Sage Monarch

RUMBLE!

Numerous spatial barriers within the World of Mirages shattered as a host of powerful experts closed in on the divine boat.

The students participating in the entrance ceremony were all elite figures, yet an immortal item was something that even they would rarely encounter. In fact, there were only three ways that most people could get one: by randomly stumbling across one, stealing one, or being given one by the immortal world.

No one present had ever heard of a situation in which the Titan Emperor Collegium would give one out freely.

“True Bronze Grand Destruction Hand!”

The first to close in on the item was none other than the burly Tai Cangyi from the Truebronzefolk along with the more than ten experts he had working with him. Tai Cangyi was an eighth step Without Limit Sage, except his energy arts, magical skills, strength, and power all surpassed that of ordinary Great Sages of the same level.

Plus, the friends he had working with him were all famous Great Sages who could unleash consummate techniques and powers of a similar level.

One of the most eye-catching to Yang Qi was a young man with silver hair who exuded icy coldness that could only come from the fabled Icejade Ultrafrigid Body. He was from another of the ancient human races who had unique body types. He naturally had ultrafrigid energy flowing in his meridians, which could freeze things for hundreds of kilometers around him.

With more than ten such individuals working together, it seemed like a force that could dominate the other students and possibly take all of the treasures.

In addition to this immortal item, there were plenty of other things to be had, such as power seeds, sage motes, demon cores, and scriptures of enlightenment regarding great daos. Everyone present was going to go all out in the fighting, especially considering that they didn’t need to worry about dying.

Laughing heartily, Tai Cangyi glowed with blinding bronze light as he made his move, sending out an attack that slammed into a handful of students, provoking screams as they crumbled into dust.

Moments later, those students appeared outside of the World of Mirages, their faces ashen. Although they hadn’t truly died, the drainage to their vital energy from their ‘deaths’ in the World of Mirages would not be easily recovered from.

“That group is so fierce!” said one of the newly reborn students. “They kill without even blinking. I didn't even get close to that Golden Dragonscale Godskiff before they destroyed me.”

“Their leader is Tai Cangyi from the Truebronzefolk. In fact, that whole group is from that ancient coalition of human races called the Everlasting Alliance. It was made up of the Truebronzefolk, Starlightfolk, Spritefolk, Frigidfolk, Dragonbonefolk, and a bunch of other mutant humans. They surpass ordinary Humanfolk in many ways. Most of those ancient races fell into a state of decline ages ago. But now, it seems they’ve revived their previous alliance and are trying to rise to prominence again. I wonder why the Titan Emperor Collegium is trying to recruit people like that.”

“The Titan Emperor Collegium has mutant races in it too. For example, the society chief of the Everlasting Society, Wan Zhenshan, is also a mutant human. Because of that, he openly supports the Everlasting Alliance.”

“Hmph! How disgusting. We're geniuses too, and we went through a lot to get here. After the training competitions, we got our chance to join the Titan Emperor Collegium, rise to the top, and become famous in all of the Four Wilds. But now we’re going to be stuck as freshman students with no society to back us. I'm not going to forget about what the Everlasting Alliance did to me!”

Another of the students who had just been reborn looked around nervously and said, “Uh… keep it down. We lost, alright? Stick your tail between your legs and don't say things like that. If the wrong people heard you, we could end up actually dead. The Titan Emperor Collegium has a very strict ranking system, and if you’re not strong enough you can be executed at the drop of a hat.”

All of a sudden, a handful of higher-ranking students walked over. 

“Hey, what are you losers talking about?” 

“From here on out, you’re all failures, and will be measly freshman students. Understand? You now have the lowest rank possible and will be given the most meaningless tasks. In fact, your first job is to put on your freshman uniform and come with us to a mining planetary system. After three years of hard labor, you’ll have a chance to be promoted from freshman students to ordinary students.”

“What? Mining? For three years? Forget it, I'm not doing that.”

POP!

The student who had just spoken suddenly found himself being slapped across the side of the face, causing him to spit up a bit of blood.

“You don't know what's good for you, do you?” said the higher-ranking student. “Fall in line, you hear? Freshman students have no authority to haggle. If you keep this up, then I’ll follow the letter of the law, and either imprison you for life or just execute you. And don’t forget that your clans will get dragged into the situation. We recruit students from the Four Wilds planetary systems to serve the Titan Emperor Collegium, not to live lives of luxury.”

“Of course, of course….” The failed students knew that they could do nothing about the situation, therefore, they quickly donned their freshman uniforms and headed toward the mines.

“Those poor freshman students have no power at all,” Yan Weiyi said, sighing. “They might as well be slaves. But that’s just how the Titan Emperor Collegium works. If you fail to succeed when you should have, then you don’t qualify to rise in the ranks.”

“Elder Brother Yan,” Sword Seventeen said, “do you think the same thing is going to happen to Junior Eighteenth Brother? What happens if he gets killed and then forced to be a freshman student? That Tai Cangyi is from the Truebronzefolk. If he and the other mutant humans from the Everlasting Alliance gang up on Junior Eighteenth Brother, I worry that he might not be able to hold out.”

“He’ll be fine!” Yan Weiyi said with a decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron. “I trust Master in this. He picked Junior Eighteenth Brother after performing divinations regarding the rotation of the universe itself.”

“Now that I think about it,” Flower Fern said, “I suspect that if I were in there fighting those mutant humans and they all ganged up on me, even I might have a difficult time holding my own. I sure hope Junior Eighteenth Brother does well. You know, I wonder if this is actually the Everlasting Society and other society chiefs trying to cut Master down a notch. Maybe they learned that he was going to accept an eighteenth disciple, so they gathered a bunch of geniuses to pose as students and kill him. That would be a real slap in the face to Master, as well as a blow to the reputation of our Invincible Society. We've always been an unconventional group here, few in numbers, but completely overpowered in strength. I mean, Eldest Brother is the number one student in the entire collegium and everyone is jealous of him. There are definitely people who will take any opportunity they can to attack us.”

Yan Weiyi suddenly nodded in agreement. “You could be right, Junior Sixteenth Sister. In the end, we just have to wait to see how Junior Eighteenth Brother handles himself in there.”

Back in the World of Mirages, the fight for the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff was well underway. The boat itself was thousands of meters long and was floating there emanating the purest golden color possible, almost like burning flames.

Those with cultivation bases too low wouldn’t even be able to get close to it.

The thing wasn't inanimate; it had a spirit, and one that an ordinary Great Sage would never be able to tame.

BOOOM!

Explosions rang out left and right as hosts of students unleashed deadly techniques, trying to get control of the boat.

“Prepare to die!”

Tai Cangyi and his fellow mutant humans joined forces to release an incredibly powerful attack. And yet there were so many people involved in the massive fight that not even they could take the boat right away.

All of the numerous students in the entrance ceremony were elite experts, plenty of whom could stand toe to toe with Tai Cangyi and his alliance.

“You pieces of trash! How dare you resist me and my Everlasting Alliance! I'm going to destroy all of you! Out of my way!” All of a sudden, Tai Cangyi unleashed a burst of immense power in the form of a pearl that burned as brightly as the sun. In fact, the light was so intense that it was almost like a liquid that began to melt everything around it.

Muttering in an ancient language, he said, “Heaven and Earth be the Stove; Good Fortune is the Tongs. Yin and Yang be the Coal; All Creation becomes Bronze!” [1]

Then he shouted, “Myriad Bronzes Divine Pellet! Immortal item, come forth!”

C-C-CRACK!

In the blink of an eye, a bronze pellet shot up into the air and a bronze aura spread out, shoving away the nearby students.

Swish!

Tai Cangyi flew right onto the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff, then sent out streams of bronze energy in an attempt to take control of it.

“Another immortal item! That Myriad Bronzes Divine Pellet is an immortal item from the Truebronzefolk. I can’t believe that Tai Cangyi has it!”

“Let’s retreat for now.”

“Damnation. I can’t believe that Tai Cangyi got the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff.”

“The Everlasting Alliance is really baring its teeth.”

Now that Tai Cangyi actually had the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff and was branding it with his warding spells, there was no way the other experts would do anything other than sigh and flee in fear.

Although many of the experts present were just as strong as Tai Cangyi, the fact that he had acquired another immortal item was like adding wings to a tiger. And everyone knew that there were likely other treasures in the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff, such as medicinal pills, spirit stones, or maybe even immortal stones.

“Let’s go. There are other treasures to be had in the World of Mirages. Just let Tai Cangyi and his Everlasting Alliance have the immortal item.” Everyone turned to leave.

However, in that moment a beam of sagelight fell from above.

Within it was a huge hand, which moved with unstoppable momentum until it was right above the Golden Dragonscale Godskiff.

When it hit, a huge boom rang out and the enraged Tai Cangyi was sent tumbling away.

1. The original rhyme scheme is actually ABAB, but I couldn't quite make that work, so we have ABCB.