's your loss.”

“This is completely preposterous!” the man said.

“That’s enough, Buddha Exterminator,” said a young man from within the group of Dragonfolk. “Let’s drop the matter. If we need to wait, we wait. I'm curious to see this supposedly superhuman Mister Second.” This young man seemed almost fragile, with pale skin that resembled a scholar's. He looked sick, and unlike someone who practiced cultivation. Yet as soon as he spoke, the domineering and burly Dragonfolk expert who had just lost his temper meekly sat down and closed his mouth.

Seeing this, the experts from the Sumeru Temple and Deva Dynasty exchanged odd glances, clearly curious about who this young man was. He looked like a weakling, but his words caused Buddha Exterminator to tremble like a cicada in winter.

Buddha Exterminator was well-known among the Dragonfolk, and had a reputation as a vicious killer who would sometimes eat his slain opponents. That was why his name was ‘Exterminator’. Furthermore, he was a mid Paramount God who was as strong as most sect patriarchs, and obviously wasn’t the type who would take orders from a junior. Not even the most important members of the junior generation would dare to treat him disrespectfully.

So who exactly was this sickly young sir from the Dragonfolk? Was he an old-timer of some sort? It seemed unlikely, as everyone present was experienced and knowledgeable, but had never heard of anyone matching his description.

After speaking, the young man closed his eyes and sat there without moving. Apparently, he was ready to just wait for a month to go by. As for the monks from the Sumeru Temple, they didn't see any reason to cause further arguments, so they also settled down to wait.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi snorted coldly. ‘With every day that passes, I get stronger. I’ll make them wait for a month while I build up more and more sage monarch magistrates. When I finally leave seclusion, I’ll be in a completely different state than before.’

At this point, an expert like Mother Voidwalker wouldn’t be able to hold her own against a single sage monarch magistrate. If she wasn’t careful, and was struck by a Tribulation Monarch Cannon, she would be instantly killed.

Considering Yang Qi could make a new sage monarch magistrate every day, it meant that after a month went by, he would have an additional thirty. And that was nothing to look down on.

He already knew the Dragonfolk were planning a trap for him. And although he couldn’t spy on the Sumeru Temple, it seemed obvious that they would be plotting against him too. There were likely even people in the Deva Dynasty who were hoping to take advantage of the chaos to make a move against him.

Therefore, every scrap of extra strength he could build up would be a huge help.

The month passed quickly.

On that specific day, Princess Charming went to his cultivation chamber to remind him about the time, only to find him standing out front. “Alright, Princess Charming, there’s no need for chatting. Lead the way. I'm ready to take the Sumeru Temple and Nine Dragons Court into the Bastille of the One God to hunt for treasure.”

“Did you succeed with your amazing divine ability, Mister Second?” she asked, fairly certain that there was something different about him compared to before.

He ignored her as they walked into the palace hall, where the other experts were waiting. There were thirteen people from the Dragonfolk, and unexpectedly, five of them were mid Paramount Gods with mid Unbounded will convergence. And those who were early Paramount Gods were all famous geniuses.

Not a single one of these people was any weaker than Eternal Millennium.

The monks from the Sumeru Temple numbered eighteen, and Yang Qi spotted six among them who, despite their gaunt appearance and humble clothing, had golden skin and concentric halos representing the Trailokya, the three realms of sensuous desire, form, and formlessness.

They were obviously mid Paramount Gods.

There was one monk who looked different from the others. He wasn’t completely bald, but instead had a crew cut, and seemed very young. He seemed profoundly mysterious, and upon catching sight of him, Yang Qi was immediately reminded of the yellow-garbed young man with the buzz cut from the impure lands.