Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi really had turned the Second Devil General into hired labor.

The Second Devil General’s cultivation base was preeminently powerful, so not having him help with the Cruiser of Civilization would have been a big pity. And he was obviously willing to do just about anything to free the Third Devil General. Sadly for him, it hadn’t occurred to him that Yang Qi might deduce what he was really trying to do.

And Yang Qi was going to milk the situation for everything it was worth.

When the time came to cross the river and burn the bridge, he would come up with a way of dealing with the Second Devil General. But the most important thing right now was to get stronger as quickly as possible.

As the blood dragons surged, the Everlit Godlamp became streams of bright light that pierced into the Cruiser of Civilization.

Inside the cruiser, dramatic changes were underway. With every twitch and pulse, the photonic computers were changing into something more like brains of flesh and blood. [1]

“Oh, right. Wretched Brain God Art!”

A flash of inspiration hit Yang Qi, and he drew on the remarkable ability he had gained enlightenment of that originated with Wretch-God Ultimate. It was none other than the Wretched Brain God Art. Originally, he had used it to transform his psyche, energy, and blood into an enormous brain that could unleash immense psychic power.

But now, he realized he could use the same technique to create a real brain for the cruiser.

Wretch-God Ultimate’s brain and his own brain were going to become one and the same.

He knew that at this point in his cultivation, his body wasn’t particularly important. What was truly important were his psyche and will.

By now, his body was actually a part of the Everlit Godlamp. Or more precisely, the Everlit Godlamp was part of him. He had a body of radiance and light, and the God Legion Seal was part of it. And the Mahātmā Jade was an expression of his psychic fluctuations.

Numerous magical treasures were part of him now, which was a cultivation level few people could reach.

“Wretched Brain God Art. Sage Monarch Grand Magic!”

Yang Qi was a master of all sorts of martial disciplines and daoist techniques, and as such, he knew that Wretch-God Ultimate’s technique was now perfectly ready to be assimilated. He had long since come to understand what Wretch-God Ultimate was like, including his abilities. Yang Qi had legacies from the True Devil, the seventy-two monarchs, the Great Necropolis, the Sovereign Lord, and the King of Godmammoths. And with them had come numerous memories that made his enlightenment of the Wretched Brain God Art much easier.

Whizzzzz!

Dragons of radiance and light swirled along with dragons of blood, piercing into the depths of the Cruiser of Civilization and causing numerous streams of destiny to erupt. In the blink of an eye, that destiny took the flesh and blood of the Myriad Dragons Lair and turned it into the shape of an enormous brain.

In the depths of the Cruiser of Civilization, the brain twitched and wriggled, casting out psychic fluctuations as it became part of the cruiser. And the flesh and blood of the dragon lair was also turning the mechanical parts of the cruiser into organic material.

As for the numerous god kingdoms in the cruiser, as the Second Devil General’s mighty vital energy poured into them, the people there could sense the world around them expanding. Land erupted, precious materials appeared, and bizarre creatures were birthed.

It was just like how, when the god world first came into being, numerous precious materials came to exist.

As the destiny poured into the various lands in the cruiser, it caused life to proliferate, which in turn caused the living beings to offer prayers of thanks.

It was a virtuous cycle.

“Halls of heaven, give me your strength!”

Inside the cruiser, a teleportation portal cracked and creaked as it activated, and Yang Qi sent his will inside, causing starlight to fall like mad from the halls of heaven into the portal in the Bastille of the One God.

The mighty aura of the Sovereign Lord then poured into the cruiser.

Not even Yang Qi had ever witnessed anything the likes of this.

“Dammit!” the Second Devil General cursed angrily. “What are you doing, boy!? Are you really turning me into hired labor!?”

However, if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off, and he knew that if he did the wrong thing now, Yang Qi would abandon him, and his plan to rescue the Third Devil General would end in complete failure.

“This is all going to benefit you, Second Devil General,” Yang Qi said. “I'm using the Wretched Brain God Art to transform the Cruiser of Civilization. You’ll be able to pick up on some of the profundities of the art, so what are you complaining about?”

“Wretched Brain God Art? You have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, boy. I have to admit, you have some wild ambitions. Are you really going to step into the peak Paramount God level right here and now?”

“Not necessarily. But I'm doing everything possible to prepare to get the Dragon Compendium. I promised to help you, right?”

“I think I got very unlucky to get tangled up with you, kid. Ah, whatever. The Dragon Compendium is my key to recovery. Helping you transform the Cruiser of Civilization is like tangling directly with the Lord of Civilization. Although he wasn’t on the level of the Lord of Radiance and Light, he had a lot more profound secrets.”

Even as he spoke, the Cruiser of Civilization shrank down, shining brightly as it transformed into what looked like a huge brain. Beneath it was Yang Qi, who was rapidly pushing his cultivation base to a higher level. As the process went on, he became like a glowing figure who could prop up worlds, sending bright light pouring into the cruiser.

Flesh and blood vanished at a rapid rate as the Second Devil General and Yang Qi both devoured the surrounding Myriad Dragons Lair like hungry gobblewocks.

“Let my devilish soul sacrifice its blood to civilization....” The Second Devil General was throwing caution to the wind. Biting his tongue, he spat out some blood, which splashed onto the Cruiser of Civilization and formed a devil seed within its depths.

Although he was helping Yang Qi, he was secretly trying to get something of a hold on the Cruiser of Civilization. Given his personality, there was no way he would put forth so much effort without getting a direct benefit.

Unfortunately for him, as soon as the huge devil seed entered the Cruiser of Civilization, a bubble floated out of a teleportation portal inside, surrounding the seed. Of course, it was the work of the purrling.

RUMBLE!

Vital energy surged in violent fashion as Yang Qi’s body was returned to its previous state.

The Cruiser of Civilization was nowhere to be seen. What existed instead was an organic brain that was part of Yang Qi. He had now assimilated ninety-nine percent of the Everlit Godlamp, and that power combined with that of the Cruiser of Civilization had improved his fighting prowess by ten times over.

Although he was still only a late Paramount God, in terms of his fighting power, he was vastly superior to before.

Considering the dramatic changes, it would have been completely appropriate to change the cruiser’s name to Brain of Civilization.

Yang Qi no longer had a body of flesh and blood, nor of machinery, nor of anything demonic, but rather a body made of pure power.

RUMBLE!

He thrust out a fist, and a vortex of flesh and blood appeared in the Myriad Dragons Lair, sucking in an area the size of thousands of continents.

The sage monarch magistrates within him began multiplying again. Starting at a hundred and ten thousand, then a hundred and twenty, thirty, forty. It finally stopped at a hundred and fifty thousand.

He hadn’t reached the peak Paramount God level, but with this many sage monarch magistrates, he was so strong he could shake heaven and earth to the point where ghosts and gods would weep. And the more magistrates he had, the easier he could administer everything he controlled.

“Great, it worked! Many thanks, Second Devil General! With your help, I’ve changed the Cruiser of Civilization and made it larger. It's now part of my own flesh and blood; it’s become my brain. Furthermore, I've almost finished assimilating the Everlit Godlamp. It's all thanks to you. I never would’ve been able to do this on my own.”

“You’re nothing less than amazing,” The Second Devil General said, although his expression was extremely unsightly as he realized he had been fooled. He’d assumed he would be able to secretly take control over the cruiser, only to have his devil seal negated by the power of the purrling.

1. Quick reminder that in Chinese, the common computer is literally an “electric brain”, and photonic computers are “light brains”. So for the photonic computers, or “light brains”, to be transforming into literal organic brains makes a lot of sense.