Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Sagely Sacrifice had arrived.

No energy art could be used to defend against it, and in the blink of an eye August Patriarch Fire Dragon had been put in an extremely dangerous situation. All of his Godmyth powers had been vanquished, and he was now struggling just to stay alive.

However, a centipede does not stop wriggling even after being stomped on, therefore Yang Qi didn’t relax his vigilance. His gaze became like a razor-sharp saber that slashed down onto August Patriarch Fire Dragon, instantly causing his skin to split and tear.

“Damnation! I refuse to accept this! I'm an invincible Godmyth patriarch! How could I perish at the hands of someone like you? I united the Mādhyamika School! I'm eternally indestructible!” He tried again to unleash the Eight Tribes Godfist, but was completely stopped by the power of the Sagely Sacrifice.

It was true, his cultivation base was powerful, but it still wasn’t enough to stand up to Yang Qi’s Sagely Sacrifice. August Patriarch Fire Dragon had lived for over a hundred million years, and even some of the top old-timers weren’t a match for him. Sadly, he had run into the ultimate freak that was Yang Qi.

Yang Qi had the God Legion Seal, King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans, King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, the power of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and multiple godly-class energy arts. He had the advantage now, and there was no way he was going to let August Patriarch Fire Dragon escape.

Throwing his head back, Yang Qi howled, “Myriad Gods Sacrifice; Blessing of the Sovereign Lord!”

Dazzling sagelight irradiated August Patriarch Fire Dragon, causing his true energy to evaporate and sending a reddish mist rising up from him, within which was a host of magical symbols that contained the quintessence of his godly-class energy art, the Eight Tribes Godfist.

The Eight Tribes Godfist was a consummate martial discipline that was in no way inferior to the five phases godly-class energy art. In fact, it was particularly useful when used offensively. It drew on the godpower of the Eight Tribes Heaven, and could only be cultivated by someone with the blood of the Dragonfolk.

Yet that didn't stop Yang Qi from forcibly taking it.

“Aiiee!” August Patriarch Fire Dragon shrieked. “You fiend-devil! That’s my Eight Tribes Godfist!”

“Eight Tribes Godfist? Incredible.” As soon as Yang Qi acquired the art, he realized how incredible it was. It was divided into eight sections that corresponded to the Eight Tribes of the Dragonfolk: the Heaven, True, God, Infernal, Bone, Netherworld, Devil, and Buddha Dragon Tribes. [1]

The godfists of each tribe were an energy art of their own right, and any ordinary person who cultivated even just one would be in command of power that could shake an immortal world.

For all intents and purposes, it was impossible to fully cultivate all eight. Not even anyone in the Eight Tribes Heaven had done so. In that respect, it was like the five phases energy arts that Yang Qi had acquired. In the Brahman Immortal World, no one had ever mastered all five, not even the legendary Proud Heaven.

August Patriarch Fire Dragon had cultivated the Heaven Dragon Tribe and the True Dragon Tribe, and thanks to King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans he had been able to negate the effects of the heterogeneous true energy.

If he had ever managed to add an additional tribe’s art, he would have been even more powerful and been able to transform into a primeval heaven dragon. With the godpower of over a hundred million heaven dragons at his disposal, he would have been able to destroy immortal worlds with ease.

But now that was all little more than a dream.

His godly-class energy arts had been taken and his imperial snakecharms were gone, making him not even half as formidable as before.

Yang Qi used the Devil-God Seal to lock him down tight, until he was little more than a statue, three inches tall and very lifelike. Yang Qi grabbed him and pronounced a curse on him, provoking a roar of defiance. Then, in the blink of an eye, Yang Qi extracted his Godmyth magical laws.

Yang Qi knew that assimilating August Patriarch Fire Dragon would be a big boost to his cultivation base. However, for the time being, he wouldn't do that. It wouldn't lead to a breakthrough, therefore he would rely on himself for his next breakthrough.

“Immortal-slaying clone!” he said, and a moment later a spatial passageway opened and his immortal-slaying clone stepped out. As of now, the clone was adorned in all sorts of god items, including rings, bracelets, garments, boots, a belt, a helmet, armor and the like.

All of them were things he had found in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, including the Mustard in Sumeru Ring, the Buddhist Bracelet of Suffering, and the Lightflame Cloud Soaring Boots. All of them were things from ancient times.

“Clone, although you have immortal-slaying power and King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, if you run into a true Godmyth you won't come out on top. Therefore, I'm going to use the Sagely Sacrifice to impart August Patriarch Fire Dragon’s godpower to you. With that, you should be able to defeat a Godmyth, if necessary, and truly defend the Sage Monarch planetary system against any invaders.”

The power of a Godmyth patriarch couldn't be underestimated. It could shake immortal worlds and was the type of thing no one would ever take lightly.

His clone immediately sat down cross-legged and Yang Qi placed his palm on his back, sending the Eight Tribes Godfist into him.

Before long, the image of an immortal world of heaven dragons appeared above his head, roiling with vital energy in the form of dragon scales and the aura of dragons.

That dragon aura flickered as it settled onto August Patriarch Fire Dragon himself.

“No! What are you doing? You’re going to refine me into an incarnation? Stop! I’ll be a slave for you! A bodyguard! I’ll serve you for all lives and all lifetimes and never betray you! Just don’t refine me into an incarnation! Leave my will intact!” To August Patriarch Fire Dragon’s horror, he realized Yang Qi planned to turn him into a puppet by wiping out his nascent divinity.

“Leave your will behind so that you can stir up trouble later? Sorry, I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you either.” Ignoring August Patriarch Fire Dragon, Yang Qi went on with the session of cultivation, imparting the Eight Tribes Godfist to his clone and helping him with his true energy.

“I curse you!” August Patriarch Fire Dragon howled. “I curse you to never achieve a great dao!”

Unfortunately, his curse wasn’t strong enough to do anything to Yang Qi. Eventually, he stopped howling and began panting for breath.

Time passed, roughly a year or so. At that point, Yang Qi howled, “Eight Tribes Stūpa, Form!”

Bright light shone, and magical symbols wriggled like tadpoles to form into a pagoda. At that point, August Patriarch Fire Dragon let out a final shriek as he was forced into the pagoda. As of this moment, he was the pagoda, and the pagoda was him.

Then the pagoda entered the immortal-slaying clone, who immediately transformed into something very different from before. He radiated the aura of a Godmyth! And with King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, he had even better control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart than ever.

“Very well, my clone. Your place in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is now even more stable.” At this point Yang Qi looked around and realized how much time had passed. ‘It’s been a whole year!?’

Thankfully, there were still two years before the mission was due. That said, there was no way he was going to give them the talismans. He had to think of a way to increase his own cultivation level to the point where he could defeat Godmyth patriarchs and destroy the entire Brahman Immortal World.

With that, he ripped open a passageway and left the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, returning to the same spot he had left from. The task of exploring the rest of the chart remained in the hands of the clone.

Back in the depths of the universe, tempests raged outside of the immortal worlds. He actually hadn’t been paying attention to where he was during the chase with August Patriarch Fire Dragon. He had just run for enough time to make the chase seem realistic, then opened the nearest spatial nexus leading to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Thankfully, he could sense the Titan Emperor Heaven, and quickly locked onto its location and began flying there.

After passing a few random immortal worlds, he reached a place that stuck out to him. ‘If I'm not mistaken, I'm in the territory of the Sage Sword Heaven, a sixth ranked immortal world. It’s actually stronger than both the Brahman Immortal World and the Regal Event Heaven and controls fifty thousand other immortal worlds in the third rank or less. And everyone there cultivates the dao of the sword.’

Yang Qi had reached the point where, with almost no effort, he could send his divine will to encompass entire first-rank immortal worlds like the Titan Emperor Heaven and devour their essence. Given a hundred years, he would actually be able to devour the entire immortal world. As for third ranked immortal worlds, he could use his divine sense to scan them in full detail.

After all, third ranked immortal worlds and lower wouldn’t have Godmyth patriarchs.

And only Godmyth patriarchs were strong enough to detect his divine will.

As it turned out, his chase with August Patriarch Fire Dragon had led him to the chaotic region of the Sage Sword Heaven, which was constantly at war with the seventh ranked immortal world, the Ancient Beast Heaven.

It was because of the general state of war and chaos that his fight with August Patriarch Fire Dragon had gone unnoticed. Normally speaking, other Godmyths who detected the fluctuations of their fight would have come to investigate.

Swish!

As Yang Qi flew along, a stream of sword light appeared that was deadly enough to slice apart millions upon millions of immortal worlds. He reached out and grabbed the sword light between his fingers; it was like a spirit snake that whipped and writhed against him, simultaneously emitting shafts of blinding light.

Yang Qi sent out a stream of fire that immediately dissolved the light.

‘That wasn’t an attack against me. It was a spark of sword energy cast off by some top expert! Incredible. It’s definitely from a Godmyth, and probably one that’s in the middle of a fight. I need to go check out the situation and see if I can turn it to my advantage. The more Godmyths I can assimilate, the better.’

1. The final tribe, the Buddha Dragon Tribe, is actually based on a play on words that makes its initial meaning unclear. That “wordplay explanation” comes a bit later. I considered trying to pull off something similar in English, but in the end I scrapped the idea. The wordplay aspect isn't really important, so similar to the Titan Emperor Heaven, you guys are getting a mild spoiler here.