Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The essence of the god world had called out to Yang Qi.

Therefore, he stepped out of his empire into primal-chaos. Looking around, he could see the primal-chaos slowly shrinking, like a lake that was slowly evaporating in the hot sun and turning into a quagmire.

The world of primal-chaos was large, but with the god world and the Sage Monarch Empire constantly expanding, it was slowly getting smaller and smaller.

Two tigers cannot live on one mountain. One sea cannot contain two dragons.

Resources were limited.

One day, the resources would run out, and death would result.

From their perspective, both Yang Qi and the essence of the god world could see the changes occurring.

Clasping his hands behind his back, Yang Qi said, “Show yourself.”

A mighty will descended, taking human form a few dozen meters in front of him. It was Greensura.

Yang Qi’s mother.

Of course, Yang Qi knew that this terrifying entity wasn’t truly his mother. His real mother no longer existed, having been absorbed by the essence of the god world and turned into something different.

“I'm honestly surprised you left the safety of your empire to meet me, Yang Qi,” she said with a smile. “I didn’t think you’d take that risk.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said, his face completely expressionless. “Scum like the King of Godmammoths might be afraid of you, but I'm honestly not worried at all. Why exactly have you called for a meeting instead of just starting the final war?”

“Is that how you speak to your mother?” she said with a slight frown.

“You’re the essence of the god world, and we’re foreordained to fight each other. So stop wasting words. This is a war for existence. Look around. The world of primal-chaos paleo-energy is shrinking. In the end, only one person can have access to all the resources. If we could share them, we could both transcend.

“But that's not going to happen. So this is a war of resources, survival, and transcendence. Only with complete command of the resources can one of us transcend and reach the other shore of pāramitā. Anyone who tries to stop us will be eradicated. You know that as well as I do, so stop with the sentimental nonsense. I don’t want to hear anything about familial love, friendship, or romantic love.”

Yang Qi had perfectly described the determination that was involved in transcendence.

Everything was false. Only transcendence was true and real.

When it came to transcendence, things like emotions and love were nonsense. Infantile. Laughable.

Yang Qi wasn’t afraid of the essence of the god world. He knew the essence was incredibly mighty, and was the most powerful entity to have ever existed. But that didn’t change the fact that he was the top expert in the god world. So he wasn't going to allow himself to be pushed around.

Besides, even before he had absorbed the other half of the fateless energy, he was already strong enough to crush the King of Godmammoths, Demon Master, and High Priestess.

After absorbing the fateless energy, he had advanced by leaps and bounds, reaching an enigmatic state in which he could break through to the ultimate level at any moment.

Furthermore, his efforts to duplicate minor versions of the Halls of Heaven had pushed his cultivation base to a completely different level. He was now many times beyond the level of the old Sovereign Lord. Thus, he didn't fear the essence of the god world. At least, not as long as he was outside of the god world.

It would have the advantage there, on home ground. But out in primal-chaos, it couldn't simply kill him. This was neutral ground, where they were surrounded by nothing but endless primal-chaos paleo-energy.

This was the most powerful man in existence, and the most powerful woman.

Of course, the essence of the god world could have taken either male or female form.

“Well said,” Greensura said. “As a Fateless One, you’re just as stupendous as would be expected. You’re definitely my biggest enemy. That said, given your fateless origin, why exactly do you want to lead all living beings into transcendence? Don’t you realize that only a single individual can transcend?”

“You're wrong about that. The only way to transcend is along with all living beings. Without them, it's impossible. Death will result. The reason for that is that the living beings of the world are required to tap into its energy. Without the people, there wouldn't be any energy in the world to begin with. It’s a simple truth, don’t you agree?” Yang Qi waved his hand, causing a starry sky to appear in front of him. Within it was a planet orbiting a star, upon which humans came to be. Millions and millions of years passed, during which the humans eventually developed the ability to create power that surpassed that of their own planet. They eventually traveled to other planets. One day, their own planet was reaching the end of its life, and was about to sink into destruction. However, the humans were able to save it by infusing it with new life force.

“See? Things like this have happened in the impure lands many times over. Worlds exist only because of the living beings that occupy them. It’s a beautiful thing. With living beings, transcendence is possible.”

“You’re mistaken,” Greensura said. “Living beings are parasites that waste resources and power. The more people, the more waste. The only possible path is to kill them all and allow one individual to have access to all the resources. That’s the key to transcending. And the fact that you’re taking away the primal-chaos paleo-energy that I need... well, it's a big threat to me.”

“You can’t do anything to me,” Yang Qi said.

“Is that so? Well, the more primal-chaos paleo-energy I devour, the bigger I get. Once the primal-chaos paleo-energy is all gone, your world will be exposed, and I’ll devour it too.”

“We're both devouring the primal-chaos paleo-energy. And thanks to the people in my empire, my use of it is many times more efficient than yours. Even if I devoured dozens of times less primal-chaos paleo-energy, I’d still be more than a match for you in the final battle. You say living beings aren’t useful, yet you're using Proud Heaven and the others to make destiny, and to power your war machine. After all, devouring primal-chaos paleo-energy to create resources doesn’t instantly result in fighting prowess.”

Yang Qi had hit the nail on the head.

The essence of the god world could devour primal-chaos paleo-energy and create resources, but the resources required living beings to turn them into fighting prowess.

He had only been telling the truth. The people in his empire made his use of resources many times more efficient. He could use one-tenth the resources to create an equivalent amount of fighting prowess. In Proud Heaven’s empire, on the other hand, everyone operated with selfish motives, which meant that they required ten times as many resources as Yang Qi to produce the same result.

In other words, even before the primal-chaos paleo-energy was completely devoured, Yang Qi’s empire would definitely surpass the fighting prowess of the god world. The god world would be at a disadvantage, and he could crush it.

To Yang Qi, it was obvious why the essence of the god world had been so anxious to assume human form and meet him. Greensura knew that the end result of the current situation would be disadvantageous for it. Therefore, she wanted war sooner rather than later.

Beforehand, though, she wanted to see how strong Yang Qi really was.

In response to Yang Qi pointing out her weaknesses, Greensura smiled and prepared to hit back in kind. “You’re right that you can benefit a bit by ruling those bugs. But there’s something you've forgotten. In fact, there are two things that are going to stab you in the back. I doubt you know what I'm talking about.”

“The Sovereign Lord and the True Devil?” Yang Qi said.

“Oh, so you do know. Then why aren’t you out there looking for them? Those venomous bastards could jump out at any moment to overthrow your empire. But I have a way to find them, if you want it. But I have to warn you, they’re actually hiding in your empire. That’s the price you have to pay for using the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade.”

“I’ll find them on my own,” Yang Qi replied. “I wouldn't want to trouble you.”

“If only you’d join me, Yang Qi,” she said. “Bring your Sage Monarch Empire back into the god world. I'm your mother, after all. I don’t want to kill you.”

Yang Qi laughed. “If I came back into the god world, you’d devour me. You just told me you want to devour all other living things. That’s your plan, to consolidate power and transcend. As a Fateless One, you’d benefit a lot from assimilating me. Do you think I'm a child that I would believe your lies?”

She smiled. “No, Yang Qi. You’ve miscalculated. There’s something that I can’t devour, something that the both of us could use to transcend together.”

All of a sudden, everything clicked for Yang Qi, and his eyes blazed with incisive light. “The Great Necropolis?”

“Exactly. As the essence of the god world, there’s only one thing I fear, and it’s not you. It’s the Great Necropolis.” When she spoke the words, her eyes flickered with hatred. “I can devour all the resources there are, but not the Great Necropolis. Furthermore, it can stop me from transcending. It’s the only flaw that exists in my plan, the only thing that can ruin everything. But you have the power to assimilate it. So join me. I’ll give you the Great Necropolis. Then I can devour everyone else and transcend. What do you think? You use the Great Necropolis to transcend, I’ll use all the living beings in existence. It’s the perfect plan. All existence will belong to you and me. Mother and son.”

This was a true proposal, not a trick.

However, Yang Qi had a question. “I thought you had made your choice already in Proud Heaven.”

“Proud Heaven?” She laughed. “That rapacious wolf? I know full well that he's secretly planning to use the Great Necropolis against me. But how could childish plots like that slip past me? I’ll make it very simple: if you join me, we can kill Proud Heaven. He's nothing but a slave anyway.”