Sage Monarch

As the huge fleet rumbled toward the Sage Monarch Continent, Yang Qi’s immortal clone could sense powerful wills pulsing within it.

As he faced the fleet, a very serious expression could be seen on his face. It came from the holy land of cultivation across the Dark True Void, the Megaplexus planetary system. It was rife with signs of Demi-Immortals, which meant that it was more powerful than any enemy force Yang Qi had ever faced.

Already, the clone felt an overwhelming sensation of danger.

Back when Yang Qi had been in the Titan Emperor Collegium, he had experienced a premonition that the Sage Monarch Continent would face danger in the near future. After all, if invaders came, the Sage Monarch Continent would be one of the first things they encountered. But he could never have predicted that the danger would be like this.

As soon as the immortal child realized what was happening, he passed the message to his true self, who was currently flying toward the Coiling Arc planetary system. 

When Yang Qi realized that his family and his home were in danger, he immediately abandoned any thoughts of searching for the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Spinning in place, he headed back toward the Sage Monarch Continent at top speed, simultaneously sending a message to his mother in the Hanging Mountain.

RUMBLE!

The fleet stopped just outside of the Sage Monarch Continent’s greyspace, where it began to build up godpower to unleash a massive blow.

Deeper in the flagship than the bridge was the palace deck, where ten elders sat. All of them were Demi-Immortals. The highest ranking of them all wore a violet robe and had eyes that sparkled with violet energy.

He was the most powerful of them, an old-timer named Northstar First-Rank, who served as the admiral of the fleet. [1]

With a thought, he reached out to the Demi-Immortal on the bridge. “Target the continent’s greyspace,” he said, “but don’t damage the continent in the process. And once they’re inside, the first priority should be to capture the rulers.”

Meanwhile, on the bridge, the Demi-Immortal passed the message along. “Be careful when you unleash the godpower. You absolutely, positively must not destroy the continent itself. And don't kill anyone. Although these people are mere ants, they’re still valuable. Each and every one of them represents a huge amount of wealth.”

“Yes sir.” The more than one hundred young Epic Saga Sages immediately complied.

However, that was when a tall, strapping figure appeared atop the greyspace of the Sage Monarch Continent. It was none other than Ghost Emperor Yama, who looked up fearfully at the fleet and sent out a stream of energy to cover the continent.

Suddenly, two figures blurred into shape in front of Ghost Emperor Yama, a young man and a young woman. 

“Don’t waste your time,” the young man said. “A weakling like you might as well be an ant compared to us. I didn’t even realize people so pitiful existed.”

From the expressions on the faces of this young man and woman, they viewed themselves as noble, civilized people who had encountered a savage barbarian for the first time.

“I’m Northstar Myth of the Northstar Clan in the Megaplexus planetary system. This is Northstar Jade.” With that, the two of them just looked at Ghost Emperor Yama, as if they expected him to drop to his knees, kowtow, and beg for mercy. 

“So,” Northstar Jade said, “this is a monster from the Hell of Yamas. Unfortunately, his hellish blood is too weak. He must be one of those lesser fiend-devils. And look, he’s only an eighth step Great Sage. I guess that’s enough to make him a ruler of a place like this. In the ruins of the Yore-Wilds, eighth step fiend-devils are probably rare, but in the Northstar Continent they’re a dime a dozen. Alright, fiend-devil. Get on your knees and beg for mercy. Then hand over your continent and all of its people and treasure.”

At this point, Yang Qi’s clone appeared in front of Ghost Emperor Yama. By now, the immortal child resembled Yang Qi in just about every aspect, including his size and height. And although he only had a fifth step cultivation base, he was roughly as strong as the seventh.

Yang Qi had sacrificed tens upon tens of thousands of fiend-devils to the Sage Monarch Continent and the immortal child was one with those lands, providing him with good fortune from heaven and earth.

Furthermore, the immortal child could benefit from his true self’s enlightenment. Yang Qi was currently as enlightened as a fifth step Great Sage, with a fleshly body that was even more powerful. However, his true level was only the second step.

Although he could continue to gain enlightenment of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth steps, his fleshly body and cultivation base would stay at the second.

However, because they shared the same mind, his immortal clone could benefit from his true self’s enlightenment.

In other words, as long as Yang Qi got the proper enlightenment, his immortal child could increase his cultivation level.

Considering the situation, the immortal child knew that he was in charge, and couldn’t afford any slipups. At the very least, he needed to buy some time until his mother and true self arrived.

“Sir, ma’am,” he said, “you represent the Megaplexus Heaven, correct? Well, we’re administered by the Titan Emperor Heaven. As you know, well water does not mix with river water. So why don’t we just keep out of each other’s affairs?”

Northstar Myth and Northstar Jade were at first surprised to see the immortal child. But then, they chuckled. Looking amused, Northstar Myth said, “So, someone used an immortal embryo to create a clone that’s already in the fifth step? That’s pretty impressive, although it doesn’t make you any less of a piece of trash. You people have only one choice: become slaves of the Northstar Fleet. Not even death is an option for you. When we decide to take a person captive, that person would never dare to die.”

At this point, certain members of the parliament of elders flew up. Trembling with fear, Chancellor Sun Moon said, “Friends from the Megaplexus Heaven, our Sage Monarch Continent is a tiny location and could never sustain an attack from experts like you. How about we just agree to be your subjects, and you go on your way?”

“What nerve you have!” Northstar Jade said. “Subjects? Are you kidding me? You don't deserve such an honor. You only deserve to be slaves. I’ll give you ten breaths of time to save us some time and effort by opening up that pathetic greyspace of yours and completely surrendering. If you don’t, we might get pissed off and just execute all of you. Decide for yourselves. Resistance is pointless and would only result in unnecessary casualties.”

“So, you’re saying you plan to massacre us?” Yang Qi’s clone said, his eyes sparkling. He knew that now was the time to play things smart.

“Massacre you? We’re giving you a way out!” Northstar Jade said.

“Stop trying to buy time,” Northstar Myth said. “It’s obvious that you’re hoping reinforcements will arrive. What, you think your true self is going to show up? Even if he did, it wouldn't do any good. He’d just be throwing his life away. By the way, even if he tried to run, we have a secret magic we can use on you, to force him out of hiding. No matter what you do, you’re going to lose.”

“Or we could wait to see what tricks he has up his sleeve,” Northstar Jade said.

The two of them chuckled as though they didn’t have a care in the world.

“What was that?” someone said. Suddenly, a rift opened, and a young man stepped out, clad in the God Legion Battle Robe, a long spear in his hand.

Yang Qi’s true self had arrived.

Thanks to his mysterious connection to the Sage Monarch Continent, and the speed provided by the Angel Wings, he had been able to pierce through the void with dazzling speed.

Northstar Jade and Northstar Myth were initially startled, but after seeing Yang Qi they felt more confident than ever.

“You’re the true self? You're only a second step Great Sage! How come you’re so weak?” 

“You have some incredible latent power in you,” Northstar Myth said. “What’s your bloodline? Do you have a battle body from an immortal world?”

“Get on your knees right now and give us three sets of three kowtows,” Northstar Jade ordered. “If you do, I’ll allow you to be my personal slave. If you get thrown in with everyone else then I can’t guarantee your safety. You’ll definitely end up getting sold and sent to some remote location where you could easily get killed. Sticking with me is the safest option.”

She was smiling as surely as if she had found an enormous pearl sticking out of the mud.

“Is that so?” Yang Qi said. “Northstar Clan, huh? Is that a really big clan?”

Northstar Jade laughed. “That’s right. The Megaplexus planetary system is made up of the Northstar Continent, the Southpalace Continent, the Westgate Continent, and the Eastwall Continent. Of all of them, our Northstar Continent is the strongest. Your Yore-Wilds used to be the strongest of the planetary systems overseen by the Titan Emperor Heaven. But the Hell of Euphoria invaded and now you’re nothing but scattered ruins. You couldn’t even come close to comparing to us. If you become my slave and serve me loyally, you’ll achieve glories you never dreamed of before.”

“Since that’s how it is, I guess—”

“Very well, on your knees,” Northstar Jade interrupted, under the impression that she had frightened him well enough.

“I wasn’t finished. Since that’s how it is, I guess I’ll kill you. Let’s see if your Northstar Clan is really that strong, or if it's all hot air!” Even as the words left his mouth, he lunged forward, surrounded by dazzling light.

RUMBLE!

His spear vibrated with destructive power and radiated sagelight filled with projections of god-spirits.

In the blink of an eye, the tip of his spear was at Northstar Jade’s chest.

1. A couple points about the names. In order to preserve the wordplay, I'm translating the names of the people from this clan. Like before, I'm preserving the structure of (Clan name)(Given name). As for why this guy has the name “First-Rank”, you’ll see later. In general, I take these names to be so fanciful and contrived that they don’t need to be transliterated as I would usually do for traditional names.