Sage Monarch

‘Sword Seventeen?’ Yang Qi replied, not sure what was going on. ‘Invincible Society? Your Master sent you to pick me up?’

‘You’re Yang Qi, right?’ Sword Seventeen said. ‘The same guy who killed those megamammoths back in the Hanging Mountain? Winner of the training competition? Killer of Chief Lion, who was an eighth step Without Limit Sage? We've heard about you here in the Titan Emperor Collegium, and my Master, the leader of the Invincible Society, has been waiting for you to show up. He wanted to convince you to join our society before any of the others recruited you. It would have been a shame for our society to lose a genius like you. Who would have thought that Sanitus Maximus would actually try to steal your Titan Emperor Medallion. It’s a crime that makes me furious just thinking about it.’

‘So we just leave the city magistrate here and go to the Invincible Society?’ Yang Qi asked.

‘Exactly. Come on, let’s go.’

SWISHHH!

The two of them flew into the air.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going? You killed my son! You’re crazy if you think I'm going to let you off the hook. Get back here. Hegemon Subdues the Dragon!”

RUMBLE!

City Magistrate Sanitus extended his hand, and then swept it from left to right. Shooting up into the air after Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen, he resummoned his Dragon-Subduing Sage Domain, and also activated the warding magics and spell formations of Sanitus.

“Screw off!” Yang Qi said, spinning in place and sending a fist strike back at the city magistrate.

It was the Hand of the One God, backed by the Blood of the One God, which caused cracks to spread out through the air and magical laws to swirl into a tempest.

The Jambudvīpa Deluge, Night Queen Flame, Amber Avalanche, and Eternal Godwind all appeared, along with a soft chanting that praised the legion of gods.

Smack!

The Dragon-Subduing Sage Domain shattered again and the city magistrate was sent tumbling out of the sky.

“I’ll let you off the hook this time, fool!” Yang Qi said. “But don't ever let me see your face again!”

With that, he unleashed another fist strike, destroying all of the barriers from the warding magics and causing the entire city to shake. Then he followed Sword Seventeen and vanished without a trace.

‘He’s only a second step Great Sage?!’ City Magistrate Sanitus was so shaken and terrified that he nearly coughed up blood. Not only was he enraged, he was humiliated and grieving for his son. ‘That was definitely Sword Seventeen from the Invincible Society. Everyone in that society is a freak. And that Yang Qi isn’t even a full student yet, but he defeated me with a single fist strike? I’m a ninth step Epic Saga Sage! Wait, have I unknowingly regressed in my cultivation?’

After a moment passed, he regained his composure, but was still shaking with fear because of Yang Qi’s fist strike.

“What do we do, City Magistrate?” one of the elders asked. “The young master is dead, killed by Sword Seventeen. There’s no way we’ll be able to get revenge. The Invincible Society is full of freaks and hellions. And their leader, the Invincible Dugu, is ruthless and violent. He kills people like a farmer harvests wheat! There’s no way our tiny Sanitus could possibly fight him.” [1]

“I won’t let those two off the hook for my son’s death,” growled the city magistrate. “I’ll definitely make them pay for what they did. The Invincible Society might be full of freaks and hellions, but there are lots of other societies that can rival them.”

** 

Sword Seventeen led Yang Qi into an enormous wormhole. Planets flew by, and in the blink of an eye they reached a location where a massive temple complex floated in the middle of heaven. Hovering in the air above it were three enormous characters written in the script of the immortal worlds: Titan Emperor Collegium.

“Junior Brother, as soon as our Master, the Invincible Dugu, heard about your deeds, he wanted to recruit you. The truth is that when it comes to fighting strength and ability, the Invincible Society is the best of the best in the Titan Emperor Collegium. There are other societies with impressive names, such as the Heaven's Origin Society, the Ultimate World Society, the War Divinity Society, and so on. All of them could be considered our rivals, and all of us are always on the lookout to recruit top geniuses. Junior Brother, you knocked City Magistrate Sanitus out of the sky with a single punch just now, which was completely incredible! Master will be very pleased when he hears about it.”

Sword Seventeen seemed to be very frank and honest in the way he spoke. In fact, it almost seemed like the two of them had been friends and fellow disciples for years.

It was quite amazing to Yang Qi; this was the first time anyone had tried to recruit him in such a manner. Considering the performance Sword Seventeen had just put on, Yang Qi had to admit that the Invincible Society seemed impressive. Sword Seventeen hadn’t seemed inferior to the city magistrate in any way. With what seemed like little more than a wave of his hand, he had killed the man’s son, which was no simple thing to do considering the gap of four levels between them.

Yang Qi was definitely interested in learning more about this Invincible Society.

The sight which met his eyes now was a sprawling complex of beautiful architecture that appeared to have no end. In fact, the way it seemed to go on forever made it look almost like an illusion.

However, it was no illusion. This was the Titan Emperor Collegium, where top experts had gathered since the most ancient of times. Even the primal-chaos elder-immortals had to obey this immortal collegium.

“Junior Brother, look—that's the Invincible Society just up ahead.”

Sword Seventeen produced a paper talisman which he used to enter into the region of palaces, then led Yang Qi to one particular building that was made from stone, although it was impossible to tell what type of stone it was. It was mottled, as if with age, and even had vestiges of bloodstains, as though countless devil-gods had been slaughtered in its presence.

There was something extremely domineering about the entire place.

Sword Seventeen landed in the outer courtyard of the palace and yelled, “Elder Brother, Elder Sister! I brought the winner of the Hanging Mountain training competition here. It’s Yang Qi.”

“What? You've been away for a while now, Junior Brother. So, you finally got him?” A young woman appeared, holding a scroll book and dressed in extravagant courtly attire. She appeared calm and educated, almost as though she didn’t practice any energy arts at all. However, Yang Qi got the feeling that it was an act and that inside, she had virtually unlimited power.

“This is Elder Sixteenth Sister,” Sword Seventeen explained. “By the way, our Invincible Society has the smallest membership of any of the societies. Not counting Master, there are only seventeen of us. I'm the lowest ranking of all of us. Pretty soon, Junior Brother, you’ll be the eighteenth member.” Sword Seventeen suddenly burst out laughing. “Hey, there’s finally going to be someone ranked lower than me!”

“What?” Yang Qi blurted in surprise. “The Invincible Society only has seventeen members? And it’s the top society in the entire Titan Emperor Collegium? Wait, the Titan Emperor Collegium controls the Four Wilds planetary systems, and is the top educational establishment in existence. And the very name of the Invincible Society seems to imply that it has a plethora of top experts and geniuses. How could it only have seventeen members?” Yang Qi was really confused. Even from the incident in Sanitus, it was possible to see what the Central Planetary River was like. After all, all of the guards in Sanitus were Great Sages.

He remembered his mother telling him that the Titan Emperor Collegium had more experts than the sky had clouds and a veritable sea of Great Sages, as many as the stars in the sky. And now, he was being told that this supposedly invincible society had only eighteen members plus the Master? It seemed to be a very low number to Yang Qi.

“You don’t understand, Junior Brother,” Sword Seventeen said. “Our Invincible Society didn’t earn its reputation by having a lot of members. Master has never accepted a second-rate disciple. Every single person in our society is a force of nature on their own, even me. Nobody under the Demi-Immortal level could possibly kill me. Why would we want trashy morons who can’t even fight people higher than their level? It would be a big waste of resources, right?”

“He’s exactly right,” Elder Sixteenth Sister said. “By the way, Yang Qi, while it’s true that Master wants you to be the eighteenth disciple, you’ll still have to participate in the school’s entrance ceremony. Only then will you be able to join a society. The only reason we brought you here today is to convince you to join us when the time comes. It's been a long time since Master accepted anybody new. Whenever he does, it's a big deal in the Titan Emperor Collegium, and even in the Four Wilds as a whole.”

“Oh really?” Yang Qi said. He still wasn’t very convinced.

“That’s right,” someone else said. This time, a young scholar appeared, empty-handed and clad in an azure garment. He had delicate features, but exuded an aura that made him seem like he was one with heaven.

‘He’s a Demi-Immortal!’ Yang Qi thought. Clearly, this young scholar was in the Demi-Immortal level. The most casual movement on his part could create drastic transformations to the world.

“This is Elder Tenth Brother, Yan Weiyi,” Sword Seventeen said. “Everyone from Eldest Brother to Elder Tenth Brother is a Demi-Immortal.” [2]

“What?” Yang Qi said. “Hold on, if the top ten are Demi-Immortals, then how strong is the society chief?”

“You’ll have to wait until you meet Master in person before you find out about that, little Junior Brother,” said Elder Tenth Brother Yan Weiyi. “Trying to explain beforehand wouldn't do any good. Anyway, the point is that our Invincible Society only accepts top geniuses as members. Our venerable Master heard about your performance during the training competition in the Hanging Mountain and was impressed. Look—even our lowest ranking Junior Seventeenth Brother, a mere fifth step Great Sage, can actually destroy ninth step opponents.”

“Alright, enough jabbering, Elder Tenth Brother,” said Elder Sixteenth Sister. “Now that Yang Qi is here, why not just ask him if he wants to join us? If he doesn’t, that’s fine, we don't need to pressure him.”

Yan Weiyi nodded. “Well, Yang Qi, what do you say? Want to join us? We won't force you. You’re free to pick anybody, even the Heaven's Origin Society or the War Divinity Society. Societies like them have millions of members, sometimes even billions. They’re basically armies. If you’re the type who likes to have lots of people around you, that’s fine. It’ll just mean we’re not connected by destiny.”

Yang Qi thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll join.”

It was true that the Invincible Society had fewer members, but they were all exceptional individuals. And it seemed that their Master, the Invincible Dugu, was a very unique person.

Elder Tenth Brother Yan Weiyi’s face lit up with a smile. “Alright! Well, let’s get going to the entrance ceremony.”

1. The surname Dugu is fairly significant in Chinese fantasy novels. One of the most famous characters in wuxia is Dugu Qiubai, an invincible swordsman from the novels of Jin Yong. It seems likely to me that the Invincible Dugu is a nod to Dugu Qiubai. More information, start here.

2. Yan Weiyi: Yan is a surname but is also a common component of the word “yama”. Wei means “protect, guard, defend” and Yi means “clothing, clothes”.