Sage Monarch

'First challenge, passed,' Yang Qi thought, breathing a sigh of relief. The pressure Paramount Gods could exert was simply too immense. Even just the early Unbounded level of will convergence was far more than Yang Qi could defy. A single glance from this man could kill him.

Thankfully, the purrling could stand up to him.

Standing on the God-Ordaining Dais with the Lord of the True Void was Houselord God Ordainment, who was a peak Perfect God with peak Paramount will. "Teacher," he asked, "why is the purrling so amazing? Did you pick up on any clues?"

Looking very serious, the Lord of the True Void replied, "It's a powerful entity that was born from primal-chaos before the god world came into existence. As for what exactly it is, I can't say. But I do know that it absolutely mustn't be angered. I almost can't believe it chose to take up residence in this sect. Logically speaking, it would look down even on the kingdom of a Paramount God. And why has it chosen that young lady?"

"Teacher, are you interested in taking her as an apprentice?" Houselord God Ordainment asked. "She's also the adopted daughter of an imperial concubine from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty."

"No, that won't do. With that creature at her side, she doesn't have any need of help from me. Besides, although that creature doesn't seem to be very temperamental, it could obviously be very dangerous. We're lucky that it has a generally calm demeanor. In the future, be careful around it."

"Teacher, there are a number of reasons I invited you here today. First, out of concern that Patriarch Deva might come and cause problems. Second, for you to see the purrling, hopefully identify it, and possibly benefit from it. Third, because my son and I have both reached late Paramount will convergence, and hope you can give some advice on what to do next. Fourth, to see if there are any geniuses in the sect for you to take as a novitiate."

"Patriarch Deva won't bother coming here. He's a very mysterious person who doesn't randomly take action. Furthermore, I left a seal on the exterior of the god kingdom here. If he wanted to destroy the god kingdom, he'd have to deal with the sealing mark first, and I doubt he wants to start a war like that. As for the purrling, forget about it. It's not anything you can handle. In regards to you and your son, you've both reached a zenith in your cultivations and need to start seeking enlightenment of how to proceed. I can't help you with that. If you want to become Paramount Gods, you'll have to break through to the Unbounded level, which requires personal enlightenment. You must come to your own understanding of what exactly it means to be bounded and unbounded. It's something that can't be explained to one person by another. And yes, I'm interested to see if there are any geniuses in your sect. My research into the way geniuses advance in their cultivation actually provides a lot of help to my own understanding of cultivation. Hopefully, the culmination of my research will lead to creating a dao of the ultimate genius."

"I don't think I'll ever match your level of thinking, Teacher," Houselord God Ordainment said in what was obviously a bit of brown-nosing. "There are a lot of geniuses in the House of God Ordainment, the only question is whether they're connected to you by destiny."

The Lord of the True Void laughed. "You have geniuses in the House of God Ordainment? I think not. It's easy to seem tall when everyone around you is short."

"Er, right. I suppose you can just say they stand head and shoulders above the rest. In any case, considering how many disciples have gathered to hear you speak of the dao, I really hope you can help strengthen them, and by extension, the sect itself."

"I accepted your invitation, so I'll provide what little help I can. The Eternal-Life God-Dynasty has been putting a lot of pressure on your House of God Ordainment lately. Their emperor, Eternal Nightless, is a very ambitious person. However, it's his son, the crown prince, who's truly worth keeping an eye on. He's even more mysterious and unpredictable than his father, and will eventually strike a heavy blow to your sect. You mustn't allow yourself to be caught off guard."

"Many thanks, Teacher. I'll remember that. As long as I can break through to Unbounded will convergence and become a Paramount God, the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty will have to pay a very heavy price to destroy the House of God Ordainment. Besides, the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty has been at war with the Nacrelight Sageland for tens of thousands of years, and they need us for that conflict."

"I recently gained enlightenment of a little skill called the Grand-Wisdom True-Void Samādhi Sutra. I'll recite it for your disciples and see if any of them can understand it. If they can, it'll improve their psychic power. It's a combination of a buddhist teaching, a daoist technique, and a confucian scripture. If there really are some geniuses present, after they hear the sutra, their will convergence will release a visible radiance and light. Whoever has the brightest light will be the top genius, and I'll take them as an apprentice."

"Please, begin your lecture whenever you're ready, Teacher."

"Grand-Wisdom True-Void Samādhi Sutra!" The Lord of the True Void waved his hand and a string of sutra text flew up into the sky, then fell down into the god kingdom like flower petals.

As the sutra merged into the bodies of the disciples, they felt cleansed down to the level of their souls. Then they started shining with brilliant light as the sutra acknowledged their fundamental nature. Apparently, it could remove a person's desires and leave behind only their wisdom.

Thus, the brightness of the light that shone off of them was a way to assess that wisdom, identifying the level of their genius.

Yang Qi was shocked to see the sutra text falling into him and merging into his sea of consciousness, so he quickly emptied himself completely. 'He is a Paramount God after all. It'll only take him a moment to identify the geniuses present. Thankfully, I placed Devil-God Seals in all of my people. A paltry sutra like this won't be able to pierce through that unless he specifically targets one of us.'

As he was suppressing his own fundamental nature, he looked around to see what other geniuses were in the House of God Ordainment.

As it turned out, there were quite a few bright halos of light on various disciples. Some people only had faint halos, and others were actually dark. Those were individuals who were obviously a far cry from being geniuses.

However, some people shone like bright stars.

Yang Qi noticed some of the children of primeval chaos who had halos like intense suns. That wasn't an indication of the level of their cultivation base, but rather their genius.

There were also some ordinary disciples who were only Quasi-Gods, but radiated a brightness that surpassed even the children of primeval chaos.

All of a sudden, a thrumming sound could be heard as a pillar of bright light shot up into the air. It was a female disciple whose brightness surpassed any of the children of primeval chaos, and when Yang Qi looked over, he recognized her. It was Elder Sister Xue, the leader of one of the mid-level factions, the Snow Society.

A moment later, another expression of brightness appeared that also surpassed the children of primeval chaos, and it came from Bai Yin.

As it turned out, there really were some geniuses hiding among the ordinary disciples.

"Hmm?" The Lord of the True Void looked over in surprise. "Well, you do have some geniuses. It might be worth it for you to provide some extra assistance to that girl, as well as that boy."

"Chief elders," said the houselord, "please take note of who has the brightest light, and mark them for future help. Teacher, you're acknowledging that those two are geniuses, but are you saying you don't plan to take them as apprentices? Do they really not meet up to your standards?"

"I'm curious to see if there are any other disciples out there who might surprise me." Even as the words left his mouth, the Lord of the True Void waved his hands, and the falling sutra text surged with greater power.

All of a sudden, another burst of radiance and light appeared.

It looked like an exploding sun, and it caused even the Consummate Gods to momentarily shield their eyes. It came from Yang Immortal-Slayer, who was apparently one of the 'ultimate geniuses'. His radiance and light were like the glory of the ancient halls of heaven, as if he were the origin of all light, the wellspring of brightness, the source of all enlightenment of that which was bright.

The other geniuses present were shocked.

"What?!" blurted the Lord of the True Void. "What is that light? What kind of genius is that coming from? How could the brightness be so incredible? What's going on here? Even someone I personally groomed as a novitiate who since became a Paramount God wouldn't shine as brightly as this. Does he really have such consummate potential?"

The Lord of the True Void wasn't the only one to be surprised. The Consummate Gods present were all completely taken aback that Yang Immortal-Slayer had proved to be such an ultimate genius.

CRASH!

The Lord of the True Void stopped the rain of sutra text, and the light radiating from the disciples faded away.

"Come here," said the Lord of the True Void, and he made a beckoning gesture that caused Yang Immortal-Slayer to fly over to him. Reaching out, he touched the top of his head, whereupon a look of even greater shock covered his face, and then it appeared as if he were communicating with someone.

The leaders of the House of God Ordainment had no idea what was going on, and none dared interrupt the Lord of the True Void to ask.

Two hours passed in deathly silence. Then, the Lord of the True Void laughed. "This is destiny. Incredible destiny! You're my new novitiate!"