Sage Monarch

As the discussion unfolded in the Invincible Society, Yang Qi came to an even better understanding of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

It had existed since the most primeval times, and its power actually surpassed that of immortals. Every so often, it would appear in the mortal world. When it did, those who were connected to it by fate would enter and be able to search for spectacular treasures. Those who returned would become powerful hegemons and overlords.

According to some of the ancient legends, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart was actually looking for a successor, a powerful master who, upon gaining the favor of the chart, would immediately become immortal. Not only would that person easily be able to pass through the myriad heavens, they would also be unrivalled when it came to battle.

The chart had last appeared ten thousand years ago, and had resulted in the rise of numerous powerful overlords. And now, it had returned.

One difference was that this time, the Invincible Society was one of the first to learn of the matter.

It was a major development, and the members of the Invincible Society wanted to take advantage of the situation to find the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart as quickly as possible and start collecting treasure.

In fact, that was why everyone had returned.

“According to my observations of the rotation of the universe and various divinations on magical laws, I'm fairly certain that the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart will appear somewhere in the Coiling Arc planetary system.”

Elder Second Brother Book Genius waved his finger, causing a map to appear in the air in the middle of the private chamber they occupied. It was a very detailed and realistic star chart, filled with a veritable river of stars and planets.

And Yang Qi didn’t recognize any of it.

He knew that the Yore-Wilds, Brute-Wilds, Proto-Wilds, and Waste-Wilds planetary systems were huge, with a virtually endless supply of planets and continents. But now that he was a member of the Titan Emperor Collegium, his worldview was changing again and he realized that the Four Wilds planetary system was actually a tiny corner of the universe.

There were other planetary systems beyond the Four Wilds, places that were even more spectacular and populous. [1]

“Junior Eighteenth Brother, this is a map of our Four Wilds planetary system, which contains a total of three hundred seventy-five million planets and roughly fifty million floating continents. As for the alternate dimensions, minor planes, minor worlds, and ancient ruins, well… there are too many to even count. This is the area governed by the Titan Emperor Collegium.”

Chuckling, Elder Seventh Brother Meng Shafan looked at Yang Qi and produced a large book that he tossed over. “Take this atlas of the starry sky and study it well, Junior Eighteenth Brother. It should give you a much better understanding of our planetary system.”

“Gotcha,” Yang Qi replied, taking the book and opening it up. It was filled with all sorts of pictures and images that rushed into his sea of consciousness. Shockingly, he didn’t have to work at all to memorize the information, it branded itself into his mind automatically.

In the blink of an eye, he experienced major enlightenment.

There was an enormous, swirling vortex of brightly shining heavenly bodies, roughly divided into four sections. Each section contained millions upon millions of planets, between which was the void, as well as countless snaking wormholes. There were also shattered planes, smaller worlds, and other tiny locations in the mix.

This was the Four Wilds planetary system.

After studying the information for a moment, Yang Qi began to identify individual planets. Eventually, his gaze reached a remote location the size of a dust mote, labeled as the Rich-Lush Continent. That, of course, was where his newly created Sage Monarch Continent existed. Not too far away from it were the various planes that made up the Hanging Mountain, as well as the pebble-sized Quake-Dawn Continent.

There were various powers within the Four Wilds planetary system, some large, some small. The smallest were the type that he could wipe out with a single breath. The largest, of course, was the Titan Emperor Collegium, which was floating in the middle of the Four Wilds like the sun, casting light out in all directions.

For roughly an hour, Yang Qi studied all of the new information and became familiar with it.

There were other planetary systems that bordered the Four Wilds, places which were not administered by the Titan Emperor Heaven.

Interestingly, although the Sage Monarch Continent was actually located in a remote corner of the Four Wilds planetary system, it was actually on the edge of a sprawling void and could be considered a border region. On the other side was a location administered by another heaven: the Megaplexus Heaven, an enormous place that was larger than the entire Four Wilds planetary system.

And the Sage Monarch Continent was right on the border between the two.

Suddenly, Yang Qi broke out in a cold sweat. ‘The Sage Monarch Continent is on the border. If the two planetary systems went to war, it would be the first place to get caught up in the crossfire. In fact, it would probably be destroyed right off the bat. It seems I really do need to make it a planet as soon as possible. Once my immortal child finishes his minor world, he’ll be able to lead the defenses there.’

“So, Junior Eighteenth Brother,” Book Genius said, “now you have a basic understanding of the Four Wilds planetary system and its environs. To the east of us is the planetary system controlled by the Scorching Warrior Heaven, and to the south is Fathomless Purity Heaven. To the west is the Coiling Arc Heaven, and finally, to the north, the Megaplexus Heaven. All four of those planetary systems have collegiums similar to our Titan Emperor Collegium, which produce the top talents of their generation. As I mentioned, all of my calculations point to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart being somewhere in the territory of the Coiling Arc Heaven. We’ll need to go to that planetary system, and of course, be extremely careful as we do so. One wrong step and we could end up dead. Unfortunately, I don’t have the precise coordinates, which means we’ll need to split up to investigate. Without numbers on our side, it will be a very dangerous situation. Keep that in mind at all times.”

“Of course,” Yang Qi replied coolly. “Don’t worry, Elder Second Brother. There are a lot of people in this world who want to kill me, but not many of them will ever stand a chance of succeeding.”

“Fine. So the plan is to enter the territory of the Coiling Arc Heaven and find the entrance nodes leading to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. If you find one, fuse with it immediately.

“Remember, this thing only comes around once every ten thousand years or so. When it does, clues will pop up pointing to its arrival and location. I already tracked down enough evidence to confirm that it will appear in the mortal world very soon. If you find an entrance node and fuse with it, you’ll enter the chart and the node will close behind you. Finding your way out later will be difficult, but not impossible. For people like us, it will just take some time. Understand? Very well, here is the specific plan I worked out, with assignments for everyone. We’ll all head in a different direction….”

The discussion in the Invincible Society went on for three days and three nights, which was quite a cram session of information for Yang Qi, but, thankfully, he now had a fairly good understanding of the Titan Emperor Collegium, the Four Wilds planetary system, and the surrounding planetary systems.

The mission at hand was clear. Each disciple was assigned a different destination in the Coiling Arc planetary system, a place Elder Second Brother was fairly certain would contain an entrance node. Upon arriving, each disciple would need to track down the spatial node, fuse with it, and enter the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to search for treasure.

At a certain point, Elder Second Brother said, “Very well, we've talked the matter over in detail over the past three days and nights and you all know what to do. Now, the time has come to part ways. Remember, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart will definitely appear soon, and whether or not you find it will be up to your own fates. Thankfully, we have plenty of time to carry out the search and confirm the location of the entrance nodes.”

Elder Second Brother rose to his feet, gave Yang Qi a nod, and shattered into a host of glowing dots of light which faded away into nothing.

“Farewell, Brothers and Sisters. Take care!” One by one, the other members of the Invincible Society said their farewells and departed.

Even Yan Weiyi, Sword Seventeen, and Flower Fern left.

Before long, the Invincible Society was empty except for Yang Qi.

‘This Invincible Society really is full of a bunch of weirdos,’ Yang Qi thought, shaking his head. They came and went as they pleased, without a care in the world and completely at ease.

‘Well, I think I should probably head back to the Sage Monarch Continent first to make sure my immortal child fuses with the essence of the lands. According to Elder Second Brother, the immortal world will soon send down proclamations about the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Once that happens, there’s definitely going to be a lot of bloody fighting going on….” Blurring into motion, he vanished.

Now that he was a student of the Titan Emperor Collegium, and a member of the Invincible Society, his position within the Four Wilds was ten times higher than that of the Hanging Mountain.

But there was no way he was going to just forget about the Sage Monarch Continent.

Once he was out in the open, he unfurled his Angel Wings and pierced through space to leave the heavenly palace that was the Titan Emperor Collegium. With the mark of the Invincible Society that he had now, no one dared to block his path.

Technically, he was only a consecrated student, which was a relatively low rank. But everyone viewed the Invincible Society as being full of freaks, and right now nobody was going to risk causing problems by picking on him.

In the blink of an eye, he was out in the Central Planetary River and heading back toward the Yore-Wilds planetary system.

There were a pair of vicious eyes tracking Yang Qi as he left, which belonged to a yellow-robed student. 

“That little brat is finally gone. Well, what do you think? How are we supposed to deal with him?”

“It's simple,” another student said. “Just wait for the right opportunity to kidnap his family and use them to threaten him. He’s keeping secrets, that's for sure. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to tweak the magical laws of life and death. Besides, he’s the son of the Hanging Mountain’s Holy Mother and that person.”

“I've already done some checking,” yet another student said, “and can confirm that he is that person’s son. Maybe he even knows some of the secrets relating to him.”

“That person is a taboo subject in the Titan Emperor Collegium. No wonder the Invincible Dugu wanted this Yang Qi as a disciple. By the way, what cultivation level has the Holy Mother of the Hanging Mountain reached by now?”

All of a sudden, an elder in a long white robe appeared. “What’s being discussed here?”

“Elder White Stone….” the students all said, bowing at the waist.

This was the very same Elder White Stone from the Everlasting Society whose arm Yan Weiyi had severed. Somehow, his arm was now reattached.

One of the students clasped hands respectfully and said, “Elder White Stone, sir, we were just keeping an eye on the Invincible Society. All of the fiends returned and had a meeting for three days and three nights. Then they vanished, including Yang Qi.”

“But that was after Yang Qi went into seclusion for a few months of cultivation. It seems to me he didn’t achieve a breakthrough.”

“Oh? So he’s having trouble with breakthroughs?” A serious expression appeared on Elder White Stone’s face. “That brat definitely has a high level of enlightenment regarding his cultivation base. If he can’t achieve a breakthrough, it means that this heaven and earth is too weak. So he's that strong…. It seems that the key to dealing with him is the Holy Mother herself….”

1. As I mentioned a while back, there can be planetary systems within planetary systems.