Sage Monarch

“What’s that? The will of a Great Sage level is sweeping the lands? Presumably hunting for information about me?” Surprised, he sent his psychic tempest out to check on the situation.

Sure enough, a powerful will was at work, hunting high and low, near and far.

The level of power in question was far beyond that capable by mortals; it was clearly a manifestation of the Great Sage level.

This was no random, casual act, it was obviously a concerted effort to find Yang Qi.

Considering the scene he'd caused in the Western Continent, and the fact that he had literally taken Silvermoon, it was no surprise that a Great Sage had stepped in.

In the Rich-Lush Continent, there were five Great Sages, including the chancellors of the four institutes, and the emperor of the Sage Ancestor Dynasty.

In the Western Continent, there were more Great Sages than that. After all, the abundant spirit stones there made cultivation a lot easier.

In the Western Continent Atlas that Yang Qi had acquired at the Sun Moon Institute, it said that there were at least six Great Sages there. If they joined forces, they would be powerful enough to shake heaven and topple the earth.

The reason Yang Qi had immediately gone into hiding after taking Silvermoon was that he knew he would have no way to fight a Great Sage.

“Not good. Devil-God Seal!” He quickly shrank the Grand Emperor's Pagoda down to the size of a particle, and placed it inside of him.

At the same time, he used the Devil-God Seal to conceal his aura, to the point where it almost seemed like he didn’t exist.

Divine will swept through the lands, passing over Yang Qi before continuing on into the distance.

He didn’t move, much less loosen the Devil-God Seal. He just lay there quietly as if asleep.

Before long, another stream of divine will approached, searched the area, and then departed.

It happened six times, and every time, the will was stronger and different than before. In fact, Yang Qi was able to get a sense of how strong these Great Sages were, simply by undergoing their search.

By now, he knew quite a few secrets about cultivation. For example, the Great Sage level was broken up into nine ranks, each one of which was more terrifying than the one before it. Just like the Legendary level, each rank involved different magical laws, and different enlightenment of the mysteries of heaven and earth. All of it led toward the path of immortal ascension.

Great Sages gathered heaven motes, which would eventually be converted into immortal motes. Upon reaching the ultimate peak, they would become Demi-Immortals, and would tread the path of immortality.

According to some legends, many years in the past, the Demi-Immortal level had been called the Half-Immortal level.

As for the Great Sage level, the more heaven motes and immortal motes one built up, the stronger one would be.

From what Yang Qi could tell, those six streams of divine will actually did not measure up to the enigmatic chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute. The chancellor was a mysterious individual, and unexpectedly, he was actually stronger than any of the Great Sages from the Western Continent. Now it made sense why the Western Continent, who was backed by the Hanging Mountain, hadn’t invaded the Rich-Lush Continent.

Of course, even the weakest of these six expressions of divine will was far more powerful than Yang Qi. Unless he was aided by the God Legion Seal, he would die in a fight with one.

Therefore, he didn’t dare to do anything other than lay there quietly.

The aura of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda did not conform to the Western Continent, making it very easy to detect. Although it had inherent powers of concealment, Yang Qi’s cultivation base was still too weak to fully employ them. It wasn't a matter of lack of true energy, but rather, a simple result of cultivation base level. After three or four more breakthroughs, he wouldn’t have this problem anymore.

Once he was in the Personal-Domain Transformation, and could form the God Legion Paradise, then even low-level Great Sages would be forced to flee from him or die.

Therefore, he drew on what powers of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda that he could, and also his Devil-God Seal, to try to keep himself completely hidden. He became wreathed in primal-chaos, separate from the three realms and divorced from the five phases. [1]

The combination of the Devil-God Seal with the Grand Emperor's Pagoda was virtually impenetrable, and was more than enough to hide Yang Qi from the divine will of a Great Sage.

Furthermore, because of the hordes of devil-ghosts that existed around and in the Western Continent, as well as the hell monsoons that battered it, his aura was even less likely to be noticed.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘I need to get back to the Rich-Lush Continent as quickly as possible. I've done what I came here to do.’ Now that he had the spirit stones he had come for, the safest thing to do was go back home.

After all, there was a treaty between the two continents that prohibited Great Sages from entering one of the other continents. Without that agreement in place, it would be too easy for conflicts to break out, and war to erupt.

If Great Sages fought, it could wreak havoc on entire continents, and nobody wanted chaos like that.

Having made his decision, Yang Qi flew out of the abandoned mine, and blurred into motion toward the border region of the Western Continent. He kept close to the ground, and was careful not to release any of his aura. Obviously, he was in great danger, and if he revealed his location, he would likely end up buried there.

‘It's too bad I can’t get my hands on just a few more spirit stones,’ he thought. ‘And so much for my dream of finding some immortal stones.’ The only reason he might have stayed behind in the Western Continent was to break through to the Space-Void Transformation, by means of the fiend-devils that existed in the strange aspects of space-time around it.

Nowadays, using his Hell Portal in the Rich-Lush Continent wasn't very effective.

Although he wanted to stay behind, six Great Sages were combing the lands for him, tightening the net to the point where eventually they would locate him no matter how he hid. Clearly, sticking around the Western Continent to try to further his cultivation would be a mistake.

However, he still had time to get back home.

Thankfully, he hadn’t traveled very far into the depths of the continent, so it only took him a few hours to reach the shore, where he flew out over the ocean, and eventually found himself at the end of the world, where the dimensional barrier existed.

Once he passed the barrier, he would be in the Rich-Lush Continent, and would be safe from the enemy Great Sages, at least, as long as they weren’t interested in waging war.

‘Almost home,’ he thought. With that, he drew on the powers of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to accelerate toward the barrier.

However, that was when something completely unexpected happened.

The previously flimsy barrier actually rebuffed the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. The instant Yang Qi hit it, the boundless might of a sage erupted out, pushing him backward toward the continent itself.

‘Crap!’ he thought, his heart sinking. Despite having thought the matter through from every angle he could consider, he didn’t realize that the Great Sages of the Western Continent could use their powers to strengthen the barrier to the Rich-Lush Continent.

And now that he had failed to pass through the barrier, his location had been revealed.

Instantly, the Great Sages turned their attention in his direction.

There was no time for thinking or planning. If he didn’t escape immediately, he would perish beyond the shadow of a doubt.

Glancing around, he realized that there were many locations in the greyspace of the Western Continent that had been corroded by hell monsoons. Beyond the greyspace, space-time was in chaos, and danger abounded. Furthermore, he had no idea what existed out there. For all he knew, if he went out, he would never find his way back.

But given the circumstances, he didn’t feel that he had any other choice.

RUMBLE!

Without any hesitation, he shot through the greyspace toward the masses of fiend-devils and fractured space-time that existed outside of it. As he did, a massive wave of power surged forth, smashing into the area he had just occupied, and causing masses of seawater to evaporate in the blink of an eye.

It was the power of a Great Sage.

The space-time in the area around Yang Qi shattered, and at the same time, countless fiend-devils were shredded to pieces, including their demon cores.

Yang Qi didn’t even need to look over his shoulder to know that there was an enormous hand reaching toward him, smashing everything in its path. He didn’t know whether it was illusory or real, but it was hundreds of kilometers from end to end, and filled with layer upon layer of glowing light. And in the palm of the hand, there was a bundle of radiance and light that was like a sun.

It was none other than a heaven mote.

When heaven motes were used, magical laws could easily be distorted.

If that hand reached him, he would be wiped out of existence. He was a mere Spirit-Soul Legendary, and was far, far too weak. Even the power of three hundred thousand ancient megamammoths was ant-like in comparison with a Great Sage.

“Open up!” he shouted, activating the summoning powers of his Hell Portal. Instantly, a river-like deluge of fiend-devils poured out behind him, causing a veritable army to spring up between him and that enormous hand.

Meanwhile, he shot toward the eternal and unknowable space-time beyond the Western Continent. He had no idea how he would ever get home, but at least he was escaping the Great Sages.

Unfortunately, it seemed as though his efforts were in vain.

The enormous hand didn’t slow down, much less stop moving. The tens upon tens of thousands of fiend-devils were wiped out of existence as though they were a mist being waved away, even those in the sixth Legendary transformation. And the hand kept moving.

1. The “three realms” is a real term, and there are varying dictionary definitions for it. According to Wikipedia, it has been translated as “Trailokya”, “three worlds,” “three spheres,” “three planes of existence,” “three realms” and “three regions.” There are varying definitions in the dictionaries I use, including an article-length explanation in the Buddhist-themed C to E dictionary I frequently consult. If you want to delve into the subject, check out the Wikipedia article. That said, the author actually provides his own “custom” definition of the term, about 1,200 chapters from now. I'm serious. That’s when the explanation comes. For now, just take the “three realms” to be something to do with three divisions of reality or existence.