Sage Monarch

The yellow-garbed young man with the buzz cut had assumed a different appearance and joined Chancellor Demi-Immortal in the Beastmaster Society. There, they met Chief Snake and August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven, who were flanked by other disciples of the society.

The young man's aura placed him in the first order of the Demi-Immortal level. Although that might seem strong, in the Titan Emperor Collegium there were as many experts as the sky has clouds. Therefore, he didn’t stick out much.

However, few people would dare to treat him lightly. He pulsed with an aura that seemed capable of slaying anything in existence and seemed every bit a top expert.

Waving in greeting, Chancellor Demi-Immortal said, “August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven. Chief Snake. It's good to see you two again.”

“So it's Chancellor Demi-Immortal,” Chief Snake said, his eyes flashing. “I heard that you came to the Titan Emperor Collegium looking for revenge, but I never imagined you would come here. What do you want? Is Yang Qi too powerful for you now, so you're hoping to join forces to get that longed-for vengeance?”

“Not exactly,” Chancellor Demi-Immortal replied. He pulsed with an aura that was very difficult to describe, and had obviously advanced in his energy arts recently. Glancing at the young man in yellow, he chuckled. “I’ve invited this expert to see the society chief here. We have some important matters to discuss, regarding how to deal with the Invincible Society and Yang Qi.”

“Expert?” Mammoth Heaven said. He and Chief Snake looked at the young man, and both of them laughed. “Surely you don’t mean this fellow. A Lesser Demi-Immortal? You call someone like him an expert? And you want to have a meeting with the society chief? Is this some sort of practical joke? Our society chief is a grand and venerable individual, one of the old-timers here in the collegium. There’s no way you're going to see him.”

Smiling, the young man in yellow said, “Yang Qi was a Lesser Demi-Immortal when he turned the Hall of Beheadings and Executions into a sea of blood and corpses. He cut down an elder king and used his head to decorate the entrance of his society. So cut the crap and go announce me to the society chief. I have important matters to discuss.”

“You’ve got a lot of guts, boy!” Chief Snake said, his expression flashing with anger.

“Screw off!” said the young man in yellow, waving his sleeve and sending out a burst of power that caused all light in the area to suddenly go dim. Shockingly, Chief Snake was powerless to defend against it, staggering backward several paces before finally losing control and falling into a sitting position.

Both Chief Snake and Mammoth Heaven were fifth order Tyrant Demi-Immortals, just on the verge of becoming Prime Demi-Immortals. For Chief Snake to have been knocked off his feet by a casual gesture went to show that he was vastly weaker than the young man in yellow.

“You….”

Chief Snake crawled to his feet and looked at the young man in shock. Their brief clash had alerted other experts of the Beastmaster Society, many of whom were rushing over to check the situation.

“Well, what have we here?” someone said. “Experts seem to be coming out of the woodwork, these days. It's hard to believe. Is it a defiance of heaven? Where are they coming from? Don’t tell me we really have another Yang Qi on our hands.”

A young man appeared, clad in fiery-red clothing, with a flame sigil dancing on his forehead.

The other disciples present reacted with open shock.

“It’s Elder Brother Vermillion, an elysian child!”

“Elder Brother Vermillion is the incarnation of a divine vermilion bird! His cultivation of the dao of heaven led to his current, profoundly enigmatic level.”

“He’s one of the top geniuses of the Beastmaster Society!”

“Well, now we can see how strong this guy in yellow really is. He wants to see our venerable leader?”

This newcomer was one of the elysian children of the Beastmaster Society, an eighth order Universal Demi-Immortal.

“So, you're a vermilion bird?” said the young man in yellow, looking him over. “You vermillion birds are embodiments of the mournful fire of the dazzling south. Your cultivation base is the ultimate expression of fire, but sadly, becoming a god of burning flame is no easy task. Without a complimentary water aspect, you won’t progress much further. Luckily, I happen to have a water-type energy art. If you work with me, reaching the Demolishing level won’t be very difficult at all.” 

“Are you crazy?” Elder Brother Vermillion said. “You think you qualify to talk about things like that with me?”

Suddenly, he flicked his finger and sent out a fist-sized fireball that rapidly expanded into an entire kingdom of flame. It was almost as if an ancient god of fire had suddenly invaded the world of men.

“Burning Flame of the Immolation Heaven!”

The young man in yellow looked at the expanding fireball and smiled. “Complete crap. Why even use that technique? Be destroyed!” 

Cracking sounds rang out as a watery light appeared, which swished toward Elder Brother Vermillion’s finger like a divine dragon in the middle of a heavenly river. In the blink of an eye, it overwhelmed the fire and wrapped around Elder Brother Vermillion, keeping him pinned in place and incapable of doing anything.

Face falling, Elder Brother Vermillion said, “That’s… a godly-class energy art! And it's water-type!”

“Exactly. It's an ancient godly-class energy art, the Heaven-River Surging-Wave Paragon True Energy. Like I said, stick with me and I can help you. Water and fire are complementary, and it could be a big benefit to your energy arts.”

“Dammit,” Chancellor Demi-Immortal said quietly, “we’re right here in the Beastmaster Society and you just completely dominated an elysian child. You’re as domineering as Yang Qi! We were supposed to come talk things over with the society chief, but now you’re making them lose all face! How are we going to work out a deal now?”

“Calm down,” the young man replied. Raising his voice, he called out, “Chief Beastmaster! Get out here. I'm here to talk about dealing with Yang Qi. By the way, I’ll share a little secret with you. He has twenty-eight imperial snakecharms. Did you know that? It’s big news, wouldn’t you say? If you could get those snakecharms, you’d probably reach the Demolishing level and be no less powerful than the Invincible Dugu.”

“Are you serious?”

Hummmmmm….

A strange sound suddenly filled the entire hall and all of the disciples present suddenly turned and walked out, their eyes completely blank. At a single glance, the young man in yellow realized what had just happened. All of the disciples had lost their memories of what had occurred in the past few moments.

Soon, the only people left behind were Chancellor Demi-Immortal, the young man in yellow, Chief Snake, August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven, and Elder Brother Vermillion.

At this point, a newcomer appeared. He was a middle-aged man with an extremely long, pitch black beard. His eyes shone with the primeval dao of beasts, as though he were the lord of all animals. He was accompanied by the aura of primal-chaos elder-snakes, the type that could consume all heaven and earth. There was no doubt that he possessed a host of imperial snakecharms and could easily draw on their power.

“Liege Beast,” said the young man in yellow by way of greeting. Smiling, he continued, “In ancient times, you were the famous leader of the heaven-beast tribes. Now here you are, a society chief in the Titan Emperor Collegium.”

Liege Beast looked at the young man in yellow for a long moment. “It's been a million years since anyone called me that. Not many people know about my past. Those few who do have either died or ascended. Where exactly did you come across this information? Tell me! Otherwise I’ll kill you where you stand! Where are you from? Explain immediately!”

The young man in yellow snorted coldly. “You’re impressed that I know about your past? How about I tell you your future? In three hundred years, your cultivation will reach a consummate level and you’ll ascend to the Titan Emperor Heaven, where you’ll become a famous immortal. Unfortunately, a well-known treasure trove will appear and you’ll encounter your old enemy Dao Lord Frost-Sky. He’ll kill you, and that will be the end of your path of cultivation.”

“What?” Liege Beast said, visibly shocked. “Dao Lord Frost-Sky? My future? How do you know my future? Dao Lord Frost-Sky is my archenemy, but he ascended years and years ago. Nobody even knows about our rivalry. How did you find out? Have you been spying on me? How could you know about my future?”

That one brief statement by the yellow-garbed young man had won him a victory over Liege Beast, who was now completely flustered.

“Everything I just said is the truth, Liege Beast. That’s your fate. However, now that you've met me, your fate can be changed. I can make sure you don’t get killed by Dao Lord Frost-Sky. In fact, it might even be possible for you to kill him instead.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” Liege Beast said. “What if you’re just making this all up? Where’s your evidence? Perhaps I should just seize you and force out your secrets. You won’t be able to hide your trickery then. Seems to me you just need help dealing with Yang Qi, who’s obviously a rival of yours. Let me tell you, you can’t do anything about him. I know all about Yang Qi. If it weren’t for the Invincible Dugu, I would kill him immediately. And if I can kill him, that means I can kill you.”

RUMBLE!

Liege Beast stepped forward and his energy surged like the waves of the ocean, causing the young man’s yellow garments to flap.

“Hold on!” the young man said, looking as calm as ever. “You can’t do anything to me, Liege Beast, so there’s no need for a scene. I know everything about you and your capabilities. I know which energy arts you cultivate, and I know what level you’re at. I know what magical treasures you have, and I even know other secrets about you. Otherwise I wouldn’t have just walked right in here. Your Primal Beast True Energy is at the seventeenth level, which means you can summon seventeen totems. Unfortunately, you’re one totem short of reaching the consummate level. And you don’t know how to get that final totem….”

The young man in yellow didn’t make a single move. He just outright stated Liege Beast’s cultivation weakness, causing everyone else present to reel in shock.

Every single thing the young man said left Liege Beast feeling more discomfited. Yet he still gritted his teeth and said, “If you know all of that, and even know all of my weaknesses, then why don’t you know the same about Yang Qi? Why don’t you go handle him yourself?”

“Because Yang Qi is a person who exists outside of fate. He exists in the current timeline, but not in the future, thus it's impossible to say what he will do. It’s a mystery and a miracle at the same time. That’s why I don’t know about his past or his future. However, I know how to fight him. And right now is the time, before he reaches his full potential.”