Sage Monarch

"What? There's no way. I offered help without asking for a bit of compensation. And you think they'd kill me?" Chuckling as if in ignorance, he continued, "You must be joking, Miss Soundfyre. The Nacrelight Sageland doesn't follow the dao of devils. No one here would possibly return evil for good."

"I'm sorry to say it, but the truth is that money can affect the heart. You have too much wealth, so it's a given that if the Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill failed, they'll try to kill you. Trust me, I'm not trying to drive a wedge between you and them. It's just a fact that Mother Voidwalker is a vicious and merciless figure who kills people without blinking. She spent a huge fortune getting those other two Paramount Gods to help her, so if she didn't get a return on her investment the normal way, she would have to do it through you."

"They'd really try to kill me?" he asked suspiciously.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they still plan to do it even after succeeding with the pill. One thing is certain: the moment Summer Vastcold reaches the Unbounded level, you'll die. Believe me or not, it's up to you. By the way, not even that Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill will get Summer Vastcold to the Unbounded level. That's why I'm certain they want to use you to get to my sacrificial resources. The combination of the two would lead to a seventy or eighty percent chance of success. Tell me, am I right? You've been working on your cultivation recently with Summer Vastcold, and I bet she 'taught' you the Chiliocosm Unrestrained Mental Dharma. Little do you know that you're already on death's door. Do you really think she's going to help you get the Mahātmā Jade?"

"What? She harmed me with the Chiliocosm Unrestrained Mental Dharma? How is that even possible?"

"Tell me, how many godstones did they use making that pill? The Light King God-Furnace isn't exactly easy to power. Normally not even a Paramount God would casually use it, as it burns through godstones extremely quickly."

"Er..." Yang Qi said hesitantly.

"Tell me!" she shouted, her voice piercing into his sea of consciousness like a needle.

"A hundred fifty billion!" Yang Qi blurted.

"What? That many!" She shot to her feet and stared at him. "How could you have given them that many?! Don't you believe me now?! Doesn't it hurt you to have given away that much wealth! Your worldview was obviously altered by the Chiliocosm Unrestrained Mental Dharma. Look, I just used my Fyre Destruction God Resonance to stimulate your heart and soul. Think about it! Recall everything that happened recently."

"Well, a lot of things happened..." he stammered, pretending to be confused as he thought back to recent events. "How could this be happening? Why would I just give away a hundred fifty billion godstones?! Wait a second. Mother Voidwalker kept pressuring me. She said if they failed to make the pill, she'd throw me into the furnace!"

"See what I mean?" Summer Soundfyre said, sounding very pleased with herself. "Now do you understand? Even after saying that, you weren't the least bit angry with Mother Voidwalker. And the reason is that they changed your worldview. If I hadn't woken you from your reverie, you would have stayed under their control, unable to extricate yourself, then ultimately suffered a very miserable fate."

"Dammit. Dammit!" he shouted furiously. "Mother Voidwalker! Summer Vastcold! I'm not going to let you off the hook for this. This is preposterous. Preposterous!"

"At least you finally realize how wickedly ambitious they are," she said. "But if you work with me, I guarantee that you won't lose out. In fact, whatever you give me to help, you'll get back."

"I'm going to go take that Wisdom and Knowledge God Pill to make up for what I lost!" he said angrily. "After this, I'm definitely going to help you. I don't care much for money, but how could I ever have guessed that Mother Voidwalker and Summer Vastcold would treat me like this! Miss Soundfyre, I'll give you whatever you need. More than I gave them! You just have to promise to help me destroy them both! Preposterous!"

Of course, this anger was supposed to be a result of being entranced by Summer Soundfyre.

"You're going to give me more than them?" Inwardly, she was elated at having 'won', but outwardly she maintained a calm demeanor. "You still have some wealth left? They didn't bleed you dry?"

"You only need two hundred billion, right?" Yang Qi said. "Well, I still have four hundred billion. The only requirement is that you help me kill Mother Voidwalker and Summer Vastcold. Before, I was just interested in Summer Vastcold's treasures. But now I realize they enchanted me and want to kill me! If it weren't for your help, I would've been stuck in their trap!"

"Four hundred billion!?" she blurted in shock. "You still have that many left?"

"That's right," he said viciously. "I want to make sure they know what happens to people who cause problems for me! From this day on, I'm going to pay any price to see them ended!"

"Good. I actually feel a lot better hearing that. I supposed now is a good time to tell you that I got some information about the Mahātmā Jade. Unfortunately, I can't just get it for you. It's deep in the treasure storehouse, under the protection of an extremely powerful spell formation. It's also surrounded by vital energy booby traps. If you have what it takes, you can get it. If not, you'll only have yourself to blame."

Even as the words left her mouth, a spell formation chart appeared, something that resembled the sheepskin scroll.

Yang Qi took it and found that it depicted an area surrounded by countless spell formations, almost like a full chiliocosm of worlds. Obviously a location like that could be considered impenetrable.

"Incredible," he said with a sigh. "Those spell formations are nothing less than incredible. You're right, there's no way I can deal with that."

"Well that's a given. Not even a Paramount God can just sneak into the treasure storehouse of the Nacrelight Sageland and steal things. However, at the end of this month, I'm going to have a chance to get into the treasure storehouse to take something as a reward. And during that time, I might be able to create the opportunity you seek."

"You can take me in with you?" Yang Qi said, feeling a twinge of anticipation.

"Of course not," she replied. "The rules of the Nacrelight Sageland are clear. It's a huge honor to be allowed into the treasure storehouse to pick something as a reward. How could I possibly take an outsider in with me during that time?"

"Then what's the point?" Yang Qi shook his head.

"I can't change the rules, so there's only so much I can do. But if I can reach the Unbounded level before then, I could possibly borrow the Mahātmā Jade to study it. Keep in mind, I couldn't give it to you permanently. You'd have to return it."

"What about Unbounded medicinal pills?" Yang Qi asked. "Do you have any of those?"

"Definitely," she replied. "Except, such pills would be useless to me. What are you aiming to do? You're rich! Don't tell me that the Lord of Civilization's treasure trove doesn't have Unbounded medicinal pills!"

"I haven't opened the section of the treasure trove that has the medicinal pills. And I personally need Unbounded medicinal pills, not for my personal cultivation, but to help create an illusory projection of the Engine of the One God. With it, I can strike a deadly blow at Mother Voidwalker!"

Instead of praising Yang Qi for his bold statement, she replied, "Mother Voidwalker isn't going to be that easy to deal with, so I advise you to stop dreaming! That said, you could use the Engine of the One God to at least defend yourself from an attack by her, and possibly escape from a deadly situation. How many Unbounded pills do you need?"

"A hundred thousand!" he said, throwing out a completely shocking number.

"What did you just say?" she blurted incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me! A hundred thousand Unbounded medicinal pills?! Not even Paramount Gods would have that many pills saved up. Forget it. I have a few hundred, and that's years of savings. Do you think I can clear out the entire treasure storehouse of our sect?"

"I can pay for them with godnotes! And I'll pay a premium. I really need those pills!"

"Money doesn't matter. I might be able to get you a few thousand pills, but a hundred thousand is simply out of the question."

"A few thousand? Fine. Something is better than nothing." It was true that Yang Qi needed the pills to improve his monarch godhood. Perhaps he could reach the late Consummate God level, gaining a bit more strength, and by extension, safety. That was especially important, considering Mother Voidwalker was eyeing him.

"Fine. It's a deal. But you still have to give me the cash you said you would give me."

"No problem at all. Here are two hundred billion godnotes. The rest will take me a month to get. You need to hurry up and gather all the materials you need before Summer Vastcold reaches the Unbounded level." With that, he produced the godnotes, encased in a crystalline container.

"Excellent," Summer Soundfyre said. Taking them, she vanished.

Yang Qi also left.

Some time later, he was outside the Nacrelight Sageland.

There, he opened the spell formation chart he had just been given, and started studying it carefully. 'The spell formations of the Nacrelight Sageland are incredible. There's no way I can get through them at the moment. However, if I use the Cruiser of Civilization....'

With that, he began the summoning effort.

A few hours later, a figure appeared.

It was none other than his brother, or rather, the other version of himself, his clone, Yang Immortal-Slayer, who was both following the Lord of the True Void and learning from King Immortal-Slayer. He had already succeeded in forming monarch godhood, and had gathered more of the items belonging to the seventy-two monarchs. He also had the Cruiser of Civilization, including the Engine of the One God.

"What's wrong, Yang Qi? I could sense the urgency in your summons. I've been in seclusion with the Lord of the True Void, and am already at the peak Greater God level, just on the verge of becoming a Consummate God."

"It's like this," Yang Qi began. "I'm in the Nacrelight Sageland for the time being, and I finally located another piece of the Mahātmā Jade. Unfortunately, I can't get to its location. So I came up with a plan involving you. I want us to go to the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty and use our pieces of the Cruiser of Civilization to find the godhood manufacturing systems there. With those systems, the cruiser will be complete. And with all of its functions activated—" He chuckled. "—the Mahātmā Jade will be mine!"