Sage Monarch

As soon as Yang Qi said 'deal', Ghost Emperor Yama leapt into motion. The mercenaries made way without hesitation; all of them knew full well that he was a hundred times stronger than them if not more.

Back in the Quake-Dawn Continent, they were known as people who could call the wind and summon the rain, and could acquire top spots in any organization they applied to.

But compared to Ghost Emperor Yama, they were like toddlers.

Ghost Emperor Yama would be considered a high-level entity even where they came from. No one would dare to blithely irritate him, and in fact, he would be treated like an honored guest wherever he went.

"Alright Yang Qi, I'm going to use Myriad Stars Gravitational Energy Convergence Sage Magic to strengthen your city with the power of the stars. It's going to be a sage domain and a heavenly paradise! In fact, it's going to end up as a magical treasure. It might not match up to that Grand Emperor's Pagoda of yours, but it's going to be a top-rate mansion, that's for sure. In fact, it will be no less amazing than the Minorcosm World or the Minorbrilliance World!"

Even as Ghost Emperor Yama bragged about what he was going to do, he waved his hand, and the stars above trembled. Meteors began to fall, and countless space-time wormholes sprang into being, from which he extracted metals from beyond heaven.

As Ghost Emperor Yama called upon countless foreign building materials to assist with the construction, Silvermoon continued to expand.

Meanwhile, Lady-Princess Silvermoon stood behind Yang Qi, trembling. Only she knew exactly how much time and effort had been spent to make this city of her's strong. And yet, in the hands of Ghost Emperor Yama, it was as malleable as dough.

'Not even all six of the Great Sages from the Western Continent could match up to him. Chancellor Demi-Immortal's cultivation base is so high that we're not even sure how strong he is, and yet, he's afraid of Ghost Emperor Yama too? No wonder our Sky-Heaven Dynasty has always been hesitant to invade the Rich-Lush Continent.'

HISSSS! ZZZZAP!

Starlight poured down until it was nearly liquid in form. As Silvermoon was blessed, star gods began to take form within it. There was Scorpio, Sagittarius, Pisces, Aries and more. Before long, Silvermoon was like a city of constellations.

RUUUUUMBLE!

Intense rumbling could be heard in Silvermoon as spatial tempests swept to and fro. Twisting wormholes stretched out into the void, allowing the spatial power to converge in the greyspace above, and draw upon the true energy of higher planes.

Ghost Emperor Yama called upon the astral deities, thrusting his hands out as he used matchless energy arts, causing everyone watching to feel dazed to the core. In fact, Yang Qi wasn't even able to make out clearly everything that was happening.

Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer, and opened the Lord's Eye. In that state, he finally saw the truth. Ghost Emperor Yama truly was drawing upon divine skill; every move he made could splice vital energy, separate the particles of nature, and even transform base elements into precious materials. This was skill that required a fundamental understanding of the structure of reality, and the transformations of matter.

Only the highest-level Great Sages could reach this stage.

In the hands of Ghost Emperor Yama, Silvermoon could become large or small, round or square, or whatever else he wanted. It was now filled with layer upon layer of starlight, filling even the dirt itself and turning it into fragrant, starry sand. Slowly but surely, the entire place was becoming purer and fresher.

It had only been about six months since Yanhaven had benefited from the spirit rain, giving it true spirit soil. It might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but people could probably eat the dirt itself to benefit their cultivation.

Now, that spirit soil was turning into starry sand, a substance filled with brilliant starlight down to its very substructure. It was like a holy medicine!

Someone in the Energy Arts level could take a handful of that sand and turn it into a medicinal item that could push them all the way into the Master of Energy, and possibly, the Lifeseizing level.

Ghost Emperor Yama was really showing off his skill, and holding nothing back as he did. That was how deeply he desired to acquire the hellish sutras that Yang Qi had access to.

When all of the soil had turned into starry sand, Ghost Emperor Yama changed tactics. Slowly but surely, the falling power of the stars grew more intense, until a silver river began to flow through the area. As of this moment, the Yan River was like a flow of stars.

The fish and other aquatic animals began to transform, becoming starryfish and starbeasts; as for the nearby Blackcorpse Mountains, the devil energy was being expunged from them, and they were turning into a pure land.

Yang Qi could do nothing other than admire this mighty display of power. Three days and nights passed, during which he remained cross-legged atop the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, watching Ghost Emperor Yama go about his work. With the Lord's Eye, he could see everything that was happening, including the minute workings of true energy, as well as certain aspects of the dao of devils.

It wasn't true cultivation, and yet, came close.

The observation helped his cultivation base to advance rapidly, and provided immense enlightenment. In fact, the changes were so profound that two seeds appeared within him, one related to yin and the other to yang. As of this moment, he was finally beginning to understand the dao of yin and yang.

He was pushing toward the Yin-Yang Transformation.

Throughout the ages, many Legendaries ended up stuck at this point, and were unable to undergo the full transformation. But now, during this brief period of three days and three nights, Yang Qi was able to benefit immensely thanks to Ghost Emperor Yama.

It was simply miraculous.

Of course, he hadn't yet made the transformation. The next step was to fuse more external yin and yang energy with his own, to fill the seeds inside him and then unite them. When they became the ultimate manifestation, taiji, he could achieve his breakthrough.

Right now, he was only in the initial stages of enlightenment.

Without that enlightenment, it would be impossible to collect all of the yin and yang energy he needed, and he would be stuck in a dead end.

But now, he knew what he had to do.

In cultivation, there was one particularly terrifying concept. It wasn't the thought of putting in seemingly endless years of monotonous work to achieve a breakthrough. No, the most terrifying thought was lacking a path to tread. If one didn't have a path, then any effort they expended could be completely counterproductive. How terrifying it would be to work extremely hard, only to find oneself moving backward.

"Make me a city of kings!" Yang Qi murmured.

A castle-like city was forming in front of everyone's eyes. It was ten times larger than anything before, and it hovered in midair with countless constellations engraved on its walls, which constantly absorbed the power of the stars.

Dimensional barriers surrounded it, making it impossible for even Legendaries to break their way in.

When all the work was done, Ghost Emperor Yama let the castle settle down in the Blackcorpse Mountains. Of course, those mountains had experienced a complete transformation, and were now like a land of stars. Even the trees had transformed, and the wild beasts; now, these lands contained startrees and starbeasts. The spirit energy here was so abundant that it was nothing other than a holy land for cultivation.

"Let it be called Sage Monarch City," Yang Qi said. "Henceforth, the Sage Monarch Society is no longer a part of the Demi-Immortal Institute. Furthermore, we will now begin to openly recruit new members, and publicly establish our own philosophy. Soon, we will engulf all heaven and earth!" Looking at the mercenaries under his command, he said, "Starting today, you are the highest ranking members of the Sage Monarch Society. Understand?"

These mercenaries were top experts from the Quake-Dawn Continent, arrogant, cruel individuals who rarely took orders from anyone. But considering how mighty Yang Qi was, none of them dared to talk back to him. Instead, they just went along with his arrangements.

After all, he could slaughter them all with hardly any effort.

And thus, Yanhaven and Silvermoon were combined to become Sage Monarch City. And the land for hundreds of kilometers in all directions became a holy land of cultivation.

Ghost Emperor Yama had created something to rival the four institutes and the Sage Ancestor Dynasty.

In fact, it could be said that the lands now had five institutes. No one would dare to object if someone said that Ghost Emperor Yama had created the Sage Monarch Institute.

However, Yang Qi didn't want to formally do such a thing now. He needed to kill the Crown Prince, and become the chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute. Then, he would change the name of the institute.

"The exalted Ghost Emperor Yama is going to stand guard here now, so everyone can go about your cultivation with a calm heart. Strengthen yourselves. I'm going to the west; I have a hundred days to advance by leaps and bounds, and then kill the Crown Prince!"

"I'm not going to sit around here like a guard dog, Yang Qi!" Ghost Emperor Yama said. "You're my prey! I'm not letting you go free. Besides, you have another volume of hellish enlightenment to give me. Hand it over!"

"No problem," Yang Qi said. Without any hesitation, he handed over another sutra. After all, he had plenty such information thanks to the golden imp, enough to keep Ghost Emperor Yama busy for a hundred years.

"Amazing!" Ghost Emperor Yama said, handling the sutra as if it were the most precious of treasures. "Incredible…." Looking up, he continued, "I don't care what happens, Yang Qi, I'm going to keep my eyes on you. Don't even think of trying to escape. That said, it shouldn't be a problem for me to leave a clone here to make sure your friends and family can practice cultivation in safety. What exactly is your plan?"

Of course, he was very curious about Yang Qi, and wondered exactly how he thought he was going to win their bet.

"If you come with me, you have to promise again not to interfere, no matter what I do. Otherwise, the bet's off."

"Of course! What kind of a person do you think I am?! There's no need to be deliberately mystifying. Come on, tell me!"

"Well, since you've promised, I guess there's no harm in explaining. I'm going to go find a fragment of the Yore-Wilds' Heart. Once I have that, I'll put it in the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, and unleash incalculable power. With that, I'll definitely have what it takes to reach the sixth Legendary transformation." He smiled. "Well, what do you think?"

"A Yore-Wilds' Heart fragment!?" Ghost Emperor Yama said, visibly taken aback. A moment later, he started laughing. "Not bad. Yore-Wilds' Heart fragments have immense power in them. Unfortunately, you'll never be able to access that power. It's a thousand times more difficult to work with than sage motes. Besides, that fragment is so heavy that not even multiple Great Sages working together could lift it. How are you going to take it? Even more relevant, that fragment has been sealed beneath the Rich-Lush Continent for a long time, locked in place by Great Sages of the past. How exactly do you think you're going to unseal it? Ha! I'm definitely going to win the bet!"

1. Divine Dreamwalker uses the names of many common constellations. In Chinese, their names are a bit more straightforward: Scorpio is the Heavenly Scorpion, Sagittarius is the Horse Person (Centaur), Pisces is the Double Fish, and Aries is the White Sheep. Instead of directly translating them, I'm going with the Western English names, because I feel that's what the author is going for. After all, the traditional Chinese zodiac is totally different; these are Western imports as far as China goes. As we have already seen, the universe of this novel draws on all sorts of religions and mythologies. In terms of the constellations, it doesn't outright say it in this chapter, but they exist in other places. Think of the constellations as "common themes" as opposed to something unique to a certain location.

2. The "starryfish" 星鱼 could technically be translated as "starfish", but I want to avoid confusing them with the star-shaped aquatic animals we see on earth. In Chinese, the latter are 海星 "sea stars". Fun fact: when I was young, my dad wouldn't allow me to say "starfish" and insisted that I use the term "sea star" because "they aren't fish".