Sage Monarch

Although he had failed to find a master, the Nine-Yang Immortal Energy that Yang Qi had acquired in the Minorcosm World was far more valuable.

On the one hand, he was trying to absorb as much of it as he could. On the other hand, he was thinking about a way to get back into the Minorcosm World as soon as possible.

At the moment, the only way to get in would be to be taken by Holy Daughter Manyflowers.

That said, the amount that he currently had stored up in his Hellfire Crucible was more than enough for the time being. By this point, thousands of colorful dragons were swirling about there. In fact, he was fairly certain that he would be able to generate enough life force quintessence to reach Secondary Lifeseizing and perhaps even push past that. The first thing he would do upon leaving the Minorcosm World was find a quiet, secluded place to achieve his breakthrough.

He definitely couldn’t let anyone find out about it, not even Yang Susu or Holy Daughter Manyflowers.

As for how powerful he would be in Secondary Lifeseizing, not even he was sure. All he did know was that it was a level that could shake heaven and earth, and leave both ghosts and gods perplexed.

All Holy Daughter Manyflowers knew was that he had benefited from the life force quintessence of some powerful expert who had failed to pass a tribulation. Never could she imagine that he had the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, a godly-class energy art.

If she found out, it was impossible to say what might happen.

“Okay, Susu,” Holy Daughter Manyflowers said, her voice trembling with determination, “the time has come for you to cultivate a top-notch energy art alongside me. You must surpass Yun Hailan, and win some face for me in the big competition. And you need to make sure Patriarchs Wind and Cloud lose as much face as possible!”

‘Master really is set on reaching the Legendary level right away,’ Yang Susu thought, shaken. She had never seen Holy Daughter Manyflowers acting so seriously before.

“As for you, Yang Qi, when you have the time, come to Manyflowers Peak so that I can help you with your cultivation base. At the moment, you’re definitely not strong enough to deal with Yun Hailan. She already has the aura of an ancient divine dragon. Combine that with Patriarchs Wind and Cloud helping to improve her cultivation base, and I'm afraid that over the next few days, she’ll only continue to get stronger and stronger.”

Yang Qi nodded. “Many thanks, Grand Elder.” 

With that, the three of them left the Minorcosm World.

Upon returning to Manyflowers Peak, both Holy Daughter Manyflowers and Yang Susu prepared to go into seclusion.

The time had come for farewells.

“Be careful, Qi’er!” Yang Susu said, clearly concerned for his safety. “Yun Hailan has really made a name for herself. She's working with the Crown Prince Society, and now she has the support of Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, two Legendaries. She’s in her element now, and will only become more difficult to deal with as time goes by.”

Yang Qi nodded. “I know what you mean. However, her arrogance will only last for so long.”

He was well aware that Yun Hailan was making a name for herself, and seemingly overcoming all obstacles. Considering she was getting help from the Crown Prince, it wouldn’t be long before the upper echelons of leadership in the Demi-Immortal Institute would also throw their support behind her. Then she would be even more capable of stirring up trouble.

Yang Qi was definitely not the simpleton he had been in the past. ‘Considering the Crown Prince built up an organization like the Crown Prince Society, there’s no way he’s an idiot. He wouldn’t be so childish as to be taken in by Yun Hailan’s good looks. There must be other secrets to her.’

After leaving Manyflowers Peak, mist sprang up around the mountain, locking it down tight, and making it impossible for him to go back.

Clearly, Yang Susu and her master were now officially in secluded meditation.

The trip to the Minorcosm had had a profound effect on the two of them. Now, they were both determined to achieve another breakthrough.

With that, Yang Qi left the Heaven Lode Mountains. His trip to the Minorcosm World had really opened his eyes. Now he realized how much of a countryside hick he had been in the past. Back then, he didn’t even realize that places like the Minorcosm World existed, an alternate dimension floating in a sea of clouds.

Gaining understanding about such things would definitely be a big help to his cultivation.

‘I need to get away from the Demi-Immortal Institute and find some remote location to reach Secondary Lifeseizing!’ He sped along a few hundred kilometers until the Demi-Immortal Institute was far behind him. At that point, he shot up into the clouds and unfurled his Fiend-Devil Wings. As he did, black energy swirled around him, turning the clouds as dark as night.

Now that he didn't need to worry about prying eyes, he shot higher up into the air.

Eventually, he was above the sea of clouds, and the higher he got, the more powerful the heavenly winds grew. Soon, he was hundreds of thousands of meters in the air, and the vortexes of air grew larger and larger. Normally speaking, vortexes like this would rip people to shreds.

And in fact, if Yang Qi hadn’t used his true energy to protect himself, that is exactly what would have happened to him.

Even a mountain made of metal would have been destroyed.

WHIZZZ!

He sped through the heavenly winds, pushing himself as hard as he could, hoping to push past his limits and break through to Secondary Lifeseizing. The energy flows up here were created by nature itself, and the heavenly wind was something that no eyes could pierce.

Even most Lifeseizers couldn’t go much past the sea of clouds without expending significant effort, and wasting a lot of true energy. And if heavenly wind touched them, forcing frigid cold into their meridians, their true energy flow would be hindered, and they would freeze up and fall to their death.

It was a truly dangerous activity.

And yet, Yang Qi only continued to fly higher and higher. Frigid energy poured into him, hoping to freeze his meridians solid; ice even began to build up on his skin.

But Yang Qi cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, which meant that he could send the true flame of hell through his body. As powerful as magma, it easily destroyed the frigid energy from the heavenly winds.

‘Now I understand why the ancients had a different version of the expression it’s lonely at the top. They would say one can’t win against the cold when in high places. It really is freezing up here, but I need to challenge myself. Yun Hailan has a powerful expert helping her, and has it easy wherever she goes. But I want to push the limits. I want to be a true man!’

He was really feeling very heroic in this moment.

In fact, he was so high that he had left the light and was out in the darkness. Wild energy streams surrounded him, almost like tempests from hell. Vortexes were everywhere, the smallest of them hundreds of kilometers across, the largest, hundreds of thousands. The levels of power were so intense that he was being flung about like a rag doll.

By this point, his Fiend-Devil Wings had shrunk down to only a few meters across, and were shedding sparks as they were eaten away by the winds.

However, he remained unruffled.

Eventually managing to stabilize himself, he looked inside of himself and began to release the thousands of dragons.

One after another, they began to pour into the next particle.

WHIZZZ!

Thirty-one particles. Thirty-two. Thirty-three. One by one they opened up like blooming flowers, filling Yang Qi with the power of more ancient megamammoths. It was like a herd of the beasts that returned from primeval times, the rulers of the ancient beasts.

An aura like the wild lands of yore began to pulsate off him.

One by one, the particles awoke and bolstered his true energy.

Two hours later, the little dragons had all been converted into life force quintessence, and then used to add to the true energy of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

No one alive would ever accept the fact that a Lifeseizer had remained within the heavenly winds for that long.

Not even the old-timers back in the Demi-Immortal Institute would have believed it. That was what happened when Yang Qi unleashed the true potential which he normally kept hidden.

If Patriarchs Wind and Cloud could see Yang Qi right now, they would definitely wish they could take back the words they had most recently spoken.

Ten explosive booms echoed out as forty true energy manifestations of megamammoths appeared behind Yang Qi. The megamammoths trumpeted, causing a massive energy to explode out in all directions.

Shockingly, Yang Qi had awoken ten particles all at the same time. The Nine-Yang Immortal Energy had pushed him from thirty all the way to forty, which went to show how powerful that fabled energy was.

Not even Holy Daughter Manyflowers could absorb that type of energy, but Yang Qi could, and could use it to incredible effect.

‘Return to me!’

The forty megamammoths instantly sank back down into Yang Qi.

Yang Qi was experiencing a major transformation, as dramatic as a cicada shedding its carapace, or a python its skin. Glittering droplets of metallic blood oozed out of his pores, making it look like he had golden skin.

This was one of the marvelous things that happened during Secondary Lifeseizing. Inner-Outer Transposition.

RUMBLE!

As the process went on, Yang Qi’s true energy grew more powerful, until it seemed to incite opposition from the vital energy of heaven and earth. Soon, rumbling sounds like that of thunder began to fill the air.

Crish. Crash…. A massive bolt of lightning smashed into Yang Qi, causing his own true energy to destabilize.

‘So, this is the tribulation of the Lifeseizing level?’ Yang Qi could sense that the vital energy of heaven and earth was definitely resisting him. ‘Well, lightning is already an integral part of me and my true energy. A bit of puny lightning isn’t going to hurt me. In fact, it might help me temper my body. Bring it on!’

Opening his meridians, he allowed the lightning to course through him, tempering his true energy as it did.

Most people feared lightning more than scorpions, but with Yang Qi, it was the exact opposite.

‘Secondary Lifeseizing!’

Vortexes and tornadoes spun around him, but could do nothing to prevent the spirit energy of heaven and earth from pouring into his body and becoming life force quintessence.

He was changing on the most fundamental of levels.

It was now the critical moment of Secondary Lifeseizing; if he succeeded, he would make a major advancement.