Sage Monarch

"Honest people do not resort to insinuation, Leaf Dao-Denier, so let's be honest. You're a favored consort of Empress Joyflower, and have even practiced dual cultivation with her. Your energy arts have reached the point of perfection, making you completely different than when you were in the Dao Defense League. Even back when you fused with the essence of the Tusita Heaven, you were only at a tenth of your current level.

"Given all that, you must know the level of Empress Joyflower's cultivation base, right? And what magical treasures she has? Her levels of power and will? I need to know all that information. Otherwise I can only make plans blindly and in the dark."

"Of course I'll tell you all those things," Leaf Dao-Denier said, a crafty smile appearing on his face. "But not here and not now. There are warding spells and detection magics everywhere in the Joyflower Palace, and you can never be sure if someone is eavesdropping on you. We need to leave the palace and find somewhere safe to talk. Besides, I know how crafty and treacherous you are; you could very well betray me to the Joyflower Palace leaders in the hopes of getting me killed."

Yang Qi initially looked surprised, but then he chuckled. "You seem much more clever than before, Leaf Dao-Denier. You saw right through my plan. You're right, I actually did intend to reveal your intention to plot against Empress Joyflower."

"Hmph! If you try something like that, I'd be more than happy to end matters in mutual destruction. I'll just reveal that you have a God Legion Seal, and say that I was doing all this in an attempt to learn your secrets. Who do you think she'll believe, you or me?"

'He's definitely a lot smarter than before,' Yang Qi thought. 'It seems entirely certain that he's reached the Destabilizing will level. Even if I had come here as my true self, I would have a hard time beating him in a fight. At best, it would end in a draw.'

Even as he sat there thinking, he noticed a look of impatience developing on Leaf Dao-Denier's face, so he said, "Fine. Since you've brought everything out into the open, I agree not to reveal any of your secrets. And you have to make sure that no one from the Ancient Road to the Gods knows about my God Legion Seal."

Leaf Dao-Denier nodded firmly. "As long as you don't plot and scheme against me, I'll offer you the same courtesy. The fewer people who know about the God Legion Seal, the better. In fact, to show my good faith, I'll tell you a secret I recently learned. Empress Joyflower has had past dealings with Magister Proud Heaven from the future world. Apparently, they fought together on the Ancient Road to the Gods, and it's even possible that they were lovers. Furthermore, Proud Heaven definitely has one of the other pieces of the God Legion Seal. I'd say it's even possible we could get that second piece from him."

Yang Qi laughed. "You worded that very cleverly. I think what you meant to say is that you hope you can get both God Legion Seals. Right?"

"Well, that goes without saying," Leaf Dao-Denier said with a cold smile. "Besides, if you get the chance, you'll definitely try to kill me. We're only using each other for practical reasons, and in the end it will come down to who is stronger and more skilled."

"Well said. However, even if I were to come as my true self, the two of us wouldn't be a match for Empress Joyflower. And no amount of scheming can overcome such a disparity in strength. We'd be dreaming if we thought that. Surely we're in agreement on that."

"Exactly. The two of us won't be enough. We definitely need some cannon fodder to work with. Thankfully, there are plenty of experts out in the Great Necropolis who the Joyflower Palace has left without clan or sect, people who wish to achieve revenge above all else. In fact, I've already been in touch with some experts who would make the perfect cannon fodder for us."

"Oh?"

This actually came as a surprise to Yang Qi, who never would have guessed that Leaf Dao-Denier would have accomplished such things. In addition to improving his cultivation base so much in the past year, he had also made contact with enemies of the Joyflower Palace that would definitely prove to be very useful.

It begged the question of what other secret weapons he had at his disposal.

"Alright, I'm curious to see who these people are."

Yang Qi and Leaf Dao-Denier turned into bright beams of light, and shot out of the Joyflower Palace without a single person blocking their path. After all, both of them had standing that was high enough to give them the freedom to come and go as they pleased.

At a certain point along the way, Leaf Dao-Denier coolly said, "By the way, these potential allies are fiendish monsters. Are you sure you want to see them as you are? If you show up looking this weak, it could have a negative effect on the negotiations. Why not come as your true self? Then you'll really be able to impress these fiends."

Yang Qi realized that Leaf Dao-Denier was trying to lure his true self out into the open, and was obviously not going to fall for that. There was no way Yang Qi would put his true self at risk, especially considering that Leaf Dao-Denier could block his passage back to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

"Oh, don't you worry about that," Yang Qi said. "I have my ways of making sure fiendish villains don't underestimate me." He watched closely to see how Leaf Dao-Denier would react to this, only to find that his expression remained as cold as ever.

'The fact that you're too scared to reveal your true self and the full level of your strength indicates that you're most likely weaker than me, Yang Qi. Now I'm more confident than ever in my ability to deal with you. If it weren't for the fact that you have the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and the God Legion Seal, you would be nothing!'

Thus, the two of them headed into the depths of the Great Necropolis and its pathways.

They passed world after world, some of which were larger than thirty-third ranked immortal worlds. They passed through forests filled with living spirit creatures, enormous sects, and huge creatures.

Yang Qi still had no idea how big the Great Necropolis actually was, and in fact, he wondered if it was even possible to reach its core.

"Considering you've been in the Great Necropolis for over a year, Leaf Dao-Denier, have you learned much about it? Presumably Empress Joyflower knows many of its secrets. For instance, do you know anything about its origin?"

"I have no idea," Leaf Dao-Denier said coldly. "It's larger than the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and likely is wrapped up in secret matters related to the god world. Who do you think Empress Joyflower is, anyway? She's powerful, but she's not a god. How would she know anything truly profound about the Great Necropolis? Besides, although the Joyflower Palace is a top-tier organization on the Ancient Road to the Gods, it's not considered a superpower. None of the true superpowers have shown up here yet, although it's also possible that they're deeper in the Great Necropolis and uninterested in the fighting on the outskirts. I'd say that, out here, we've only touched on one ten-thousandth of the secrets of the Great Necropolis. And even that is enough to reach the level of the gods."

They continued conversing as they flew deeper into the Great Necropolis. The next day, a plane of existence appeared in front of them, in the depths of which hovered numerous enormous bubbles of energy that resembled worlds. It was a forest of nascent worlds!

If one of those energy bubbles transformed into a world, it would release a huge amount of power.

In fact, there were some energy convergences that were transforming into worlds, then shooting off through the pathways.

"A world forest," Yang Qi murmured. "I can sense some incredible godpower coming from here. Incredible."

"This is one of the locations in the Great Necropolis where worlds and planes of existence are spawned. Afterward, they fly out and embed themselves into the walls of the pathways, where they grow larger and stronger. Considering how the pathways make an immense labyrinth, it's not easy to find this place. Thankfully, I know how to get here."

Unexpectedly, Leaf Dao-Denier had actually brought Yang Qi to a truly marvelous and intriguing place.

Leaf Dao-Denier led the way into the forest of energy bubbles, until they found one particular one and sat down to wait.

It was as large as a thirtieth ranked immortal world, and filled with countless mountains and rivers. Precious materials abounded, and the magical laws seemed to be in a state of complete chaos.

After some time had passed, Yang Qi caught ear of strange sounds that resembled the murmuring of ghosts. As they entered his sea of consciousness, a region of illusions appeared in front of him.

"Be broken!" he said, and the illusion shattered, revealing that there was an additional person in the presence of Leaf Dao-Denier and himself.

He was tall and thin, and clad in a long robe embroidered with devil-ghosts. His face was as pale as death, and although his hands were tucked into the sleeves of his robes, it was obvious that his nails were as long and sharp as swords.

Even worse, they glistened with deadly poisons.

"Mister Cipher Ever-Heaven," Leaf Dao-Denier said, "Sectlord of the Cipher-Devil Sword Sect. Greetings."

"You haven't let me down, Leaf Dao-Denier. You're right on time. What about the other fellow daoists?" Looking over at Yang Qi, he continued, "And who's this pipsqueak? Considering how weak he is, why did you bring him along?"