Sage Monarch

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Yang Qi had passed the deep inspection of Mother Voidwalker, an Unbounded expert.

Now he felt free to do as he wished, although he knew he still couldn't act rashly. If he wanted to survive in the Nacrelight Sageland, he needed to continue earning trust. That was the only way he would get into the treasure storehouse and ultimately secure that piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

He was in no hurry. He could be patient in his effort to get the jade, especially considering that, once he got it, he was fairly certain he would immediately achieve Unbounded will.

After encountering the Unbounded will convergence of Mother Voidwalker, he knew more than ever how important it was to reach that level himself. His current cultivation base simply wasn't high enough to deal with someone that powerful.

Seeing Yang Qi standing there, lost in thought, Summer Vastcold smiled and said, "Young Sir Void Qi, if you have nothing else to do, why not come with me for a tour of the Nacrelight Sageland? I can show you the scenery."

Yang Qi smiled. "That sounds wonderful."

With that, he followed her as she flew up into the clouds.

"By the way, Miss Vastcold, exactly how many factions are there in the Nacrelight Sageland? And which ones are problems for you? The more I know, the more I can help you avoid any dangerous situations."

"You know a lot about faction infighting?" she asked in surprise. "Aren't you from a confucian college? I thought you people avoided forming factions, and focused on mutual study and philosophizing."

"Times change," he replied. "Even philosophers have to form factions to defend their interests. Furthermore, I saw a lot of faction infighting in the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty. There was very bitter conflict. Blood flowed. In any case, all of the confucian academies, including the Truth Academy, the Righteousness Academy, the Noble Academy, the Heavenly Serenity Academy, the White Rainbow Academy... they all have factions in them."

"I suppose you're right. We live in an era in which factions proliferate, and the Nacrelight Sageland is no exception. Much of it has to do with our next election. Alright, let me explain some more. I'm the leader of the Vastcold Society, one of over a hundred thousand factions in the sect. Most are only second or third tier, or even smaller. But the Vastcold Society is a first-tier faction, of which there are only about ten. And the leaders of those all hope to win the coming election."

"Are there superpower factions?" Yang Qi asked. In the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, the Crown Prince Society was led by the crown prince, who was already in the Unbounded level. And if the Nacrelight Sageland was considered a major enemy of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, it only made sense that they would have someone like that. "If I were a betting man, I would guess that the Nacrelight Sageland has a faction leader with Unbounded will convergence."

"That's right. The Eternal-Life God-Dynasty has the Crown Prince Society, and Nacrelight Sageland is no weaker. In fact, we actually have two leaders with Unbounded will convergence. One is the Clairvoyance Society, led by Summer Clairvoyance, who was in the Unbounded level long before the crown prince of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty, yet isn't a Paramount God. The other Unbounded expert is Summer Heartless, who leads the Heartless Society, and long since earned the legacy of Mister Heartless from ancient times."

"Mister Heartless?"

Yang Qi remembered that in ancient times, there had been an expert who was considered both righteous and evil at the same time, yet neither righteous nor evil. He had been called Mister Heartless, and although he couldn't quite compare to King Immortal-Slayer, the Sovereign Lord, the True Devil, Wretch God Ultimate, or the Demon Master, he had still been extremely famous. In fact, he very nearly earned the title of lord.

In other words, he was on par with the Lord of Radiance and Light, the Lord of the Sword Dao, the Lord of Civilization, and the other lords like them.

"Summer Clairvoyance. Summer Heartless." Yang Qi smiled. "The old saying claims that clairvoyance stems from the heart. Considering one of these faction leaders is 'heartless', it's obvious they're destined to oppose each other. Miss Vastcold, you definitely have to reach the Unbounded level as soon as possible. Then there will be three superpower factions in the sect."

"I completely agree," she said. "Right now, the Vastcold Society isn't strong enough to tangle with them. That said, there are plenty of other factions that cause problems for us. For instance, the Melodic Rhythm Society, the Elegance Society, the Soundfyre Society, the Nacre Zither Society, and so on. We're constantly clashing with them. The upside is that none of their leaders have any hope of reaching the Unbounded level."

As she gave these explanations, she also interspersed some introductions regarding the various god kingdoms filling the Nacrelight Sageland. "That god kingdom is occupied by the Law Enforcement God Temple. Over there is the Scripture Pavilion. And that's the Missions Pavilion...."

The basic layout was actually very similar to the House of God Ordainment.

That said, all huge sects were similar in many ways. After millions upon millions of years went by, optimal sect management methods would be identified and broadly adopted. It was similar to how the process of evolution had led to the five viscera and six bowels in humans.

All sects had divisions devoted to law enforcement, missions, thralls, slaves, scriptures, and the like. Without such things, a sect simply wouldn't be complete.

"See that god kingdom over there? It's different from the others. It's called the Supplication God Temple. Supposedly, it facilitates communication with the god world itself, and is a creation unique to the Nacrelight Sageland. If disciples go in there and pray with complete piety, they can receive blessings from ancient times. Of course, it all comes down to piety and destiny, with destiny being the most important factor. Disciples with the proper destiny to pray in the Supplication God Temple can rise from Lesser Gods to Greater Gods. Disciples without the right destiny could pray in there for hundreds of years without benefiting at all."

"Supplication God Temple?" Yang Qi said, surprised. "Was it created by the founder of the Nacrelight Sageland?"

"Good guess. The founder was a member of the ancient halls of heaven, and a subordinate of the Sovereign Lord. His High Priestess, who officiated over rites and ceremonies. Back then, the countless members of the legion of gods would come to offer formal greetings to the Sovereign Lord, and the High Priestess would oversee it all. And that's the origin of the Supplication God Temple.

"I went in there once to pray, which is how I broke through to the Consummate God level so quickly. Normally it would've taken a long time, but with the boost in power from ancient times, I succeeded. Unfortunately, you're not a disciple of the Nacrelight Sageland, so you aren't allowed inside."

The truth was that Yang Qi was completely bowled over by what he had just learned. How could he have guessed that the founder of the Nacrelight Sageland was actually the High Priestess who served the Sovereign Lord himself?

According to legend, the Sovereign Lord had two subordinates who could be considered his primary assistants. One was the King of Godmammoths, and the other was the High Priestess.

The King of Godmammoths was a font of power who suppressed hell, while the High Priestess oversaw rites and ceremonies of all kinds. In mundane terms, the King of Godmammoths was the generalissimo, and the High Priestess was the prime minister. Together, they were a combination of the martial and the civil.

'If the Nacrelight Sageland was founded by the High Priestess,' Yang Qi thought, 'then it must be filled with immense secrets. I wonder if I'll have time to visit that Supplication God Temple.'

"Up ahead is the Warfare God Temple, which is a huge god kingdom where disciples can practice fighting and warfare. And if any disciples have personal vendettas or grudges, they can go there to fight things out. Of course, some people just go in to watch the excitement. Do you want to take a look?"

The god kingdom of which Summer Vastcold spoke fairly bristled with killing energy.

"Sure. Sounds interesting." The House of God Ordainment had no location such as this, and in fact, disciples there weren't even allowed to fight each other. Personal disputes had to be resolved in the Law Enforcement God Temple, which oftentimes led to unfair results.

Some matters were best handled between the two parties involved.

As soon as they entered, a beam of intense light shot toward them as if to bar their path. However, when the people in the beam of light realized it was Summer Vastcold, they came to a stop.

"Well, if it isn't the leader of the Vastcold Society, Summer Vastcold." It was a woman who had spoken, and she held a jade flute in her hand. She was flanked by a group of young men and women. The men were all young elites in the sect; Yang Qi hadn't been in the Nacrelight Sageland for long, but he had already come to realize that although the women here didn't accept male disciples, and claimed to hate men, the situation was more complicated. Young men would still come here to woo the women, and they would sometimes stay as guests. And because of that, the young women often had groups of men who clung to them and acted like dharmic guards.

"The leader of the Soundfyre Society," Summer Vastcold said. "Summer Soundfyre! Are you also here to watch the fighting in the Warfare God Temple?"

"Didn't you hear, Summer Vastcold? There's a big match being fought today. Summer Speechice and Summer Voice are here representing their respective factions, who recently discovered an ancient treasure trove filled with tens of billions of godnotes. The fighting over it resulted in a lot of casualties, therefore, the grudge can only be resolved here in the Warfare God Temple. Whoever wins will get the treasure trove! How could I not show up for a spectacle like this?" Looking at Yang Qi, Summer Soundfyre continued in a sinister voice, "Well, you must be Young Sir Void Qi, am I right? I heard that you helped Summer Vastcold get that flower of wisdom, and even loaned her twenty billion godnotes to do it."