Yang Qi could see that Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman didn’t believe him. Instead of wasting time with explanations, he waved his hand and said, “Alright, fine. Get out here, Blightczar Manyrivers!”

Instantly, a black blur of light appeared, resolving into the form of none other than Blightczar Manyrivers, who kowtowed and said, “Respects, milord.”

“Is this…?” Both Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman were clearly taken aback. However, before they could ask any questions, Blightczar Manyrivers launched into an explanation.

“I am your humble servant Blightczar Manyrivers, former vice-houselord of the House of Shadowblight, and grand elder of the Blight Legion Church. Milord Yang Qi exterminated the House of Shadowblight and took me captive. From then on, I have been his servant. The Crown Prince Society offered a huge collection of demon cores to the Blight Legion Church in exchange for masses of spirit stones. Apparently, they want to use them to create a massive object that can create passageways to other worlds, something that will help the Crown Prince break into the Great Sage level. All in all, it should take half a year to complete. Furthermore, there are members of the Crown Prince Society who have traveled to the Western Continent, to make contact with organizations there to further that plan.”

The ghost energy that filled Blightczar Manyrivers’ voice when he talked was spine-tingling to say the least.

“You have a Space-Void Legendary as your servant…?” Unparalleled Lightning murmured.

All of a sudden Yang Qi seemed even more mysterious. At the same time, Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentlemen found that they trusted him more and more. Considering their past dealings with the Crown Prince, this plan seemed exactly like something he would do.

Throughout his life, the Crown Prince had faced many powerful enemies, and had been seriously wounded many times. However, whenever that happened, he always came out the other end having advanced by leaps and bounds.

To many people, it was a sheer nightmare.

No one could take a setback and turn it into an advantage better than him.

“Well, what do you think?” Yang Qi said coolly. “Seems I do have a bit more information than you, don’t I? I'm willing to bet you don’t know where the Crown Prince is, do you? And obviously you don't know his full plan.”

“What. You know?” Master Wind Gentleman asked.

“I have a few clues. However, it’s a secret of such monumental gravity that I can’t speak of the details.” Of course, Yang Qi was simply dangling bait right in front of these two.

“I have to disagree with you, Brother Yang Qi,” Master Wind Gentleman said. “We're enemies of the Crown Prince too. Once he's back, all of us are going to be in a really bad situation. Enough with the secrets. Tell us where the Crown Prince is hiding. After all, if we strike first, we’ll have the advantage!”

“That’s right,” Unparalleled Lightning said, his eyes flashing with killing intent. “You know the old saying.

All great men are ruthless

. Let’s take the initiative!”

“No, I'm serious,” Yang Qi said, waving his hand dismissively. “If you made the slightest slip-up, and word got out, it would ruin the entire plan. The Crown Prince would simply move to a different location, and then we would never be able to get at him.”

“Very well, Yang Qi,” Master Wind Gentleman said. “You're no amateur, we can see that now. You know where the Crown Prince is hiding, and you’re not just going to give the information for free. What do you want? Name your price.”

“I don’t want much of anything. Just your support for Holy Daughter Manyflowers to be the new Grand Elder Feat-Virtue. That’s all.” Instead of trying to extract wealth or treasure from them, Yang Qi was trying to make use of their influence in the institute. He had caused a huge upheaval when he killed Grand Elder Feat-Virtue, and although he had not been officially punished, many people were unhappy with the situation. To them, he was a freak, a rebel and even a fiend-devil. Once the Crown Prince returned, there would be plenty of people asking him to kill Yang Qi.

As a result, installing Holy Daughter Manyflowers as the new Grand Elder Feat-Virtue was currently no easy task. But if Master Wind Gentleman and Unparalleled Lightning worked together to make it happen, it was definitely a possibility.

The two society leaders exchanged a glance, and then Master Wind Gentleman said, “We can definitely make that happen.” 

The two of them had assumed Yang Qi would make outrageous demands, but instead, he asked for something relatively simple.

“Well in that case, let me tell you the details.” Yang Qi went on to explain that the Crown Prince was in the Superheaven Badlands, and that he wanted to make a Superheaven Altar. He explained some of how he had interfered with the plans, but went on to say that he doubted he had foiled them entirely. He even gave them the relevant spatial coordinates so that they could check the information on their own.

“The Superheaven Badlands.” Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman exchanged another glance, and they could both see the killing intent in the other’s eyes. A moment passed, and they rose to their feet. 

“Starting today, the Sage Monarch Society, Gentlemen’s Society and Five Lightnings Society will formally enter a tripartite alliance,” said Master Wind Gentleman. “Henceforth, we will come to each other’s aid, and work together to fight the Crown Prince Society.”

“Incidentally, do you know where Yun Hailan is?” Yang Qi asked. “If you can help me determine her exact location, I’ll do everything I can to make sure she ends up dead.”

“Of course,” Master Wind Gentleman said. Chuckling, he continued, “But I have to say, Yang Qi, it’s a real shock to hear that you plan to harm a lovely young lady like her. Well, anyway, she returned before you did, and has been working hard to reach the Legendary level the entire time, albeit in vain. As far as I know, she's right here in the Minorcosm World.”

Yang Qi’s eyes fairly erupted with killing intent. “Oh really? Why can’t I sense her aura?”

“Maybe she fled,” Unparalleled Lightning said thoughtfully. “We definitely need to track her down.”

A moment passed. 

“Well, if that’s all there is, I’ll see the two of you out,” Yang Qi said, preparing to escort them away.

Master Wind Gentleman and Unparalleled Lightning didn't see any need to stay around discussing matters. Instead, they would go check the Superheaven Badlands to see if the Crown Prince really was there, and if so, take advantage of his weakness to strike a mortal blow.

However, even as they prepared to leave, a mighty power descended onto Yang Qi’s dimensional mansion.

RUMBLE!

It was an edict from the chancellor himself.

Looks of shock played out on the faces of Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman as something like a paper talisman appeared in front of them. As it unfurled, brilliant light shone out, and a mighty voice spoke, “Holy Neophyte Yang Qi, killing Grand Elder Feat-Virtue was an unforgivable sin. However, he was corrupt and greedy, and throughout his years running the Hall of Feats and Virtue, many a complaint was levied against him. He was quite the criminal himself. Yang Qi, you will not be executed for your crime. Instead, your punishment will be to go on a very dangerous mission. Namely, Mission: Mend Heaven. If you fail, you will be imprisoned for a thousand years. If you succeed, your record will be expunged.”

The edict itself slowly floated down to land on Yang Qi’s palm. Keeping his voice calm, he said, “I accept the mission. Now, would the messenger please step forward.”

“You’ve got some nerve,” a voice responded. Even as the glowing light of the edict faded away, a masked young woman stepped out of thin air.

It was hard to say how strong or weak she was, as her aura was impossible to read.

However, upon seeing her, Unparalleled Lightning and Master Wind Gentleman shivered and then respectfully said, “Well met, Young Lady.”

Obviously, this masked young woman had a very high position within the Demi-Immortal Institute.

Not wasting any words, the young woman said, “Master Wind Gentleman. Unparalleled Lightning. Is it safe to assume you came to ally yourself with Yang Qi against the Crown Prince Society?”

Bowing at the waist, Master Wind Gentleman said, “Very perceptive, Young Lady. The Crown Prince is incomparably cruel and merciless. If we don’t resist him, the future will be very dark. It's self-defense, that's all. That said, this decree is very strange. I almost can't believe the chancellor wants Yang Qi to do something that dangerous. Mission: Mend Heaven? That’s one of the top three most important tasks in the institute. Not even we would seriously consider taking it on. Isn’t this just sending Yang Qi to his death?”

“What’s Mission: Mend Heaven?” Yang Qi asked.

Even Unparalleled Lightning felt struck with coldness at the thought of this mission. “Brother Yang, the mission is about repairing the damage to heaven. As I'm sure you’re aware, in the ancient past, the Hell of Euphoria invaded the Yore-Wilds Continent, bringing about the God-Devil Apocalypse.”

“Yes, I’ve heard of that,” Yang Qi replied, his expression flickering. “Don’t tell me that Mission: Mend Heaven is….”

“It is,” Master Wind Gentleman said, sighing. “Mission: Mend Heaven is about repairing the damage inflicted on the Rich-Lush Continent by the Hell of Euphoria. It’s an operation of unparalleled danger. In the middle of the Rich-Lush Continent is an aspect of space-time that was ripped open during the ancient God-Devil Apocalypse, and is extremely weak. In the ancient past, certain incomprehensibly powerful experts sealed that area, but over the years, the power of the Hell of Euphoria has eaten away at the sealing marks. In many places, they’ve almost been worn through. From generation to generation, the chancellors of our institute have made arrangements to have the sealing marks repaired. Unfortunately, no one has ever succeeded. Even the Crown Prince tried and failed a few years ago. Successfully accomplishing the mission would bring an immense amount of merit points.”

“The chancellor is sending you on this mission either to have you killed,” Unparalleled Lightning said, “or as part of some other cunning plan.”

“Very well, that's enough,” the masked young woman said, her tone harsh. “The two of you can see your way out. The chancellor is sending him on a dangerous mission as punishment for killing Grand Elder Feat-Virtue. It’s a crime that can't just be forgiven; dealing punishment is the only way to smooth over the issue. If Yang Qi accomplishes this mission, complaints will die down because of it. And if he doesn’t… well in that case, the chancellor isn't going to pull any punches.”

“I see. Well, we’ll take our leave now.” A slight smile appeared on the face of Master Wind Gentleman as he turned to Yang Qi. “With a Great Sage backing you, Yang Qi, it shouldn't be difficult to accomplish the mission. Smooth things over, and show the rest of the Demi-Immortal Institute how strong you are.”

With that, the two of them left.

To Yang Qi, it seemed obvious what the chancellor was doing. He was trying to force Yang Qi’s hand, and find out who this Great Sage backer was.

Repairing the damage to heaven was a task he simply couldn’t succeed at alone. In fact, to think that he would accomplish the mission single-handed was a joke. When word spread that he was being punished, it would calm down a lot of people in the institute. If he succeeded at repairing the damage, then he would become a hero that no one would be able to criticize. If he failed, it would prove he had no support from a Great Sage, at which time, the chancellor would finally make a move to deal with him.

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