Sage Monarch

Star Swordlife's heart was already pounding at the realization that Proud Heaven knew exactly what he was thinking.

What exactly was the level of Proud Heaven's cultivation base? It seemed like he could read the heart and mind of anyone he was dealing with with almost no effort. Of course, that task was made easier in the case of Star Swordlife with his one-track mind.

Swish!

Before he could do anything else, Proud Heaven suddenly reached out with dazzling speed. As Star Swordlife saw Proud Heaven's hand filling his field of vision, he instinctively unleashed a rain of swords, but Proud Heaven easily suppressed them.

In the blink of an eye, he couldn't even use his energy arts.

CRACK!

Five fingers latched on to Star Swordlife's throat.

Proud Heaven unleashed a tiny stream of true energy, and Star Swordlife's face instantly went as pale as death, and red steam rose up from the top of his head. His eyes filled with fear, but he didn't move a muscle and didn't dare to utter a word. As of this moment, he knew that, despite having risen within the Terrifying level, he was still no match for Proud Heaven.

"You are far too naive, Star Swordlife. Did you really think that I would help you get stronger, then let you fight me? That's a joke if ever I heard one. I know all about your one-track mind. However, I also know that you're something of a genius with the sword. Furthermore, I know that you're actually the personification of the life force created by heaven and earth. In the days to come, you'll reach immense heights and become a god powerful even among gods. Unfortunately, despite all that, you really don't have what it takes to stand up to me.

"I can make you what you are, but I can also take it all away. So don't try pulling any tricks. If you do, I'll kill you."

Star Swordlife's face was still white as a sheet. He knew that Proud Heaven was telling the truth, leaving him feeling at a complete loss. He had lost control, and if he tried to struggle, he would end up dead.

In front of Proud Heaven, his will of life force was completely restrained, making it impossible for him to even make some grandiose speech.

Shivering, he said, "Senior Proud Heaven, your strength surpasses all limitations. Killing Yang Qi shouldn't be any problem at all for you. Why did you offer me help and then set me against him? Aren't you attending to trifles but neglecting essentials?"

Proud Heaven snorted coldly. "The dirty little swine has a God Legion Seal, doesn't he? Well, so do I. And I'm not sure what exactly will happen if we use those seals against each other in a fight. Just now, I used the martial arts of the God Legion Seal against you, so it's little wonder you were helpless. But I'm not sure how powerful I'll be against that pig. And that's why I gave you the tools to fight him. You want to seal him, right? Well I'm giving you your chance. So go. Use your Inheritor powers to head into the most dangerous parts of the Great Necropolis, the place where the godpower seeds come from."

"Alright," Star Swordlife said. In the presence of Proud Heaven, he felt like a toddler that had just learned to walk. Unwilling to spend any more time in his presence than necessary, he offered a respectful salute and flew off into the stony primal-chaos of the deepest parts of the Great Necropolis.

Proud Heaven watched him go, and then smiled coldly. "The boy really has some talent. And he has some incredible destiny as well. He'll become a Consummate God, at the very least. Who knows, he might actually be able to fight with Yang Qi over the ultimate control of the Great Necropolis. There's no way I'll let Yang Qi and Doom live. Their two God Legion Seals are definitely going to come under my control. Then my long-cherished wish, held for millions upon millions of years, will finally come true. With the complete God Legion Seal, I can finally go to the god world!

"However, before I do, I need to accomplish the task of moving the Great Necropolis. Ah, Proud World, you'd better not let me down. You must resurrect the scrap of King Immortal-Slayer's will that I gave you! Once you do, he'll fight the will of the Great Necropolis, and although he might not completely destroy it, it should be enough to move the thing. Once the necropolis is dealt with and the Ancient Road to the Gods is open again, I can hurry to the god world. The road disappeared from the Primeval Age and the Future Age, and I can sense that it will soon disappear from the Immortal Age as well. If I don't move the Great Necropolis before then, it will become impossible to reach the god world and achieve godly ascension!"

His mere murmured words affected the immortal world around him, even stirring the stone-like energy flows of the Great Necropolis and causing whirlpools to form. Clearly, he was an apex entity within the mortal world.

In fact, no one truly knew how strong he was, and there were no other experts who had the courage to fight him.

As he faded away, he made one more speech. "You are my direct offspring, Proud World. Although you've defied me, you have no idea that I gave you the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth for a very specific reason. I'm waiting for you to accomplish a certain task, and after you do, I'll kill you. What does the death of a son matter in comparison to the God Legion Seal and the Great Necropolis? You see, I made sure that Yang Qi got all the other legacy medallions, because I want him to fight the will of King Immortal-Slayer. If I controlled the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, then I would be tainted by King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and would never be able to free myself. This plan has been underway for countless years. In fact, it all started in the Primeval Age. And now… it's finally about to come to fruition."

All conspiracies. All major events. Proud Heaven was behind them all. In the mortal world, he could produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another.

He manipulated everything.

**

Back in the stone-like primal-chaos vital energy of the Great Necropolis, Yang Qi and his companions were forging their way deeper and deeper, experiencing all kinds of dangers along the way. The vital energy was getting stronger, and they had encountered quite a few more corpses and magical treasures. Sadly, all of them had already been turned into stone, and were completely useless.

However, all four of them had collected significant amounts of godhood, roughly a dozen pieces each. That could be considered quite a haul, except it was relatively useless to them personally.

After all, they were searching for the ultimate source of everything to do with the Great Necropolis.

RUMBLE!

They shot onward, surrounded in the golden light that resembled a spacecraft, piercing into the depths of the vital energy. At a certain point, they reached a place where the vital energy swirled violently, causing rumblings like that of thunder to fill their ears.

The craft slowed to a stop and everyone looked around vigilantly.

"We've reached a very important area," Doom said. "This part of the Great Necropolis has god lightning that can split heaven and sunder the earth. We have to be very, very careful here."

"I'm getting the sensation there's something very wretched and evil up ahead," Yang Qi said. He waved his hand, summoning a mass of paper talismans that he sent flying into the stone-like vital energy. Instantly, the energy went still.

"Let's go. I can use my Great Necropolis abilities to quell the energy, but it's only temporary."

"Alright!"

They followed the paper talismans, yet they still felt like their souls were being battered by sledgehammers from the thunder.

It was even impossible to circulate their true energy.

Face ashen, Doom said, "How long is this going to last? Considering how strong we are, I'd say that ordinary mid Terrifying experts would die here. There's no doubt."

"You're right," Yang Qi said. "The god lightning in these parts is strong enough to kill gods. It's incredible!" He shivered as a stone-colored bolt of lightning struck him, draining some of his true energy.

However, that was when Yang Qi realized that he could use this rare lightning to help assimilate the ten thousand pieces of godhood he had.

It was lightning that would kill most people, but to him it could be used as a tool for tempering.

In fact, all ten thousand pieces of godhood had objects inside them that resembled fetuses, people whose facial features resembled Yang Qi. It went to show that Yang Qi was truly tapping into the quintessence of the godhood.

In the mortal world, people could only use godhood as a source of power, fuel for their psychic flames, or as an aid to their cultivation techniques. And that process would waste most of the quintessence of the godhood. In fact, people in the mortal world could only draw on one ten-thousandth of a piece of godhood. After all, how could mortals possibly draw on the full quintessence and power of a god? If they did, they would be completely and utterly destroyed.

Yang Qi wasn't assimilating the godhood in his sea of energy, but rather growing it. He was using two opposing energy arts, one positive and one negative, to cleanse it. Using his Great Necropolis godpower and the Purrfect God Art, in combination with the god lightning he had just encountered, he was provoking dramatic transformations and causing the godhood to form infant children within them.

There were ten thousand infants, all of them breathing.

Every breath Yang Qi took, they also took a breath. It was like ten thousand of him performing breathing exercises, with every single one of those children being nascent souls that were growing into nascent divinities.

The transformations that were occurring were so profound that not even Yang Qi was completely sure of what was happening.

At the very least, he knew that the lightning strikes weren't hurting him, but helping him.