Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The young man in yellow knew that Chancellor Demi-Immortal wanted to reveal Yang Qi’s hidden identity and thus sow chaos. However, he didn’t agree that doing so was the best plan. “Revealing the information would indeed prevent him from establishing himself in this immortal world. But would it ensure his death? He’s already in the Demolishing level and I doubt anyone in this immortal world could kill him, even if they tried. If he gets spooked and runs, how would we track him down?”

Chancellor Demi-Immortal frowned. “But, he already has a strong foundation in the mortal world. The Sage Monarch planetary system generates him immense amounts of faith, so there’s no way he’ll abandon it. If his true identity is revealed, he’ll become the mortal enemy of the entire immortal world. And if open conflict results, perhaps we could swoop in and be the ultimate winners.”

“Swoop in and be the ultimate winners?” the young man said. “That’s easier said than done. The Titan Emperor Heaven is extremely unstable now, and there’s no way to say for certain if they would truly oppose Yang Qi. For all you know, they might join forces against us. Yang Qi is crafty and treacherous, and knows that my legacy of King Immortal-Slayer—and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart—could easily be used against the immortal world. Right now, Yang Qi has firmly established himself as Princess Jadefall’s trusted advisor. He has her ear, and she's apparently abandoned her previous advisors. Who knows, maybe she even had them killed. The point is, if we spread news about Yang Qi’s identity, there’s a good eighty percent chance that it will only cement the relationship between him and Princess Jadefall and they’ll work together to kill us. Even Proud Warpatience might turn on us.”

“He won't,” Chancellor Demi-Immortal said. He knew full well how vicious people could be. In fact, he already planned to kill this young man in yellow, eventually, and take his legacy. And right now, he felt more strongly than ever that the young man was trying to manipulate him. Regardless, he would bide his time until the right moment came to act.

“Chancellor Demi-Immortal, I think even you realize that unmasking Yang Qi isn’t the right move. Let’s wait and see how his conflict with the ministers and officials play out. There’s no way the two sides will reconcile, which means that it will end in some sort of deadly climax. Besides, we’re not in any rush. If revealing his identity makes sense in the future, we can always do it. Before making our move on Yang Qi, we need to make sure that we have a foolproof plan that will end with him being dead. If we set a trap for him and he survives, then he could just brush the dust off his shoulders and vanish. Then what would we do?”

Chancellor Demi-Immortal nodded. “Fine. I’ll follow your lead on this.”

Of course, as far as Chancellor Demi-Immortal was concerned, as long as the young man in yellow and Yang Qi were at each other’s throats, he would come out on top in the end.

**

Titan Duelbringer was feeling very pleased. He had positions in both the Department of the Imperial Clan and the Department of Internal Affairs. Even better, now that Yang Qi was a grand prince, he had even more clout.

Everyone knew that he was the confidante of Grand Prince Titan Dragonguard, thus everyone in both departments would jump to follow his orders. He had a whole group of henchmen who were completely devoted to him, and even his own mansion.

Today, he had a host of visitors at his mansion, most of them his own henchmen there to make requests and petitions. For the most part, they were unimportant guards and low-ranking officials in the imperial city.

They didn't have very high cultivation bases, but they were perfect as spies and moles. They could get information and news from all corners, and were part of a large network of relationships that was strong enough to be terrifying to many people.

“Titan Duelbringer, sir, you’ve really treated us well. Considering you work for the Prince of Military Security, it’s no surprise you're rising through the ranks along with him. Just don’t forget about us when you get promoted again….”

“Sir, if you can grant this one request of mine, then I promise to go through hell and high water for you for the rest of my life!”

“Sir, please, let me toast you. I hope that you also get promoted to the level of grand prince soon. Who knows, maybe you can even take over as the Director of Internal Affairs or the Superintendent of the Imperial Clan. With power like that, you would be truly formidable.”

Everyone was full of praise for Titan Duelbringer.

Nodding magnanimously, he said, “I’ve already mentioned all of your various issues to the grand prince himself, and he’s promised to take care of everything. As long as you carefully attend to all of the matters pertaining to the Prince of Military Security and Eminent Princess Jadefall, your requests will all be granted.”

He was doing everything possible to make sure Yang Qi had a reliable network of henchmen.

CRASH!

With no warning whatsoever, the main door of the mansion suddenly exploded and a host of mechas stormed in. In the blink of an eye, a huge spell formation was set up, instantly locking down the entire area.

“Who—” Titan Duelbringer shot to his feet, an expression of astonishment on his face. It only took a moment to assess the situation. These were troops from the Department of Internal Affairs, the famous Devil Crushers.

“Why have you charged in here uninvited?” Titan Duelbringer said. After his most recent session of cultivation with Yang Qi, he had plenty of divine abilities that ensured he wasn’t worried at all about the current situation.

One of the guards stepped forward, a dignified and imposing man who seemed like the type of person that no one would dare to disobey.

“You’ve been accused of a major crime, Titan Duelbringer,” he said. “The crown prince himself ordered that the Department of Internal Affairs arrest you and take you in for interrogation.”

All of the guests in the mansion immediately dropped to their knees and said, “Greetings, Director.” This man was none other than the Director of Internal Affairs, a very mysterious and powerful man. The fact that he had come personally to arrest Titan Duelbringer was very telling. And the orders came from the crown prince himself. Two very important people were apparently working together in this situation.

The people present were trembling like cicadas in winter, and didn't dare to voice any opinions or objections.

This was obviously a very high-level conflict.

Remaining completely calm, Titan Duelbringer said, “What crime did I commit, Minister? I've worked hard for the Department of Internal Affairs, and performed many services.”

“I think you know exactly what you did,” the minister responded. “You were sent to the mortal world to pacify the chaos. But in the end, a lot of fiendslave battalion soldiers died. You actually rebelled, tricking us into sending you resources for personal gain! You were sentenced to death, yet here you are, alive. You snuck back into the immortal world and used power stones to bribe officials to alter your records. You think we didn’t know? Look, I'm not going to waste my breath talking to you. You're coming with me, and once you’re behind bars you're going to answer all of the questions I have for you.”

“What if I refuse to come?” Titan Duelbringer said coldly. “You know who I am in the Department of the Imperial Clan. If you want to arrest me, you have to get a warrant from there too.”

The minister chuckled. “These orders come from the crown prince, who can direct both the Department of Internal Affairs and the Department of the Imperial Clan. If you refuse to do things the easy way, we’ll do them the hard way. You're coming with me, whether you like it or not.”

“The Department of the Imperial Clan and the Department of Internal Affairs are very important organizations to the imperial house, and in the past the eminent prince held posts in both. With the eminent prince missing for so many years, the crown prince stepped in to fill his shoes. However, there’s a new eminent princess. According to ancestral law, if the crown prince wants to do something like this, he has to report the matter to the eminent princess beforehand. This is a gross abuse of authority and a violation of ancestral law. So of course I'm not going to just go along with it.”

“Ancestral law? You're citing ancestral law?” The director burst out laughing. “The crown prince needs to consult with the eminent princess on important matters? You think us arresting you falls into that category? This is a minor affair, and the crown prince is well within his rights to do this.”

“Of course it falls into that category,” Titan Duelbringer responded. “Minister, I suggest you go back to the crown prince and grand princes and talk this matter over one more time."

The minister snorted coldly. “Men, arrest this pig-headed brat!”

“Yes sir!”

“If he resists arrest, kill him!”

“Get him!”

The faces of all of Titan Duelbringer’s guests went ashen, and many of them huddled on the ground, nearly in the fetal position as they tried to make themselves as small as possible.

At this point, a new voice echoed out. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?”

A figure appeared in front of Titan Duelbringer, hands clasped behind his back, pulsing with energy that seemed capable of shaking the dome of heaven.

It was Yang Qi.

He and Titan Duelbringer could communicate mentally, therefore he had been aware of the situation all along. And there was obviously no way he was going to allow Titan Duelbringer to be arrested.

“It's the Prince of Military Security!” people began shouting.

He was already a legend who everyone knew had slaughtered countless enemies, and had never been defeated in a fight. He was Princess Jadefall’s right-hand man and was already one of the most famous members of the court.

Looking calmly at Yang Qi, the Director of Internal Affairs said, “What are you doing, Prince of Military Security? Are you really going to interfere with the Department of Internal Affairs and defy the orders of the crown prince? As a grand prince, you surely know how important and powerful the crown prince is. Even you have to treat him with respect.”

“Crown prince? Never heard of him. I work for Eminent Princess Jadefall, and couldn't care less about anyone else. Nobody is allowed to lay a hand on Titan Duelbringer. Even if your so-called crown prince comes here personally, it won’t change a thing.”

“Fine. So you’re opposing the court, and violating ancestral law.” The director's eyes glittered sharply. “Prince of Military Security, just because you killed that Mammoth Dharma-Heaven doesn’t mean that you have the right to strut around like this. You rank the same as the crown prince, and if you don’t back down I’ll arrest you too, and hand you over to the Department of Internal Affairs for punishment.”