Sage Monarch

"Yes," said Doom. "The ten magisters of the future world really are that strong. You can hardly imagine their reign of terror when they slaughtered countless experts of the Primeval Age and took all of our resources. If it weren't for the fact that they're so preoccupied keeping Brahma in check and can't travel about with their true selves, I would already be dead, and the God Legion Seal would be in their hands. You see, it's only by using Brahma's power that they opened the passageway to the Primeval Age."

"The god Brahma...?" Yang Qi said. He chuckled darkly. "I almost forgot about him. I guess no matter how weak he is, he's still a god. And gods aren't the kind of entities that mortals can easily deal with."

"That's exactly right," said Empress Joyflower. "The ten magisters can't use their true selves, and that includes Proud Heaven. Killing one of his incarnations won't do any good."

"Killing one of his incarnations would indeed be pointless," Doom said. "However, he's planning to come here as his true self, while leaving an incarnated clone behind to suppress Brahma. Thanks to my God Legion Seal, I can sense his imminent arrival. In fact, he might even be here already."

Doom's words chilled everyone to the bone, and Yang Qi almost felt as if Proud Heaven were already right there in their presence.

He was the kind of person who could appear and disappear unpredictably, which made him very difficult to defend against. However, Yang Qi refused to believe that Proud Heaven could defeat two bearers of the God Legion Seal who were working together against him.

"By the way," Yang Qi said, "when I was fighting for the position of league-lord, a strange man in a bronze mask showed up and used a whip technique from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. It seemed to me that he had some of the battle will of Proud Heaven's God Legion Seal, in addition to some of yours, Doom. Who was he? One of the pawns you sent to interfere?"

"Wait, what happened?" Doom asked, looking stunned.

Proud World also looked surprised. "What exactly did he look like?"

Yang Qi described the man and the fight, but that only caused Doom and Proud World to frown more deeply.

"I'd say it's highly likely he's one of Proud Heaven's men," Proud World said.

"No, that's not possible," Yang Qi said. "He actually cursed Proud Heaven, unless he did that on purpose to sow confusion."

"Maybe it was someone groomed by one of the other magisters," Doom said. "None of them really like Proud Heaven. You see, in the beginning, the ten magisters agreed to share the use of the God Legion Seal. But in the end, Proud Heaven took sole control of it. The only downside for him was that he paid a very heavy price to succeed. If I were to guess, I'd say your mysterious masked man was the son of another magister, which is the only explanation for how he could be so strong. In the past, I personally fought with each and every one of the magisters, and it's entirely possible that they siphoned some of the energy of my version of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth."

His explanation did seem to make sense, and the atmosphere was already starting to soften. At the very least, they weren't facing off with swords drawn and arrows nocked.

"So what's the plan to deal with Proud Heaven?" Yang Qi asked.

"He's not going to be easy to fight," said Doom, "but that doesn't mean we can't deal with him." Looking at Proud World, he continued, "If Yang Qi and I work together to seek further enlightenment of our God Legion Seals, I think we'll find the answer."

"What would happen if you were to combine your God Legion Seals? I guess the only downside is that the result would be a single seal, and the two of you wouldn't be able to split it. In other words, one of you would have to kill the other." Proud World chuckled.

Doom gave a cold harrumph. "It's a given that there can only be one God Legion Seal in the end. So it's a foregone conclusion that Yang Qi and I will ultimately be enemies. But for now, we're not. So my suggestion is that, in order to deal with Proud Heaven, we reveal the secrets of our respective versions of the seal. We exchange all of our energy arts, but don't combine the seals. After all, once fused, they can't be separated." He looked over at Yang Qi. "Of that, I'm sure you're aware. However, if we do kill Proud Heaven, I have a way to resolve the situation. Proud Heaven has already created an undying body, and considering he's been to the god world, I wouldn't be surprised if he's already joined the legion of gods. He has a deathless will, which means that, generally speaking, he'll be impossible to kill. Unfortunately for him, I've already figured out a way to do just that!"

"Kill him? How?" Yang asked. He had already come to the conclusion that Proud Heaven had a boundless fate that made him impossible to kill. In fact, he wasn't confident at all that this little alliance would be enough to actually take him down.

"Simple," Doom said. "We use King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions!"

"What? King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions?"

"He's right," Proud World said, a sinister grin appearing on his face. "I know that you have eight of them, Yang Qi, which means you're missing one. If you were to get all of them together, you would resurrect the will of King Immortal-Slayer. And what would Proud Heaven count for compared to him? We can definitely use King Immortal-Slayer's will to cut him down, and then we'll have the third God Legion Seal!"

"Are you saying you have the ninth legacy medallion?" Yang Qi said. "The one that was originally created from King Immortal-Slayer's heart? If so, let me see it. That legacy medallion is only one of Proud Heaven's many plots to kill me."

"I do have it," Proud World replied, "but not on me. It's in the future world. You see, it's of critical importance in the effort to suppress Brahma. However, I could probably get into the treasure storehouse and steal it. What do you think?"

"We could kill Proud Heaven that way," Yang Qi said in a cool voice. "Unfortunately... if King Immortal-Slayer's will is resurrected, the first thing he'll do is attack me."

"Wrong," Doom said. "The first thing he'll do is make a move on the God Legion Seal. You see, King Immortal-Slayer's greatest enemies were always the Sovereign Lord, the godmammoths, and the God Legion Seal. Besides, in the moment of his resurrection, it's his will that will awaken, not his entire person. So it's not as if he'll be that fearful. Remember, his legacy medallions only contain a very small and weak portion of his energy and power, not enough for a full resurrection. That said, his resurrected will would still be beyond our ability to deal with, and that goes for Proud Heaven as well."

"I'm guessing you have a way to control that resurrected will?" Yang Qi said.

"Exactly. What we do is release his will in the main headquarters in the future world. That way, he'll destroy them. Not even Proud Heaven will be able to escape. We need to do it while Proud Heaven is still there in the future world. We need to strike first! Open the passage, free Brahma, release King Immortal-Slayer, combine the legacy medallions, then return here. With us gone, Proud Heaven will be the only person in the future world with a God Legion Seal, which means that he'll become the biggest target for King Immortal-Slayer's will. After he's dead, we can go back and clean up."

"Not a bad plan," Yang Qi said. "Unfortunately, it's easy to invite a god in, but hard to send it away. How are we supposed to get King Immortal-Slayer's will under control after releasing it? What if his will manages to track us down here? Then we'd end up just like Proud Heaven. Dead. Don't forget that King Immortal-Slayer was so mighty he threw the god world into turmoil. He might be able to help us, but it won't be out of kindness." Yang Qi still didn't feel very confident in succeeding.

Doom thought for a moment. "We just need to get Proud Heaven into the Great Necropolis. You see, there's more to my plan than I've explained so far, and some of it has to do with some things I've learned about the necropolis. You've become an Inheritor, right? I have to say, I was surprised by that, because the necropolis doesn't have anything to do with the God Legion Seal. And understanding its profundities is the key to crushing and killing, not just someone like Proud Heaven, but also the will of King Immortal-Slayer. You can use it to bury him. To seal him."

"What exactly is the Great Necropolis?" Yang Qi asked.

At this point, Proud World cut in and said, "I believe it comes from a time before the god world. Before the Sovereign Lord was even born. It's impossible to say why it suddenly showed up to block the Ancient Road to the Gods. The only thing I can think of is that dramatic events unfolded in the god world.

"Besides, we've already explored most of what the Great Necropolis has to offer. The immortal worlds with a rank of three thousand are the core of the necropolis. Of course, there are more mysteries to be uncovered; for example, we don't know exactly how the godpower seeds came to be. That secret lies with the so-called essence of the Great Necropolis. Although, I have the feeling we'll soon find out the details of such secrets.

"Do you know another reason why we want to work with you, Yang Qi? Because of your immense potential. You've become an Inheritor, so as long as you can find where the godpower seeds originate, then we'll definitely have what it takes to deal with Proud Heaven. In fact, you could probably even imprison King Immortal-Slayer's will and gain absolute control over the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart."

"Even more amazing, if you think about it," Doom continued, "is that we can use King Immortal-Slayer's will to fight the Great Necropolis. Perhaps we can even move it! And if we did that, we could once again walk the Ancient Road to the Gods and go to the god world. There are many things we could accomplish by working together."

"So that's your plan," Yang Qi said. He had to admit that he felt some admiration for this group. Although the plan had yet to be carried out, it was definitely ambitious and worthy of respect.

Use King Immortal-Slayer to deal with Proud Heaven. Use the Great Necropolis to suppress King Immortal-Slayer. Use that to move the Great Necropolis. Then, finally, get a chance at godly ascension.

Everything was connected, and it could theoretically lead to immense benefits. However, Yang Qi was still convinced that it couldn't possibly play out as smoothly as described. They needed to take things slowly, for instance, by first coming to understand more of the secrets of the Great Necropolis. After all, he was an Inheritor now, so he couldn't very well cause problems for his own foundation.

"Alright," he said with a nod. Looking at Doom, he continued, "You tell me all of the cultivation methods that came with your God Legion Seal, and I'll do the same. We'll do it via divine will."

"Alright!" Doom said, then took the initiative to send out a stream of divine will.