Sage Monarch

The Invincible Dugu was known throughout the universe as an eccentric and extraordinary individual. At least in the mortal world, his mere name could shake the hearts of countless old-timers and luminary leaders of men. Throughout the years, he had killed gods and slaughtered buddhas, and had campaigned in so many wars it was impossible to count them all. In all the battles he had fought, he had never encountered an opponent who could defeat him. He had never lost. He had even fought banished immortals from heaven and come out on top. To most people, he was literally invincible, a person who no one could ever vanquish in a fight.

Even the Devil Sauvastika Assembly from the Gyroscope planetary system knew of him.

To Great Sages, the weakest of Demi-Immortals were incredibly powerful. But eighth order Demi-Immortals could contemplate the rotations of the universe, and were far beyond such weaker individuals.

Therefore, the truly consummate experts generally knew each other, no matter how far apart they were. Most of them had had dealings with each other, even if it was in the remote past, and knew something of each other's energy arts and level of strength. Obviously, this Queen Dream-Devil knew how strong the Invincible Dugu was, and realized that not even the entire Devil Sauvastika Assembly was strong enough to take him on.

Yang Qi looked on silently, aware of what this monstress' clone was thinking.

At the moment, fighting her wasn't an option. Perhaps if he could get into the Hell of Mahānata and rise to the Demi-Immortal level, he might be able to take her on. But not now. After a moment of thought, an idea occurred to him.

"Queen Dream-Devil," he said, "you probably want to get a primeval godworm, right? If you got one, you would gain enlightenment of the godly laws of space and would have a chance to become an immortal Demolisher. So why don't the two of us work out a deal?"

"Oh? What kind of deal?"

"I happen to have this godworm egg that I acquired in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart." He pulled an egg out to show her. "I originally planned to give it to Master, for him to use with his upcoming breakthrough. But Master said he didn't need it, therefore I was thinking of turning it in and exchanging it for some treasures, medicinal pills, and blessings from the elder kings. However, if you really need it, then how about I give it to you in fair trade? Just name your price."

Obviously, he was trying to buy time to get to the point where she wasn't a threat to him.

"So, you do have a godworm egg!" she said, her eyes sparkling as she looked at it. Her first instinct was to take it with force, but then she thought about the Invincible Dugu and put such thoughts aside. "You want to 'work out a deal' with me, huh? Apparently the two of you don't know how I do things. I don't do business, I slaughter people! If I want something from someone, I kill them and take it. And when I take lives, I cut the weeds and eliminate the roots by killing everyone they know! I have a different suggestion. How about the two of you give me that egg as a gift. I won't haggle, and in fact I'll owe you a favor in the future."

Yang Qi burst out laughing. "Nice one. So I'm supposed to take this priceless godworm egg, an object worth more than countless planets put together, something that you can't even buy in your planetary system, something that surpasses the value of spirit stones or immortal stones, something more valuable than hundreds of thousands of immortal items, and just give it to you? Nice plan, but sorry to say, NO. Come on, Sword Seventeen, let's go. That's the Dark True Void up ahead, and once we get into it, she won't be able to do a thing to us. She can do whatever she wants, here in the Gyroscope planetary system, but once we get into another planetary system, her aura will instantly attract the attention of the top experts there and they'll definitely slaughter her."

With that, Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen took to flight, and within moments they were on the edge of the Dark True Void.

When Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen entered another planetary system, it wouldn't attract much attention. But Queen Dream-Devil was different. She was a Universal Demi-Immortal, which meant that her comings and goings would definitely be noticed.

"You're not going anywhere!" Queen Dream-Devil shouted angrily, sending out a spatial sealing mark formed from an enormous sauvastika character. Before it could lock the area down, Yang Qi sent out nine streaks of white light that resembled mountain peaks, which slammed into the sauvastika and shattered it. Then he and Sword Seventeen disappeared into the Dark True Void.

"Damnation!" Queen Dream-Devil immediately chased them into the Dark True Void. And yet, even as days passed, she couldn't catch up. Before long, the Dark True Void parted, revealing another planetary system, a place that abounded with immortal energy and was filled with incredibly beautiful scenery.

'The Pure Brightness planetary system!' Queen Dream-Devil thought, and she immediately hid her aura. As she well knew, the Pure Brightness planetary system was a holy land of cultivation, populated entirely by human cultivators. They were staunchly opposed to the Devil Sauvastika Assembly from the Gyroscope planetary system and, in fact, often warred with them.

Queen Dream-Devil had no choice but to keep her tail between her legs here, lest she start a major conflict.

At this point, Yang Qi turned and laughed loudly. "We're in the Pure Brightness planetary system now, Queen Dream-Devil. The people here hate your Devil Sauvastika Assembly. So now what? Considering the speeds I'm capable of, and the fact that you're a clone, there's no way you can catch up to me here. Why don't we make a deal? It would be really annoying to have you stalking us all over the place."

"You still want to make a deal?" she asked. "What do you want? Tell me."

"Nothing really. I'm not interested in magical treasures, immortal items, immortal skills, or even heavenly-class energy arts. In fact, my Master is going to give me a godly-class energy art, so not even something like that could tempt me. How about you promise to accomplish three tasks for me? If you do, the godworm egg is yours."

"Three tasks?" Queen Dream-Devil said. "What if you ask me to do something impossible? I'm not that easily to fool, brat."

"I'm not trying to fool you. You want something that belongs to me, and you don't have any way to pay for it. Besides, I can guarantee that whatever I ask you to do will be possible, given the level of your cultivation base. How about I give you a messaging talisman, and when I'm back in the Titan Emperor planetary system, I'll send you a message and you'll come in your true form? I promise that it will be within a year. And after the three tasks are accomplished, I'll give you the godworm egg."

"A year?" Queen Dream-Devil's expression softened a bit. "I can wait a year. How about I convert this clone of mine into a talisman that you can just take with you? When it comes time to summon my true self, I can use my Nine-Heavens Ten-Earths Demon-Devil Dao to reach you wherever you are."

With that, Queen Dream-Devil's clone dissolved into streams of vital energy that converged together to form a devil talisman with a sauvastika character on it. It almost looked like it was made from seas of blood and a host of vengeful souls and baleful energy.

The devil talisman floated over to Yang Qi, who grabbed it.

As soon as it touched his hand, he could sense that the immense level of power inside was something that he couldn't absorb or refine. Obviously it wasn't just a messaging talisman. It could be used to watch over him as well.

However, he didn't care. Now he had the option of using Queen Dream-Devil to help him. For example, she might be able to open a passage to the Hell of Mahānata. Or what if he had to deal with conspirators in the Titan Emperor Collegium?

After the deal was made, Yang Qi felt more at ease. With that, he and Sword Seventeen resumed their journey. Thanks to their relatively low level, they didn't attract any attention.

The trip took roughly three months, and they passed through all sorts of planetary systems. It really opened up their view of the universe, and they saw numerous amazing sights. For example, there was one planetary system that consisted of an enormous tree, the fruits of which were the planets that the cultivators lived on. It was called the Swaying Leaves planetary system.

There was another planetary system that was an ocean, with islands the size of planets. That was the Origin Water planetary system.

There was one system that had a sun in the middle of it. The entire place was a sea of flames that was so intense no humans could live there. There were only fire-type demon-devils, and flame giants who were natural-born cultivators. That was the Raging Flames planetary system.

Then there was the Profound Ice planetary system. It consisted of hundreds of billions of planets, all made from ice. Even divine weapons and magical swords that entered it would freeze and crumble into dust. However, it was the perfect place for cultivators with frigid yin physiques. In fact, the place abounded with all sorts of cultivation sects.

There was another place called the Metallic Gold planetary system, where every single planet was made from gold.

In addition to such fantastic places, there were also ordinary planetary systems. After going through so many new locations, Yang Qi thought of a common expression. In the chiliocosm of worlds, there is no lack of strange things.

Being able to observe so many different worlds was also a source of much enlightenment. After all, reading thousands of books is not as useful as traveling for thousands of miles.

Eventually, their journey brought them to the Central Planetary River and the Titan Emperor Collegium. It was just as prosperous and bustling as before, with students going in and out and a buzz of activity everywhere.

Of course, both Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen were mere consecrated students, which gave them a relatively low rank in the collegium as a whole. Only the fact that they were members of the Invincible Society gave them a bit of status.

Upon catching sight of the collegium, Yang Qi sighed and said, "The time has come for me to truly become a dragon and reach the highest heights."