Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had plans nested within plans, and was very curious to see if Leaf Dao-Denier could manage to hold on to his status as a consort after all of this.

It had been more than a year since the Great Necropolis appeared, and it was hard to say what bloody battles Leaf Dao-Denier had fought, or what secrets he had become privy to. One thing was for sure: he had been a consort for long enough to increase his cultivation base and reach a higher level. In fact, it was entirely possible that he was already a Grand Emperor.

He was an Eternal Fortuned One, the combination of two special constitutions, which made him no less spectacular than Yang Qi, who was a Fateless One. Furthermore, Yang Qi had the nagging suspicion that Leaf Dao-Denier had killed and assimilated Eldest Brother Secundus. Otherwise, how could his blood be so pure?

In entering a partnership with Leaf Dao-Denier, Eldest Brother Secundus had invited the wolf into one's house, ensuring that it was only a matter of time before he died.

'You're such a loser, Leaf Dao-Denier,' Yang Qi thought. 'You used to be an important person who could call the wind and summon the rain. But now you're a consort to a woman. I have to say, I'm very disappointed, and I'm starting to wonder if it's even worth it to leave you alive. Perhaps the next time we meet I'll just kill you to forestall future frustration. Then again, a lot of Grand Emperors have gone into the Great Necropolis, only to be killed. But you somehow struck it lucky and got even stronger than before. I wonder if you're doing it with the help of some sort of magical treasure or god item."

At that point, Yang Qi made his decision: he would capture Leaf Dao-Denier and unravel his secrets before killing him.

Of course, it was highly likely that Empress Joyflower had helped Leaf Dao-Denier push his cultivation base to a higher level, and Yang Qi needed to know the details before he did anything else. From what he understood, the consorts favored by Empress Joyflower would participate in yin-yang dual cultivation. Not only would it provide immense delight, it would also further the cultivation bases of both parties, including the male. That was another reason why men would viciously fight to earn the favor of the empress. Eventually, such men would be completely hooked on the process. It was almost like being addicted to a powerful drug.

Even more noteworthy, furthering one's cultivation in this manner didn't carry the danger of cultivation deviation. In the end, it was highly likely that Leaf Dao-Denier was much stronger than before, and the empress had probably also greatly benefited.

She had acquired some of the blood of an Eternal Fortuned One, and he had received some of her incredibly powerful vital energy. For someone with as low of a cultivation base as his to be blessed by someone as powerful as her was almost like a mortal being blessed by a god.

Despite how strong Leaf Dao-Denier probably was, Yang Qi still hadn't elevated him to the position of enemy in his heart. That was reserved for Proud Heaven, the other magisters, and Empress Joyflower herself.

'I need to find the Exquisite Cathedral and get my hands on that godhood.'

He waved his hand, sending out the godpower of monarchs from the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. An enormous disc appeared in front of him, which depicted the Great Necropolis as a whole. Then it began zooming in, rushing forward until it was focused on the Exquisite Desert.

This was a recently unlocked power from the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, called the Godly Positioning System. However, as he drew on it, Yang Qi was shocked to find that something within the Great Necropolis was actually interfering with the effects. Because of it, he wasn't able to make out very many specific details. That alone made it obvious that the Great Necropolis was an item on the same level as the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. [1]

It seemed impossible that any human could have created such a thing, begging the question of whether or not it had been crafted by the Sovereign Lord himself. But if it was something from the Sovereign Lord, then it should have provoked a resonance from the God Legion Seal. Yang Qi had sensed no such resonance, which seemed to indicate that the necropolis had been created by a Paramount God.

Obviously, it wasn't King Immortal-Slayer. But what other entity existed on that same level? After all, not even the Cruiser of Civilization, created by the preeminent Lord of Civilization, could compare to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. But the power of the Great Necropolis definitely did.

At the moment, it didn't seem that anyone was in control of the Great Necropolis, which meant that its power was wild and disorderly. For now, it was possible for Yang Qi to come and go in the Great Necropolis by drawing on the power of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. But if the Great Necropolis opposed him, that obviously wouldn't work.

'This Great Necropolis is an immensely powerful god item that rivals the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Maybe it even surpasses the chart. It can't be a coincidence that it showed up here all of a sudden. Perhaps it's searching for a new owner, and whoever gets the proper destiny will be that person.'

Yang Qi's intuition was telling him that the Great Necropolis would have a new owner sooner or later. But who would it be? It was impossible to say right now.

For now, he focused on the Godly Positioning System until he finally caught sight of the shimmering image of a cathedral in the depths of the desert, almost like a mirage. It seemed to be moving here and there, as if it weren't in a fixed position. He focused on its current position and a vortex suddenly sprang into existence and swallowed him up.

A moment later, he was in the depths of a sandstorm so powerful that it would likely destroy even Grand Emperors with a power index of fifty or so. The screaming sands scraped across his defensive empyrean energy, leaving it pitted and torn, but he quickly poured more true energy into it and ensured he was safe from harm.

Although it was a drain on his true energy, his reserves were so deep that he could keep this up for years without needing to be worried.

He let out an enraged roar, shooting forward through the sand and turning into something like a yellow dragon that quickly reached the stairs leading up to the cathedral. He knew he had to move as fast as possible to catch the cathedral.

The cathedral was actually alive, and it moved around in such a way that it was almost impossible to track. It would likewise be impossible to chase, and locking onto its position would require a huge amount of power.

A bang rang out as his feet landed on the staircase, and he looked inside to find that it was completely devoid of sand. It was almost as if someone had swept it out with a broom, or the surrounding sandstorm refused to encroach on the cathedral because of the godpower it contained.

As soon as Yang Qi reached the cathedral, he noticed other individuals approaching through the sandy tempests. It was none other than Zilin and his fellow consorts.

They had obviously exerted tremendous effort to reach this location.

Zilin was the first to step onto the staircase, and immediately caught sight of Yang Qi.

"Who's this?" he murmured. Yang Qi, clad in his God Legion Battle Robe, had long since dissolved the halo of restriction that had been forced on him. Instead, he pulsed with sage energy that caused everything around him to tremble.

"Who are you?" one of the other consorts asked. "And what are you doing here?"

"Who am I?" Yang Qi smiled. "The Exquisite Desert is a part of the Great Necropolis, so anyone can come explore it. It took me a lot of effort to locate the Exquisite Cathedral, and I'm just about to go in and clear it out."

"So you're an outsider, then," Zilin said, flicking his fan out to prevent the other consorts from doing anything. "Are you from the Ancient Road to the Gods? Considering the level of your cultivation base, it's quite miraculous that you were able to locate the Exquisite Cathedral. In fact, I don't think I've encountered anyone quite like you on the Ancient Road to the Gods before. What is your honored surname and distinguished given name?"

"No comment," Yang Qi replied. "Besides, from ancient times until now, the number of experts on the Ancient Road to the Gods are as many as the carp crossing the river. It's only natural that you wouldn't know my name. By the way, I'm aware that the Joyflower Palace thinks the Exquisite Desert belongs to them. Your entire goal is to get the godhood here, right? Well, I'm very curious to see if you'll succeed."

"Eldest Brother Zilin, enough chit-chat," one of the other consorts said. "This guy is obviously an enemy. It took us a lot of work to locate the Exquisite Cathedral, and we had to waste a lot of god items to lock down its position. There's no way we can just let him block our path."

"Kill him. If he manages to get the godhood, we'll definitely lose favor with the empress and end up worse off than the eunuchs."

The other consorts began fanning out to surround Yang Qi. Meanwhile, Yang Qi just looked at them with a smile. For the moment, the only person in this group that he was even slightly worried about was Zilin himself.

"Hold on!" Zilin said as he began to pulse with killing intent. "Your Majesty, you truly seem like an elegant and majestic individual. A man of striking appearance and talent. Why don't you join us? Considering what you're capable of, if you come to the Joyflower Palace, it's likely the empress will take you on as a consort. You would have a very high position, as opposed to losing out by making yourself our enemy."

Unexpectedly, he was trying to get Yang Qi to simply surrender to them.

Laughing, Yang Qi flicked his sleeve. "You also seem like an elegant and majestic individual, Your Majesty. A man of striking appearance and talent, and a delicate beauty. Why would someone like you deign to join the Joyflower Palace as a male consort? Don't you know you're a laughingstock among the heroes of heaven and earth? Why don't you join me? We can definitely accomplish great things. Men should be masculine, but here you are taking orders from a woman. It's really laughable."

"You obviously have no idea what you're talking about," Zilin replied coolly. "Even heroes have to submit to beautiful people like me. It's a simple truth, although you obviously don't understand it. In fact, I don't think you understand anything about what I want or need. So get out of my way. I won't kill you, as I never stain my hands with blood."

Yang Qi burst out laughing. "You're really stubborn aren't you? Well, considering you cower behind the skirts of women, I guess I have nothing left to say to you. I'm going to take that godhood, then turn that empress of yours into a maidservant. I'm curious to see the look on your face when that happens. Will you be as cool and collected as you are now?"

Without waiting for a response, Yang Qi turned and shot into the cathedral.

"Are you looking to die?" Zilin blurted angrily. "You can insult me, and I won't get mad. But insult the empress, and you earn the death penalty!"

1. The term I'm translating as "Godly Positioning System" does indeed contain the common term for "GPS". And yes, I'm very pleased that I could have GPS in a xuanhuan story. Is this a first? Haha.