Sage Monarch

At long last, Yang Qi was starting to get an idea of what cultivation was like in the Legendary level. 'First, the Blood-Form Transformation. Second, the Spirit-Soul Transformation. After that, the Space-Void Transformation, Five-Phases Transformation, Yin-Yang Transformation and Personal-Domain Transformation. They're all connected. Each transformation is more miraculous than the one before. And in the Personal-Domain Transformation, you can create an incredible domain. In my case, it will be the God Legion Paradise. And here I thought it would come with the Space-Void Transformation. Seems I was wrong.'

"Hm. What about the seventh and eighth transformation?" Of course, he had heard that the ninth transformation was the Never-Dying Transformation, although he wasn't sure the exact implication of the name.

"The seventh is the Ghost-God Transformation. In that transformation, you take the empyrean and baleful energies of heaven and earth and use them to create a ghost-god. Think about it. During the Lifeseizing level, didn't the empyrean-baleful power of heaven and earth create ghost-gods to interfere with your breakthroughs? Those ghost-gods are manifestations of empyrean-baleful energy. Because of that, the Ghost-God Transformation is sometimes referred to as the Empyrean-Baleful Transformation. If you succeed in it, you'll have access to incredible power, for example that of ghost-god possession. In any case, you can use the power of empyrean-baleful energy.

"The eighth transformation is called the Astral-Star Transformation, in which you use your energy arts to connect with the power of the stars out in the universe. Doing so, you create a small-scale universe of your own, that connects you with the universe at large. As a result, you will be able to draw powers from the void that vastly surpass your own. The largest objects in the universe are stars, any one of which can illuminate vast swaths of the void. The power of the stars is the most mysterious in the universe, and for energy artists to be able to draw on such power gives them the strength to move mountains and fill in seas. It's virtually limitless.

"Last is the Never-Dying Transformation, the level I am currently in. By uniting one's flesh, blood, and soul, adding in the empyrean-baleful energy, and drawing on the light of the stars, one's body becomes incapable of dying. If you're killed, your body will form back together, even if it was chopped up into millions of pieces. Of course, it draws heavily on your essence. Regardless, you won't be able to die naturally, and will be very, very difficult to kill. Of course, if you venture out into the void, it would definitely be possible for you to meet your end if you run into a spatial tempest. Even in the Never-Dying Transformation, you'd do your best to avoid trying to get from continent to continent on your own. After all, spatial tempests are no joke. Once you leave the Never-Dying Transformation, and surpass the mortal and enter the saintly, then you will no longer be considered human. You will be a Great Sage, a person who can traverse the void and unlock the deepest of secrets."

At long last, Yang Qi had a fairly thorough understanding of the nine Legendary transformations.

Each transformation was full of profound mysteries, and was vastly more powerful than the transformation before it. For example, not even four or five Blood-Form Legendaries could possibly win over a Spirit-Soul Legendary.

Of course, techniques were a major factor. Once Yang Qi became a Blood-Form Legendary, not even ten opponents in the same level would be a match for him.

Blood-Form Transformation. Spirit-Soul Transformation. Space-Void Transformation. Five-Phases Transformation. Yin-Yang Transformation. Personal-Domain Transformation. Ghost-God Transformation. Astral-Star Transformation. Never-Dying Transformation. Nine transformations that all connected. This was a great dao of cultivation.

Yang Qi committed everything to memory.

One day, he would be a Legendary, and would reach the point of being able to directly handle the Crown Prince. It would be a far cry from now, in which the Crown Prince could kill him as easy as blowing some dust off of his shoulder, and then go on to slaughter all of his friends and family.

With the lecture over, Yang Qi sat there absorbing the sura flame and simultaneously mulling over what he had just learned. Slowly but surely, the fire was being converted into life force quintessence, which was pushing more particles in him toward the point of waking up.

Although he currently possessed the power of two hundred ancient megamammoths, his power was only continuing to grow.

He was also becoming more familiar with the fundamental nature of the martial arts of this asura.

'I wonder how strong I would be if I let this asura transmit some of his energy arts to me. He would definitely try to turn me into a puppet if I did. Although, the golden imp would fight back. Unfortunately, I still can't control that power. And if something went wrong, and it didn't fight back, then I would have let myself get killed for nothing.'

After thinking about the matter for a bit longer, he said, "Many thanks for your help, Senior. I very much appreciate it. You know, I thought from the beginning that getting sent here by the chancellor would be a good thing. But based on what you've told me, that's a pipe dream. The chancellor just wants to help the Crown Prince!"

In order to buy some time, Yang Qi had decided to reveal a few secrets of his own.

"What Crown Prince?" the asura asked.

Yang Qi went on to explain the details of who the Crown Prince was, and even went so far as to touch on the enmity between them. He explained the situation at the martial arts tournament, how the Crown Prince had stolen the Gate of the Great Void, and how the chancellor had offered Yang Qi this mission to make up for it. It took quite a while to tell the whole story, and during the entire time, he was absorbing the sura flame. Slowly but surely, the projection of an asura was forming in his Hellfire Crucible.

"Crown Prince, huh?" the asura said, sounding quite excited. "He's a god from heaven descended into the mortal world? If I could consume him, and use his quintessence-blood and vital energy as a sacrifice to the king of suras, I would definitely get a blessing that would push me into the Great Sage level. I can't believe his fight with Young Master Shroud-Heaven all hinges on me. I'm definitely not going to let him succeed. You! Help me out and I'll make it worth your while! I'll definitely kill that Crown Prince. In fact, I can even show you my secret sura magic and help you reach the Legendary level, right now!"

"Hold on!" Yang Qi said. "Senior, you can't underestimate the chancellor. His plan with the Grand Emperor's Pagoda can't be so easy to see through. How about this: let me examine the pagoda first. After all, I've been a member of the Demi-Immortal Institute for quite a while, so I might be able to identify something that could help you deal with it."

"You want to see the Grand Emperor's Pagoda? Alright, sure. Look." The asura exhaled sharply, causing something like a ripple of water to spread out through the hall. Then the ripples faded, revealing a pagoda.

It seemed both large and small, and there was something about it that made Yang Qi think about an emperor. It was bronze, but covered with a green patina. There were also images carved in its surface, depicting an ancient emperor going on an inspection tour of his lands. He rode an imperial chariot decorated with nine dragons, and was attended by all sorts of military and civil ministers. There were also Demonfolk, as well as humans, beasts, monsters, and the like, all of them offering allegiance.

The pagoda's aura was the type that could suppress the auras of all types of ghosts and gods in heaven and earth, so there was no need for Yang Qi to inspect it. He could instantly sense that it was far more powerful than the Gate of the Great Void. This was a true treasure, something that a Great Sage had once spent blood, sweat, and tears to create. Anyone who had it would gain incredible power. Even Yun Hailan's Pearl of the Thousand Illusions World and Gate of the Great Void put together wouldn't be more than a tenth as powerful. With it, an Octonary Lifeseizer could kill a Legendary without question.

"What a treasure. Amazing." Yang Qi sighed in admiration. "Although, the chancellor is a Great Sage, and a profound schemer. He definitely left a nascent divinity sealing mark in it. It definitely won't be easy to take control of it, Senior."

"I know. Even after years of trying, I can't wrest control of it. However, I did manage to drain much of its vital energy, and I'm fairly certain of where the sealing mark is located. With your help, and by taking advantage of the people on the outside, I should be able to succeed. You're a student of the Demi-Immortal Institute, sent here by your chancellor on a supposed mission to take the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. Although the chancellor lied to you, the pagoda definitely won't harm you. Just wait until the spell formation is activated. The pagoda will fly out to attack me, and will use the power of the ancient Demonfolk Great Sages to try to refine me. When that happens, I'll use an energy art I have that can secretly get you into the pagoda in my stead. As for me, I'll attack it from the outside, and borrow the power of the Demon Sage formation to destroy the sealing mark inside. At that point, the pagoda will be masterless. Alright, I've said everything that needs to be said. Show me your energy art, and I'll tell you what flaws exist in it."

"I'd still rather break into Nonary Lifeseizing first, and get a bit closer to the Legendary level," Yang Qi said. "I still don't feel any ill effects from the sura flames. Actually, they seem great. My power continues to grow by the moment."

It seemed obvious to Yang Qi that the asura wanted to use him to get to the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. Once he did, the creature would turn on him. Therefore, there was no way he was going to explain his energy art.

In response to Yang Qi's words, the asura trembled as if he was about to attack and kill him. However, he quickly got himself under control and smiled.

"However you want to do it is fine. I'll save you if you end up experiencing cultivation deviation. If you want, just keep working on your cultivation here until the fighting starts out there in the Heavendawn Quarry."

"Many thanks, Senior." Yang Qi smiled grimly in his heart. Life force quintessence was building up in him, and crystallizing in his Hellfire Crucible. Slowly but surely, an image was forming in his Hell Portal that looked exactly like the asura in front of him.

The Hell Portal could create almost perfect duplicates of any sort of devil-god from hell. As he continued to absorb more of the sura flame, and understand more about the animadestiny aura of the asura, he was able to prepare to deliver a deadly blow.

Although he might not be able to kill him, it would at least be an effective blow.

1. Honestly, the characters used for "empyrean" and "baleful" have so many definitions and interpretations that I could probably write an entire article about them. Suffice to say, the author is using them in his own way, with empyrean representing heaven and baleful representing hell. Again, there are many interpretations of the characters, but for the purposes of this novel, we can think of them in this way.

2. To pad word count, the author usually throws in ALL of the descriptions for each level, every single time it comes up. For example, he'll say something like "the first Legendary transformation expert, a person in the Blood-Form Transformation attacked the second Legendary transformation expert, a Spirit-Soul Legendary". I'm obviously going to be cutting out as much filler as I can. Depending on the context, I will switch back and forth between a few possible combinations, as in "first transformation" - "first Legendary transformation" - "Blood-Form Transformation" - "Blood-Form Legendary" - and occasionally Blood-Form fiend-devil, etc.