Sage Monarch

After the fight between Young Master Shroud-Heaven, Hua Tianxiong, and the Crown Prince, Great Sage Shroud-Heaven had gone to the Superheaven Badlands, not to kill the Crown Prince, but to work out a deal. In the end, he was able to resurrect his son, and, just like Hua Tianxiong, bring him back even closer to the Great Sage level.

“Young Master Shroud-Heaven, I heard that the Crown Prince reached the Great Sage level, but then got killed. Even your father said that he had limitless potential, and yet now, he’s dead.”

The group surrounding Young Master Shroud-Heaven were peppering him with conversation.

“Yeah, that's right. Who could have guessed that somebody would come out of nowhere and kill the Crown Prince? I heard it was some guy named Yang Qi. Apparently, he set up some deadly spell formation that killed, not only the Crown Prince, but eighteen other Great Sages. All six of the Western Continent’s Great Sages were killed, as well as nine from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. And three from the Rich-Lush Continent were killed too. And that Yang Qi is only a Legendary.”

Young Master Shroud-Heaven sighed. “I’m not sure where that Yang Qi is really from, but he’s strong. He even managed to kill the Crown Prince.”

“For a Legendary to kill a Great Sage is completely unprecedented,” one of the demonoids said. “He must have some sort of incredibly powerful treasure. Although, I heard that he's working with Ghost Emperor Yama. Maybe Ghost Emperor Yama was the one who actually killed the Crown Prince.”

Young Master Shroud-Heaven shook his head. “No, that’s not what happened. According to my information, Ghost Emperor Yama didn’t even participate in the fight. Yang Qi did it all himself. The matter really shook the Quake-Dawn Cathedral to the core. In fact, word has already reached the Hanging Mountain, and a lot of people are thinking of trying to capture Yang Qi and drag his secrets out of him. For example, what kind of energy art does he cultivate? Although, Ghost Emperor Yama is terrifyingly powerful, and could definitely cause it to rain blood if anyone went looking for trouble. It's definitely a better idea to just sit back and see what happens. And that’s not even to mention Yang Qi’s Demi-Immortal backer.”

Trembling, one of the demonoids said, “A Demi-Immortal? Well, that makes sense. A half-immortal is definitely far beyond our ability to deal with.”

“That's why I said to keep calm and just bide our time,” Young Master Shroud-Heaven reiterated. “What a pity the Crown Prince died so soon. I wonder if someone will resurrect him. He’s the type of crafty individual who always has a backup plan, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he left behind a seed of some sort that could lead to his resurrection. For example, my father mentioned that the Crown Prince actually acquired some of the legacy of King Immortal-Slayer, in the form of an identity medallion. Maybe he somehow left something in the medallion. They have mysterious powers and abilities, and can be used to kill devils and slay immortals. When they pick someone of destiny, and that person fails to live up to the legacy, the medallion will take the destiny away from them and transfer it to someone else. You know, I’d say it’s highly likely that, after the Crown Prince died, Yang Qi got that Immortal-Slayer’s medallion.”

“King Immortal-Slayer? I've never heard of him.”

“You’ll only read about him in ancient stories. He came from an immortal plane, which means that people like us would be nothing more than dust to him.”

“Young Master Shroud-Heaven, how do you plan to deal with Yang Qi? If you can kill him, then you could get the Immortal-Slayer’s medallion. If you combined his destiny with the Crown Prince’s, you would be unparalleled under heaven!”

“That’s not the kind of thing that can be done overnight. We have to wait to see how the wind blows. I’ve dealt with Yang Qi before, and I can tell you that, sooner or later, I’ll kill him and get that medallion. I'm in no hurry though. The pressing matter at hand is the Mandrake Auction Convention. I want to get that fragment of the Jade Swivel Immortal Mural to give to the Holy Mother on her decade-birthday.”

“Hey, this is the first decade-birthday for our new Holy Mother! It’s going to be a big occasion, and a lot of disciples are going to try to earn her favor by giving her amazing gifts. Whoever she favors will definitely go up in the world.”

“Sir, if you gain her favor, then you could theoretically get her support in your effort to propose to Great Sage Ultra-Heaven’s daughter! That would be a big win for you.”

“That’s right. The reigning Holy Mother rose to her position only about twenty years ago. Supposedly, back when she was only a holy daughter, she traveled to the Rich-Lush Continent, although that might just be a rumor.”

“Shut it!” Young Master Shroud-Heaven said, lowering his voice. “Spread wild rumors like that and you’re going to get yourself killed! Whatever the Holy Mother was like as a holy daughter doesn’t matter. It's forbidden to talk about it. Don’t you know how many Great Sages have been killed over the past twenty years or so, just because they spread rumors about her? Remember Great Sage Heaven-Crusher? He was imprisoned, and is now on death’s door. Shut up and never mention the Holy Mother’s past again.”

At this point, Young Master Shroud-Heaven and his group disappeared into another nearby building.

‘Holy Mother of the Hanging Mountain?’ Yang Qi thought, who had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation. ‘Rose to her position fifteen or twenty years ago? Was a holy daughter who visited the Rich-Lush Continent? Don’t tell me….’

“Nie Chaoguang, what do you know about the Holy Mother of the Hanging Mountain?” he asked.

“Well, you asked the right person about that,” Nie Chaoguang replied. “As an elite genius in the Spirit Origin Association, I have access to a lot of top-secret information. The Hanging Mountain is a holy mountain of the Demonfolk, and oversees countless planets and continents. They protect the legacy of certain demon-immortals from the heaven above, and offer worship to demon-gods. The mountain actually has two leaders. One of them is the Holy Mother, who is consecrated from among the many holy daughters, by the will of a demon-immortal descended from heaven. She is the official leader of the female Demonfolk.

“Usually, the Holy Mother will rule for ten thousand years or so, and then another will be selected. By this point, there have been dozens of them. From that you can deduce that the Hanging Mountain actually existed back in the days of the Yore-Wilds Continent. The current Holy Mother rose to power twenty years ago, and is the most controversial of any Holy Mother. Supposedly, when she was a holy daughter, she had an affair, although nobody could ever produce any hard evidence to prove it. Regardless, when she was chosen to assume office, it caused a lot of bloody fighting in the Hanging Mountain. 

“The other leader of the Hanging Mountain is called the August Patriarch, and he’s the official leader of the male Demonfolk. The August Patriarch was staunchly opposed to the appointment of the new Holy Mother, but she used all sorts of methods to quell the opposition and eventually stabilize her position. Nowadays, nobody even talks about those things, especially in the Hanging Mountain. Anyone who does gets brutally killed. In the end, this new Holy Mother has the reputation of being the strongest and most powerful in all history. And she's always meddling in the affairs of the August Patriarch and the male Demonfolk.”

“What is this Holy Mother’s name?” Yang Qi asked.

“The Holy Mother doesn’t have a name. She’s called Greensura, because that was the name of the original Demonfolk god-spirit who founded the Hanging Mountain. Throughout history, all of the Holy Mothers have been called Greensura.”

‘So, is she my mother?’ Yang Qi thought. ‘It’s hard to say right now. Supposedly, there are tens of thousands of holy daughters in the Hanging Mountain. More than the Demi-Immortal Institute has students. The chances for any of them in particular to become the new Holy Mother would be miniscule at best. But then there’s the part about her going to the Rich-Lush Continent. Hm… Maybe it really is her. In any case, I need to get to the Hanging Mountain and see her for myself. The downside is that my cultivation base definitely isn’t high enough. And if I really am her son, and word got out, it might get me killed.’

“By the way, what level is the Holy Mother’s cultivation base?” Yang Qi asked.

“Higher than a Great Sage,” Nie Chaoguang replied.

“What?! Are you saying she’s a Demi-Immortal? Wouldn’t that make her completely invincible?”

“She's definitely a Demi-Immortal, although, I’m not sure where she stands within the level. Compared to her, we’re like ants. In fact, we’re less than ants.” Nie Chaoguang sighed. “Yang Qi, it’s definitely going to take you a few thousand years before you become a Demi-Immortal. Although, you did kill eighteen Great Sages as a Personal-Domain Legendary. You know, not even any of the current Demi-Immortals did anything like that in their younger years.”

“Alright, enough jabbering. Come on, follow me. If I have to, I'm going to grab that Young Master Shroud-Heaven and force him to be my agent.” The two of them continued down the street toward the building that Young Master Shroud-heaven had entered, which was none other than the Hall of Mandrakes, the Hanging Mountain’s central location for foreign trade, and a source of massive income for them. As soon as Yang Qi neared the structure, he could sense the aura of immortal motes, and immense stores of spirit stones.

Young Master Shroud-Heaven had entered the building without being stopped, but Yang Qi and Nie Chaoguang had to speak to the Legendary guards.

“I'm Nie Chaoguang from the Spirit Origin Association. I'm here to participate in the auction convention.” Nie Chaoguang flashed his identity medallion.

“Oh?” the guard said. “Spirit Origin Association you say? Please, enter. Although, you still need to pay the entry fee. Ten royal-grade spirit stones.”

Without even blinking, Yang Qi tossed the man a hundred royal-grade spirit stones. “Here, take that and split the change among the guards. And get us a good seat while you’re at it.”

“Yes, yes of course….” The guards exchanged delighted glances, and then one of them stepped forward. “Come with me, I’ll lead you to the best and safest location. It’s the Heaven Suite; once you're inside, no one will be able to see your facial features clearly.”

“That’s perfect,” Yang Qi said. As they made their way through the auction house, Yang Qi looked around and saw quite a group of people already gathered, many of whom were Great Sages.

“What?” Nie Chaoguang suddenly murmured. “That’s Wilds Everlasting from the Grand-Wilds Mansion!”

Yang Qi followed his line of sight until he caught sight of a burly Great Sage who fairly radiated a sensation of power and splendor.

“He’s the son of the Wilds God, the leader of the Grand-Wilds Mansion!” Nie Chaoguang added.