Sage Monarch

Upon entering Destructionless Castle, Yang Qi looked around and was immediately struck by how marvelous the construction was. It brimmed with a sensation of being lifeless and destructionless, leaving him convinced that its core was made of some sort of immense spell formation that, if he could reach it, would bring him immense benefits, similar to how researching the Engine of the One God had brought him the imperial-heaven pre-beginning powers.

However, there was no need to get anxious. First, he needed to learn more about the organizations like the Genesis Sanctum. The last thing he needed to do was beat the grass and startle the snake. After all, those groups had entities who were as strong as the Shepherd, which meant that, for the moment, Yang Qi couldn't possibly match up to them. He was still operating under severe limitations, considering that he wasn't even in the Terrifying level yet.

Numerous streams of divine will swept over the group from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. There were people who were envious, scared, jealous, or angry, but Yang Qi simply ignored them. As always, he believed that true confidence stems from superb skill.

Normally speaking, the fact that he wasn't in the Terrifying level would have made him a big target for people who had grudges with the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. But after what had happened with the purrling, nobody dared to confront him.

Even the top experts were shivering in their boots at the thought of what the purrling could do.

The guards who were present to greet the visiting guests looked frightened to the core. They were disciples of either the Genesis Sanctum or the Woodfern Couple Palace, and normally acted very high and mighty. Although they were said to be "greeting the visitors", the truth was that they were there to order everyone around. They were like soldiers in the mortal world who dealt with commoners; there was no need for them to even pretend to be respectful.

The truth was that those two sects were the most powerful among all the sects of the Ancient Road to the Gods. They had mid Terrifying experts with psychic scales of over a hundred and power indexes of eight thousand, or perhaps even nine thousand. Obviously, people like that were the most qualified, and most likely, to eventually enter the god world.

Unfortunately for them, considering that they hadn't entered the god world, they obviously weren't gods.

The Ancient Road to the Gods could be likened to the imperial examinations of the mortal world. Even if a scholar studied well and became a master of literature and poetry, if they couldn't enter the testing facility, they would never receive a position in the bureaucracy.

Yang Qi had once assumed that people would become gods first, and only afterward rise to the god world. That was the way it worked in the immortal worlds. It was only later that he realized his mistake. In order to reach godly ascension, one first had to travel the Ancient Road to the Gods and then enter the god world.

Unfortunately, the Ancient Road to the Gods had disappeared from the Primeval Age and the Future Age.

The road only existed in the Immortal Dao Age, but now it was blocked by the Great Necropolis, much to the frustration of people who were on the verge of becoming gods. Now, leaving the Great Necropolis was a requirement to be able to once again walk the Ancient Road to the Gods.

Of course, there were still the Executors of the Ancient Road to deal with. Without getting rid of them, it would be impossible to travel freely on the road.

Upon entering the castle, Yang Qi and the others were met by a group from the Genesis Sanctum, all of them beautiful young women who, despite not being in the Terrifying level, were obviously very strong. They all had power indexes of four thousand or higher. To Yang Qi, it was something of a relief. If the disciples assigned to receive guests were all in the Terrifying level, it would have been far too heaven-defying.

"Greetings. The Genesis Sanctum has arranged lodgings for you. It will be a few more days before everyone has gathered and the assembly begins."

'I wonder how strong the Genesis Sanctum is overall,' Yang Qi thought as he followed the women. They led them through the castle into a rather quiet area, where their room was waiting for them.

It was a unique plane of existence that resembled a sumptuous mansion, decorated with jewels and spirit stones that seemed to come from the god world. The fact that such things were used as mere decorations only went to show how amazingly elegant the castle was.

"These are your quarters," one of the young women said. "The vital energy of the god world is abundant here, so feel free to go about your breathing exercises and cultivation. The Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was originally going to be assigned a second-rate room, but the Young Sir ordered that you be upgraded."

"Please offer our thanks to the Young Sir," Sectlord Will Manifestation said. "Apparently, our Will Manifestation Heaven Sect is more well-known among the mid-tier superpower sects than before?"

"That's exactly right," another young woman said. "Furthermore, the Young Sir would like to meet this young lady in person. The one holding the... bubble beast."

"Why does he want to meet me?" Jadefall said, her face turning cold.

"The Young Sir is the junior pontiff of the Genesis Sanctum," the woman said coldly, clearly displeased. "He heard about how you vanquished the Void-Trampling Immortal School and would like to entertain you for dinner. Hopefully, Miss, you'll give some face to the Genesis Sanctum. If you refuse, I'm not really sure how I'll explain the matter."

Jadefall snorted coldly. "Go back and tell this Young Sir of yours that I'm not interested in having dinner with him. However, do offer him thanks for the invitation."

"This...."

The women were visibly angry, and were clearly convinced that the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect didn't know what was good for them. Just because they had defeated the Void-Trampling Immortal School didn't mean that they could take on the Genesis Sanctum. That would be like a mantis trying to stop a war chariot. As for Jadefall refusing to go to dinner, that was a clear slap in the face to the junior pontiff. If word got out about it, how would they maintain their reputation? The only way to eliminate the humiliation would be to wipe the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect out, all the way down to the chickens and dogs.

In the blink of an eye, the situation grew very tense.

There were people from other sects who were in the area that were being escorted to their own quarters, and they looked on silently, wondering why the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was being so obstinate.

"Very well," Sectlord Will Manifestation said. "The junior pontiff of the Genesis Sanctum is no one to take lightly, and if we refuse his invitation, he'll turn into a dangerous enemy. Jadefall, why don't you accept the invitation, but take Yang Qi with you?"

"Yes sir," she replied. "If it's with Yang Qi, then of course I'll go."

"Er… the Young Sir only extended the invitation to one person. It definitely wasn't intended for this loafer."

"Oh?" Jadefall said. "In that case, go ahead and tell the Young Sir that I appreciate his kind invitation, but must refuse it."

"You!" the young women spat, visibly furious.

At this point, Zi Qiong stepped forward. "How about all three of us go? Considering that I'm an Inheritor of the Great Necropolis, I'm sure the junior pontiff will be happy to have me.

'An Inheritor?' The young women appraised her with glittering eyes. At this point, she was coming to the conclusion that sitting around bickering with these people would be a big loss of face for them. Besides, they also knew that the junior pontiff could easily kill this naive Yang Qi if he wanted to.

And it was true that the junior pontiff wouldn't pass up the chance to entertain an Inheritor. Besides, she was beautiful, and the junior pontiff liked to surround himself with as many beautiful women as possible.

A moment later, one of the young women said, "Fine. Come with us."

Yang Qi smiled coldly. There was no way this junior pontiff was up to any good, although he was curious to see what his cultivation base was like.

There was no way he was on the level of the Shepherd, and even the Shepherd hadn't been able to deal with Yang Qi, and had even lost the Mahātmā Jade to him.

They headed to a nearby teleportation portal, which whirred to life and sent them to a location deeper inside Destructionless Castle. The vital energy was particularly strong here, and Yang Qi could sense a destructionless will seeping into his sea of consciousness, causing it to twitch energetically.

Everything in this area glittered with crystalline radiance, making the place seem reminiscent of the god world. There were even places where Yang Qi could spot godhood embedded in the walls!

There were also statues that looked to be the corpses of perished gods!

If the legion of gods knew of this, they would surely seek to wipe the Genesis Sanctum out of existence. They might be impressive, but if a true god arrived, even a weakling Lesser God, they would easily be able to destroy the place.

Eventually, their path led to an enormous dining hall within the palace. There was a long table arrayed with a feast of aromatic food and the finest liquors. Beautiful serving girls stood off to the side, waiting to attend to the diners.

One such serving girl approached them, and shockingly, she was a Terrifying expert. When she caught sight of Yang Qi and Zi Qiong, her expression flickered with displeasure.

When the escorts explained what had led to the current situation, the Terrifying servant girl's eyes flashed with killing intent. Glaring at Yang Qi, she said, "You will wait here. The Young Sir has no intention of dining with you. As for this Inheritor, well, the Young Sir would love to meet her. Please, come in."

Even as Yang Qi chuckled coldly and Jadefall was preparing to say something, Zi Qiong cut in: "Purrling, these people want your mommy's man to stay outside. What do you think we should do?"

Purr. Purr....

The surrounding young women's faces immediately turned white, making it clear that they knew exactly what this pink, pig-like godling could do.