Sage Monarch

Yang Qi wanted to reach the Five-Phases Transformation as quickly as possible, no matter how he had to go about doing it. And it seemed that Ghost Emperor Yama really was planning on following him around and watching his every move.

Therefore, it was with the protection of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda that he took out the case with the five phases spirits in it.

Ghost Emperor Yama clicked his tongue at how casually Yang Qi was just going about his cultivation. "So, five phases spirits! The Grand-Wilds Mansion must have given those to you, right? Not bad. Not bad at all. What a pity you can't actually use them for cultivation."

"Why's that?" Yang Qi asked.

Ghost Emperor Yama snorted coldly. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you. Although they have pure five phases power, and can push you into the Five-Phases Transformation, they also have the power of the Wilds God in them. If you use them for cultivation, that power will transform you into a wilds-slave. You'll become a puppet of the Grand-Wilds Mansion!" Ghost Emperor Yama chuckled coldly. "I'd advise you not to send yourself to an early grave. After all, I don't want my prey falling into the hands of another hunter."

"That's not really news. I expected them to do that." Yang Qi had suspected something like this would be the case, but hadn't been able to find any evidence. To hear the words right out of Ghost Emperor Yama's mouth seemed to just confirm his earlier guesswork. The power of the Wilds God was supposedly quite mysterious.

After all, he was the ultimate leader of the Grand-Wilds Mansion, and most likely, was a high-level Great Sage, a person similar in power to Ghost Emperor Yama.

"Listen, brat. At least let me see some of your true technique. If you do, I'll help you out. I'll even expel the power of the Wilds God from those five phases spirits. What do you say?" His eyes glittered with sinister coldness, as well as something profoundly enigmatic. "I can even transform that power into something you could use to benefit your cultivation base. If I do all of that, then forget worrying about the Five-Phases Transformation; you'll have no problem going all the way to the Personal-Domain Transformation."

"Is that so?" Yang Qi said coolly. "Sounds like a pretty good deal. However, you already know that the energy art I cultivate is beyond value. It's something you would never find in the Quake-Dawn Continent, or even higher planes of the universe for that matter. It didn't even exist in the Yore-Wilds Continent. I'm not going to give it to someone such as yourself, just like that. You think a breakthrough to the Person-Domain Transformation is going to entice me? Sorry, but that's far too lame of an offer."

"Oh? So you want to haggle?" Eyes glittering, Ghost Emperor Yama waved his hand to produce something that looked like a swirling seed of water.

"Back when the Quake-Dawn Cathedral imprisoned me, they used the power of life force springwater, which originates from this motherspring seed. It has immense life force power, so if I give it to you, and explain the technique to use it, you can essentially utilize the most powerful techniques from the Hell of Yamas. After absorbing it, you'll achieve multiple breakthroughs. Furthermore, I can use it to channel true energy into you, and impart some of my personally-created heaven motes and sage motes! All of that should be able to help you with all your breakthroughs to the Half Sage level!"

When the rest of the people in the Grand Emperor's Pagoda heard the words of Ghost Emperor Yama, they nearly fainted from shock, and their eyes glimmered with open envy and jealousy.

Even the mysterious Chaoguang murmured to himself, 'Sage motes? Heaven motes? Great Sages use their own life energy to create them as a way to conform to the nature of heaven. And he's just going to give them away as part of a deal? Doesn't this Ghost Emperor Yama realize that once you lose a sage mote, your cultivation base will regress?'

'I'm not interested in that stuff,' Yang Qi thought. Obviously, he didn't trust Ghost Emperor Yama at all. 'Cultivation is about making progress one step at a time. And taking each step is predicated on stabilizing yourself first. If you try to make progress too quickly, you can end up in cultivation deviation, the consequences of which are too horrible to imagine.' However, he also realized that there was a great opportunity here.

"Ghost Emperor Yama," he said, "you're saying that I can't neutralize the Wilds God power within these five phases spirits, right? Well, I think I can. What do you say we have a little wager?"

Ghost Emperor Yama looked at Yang Qi quizzically. "Don't forget I know exactly how strong the Wilds God is. He's so powerful that not even a Great Sage could expel his energy after being infected with it. And you think you can neutralize it? Who do you think you are? A Space-Void Legendary? You think you're going to directly fight the will of the Wilds God and come out on top?"

"Enough jibber-jabber, Ghost Emperor Yama. Do you dare to take the bet? Or not?"

It was possible to see a bit of killing intent in Ghost Emperor Yama's eyes because of how Yang Qi was trying to force his hand. However, he was a devil king from primeval times, so how could he possibly be scared of a little bet?

"What do you want to put up as stakes?"

There was no way he would lose face in front of so many people by not taking a little risk.

"You put up the motherspring seed," Yang Qi said. "If I neutralize the power of the Wilds God, I win, and you give me the seed."

"What if you fail?" Ghost Emperor Yama said condescendingly. "What are you putting up?"

"I'll give you part of the energy art I cultivate." Yang Qi waved his hand, and the Infernal Deity Spear appeared, covered with the complex script of the legion of gods. As Yang Qi flourished it out in front of him, it sent powerful fluctuations out in all directions.

At this point Yang Qi began to communicate with Ghost Emperor Yama using psychic fluctuations, in order to keep the information out of the ears of the others present. "This is the Infernal Deity Spear, which the most powerful infernal deities of hell use to punish hell-born fiend-devils. The powers of the spear are manifold and enigmatic. With it, you would be able to dominate the horde of devils, and subjugate all creation!"

"What?" Ghost Emperor Yama said, his eyes immediately beginning to shine with envy. As far as he was concerned, that spear was the thing of dreams. "A spear meant for the lords of hell!? Back when I was young, I heard stories about the Infernal Deity Spear. I can't believe you have it!"

Yang Qi laughed. "So. Are we on?"

"We're on. Of course we're on." The Infernal Deity Spear and its cultivation technique were simply too incredible. There was now no way he wouldn't take the bet. As far as he was concerned, for Yang Qi to have ultimate control of that energy art was a huge waste. If he could get it, he could definitely reach the Demi-Immortal level, and ascend to higher planes of existence. "There's only one problem. How can I trust that you'll follow through with your end of the deal?"

"I hereby swear on the legion of gods that I'll honor the terms of the wager," Yang Qi said. "If I don't, it will be blasphemy against the glory of the gods, and I will fall from their grace for all eternity. You need to swear a serious oath as well, Ghost Emperor Yama. Even fiend-devils from hell can swear to the names of devil-gods. How about you swear an oath in the name of the leader of your Hell of Yamas?"

"Er…." It was no secret that such oaths could cause cultivation base problems later on if they were violated. In other words, one had to keep one's word when using them.

After a moment, Yang Qi looked away. "Fine. You're obviously not being sincere, so just forget about it."

"Wait!" Ghost Emperor Yama said. "Fine. I hereby swear on the name of the leader of the Hell of Yamas. If I go back on my word, then I'll be burned eternally in the crucibles of hell, and never be reincarnated!"

"Deal!" Yang Qi clapped his hands together, and the power of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda erupted out like the tides of the sea. It instantly wrapped up all of the mercenaries and pulled them into a hidden dimension inside. Not only would it imbue them with true energy while they waited, it ensured that Yang Qi and Ghost Emperor Yama now had a bit of privacy.

"Hellfire Crucible, I summon you!" Yang Qi bellowed in a voice like the trumpeting of megamammoths.

Instantly, the crucible appeared out of thin air right in front of Yang Qi. At the same time, the Hell Portal materialized behind him, and countless fiend-devils poured out of it to fuel the crucible.

There were giant snakes from the Hell of Nagas, including Astral-Star Legendaries, Ghost-God Legendaries, Personal-Domain Legendaries and Yin-Yang Legendaries…. The giant snakes all had the blood of hell dragons in them, meaning that when they were sacrificed by Yang Qi, it provided the power of dragons, which vastly surpassed that of asuras, and was far more suitable for his purposes.

Dragonfire appeared within the Hellfire Crucible, making the tongues of flame resemble actual dragons.

"Giant snakes from the Hell of Nagas?! How can you summon things like that?" Ghost Emperor Yama's eyes were as wide as saucers, and yet, he didn't dare violate his oath by interfering with Yang Qi. Besides, he also feared the power of the God Legion Seal.

All he could do was watch as the giant snakes were burned away, and the five phases spirits began to melt.

Booms rang out as the sealing marks on the spirits were broken open. Instantly, the five phases quintessence energy transformed into an azure dragon, white tiger, vermillion bird, black turtle and flying snake, which swirled about in the Hellfire Crucible. Each and every one of those spirits was as strong as a Half Sage, and yet, were completely and utterly held in check by the fires of the crucible.

"God legion power!" Yang Qi said, waving his finger. "The glory of the Lord will illuminate the universe!"

The Lord's Eye appeared on his forehead, sending forth brightness that pierced directly into the five phases spirits. A moment later, something like a pearl appeared.

It was a pearl of power from some incredibly powerful being, something as miraculous as the heaven-demon seed. Almost immediately, it erupted with power from the Yore-Wilds of old, which infected the Hellfire Crucible. In the blink of an eye, the dragonfire developed scales, as if that powerful energy was about to change them into real-life beasts.

Immediately, Ghost Emperor Yama burst out into laughter. "The power of the Wilds God is nothing to take lightly. That Wilds God seed is sprouting, and unless you do something quickly, you're going to turn into a wilds-slave. Are you waiting for the God Legion Seal to help you? Well, I guess this means I have an opportunity on my hands. Since you insisted on making this stupid wager, then I'm going to enjoy every minute of the results. I'll let the will of the Wilds God fight with you, and use that to determine your weaknesses. If the God Legion Seal comes out, I'll definitely be able to gain an advantage."

'What a powerful energy,' Yang Qi thought, shivering. It was true; the power of the Wilds God was mighty, to the point where it caused the flames to develop scales. In addition to that, it was making his true energy difficult to circulate.

At this point it was a case of, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off. If his true energy were fully vanquished, he would be finished, and the five phases spirits would explode.

Worse, he would come under the full assault of the power of the Wilds God.