Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“I don’t want to kill you,” King Immortal-Slayer said. “Given the level of your cultivation base, even if you meet destruction, as long as you leave behind some of your will, you can break through the aeon bonds. Then, once my plan succeeds, I can easily resurrect you. That’s how I came back to life. Believe me, Second Devil General. There is a group of people who plan to destroy the god world with the Great Necropolis. And I’m part of their plan. If they succeed, I’ll die, and so will you.”

“What?!” the Second Devil General said. “Where did these people come from? They plan to destroy the god world? Not even the Sovereign Lord could’ve done something like that.”

“You’re right. The Sovereign Lord couldn’t have done that. But these psychos might just be able to pull it off. The Sovereign Lord left behind a certain item that they’ve already recovered. You see, he was changing the Great Necropolis into something different, and they’re continuing that undertaking, pushing it far past anything he accomplished.

“Right now, I'm trapped in the Great Necropolis. However, I've also managed to unlock some of its deepest secrets and I plan to use them to vanquish these villains. If I don’t, the god world will be no more. And time is running out. Allow me to emphasize this point: the Sovereign Lord couldn’t destroy the god world, but the Great Necropolis can. The god world represents everything. So if it's gone, there is Nothing. The god world is the heart of the many heavens, and in fact, is the most paramount of all worlds. There’s no other world that surpasses it. Therefore, the only way to reach the Annulled level of will convergence is to destroy the god world. To create the true and real world, which is a world of Nothing. If someone can reach the Annulled level and transcend by destroying the god world, humanity can break through the ultimate limits.”

‘So, that’s how it is,’ Yang Qi thought.

The god world was the ultimate world. The path of cultivation involved rising from the impure lands into the immortal worlds, then going to the god world. To achieve breakthroughs, one had to fly to higher heights. Unfortunately, if there were no worlds above the god world, how could one fly higher?

Yang Qi was finally starting to understand the mental anguish experienced by people like King Immortal-Slayer and the Sovereign Lord.

They had reached the highest heights possible, only to find that they were stuck for all time. Perhaps they were eternally undying, but in the end, it was an existence of eternal pain.

It was similar to Yang Qi’s own brethren, who existed at the height of their world, but were unable to rise any higher. For them, it was an existence of sorrow.

‘I wonder what it’s like to stand on the ultimate peak,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘How do you transcend that? I suppose it’s a bit premature to be wondering about such things. After I become like the Sovereign Lord, the highest level of existence, then I’ll worry about it.’

“Are you refusing to help me, Second Devil General?” King Immortal-Slayer asked.

“Why should I?” the Second Devil General replied. “Once you’re free, you’ll just take control of the Great Necropolis and follow in the footsteps of the Sovereign Lord. You're ambitious, just like he was. Don't think I don’t know that. Anyone who reaches the ultimate peak will want to transcend, and will then consider destroying the god world. You’re no exception. Neither was the True Devil. Nor am I. There’s no alternative path to take.”

“So the answer's no?” King Immortal-Slayer said. “Do you really think I have no way of dealing with you by force? Don’t forget, you’re still sealed in that lamp, which means that I control your life and death. All I have to do is help Yang Qi assimilate the lamp more quickly.”

“Bring it on, King Immortal-Slayer! I refuse to believe you can actually kill me. I’ve already fully cultivated the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body! I might have suffered years of torment, and I may be reaching the end of my road, but I have full and complete confidence in my will! All I need to do is recover a bit of strength, and then you won’t even come close to being a match for me.”

It didn’t seem like the Second Devil General would be won over. If he was the type to surrender, he would have surrendered to the Lord of Radiance and Light long ago.

Snorting coldly, King Immortal-Slayer prepared to take action. However, just before he did, his expression flickered. “Those damned bastards are messing with the Great Necropolis again. I have to go back to deal with them. Take this talisman, Yang Qi. It’ll help you assimilate the lamp more quickly!”

Whizzzzz....

A sliver of will swirled forth, transforming into a talisman that landed on Yang Qi’s palm. At the same time, King Immortal-Slayer’s will projection faded away.

“Who are these people, King Immortal-Slayer?!” Yang Qi called after him. “Don’t tell me it's the Proud Clan! Please, clear this up for me!”

Unfortunately, King Immortal-Slayer didn’t say anything in response. Apparently, he was in too much of a hurry.

Meanwhile, the Second Devil General laughed heartily. “It seems King Immortal-Slayer has landed himself in just as bad a predicament as I'm in. Alright, boy. I have to admit I didn’t think you were really acquainted with King Immortal-Slayer. But even if you are, he’s just using you. If you use that talisman to assimilate me, it’s not going to help you. Instead, it’ll only harm you! You have the God Legion Seal and some of the Mahātmā Jade, as well as plenty of other amazing things. You’re a Fateless One! King Immortal-Slayer lacks a physical body, so he’s obviously planning to possess you. The only reason he’s working with you now is because he can’t take over your body yet.”

“Hoping to sow dissension between us?” Yang Qi said. He laughed. “Nice try. The stronger I get, the more confident I am. King Immortal-Slayer is trapped right now, so there’s no reason not to help him a bit. You’re a far bigger threat. With you around, I'm in constant danger. It’s simple: I want that lamp, and King Immortal-Slayer wants you! It's only natural to help each other out a bit. King Immortal-Slayer and I have been working together for a long time now, and it's gone splendidly. Did you really think that a few words from you are going to suddenly make me distrust him? If so, that’s very foolish of you. Besides, even if King Immortal-Slayer really does plan to reach the peak by destroying the god world, well, I still have my own plans. And right now, they involve assimilating you.”

The Second Devil General was temporarily struck speechless. Yang Qi had analyzed matters quite thoroughly, and clearly had things planned out in detail.

“My physical body has reached a threshold, Second Devil General. A limit. The Everlit Godlamp is the true form of the Lord of Radiance and Light. It’s his body! If I assimilate it, I’ll be able to reach a higher level. I’ll become stronger than ever. So give in and hand over the Mahātmā Jade. If you do, I won’t assimilate you. What do you say?”

Without hesitation, Yang Qi thrust King Immortal-Slayer’s talisman into the lamp.

Instantly, the lamp flared with fire, and a devilish specter could be seen within it, twisting and writhing. The Second Devil General was gasping for breath, as if he were fighting for his life.

“Bring it on, boy! Bring it on! I hereby swear that as soon as I have the chance, I'm going to kill you and everyone you know! You think I’ll stand for this humiliation? You can't vanquish my will this easily!” All of a sudden, boundless baleful energy erupted from the Second Devil General.

The devilish specter shrank, turning into a dazzling conglomeration of flickering light, which was a devilfire śarīra that fought back against the flame of the lamp.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi drew on the power of God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade, as well as the talisman from King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. At the same time, he sent forth bubbles from the Purrfect God Art. He was using every single technique he could think of, yet he was still unable to deal with the Second Devil General.

“I refuse to believe you can keep this up, Second Devil General.”

Yang Qi suddenly inhaled, sucking the lamp, and the Second Devil General with it, into his God Legion Paradise.

He would never have dared to do this before the purrling encased the lamp in a bubble. If the Second Devil General escaped into the God Legion Paradise, he could take it over, and Yang Qi would have crumbled. Even his more than twenty-five thousand sage monarch magistrates would have been destroyed.

But things were different now. He had help from two almighty entities, the purrling and King Immortal-Slayer, and their mysterious and invincible cultivation bases were absolutely crushing the Second Devil General.

The Second Devil General had fled the tiger's den only to subsequently fall into the wolf’s lair. Yang Qi had set up everything perfectly.

His own methods weren’t enough to assimilate this devil, but he could assimilate the lamp. Of course, part of the lamp had been taken over by the Second Devil General’s devilishness. But after getting rid of that devilishness, he could take the lamp, bring it into himself, and use it to boost his powers. Then he could keep the Second Devil General imprisoned permanently.

As Yang Qi howled from the effort, the sun and moon sank into oblivion, and the ground quaked.

All of his sage monarch magistrates were working with him, chanting sutras of radiance and light that came from the Sovereign Lord’s Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse. As a result, an image of the Lord of Radiance and Light appeared in the depths of the lamp, boosting its power to ten times its previous level.

“You want to assimilate this lamp, boy? Turn it into your physical husk? Sadly for you, it's the body of the Lord of Radiance and Light, and he never died! What if he achieves the breakthrough he seeks, then comes back and possesses you? You’d best not rush into consuming poison!”

Yang Qi chuckled. “You forget, Second Devil General. I have the God Legion Seal. Even if the Lord of Radiance and Light is resurrected, his throne is still in the God Legion Seal, which means I can control him. He wouldn't be able to do a thing to me.”

The Second Devil General burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Yang Qi said.

“What's funny is that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Don’t you know why the Lord of Radiance and Light, the Lord of Civilization, the Lord of the Sword Dao, and all the other God-Lords really perished? The truth is that if they hadn’t chosen to die, they’d still be alive. You see, they wanted to be free of the God Legion Seal. So they decided to wait until they could be reborn in new bodies. In other words, if the Lord of Radiance and Light is resurrected, you won’t be able to use the God Legion Seal on him. And you would be the first person he’d aim to kill! There’s no way that any of them will allow the God Legion Seal to continue to exist!”