Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Having eight of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions provided an even greater level of control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. More specifically, Yang Qi was now free to go into the treasure storehouse whenever he wanted, and in fact, he could travel freely throughout the Passionless God Flower.

Neither his energy arts nor his cultivation base had advanced, and his power index was still at two hundred twenty. In fact, he was now weaker than his clone. But thanks to reaching the Destabilizing will convergence level, his fighting prowess was greater than ever, and in that respect he was actually superior to his clone.

That was especially true if he used the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art together with the Hand of the One God. They were like a combination of righteous and evil, an amalgamation of yin and yang, the ultimate expression of the taiji.

BOOM!

Yang Qi’s true self was still in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, working on his divine abilities, remolding himself, and taking control of the various weapons and items of the seventy-two monarchs. Thanks to the difficult work, his cultivation base was slowly starting to climb.

As the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart rose to a higher level, dazzling shafts of light shot out in every direction. Within it existed worlds pulsing with the mighty aura of the Primeval Age. The immortal-slaying clone rose to his feet, his eyes flashing like lightning and his black hair swirling around him, making him seem like some god-king from the ancient past. Suddenly, a sphere appeared above his head, like an ocean world covered by rolling waves. However, the water seemed more like power than anything else, and as it surged, the clone spoke in a clear, ringing voice.

“Virtual god world!”

The oceanic sphere exploded, causing rain to fall in all directions. A world was birthed out of space-time itself, filled with god trees, god minerals, and all sorts of other things.

It was a virtual god world, which was similar to a true god world. Although it was only virtual in nature, it still had its own magical laws, power, and vital energy. In fact, it was thirty percent as real as a true god world, and was more suitable for cultivation than anywhere on the Ancient Road to the Gods. Not a single immortal world in existence could compare to it.

Yang Qi escorted his family, friends, and sworn siblings into the virtual god world, all of whom were completely shocked by the sight of it. In fact, they couldn't even wrap their minds around how much better their cultivation would advance here compared to the outside world.

After all, random animals from the god world could devastate even Grand Emperors.

“A virtual god world!?” Flower Mildcloud exclaimed, her expression flickering with fear. “Completely and utterly heaven-defying! It’s like a copy of the true god world! It's hard to even predict what benefits will come from practicing cultivation in there!”

“Well, what do you think?” Yang Qi said. “Like I said, I don’t need any help from you to find the treasure storehouse of the Joyflower Palace. I’ve already looted plenty of treasure, and in the following days I’ll continue doing so until the place is empty! Sadly, because you refused to give me any information, I don't think it’s proper to give you a share.”

“You!” Flower Mildcloud said, her expression flickering. There was no way she could ever have guessed that not only would Yang Qi find the treasure storehouse, but he would be able to get inside and freely take things. The treasure storehouse was a divine location in the Joyflower Palace, and the items inside were usually bestowed as gifts by the elders and the flower goddesses.

Flower Mildcloud couldn’t help but be shaken by the sight of the magical treasures from there.

“Now do you see the benefits of siding with me? You could have had your pick of anything from the storehouse. You claimed that it was because of your loyalty to the Joyflower Palace, but I bet it was actually your fear of the warding spells, wasn’t it? What about now? Feeling a bit different?” He smiled enigmatically.

“Stop toying with me,” Flower Mildcloud said. “Fine. If you agree to give me something from the treasure storehouse, I’ll tell you a secret.”

“What secret?” Yang Qi asked quietly.

“A rumor about the treasure storehouse itself,” she replied. “It's said that there’s an item in the storehouse that can give you ultimate control over the Joyflower Palace. In fact, it could give you the Passionless God Flower itself, allowing you to destroy the palace. Would you be interested in a secret like that?”

“What? What kind of item are we talking about here? Are you saying you want to turn your back on the Joyflower Palace? Now that you’ve seen what I'm capable of, have you finally come to the realization that I’ll destroy the palace whether or not you’re helping me?”

“That’s exactly right,” she replied. “I can see now how strong you are, and I can tell that nobody will be able to stop you. One way or another, you’ll eventually reach the item I'm talking about and use it to destroy the sect. A wise woman submits to the circumstances, and now I see that I should throw my lot in with you. In fact, who knows, maybe you’ll even let me take the place over.”

“Well, aren’t you ambitious,” Yang Qi said. “Alright. You can have your pick of the treasures. Tell me what you want, and I’ll get it. But first, I want to know the details of this secret of yours. It had better be worth it.”

“Alright. It's said that even in the distant past, the Joyflower Palace and the Passionless God Flower have always been one and the same. Together, they form a boundless god item that, although not quite on the level of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, is still spectacularly amazing. Unfortunately, it requires an immense power source to operate. Can you guess what that power source is?”

“What?” Yang Qi replied, his curiosity piqued.

“A tear from the Passionless God-King. The tears of god-kings contain the power of cosmic nirvanic extermination. Normally speaking, gods don't shed tears. But they will if they’re hurt deeply enough. Such tears contain their ultimate quintessence, gathered over an entire lifetime. In other words, godhood. Not the ordinary kind, but rather aberrant godhood. That said, such godhood would contain such immense power that ordinary people could never assimilate it. Because such tears are aberrations, they signify that whichever god shed them did so upon falling into corruption.”

“A tear from the Passionless God-King?” Yang Qi felt truly shaken. Entities who reached the Deathless Throne and became gods were pinnacle beings, and it seemed impossible that one of them could possibly shed tears. Tears represented weakness, and would only be shed in a moment of ultimate vulnerability.

In fact, during Yang Qi’s entire path of cultivation, he had never once shed a single tear.

For a god-king to shed tears would imply that he had lost his godhood and magical laws. Such tears would be aberrations, as would the godhood they contained. It was something that would happen so rarely that it would be considered a legend even in the god world. But now, here was talk of such a thing in the Joyflower Palace.

Yang Qi had read hints of such legends in ancient daoist texts, but had assumed that they were fanciful fairy tales.

How could the gods, who had ultimate freedom and power, ever shed tears?

“That god-king’s tear is stored in the depths of the treasure storehouse,” she replied, “and is considered the ultimate foundation of the Joyflower Palace. If you can get it, it would be of immense help in your efforts to deal with the sect as a whole.”

“The tear of a god-king….” Yang Qi smiled. “Seems quite terrifying. What circumstances would possibly lead to a god-king crying? I somehow doubt that I'm strong enough to control something like that. But considering you’ve brought it up, I might as well go take a look and see what would be involved in taking it.”

Even as this dialogue was playing out, Yang Qi was manipulating his vital energy to completely assimilate the eighth of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. When the process was complete, his power increased dramatically, as did his speed, making him stealthier than ever. Not even someone ten times as strong as him would have an easy time killing him. And of course, being able to retreat into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart was his ultimate safety net.

Thus prepared, he headed back into the treasure storehouse.

His return trip was much easier, thanks to the increased power of the chart. He waved his hand, sending out magical laws that looked like swimming fishes that unraveled the warding spells and placed the entire storehouse within his reach.

Whoosh.

The bottle of firmament-blood lightning-origin flew into his hand. Opening it, he absorbed the lightning-like blood-colored liquid, which caused his true energy to surge rapidly.

[Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Power index two hundred thirty. Two hundred forty. Two hundred fifty. Two hundred sixty….]

It eventually stopped rising at two hundred eighty. At that point, he gave the rest of the firmament-blood lightning-origin to Flower Mildcloud.

“Drink that,” he said, “and push your energy arts to a higher level. But leave some leftover for my friends and family. I want their cultivation to improve even more quickly than it is now.”

Flower Mildcloud smiled. “They’re in that virtual god world working on their cultivation! How could they possibly practice cultivation any faster?”

“With firmament-blood lightning-origin, their speed will definitely increase. Are you really trying to haggle with me at this point? There will only be further benefits to come, such that you couldn't possibly even take advantage of all of them.”

He waved his hand, shivering as a stream of power flowed out of him. At the same time, he began singing a holy song. “Truth is falsehood, thus, falsehood is truth. True and false. False and true. Life and death; void and destruction. Everything is a dream and a void, an illusion. A chiliocosm of worlds brings about all dreams….”

Suddenly, a virtual bottle of firmament-blood lightning-origin took the place of the old one on the shelf.

At the same time, other virtual weapons and items appeared on the Paramount Shelf, emanating the same energy and aura that the previous items had. Even someone who picked up such an item, looked at it, and scanned it with true energy would be unable to detect that it was false.

As for the firmament-blood lightning-origin, only someone who actually attempted to drink it would realize that it wasn’t real. All other evidence would point to it being an actual item from the god world.

Yang Qi had cultivated his Life-Death Void-Destruction God-Lightning to the point where he could create virtual projections that were like dreams within dreams. Of course, he had yet to reach the ultimate level of this power, in which he could create things as real as reality. If he had reached that level, there would be no reason to go around stealing magical treasures.