Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi was looking down on everything from above. And with his connection to the destiny and net of law of the Central Dynasty, no crafty plots or machinations would work against him.

Proud Central had laid some clever traps, which went to show that he had anticipated Yang Qi coming to the Central Dynasty. And he had intentionally used the aura of the Mahātmā Jade to try to lure him into a trap.

But how could he have ever anticipated what Yang Qi was actually capable of? In fact, his machinations had actually opened doors for Yang Qi.

At the moment, Yang Qi’s attention was focused on the Great Necropolis. It was hidden in the most secret location in the dynasty, still and unmoving. However, countless dhāraṇī incantations were flowing in bright white streams into it.

And they were coming from Proud Central.

He was tall and imposing, making him reminiscent of the Sovereign Lord. And the white streams of light that flowed around him were like dragons. His hand resembled the Hand of the One God as he stretched it out toward the Great Necropolis, fingers splayed.

Every breath he took caused the power of primal-chaos to flow, and big bang explosions to occur around him, causing preheaven treasures to appear.

‘He knows how to create big bang explosions with primal-chaos? Did he somehow come across a batch of First Energy Primordial Chaos Pills?’ Yang Qi was more than a little surprised. Furthermore, he could see that Proud Central’s cultivation was far, far above his own. It was past a hundred billion, and was more likely at around two or three hundred billion.

‘He’s so strong! I definitely can’t fight him. Something must have happened recently. He can't have always been this strong! If he’d been this strong in the past, the House of the Chiliocosm and the House of the Invincible would never have risen to power. I wonder if it's because he's absorbing the power of King Immortal-Slayer.’

There was obviously no time for delay.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Mahātmā Jade was actually in the Great Necropolis.

Proud Central was trying to assimilate the Great Necropolis and King Immortal-Slayer, which meant it would be extremely difficult for Yang Qi to get inside safely. And if he did get inside, he would end up trapped like a turtle in a jar. Perhaps it was all a trap laid by Proud Central. Regardless, Yang Qi was prepared to break it.

“Yang Immortal-Slayer!” he said via thought projection.

Back in the Sage Monarch Empire, Yang Immortal-Slayer nodded, then looked around at Yang Qi’s brethren who waited around him. “Get ready to carry out the master plan. Sacrifice!”

In the blink of an eye, countless secret channels of communication were opened in the Sage Monarch Empire.

An enormous altar appeared, surrounded by throngs of experts, all of whom slashed their wrists, causing blood to splash forth onto the altar.

Unfurling an imperial decree, Yang Immortal-Slayer raised his voice and said, “The emperor has officially ordered that King Immortal-Slayer be named the imperial preceptor of the Sage Monarch Empire!”

Instantly, the destiny of the empire surged into motion, converging on the altar. As the destiny drained, Yang Immortal-Slayer threw the imperial edict toward the altar, where it burst into flames.

In the blink of an eye, the destiny of the entire empire was catalyzed.

Then, a shadowy figure appeared on the altar, which was none other than the mighty King Immortal-Slayer.

Suddenly, he lunged into action, piercing through the void into the Central Dynasty and the Great Necropolis.

RUMBLE!

Having benefited from the boost of the sacrifice, he suddenly had the power to fight back with unprecedented strength.

King Immortal-Slayer’s voice suddenly echoed from within the Great Necropolis. “And here I thought you were going to go back on your word, Yang Qi. I almost can’t believe you’ve gotten this strong! This is far more power than could come from sacrificing the puny Second Devil General!” He laughed heartily. “Alright, Proud Central. Even if I was nothing but the shadow of a ghost, I wouldn’t let scum like you profane my glory. Back when I fought the Sovereign Lord, you were a piece of trash who could do nothing but cower out in the primal-chaos. And you think you're going to assimilate me? The mere thought is criminal! Get ready to die!”

“Damn you!” Proud Central blurted in shock and surprise. However, when he realized what was happening, he shouted, “How dare you try to escape, King Immortal-Slayer! Who gave you this power? How did you get so much destiny? Is it the Sage Monarch Empire? Yes, it must be. Only the Sage Monarch Empire could provide you with this much destiny! You must’ve been made the imperial preceptor of the Sage Monarch Empire! But the three dynasties are preparing to attack the Sage Monarch Empire. And they're choosing to help you in such circumstances? Are they feeling suicidal or something?”

Being an imperial preceptor was no small thing. After all, such people could wield immense destiny. Generally, they had access to a fifth of the destiny of the entire empire they served.

The imperial preceptor, the crown prince, and the grand princes were all the foundation of an empire. That was why such titles couldn't be casually given out.

As for the destiny in the Sage Monarch Empire, it was so incredible that if someone from the impure lands gained access to it, the cultivation base improvement they would experience would be unimaginable.

Someone could go from the Energy Arts level through Lifeseizing, Legendary, Great Sage, Godmyth, the Deathless Heavenly Stairway, Grand Emperor... and go all the way to becoming a God-Lord.

There would be no bottlenecks, no tribulations. They would just immediately rise to an incredibly high level.

It was power. Pure, consummate power that could change fate itself. In the face of destiny, tribulations were nothing.

That was why, in many ancient civilizations, fox spirits would take the form of beautiful women to seduce emperors. It was the best way to bypass tribulations.

If the destiny of empires in the impure lands was so amazing, just what was the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire like? Even the lowliest member of the Sage Monarch Empire had access to stronger destiny than anyone from the immortal dao civilization.

Thus, when King Immortal-Slayer became the imperial preceptor, he experienced a meteoric rise.

In primeval times, King Immortal-Slayer had never founded a dynasty of any sort. So although he was powerful, he and his seventy-one brethren were little more than an unruly mob. That was also why the Sovereign Lord had called them the Seventy-Two Bandits.

One reason they never founded an empire was that they had no one skilled in governing people, nor in the act of creation. They could only destroy. In that sense, they weren’t very different from devils.

As a result, destiny wasn’t important to them.

Therefore, upon being conferred such an important title, King Immortal-Slayer experienced an explosive change.

In the past, Yang Qi had said he would sacrifice the Second Devil General and give his blood to King Immortal-Slayer. However, he had never done so. King Immortal-Slayer assumed that Yang Qi had changed his mind, yet there was nothing he could do about it. And the pressure on him had grown so intense recently that he couldn’t even come out of the Great Necropolis in clone or projected form. Not even Yang Immortal-Slayer had been able to establish contact with him.

However, on this day, Yang Qi made good on his previous guarantee. And instead of giving him blood, he appointed him as the imperial preceptor. In fact, he was giving King Immortal-Slayer power that was a hundred times what the Second Devil General would have provided.

As King Immortal-Slayer erupted with power, Proud Central was forced to draw on ninety-nine percent of his total power, and focus all of his attention on maintaining control.

Yang Qi used that moment to transform into a stream of energy that shot into the Great Necropolis. He was taking advantage of the clash between King Immortal-Slayer and Proud Central to find the Mahātmā Jade.

“Be destroyed!” howled King Immortal-Slayer. “Let everything be destroyed. I’m going to crush the Great Necropolis and break free! Any who profane the mighty King Immortal-Slayer will perish!”

Proud Central’s eyes snapped open. “Lord of Righteous Justice! Get out here, slave! Help me draw upon the righteous power of heaven!”

WHIZZZ!

Beneath the Great Necropolis, something enormous emerged. It looked like a white mammoth, part human and part demon, yet neither. It was a level of strength roughly equal to Proud Central, yet it had no attack power. Instead, it pulsed with pure righteous energy.

In fact, it was the same type of righteous energy that flowed through heaven and earth.

It was none other than the Lord of Righteous Justice, who Proud Central controlled.

Proud Central sent power crushing onto King Immortal-Slayer, ensuring that the two of them were locked in a stalemate.

“Hmph! You think you can escape from me, King Immortal-Slayer? I've been working on this plan for billions of years. You think that was all in waste?”

‘Is that the Lord of Righteous Justice? A white mammoth?’ Yang Qi couldn’t help but wonder if it had some connection to the King of Godmammoths. Was the Lord of Righteous Justice the son of the King of Godmammoths? Yang Qi couldn’t sense such blood in him. All he could tell was that the Lord of Righteous Justice wasn’t adept at attacking.

Of course, he was primarily focused on the Mahātmā Jade right now.

He was already in the depths of the Great Necropolis, searching through the sprawling and complex immortal worlds there. The worlds had changed. They were now like embryonic minor god worlds. In the immortal worlds, the Great Necropolis ejected more immortal worlds. But in the god world, it had power that could do far more.

Yang Qi was visiting old haunts, and although things had changed, in many ways they were the same. Thankfully, it was similar enough that he could still make his way around, and that made it easy to follow the aura of the Mahātmā Jade.

Before long, he reached an enormous gate made of green stone, that glowed with soft light. There was a paper talisman pasted to the door that had a single character on it: devil.

This seemed to be the place where the Mahātmā Jade was sealed.