Sage Monarch - Chapter 281

Chapter 281: 281

A very long moment passed before Overseer Redwood managed to regain his senses .  

“Just who exactly are you?” he asked . “Astral-Star asuras are extremely rare, and come from beyond heaven . Normally speaking, they are sura commanders, or the direct subordinates of great generals . They’re monstrous killers who lead armies of fiend-devils into combat, and are so hard to kill that only Great Sages can fight them . ”

“I'm just a rogue cultivator, that’s all . ” A faint smile could be seen on Yang Qi’s face as he continued, “Look, if your Grand-Wilds Mansion can’t afford asura devil cores, then what about some bronzeblaze fiend-devil cores?”

He waved his hand, causing dozens of bronzeblaze fiend-devil cores to fall onto the table .

“Devil cores from bronzeblaze fiend-devils?!” the appraiser exclaimed . “Those are so high-quality that they might as well come from dragonlings . They’re priceless! Completely and utterly priceless!”

“Well, what do you think?” Yang Qi said . “I heard the Grand-Wilds Mansion had a good reputation, which is why I came here in the first place . But if you keep asking personal questions, I’ll just leave . ”

After a brief moment of thought, Overseer Redwood slapped his hand down decisively onto the table . “Very well . How many devil cores do you have? We’ll take all of them . What about this: we’ll give you thirty thousand imperial-grade spirit stones a piece for the bronzeblaze fiend-devil cores, and ten thousand sovereign-grade for the asura devil cores!”

“Ten thousand sovereign-grade spirit stones per core?” Yang Qi thought about it for a moment and decided that it seemed to be a reasonable price . Sovereign-grade spirit stones were extremely rare; the powerful magical altar he had encountered in Silvermoon had been constructed with only nine hundred and ninety-nine such spirit stones .

And most Legendaries would only work with royal or possibly even supreme-grade spirit stones . Imperial- and sovereign-grade stones were for the Great Sage level, or at the very least, Legendaries in the sixth transformation .

But considering the technique Yang Qi cultivated, his requirements were sovereign-grade at the minimum, and preferably, sagely-grade .

After maintaining silence for a moment, he said, “I really need sagely-grade spirit stones . Do you happen to have any on hand?”

“Sagely-grade spirit stones!?” the appraiser exclaimed loudly . “You’re not just ambitious, boy, you’re rapacious! Sagely-grade spirit stones are extremely rare! Even a single one could be considered a precious gem of heaven and earth . Asura devil cores are rare too, but they’re not worth sagely-grade spirit stones! Maybe if you had one in the ninth transformation, or a Half Sage version, then the Grand-Wilds Mansion would give you a sagely-grade spirit stone . ”

“Oh? What if I have a lot of asura cores just like these ones?”

With another flourish, Yang Qi tossed out several dozen devil cores, all of them from Astral-Star asuras .

After all, when he had been taking control of the Heaven-Dominating Golden Swordbreaker, he had made use of the Hell Portal, and had summoned quite a few powerful asuras, during which time he had kept a handful of demon cores off to the side .

Then he waved his hand to summon a whole pile of bronzeblaze fiend-devil cores . As of this moment, the silver platter had forty asura cores and over three hundred cores from bronzeblaze fiend-devils . The devil energy they pulsed with seemed strong enough to rip the entire dimension they were in to shreds, except that Yang Qi was keeping it under control .

“So many devil cores!” Overseer Redwood said, trembling visibly . “That many cores are definitely worth a sagely-grade spirit stone . Unfortunately, they’re all eighth transformation cores . Don’t you have any from the ninth transformation, or possibly the Half Sage level? If so, we could strike the perfect deal . ”

“Indeed I do, just not on me . If your Grand-Wilds Mansion wants them, why don’t we conclude this deal first, and then I’ll come back in a few days . By the way, I don’t just have devil cores . I have a living asura that I could give you, for the right price . Wouldn’t that be worth a lot more than just a simple devil core from the thing?”

This time, Overseer Redwood really couldn’t hold back from leaping to his feet . “You have an actual, living asura? If so, and it’s in the Never-Dying Transformation, then that will definitely earn you a sagely-grade spirit stone . And eight in the Astral-Star Transformation will earn you the same thing . ”

One reason living asuras were so valuable was that they lived for battle, and would rather die than surrender . Asuras actually had a unique divine ability called Sura Disintegration, in which they could combine their life force and their sura karmaflame to self-destruct, and usually, take their enemy with them at the same time .

Even a Great Sage would have trouble capturing a Never-Dying asura alive .

In fact, most experts avoided asuras at all cost; one wrong move when facing one, and the result was usually death . From that it could be imagined how valuable a living, sealed asura would be . It would be like a treasure, including its flesh, blood, magical laws, life force, powers, and of course, its devil core .

“Fine then,” Yang Qi said . “Let’s make the agreement formal . And in the meantime, I want the sagely-grade spirit stone for these cores right here . ”

“Wait here just a moment!” Overseer Redwood said . Scooping the cores into a bag, he left, then returned a short while later with a softly glowing spirit stone, which he handed to Yang Qi .

‘Wow, it really is a sagely-grade spirit stone!’ Yang Qi thought . Just being near the thing, he could sense the universal power in it . In fact, this was of even higher quality than the similar stone he had acquired from Lady-Princess Silvermoon . Apparently, the spirit stone mines in the Quake-Dawn Continent were far better than those in the Western Continent .

With this stone, he could significantly boost his true energy . Then, with enough five phases vital energy, he could push his cultivation base toward the Five-Phases Transformation .

Making that next step would ensure that he didn’t need to fear low-level Great Sages .

Putting the sagely-grade spirit stone away, Yang Qi rose to leave . However, before he could do more than that, Overseer Redwood said, “Hold on, friend . ”

“What,” Yang Qi said, his expression flickering .

“Well, if you're really a rogue cultivator, then the Grand-Wilds Mansion has a mission you might be interested in . We’re hiring a large group of experts to travel to a low-level plane and look for an extremely valuable treasure . A fragment of the Yore-Wilds’ Heart . If you're interested, you could join the team . The payment will be substantial . Of course, I need to point out at the beginning that there’s a selection process you would need to pass first . If you do, then you could earn at least ten sagely-grade spirit stones . ”

“So many!” Yang Qi replied . “Exactly what lower plane would we be going to? I would think that lower-level planes would be safer, and that big rewards would come with going to higher planes . Sounds pretty shady if you ask me . ”

Overseer Redwood chuckled . “That’s funny, friend . Come on, the Grand-Wilds Mansion never does shady things . We’ve been in business for years, and our reputation is our biggest asset . It really is a lower-level plane . It's a place called the Rich-Lush Continent . Have you heard of it?”

“The Rich-Lush Continent?” Enormous waves of shock battered at Yang Qi’s heart . “I've never heard of it, no . ”

“I see . Well, there’s a bit of a story behind this mission . You see, the Rich-Lush Continent is a lower-level plane, however, it's an extremely important spatial nexus . It’s like a springboard that leads to all sorts of extremely high planes, with an inactive teleportation portal from the ancient past, and even maps of the Yore-Wilds Continent . That said, its greyspace is protected by the will of Great Sages from the distant past . After years of being battered by hell monsoons, those sage spirits slowly sank into despair, and the greyspace began to break down .  

“However, something changed recently . The spirits of the ancient sages woke up and repaired the greyspace, allowing the previously inactive space-time wormholes to once again be activated . In fact, there are wormholes here in the Quake-Dawn Continent that lead there, and many of the top organizations in the land are forming mercenary squads to go explore the place . Of course, the main goal will be to find the Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment, and the ancient teleportation portals .  

“As you know, traveling through space-time wormholes is extremely dangerous . Furthermore, the Rich-Lush Continent won’t allow extremely powerful experts to go there . If a Great Sage tried to go, he or she would be killed instantly . ”

Yang Qi nodded . “I see . A Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment, one of the most powerful artifacts from the distant past . Alright, considering how incredible the reward is, of course I’m willing to sign up . But how would I actually collect the reward? Would I get the ten sagely-grade spirit stones beforehand, or would I have to find the Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment first?”

“A fragment of the Yore-Wilds’ Heart would be worth far more than ten sagely-grade spirit stones . In fact, forget sagely-grade . Even heavenly-, godly-, or the fabled immortal stones would be on the table . But that will come after the mission is complete . First, you need to pass the selection process set by the Grand-Wilds Mansion . If you prove that you're strong enough, you would be given an up-front payment of five sagely-grade spirit stones . Of course, don't forget that space-time wormholes often have greater fiend-devils in them . You’ll likely have to fight your way past them, and therefore, it's important to ensure beforehand that you can do so . ”

“Yeah, I understand that part . Alright, when can I sign up?” From what Yang Qi could tell, it seemed like a pretty good opportunity .

Overseer Redwood held up three fingers on his right hand . “In three days . Didn’t you say you needed time to go get that living asura? We can handle the formalities when you return . ”

“No problem . I’ll be back in three days . ” With that, Yang Qi turned and blurred into motion, vanishing without a trace .

“Such incredible speed!” Overseer Redwood said, visibly surprised .

“Overseer,” the old appraiser said, “this guy has a mysterious background . I almost can’t believe he has so many demon cores . Should we follow him? Perhaps run an investigation to see who he is?”

“Are you retarded?!” Overseer Redwood shouted angrily . “How exactly are we supposed to investigate him? And how are we supposed to follow him? Not even I could see how he left so quickly . Who do you think you are?!”

“Er, what?” the old man said, looking crestfallen . “Not even you could lock onto his aura, sir? But he’s only a Space-Void Legendary!”

“Perhaps he's using some primeval treasure,” Overseer Redwood replied . “Or maybe he’s magically sealing his cultivation base, and is really some top expert . Just wait three days . If he proves himself and ends up joining our mercenary squad, we’ll probably be able to get a much better idea of who he is . ”

By this point, Yang Qi was standing on some nameless mountain, far, far away from Vermillion Dragon City . ‘He wanted to lock onto my aura, but I caught him off guard . ’

He looked down at the glittering, sagely-grade spirit stone in his hand . ‘Excellent . I’ll go out into the void and grab some fiend-devils, and hopefully a Never-Dying asura . With enough sagely-grade spirit stones, I should be able to reach the Personal-Domain Transformation with ease . '