Sage Monarch

"What?!" Yang Qi blurted, his jaw dropping. What the sectlord had just said came completely out of the blue. He hadn't heard anything about the situation that was just mentioned, although, to be fair, he had been completely focused on his study and research.

Only one word came to mind in regard to the sectlord asking him to consider marrying the junior empress from the Woodfern Couple Palace: absurd. It wasn't uncommon within the dao of immortals for men and women to marry, and seek godly ascension by means of dual cultivation. And many times, having a partner in life made it easier to deal with difficult situations. But Yang Qi had never even considered such a thing. As far as he was concerned, women in general were not to be trusted. He would much rather put his faith in a sworn brother than rely on a woman.

Of course, Yang Susu and his own mother didn't count, as they were relatives.

"As for you, Zi Qiong," the sectlord continued, "to date, the junior pontiff of the Genesis Sanctum is still unmarried. And the pontiff recently issued an announcement saying that he hopes to find an outstanding young woman to be his wife. You definitely stand a chance. If we could form a marriage alliance with them, it would put us in a very good position. Understand?"

"Yes, Sectlord," Zi Qiong said, nodding her head.

Looking thoughtful, Yang Qi said, "This doesn't make sense. Maybe we could make a marriage alliance with a colossal monster of an organization like that, but what if we end up just getting swallowed up by them? I definitely couldn't agree to something like that, Sectlord."

"That's up to you," the sectlord said with a smile. "Although, considering what you're capable of, Yang Qi, I somehow doubt anybody will simply swallow us up. I think you would be the one most likely to swallow them up."

"If I wanted to do that, I'd just kill them and take their treasure. I lead by strength, not by marriage alliances. Furthermore, I don't think it's a good idea for Zi Qiong to marry into another sect, either. If that happened, she would become part of the Genesis Sanctum. And it's not as if they'll just let her stay here with us. Who wouldn't want to have an Inheritor in their sect?"

The sectlord shrugged. "Well, you make the decision. I'm going to go into seclusion to contemplate the workings of heaven. Chaotic times are coming, and as the sectlord, I need to do everything I can to make sure our sect remains safe. I'll do anything to achieve that goal, even if it means sacrificing myself in a moment of crisis. Make all the preparations. In three days, we go to the assembly of sects in Destructionless Castle."

With that, he and the chief elders vanished into thin air.

Obviously, they had a lot to discuss in terms of keeping the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect safe from invasion during the assembly. Considering the sect would be mostly empty, they needed to set up spell formations and alarms just in case.

When they were gone, Yang Qi looked at Zi Qiong and said, "If the Woodfern Couple Palace is looking for a son-in-law, and the Genesis Sanctum is looking for a wife, then why don't the two of them ally with each other and become completely invincible?"

"It's not that simple, Junior Sectlord," she replied. "The Woodfern Couple Palace and the Genesis Sanctum hate each other with a passion. And they're going to be fighting bitterly to win control of the alliance. I wouldn't be surprised if blood ends up being spilled over it. There's simply no way they would ever work together. They're as opposed to each other as the Executors of the Ancient Road and the fiend-devils, or fire and water."

"I see," Yang Qi said. "By the way, what kind of place is this Destructionless Castle?" As an Inheritor, Zi Qiong knew a lot more about the Great Necropolis, therefore, Yang Qi wasn't holding back in trying to get information.

"It's widely accepted to be an extremely dangerous place. There used to be a huge treasure trove there, but sadly, it was split up between the Genesis Sanctum and the Woodfern Couple Palace hundreds of millions of years ago. In terms of cultivation, there's something called the Destructionless Formation there. If you practice energy arts in it, your cultivation can speed up by millions upon millions of times, and you can directly enter a state of having a destructionless psyche. However, the question of who owns the formation, and the castle itself, for that matter, has always been an issue. The Woodfern Couple Palace and the Genesis Sanctum both want the castle for themselves and are constantly fighting over it. In some ways, this assembly of superpower sects is going to be the final battle between them. Whoever wins will lead the alliance, and whoever loses will be forever expelled from Destructionless Castle."

From the very respectful way Zi Qiong offered an explanation to Yang Qi, it was obvious that she had fully and truly acknowledged allegiance to him. She knew that if Yang Qi wanted to, he could easily advance his cultivation base by ten times over, instantly become a Grand Emperor.

In fact, at the moment, keeping his cultivation base suppressed was a harder task than it would have been to improve it.

"So, it's going to be a real fight between a dragon and a tiger." He sighed. "Our Will Manifestation Heaven Sect is a superpower sect, but compared to the other superpower sects, we're only average. We need to come up with a plan. We have three days to take our strongest people and improve them a bit. The more people we have when we go to this assembly, the better. Obviously, I count as one of the elites, as do you. As for An Yiru, Jadefall, and Eldest Brother, we won't take them with us. They'll be staying behind to stand guard. That means I have three days to make sure that the three of them reach the Terrifying level. Three days."

"Who is Jadefall, and who is this Eldest Brother?" Zi Qiong asked.

"My two most trusted aides. They've been with me since I was a powerless nobody in the immortal worlds. In fact, perhaps you could say since the mortal world." Yang Qi's subordinates had spent years training in the virtual god world in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and could definitely be considered consummate geniuses.

Jadefall was the best of them all. She had gained enlightenment of many daoist techniques, and Yang Qi had given her countless resources to stimulate the porcelain godspore within her. Right now, she had a power index of around three or four thousand. As for Eldest Brother, he had always made steady progress. He worked extremely hard on his cultivation, and after joining the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, had often gone out on deadly missions. Of course, that was only to be expected, considering that the Invincible Society only recruited the best of the best.

Now, he was truly starting to reveal his potential. He had successfully reached the Destabilizing level and was cultivating the Civilization Founding Grand Magic to its peak. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to break through to the Terrifying level yet.

An Yiru, on the other hand, was just on the verge of making that breakthrough.

"Come with me," Yang Qi said. "There's a place I want you to see."

"What place?" she asked, a vigilant expression appearing briefly on her face before fading into something more relaxed. "Oh, you want to bed me, don't you, Junior Sectlord. I couldn't be more honored!"

"That's not what I meant," Yang Qi said without cracking the slightest smile. "I don't trust the average woman, let alone you." Swish! Without another word, he opened a vortex and stepped inside.

The immense power surging within the vortex caused Zi Qiong to hesitate for a moment, but then she followed him. Inside, she found another world filled with beautiful scenery. The sky overhead was filled with countless stars, all of which were made of godhood. The mere sight actually startled her. Not even top sects from the Ancient Road to the Gods would have godhood stars like this.

"Are we in..." she shivered, "the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart?"

"That's exactly where we are," Yang Qi said. "How does it feel? How do the godhood stars compare to the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect?"

"You..." she said, but then trailed off, completely at a loss for words.

"Our respects, Junior Sectlord!" Eldest Brother, An Yiru, Emperor Heart-Celestial and Jadefall all appeared. They were now members of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, and they were vastly beyond what they had been in the Dao Defense League.

Actually, the entire Dao Defense League had been absorbed into the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, and its hundredth ranked immortal worlds had been turned into the greyspace of the sect's "world of mortals".

The fifty mountain peaks of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, as well as the numerous courtyards attached to them, were almost like the god world, with the people living in the greyspace of immortal worlds being like ordinary people. Those who managed to stand head and shoulders above the rest would eventually rise to the truly great heights.

And that was where many people from the Dao Defense League lived.

In the past, the Dao Defense League had been a gargantuan organization. But then the Great Necropolis showed up, bringing with it vastly larger immortal worlds. For instance, a hundredth ranked immortal world was just as large as the entire Dao Defense League.

The immense Dao Defense League had quickly become as insignificant as a speck of dust.

"Everyone sit. Let's begin our session of cultivation." He flicked his finger, causing dazzling light to sweep out and form a large spell formation, where everyone sat down and began working.

Combining the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body and the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse, Yang Qi created streams of light that entered the foreheads of everyone present, causing them to shiver as their psychic power increased.

"My enlightenment of the Unspoiled Body and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth has led me to cultivate a boundless energy art capable of drawing on the dao of heaven and the Civilization Founding Grand Magic to push the psyche and cultivation base to a higher level. With that, I can help you unleash your potential. And I can also use the godpower of the Great Necropolis to bless you."

Extending his palm, he said, "Zi Qiong, hurry up and pour the godpower of the Great Necropolis into me!"

"But..." she said hesitantly. "You shouldn't casually use that power. If you force it into someone, it could easily destroy their sea of consciousness."

Yang Qi chuckled coldly. "It's been years since I mastered the powers of the imperial-heaven pre-beginning, and I can use them to vanquish the will of the Great Necropolis. In fact, I know more about the godpower of the necropolis than you do. It's been a long time since I first killed and sealed one of you Inheritors. Did you really think Shi Yuan was my first?"

"What? Does that mean you have two godpower seeds?" she said, stunned.

"You could say that," he replied with a nod. "If you serve me faithfully enough, perhaps I'll give both of them to you."

"Yes sir!" Although she knew he was merely saying that out of formality, she couldn't help but be moved by the thought of getting two godpower seeds. With that many seeds, she could easily match up to mid Terrifying experts from the ancient road.

Without any more hesitation, she poured Great Necropolis godpower into Yang Qi. Although she expected some adverse reaction, all that happened was that the godpower shattered and transformed into pure psychic power.