Sage Monarch

Nie Chaoguang went on to provide further explanation. "The Wilds God founded the Grand-Wilds Mansion, and everyone says that he has been a ninth step Great Sage for quite some time. Considering how close he is to becoming a Demi-Immortal, he's one of the most terrifying among the old-timers in the Quake-Dawn Continent. And that's also why the Grand-Wilds Mansion has always been at odds with the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. Not that either of them could be considered good guys.

"For years, they have been as opposed as fire and water. But now, Wilds Everlasting is swaggering into an auction held by the Quake-Dawn Cathedral, and nobody's causing him any trouble? That in itself is very thought-provoking. I'd say it's highly likely they plan to join forces to deal with your continent."

'If they plan to invade the Rich-Lush Continent, then I have to stop them,' Yang Qi thought. 'Even better would be to follow my original plan and get them to fight each other. But how? Perhaps Wilds Everlasting is the ticket.'

At this point, they entered the Heaven Suite, which would provide them a large measure of privacy during the auction. The main auction floor was fairly crowded, but was occupied by ordinary Legendaries. Important people like Young Master Shroud-Heaven, as well other Great Sages, were all in private rooms.

In the Quake-Dawn Continent, Great Sages were like nobility who existed above everyone else. Legendaries were also important, with Lifeseizers and everyone below them being little more than commoners struggling to rise up in the world.

In fact, Lifeseizers weren't even allowed into this auction. According to the ancient rules of the continent, Lifeseizers were mere foot soldiers, not energy warriors, and as such, didn't have any official position.

Yang Qi carefully sent his divine will out to probe the other private rooms. He could immediately sense all sorts of powerful auras, and from what he could tell, most of them were Great Sages.

That said, none of them seemed to be on the same level as Ghost Emperor Yama.

People like that were few and far between.

**

In one of the most luxurious of the private rooms, Wilds Everlasting was engaging in conversation with his entourage.

"Milord," said one of the Half Sage attendants, "why exactly did you want to come participate in this auction here in Mandrakor? Aren't we still at odds with the Quake-Dawn Cathedral? And haven't they already figured out that we sent a squad of mercenaries to the Rich-Lush Continent to free Ghost Emperor Yama?"

"I came because there's a stalk of immortal grass up for auction that I want." Wilds Everlasting suddenly erupted with power, the type that vastly surpassed any of the eighteen Great Sages that Yang Qi had killed. Smiling coldly, he continued, "Those mercenaries are all dead, consumed by Ghost Emperor Yama. In the end, it cost us virtually nothing to send them there. The strangest thing is that, once Ghost Emperor Yama was freed, he didn't make contact with my father. Instead, he teamed up with some guy named Yang Qi."

"It is indeed very strange, Milord," another servant said. "Who exactly is that Yang Qi? I heard that he stole the Yore-Wilds' Heart fragment and used it to kill the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince was born after the Holy Daughter of the Quake-Dawn Cathedral was possessed by a god from heaven descended into the mortal world. People say that the Crown Prince was lucky for his entire life. He got the legacy of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, and some immortal artifacts as well. Even more shocking is that he somehow got one of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. There were even Great Sages sent to try to kill him, but none of them succeeded. And every time he eluded their attempts to kill him, he would grow stronger because of it. But in the end, he got killed by some nobody? How is it possible?"

"A nobody? You might not be right about that. Yang Qi has a mysterious background too. Think about it. Not only is Ghost Emperor Yama following him, but he also got the approval of the Rich-Lush Continent as a whole. And he even accessed the power of the ancient immortal formations in the depths of the primal-chaos paleo-energy that cradles the continent. He's only a Legendary, but he's killed Great Sages. With destiny like that, he might even surpass the Crown Prince!"

"Milord, I heard a rumor that Yang Qi cultivates a heavenly-class energy art. There are even whispers that it might be godly-class!"

"What? Godly-class energy art?" Wilds Everlasting looked visibly shaken. "How certain are you that it's true?"

"I can't say for sure. A lot of it is based on guesswork. But think about it, sir. It would have to be a heavenly-class technique, or possibly some sort of ancient immortal skill, for him to be able to kill a Great Sage when in the Legendary level. Especially a Great Sage like the Crown Prince."

"You're right!" Wilds Everlasting said. Clapping his hands together decisively, he said, "He's definitely benefited from some miraculous good fortune, which means we can't let him slip through our fingers. Once this auction is over, and I have that immortal grass, I'll go to the Rich-Lush Continent and kill him. Or maybe I'll capture his family and use them to threaten him. Not even Ghost Emperor Yama's relationship with the Grand-Wilds Mansion will protect him."

"That's a great idea," another servant said. "Strike first, achieve lethality. Strike second, meet calamity. Take the initiative and kill Yang Qi. Get his energy art, and the Yore-Wilds' Heart fragment. That's definitely the thing to do."

"Yes, I'll have all of that soon enough." Wilds Everlasting waved his hand dismissively. "First, let's worry about this auction."

It was around this time that the people from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral began to bring out the treasures to be auctioned.

The first treasure glowed with bright light, and emanated streams of immortal energy. In the blink of an eye, the light became heavenly winds, clouds of lightning, dragons and tigers, and other bizarre signs. It was a patch of immortal grass, and after a moment passed, the energy flows transformed into the image of an immortal energy warrior, floating there above the grass.

"This is a patch of heavenking thistle!" the auctioneer announced. "It is said that it started out as a seed which fell from an immortal plane above. After absorbing enough spirit energy of heaven and earth, and enough quintessence of the sun and moon, it sprouted in a dangerous location in the void. After undergoing the baptism of tens of thousands of years of spatial tempests, it matured, and became the treasure you see before you. This grass will be very beneficial to the cultivation of any Great Sage, and is one of the best treasures we have up for auction today. It's virtually priceless!"

As Nie Chaoguang sat there next to Yang Qi, his eyes glittered with envy; he could only dream of getting that heavenking thistle, and yet, knew that it was impossible.

"What a pity," he said. "If I could get that item, I could definitely become a Great Sage sooner rather than later." He subconsciously patted his empty dimensional sack.

Yang Qi wasn't paying any attention to the auction or the immortal grass, and instead was using his special command of divine will in these lands, and the power of the God Legion Paradise, to eavesdrop on the people around him. 'So, this Wilds Everlasting is already plotting against me and my family. For that, he'll die.'

Yang Qi couldn't stand it when people tried to use his family against him. However, as to how exactly to kill this Wilds Everlasting, that was problematic.

"Are we going to buy anything here?" Nie Chaoguang asked. "There's got to be something that could help you with your cultivation."

"No. I'm not here to buy things, I'm here to keep an eye on Young Master Shroud-Heaven, and this Wilds Everlasting. Don't do anything to attract their attention." With that, Yang Qi continued with what he was doing before.

Time passed, and the auction heated up.

People were shouting out bids left and right, and spirit stones were changing hands.

Wilds Everlasting ended up acquiring the heavenking thistle for ten heavenly-grade spirit stones.

All sorts of items appeared on the auction floor and were sold, from ancient records to medicinal pills to weapons. There were even fragments of maps and glittering jewels. Yang Qi had never attended an auction like this back in the Rich-Lush Continent, and truth be told, all of the riches from home compiled together couldn't compare to what was on display here.

The final item in the auction was the fragment of some treasured map that ended up going to Young Master Shroud-Heaven.

During the entire time, Yang Qi didn't bid on a single item. He just looked on coldly. After all, his current path of cultivation relied on enlightenment, not on any physical objects. Considering he already had the Heaven-Dominating Golden Swordbreaker, the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, and the Infernal Deity Spear, nothing here could possibly mean anything to him.

When everything was finally over, Wilds Everlasting left, and Yang Qi followed him surreptitiously.

He was already dead set on killing the man; after all, he had a grudge with the Grand-Wilds Mansion, and Wilds Everlasting had already revealed his evil intentions. Perhaps that was how he could get the Grand-Wilds Mansion and the Quake-Dawn Cathedral into conflict. At the least, it would weaken them before they could invade the Rich-Lush Continent.

If they came with full force, then even Ghost Emperor Yama would be hard-pressed to defend against them.

After leaving Mandrakor, Wilds Everlasting headed west, until he was at the general headquarters of the Grand-Wilds Mansion.

Last time, Yang Qi had only visited one of their branch locations, in Vermillion Dragon City.

"Congratulations, Milord!" one of the attendants said. "You won the tuft of heavenking thistle!"

"That's right," Wilds Everlasting said. Laughing, he continued, "Now I'll head to a secret location and refine it with true flame. After the grass is reborn, and placed into my personal domain, I'll be able to create the most powerful of sage motes. And once I achieve that breakthrough, I'll head over to the Rich-Lush Continent and put an end to that punk Yang Qi."

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, a fist wreathed in sagelight descended, like a raging wave backed by the power of millions upon millions of megamammoths.

Instantly, a shock wave spread out which ripped the Half Sages to shreds. They never even knew what hit them. The only one to survive was Wilds Everlasting, who looked around with grim eyes.

"Who's there!?" he shouted, unleashing his sage domain. "Everlasting Sage Domain!"

Another fist strike appeared, but it slammed into the sage domain and then bounced off.

"You're dead, Wilds Everlasting!" Yang Qi said, stepping out of the void.