Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Yang Qi said, a fierce glimmer passing through his eyes. “I want this Leaf Dao-Denier dead. Once and for all!”

He waved his hand, and a magical treasure bag flew over to Young Lady Green Blaze. “That’s full of medicinal tablets that you can use to further negate any heterogeneous true energy. Sell any that you don’t need, as they’re astronomically valuable. Invest the profits in magical treasures to use as bribes. Eventually, I plan to give you control of the Green Clan, and perhaps even more.”

“Yes, Milord, you’ve thought of everything.” She knelt. “May you, in your might, control all the immortal worlds, and eventually, the past and the future too.”

She hurried out, then returned a few hours later. “Milord, I’ve taken care of everything. You’re now a young genius of the Green Clan. Please hide the traces of any unusual magical treasures, talismans, and other items you might have. And make sure to keep any strange divine will fluctuations under control. You’ll be inspected before beginning the exam, and we wouldn’t want your true identity to be revealed. It’s forbidden to accept aid from any of the old-timers during the exam. That would be considered cheating.”

Yang Qi had assumed those would be the rules. Although it was an exam for Dao-Demolishers, there were still countless participants and it was a very dangerous test. Supposedly, most of the participants would meet their end in death. It was only the spectacular nature of the prizes that were up for grabs that prompted so many geniuses to risk their lives by joining.

If an old-timer were to help someone—for example by bolstering them with a second nascent divinity, or giving them some talismans—it would make the exam unfair. Because of that, strict rules were set in place to avoid such problems.

In the Tusita Heaven, even a billion geniuses were a mere drop of water in the ocean. For example, the Green Clan alone had trillions of members. And the Tusita Heaven had trillions of cities like theirs.

Yang Qi rose to his feet and followed Young Lady Green Blaze from her bedchamber to a teleportation portal, which whisked them away to an enormous public square. There were numerous teams of people arrayed throughout the square, most of them groups of thousands. All of them were members of the Green Clan who were preparing to participate in the exam. These were people who were facing trouble reaching the Godmyth level and needed some sort of good fortune to make any progress. Desperation was another key factor that prompted geniuses to participate in the deadly exam.

One of the Green Clan elders was at the front of the square, offering advice and information.

“You are the cream of the crop in our Green Clan. But if you truly want to rise above the crowd, you need to reach the Godmyth level!” The elder gave a faint smile. “I know that all of you are brave to join this exam. Sadly, most of you will die during the process. Maybe none of you will come back. But if you’re lucky, you’ll come out on top. The power in god dao seeds is incredible. They have virtual godhood that you can definitely use to become Godmyths without any difficulty!

“Those who refuse to participate in the exam, but still somehow reach the Godmyth level, actually put a limit on their own potential. People like that will never make a name for themselves!

“Only by joining the exam and acquiring a god dao seed can you truly reach the highest heights. Any of you who succeeds will automatically become a direct bloodline holy child of the Green Clan, an incredibly high position.”

A buzz of excited conversation swept through the square.

“Be off!”

The teams began entering the teleportation portals, a process which took several hours to complete. Their destination was an even larger square, a place large enough to fit an ocean. In the middle of the square was the Primal-Chaos Gateway which constantly emitted the energies of primal chaos, as well as a vile, fiendish aura.

WHOOOOOSH!

Groups of young ones walked out of teleportation portals into the square, and not a single one of them was a Godmyth. All were Dao-Demolishers.

However, after looking around, Yang Qi could tell that many of them were hiding their true strength. Some could definitely kill Incarnated Gods or Shattered Gods. They were people like him—incredibly strong, but stuck and unable to reach the Godmyth level without acquiring god dao seeds.

The stronger one was, the harder it was to break through. People like that had to hope for special items or good fortune, and sometimes that took an entire lifetime of searching. One thing was for sure; sitting around doing nothing wasn’t the way to succeed.

There were already several billion people in the square, and more were arriving every moment from different cities and different clans.

RUMBLE!

A group of patriarchs appeared and took up places around the Primal-Chaos Gateway. They all wore violet garments and were clearly Measureless God patriarchs. One of them raised his voice and said, “This exam is a common occurrence, so I won’t waste time explaining all the rules. Enter the Primal-Chaos Gateway, which will scan you to make sure you have no divine will hidden on you. If you do, then sorry to say, you’ll be killed instantly. Once cleared, you will receive a primal-chaos talisman that you can use to search the godrelic for the Live Forever God Tree. Climb the tree and pluck a god dao seed, and you will be able to reach the Godmyth level. Afterward, the talisman will automatically teleport you to safety. Your performance inside will be up to your own luck and fortune.”

“Begin!” another patriarch said in a cold voice.

RIIIIP!

It was as if floodgates had been opened as hosts of expert geniuses flew in droves toward the Primal-Chaos Gateway.

Occasionally, an agonized shriek would ring out as someone was ripped into bloody shreds. When that happened, the patriarchs would chuckle grimly. “That is the just punishment fools receive. They thought they could fool the Primal-Chaos Gateway, but not even the patriarchs who back them could do that. The Primal-Chaos Gateway is an ancient god item which can see through to the truth of anything and everything! Whoever the gate destroys is wiped out down to the soul and can never be born again. And whatever patriarchs backed those cheaters will be severely wounded by the backlash from the gateway.”

Yang Qi took note of these occurrences and maintained full vigilance as he became a streak of light that shot toward the gateway.

Upon entering, a bright beam of light passed through him containing a most ancient will. It pierced every fiber of muscle, all of his meridians, and even the depths of his sea of consciousness.

But what kind of person was Yang Qi?

He had the God Legion Seal. He had King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. He had a fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization. And he had shrunk all of those things down to a single point, which was then concealed in the depths of another universe. Even the most powerful spatial magic would be powerless to detect them.

The Primal-Chaos Gateway did search the numerous universes directly connected to Yang Qi, but came up with nothing suspicious. Eventually, the light created a paper talisman which landed on his hand, a ticket he could use to find, approach—and theoretically climb—the Live Forever God Tree.

Smiling, Yang Qi took the talisman and passed through the gateway.

Experts poured through for three days and nights, after which the gateway closed. When that happened, the Measureless God patriarchs all burst out in contented laughter. “Who would have thought that so many people would participate in the exam this time? There were even some who possess some of the three thousand unique constitutions. There were Freezing Ones, Magesoul Ones, and Bloodgel Ones. They’ll be the perfect food for the Live Forever God Tree!”

“That’s right. All of the geniuses who went in there are powerful Demolishers who can defeat Godmyths in combat. Some might even have the godpower to form virtual god bodies. But they’re not strong enough to become real Godmyths unless they get a god dao seed. It's too bad those seeds aren't exactly easy to get.”

“Exactly. Although a lot of young geniuses join this exam, not very many actually get god dao seeds. There have even been times when all the examinees were wiped out. The unlucky ones get absorbed by the primal-chaos paleo-energy and become food for the Live Forever God Tree, ensuring that it stays strong and healthy for all time, and will continue to produce seeds for the imperial house to harvest. These young fools think that the exam is a chance to be rewarded by the empire, but little do they know that the true goal is to feed the Live Forever God Tree!”

“It’s the perfect arrangement by the Tusita dynasty. These young people would likely become domineering forces of their own, so killing them now ensures the stability of the dynasty.”

“It’s just too bad that Leaf Dao-Denier wasn’t killed when he participated in the exam. He actually got one of the god dao seeds, which led to incredible advancement on his part. Now we have little chance of killing him. I wonder how his Essence Trial is going. If he acquires the essence legacy it could spell doom for the imperial house.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. Even if he does get the essence legacy, he won’t reach the Deathless Throne. Rulership of the Tusita Heaven will still be up in the air. At most, he’ll end up as one of the top patriarchs. Our imperial house will still have a chance to fight back, and possibly even kill him and take his destiny!”