Sage Monarch

"What exactly do you have to say, Miss Soundfyre?" Yang Qi said, his expression softening. Of course, he was simply putting on a show. None of these people could possibly guess what he was really planning. As someone who had experienced so many things in life, how could he possibly let people like these understand his true motives?

Only outstanding people like King Immortal-Slayer, or perhaps other Paramount Gods, could possibly read into Yang Qi true thoughts and motives.

Shoulder to shoulder, the two of them strolled through the temple, which was actually a god kingdom in its own right. It had its own sky full of glittering stars, and at the moment, a meteor shower was making it look particularly beautiful, almost reminiscent of the godhood stars in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

As Yang Qi looked around, he realized that whoever created this place had combined the diametrically opposed daos of love and heartlessness into one, creating a unique dao of heaven that was simultaneously emotional and emotionless. Its structure was strong and tight, such that it couldn't easily be broken. That said, Yang Qi had already reached the level of being able to pierce through god kingdoms.

If he were back in the god kingdom of the House of God Ordainment, he could easily destroy the place. However, this Destined Marriage God Temple was vastly stronger than that, and was something he couldn't deal with as easily.

Right now, he definitely couldn't destroy it.

"Young Sir Void Qi, do you know much about the history of the Destined Marriage God Temple?"

"The person who created the Destined Marriage God Temple was no minor figure," Yang Qi said, looking visibly surprised by what he was seeing. "Who could possibly create a place like this?"

"You have sharp eyes, Young Sir Void Qi," Summer Soundfyre said with a sigh of admiration. "Truth be told, the Destined Marriage God Temple is the most profound and enigmatic location in our entire sect, even surpassing the Supplication God Temple. Originally, it should never even have come to exist in the Nacrelight Sageland, and it wouldn't have, save for a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering event."

"What event was that?" Yang Qi asked curiously.

"As you already know, Young Sir, the Nacrelight Sageland originally had strict rules enforcing the hatred of men. Any man who came to this place would be executed without hesitation. And the women here weren't permitted to have dealings with any man, upon penalty of death. But things are different now. Men are allowed to come here to woo our disciples, which indicates that somewhere along the line, there was a major change. Doesn't that pique your curiosity?"

"It does. It must've been a very dramatic change, something akin to a revolution. Although, I can't imagine there having been an actual civil war. The Nacrelight Sageland does indeed have the reputation of hating men, but after coming here I realized that things were different. And now I've come to find that the Destined Marriage God Temple is a place for love and romance. It's almost too much to believe. Furthermore, I met Vastcold's Master, Mother Voidwalker, who seems to cling to the tradition of hating men."

"Long, long ago, there was a woman in the Nacrelight Sageland who was named Summer Sentimental, who fell in love with a man from the outside. Back then, the women of the Nacrelight Sageland had strict instructions to either kill or enslave any men they encountered. Even speaking to a man unnecessarily was considered a big crime. So what do you think they did to that woman? The chief elders arrested her, threw her in prison, and sentenced her to death."

Looking around at the Destined Marriage God Temple, Summer Soundfyre continued explaining the history of the place. "However, Summer Sentimental's man came right here and demanded that his lover be handed over. It led to a massive battle in which nine Unbounded experts all teamed up against him. In fact, the three top matriarchs of the sect joined the fight, all of them Paramount Gods. Yet, despite all of that, the man destroyed the spell formation and saved his lover. The three matriarchs, who were all top apprentices of the High Priestess, subsequently changed the rules of the sect to allow for romantic relationships. The Destined Marriage God Temple was built by that very man who'd come to rescue his lover, and it's survived untouched for hundreds of millions of years. Many elite experts of the sect tried to destroy it, but none have succeeded. And in fact, their efforts caused them such grief that, eventually, no one dared to do anything to it. Nor has anyone dared to reinstitute the previous rules of the sect demanding that all men be killed. After all, everyone feared the return of the man who created the Destined Marriage God Temple."

"Did this man have a name?" Yang Qi asked. After all, the Nacrelight Sageland of the past must have been vastly more powerful than the current incarnation, yet that man had single-handedly taken it on.

How powerful must the apprentices of the High Priestess have been?

Of course, Yang Qi had met people who were close to the level of King Immortal-Slayer, the Sovereign Lord, and the High Priestess. Furthermore, Yang Immortal-Slayer was currently an apprentice of King Immortal-Slayer, and his future successor.

"He had no name, and no one knows who he was or where he came from. In fact, after all the time that's passed, many experienced and knowledgeable Paramount Gods have weighed in on the subject, and even run investigations, all to no avail. Those were the years during which chaos reigned, and war raged between the Sovereign Lord, High Priestess, King Immortal-Slayer, and various ancient God-Lords. Many major gods vanished during those dark ages. Great figures rose, and great figures fell. In any case, the three matriarchs of the sect offered sacrifices and prayer to the fallen High Priestess, who responded by saying that the man was a Fateless One, therefore it was impossible to learn anything about him or his fate."

'What?!' Yang Qi thought, stunned. At first, the story hadn't seemed to be anything special. A woman fell in love with a powerful man and was subsequently imprisoned by her sect, then rescued by the man, who then forced the sect to acknowledge him.

But then he found out that this 'nameless' man was a Fateless One, and Yang Qi realized that the story wasn't so simple after all. After all, he was also a Fateless One, and as far as he knew, there wasn't anyone else like him. Two tigers cannot live on one mountain, and generally speaking, there couldn't be two Fateless Ones in the same era.

If there was another Fateless One, did that person have some connection to Yang Qi?

Where was he from? Apparently, not even the High Priestess' apprentices had ever learned anything about him. And it seemed unlikely that the perished High Priestess's lingering psyche would be mistaken about the man being a Fateless One.

Numerous thoughts were running through Yang Qi's mind, but in the end, he couldn't reach any conclusions. That said, he had the feeling that his journey to the Nacrelight Sageland was going to result in some dramatic upheavals. And he had the feeling that even if he tried to abandon this mission right now, he would surely get dragged into whatever storm was brewing.

Besides, he had no intention of leaving. He needed to get the Mahātmā Jade, become a Paramount God, then ultimately shake off the fetters of the God Legion Seal and the Unspoiled Body to reach the Annulled level.

Seeing Yang Qi standing there silently, Summer Soundfyre asked, "What are you thinking?"

Of course, there was no way she would ever guess that he was a Fateless One.

"I'm wondering what kind of man he was," Yang Qi replied calmly. "The Nacrelight Sageland carries on the core teachings and doctrines of the High Priestess, who was a contemporary of the King of Godmammoths, and served alongside him as a key subordinate of the Sovereign Lord. Yet not even her top three apprentices could pierce this mysterious man's secrets. There are a lot of 'nameless' experts in the god world, hidden here and there."

"Aren't you one of those 'nameless' experts?" she asked. "The first thing you did here in the Nacrelight Sageland was defeat Proud Realm. And not even I can tell what your true level is."

Yang Qi laughed involuntarily. "You think that because I defeated Proud Realm that I'm some consummate expert? That piece of trash has virtually no fighting experience. I could tell with a single glance that he's a greenhouse flower who's so full of himself he has no idea what real ability is."

"You're right, defeating Proud Realm isn't anything worth mentioning. But why exactly have you been throwing your wealth around? Tell me, exactly how rich are you?" It was no surprise that, after telling her story, Summer Soundfyre started trying to pry information from Yang Qi.

"What if I told you there's no end to the money I have access to?" he said with a smile. "Then what? Would you rob me?"

"There's no end to the money you have access to? Only the Sovereign Lord would ever dare to say something like that, as he controlled the entire legion of gods. You might have the legacy of the Lord of Civilization, but there's no way you have that much money. Keep throwing your money away and you'll run out eventually."

"The money I got from the Lord of Civilization is enough to keep me going for a long time, even if I throw it away. Besides, I really don't care about wealth. Miss Soundfyre, if you want me to invest in you, that's not out of the question. But you have to tell me exactly what you want. What do you need to reach the Unbounded level? I'm curious whether you'll achieve the breakthrough first, or if Summer Vastcold will. I wouldn't mind betting on both of you, considering how amazing the two of you are."

"Fine, I'll explain, as long as you don't tell the truth to Summer Vastcold. First, though, how am I supposed to trust you? If word of my secret leaks. Summer Vastcold will definitely try to stop me and ruin my plan. And if that happens, you'll never be able to make up for it. Furthermore, I need to purchase various items to ensure my plan works. So I really need to know how much money you have."

"How much do you need?" Yang Qi asked.

"At least two hundred billion godnotes," she replied. It was really an astronomical number.