Sage Monarch

Three days later, with Hua Tianxiong there to keep things in line, Young Master Shroud-Heaven's clone brought a dimensional sack to Yang Qi to complete their deal.

Both of them were on their best behavior. Young Master Shroud-Heaven didn't try to pull any tricks, and Yang Qi provided a very thorough explanation of how the Crown Prince was hiding in the Superheaven Badlands. Both sides could sense that the other was being sincere. After a short discussion, Yang Qi gave the navigational chart to Young Master Shroud-Heaven, who handed over all of the treasures he had brought in the dimensional sack.

The process took the entire afternoon. After all was said and done, Yang Qi felt like he was dreaming. He had struck it fabulously rich. Overnight, he had acquired wealth to rival the richest clans in the lands.

In the Rich-Lush Continent, there were plenty of aristocratic clans, powerful families, and sects. Although the four institutes were considered the most influential, there were also the Sage Ancestor Dynasty, the House of Spring and Autumn, the Tabernacle of Flame, and other such organizations.

In the past, the Yang Clan hadn't even been considered worth ranking, and even now, they were still considered only third-tier. But Yang Qi had just acquired wealth that would normally belong to only first-tier clans. It wouldn't be long before the Yang Clan really could brush shoulders with the likes of the Tabernacle of Flame and House of Spring and Autumn.

That was especially true considering that the clan now had what was essentially a patriarch in the Legendary level, namely, Yang Qi.

A quick check of the dimensional bag confirmed that everything he had asked for was inside. Without any hesitation, he threw it all into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, and activated the spell formations necessary to purge it of demon energy.

Even Hua Tianxiong was a bit jealous of the wealth, but his main concern at the moment was taking down the Crown Prince.

He even helped Yang Qi check to make sure there were no traps lurking in the treasure. Of course, considering how much Yang Qi valued his close relationships, Hua Tianxiong knew that Yang Qi's newfound wealth would likely benefit his daughter Hua Fengfeng.

After acquiring the map, Young Master Shroud-Heaven looked very pleased. He and Hua Tianxiong made arrangements to meet back later to go kill the Crown Prince. Then, the group parted ways.

**

On an island out in the East Sea, Old Man Superdestruction and Young Master Shroud-Heaven's clone stopped for a short discussion.

"Young Master, I did some checking, and to my surprise, I found that only two years ago, that brat Yang Qi was an absolute nobody. An ant. Then he suddenly started making crazy progress, and now he's a Legendary. How do you go from being a mortal to being a Legendary in so short a time? Not even the Crown Prince progressed that quickly."

"Very suspicious," Young Master Shroud-Heaven said.

"Young Master, why did you give all that wealth to him? I almost can't believe that you just handed over a full set of five phases magical treasures. The Skyspirit Lamp, Razorgold Dagger-Axe, Mulberry Shoot, Singularity Water, and Yellowdragon Sand. You forged those items personally to give as a gift to Great Sage Super-Heaven's daughter, Princess Saddharma!"

Young Master Shroud-Heaven snorted coldly. "You think I'm just going to hand the stuff over and let him keep it? Those five phases magical treasures are a trap that not even Hua Tianxiong will be able to see. I used my Eighty-One Soul-Concealing Demon Sorceries to split a heaven-demon seed into five parts and infuse it into those treasures. Once Yang Qi begins to work with them, he'll transform into a heaven-demon before he realizes what's happening. Once he's entranced, not even a Great Sage could save him. And that's when I'll have access to his biggest secrets, and also, the Grand Emperor's Pagoda."

"But… but what if Yang Qi doesn't try to use them?" Old Man Superdestruction said.

"He will," Young Master Shroud-Heaven replied with a cold chuckle. "You see, when my father was working with the five phases, he discovered a set of spatial coordinates that form a sort of natural spell formation. Because of that, those five items contain particularly powerful five phases energy, energy that will be extremely beneficial to Yang Qi. He'll definitely want to benefit from it, as it will lead to rapid cultivation advancement. In fact, it should push him toward the Five-Phases Transformation much more quickly. He won't be able to hold back from using those treasures. Then, after he becomes a heaven-demon, I'll use my Heaven-Demon Body Possession Incantation to make him into a clone. I'll take over his mind, and then use him to achieve even greater glory."

Old Man Superdestruction slowly settled down into a cross-legged position as he listened.

Laughing loudly, Young Master Shroud-Heaven continued, "No one can escape from my control! Not the Crown Prince, not Yang Qi, and not Hua Tianxiong. He wants to kill the Crown Prince and split the profits? Maybe become a Great Sage? Yeah right. He's just going to end up as my puppet. Alright, you keep an eye on the Shroud-Heaven Alliance, and also have Yang Qi watched!" With that, Young Master Shroud-Heaven vanished.

Old Man Superdestruction also faded into nothing.

**

Back in the Sun Moon Institute, on Hua Fengfeng's mountain, Yang Qi sat cross-legged, toying with a spirit stone.

Hua Fengfeng also held a spirit stone, roughly the size of a walnut. It seemed to radiate the aura of a sovereign, and even glittered with dazzling light. If one looked closely, they would see that inside of the spirit stone, there were magical symbols that took the form of heavenly winds, lightning storms, dragons, tigers, qilins, phoenixes, and other shapes.

Spirit stones were classified into low-, mid-, high-, supreme-, royal-, imperial-, sovereign-, sagely-, heavenly-, and godly-grade. To most people, sovereign-grade spirit stones were the thing of legend, and contained mysteries that would flummox even ghosts and gods.

The single sovereign-grade spirit stone that Hua Fengfeng held was more than enough to push her into the Legendary level. Now, the important thing to do was pass her tribulation. If she couldn't do that, it wouldn't matter how much vital energy she had to work with.

"Unfortunately, I'm not very confident in succeeding," she said. Looking down at the spirit stone, she sighed, her phoenix-like eyes flickering with envy. "A sovereign-grade spirit stone. Not even holy neophytes here in the Sun Moon Institute could hope to use one for cultivation. In fact, I don't even think my father could. Only the chancellor, when making his breakthrough into the Great Sage level."

"It's a shocking level of wealth, that's for sure," Yang Qi said. "But it begs the question of why Young Master Shroud-Heaven is being so generous. My request really was a bit over the top."

His eyes flickered with suspicion as he pulled out a flying sword, an item which was somewhat difficult to control, because of the powerful spirit it possessed. It was no weaker than a Lifeseizer. This was a spirit weapon!

And Yang Qi had extorted a thousand such items from Young Master Shroud-Heaven. Even the Demi-Immortal Institute as a whole would likely have only a few hundred in stock.

Yang Qi was quite suspicious of how Young Master Shroud-Heaven had just agreed to his outrageous demand. However, even after checking over all the items, he couldn't find anything dangerous hidden within.

If he delivered these weapons into the hands of the Yang Clan, its disciples would be so well-armed that no one could stand in their way.

He could even use them to set up spell formations that could unleash a multitude of attacks to overwhelm enemies.

After taking inventory again, he focused on five particularly powerful items, magical treasures which were on the same level as the Gate of the Great Void.

Five god weapons.

The Skyspirit Lamp, Razorgold Dagger-Axe, Mulberry Shoot, Singularity Water, and Yellowdragon Sand.

The lamp burned with intense fire that was the same color as the sky. There were no impurities in it, and although Yang Qi couldn't tell what type of fire it was, it was flawless in every way.

The long dagger-axe was extremely sharp, and radiated a metallic aura that made one feel like one's eyes were bleeding.

The plant shoot had green leaves that pulsed with life force. It seemed ancient, and also, the type of thing that could heal virtually all wounds, even regrow limbs. It had the inherent ability to absorb spirit energy, which was enhanced now that it was a magical treasure. Apparently, it was constantly absorbing the energy of a preheaven wood spirit from an alternate dimension. With a plant shoot like this, it would be possible to turn a desert into a forest.

The spring water virtually jumped up and down as if alive. One drop of it could transform into a white, dragon-like river. This was the ultimate form of water, its quintessence.

Finally was the yellowish sand, which was sentient, and could transform into an actual yellow dragon.

This set of five phases magical treasures was no less precious than the Gate of the Great Void. And if they were combined, they would create a full cycle of the five phases, and would greatly strengthen the cultivation base.

Yang Qi really had no idea why Young Master Shroud-Heaven would have given him something like this. Deep inside, he was convinced that it must be some sort of trap.

And yet, not even Hua Tianxiong had been able to identify anything suspicious about them. Hua Tianxiong was a Never-Dying Legendary just like Young Master Shroud-Heaven was, a level far beyond Yang Qi. If he said there were no problems with the five items, then there must not be.

But because of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, Yang Qi was still convinced that his suspicions were accurate.

He just needed to identify the clues.

All of a sudden, a huge crucible appeared behind him, into which he tossed all five of the treasures. Hopefully, he could refine them in the furnace, and perhaps even use the aura of hell from the Hellfire Crucible to purify them.

After reaching the Legendary level, his Infernal Deity Spear, Infernal Deity Plate Armor, Fiend-Devil Wings, Hellfire Crucible and Hell Portal had all changed. His Fiend-Devil Wings were now Angel Wings, and his Infernal Deity Plate Armor had become the God Legion Battle Robe. And his Hell Portal was slowly reaching out to connect with various spatial nexuses of hell.

Now, all he had to do was reach the third Legendary transformation, the Space-Void Transformation, and he would finally be able to open a passage to hell, and summon devil-god through it.