Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had specifically increased the strength of his ‘Titan blood’ to ensure that the sovereign of heaven wouldn’t deduce his true identity. It was an easy matter to use the godliness he possessed to make it seem like he was the descendant of a god and a member of the imperial house.

Upon entering the main hall of the imperial palace, he looked left and right and saw that the place was filling up rapidly with ministers and officials of all sorts.

All of them pulsed with incredible true energy and some of them were overtly assailing him with psychic power.

Earlier, the might would have felt like an immense pressure weighing down on him, but now that he was a Demolisher with an immortal body, and genes eight billion one hundred million times stronger than normal, he was on the same level as the sovereign of heaven here. Therefore, the psychic power simply rolled off of him.

All of a sudden, a piercing voice rang out from an immortal who looked very much like a court eunuch.

“All ministers of merit, offer formal greetings to the sovereign of heaven!”

At the end of the hall was the fabled Throne of the Nine Heavens, upon which sat the emperor himself, clad in the Crown of the Peaceful Heaven. His aura was thoroughly ancient, making him seem like a Godmyth. Although Yang Qi couldn’t see his face, he could sense that the man was vastly more powerful than Proud Warpatience. It made it very obvious why Proud Warpatience didn’t dare to act out of line; unless Proud Heaven himself came along, this emperor could crush him.

He was clearly an invincible figure who wasn’t even in the same space-time hyperdimension as everyone else.

‘I need to rise a few more levels before I can deal with someone like him,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘That said, he wouldn’t find it easy to kill me if he tried. It’s almost hard to believe he’s so vastly above other ninth stage Dao-Demolishers. Both Proud Warpatience and Princess Jadefall are in that level, yet the emperor is so far above them that they seem like children in comparison. I wonder if it’s because he’s been approved by the essence of this immortal world and is literally its ruler. His every word and action is connected to the might and dignity of the lands around him.’

Slowly and carefully, he began rotating the Wheel of Fate.

“Salutations, Your Majesty!”

All of the gathered ministers dropped to their knees and kowtowed deeply to the most important person in all of the Titan Emperor Heaven.

“On your feet,” the emperor said. As he spoke, his eyes opened and he looked at Yang Qi, and they flickered in shock at the realization of how strong his Titan blood was.

Of course, Yang Qi didn’t reveal his true aura. By keeping the Wheel of Fate turning, he hid his true nature as surely as if some ancient god had done so.

He was a well-known person. Everyone knew that he had ‘found an ancient relic’ that gave him immense wealth and that he was astonishingly powerful. He was an important person in the imperial house now, an adherent of Princess Jadefall. With a supporter like her, and all of the military credit he had earned, it was obvious that he would receive a promotion soon. He was now a rising star in the Titan Emperor Heaven.

Everyone rose to their feet.

The sovereign of heaven looked around at all of the civil and military officials and said, “Princess Jadefall invaded the Hanging Heaven and won an incredible victory. Her invasion led to the death of one of their important princes, the Wilds-Demolisher Mammoth Dharma-Heaven. For this merit, I shall reward her handsomely. And I have rewards for the other members of the imperial house who served with valor. I hereby confer Princess Jadefall with the title of eminent princess, a rank higher than a grand prince or princess. And Titan Dragonguard, whose pure blood proves him to be a true descendant of the great god Titan, whose hand it was that felled Mammoth Dharma-Heaven, whose valiant charge led to the teleportation portals, has earned such credit that, in accord with the imperial rules system, I hereby confer him with the title of grand prince. Ministers and officials, do you agree?”

Apparently, the sovereign of heaven was actually asking the opinions of the others present.

“I object!” someone cried out in a clear voice. One of the officials stepped forward, an expert in a royal gown. “Your Majesty, an eminent prince or princess would be second only to you in power and glory, and would command all of the other grand princes and princesses. As everyone remembers, the previous eminent prince was an imperial uncle who went missing ten thousand years ago. Ever since then, his position has remained empty. No grand prince or princess has ever dared to take it. But now Princess Jadefall thinks she can become our leader, all because she performed some minor service? How could we ministers and officials possibly agree to something like that? Furthermore, Titan Dragonguard is a mere marquis! How could he possibly jump three ranks to become a grand prince? I would say that promoting him to duke would be more than sufficient. Rising through the ranks too quickly can lead to all sorts of arrogant and inappropriate behavior.”

Her expression flickering with anger, Princess Jadefall leaned over and said to Yang Qi, “That’s the Prince of Jade Warfare, who has always bitterly opposed me in court. That said, I'm honestly surprised my father the emperor is suggesting appointing me to the position of eminent princess. It’s no wonder the grand princes are all upset. If I got that position, I could cause big problems for them. They and the vice princes would all be forced to treat me with the utmost respect.”

“I see, Princess,” Yang Qi replied quietly. “I wonder if His Imperial Majesty is set on changing things up.” Inwardly, Yang Qi was pleased at the fact that he was now a true confidant of the princess, someone she could ask for advice and help from. It made sense, considering how she had witnessed his power first hand.

“I completely agree with the Prince of Jade Warfare!” another of the grand princes said, a strapping man who was none other than the Prince of Godly Warfare. Looking over at Princess Jadefall and Yang Qi, he continued, “The position of eminent prince or princess comes with immense power. To award Princess Jadefall with that position for the trifling deeds she performed would be completely excessive. Your Majesty, please rescind your proclamation.”

“I agree as well,” Proud Warpatience said. Obviously, the strides Yang Qi had made ensured that Proud Warpatience couldn’t reveal how much he wanted to kill him. Henceforth, his only chance would be to strike at him in secret.

Before anyone else could say anything, Yang Qi spoke up. “What was that, Proud Warpatience? Weren’t you the one who opposed Princess Jadefall’s suggestion of invading the Hanging Heaven? Then, you forced her into the war games, which you lost in humiliating fashion. Even after being thoroughly beaten, you’re still colluding with other ministers to oppose her? It’s really inappropriate, and it’s obvious that you’re just jealous. The appointment of princes is a matter relating to the imperial house. How dare an outsider like you try to butt in!”

Obviously, Yang Qi was ready to go tit for tat with Proud Warpatience. And it was more than clear that he despised him.

“You!” Proud Warpatience growled. Then he chuckled coldly. “Have you forgotten where we are? What qualifies you to talk to me like that? Disrespect like this is a grave sin. Understand? Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness!”

“We're in the imperial court,” Yang Qi replied. “I'm an imperial clansman, and you’re a foreign minister. You say that I don’t qualify, yet you, a foreign minister, are qualified?” As Proud Warpatience stared at him with his jaw hanging open, Yang Qi continued. “It seems to me you’re likely working with the Demonfolk from the Hanging Heaven! You’re trying to destabilize the dynasty, and likely overthrow the imperial court!”

Seeing that Proud Warpatience was in quite a predicament, some of the grand princes came to his rescue.

“What incredible gall!”

“How dare a measly imperial clansman be so disrespectful to the generalissimo of the armed forces! Proud Warpatience has always served us with complete loyalty. Compared to what he's done, your services are like nothing. Considering how rude you’re being here in the imperial court, you should be stripped of any title you have and sent to the Department of the Imperial Clan to be formally expelled.”

“That’s right,” Proud Warpatience said, smiling coldly. “You found some godrelic and got rich all of a sudden. But did you turn over any of that wealth to the court? What ambitious plans might you have? Considering everything, if you accept the position of grand prince then you definitely have to hand that godrelic over!”

“Who said I found a godrelic?” Yang Qi asked. “Those are just rumors, presumably spread by you to attack me. And as for all of you other grand princes, the lot of you abuse your positions and don’t do a thing to advance the interests of the dynasty. You’re all ignorant and useless. Our immortal world is in great danger, but instead of going out and helping you sit around accusing other ministers in the court and stirring up trouble.”

“Enough!” said the sovereign of heaven, sighing. Instantly, the entire court went completely quiet and immense pressure weighed down everywhere.

Looking over at one of the royal figures standing off to the side, he said, “Crown Prince, what do you think?”

It was a young man wearing the garments of a grand prince who, up to this point, hadn’t looked up. He had almost seemed like a statue, to the point where Yang Qi hadn’t even noticed him.

However, considering how the emperor had just addressed him, he was obviously a crown prince.

“Father, you’re the emperor. When you make decisions, the ministers shouldn’t argue.” Even when he spoke, he didn’t actually move.

‘This guy seems pretty strong,’ Yang Qi thought, somewhat shaken. The fact that this crown prince could stand there unnoticed was very unnerving and went to show how powerful he was.

The emperor nodded. “In that case, fine. My proclamation stands.” Clearly, the emperor was in no mood to listen to the ministers and officials.

Thus the appointments were carried out.

Princess Jadefall was named Eminent Princess Jadefall. She now outranked all of the grand princes.

As for Yang Qi, he was named Prince of Military Security.

His true identity had not been revealed. It was hard to say what the young man in yellow was thinking, but apparently he hadn’t told Proud Warpatience about Yang Qi.

Yang Qi was given a princely robe and command of more men. He now had a hundred divisions. At the same time, he was given governorship of numerous cities, including places with names like Stormwind, Warthrive, Sparkspace, Pill Cauldron City, and others. The city magistrates of all of those places now answered to him.

And of course, he was now a favored subordinate of Princess Jadefall. Everyone knew that he was the valiant fighter who had killed Mammoth Dharma-Heaven in combat. He was climbing in the ranks of the imperial court and was becoming a very important person.

1. There is a bit of term crossover here that I usually try to avoid. While the other types of ‘princes’ which have been mentioned all share the same character that I translate as ‘prince’, in Chinese, ‘crown prince’ does not share that character. For those who are interested, the ‘princes’ all actually use the character for ‘king’. However, historically speaking, they are princes, and that's the conventional way the titles are translated. As I think I mentioned in a previous footnote, "crown prince" is more like "ultimate son" and refers to the highest ranking blood-related prince who is set to succeed the emperor.