Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp was in the middle of god tribulation, which should have meant that he was weak and vulnerable. Instead, he had the Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp, which allowed him to simply absorb the power of the tribulation. With every moment that passed, he got stronger, thanks to that freakish treasure. Meanwhile, god lightning crashed around him, and destructive vital energy swirled.

Off to the side, Yang Qi was just watching, hoping to learn a thing or two.

He wasn’t worried at all about the results. Even if this Child of the Buddhist Lamp passed the tribulation, Yang Qi knew he could still kill him. In contrast, there were many other experts present who were by no means just going to let him pass the tribulation.

Numerous attacks were being unleashed, some targeting only the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, but others that included Yang Qi as well. Godpower and brilliant light flared as dirt exploded everywhere. After all, what else would happen when thousands of attacks hit the same target?

Yang Qi didn’t care. He simply flitted about, avoiding the attacks and even absorbing the power of some of them. He moved so quickly that some people even assumed their attacks had destroyed him. At a certain point he headed to a more distant location where he used a godly-class energy art to make himself invisible so he could watch the fighting.

Wild streams of godpower shot back and forth as everyone went all out to kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. Everyone was clearly enraged at the idea of him reaching godly ascension.

No one was willing to let him live, and the combination of thousands of people all fighting desperately led to a completely chaotic scene. At a certain point, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was hit so hard that he staggered backward and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“You ants! How dare you attack me! I'm going to become a god and slaughter all of you!” His Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp continued sending out preheaven buddhist light which eventually converged into the shape of a fiery dragon.

Howling, the dragon swept forth, incinerating a dozen nearby experts and transforming them into ash. Then the Child of the Buddhist Lamp leaped up and mounted the fire dragon! No one could touch him!

Godhood was solidifying within him, and every person he killed was aiding the process. He was definitely going to reach godly ascension!

Techniques that devoured the vital energy and godpower of other people were considered to be from the dao of devils. That said, they were still very popular in the god world. In fact, just about everyone knew a technique like that, and although they often came with dangerous side-effects, they could be incredibly useful if they were used at the right time. The truth was that it wasn’t unheard of to use godly ascension as a tactic in the Bloodgore Trials. After all, the process required a huge amount of power, and what better place could there be to get that power than a battlefield where everyone was expected to kill each other.

“Myriad Buddhas Face the Sect!Myriad Buddhas Destroy the World!Myriad Buddhas Nirvanic Rebirth!Myriad Buddhas in Secret Dhyāna!Myriad Buddhas Infuriated!Myriad Buddhas Create the World!Myriad Buddhas Imprison Gods!Myriad Buddhas Ultimate Glory!” He unleashed a host of buddhist fist techniques, revealing how insanely powerful he was. He was really an old-timer from a major buddhist school, who was several hundred years old. In the god world, that was a lot. In fact, it was because he was running out of longevity that he had stolen the Ageless Longevity Divine Art, bolstering his longevity and returning him to the state of being a child.

He had acquired power that surpassed ordinary Quasi-Gods, so now that he was reaching godly ascension, it could only be imagined how incredible he would be. He would surely be able to crush immense armies single-handedly.

Blood was flowing in rivers as dozens of experts died at his hands.

“Heavenly Buddha Astral Projection!

“Longevity and Agelessness!”

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp erupted with energy flows that bubbled like boiling water, rising to fuse with the sky. It was almost as if his energy were somehow connecting to the god world itself as the godhood within him finally became complete.

He had succeeded in becoming a god.

He had a godhood rating of one.

As the godpower erupted from him, he burst out laughing. “I'll kill all of you! I've reached godly ascension! I’ll wipe you out to strengthen my godhood!”

The fire dragon instantly became ten times as large, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred people were reduced to ashes!

‘At this rate, he's definitely going to kill everyone else,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘And although I could kill him, doing so right now would reveal too much. I'd still rather someone else start fighting him, giving me a chance to swoop in at the last minute and take both of them out.’ He knew that the gods on the cliffs were watching, and that if he showed off too much by simply slaughtering the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, it would attract attention and even investigation.

“Get down here! Did you really think you could get the edge on me with that iron and blood ability?”

Flying up, Yang Qi grabbed the burly man who was still hidden in the tree, grabbing him as firmly as if he were a child.

A look of terror filled the man’s face. “Y-you... you’re a god too?! How did you break through my divine ability? I couldn't even fight back!”

Yang Qi snorted coldly. “What, still trying to convince me you want to work together?” It wasn't lost on him that this man had remained hidden in the shadows, picking off numerous competitors. It was obvious that he wasn’t some kind of soft-hearted individual, and was just waiting until more people killed each other off before trying to take advantage of the situation.

“W-what... what do you want?” the burly man said, shivering.

“I want you to go kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp!” With that, he touched the man’s head with his palm, sending a burst of energy arts into him. Of course, everyone else was so focused on the Child of the Buddhist Lamp that they weren’t paying any attention at all to Yang Qi and the burly man.

The energy Yang Qi had just sent into the burly man contained profundities of the Purrfect God Art, which encased him in a bubble and sent him flying through the air surrounded by a whistling scream. And before anyone knew what was happening, he had slammed into the defensive empyrean energy of the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

RIP!

The fire dragon exploded, filling the area with a rain of fire as the burly man laid hands directly on the Child of the Buddhist Lamp in a double-handed strike.

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp let out a shriek, accompanied by a mouthful of blood. How could he ever have guessed that someone would hit him with a blow like this?

“Dammit! How could you be so strong?!” The Child of the Buddhist Lamp looked like a cornered animal as he glared at the burly man. Reaching out, he grabbed him in claw-like hands and ripped him apart! In the moment before death, though, the burly man howled and self-detonated, soaking the Child of the Buddhist Lamp in blood.

‘Perfect!’ Yang Qi thought, smiling broadly. He had successfully used the burly man to strike a blow against the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, all without revealing his own power.

Having sustained a serious injury, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was overwhelmed with rage. “I can’t believe someone hurt me this badly. Everyone here must pay the price for his actions!”

Coughing up blood like mad, he unleashed further slaughter, killing hundreds of people in the blink of an eye. They might as well have been straw men compared to his godly might, and they fell instantly.

Compared to someone who had reached godly ascension, those who hadn’t reached that level almost weren’t worth mentioning.

“RUN!” people began screaming. They had hoped that ganging up would keep them temporarily safe, and weren’t interested in just throwing their lives away.

It was a very lopsided fight now, with the Child of the Buddhist Lamp mowing people down left and right. Roughly an hour passed in which he slaughtered everyone he could find around him. Eventually, there were only a few hundred people left in the trial.

Despite how resilient they were, even their arts of invisibility could be seen through by the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

This was the moment Yang Qi had been waiting for.

Reaching out, he grabbed an expert hidden nearby, a youngster who was an expert in the dao of the sword, who reeked of blood, making it impossible to tell how many people he had killed. Before the young man knew what was happening, Yang Qi had sent some quintessence energy into him, then vanished.

The sword-wielding young man didn’t even notice Yang Qi. However he did notice that something odd had just happened. To his surprise, he felt power flowing through him, which then erupted into the open and attracted the attention of the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

“Vicious Tactics in Buddha’s Heart!”

The youngster lashed out with his sword, only to suddenly realize that his godpower wasn’t under his own control as a deadly stream of sword energy slashed out toward the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp was injured so badly that he couldn’t even speak.

However, the young man with the sword had just unleashed so much godpower that he almost fell to his knees.

“How dare you hurt me, boy!” The Child of the Buddhist Lamp lunged forward, launching a palm strike that crushed the young man into a smear of gore on the ground. He then went on to unleash more attacks on other people he could find. Meanwhile, Yang Qi was secretly sending his energy arts through the ground to the various people who were either chasing, or hiding from the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

As a result, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was receiving more and more grievous injuries.

Another hour passed and there were only a few dozen people left alive. They were all gathered in a far corner of the valley, hiding from the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. Exchanging glances, they finally shouted, “Let’s go for broke!”