Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

It was with casual ease that Yang Qi revealed one godly-class energy art after another from the seventy-two monarchs, striking shock into the hearts of the experts of the Demonfolk and the Primeval Age. As of now, no one present had any desire to fight with Yang Qi. Considering what he had done so far, they could hardly imagine what it would be like to fight him when he was truly going all out. Right now, their top priority was the Great Necropolis, and the treasures it purportedly contained.

Everyone was convinced that the necropolis had an item, or items, in it that could completely change the structure of the Immortal Dao Age. And it was highly likely to contain secrets that could lead to godly ascension. Only by reaching godly ascension could one truly transcend, surpassing the river of time and becoming deathless.

The word deathless was reserved for the gods.

When King Life-Killer’s sword energy put an end to Patriarch Ninecurves Snakeking, it was a huge blow to the morale of the Demon League. Yang Qi was exactly like one man guarding a mountain pass, preventing ten thousand men from breaking through.

But then, as everyone stood there trying to decide what to do, rumbling sounds echoed out as a huge fleet of battleships appeared, slicing through the primal-chaos and emanating the aura of the future. Everyone looked over in shock, including the experts from the past and the members of the Demon League.

Obviously, these battleships were from the future world.

Furthermore, interspersed among them were what appeared to be flying castles that were clearly the work of the Mechfolk.

In the immortal worlds, the Mechfolk were known as being particularly united as a species. And they were also very powerful considering how effective their mechas were. Now, it seemed they were working with the future world, which was a very terrifying prospect.

The experts from the Primeval Age seemed particularly shaken.

After all, they already had first-hand experience, and knew how formidable the future world was. That was even more the case, considering that the ten magisters of the future world were leading the fight in the Primeval Age, and had brought countless generalissimos with them.

In fact, the forces of the Primeval Age had suffered defeat after defeat! It was only by traveling through time that they now had a hope of stepping onto the Ancient Road to the Gods. Their hope was to reach the god world, become vastly stronger, then return to eke out a victory.

For unknown reasons, the Ancient Road to the Gods was no longer present in the Primeval Age or the Future Age. The people from those two worlds could only come to the Immortal Dao Age to find it. But now the Great Necropolis had come to block the entrance to the road, which meant that conflict was sure to explode.

Hearty laughter rang out from the battleships of the future world as numerous experts appeared, including Grand Emperor generalissimos and Mechfolk experts. The latter were equipped with enormous mechas that made them look like huge robots. There were now essentially three factions facing off. Yang Qi. The Demonfolk and the experts from the Primeval Age. The future world.

Looking around, one of the generalissimos said, “I never would have guessed that so many weaklings from the Primeval Age would be here. And there are also Demonfolk from the Immortal Dao Age. Yet even with all of you, you can’t handle this boy? I can hardly believe it!”

His words left the experts from the past looking quite awkward, yet none of them seemed willing to respond.

At this point, Yang Qi raised his voice and said, “The future world is currently waging war on the Primeval Age, and I personally have no beef with you experts from the past. Why don't we join forces and wipe out the future world? The timing couldn’t be more perfect. As long as you agree to fight, I’ll join you.”

The experts from the past and the members of the Demon League all frowned. Yang Qi was really trying to stir up trouble in a moment when no one seemed inclined to actually start fighting.

“How dare you act so unfilial, Yang Qi!” one of the generalissimos said. “Magister Proud Heaven is your father, which means that you’re on the side of the future world! Our mission here is to take you back home, so we hereby demand that you dissolve the Dao Defense League and turn yourself over. Either that, or bring the Dao Defense League with you to the future world. Join us, and you’ll earn huge rewards.”

“What? He's the son of one of the magisters from the future world!?”

“Is this true?! Don’t tell me that the league-lord of the Dao Defense League is actually an agent of the future world!”

“This is good news! Once word spreads, the Dao Defense League will fall apart! Even their leader is working for the future world!”

“Quick, start spreading the news. The faster it spreads, the sooner the Dao Defense League will fall!”

The experts from the past were quite pleased at the news, as were the experts of the Demonfolk.

As for Yang Qi, he didn’t seem worried at all. He had expected the future world to eventually do something like this and had already established absolute power within the Dao Defense League. No one would dare to rebel against him, even if he was Proud Heaven’s son.

Considering that everyone was still digesting this news, it was a surprise when Yang Qi suddenly said, “You pieces of shit are just as bad as Proud Heaven. No wonder you work for him. You know full well that I'm a Fateless One, with the most powerful of the three thousand special constitutions. And considering that you people are no idiots, you know that I was born from the void itself. I don’t have a real father. Not even a god could claim to be my parent, much less that fool Proud Heaven.”

As he spoke, he allowed his Fateless aura to spread, causing a vortex of energy to fill the area. Behind him, a mysterious void appeared, invincible and without fate, its future eternally unknowable.

People like Yang Qi almost never came to exist within the river of history, but when they did it was always because of rare hetupratyaya. That was how Fateless Ones came to be. [1]

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi’s Fateless aura instantly provoked a reaction in the energy fields surrounding the Great Necropolis. It was almost as if a host of doorways began trembling, with some flying open. That, in turn, caused everyone to feel as if the eyes of ancient souls were inside, looking at them. It was a hair-raising sensation, and it convinced many of the experts that the interior of the necropolis must be an extremely dangerous place.

“He’s right,” Bright Tideflow said. “He is a Fateless One. I met a Fateless One in the Primeval Age, once, and he didn't have a father either. Fateless Ones are definitely stronger than Eternal or Fortuned Ones, making them supreme among the three thousand constitutions. And they’re born out of the void itself. No wonder he beat me so easily.”

The experts present were knowledgeable enough to know that Fateless Ones didn’t have fathers. Even their mothers wouldn’t be related to them by blood. It was similar to how fungus would grow on a tree. By way of analogy, a Fateless One’s mother was like the tree, and the Fateless One was like a spore that drifted along and eventually landed on the tree. Although it would grow on the tree—adhering closely to it in the process—that didn’t mean that it actually came from the tree itself.

The Demonfolk experts were quite taken aback. They had hoped to harm Yang Qi by spreading word that he was Proud Heaven’s son. However, now he had openly revealed that he was a Fateless One and had no true father or mother. He was a person who was completely unequalled, with an empty past and an empty future. Fate could not determine his course.

“Damnation!”

The generalissimos were now looking at him with icy expressions, clearly wishing they could kill him on the spot, but knowing they wouldn’t be able to.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was laughing inside. The future world was his greatest enemy, and Magister Proud Heaven had been trying to kill him for a long time now. But not only was that not going to happen, Yang Qi was also going to have a chance to kill some of his generalissimos.

“Generalissimos, there’s no need to take action now,” one of the Mechfolk wise ones said. “Let’s head into the Great Necropolis first. According to legend, a great tribulation hit the god world, and there are many gods buried inside this necropolis as a result. Of course, they are deathless, so despite having been killed, their godhood remains in soul form. Furthermore, there’s plenty of treasure in the Great Necropolis as well. Imagine how strong we’ll be if we can capture one of those souls! We could most likely use it to reach godly ascension and develop true godhood!”

RUMBLE!

The wise one’s words caused a bit of a stir among the experts from the Primeval Age and the Demonfolk. Furthermore, there were fluctuations from further out in primal-chaos.

With Yang Qi’s Lord's Eye, he could see that there were other old-timers from other immortal worlds gathering in the area, people who were not members of the Dao Defense League. Although the Dao Defense League had a hundred trillion worlds in it and was the most powerful alliance in existence, they still only made up one percent of the total immortal worlds.

And now some of the old-timers from outside the alliance were here, in the hopes of benefiting from the Great Necropolis.

If what the Mechfolk wise one had said was true, and it was possible to get true godhood in the enormous necropolis, then there was no way these people could resist the urge to go inside.

1. Hetupratyaya is a Buddhist concept related to causation. Hetu is a primary cause, pratyaya is a secondary cause or causes. It basically means “reason (for something)”. Honestly, I think this part is just supposed to sound cool as opposed to being some sort of concrete explanation. Other definitions of this term in Chinese include cause, opportunity, predestined relationship, chain of cause and effect, and of course reason. I'm going with the Buddhist version because I think it's intended to be a more magical/mystical thing. Besides, translating it as something synonymous with “reason” would basically end up with something like “the only reason Fateless Ones were born was because of a reason” or something similarly odd in English.