Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The more Chu Tiange thought about the plan Yun Hailan had just come up with, the more excited he got.

If he could get that person’s cultivation technique, then before long, he would be just as powerful as the conclave students in the institute.

Although elite students were like nobility, to truly be first-class, one needed to become a conclave student, or even better, a holy neophyte.

Those were positions of true power, in which one could have access to all the resources in the institute, including the ability to gain thousands of years of longevity, and essentially never die.

Chu Tiange couldn’t help but be envious of such people. If he could somehow get the secret to an imperial-class energy art, then he could rise to higher levels within mere decades.

And if it was a saintly-class art, the results would come even more quickly. He would definitely advance by leaps and bounds, and would be viewed as a genius.

That would be glory far beyond anything an elite student could even imagine.

Of course, Yun Hailan was thinking similar thoughts.

‘Just who exactly is he? Not even Chu Tiange realized he was there. He burst out from under the ground, which is where most of the treasure storehouses were. He must have really struck it rich there, plus he also got Jing Wuxue’s Sage Devil Painting…. Clearly, he hates me with a passion. Wait, don’t tell me he’s….’ All of a sudden, her thoughts came to focus on one particular person.

Finally, though, she shook her head. ‘Impossible. I played that puny silkpants like a violin. There’s no way he could have energy arts or a cultivation base like that, right? Besides, when he trounced Song Haishan, he was clearly in the eighth phase and the man from last night was a Master of Energy. The difference between the two is almost too vast to quantify. It seems I need to achieve my next breakthrough as quickly as possible. After I get back, I’ll go into seclusion and try to reach the Lifeseizing level….”

“Let’s go, Elder Brother,” she said. “Considering Jing Wuxue escaped with his life, I guess I don't owe you any favors after all. I wonder who will end up taking him out. The Gentlemen’s Society is here, perhaps they’ll do it. Jing Wuxue isn’t superhuman; he’ll definitely meet his end eventually.”

“I couldn’t care less,” Chu Tiange said, looking more than a bit irritated.

Suddenly, his expression flickered, and he looked over to see several beams of light approaching from the horizon. Considering how vigorous they were, it was obvious these newcomers weren’t Masters of Energy, but rather Lifeseizers.

“More Lifeseizers?” he murmured, shocked. However, his expression quickly calmed as he realized that the newcomers were students from the Demi-Immortal Institute.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh…!

The beams of light approached, and soon three individuals touched down near them. All of them were elite students just like Chu Tiange.

Two were male, and one was female.

“Long Tai, Ying Ling, Luo Tian,” he said by way of greeting. “Experts from the Gentlemen’s Society, the Divine Ability Society, and the Five Lightnings Society. What are you doing working together?”

“Infighting is best avoided when dealing with enemies of the institute,” the young woman said. Looking Yun Hailan up and down, she said, “Are you the genius they say has sea god blood in your veins? Yun Hailan?”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s me.” Yun Hailan bowed formally. “Is there some matter you wish to discuss with me, Elder Sister, Elder Brothers?”

The three elite students exchanged glances, and then the young woman said, “Not really. We’re just following orders. Here, this is for you.”

With that, she tossed a fist-sized, blood-colored demon core over to Yun Hailan.

The odor of blood that the core emanated was shocking to the extreme.

“A Lifeseizer blood demon core!?” Chu Tiange blurted. “Don’t tell me….”

“Yes. The three of us ambushed Jing Wuxue, killed him, and extracted his blood demon core. As for why we're giving it to Junior Sister Yun Hailan, you don’t need to waste time trying to guess. The Crown Prince ordered it. Although we're not members of the Crown Prince Society, we respect him to the ultimate degree, so it’s only natural that we would follow his orders. Junior Sister Yun Hailan, if you happen to see the Crown Prince again, we hope you can put in a good word for us. We would be eternally grateful.”

Yun Hailan put the blood demon core away. Expression not changing in the slightest, she said, “Of course I will. Many thanks to you, Elder Sister and Elder Brothers.”

Chu Tiange could not have been more shocked by what was happening.

He had assumed that the mysterious and enigmatic Crown Prince had only shown a passing interest in Yun Hailan. But now, it was obvious their relationship went beyond that. Apparently, the Crown Prince had personally spread word that whoever killed Jing Wuxue in the siege of Krorän was to deliver his blood demon core to Yun Hailan. Clearly, his interest in her was beyond passing.

‘Who exactly is this Yun Hailan? Why is he interested in her?’ Chu Tiange quickly suppressed his feelings. Although he was somewhat of a prodigy when it came to skill and strategy, he was like the earth, and the Crown Prince was the heavens. If he said one wrong thing, he would definitely end up crushed into nothing.

“Why don’t you let us escort you back to the institute, Junior Sister?” one of the other elite students said. “If something bad happened to you, the Crown Prince would be furious.”

“Thanks for the trouble,” Yun Hailan replied, remaining as calm and cool as ever as she flew up into the air to join them. “Oh, by the way, could you three possibly do me a favor?”

“Name it,” replied Long Tai.

“There’s a certain freshman student named Yang Qi. He’s Yang Susu’s nephew, and just joined the Demi-Immortal Institute. Could you find out what he does on a daily basis? If so, I’ll definitely put in a good word for you with the Crown Prince.”

“A freshman student?” The three elite students exchanged glances, then broke out into smiles. “No problem. Let us handle it. You’ll soon know every aspect of his schedule, even his bedtime. We can get all that information through our eyes and ears in the Demi-Immortal Institute.”

“Very well, let's be off then,” Yun Hailan said. “I need to get into secluded meditation as soon as possible to break into the Lifeseizing level.”

Feeling very pleased with herself, she flew away with the group.

Normally, Masters of Energy weren’t capable of long-term sustained flight, but with the mysterious power of the dragonpearl she possessed, she was nearly on the same level as a Lifeseizer in that regard.

**

After a day and a night of travel, Yang Qi was out of the snowy northwest, and back in the Demi-Immortal Institute.

Although he had failed to kill Jing Wuxue, the society he and his friends had created profited significantly.

Besides, killing Jing Wuxue would have brought too much attention. If word leaked, how could he explain how a mere freshman student had killed a Lifeseizer? How could something like that even be possible? It would definitely bring too much attention.

Instead, he had secretly acquired plenty of valuable loot, while his team had acquired a good collection of demon cores, and also become Masters of Energy.

As soon as they arrived, they took inventory, and found that they had killed twenty-three vampire brigand in the Master of Energy level. In terms of seventh and eighth phase brigands, they had hundreds.

If they turned all of that in, they would each get hundreds of merit points.

And merit points were the only way to become outer campus students.

Outer campus students had completely different lives than freshmen students. They could go anywhere they wanted in the institute, and also had access to the Scripture Pavilion, where there were plenty of martial disciplines, ancient records, and the like. Furthermore, they would have the chance to learn directly from Lifeseizers.

After resting up a bit, the group of five headed to an ancient stone temple deep in the institute.

The name of the stone palace was written in huge letters above the entrance: Hall of Achievements and Virtue.

This was the location where students could turn in valuable objects in exchange for merit points. Many years ago, the merit point system in the Demi-Immortal Institute had been called the achievement and virtue system. However, later, when other institutes rose up, people began to criticize the Demi-Immortal Institute for using terms that were too pretentious and dramatic. Therefore, it was changed to the merit point system.

And yet, they had not altered the name of the palace hall itself.

Yang Qi looked at the name of the palace, and couldn’t help but feel that the words achievement and virtue seemed particularly appropriate. It was as if they represented law and order, and thus, respect.

Inside the hall, an old man sat on duty. He held a scroll in his hands, which he was currently studying, and considering that his aura surpassed that of a Master of Energy, he was obviously a Lifeseizer.

Li He stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and said, “Professor, we're here to turn in the blood demon cores from our mission earlier.”

“Oh?” the old man said. He looked up. “Very well, hand them over. Freshman students, eh? Seems you all just became Masters of Energy. Presumably you want to be promoted to the Outer Campus, correct?”

“You’re right, Professor. That’s exactly why we're here.”

With that, they all began to hand over the blood demon cores they had acquired.

When the old man saw how many Master of Energy demon cores they had, his eyebrows rose. “You actually killed this many vampire brigands? Seems you five have some skill. This many demon cores are worth about six hundred merit points. You can split it between yourselves.”