Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had started making his own godnotes.

He started by forming godstones, which were an expression of the power of the god world. Normally, they were formed after being compressed by the earth’s crust over millions upon millions of years, until they became rocks filled with energy.

But with the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi could take vital energy and directly crush it into the shape of a godstone. Truth be told, the power assessment systems of the Cruiser of Civilization could do the same thing, as long as they were backed by enough strength. But of course, it was much easier with the God Legion Seal.

The profundities of the Cruiser of Civilization were beneath the level of the God Legion Seal, especially the complete version, which was completely heaven-defying and confounded the dao of gods.

Next, Yang Qi compressed the godstones into godnotes by crushing them over and over again with immense pressure, filling them with magical laws.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi still needed to develop better control of the process.

Crack!

A godnote appeared on his palm, but it only lasted for a moment before crumbling into pieces. Obviously, it was a far cry from an actual godnote.

Even now, he wasn't sure exactly how the real godnotes were made.

Pulling out a real godnote, he encased it in a Purrfect God Art bubble and opened his Lord's Eye, which was extremely powerful now that he had the complete God Legion Seal. Blinding light shot out from his forehead, allowing him to peer into the structure of the godnote and examine all of its exquisite aspects.

He instantly identified some of the extraordinary elements of the note. The most difficult aspect was that the notes contained the will and energy of Paramount Gods. However, once he figured out how to deal with that aspect, everything else would fall into place relatively easily. The exquisite internal structure of the godnote contained magical laws formed from god vitality. That was one reason why, if ignited, they would create a destructive explosion.

The truth was that there were some formations so powerful that they had to be powered by godnotes.

‘The godnotes have a very complex structure,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘The god vitality creates countless shackles which represent the ultimate expression of wealth in the world....’ To him, the godnote almost looked like its own profound heaven and earth, with the vital energy inside making up the smallest particles. And those particles were nothing short of miraculous, with round exteriors and square interiors. In that respect, they were almost like copper coins. [1]

These coin-like particles weren’t true particles. Instead, they represented all the wealth in heaven and earth. In other words, by converging the will of wealth into a single point, it was possible to create godnotes.

‘These things are incredible!’ Yang Qi said, his eyes widening. It was only thanks to the improvement in his godhood because of the trip over the ocean that he was finally coming to understand the profundities of godnotes.

‘The meaning of wealth. Amazing....’ All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized that his study of godnotes was actually helping refine his Sage Monarch Grand Magic. And if he could gain full enlightenment, it would have a more profound understanding of the ten levels of Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, and Nothing.

After all, sages, monarchs, emperors, and sovereigns all required wealth to establish authority. And it wasn’t possible to become a ruler without funds to back it. If one wanted to enlighten the masses, bring morality to the world, and establish peace, they had to have wealth. Wealth was an integral part of the journey of any person in life.

After acquiring the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi basically didn’t need medicinal pills to advance his cultivation base. To him, the god world itself was like an enormous medicinal pill, larger than it was possible to even imagine. Considering he could assimilate the medicinal strength of that gigantic pill, what need did he have of lesser pills?

If other gods realized that he viewed the god world as a medicinal pill, they would likely go completely crazy.

Yang Qi produced another godstone and crushed it into something that looked like a curved heaven and flat earth. It was money that represented the essence of wealth, and as it continued shrinking, it eventually became so small that it couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. Yet there it was, floating above his palm.

Yang Qi summoned more godstones and did the same with them, using the God Legion Seal to crush them into tiny particles. Then he started pushing the particles together.

“Heaven and earth. Flat and round. Form the foundation of wealth!” Within his mind, his understanding of wealth combined with his Sage Monarch Grand Magic, and as that happened, he came to realize that the rotation of heaven and earth contained profound truths, great daos that could benefit his cultivation base.

His original goal had been to forge godnotes so that he could have wealth to spend in the god world. But after coming to understand the true meaning of wealth, it opened a path for his cultivation base, a path that would lead to forming godhood. This was something that ordinary experts could never do. Perhaps Brahma and his other friends would be able to reach godly ascension the normal way, but now that Yang Qi had gained this new enlightenment, he knew that his own chances of succeeding had increased.

He reached out, and vital energy trembled as something that looked exactly like a godnote formed in his hand.

It pulsed with the power of gods, although it lacked the mark of a Paramount God.

Yang Qi burst out laughing. “I did it! The wealth of the god world is going to be mine. Although... I need to inscribe it with the aura of a Paramount God from the God Legion Seal.”

Drawing on the God Legion Seal, he sent out a massive force that somehow resembled a stamp, which touched the surface of the note, marking it with the aura of a Paramount God. Without that mark, it wasn’t a true godnote, thus, anyone who used it would be sentenced to death.

Unfortunately, as soon as the mark appeared on the note... crack! The godnote collapsed, incapable of sustaining the mark. Instantly, Yang Qi’s hopes were dashed.

“What’s going on?”

He settled back down cross-legged, and although he was disappointed, he wasn’t completely crestfallen. Instead, he sat there calmly thinking about the situation. ‘I must not have sufficient enlightenment of the profundities of wealth, so I can’t produce the shackles of magical law that are required. Because of that, the note can’t sustain the will of a Paramount God.’

The notes he could create right now weren’t stable.

Drawing on more godpower and the God Legion Seal, he created another godnote, but this time he didn’t inscribe it with the aura of a Paramount God. Instead, he just watched it. After some time passed, it collapsed, the vital energy melting like ice until it was nothing but air.

‘The structure isn’t stable. What I can create right now won’t last more than about ten breaths of time. What good is that?’ He shook his head and continued seeking enlightenment.

At a certain point, his nascent divinity shivered as he succeeded, gaining new understanding.

Obviously, the internal structure of real godnotes couldn’t be easily mimicked, otherwise there would be lots of counterfeit godnotes in the god world. There would definitely be plenty of people in the god world who studied godnotes in the hopes of duplicating them, even Consummate Gods. Yet, to date, no one had ever succeeded.

The more Yang Qi contemplated the mysterious nature of godnotes, the more he was convinced that he would benefit immensely if he could forge his own versions.

Behind Yang Qi, his enlightenment of the dao of wealth had caused projections to appear, along with magical devices and humanoid figures. There was even a sage-like figure whose facial features matched his own.

His Sage Monarch Grand Magic was now at the point of being able to produce three dharma clones, representing the hero, the hegemon, and the monarch. Of course, they were only shells at the moment. However, thanks to what he had learned from King Immortal-Slayer, he knew more about morality, and was now focused on developing it. Although the dharma clones he could form were currently only empty frames, they represented the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, and would slowly become more complete.

By way of analogy, the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was like a blueprint to a house that didn’t contain specific information about how to go about the construction.

But as he made his dharma clones, he gained the foundation to go about that construction. And as the actual construction took form, it surpassed what the blueprint could describe. That was how Yang Qi could build his foundation for godly ascension.

Within the hand of the sage was a magical device that resembled a round coin with a square hole in the middle. It represented wealth, and the sage could teach the common people how to safely conduct business. When people acquired wealth, they were happy; that was the point of wealth.

That was what wealth represented to most commoners: happiness, contentment, and joy.

People who helped others to become wealthy were called sages. Meanwhile, Yang Qi’s process of enlightenment was causing the other dharma clones, those of the hegemon, monarch, and hero, to grow more complete.

Money could confound heroes, but without it, they would be in a very tough situation.

As Yang Qi gained enlightenment, his nascent divinity grew even more perfect, and his sea of consciousness filled with understanding of the meaning of the world.

At the same time, his virtual godhood creaked as it crystallized, and the God Legion Seal shone with incisive golden light.

He was now stronger than before, such that he would definitely be able to kill an ordinary god who came to fight him. However, he didn’t have full enlightenment of the mysteries of wealth, otherwise he could have directly become a Lesser God.

Again he tried to make a godnote, and this time it lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. From that it could be seen how much his cultivation base had advanced.

Unfortunately, it still wasn’t stable, and eventually collapsed. He still needed to further his cultivation.

1. Ancient Chinese coins were usually round with square holes in the middle. See here if you’re not familiar with them.