Sage Monarch

The sects Yang Qi had encountered in the past were the type who recruited at the tip of a sword. Either you joined them, or you were enslaved or killed.

Most immortal worlds were like that as well.

That was simply the law of the jungle that governed the dao of immortals. The weak were the prey of the strong, and the sects were beastly and vicious. Although such behavior didn't quite reach the level of the dao of devils, those organizations clearly weren't righteous and orthodox. Truth be told, Yang Qi had never seen a righteous, orthodox sect, or even people who could be considered mild and peaceful.

It was an age of blood and carnage, and those who weren't aggressive enough wouldn't survive.

In the grand scheme of things, the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect actually seemed relatively orderly. At the least, they weren't a barbaric sect who slaughtered anyone who didn't meet up to their recruitment standards.

By way of contrast, the Joyflower Palace had lied to him, taken away his Dao Defense League, and turned him into a prisoner. Additionally, the threat of becoming a eunuch had always hung over his head. He still planned to get revenge for that some day, by wiping the Joyflower Palace out of existence.

As Yang Qi followed An Yiru into the depths of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, he saw that the place really was like a virtual god world. There were psychic fluctuations that rolled out from its depths to assess everything that entered it, even dust. Thanks to being with An Yiru, though, there were no warding spells that opposed him, and he was able to just proceed along.

In the depths of the sect were crystalline mountain peaks that rose up to heights of thirty thousand meters. Dragons, phoenixes, qilins, and other godlings glided amidst them, and their surfaces were lush with god herbs and plants. Even the clouds and mists seemed incomprehensibly marvelous.

"These fifty mountain peaks represent the fifty branches of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. I'm the chief disciple of Memory Peak. You see, there are only fifty chief disciples in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, which should give you an idea of the level of power I command." Although An Yiru kept her voice cool, it was impossible for her to mask her sense of pride.

"You are very important," Yang Qi said. Considering how large and strong the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was, it was obvious that these chief disciples must be very influential and powerful.

WHOOSH!

All of a sudden, a burst of sword energy shot out from one of the nearby mountain peaks, as dazzling as a rainbow on a clear day. It seemed like it was preparing to leave the sect, but then it noticed An Yiru and turned in her direction. Then the area around them became a kingdom of sword energy as a young man appeared.

His aura was very intimidating, and he had a power index of at least three thousand. Although Yang Qi couldn't be sure because he currently didn't have his power assessment systems, given the level of his cultivation base, he could at least get a general idea.

Retracting his sword light, the young man smiled and said, "Junior Sister An Yiru, what are you doing back? Did you finally get your hands on that treasure from the Cave Temple of the Vajra Māyādevī? Mind giving your Elder Brother a look?"

"That's right, I did get the treasure," An Yiru said with a profoundly cold smile. "That said, what does it have to do with you? I'm just about to head into a session of cultivation, after which I'll make sure your Spiritwall Peak gets put in place. You have a problem with that?"

"No problem," the young man said as calm as could be. "No problem at all. Junior Sister, if you really want to beat Spiritwall Peak, then I can just throw my match during the next competition."

"Very funny," An Yiru said, her eyes flashing with anger. "I'm not stupid. If you didn't think your Spiritwall Peak is superior to Memory Peak, you wouldn't be talking about throwing your match."

The young man shrugged. "Junior Sister, are you really trying to tell me that you acquired a magical treasure that will make you strong enough to beat me? Your psychic scale is a mere forty percent, whereas mine is at about sixty percent. Pretty soon, I'll break through to the single digits. And when I have Terrifying will, I'll be like the legion of gods."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see then, won't we?" Looking at Yang Qi, she said, "Let's go!"

"Hold on a moment," the young man said. "Who's this? An outsider? I can't believe you brought someone like this into the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect!"

"So what. I'm taking him to meet Master. Are you telling me you're in charge of matters like that?"

"Meet your Master? So, this is some genius you recruited while you were out? Apparently Memory Peak is trying to build up its forces, huh?"

WHOOSH!

In the exact same moment that he said 'huh', he sent a stream of sword light surging out. Although it made no noise, its silence made it seem even more deadly, and in the blink of an eye it was right in front of Yang Qi. Unexpectedly, this young man was launching a deadly sneak attack, and had instantly resorted to a killing move. It was obviously backed with such psychic power and will convergence that it could pierce through any ordinary soul or sea of consciousness, eradicating the nascent divinity of its target.

Yang Qi dodged to the side, yet the sword energy followed him like his own shadow, clearly intent on stabbing into him and wiping him out of existence.

It all happened so quickly that not even An Yiru could do anything to interfere.

The young man appeared to be very pleased with himself as his sword attack closed in on Yang Qi. However, Yang Qi simply smiled mockingly and threw his hands out in front of him, unleashing a sword energy that pulsed with life force. It was an energy art he had come up with himself, an imitation of Star Swordlife's sword dao of life, and it was perfectly suited for defensive purposes.

The sword energies clashed, then the young man went on to use dozens of moves to try to pierce Yang Qi's defenses. Of course, none of them worked.

"Looking to die?!" That was when An Yiru made a move, sending her whip out to wrap around the young man. However, he simply laughed, flipping backward and breaking up into a host of projections that dashed out of the way of the whip.

"Why so angry, Junior Sister An Yiru? I was just testing out his cultivation base, that's all. There's no need for such an extreme reaction!"

Expression grim, An Yiru said, "You were trying to kill him!"

"Exactly," the young man said. "If I had succeeded, it would've proven that he doesn't deserve to be a disciple of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. He passed this test, although there will be more to come. What's wrong, Junior Sister An Yiru? Mad at me or something? Remember, I didn't break any rules. Sect regulations say that any non-disciples who enter the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect can be killed on the spot."

"True," An Yiru said, and although she managed to keep her cool, she was clearly infuriated. "You'd better watch your back around me, Xie Spiritwall."

"I always watch my back, Junior Sister. Especially around you." Laughing, he turned into a colorful beam of sword light and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Don't worry," Yang Qi said, retracting his own sword energy. "Given the level of his sword technique, he can't hurt me." He seemed so calm and unmoved that even An Yiru was impressed by his composure.

"Let's go see Master," she said. "Considering that clash, you've already proven the level of your cultivation base. Xie Spiritwall is the chief disciple from Spiritwall Peak. He's very strong, and has defeated many enemies with his sword technique. The fact that you defended yourself against an unexpected attack by him shows how strong you are, proving that you deserve to be a disciple here."

With that, she led him toward one particular mountain peak.

Meanwhile, off in the distance, Xie Spiritwall hovered in the air bristling with killing intent. Inside, he was truly shocked that his sneak attack had completely failed.

A few other young men appeared around him, led by one particularly tall and burly fellow. Laughing, he said, "What's wrong, Xie Spiritwall? It seems that Spiritwall Peak's sword technique isn't really up to snuff! You ambushed an outsider, but still failed to kill him?"

"Don't act so pleased with yourself, Sorrow Might. Just because I didn't kill him with a sneak attack doesn't mean I can't kill him in general. Your Grand Might Peak's days of glory are about to end. I don't know where An Yiru recruited that expert, but with him on their side, will you really be able to keep Memory Peak under control?"

"I'm not worried about it," replied the burly Sorrow Might. "After all, I'm about to reach the Terrifying will level. Furthermore, I earned a lot of credit during that fight I had with the Executors of the Ancient Road. In three months, I'm going to get twenty pieces of godhood to activate the psychic scaling systems of the Cruiser of Civilization, and finally achieve my breakthrough of will. It will only take a short moment for me to reach the Terrifying level, after which you and I won't even be on the same level anymore."

Xie Spiritwall snorted. "Twenty pieces of godhood? That's a small fortune you're talking about. Maybe the sect can afford it, but it would be a waste to spend it on you. By the way, the psychic scaling systems are no joke. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they end up killing whoever uses them, so be careful."

"You think I'm going to get myself killed? That's a joke if I've ever heard one. I've been a domineering force for years, and even took out one of the executors in an ambush. Heaven itself has foreordained me to be a god!"

"Good luck with that. By the way, the only reason you took out that executor was because he was already injured and on his last legs. You just took advantage of the situation to slip in a final killing blow. If he'd been at full power, you would've been killed in the blink of an eye! Furthermore, the fact that you dragged his corpse back here to the sect just means that trouble is coming our way. You mark my words."

It was Sorrow Might's turn to snort coldly. "The Executors of the Ancient Road are scary, but they're not invincible. They may have been the most terrifying force on the ancient road in the past, but now that the Great Necropolis has appeared, all of us have grown a lot stronger. And the Inheritors are a factor, too. Soon enough, they'll be the biggest enemies of the executors. So what do we have to be afraid of? We already have a few Inheritors in the sect, which means that we're only going to grow stronger and stronger. Furthermore, the sectlord and other old-timers have been unraveling the secrets of the executors. Once they find out all the details, I'm going to benefit even more greatly than before!"

1. Xie Spiritwall: Xie is a common surname that also means "thanks", and his given name is obviously a reflection of the name of his faction in the sect.

2. Just a heads up that the word I'm translating as "executor" literally means "enforce laws".