Sage Monarch

"How can I help?" Yang Qi said, looking up at the statue looming over them. In the brief clash with An Yiru moments ago, he knew that, although her energy arts were impressive, defeating her wasn't out of the realm of possibility. In other words, things that were impossible for him weren't automatically possible for her.

"I've cultivated my Myriad-Wheels Myriad-Magics Will-Manifestation God-Whip Energy Art to the point where my whip can adhere to anything it touches, including the surface of the statue. In other words, I should be able to use it to climb to the head of the statue. However, doing so alone would be dangerous. For example, what would happen if someone came along and attacked me? How would I defend myself? I'm thinking that I should teach you the technique. Given the level of your energy arts, divine abilities, and will, it shouldn't take you very long to master. Then we can climb the statue together. Our combined strength should be enough to get into the forehead of the statue and take the seed of truth."

"Hmm." Yang Qi thought about the plan for a moment. "Why don't you try using your whip on the statue, first? See if you can really climb it. From what I've experienced, the statue is extremely slippery. None of my energy arts had any effect on it, and in fact, the statue has the ability to push you away if you get close."

By way of demonstration, he sent a stream of sword energy toward the statue, but it vanished into nothing as soon as it touched the surface, as if it had been either destroyed or devoured by the statue.

In the past, Yang Qi had used certain energy arts to climb walls and other such surfaces, but from what he could sense, it wouldn't be possible for this statue.

"You're right," An Yiru said. "The godpower of the statue makes it difficult to approach. However, my Myriad-Wheels Myriad-Magics Will-Manifestation God-Whip Energy Art is different. You see, the whip itself is not actually an energy art, but rather a combination of power and a corporeal object. Without the Will Manifestation Tendon I have, it's actually impossible to successfully cultivate."

Swish!

Something that looked like a tendon appeared in her hand and she threw it over to Yang Qi, who caught it out of the air. It appeared to have been taken from some sort of animal, and was incredibly tough. Furthermore, it stuck to his hand as though it were glued onto it.

He sent some energy into the tendon, whereupon it flipped back and forth.

Seeing that, An Yiru's eyes widened with surprise. "You really are extraordinary. Alright, I'm going to tell you how to transform the tendon into a whip. Here's the technique...."

She went on to explain the secret art, which entered his sea of consciousness. Almost immediately, he understood what an amazing technique it was. Although it wasn't necessarily overwhelming in terms of power, it was filled with seemingly infinite variations. It was like a twisting snake, a loach burrowing into the mud, or a ghost floating through sinister winds.

RUMBLE!

From within those seemingly infinite variations, a divine ability emerged that Yang Qi immediately understood. He breathed in, then exhaled onto the tendon, which extended into the shape of a long whip. He flicked the whip, and when it landed on the statue, he pulled hard, propelling himself forward until he was on the statue's foot.

Considering how enormous the foot was, it was obvious that ordinary energy arts wouldn't allow cultivators to climb it.

'He mastered the infinite variations of the technique that fast?' An Yiru thought. 'This guy is a real genius. Well, it's a good thing he's joining our sect.'

Swish!

She summoned her own whip, which she used to lash the statue and climb up to the same position as Yang Qi.

"Good," she said. "You've mastered the whip, so now let's work together to climb to the top. Going forward, the climb will be so difficult that we'll need to combine the powers of our two whips. Alright?"

"I'll follow your lead," Yang Qi said with a faint smile.

She flicked her whip, causing it to combine with his. As the true energy of the two whips mixed, the combined version became as thick as an arm. Furthermore, it extended an additional one hundred and fifty meters.

When Yang Qi connected with An Yiru's true energy, he was impressed by how it seemed to surge without end. Obviously, her cultivation was at a very high and profound level. Meanwhile, she was just as impressed by his true energy.

When the two of them worked together, they could unleash a shocking level of power.

WHIZZZ!

Using their combined whips and power, the two of them began ascending the statue. Sure enough, the whip would stick to the statue wherever it hit, and it negated the backlash attack of the statue, as well as any attempts it made to devour them.

RUMBLE!

The statue emitted terrifying sounds like booming thunder, but in the end, the psychic fluctuations didn't have any effect on the two of them.

"Be careful!" An Yiru said. "Now that we've reached the head, the psychic fluctuations are going to get even more intense. They're designed to affect your nascent divinity, and they're one of the main reasons no one has ever successfully reached the forehead and acquired the treasure. We have to work together and be very careful."

Yang Qi nodded. Secretly, he was actually redirecting the intruding psychic fluctuations to eat away at the will of the Great Necropolis inside his sea of consciousness. He was essentially working on his cultivation, in contrast to An Yiru, who was obviously working hard to defend herself.

In fact, after a moment, he sent out some of his own psychic fluctuations to assist her. When she realized what he had done, her eyes lit up with shock. "It seems I really misjudged you. Your psychic scale is incredible! You must be right on the verge of reaching the Terrifying level! As a member of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, once you reach the Terrifying level you'll become a very important person!"

"I'm not anything special," Yang Qi said humbly. Uninterested in revealing his secrets, he continued, "I just happen to cultivate a secret magic that focuses specifically on psychic powers."

"I see," An Yiru replied. "Alright, let's push a bit harder. We're almost to the eye on the forehead."

"Alright!" Yang Qi poured more true energy into the whip, and the two of them sped up as they climbed the statue.

Eventually, they made it to the forehead, where they realized there was a wide platform with a closed door at its end.

That door was none other than the third eye.

Looking back, Yang Qi realized that he was looking down on the cave temple as a whole, providing a view that resembled a mountain range. Those mountains were all buddhist statues, although none of them were as tall as the Vajra Māyādevī. And the Vajra Māyādevī was the only one who seemed to have an eye that contained a treasure trove.

Winds buffeted the two of them as they stood atop the statue; obviously, if the winds knocked them off, then considering that the magical laws made flight impossible, the fall would kill them.

Without hesitation, they headed toward the door.

As the psychic power assailed them, Yang Qi continued using the fluctuations to wear away at the will of the Great Necropolis.

At a certain point, An Yiru was forced into a seated position to recalibrate her breathing. A short time later, she began glowing with a bright light that spread out to form a protective shield. Rising to her feet again, she looked over at Yang Qi, who was studying the entrance door, and wryly said, "You need a key to open the door. Thankfully, I happened to come across that key in my travels."

An exquisitely crafted stone key appeared in her hands, which was only three inches long. However, she sent a stream of energy into it, causing it to grow into a pillar nearly thirty meters in length.

Normally speaking, the properties of the cave temple would shrink magical treasures down to a very small size. But this key grew larger in the presence of the door, then entered the keyhole and disappeared.

From a distance, it looked like the Vajra Māyādevī was opening the eye on her forehead.

Yang Qi immediately drew on his most powerful energy arts, just in case the opened door released a blast of power. The last thing he wanted was to be blown over the edge.

However, the door opened silently and quietly, which only served to make it more mysterious than before. Furthermore, as soon as it opened, the psychic fluctuations and the heavenly winds faded away and the entire cave temple went completely still.

Even An Yiru seemed surprised by this, as if she had expected something else to happen.

"Come on, let's get inside," she said.

She snapped her fingers, creating a bright light that illuminated their path as they walked forward.

Yang Qi cautiously followed, ready to react to any unexpected developments.