Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Brahman Society had arrived.

They had come without any warning to run an investigation into the Tusita Heaven power stones, which of course had come from Yang Qi. Supposedly, the power stones had devalued the brahmanint, and because of that he needed to be ‘brought to justice’.

In the blink of an eye, countless hearts lifted and numerous gazes flickered to land on Yang Qi. Obviously, everyone in the imperial court knew that Yang Qi had acquired some ancient legacy, and as a result was immeasurably wealthy. After all, it was common knowledge that he had personally purchased large amounts of mechas, and even a battleship. If things continued on in that fashion, he would eventually be a major force to be reckoned with.

Never could anyone have guessed that the Brahman Society would actually take note of the matter.

There seemed little suspense regarding what would happen next. The Brahman Society was many times more powerful than this entire immortal world, and when they wanted to investigate something, there was nothing that could get in their way. In fact, if they wanted to interrogate the emperor he would cooperate without the slightest complaint.

‘So, this guy from the Brahman Society wants to investigate me,’ Yang Qi thought, frowning slightly. ‘No wonder Proud Warpatience and his cronies look so happy. A punishment from the Brahman Society would obviously be many times worse than anything the imperial court could do.’

The mood suddenly became very tense.

“Make no mistake, everyone,” the emissary said as the power stone floated in the air in front of him, “this is no minor affair. The Brahman Society is taking the situation very seriously, and truly hopes that the lot of you will offer your full cooperation.”

“It was him!” Proud Warpatience said, pointing at Yang Qi. “He's the culprit. He got his hands on a whole bunch of power stones and has been spending them left and right. It's his fault the Mechfolk don’t accept brahmanints anymore, only power stones. Thanks to him, the imperial treasury is packed with completely useless brahmanints. He definitely deserves to be executed over this. Please, arrest him immediately!”

Proud Warpatience had just tossed a spark into a vat of oil.

All of the Brahman Society emissaries looked over at Yang Qi, and the leader with the wretch-god aura said, “Step forward.”

Looking like the picture of calm, Yang Qi complied. “That's right, I was the one who spent those power stones. But I never interfered with the Brahman Society’s business.”

“Our business? What did you think was going to happen when you threw all those power stones into the economy? You essentially minted your own currency!” By this point, the immortal emissary was staring at Yang Qi with a gaze that crushed down on him like Mount Tai.

“The Mechfolk are to blame for that,” Yang Qi said bluntly. “All of the power stones I gave them were in raw form. It was obviously the Mechfolk who turned them into coins.”

“What nerve you have!” one of the other emissaries said. “Who do you think you are? Our Brahman Society leads the entire Thirty-Six Thousand Immortal Worlds Coalition! Any immortal world that we emissaries travel to treats us with the utmost respect, groveling before us as if we were emperors. You criminal! Get on your knees this instant and await your sentencing!”

As he spoke, an immense energy rushed out of him, filling the entire area with screaming winds.

“You think a little bit of pressure like that is going to hurt me?” Yang Qi said. All of a sudden, an energy fluctuation rolled out from him, negating the immortal emissary’s attack.

“What?” the emissary said, visibly shocked. Then his eyes turned even more vicious, and he began walking toward Yang Qi. “What outrageous gall! How dare you defy me! We were sent by the Brahman Society to investigate this situation, and anyone who refuses to cooperate will be executed!”

Seeing that Yang Qi was in a dangerous situation, Princess Jadefall took a step forward and said, “What’s the meaning of this? This is the imperial palace of the Titan Emperor Heaven, and Titan Dragonguard is a grand prince. If you want to interrogate him, fine, but you don’t need to humiliate him. Wait, don’t tell me you’re looking for an excuse to destroy our immortal world?”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” the emissary shouted. “Are you really interfering with a Brahman Society investigation? This is outright rebellion! Your measly Titan Emperor Heaven is a remote backwater, and you dare to defy the Brahman Society? How dare you! Do you really want your imperial house wiped out of existence?”

“The Brahman Society shouldn’t be interfering with the internal affairs of the imperial court,” the emperor said. “That said, there’s no way that we would ever violate your laws. You’re investigating a single person, not the imperial house itself. Please, just take the offender away with you.”

“Fine. Considering you wish to abide by the laws of the Brahman Society, we won’t cause problems for your house. But we’re taking this criminal with us.”

“Father!” Princess Jadefall said. “If Titan Dragonguard gets taken away by the Brahman Society, he’ll never return. He’s performed incredible services to the imperial house!”

“Eminent Princess Jadefall,” the crown prince said, “you need to consider the big picture. The Prince of Military Security did indeed serve the imperial court well, but unfortunately, he minted his own currency. And that has caused big problems for the court. Just think about all of the useless brahmanints in the imperial treasury! What a horrible situation for us! The immortal citizens of our Titan Emperor Heaven are poised on the brink of an abyss of suffering because of all this.”

“That’s right,” the lead emissary said. “Considering you have people here that are willing to consider the greater good, we won’t cause problems for you. Come on, let’s go. As a grand prince, we’re not going to treat you too harshly, but you’d better not cause any problems. If you do, you’ll regret it.”

“Titan Dragonguard, you can’t go with them!” Princess Jadefall said anxiously.

“I’ll be fine,” Yang Qi said. “I don’t want to drag the imperial house into this. Besides, all I did was buy some things with power stones. I didn’t mint any currency, which I'm sure the Brahman Society will realize after we talk things out.” Even as he said these things out loud, he sent a message into Princess Jadefall’s mind using divine will. “I'm not worried about this Brahman Society. Actually, I want to check them out and see if I can get any information from them about Proud Heaven. If they try to make any moves on me, I’ll just kill them all.”

“Be careful,” she replied. “People say that there are Godmyths in the Brahman Society.”

“Is that so? Well, I guess I’ll finally be able to see how strong Godmyths really are. After I'm gone, make sure to defend your position well. You’re now strong enough to stand up to whatever the crown prince throws at you.”

“Alright. I’ll be waiting to see what commotion you cause in the Brahman Society.” Princess Jadefall knew that Yang Qi was the type of person who didn’t fear anything in heaven and earth. Considering he had his God Legion Seal, it seemed unlikely the Brahman Society would really be able to do anything harmful to him.

“Come with us,” the lead emissary said, and Yang Qi walked over.

“Men, seal him in the Immortal Void-Cage.” A few of the lower-ranking emissaries flicked their fingers, sending out some paper talismans that turned into a cage around Yang Qi. Then all of them vanished into the teleportation portal.

Silence reigned in the imperial court.

The insufferably arrogant Prince of Military Security had been taken away, just like that.

He had made his debut a year before as Titan Dragonguard, slaughtering his way to the position of grand prince. He had defied the crown prince, humiliated the Director of Internal Affairs, and shaken the entire imperial court. But in a completely unimaginable turn of events, he had been arrested. Everyone could well imagine what miserable fate he would eventually suffer. Considering how rich he was, there was no way the Brahman Society would let him go—obviously, they wanted to strip him of his wealth.

After a long moment passed, Proud Warpatience sighed audibly. “At long last things have quieted down. Your Imperial Majesty, the bossy and overbearing Titan Dragonguard brought dishonor to the imperial court and committed all sorts of acts to undercut your power. Now that he's been taken away to be executed, it’s crucial to purge his henchmen. I would like to humbly suggest that you arrest all of his henchmen, especially Titan Duelbringer and his associates. If we rake them over the coals, it's possible we could get our hands on Titan Dragonguard’s treasure hoard before the Brahman Society does.”

The suggestion was met with surprise by virtually everyone present.

“I agree, Your Majesty. Arrest all his henchmen!”

“Generalissimo Proud Warpatience couldn’t be more correct. The arrogant and despotic Titan Dragonguard abused his power and oppressed the people. Now that justice has caught up with him, we have to hold his henchmen accountable, too. They should all be executed!”

“You people are shameless!” Princess Jadefall said angrily. “Titan Dragonguard served the court well and has been taken away to be questioned, not executed. You don’t know if he’ll be found guilty or not. You’re just trying to hit him when he’s down!”

“Eminent Princess Jadefall, please lower your voice,” the crown prince said. “His Imperial Majesty can make his own decisions in this regard. Everyone knows that Titan Dragonguard has no hope of getting out of this situation. He just has too much wealth on his hands. If His Majesty can get that wealth, he could establish himself as one of the greatest powers in the universe.”

Many of the other officials and ministers were quick to chime in with expressions of agreement.

It only took a short moment for Titan Dragonguard to be viewed as a criminal who had no hope of getting out of his current situation alive.

“Considering everything….” the emperor began as he returned to his throne. In that moment, everyone was certain that he would follow through and try to get Yang Qi’s treasure hoard.

However, even as the emperor sat back down, a voice suddenly filled the imperial city, causing everything to shake as violently as if there had just been an earthquake.

It was none other than Yang Qi

“Proud Warpatience. Crown Prince. I know you want to hit me while I'm down, but know this: the crappy Brahman Society won't be able to do a thing to me. I can get out of this Immortal Void-Cage with no effort at all. I wanted to go to the Brahman Society, to find out what secrets they’re keeping. If you touch a single one of my henchmen, I’ll kill these emissaries down to the last one. Then we’ll see what the Brahman Society does to your immortal world. What will you do then?” Then he burst out into hearty laughter.