Sage Monarch

As Yang Qi followed An Yiru into Memory Peak, an entirely new heaven and earth opened up before him. It was like a brand new world, filled with vital energy and power of incomparable abundance. Every breath he took caused liquid power to flow through him, and although it wasn't quite on the level of godhood, it was still a clear reflection of it.

Upon seeing An Yiru, the disciples present would bow their heads and call out greetings, making sure not to block her path.

Soon, they reached a palace at the top of a mountain, where strong godliness pulsed, making it seem as if a god might be there working on cultivation. Almost immediately, a powerful expression of will appeared and enveloped Yang Qi.

Yang Qi could tell that this was real Terrifying will, and as it covered him, he found himself completely incapable of moving. He almost felt like he was suffocating as the will swept through him from sea of energy to sea of consciousness.

Sensing the Terrifying will convergence, An Yiru said, "Master, this is someone I brought to join Memory Peak. Please, don't hurt him."

"Don't worry," replied a voice that seemed to thrum like the speaking of gods. "I'm just assessing his cultivation base to see what unique characteristics are present. Not bad. You really did bring back a genius. He cultivates a unique technique, and his psychic scale is already at about eighty percent. That's even higher than you! I saw the clash with Xie Spiritwall, and was very impressed by how he won glory for Memory Peak. Not bad at all. Bring him into the temple to speak with my true self."

"Yes sir!"

Now that Yang Qi had been assessed with her Master's Terrifying will, An Yiru was convinced that he wasn't trying to infiltrate the sect to harm it.

After all, weaker wills were like nothing in the face of that which was Terrifying.

Yang Qi was shocked by what he had just experienced, and was very glad that he had left all of his belongings back in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Otherwise, they might have been discovered. He could already tell that true Terrifying will was many, many times more powerful than the quasi-Terrifying will of Empress Joyflower.

If he hadn't made advance preparations, he might even have revealed the secret of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Right now, he cultivated enough techniques that it was easy to create a false impression of his cultivation to get through situations like this. Of course, his cultivation was so advanced that he had already begun devising his own system of techniques, which lent a mysterious air to him. That, of course, was his dao, something different from any other dao. Deep within his nascent divinity and sea of consciousness, magical symbols were forming together, creating an actual manifestation of that dao. The Terrifying will had seen that, and as such, had not held any suspicions about his level of strength.

The palace door opened, and Yang Qi followed An Yiru inside. He was very curious as to what this person who had Terrifying will looked like. Other than the god Brahma, this was the most powerful entity he had ever personally encountered.

And of course, Brahma was very different in that he was an actual god.

Thoughts of Brahma reminded him that, at some point, he needed to go back to confer with that god. He had promised to go to the future world to try to help him, but hadn't yet followed through on that. Not that it was his fault. Things had developed so strangely and rapidly that he simply hadn't had the time to make the trip.

Besides, releasing Brahma now might not be a good idea. And that was compounded by the fact that Yang Qi had no real reason to trust Brahma very much.

The depths of the hall were dark, but at the same time, very calm and peaceful. After they were inside, a soft and gentle voice could be heard. "What treasures did you come across out there, An Yiru?"

Along with the voice, brilliant white light flashed in the palace, revealing an interior resembling pure crystal. At the far end, seated on a throne, was what appeared to be a young girl of only seven or eight years of age. She looked pure and dainty, yet there was something extremely dignified about her. Especially her eyes, which seemed like they could pierce into the depths of anything and everything.

'Don't tell me this is An Yiru's Master!' Yang Qi thought. It seemed to defy logic that the person who had scoured his very soul was a little girl. Perhaps she was some top expert who cultivated a technique that caused her to age in reverse.

An Yiru immediately saluted the little girl in greeting. "Master, let you be my witness. It is thanks to this young man that I acquired this stone box. Unfortunately, it is sealed beyond my ability to open. Please, can you assist?"

"Take it out," the girl said quietly.

"Yes!" An Yiru said, respectfully offering the stone box.

The girl took it with seemingly no effort at all, causing goosebumps to rise up on Yang Qi's neck as he realized that her dainty little hand pulsed with what had to be a power index of over five thousand. Combined with her Terrifying will convergence, that made her a truly invincible potentate!

Obviously, her strength and physical appearance had nothing to do with each other.

Crack!

All of a sudden, buddhist light pulsed out of the stone box as the little girl casually broke the seal.

As soon as the seal was broken, what appeared to be an enormous buddhist god shot out from the fragments, seemingly enraged.

However, the girl easily grabbed it, crushing it down into a śarīra that she then burned away into nothing but ashes.

Then she opened the box.

Yang Qi immediately caught sight of nine motes of light that floated up into the air, almost like glowing cotton balls. They were none other than seeds of the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic.

The little girl sighed. "What a pity. There are a total of eighteen seeds that make up the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic. Get all of them, and you can cultivate the technique to the full, vastly improving your cultivation base and psychic scale. Unfortunately, it seems that someone else got into that cave temple ahead of you and took nine of the other seeds away. Getting the full collection will be difficult."

When she spoke, her voice seemed young, but her will seemed ancient, as though she had lived through millions upon millions of years, and passed through countless tribulations. "It might not help you to cultivate with these seeds. For now, I'll keep them."

"Yes, Master," An Yiru said, without the slightest hint of frustration or anger in her voice. She trusted that her Master had her own interests at heart.

"That said, you performed a great service. You're already my chief disciple, and will eventually succeed me here on Memory Peak. Therefore, I will take these seeds to the council of chief elders and exchange them for some medicinal pills concocted by the Executors of the Ancient Road. They should help you improve your psychic scale. Sorrow Might from Grand Might Peak got lucky recently. He ran into a severely injured executor, who he killed and brought back, earning him the reward of twenty pieces of godhood. If he succeeds in improving his psychic scale and reaches the Terrifying level, Memory Peak will be in a very tight situation. You need to work hard to improve, understand?"

"Yes ma'am," An Yiru said, offering another salute.

At this point, the girl looked at Yang Qi and said, "Boy, you're quite impressive. Do you want to be one of my disciples?"

Trying to sound as humble as possible, he said, "It would be a huge honor, Senior."

"Fine, let it be done," she replied. "Starting today, you're my disciple. As a member of Memory Peak, I require no oath or promise from you. Only loyalty. As long as you protect the interests of Memory Peak, as well as the interests of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect as a whole, then you will receive protection in return. You will receive resources from the sect, and you will provide contributions as well. Take this Memory Peak identity medallion, as well as this energy art unique to Memory Peak, the Unconstrained Sorrow-Forgetting Magic.

A new technique and mnemonic flooded into Yang Qi's mind, pushing him to a higher state than before, thanks to the psychic power it contained.

'Unconstrained Sorrow-Forgetting Magic?' As Yang Qi examined it, he felt completely unconstrained, as though his mind were floating in a state of complete ease, allowing him to forget about all past sorrows.

This was an energy art focused on psychic powers and will, and was definitely first class. However, compared to the will of the Great Necropolis that he had contended with, or the knowledge-devils he had fought, it was extremely weak. In fact, cultivating with this technique alone, one would probably need billions of years to reach the Terrifying level. That said, it would be a good reference point for use in cultivation. And for all he knew, it might come in handy one day.

"You're now a Junior Brother of An Yiru," the girl said. "She'll take care of everything for you. I'm usually here in seclusion, leaving daily affairs of Memory Peak in the hands of you disciples. An Yiru, remember that the prosperity or decline of our faction is all in your hands. That is the responsibility of the chief disciple."

"I know," An Yiru said. "I'll do everything I can to make sure Memory Peak is number one among the fifty peaks." Turning to Yang Qi, she continued. "Let's go, Junior Brother. I need to tell you all about the other mountain peaks, as well as the general situation in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. I wouldn't want you stumbling into some dangerous situation or location that I couldn't save you from."

"Alright," Yang Qi said. He knew that things were not as simple as they seemed. Obviously, the little girl recognized how strong he was and was essentially assigning him to be An Yiru's assistant in handling the affairs of their faction. Of course, he hadn't lost sight of his true motive for joining this sect: to acquire the psychic scaling systems.