Sage Monarch

"Yes, dear Father," Sixtieth Young Sir Proud said. "An imperial clansman named Titan Dragonguard somehow got his hands on a whole bunch of power stones. My guess is that he found an ancient godrelic. He cleared out all of the mechas at the Mechfolk emporium! Thanks to him I couldn't buy a single one!"

With that, he went on to describe all the events at the emporium.

"Although you didn't end up buying the mechas, you successfully drew the snake out of its hole. Well done, my son. I'll reward you handsomely for this."

"Many thanks, Father," Sixtieth Young Sir Proud replied excitedly. "What am I supposed to do next? Should I investigate further? Find out more about this Titan Dragonguard? Figure out where his stash of treasure is?"

"Exactly. Continue with your investigation." The projection of the mighty generalissimo of the armed forces, Proud Warpatience, sat there thoughtfully for a moment. "How about this. I'll give you my Ninja Command Medallion. Pick a few of the top ninjas to add to your manpower. Get to the bottom of this situation. If you do, I'll impart a boundless energy art to you that will easily get you to the level of an immortal marquis."

A golden command medallion flew out, which Sixtieth Young Sir Proud grabbed, already itching to take command of some of his father's top experts. The infighting in the Proud Clan was intense. After all, Proud Warpatience had hundreds of sons, and all of them were elite cultivators. As the sixtieth of the sons, if Sixtieth Young Sir Proud could perform some meritorious services and be rewarded by his father, he would stick out from the crowd and improve his standing in the clan.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was watching all of this through the Chiliocosm Mirror. Unfortunately, although he now had a better idea of what his enemies were doing, he still hadn't secured the most relevant bit of information he needed: the exact level of Proud Warpatience's cultivation base.

WHIZZZ!

He sent some more true energy into the mirror, clearing up the image and looking more closely at Proud Warpatience.

The man's face was bright red, like burning sulfur, which Yang Qi took as an indication that he cultivated some profoundly mysterious godly-class energy art. His eyebrows were like swords, his eyes were like those of dragons, and he was surrounded by a kingdom filled with empyrean-baleful energies.

As generalissimo of the armed forces, Proud Warpatience had immense power and influence. The mere wave of his hand could cause countless lives to be ended. He was a true king, a monarch who controlled a powerful network of laws.

Yang Qi could sense that the primal-chaos dome of heaven above contained a brewing deathless godliness that flowed constantly into this projection of Proud Warpatience. Unfortunately, Yang Qi just couldn't identify his exact cultivation level. That said, he was certain the man was no weaker than Princess Jadefall. That meant that he was an eighth stage Demolisher at the very least, and possibly in the ninth stage.

It was a level that Yang Qi simply couldn't fight against.

'What energy arts does he cultivate? Why does his face look as red as fire? Is it a fire-type godly-class energy art? It makes it seem like he has the legacy of an ancient fire god. Except, he doesn't actually have an aura of flame.'

Even as Yang Qi analyzed the situation, Proud Warpatience somehow sensed that something strange was happening.

"Hmm?" Narrowing his eyes, he looked deep into space-time and could apparently see the Chiliocosm Mirror! All of a sudden, he shouted, "Villain! How dare you spy on me! Who are you?"

Wham!

The Chiliocosm Mirror shattered as a hand stretched out, burning with intense fire.

"Primal-chaos elder-snake. Heaven-Devouring Will!" Yang Qi had been prepared for something like this and instantly transformed into a huge snake with a gaping maw, which lunged forward and devoured the incoming hand. At the same time, the Heaven and Earth Furnace appeared to provide support.

"Treacherous villain!" Proud Warpatience shouted, leaping to his feet and casting his senses about in the audience hall. Eventually, his attention was drawn to Sixtieth Young Sir Proud. Reaching down, he grabbed him and lifted him into the air.

"Father, what are you doing?! I didn't do something to offend you, did I?"

"You piece of trash! I just gave you a reward and you repay me by being a tool for outsiders to spy on me? Someone hit you with a psychic branding mark in the hopes of finding out about my cultivation base. You had no idea, did you?"

Suddenly, a stream of fire appeared that transformed into a ghost-god, which shot into Sixtieth Young Sir Proud. A moment later, it reappeared holding a tiny mote of light, which Proud Warpatience grabbed and destroyed.

"He's a clever little bastard, isn't he? My attack didn't even touch him. Seems his cultivation base is nothing to look down on." Proud Warpatience lowered his son to the ground. "He's obviously a sixth stage immortal paragon and has god items at his disposal. You're obviously no match for someone like that, so I forgive you for your mistake."

"What? He's a sixth stage Abstrusity-Demolisher? An immortal paragon? How is that even possible? If an imperial clansman reached that level, he would definitely have a very high position. He would probably be appointed as a prince. But this guy is an ordinary soldier in the army!"

"I didn't say that he's in the sixth stage. I said that he's as strong as the sixth stage. His actual cultivation level isn't very high. In fact, he might not even be a Demolisher. And yet, that only proves how terrifying he is. The war games will be the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on him. I wonder what level of cultivation base he has and what other secrets he's keeping. Seems to me he's probably not just an ordinary imperial clansman."

"Father, considering your own cultivation base, there's no way he can do anything to you, right? As long as he's here in this immortal world, you could capture him any time you wanted and force his secrets out."

"I'll have you know that I'm currently cultivating an energy art imparted to me by your Grandmaster Proud Heaven. It's the Cardinal Grand Brahma Punishes the Fire God Energy Art. I'm currently ensconcing my nascent divinity in the primal-chaos paleo-energy above, and thus I can't descend in my true form. This is only a clone. If I succeed in my effort, I can break free from the Demolishing level and become a Godmyth. At that point, I can take over the Titan Emperor Heaven, destroy the imperial clan's core teachings and doctrines, and put an end to the dynasty for all time. That is the secret mission given to me by your Grandmaster."

At this point, Proud Warpatience waved his hand dismissively. "Go now."

"Grandmaster is nothing short of a god!" Sixtieth Young Sir Proud said. "Very well, Father, I'll take my leave now."

"Yes he is a god. Before long, he'll reach the Deathless Throne. And once he's on the same level of the ancient legion of gods, he'll form a god legion kingdom. At that point, we who exercise faith in him can rise to heaven and transcend all tribulations. Hmph! This Titan Emperor Heaven is called an immortal world, but the people here are all frogs in a well. They're the lowest of all immortal worlds in the Thirty-Six Thousand Immortal Worlds Coalition. And even the Brahman Society, which thinks of itself as so powerful, is nothing but a toy in the hands of your Grandmaster."

Suddenly, Proud Warpatience's body erupted into flames and a vicious smile appeared on his face. "The only reason the emperor of the Titan Emperor Heaven is still alive is because Master divined that a Reincarnated One would rise up from the imperial clan soon. And Master needs to devour someone of that physique type to reach the Deathless Throne. In fact, he needs many physique types. Future One, Past One, Fateless One, Eternal One, Heaven Moving One. But considering that the Reincarnated One is supposed to be appearing now, I'd say it's highly likely that it's none other than Princess Jadefall. Once Master devours her, he'll finally reach the Deathless Throne. We don't have much longer to wait…."

With that, he vanished.

Back in the Special Reconnaissance Division, Yang Qi summoned his Heaven and Earth Furnace, within the flames of which could be seen a hand formed of vital energy.

Of course, it was the hand Proud Warpatience had attacked him with, the manifestation of a godly-class energy art.

'Proud Warpatience is no ordinary person. Obviously, his cultivation base is on par with the ruler of the Titan Emperor Heaven. He must be at the very limit of the Demolishing level, just on the verge of becoming a Godmyth. Thankfully, I used the power of King Heaven-Devourer's talismans to devour some of his godly-class energy art. With the God Legion Seal, I can unravel some of the secrets of that art and perhaps come up with a strategy of how to handle him.'

Sitting down cross-legged, he drew on the power of the God Legion Seal to try to suppress the godliness and godly laws within the true energy hand.

Before long, the godly laws were streaming out of it, forming rippling characters in the air that gave Yang Qi just what he was looking for.

'What an incredible energy art. It's called the Cardinal Grand Brahma Punishes the Fire God Energy Art. And it seems there are four other arts associated with it, one for earth, wood, water, and metal. By combining them, it can release an ancient god, Cardinal Grand Brahma. He's obviously a very important god for the God Legion Seal to have such detailed information.

"If Proud Warpatience's cultivation base is this incredible, then how incredible is Proud Heaven's? And why would he possibly become a sworn brother of the sovereign of heaven here in the Titan Emperor Heaven? He could crush the sovereign of heaven with a single move. Maybe he has other goals here. Wait a second. He sent a clone down to the lower world to marry mother, most likely because his divinations had revealed to him that a Fateless One was about to appear in the world. Could it be that he's divined information about some other important person from the Titan Emperor Heaven?"

Yang Qi sank into thoughtfulness.

Meanwhile, in a location on the border of the Titan Emperor Heaven, the ground sank down as a wormhole opened and two individuals stepped out.

One had yellow garb and a buzz cut.

1. In this paragraph the term 'grandmaster' is different in Chinese from the term I usually translate as grandmaster. Here, it specifically means 'master's master'.