Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

After revealing the might of the Invincible King’s Fist, Yang Zhan looked a bit pale. Clearly, it was something he could only do once, not multiple times in a row.

After finishing the demonstration, he explained all of the details of the technique to Yang Qi, including the hand gestures the arms made, the cultivation method, how to circulate his true energy properly, and the relevant details regarding his meridians. Only after confirming that Yang Qi was completely familiar with all of it did he finally move on to another topic.

“Time is very limited, Qi’er. You have to make use of every moment to train. I’ll work on finding out who is targeting the Yang Clan, and I’ll also try to come up with a way to expel the poison from your brothers.”

At that point, he called the steward back in. “Lord, what orders do you have?”

“Bring out everything from the treasure storehouses. Do a complete inventory of all business endeavors, and then sell the businesses. Take everything over to the city magistrate’s mansion and work to make sure the entire debt of the Latent Dragon Pill is paid off.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Qi’s face turned ashen, and he clenched his hands into fists.

He was a member of the direct bloodline of the Yang Clan, a bloodline that was incredibly wealthy. And now, he was responsible for losing the entire family fortune. Silk, farms, medicinal ingredient shops, spirit stone stores, armories, jewels…. It was all being handed over to the city magistrate’s mansion to compensate for the Latent Dragon Pill.

Yang Qi was very well aware of what a Latent Dragon Pill could do. It was a first-class medicinal pill that was supposedly refined from the blood of dragons. After consuming it, one’s blood would gain traces of dragon power, which would increase both physical strength and lifespan.

The city magistrate had originally possessed two. One of them he had used to break into the Master of Energy level, and the other he had kept locked up in a private chamber. Yang Qi had somehow bribed the guards to gain access to the chamber, stolen the pill, and then given it to Yun Hailan. Of course, his attempt to win her over was a complete failure, as she betrayed him.

Just one of those medicinal pills was enough to clean out the entire direct bloodline of the Yang Clan. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before servants, guards, and other members of the clan wouldn’t have a way to get food.

After all, the Yang Clan mansion was staffed by well over a thousand people.

“It's not a big deal, son,” Yang Zhan said, clasping Yang Qi’s shoulder. “As long as we’re alive, all of the money we lose can be earned back. Strength is the most important thing. We’ll pay for that Latent Dragon Pill, then figure out how to make the money back later.”

Yang Qi nodded and left, but the entire time, he was thinking one thing. ‘I'm going to get that Latent Dragon Pill back!’

About ten streets down from the Yang Clan, there was another sprawling complex with a huge sign above the main gate that read “Chen Mansion”.

This was another of the rich and powerful clans in Yanhaven, the Chen Clan.

In the Chen Clan’s meeting hall, four clan lords were in the middle of a conference. They were the lords from the Wang, Chen, Liu, and Li Clans.

Lord Chen wore a voluminous gown, and had profound energy arts. Even as he sat there, he was surrounded by concentric rings of energy, which were the manifestation of his unique Three Rings Energy Art, a first-class technique.

“Lords, are you aware of the situation with the Yang Clan?” he said calmly.

“Of course,” replied Lord Wang, tapping the arm of his chair. “And I’m fairly certain of what the final outcome will be. The experts from the Yang Clan's subsidiary branches will try to force Yang Zhan to abdicate. Did you see that golden eagle earlier? That means their council of chief elders already intervened to arbitrate. As for what exact decision was made, it’s hard to say. The subsidiary clans already left Yanhaven, making it a bit hard to gather more information.

“The Yang Clan is the highest ranked among all the aristocratic clans, and Yang Zhan’s cultivation base is higher than ours. That much is without question. However, his third son’s martial arts have been crippled. And his two other sons were seen being carried in from outside of the city; apparently, they were poisoned. And according to my informants, the Yang Clan’s steward has been gathering inventory and selling businesses, and is in contact with the city magistrate’s mansion. If the Yang Clan compensates for what was stolen, I'm afraid they’re going to be completely cleaned out.”

“The Yang Clan is clearly on the decline,” said Lord Liu. “Considering we all have various scores to settle with them, why don’t we join forces and strike them while they’re down! The only down side is that Yang Zhan isn’t hurt. If he was hit with shadowblight too, it would have been perfect.”

Lord Chen chuckled in sinister fashion. “Hmph! He’ll get poisoned sooner or later.”

In response to his words, the other clan lords shivered.

“Don’t tell me….”

“Yes,” Lord Chen said. “The Chen Clan has formed an alliance with the House of Shadowblight.” Rising to his feet, he clapped his hands. In response, several masked, black-clothed figures appeared. From the coldness that surrounded them, it was obvious that they cultivated yin-based energy arts.

“This is the emissary from the House of Shadowblight, Arhat Hyperblight. His energy arts and cultivation base have reached the peak of the eighth phase, giving him command of Mind Incarnation. He's on the very cusp of being in the Master of Energy level.”

The other clan lords exchanged glances and eventually rose awkwardly to their feet.

Arhat Hyperblight chuckled in dark fashion, causing goosebumps to rise up on everyone present.

“There are a few reasons we have targeted the Yang Clan,” he said. “First is the mighty Yang Zhan. At some point in the past, he used an airmastery plant, which makes him the perfect vessel to create a flying blightmaster puppet. Second is the mysterious martial technique of the Yang Clan, the Invincible King’s Fist. Third, and most importantly, is that the House of Shadowblight wants to get to Yang Susu, who is Yang Zhan’s adoptive sister, and who is also a disciple of the Demi-Immortal Institute. We can’t get into the Demi-Immortal Institute, but if the Yang Clan is put into danger, she will definitely come to their aid. After all, she has long since adopted the surname Yang for herself….”

With that, Arhat Hyperblight again chuckled in sinister fashion.

‘This… is turning into a struggle between two massively domineering sects…?’ That was what all of the other clan lords were thinking as they exchanged vaguely awkward glances.

In the Rich-Lush Continent, there were many rich and powerful clans, but they generally existed on a lower level than the city magistrates, who in turn existed on a lower level than the enormous sects. Only the Sage Ancestor Dynasty was powerful enough to rival the sects.

“Fellow lords,” said Lord Chen, “we’re going to make sure that this time, the Yang Clan falls for all time! After we deal with Yang Zhan, the subsidiary branches will be much easier to handle. As for their council of chief elders, the experts of the House of Shadowblight will take care of them! The Chen Clan and the House of Shadowblight are going to provide many benefits to all of your clans.

“And now, let us begin discussing the particulars of how we will make our move.”

And thus, the conspiracy began to take shape.

**

A few days had passed since the Yang Clan forum. People in Yanhaven had taken note that the steward was clearing out the businesses and handing over the wealth of the clan to the city magistrate. Before long, everyone knew that the Yang Clan’s direct bloodline was going bankrupt. It was also public knowledge that Yang Qi was crippled, and his two brothers had been poisoned.

Everyone was talking about how the Yang Clan was on the decline.

In the Yang Clan mansion, many of the handmaidens, servants, and guards were getting very nervous. As for Yang Zhan, in addition to clearing out the clan’s wealth, he also sent people to investigate the circumstances of his sons’ poisoning, and to search for antidotal medicine.

Yang Qi watched it all happening, and was unable to help. All he could do was remain in seclusion practicing cultivation. Only if he could break into a higher level could he possibly help his clan and family.

**

It was a clear night, with a river of stars stretching overhead, glittering in mysterious fashion.

Outside of Yanhaven, in a mountain range that few people visited, Yang Qi could be seen running at top speed as he went about training. Energy swirled around him as he tore through the air, causing rumbling sounds to echo around him.

He was now capable of covering vast distances in travel, roughly 500 kilometers during the day, and 400 at night. Furthermore, he was advancing in both physical strength and his energy arts.

Over the past few days, it was on a daily basis that he would travel into the wild mountains a few hundred kilometers outside of Yanhaven. There, he would cultivate his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. After all, the aura of the awakening of a megamammoth was so strong that any top experts who were nearby would notice it.

After about five or six days of cultivation, his true energy was pulsing, seemingly on the verge of pushing toward a breakthrough.

After running for a while, he reached a valley within the mountains.

It was roughly bottle gourd-shaped, and was very mysterious. There were no beasts, no snakes, no sounds of any kind, the reason being that the aura of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was so fiendish that animals couldn’t deal with it. Not even the fiercest of beasts would dare to move once they sensed it.

“This place will do,” Yang Qi murmured. Planting his feet like those of a mammoth, and twisting his arms like one’s trunks, he let out a shout that resonated through the valley, even causing minor rockslides.

“Hell-Crushing Godmammoth! Megamammoth, awaken!”

He pushed his energy arts to their limits, causing the lightning mammoth to send electricity coursing through him, filling all parts of his body.

CRACK!

It was like the sound of a cocoon breaking open, and a butterfly emerging.

A majestic aura erupted from the top of his head, spreading out with wildness in all directions. Behind him, it was just possible to see two ancient megamammoths, wild and filled with madness, ready to trample anything in their path.

A second particle was now awake.

Yang Qi now had the power of two ancient megamammoths.

Ancient megamammoths were far removed from modern-day elephants. With an effortless tug of the trunk, they could uproot massive trees. They were about three to four times the size of elephants, with pelts of thick fur that were impervious to all sorts of weapons. Their skin was like copper, and their bones like iron, and some of them could even manipulate the vital energy of heaven and earth to produce energy arts similar to those created by humans. Because of all those things, they completely dominated all of the devilish beasts of ancient times.

According to the legends, megamammoths were actually descendants of the godmammoths.

For a young man like Yang Qi to be able to unleash the power of two ancient megamammoths was almost too terrifying to comprehend.

Energy erupted from all of his pores, accompanied by a piercing sound like a steam whistle, or the buzz of countless bees. Yang Qi crossed his arms, causing the previously invisible true energy to begin to take visible shape.

It collected in his palms, then poured out of his body and rapidly became corporeal.

Within moments, it had taken the shape of a chaotic, primeval spear.

This was the sixth phase of energy arts, the Energy Weapon level.