Sage Monarch

The fact that this masked woman could glide through the air in the cave temple indicated that she had an incredibly profound cultivation base. Not even Yang Qi could do what she was doing. Either she was an important person from one of the superpower sects, or she was an Inheritor. After all, she definitely wasn't a cultivator from a buddhist school.

"Screw the hell off!" the woman snapped, clearly irritated at the way Yang Qi seemed to be blithely chatting with her. All of a sudden, a whip made of pure energy appeared and snaked out like a lightning bolt to wrap around Yang Qi.

It was fully thirty meters long, and from the loud cracking sounds it made, it was obvious that it would seriously injure anyone it hit.

Either that, or kill them.

Yang Qi was fairly certain that if they were outside of this temple, it wouldn't just be thirty meters long. No, it would likely be able to stretch from the top of the heavens to the bottom of the earth. In fact, it could likely reach the depths of hell. Despite the limitations of the temple around them, it was obviously something he couldn't afford to take lightly.

Dodging to the side, he avoided the first lash of the whip.

However, the masked woman continued waving it around, causing it to swirl into numerous concentric circles that contained deadly and mysterious energy flows.

In fact, the circles were like blades that represented the center of heaven, life and death, the essence of slicing, the six supernatural signs, the nourishment of nature, and the stillness of death. Obviously, it was some boundless energy art from the martial path.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi couldn't move quickly enough, and the whip encircled him. In response, he lashed out with a fist strike. More cracking sounds were heard as a flow of energy swept out of his hand, turning into jug-sized conglomerations of energy.

Then the energy conglomerations slammed into the whip and exploded, turning the whip into dust.

The woman fell back a few paces and looked at Yang Qi with open surprise. "What fist technique was that?" she asked. "I can't believe it vanquished my Myriad-Wheels Myriad-Magics Will-Manifestation God-Whip Energy Art!"

Yang Qi nodded to himself, having completely confirmed that practicing cultivation in this place could push his energy arts to new heights, thanks to the oppressive weight of the magical laws.

Just now, his fist strike had contained Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning condensed into the form of true energy. Thanks to the constraints of the cave temple, he could only make the energy the size of a jug, but its explosions could hurt anyone with a power index less than three thousand. As of now, he was fairly certain that, if he had to fight Star Swordlife again, he could subdue him with hardly any effort at all.

"It's just a little energy art I recently gained enlightenment of," Yang Qi said. "Your Myriad-Wheels Myriad-Magics Will-Manifestation God-Whip Energy Art is really impressive, to be honest. What sect are you from?"

"The Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, one of the top forces from the Ancient Road to the Gods. If you were from the Ancient Road to the Gods, you'd have heard of us."

Apparently, this woman was quick to realize that considering her whip hadn't hurt Yang Qi at all. And given the ease with which he had dispelled it, he was obviously a very strong individual that she couldn't easily beat in a fight. Fighting in the cave temple was a taxing affair that involved rapid draining of one's true energy. With no easy way to replenish oneself, it could be very deadly to engage in fighting in a place like this.

"The reputation of your sect rings like thunder in my ears," Yang Qi replied formally. Of course, he had never heard of any Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, but considering the level of this woman's cultivation base, it was likely to be as powerful as the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence, if not more powerful.

"If you're a rogue cultivator with no allegiances, then why not join our sect?" she said. "I'm one of the sect's chief disciples, which gives me a lot of authority. I could provide the formal introduction."

"Join your sect?" Yang Qi smiled. "I'm not really interested. I prefer to be free and unfettered."

"Free and unfettered?" She chuckled. "With the appearance of the Great Necropolis and the dramatic transformations to the dao of immortals, it's only a matter of time before the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect conquers everything. Join us now, and you can gain power as the sect grows. If you wait until later, it'll be different. You don't really think you can survive forever as a loner, do you? Only by joining a powerful force like ours can you benefit from universal fortune."

"How does your Will Manifestation Heaven Sect measure up to the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence?" Yang Qi asked. "Are you really strong enough to conquer the entire Immortal Dao Age? What happens if I join your sect, then some powerful force rises up and destroys it? Wouldn't I be destroyed along with you?"

She snorted angrily. "Who could possibly destroy the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect? Not the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence, that's for sure. Their sectlord is in the early Terrifying level and has a psychic scale of three. But my Master has a psychic scale of four! That alone is enough to keep the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence in check. The only reason they're so powerful in the first place is because they have a god item called the Preeminent Chaos Gate."

"Oh?" Yang Qi was learning quite a bit from this conversation. "What do you mean by psychic scale?"

"You must have heard of the psychic scale. It's a precise measure of one's will using the power of the ancient Cruiser of Civilization. People who have just stepped into the Terrifying level have a psychic scale of one. From what I can tell, your psychic scale is probably at only five or six tenths. Even just attaining a psychic scale of one is no easy task." It seemed this masked woman was actually interested in recruiting Yang Qi.

"The Cruiser of Civilization, huh. That thing is incredible." From what he was hearing, it seemed that this Will Manifestation Heaven Sect had the fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization with psychic scaling systems. They were similar to the power assessment systems in that they didn't just provide a measurement. For example, the power assessment systems could analyze, break down, and mix different types of power, providing new and more suitable versions. Without them, there was no way that Yang Qi would be able to absorb power so quickly. Nor could he have taken all of those god formations as easily as eating food or drinking water.

As for the psychic scaling systems, they could be used to stimulate the psyche and will, and provide deep understanding of psychic matters. Yang Qi was convinced that if he could get them, and use them in concert with the Engine of the One God and the imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems, the will of the Great Necropolis would be of great use to him.

One thing was certain: he had to get those systems.

It seemed very likely that the reason the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was so powerful was because they had those systems to improve the will convergence of its members.

Considering that Yang Qi had the Engine of the One God, as well as the vivicreation, genetic, and power assessment systems, he was already well-equipped to found a formidable organization. Unfortunately, he didn't have the power required to do that. The Engine of the One God was always operating at very low levels, but if he could provide a huge influx of godhood, he could upgrade it significantly and replace hunting rifles with cannons.

"So you're stronger than the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence," Yang Qi said. "That's the most powerful sect I'm familiar with. I heard they're the number one immortal sect on the Ancient Road to the Gods. But if you're stronger than them, well, it's actually somewhat difficult to believe."

"You have eyes but don't recognize gold-inlaid jade," the masked woman said. "If you don't believe me, go find someone from the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence and ask them what they do when they run into people from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. Ask them if they don't act reverent and respectful."

Yang Qi was slowly being convinced that the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect really was stronger than the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence. And if he really wanted to get the psychic scaling systems, it seemed that joining the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was the best strategy. Besides, it seemed like he wasn't going to be able to get his hands on the seed in this cave temple.

He nodded. "Well, if you put it that way, then I guess I am interested in joining your sect. I was considering joining the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence, but got into a row with a few of their disciples. In the end, not only did they refuse to let me join them, but they tried to kill me instead. What a pity...."

Upon hearing this, the masked woman burst out laughing. "So, that's how it is. Well, I guarantee that if you join the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, those people won't dare to cause problems for you. On the Ancient Road to the Gods, there are a lot of superpower sects, but even they have ranks. And to occupy the top rank, a sect has to have someone with Terrifying will convergence. Even a small sect with a Terrifying expert can be considered a superpower. In contrast, a huge sect without a Terrifying expert will always be considered substandard. It's only with Terrifying will that one can truly manipulate one's true energy into becoming god vitality. In other words, converting virtual godhood into true godhood."

"I get it now," Yang Qi said, pleased to be learning so much from this masked woman. "Miss, might I ask for your surname and given name?"

"I'm An Yiru," she replied. "Well, if you're going to be joining our sect, then you should probably prepare a tribute beforehand. Why not help me get the item that I'm after?"

"What exactly is it?" he asked, already convinced that it was none other than the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic seed.

"I'm looking for a seed of truth related to a special cultivation technique. According to the rumors, this cave temple contains a divine art from an extremely powerful buddhist school. It's called the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic, which is contained in eighteen unique seeds of truth. If you get them all, you can use the full technique. I've explored this cave before, but always went home with my tail between my legs. However, after doing some further research, I'm pretty sure that the seed of truth is hidden in the forehead of this Vajra Māyādevī statue. I just have to get it somehow."

"So, that's how it is," Yang Qi said, nodding. "I also noticed that this divine likeness of the Vajra Māyādevī seemed different and assumed there was probably some treasure in it. Unfortunately, that eye is too high, and my cultivation base is too low. How could I possibly reach the top of a three-thousand-meter-tall statue without flying? And even if I did get up there, how would I extract the item from the eye? It looks far too tough to open with force."

"I already came up with a plan," An Yiru replied coolly. "Although I'm not completely certain it'll work, considering the level of your cultivation base, maybe you can help me."

1. The "will manifestation" is the extremely common (but frustrating to translate) Chinese term "ru yi". The definitions of that term include: find something satisfactory, be gratified, as one wants, according to one's wishes, and at will. A ruyi is also a type of ceremonial scepter from Buddhism, or a talisman from Chinese folklore. I spent a few months ruminating about how to translate the name of this sect. After taking into consideration the explanation of the name in the narrative, wordplay factors, etc., I decided on Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. Incidentally, I'm including this footnote to provide some background info, not to solicit advice on different ways to translate it, or suggestions to transliterate it.

2. An Yiru: An is a common surname that also means peace. Yi means "recall, remember, memory" and Ru means many things, and is the same Ru from "ruyi". To be honest I struggled with this name because, as you all know, I prefer to translate the names that are obviously contrived and contain wordplay related to sect/cultivation etc. Minor spoilers ahead: the Yi from her name is also in the name of her faction of the sect. So basically, her name is comprised of a word from the faction, and a word from the name of the sect. However, in the end, this name is pretty plausible as an ordinary name and doesn't seem like the super-contrived names that often come up. So in the end, I'm going to treat it like an ordinary name. Besides, it could be entirely possible that she was named after the sect/faction in a "normal" way, similar to how someone from Santa Barbara could theoretically name their child Barbara.