Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi was staking everything on one move, and used the most powerful tactic he could think of. He had exchanged life for life, something that he couldn’t even do with the God Legion Seal. Injuring Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin, he pushed himself to his ultimate limit and took the godhood. Powering the snake that was King Heaven-Devourer with everything he could muster, he sent it to simply gobble it up.

The power of the godhood was immense, but Yang Qi had been confident all along that he would be able to take it. However, as soon as it was devoured by the snake, he suddenly sensed a powerful expression of will bursting out of it. It was the will of a god that could shake heaven and earth, and it instantly caused King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans to begin to crack and crumble.

“Damnation!” Yang Qi cursed. Extending his hand, he sent a drop of blood into the talismans, godmammoth blood that, as soon as it reached the snake, unleashed a might that corresponded to the saying snakes devour mammoths.

As a result, the snake stopped crumbling and actually grew dozens of times more powerful than before. Swallowing the godhood, it then turned and headed toward the vortex leading to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Eunuch Sunflower shouted. He and Zilin, filled with grief and anger at the sight of Yang Qi taking the godhood, ignored their injuries and rushed forward to try stopping him, unleashing their most boundless energy arts. Earlier, Zilin had just waited as Eunuch Sunflower attacked Yang Qi with deadly force, but now everything had changed.

Chuckling, Yang Qi said, “I already know all of your moves, and although I can’t kill you now, after I assimilate that godhood, my energy arts will be far more powerful than before and I’ll definitely be able to take you on. I sure hope you don’t let me down when the time comes; if you simply kowtow to me next time, I might spare you. Otherwise, you’ll end up dead!”

Allowing himself to be hit by their attacks, he used their force to propel himself back into the vortex, where he vanished from sight.

Neither Eunuch Sunflower nor Zilin dared to follow him. They knew that if they ended up in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, where Yang Qi could exercise complete control, they would definitely be killed.

Frowning, Eunuch Sunflower said, “Rumor has it that when the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is used to the fullest degree, it can send its power into the outside world and drag people inside. Thankfully, he hasn’t reached that point yet, otherwise we would be in incredible danger. Getting stuck in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart would be a sure death sentence.”

“There’s no way he has full control,” Zilin replied. “He would have to possess all nine of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and be as strong as the legion of gods. At that point, he would be able to shrink the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart down to the size of a painting that would fit in the palm of his hand. Right now, he only has the ability to go in and out himself, not force others to do the same. That said, we need to take precautionary measures. He could theoretically use the chart to make an illusory aspect of space-time, then lure us into a trap inside.”

Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin exchanged awkward glances. Obviously, they had lost badly in the encounter and had no way to turn the situation around.

“What do we do now?” Eunuch Sunflower said. “We've been researching the Exquisite Cathedral for years, and finally learned some of its secrets only to be screwed over by that damned bastard. We're going to be branded as criminals for losing that godhood. What's worse, these are extraordinary times, with powerful sects of all sorts starting to openly fight each other. And Leaf Dao-Denier is gaining power as the favored consort of the empress. What if he uses this as an excuse to wreak catastrophe on our heads? We’ll be completely at his mercy, or perhaps even completely subverted by him.”

“I’ll take responsibility for everything,” Zilin said. “I’ll make my confession to the empress and accept any punishment she deems fit.”

“Absolutely not!” Eunuch Sunflower said. “I'm at fault here and will take the blame accordingly. Zilin, if you lose favor with the empress, Leaf Dao-Denier will become far too powerful. It won't matter if I'm punished. As long as you still have the empress’ favor, you should be able to keep me safe. But if you get punished, who can save you?”

“That won’t happen,” Zilin replied. “Once the empress understands the situation, she won't punish me. Think about it. How long has Leaf Dao-Denier been in her favor? Hardly any time at all. She’s having fun with him, that’s all. The more arrogant and despotic he gets, the sooner he’ll lose her favor. And when that happens, the consequences will be devastating for him. The empress is a skilled strategist; she definitely won’t be hoodwinked by a person like him. We failed our mission, so right now our most important task is to investigate the culprit and find out who exactly he is.”

“We’ll find out all the details,” Eunuch Sunflower said. “He really screwed us over, so there’s no way we can let him off the hook now. That said, we have to be very careful, and more on guard than ever. You can tell that whoever this person is, he’s the type who will seek revenge at all costs. And if he really assimilates that godhood, he’ll be more of a threat than ever. The only way to truly ensure our safety is to kill him.”

“I agree. For now, the first matter at hand is to report back to the empress and get new orders. Considering her boundless cultivation base, she might be able to track down the culprit herself. If she steps in and attacks him, there’s no way he’ll make it out alive.”

“Let’s go!”

Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin flew away. They had been defeated, yet, the entire time, Zilin didn’t look even the least bit dejected. He was as calm and elegant as ever, despite the blows he had endured.

Meanwhile, in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, Yang Qi was laughing heartily. He had successfully acquired the godhood, and although it was only from a Lesser God, it was still godhood nonetheless. In fact, the partial godhood he had acquired from the Live Forever God Tree was like nothing compared to it.

The primal-chaos elder-snake had already regurgitated it, leaving it hanging there within the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, where it sent out light to illuminate everything around it.

“You actually got the godhood!” Flower Mildcloud exclaimed. “Not even Eunuch Sunflower or Zilin could stop you?” She was still under lockdown, able to work on her cultivation, but nothing else. Yang Qi was still on guard against her.

“That’s right,” he answered. “If I can assimilate the immense power of this godhood, my power index will definitely surpass a thousand. At that point, not even Empress Joyflower would be able to cause problems for me.”

Right now, his power index was only two hundred eighty, and that was enough for him to at least survive the attacks of Eunuch Sunflower and Zilin. And both of those opponents had power indexes of over a thousand.

Considering that, if Yang Qi’s power index was more than a thousand, then defeating the two of them would be as simple for him as taking a drink of water.

“You really have some godhood, Yang Qi?” Empress Jadefall said, approaching from the side. She was already at the Grand Emperor level, with a power index of about thirty. That put her on the level of at least some of the weaker Grand Emperors from the Ancient Road to the Gods. That was what resulted from calling on her powers as a Reincarnated One, as well as the porcelain godspore she had in her dantian region. After all, ancient gods had fought fiercely to take that godspore.

Yang Qi wasn’t sure what power was contained in the glowing light the godspore emitted, but his power assessment systems told him that it was something from the god world.

Neither Yang Qi nor Empress Jadefall were sure about her true origin. However, there was definitely someone who had a clue, and that was Proud Heaven. Otherwise he wouldn’t have spent so much time in the inconsequential Titan Emperor Heaven.

Yang Qi had been to places such as thirty-third ranked immortal worlds, the Great Necropolis, and the depths of primal-chaos. He also knew something about the Ancient Road to the Gods. Considering all that, along with the fact that he had built the Dao Defense League into a powerful force in the immortal worlds, he was fully aware of how tiny the Titan Emperor Heaven really was.

For Proud Heaven to send one of his clones to the Titan Emperor Heaven was like a powerful emperor in the mortal world choosing to spend his time in a pigsty, eating and sleeping with the hogs. Even Yang Qi wouldn’t waste his time going to a first ranked immortal world nowadays.

To him, immortals who were mere Demolishers were like children.

In response to Empress Jadefall’s exclamation, Yang Qi said, “Yes, I did get some godhood. And not just a fragmented piece. It’s completely intact. It’s only from a Lesser God, but even Lesser Gods are immensely powerful beings.” Just looking at the godhood, Yang Qi could tell that it wouldn’t be possible for him to personally assimilate it any time soon. And he wasn’t interested in just feeding it into the Engine of the One God.

“Complete godhood!?” Empress Jadefall said. “It must be impossible to assimilate. It would be like a human from the mortal world trying to pluck down the sun and turn it into a lamp.”

“You’re exactly right. But I have an idea. It might be incredibly tough, but as the saying goes, a rope can cut through a log, and dripping water can wear through a rock.” Yang Qi exhaled a stream of intensely hot flame, which shot toward the godhood. However, when the flame struck, the godhood simply burned brighter, seemingly even tougher than before. It seemed that nothing short of the Engine of the One God would be able to do anything to it. Unfortunately, using the Engine of the One God wouldn’t directly benefit Yang Qi.

“It’s definitely tough,” he said. “Well, I can just leave it here safely in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and work at it slowly but surely. I’ll eventually succeed.”

He waved his hand, causing a wind to kick up that carried Flower Mildcloud off to a distant location where she couldn’t see what was happening. Then Yang Qi unleashed his God Legion Seal, sending the golden imp flying out to sit directly atop the godhood.

The godhood trembled, but unfortunately, none of its quintessence energy appeared in the open.

Yang Qi frowned. On the upside, at least the godhood was reacting, which indicated that if he kept up the pressure it might eventually start crumbling.

‘I'm in no hurry,’ he thought. ‘I can send a power double to the prison while my true body returns to the treasure storehouse. I’ll gather more knowledge-devils, then return here to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to assimilate them. Perhaps after I take all billion of the spell formations, then use the Engine of the One God to take the god-king’s tear, I’ll be strong enough to crack open the godhood.’