Sage Monarch

Yang Qi was suddenly nervous that Lord Blood River would somehow recognize him. Although he wasn't afraid of getting in a fight with him, a big melee could damage his chances of finding the Mahātmā Jade. Then again, with Archmonk Dharma Treasury at his side, he didn't really have anything to be afraid of.

There was no doubt in his mind that the Archmonk was incredibly powerful, or that he had access to boundless buddhist magic. And the fact that he had dared to come here at all indicated that he was confident in his disguise.

Lord Blood River was followed by three other Terrifying experts, all of whom Yang Qi recognized. There was Dream Mintdance, as well as the scholarly and mahātmā fiend-devils.

As soon as they landed, Lord Blood River spoke in a booming voice, "I'm Lord Blood River, on my way to the capital city! Hurry up and activate the teleportation portal!"

"Yes, yes of course," the guards said. Apparently, they all knew exactly who Lord Blood River was. He had once fought the Executors of the Ancient Road, and although he had been captured and imprisoned, he was too strong for even them to kill. Now he was out, and anyone who caused problems for him would surely suffer from bad luck.

The teleportation portal was now powered up to the point where it was thrumming and vibrating.

As Yang Qi and Archmonk Dharma Treasury stood within it, they refrained from speaking at all. However, that didn't mean that Lord Blood River didn't notice them. Glaring at them with a razor-sharp gaze, he said, "Who are you two? I don't think I've ever seen you before. You aren't from the Ancient Road to the Gods, are you?"

Yang Qi immediately burst out laughing, worried that Archmonk Dharma Treasury would blow their cover by launching into some speech filled with buddhist terms. "There are a lot of experts on the ancient road, and you've been imprisoned for quite a few years, Lord Blood River. It's no wonder you haven't heard of us."

"Oh? Then let me see what you're capable of!"

Lord Blood River launched an attack, sending an enormous blood-colored hand shooting toward Yang Qi. In response, Yang Qi did nothing, fully aware that Archmonk Dharma Treasury would step in.

Step in he did, unleashing a pitch-black hand that slammed into Lord Blood River's attack. When the two palms collided, both parties shivered and the blood-colored light that constantly rose up from Lord Blood River creaked and cracked.

"That was the Buddhist-Rage Rāja-King Fist, a zen art from the buddhist schools. That's not a divine ability from you Infernalfolk!" From Lord Blood River's angry reaction, Yang Qi could tell that he must have been slightly injured by the clash. Most likely, he still hadn't recovered from his years of being sealed.

"I cultivate all sorts of divine abilities!" Archmonk Dharma Treasury said. "As long as they work, why wouldn't I? I even have some energy arts from the dao of immortals! What's going on here, Lord Blood River? Are you really trying to start a fight before we're even in the meeting?"

Secretly shocked, Lord Blood River snorted coldly. 'If it weren't for the fact that I haven't finished cultivating my Violet-River Blood-Shadow Grand Magic, I wouldn't think twice about fighting this guy. The fact that someone like him has popped up could be a big problem. Once I get to the capital city, I'll have to team up with some other experts and figure out a way to kill him. The last thing I need is competition for the position of league-lord.'

The other three fiend-devils were just as shocked, and were all thinking roughly the same thing: 'How could there be an expert like this? He actually came out on top in a clash with Lord Blood River?!'

There were now six individuals on the teleportation portal, all of whom were wrapped up in their own schemes and plots.

Eventually, the portal was fully activated and they sensed a change in the surrounding energy. They were now in the sprawling capital city, where countless buildings rose high into the clouds. The streets were wide and paved with jewels, and the stores on either side had countless god items for sale. Fiend-devils with incredibly high cultivation bases went about here and there, many of them in the Terrifying level.

Just by glancing around, Yang Qi could tell that about one out of every hundred fiend-devils was a Terrifying expert. Most of them flew, leaving the walking to the ordinary fiend-devils.

Of course, even the "ordinary" fiend-devils were still equivalent to first-tier sectlords from the Ancient Road to the Gods. In other words, they were roughly the same level as Battle Resister.

With the teleportation having completed, Lord Blood River chuckled coldly, cast a venomous glare at Yang Qi and Archmonk Dharma Treasury, then turned into a blood-colored streak that shot off into the distance.

The person waiting to receive them was another of the scholarly fiend-devil soldiers in cyan.

"Accommodations have been set aside for everyone who's come to attend the meeting. That said, if you have friends in the city, you're welcome to stay with them instead."

"We have no friends here," Yang Qi said. "Lead us to the accommodations."

"Please, follow me."

With that, the soldier led Yang Qi and Archmonk Dharma Treasury to an expansive meeting hall that resembled an inn. It was a very well-decorated structure, and even the building materials seemed to be things from the god world.

There were plenty of guards watching over things. Inside, they found that the decorations were elegant, with a stream and a pond filled with colorful flowers in the courtyard.

"Please take these identity medallions," their escort said. "They'll identify you as guests in the capital city, and allow you to come and go as you please. Remember that fighting with other visitors to the city is not permitted. Once the general assembly is called, there will be chances for organized fighting."

With that, the fiend-devil escort left.

Yang Qi looked down at the identity medallion, finding that it was carved from godstone and was covered with inscriptions related to the teachings of the fiend-devil sages and mahātmās.

"Spectacular workmanship," he said. "I wonder who it is that runs the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās. Grandmaster, is there any way you can provide some information to a lowly and ignorant individual like myself?"

"The most powerful person in the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās is a very mysterious mahātmā who I happened to encounter once on the Ancient Road to the Gods. He wears a black robe that covers him from head to toe, and carries a crooked shepherd's crook. Supposedly, he views fiend-devils as sheep, and himself as the shepherd who watches over their lives. All I know is that I'm not a match for him. He's very, very strong, at least on the level of the emperor of the Executors of the Ancient Road.

"Truth be told, I have a very deep interest in fiend-devils. Young friend, do you mind telling me to what level you've cultivated your Unspoiled Body? And is it possible that you actually possess that mysterious sheepskin scroll?"

"Yes," Yang Qi replied. "I did happen to get the sheepskin scroll."

"Is there any possibility that you'd allow me to take a look at it?" Archmonk Dharma Treasury asked.

"Well, er...." Finally, Yang Qi shook his head. "Grandmaster, we're strangers who met by chance, like patches of drifting duckweed, a monk and an immortal who walk different paths. One should not blithely show off precious treasures. After all, if I lost that sheepskin scroll, I wouldn't be able to cultivate the technique."

"I shouldn't have been so rude as to ask that," Archmonk Dharma Treasury said quickly. "That sheepskin scroll is nothing to take lightly, young friend. If you have it in your possession, take good care of it. You know, I suspect you have something impeding your cultivation base. The balance between your will and fleshly body is currently perfect, but if you develop your body much beyond this, you'll put too much pressure on your will."

Yang Qi couldn't help but be amazed at how observant and insightful Archmonk Dharma Treasury was.

"Can you think of any way to deal with this problem of mine, Grandmaster?" Yang Qi asked, making sure to keep his tone neutral to avoid revealing the fact that he already had a goal in mind. It seemed unlikely that Archmonk Dharma Treasury would know about the Mahātmā Jade. After all, even that mahātmā fiend-devil had only known about the Three Lives Stone.

Archmonk Dharma Treasury shook his head. "I can't think of any special way to deal with your problem. Just continue to work on developing your psyche. I have a special technique for that purpose, but to be honest, young friend, it seems that whatever method you use actually surpasses mine, so I won't insult you by trying to give it to you. Since we seem to have a bit of time right now, though, feel free to ask me any cultivation questions you might have. Perhaps I can provide some good advice."

"My main problem right now is that I need to reach the Terrifying level. Do you have any advice on that, Grandmaster?"

"There is a technique from the Dharma Sect that I could teach you. However, your own divine abilities seem too powerful for it to be compatible. And from what I can tell, even if I directly imparted all of my psychic power to you, it still wouldn't be enough for you to achieve the breakthrough you're looking for. I've never seen anything like this, to be honest."

"I just have to keep going ahead, slow and steady," Yang Qi said. "That's fine. In life, the greatest challenges usually bring the greatest rewards."

With that, Yang Qi went on to ask some other questions about cultivation. Archmonk Dharma Treasury would reply eloquently, and to Yang Qi's surprise, he actually learned a lot and made some significant progress.

Although Archmonk Dharma Treasury couldn't answer specific questions about the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body, his general knowledge had helped Yang Qi to get a much clearer understanding of tribulation energy, as well as the technique in general.

It also helped him to fuse it more fully with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and deal with any resulting imperfections.