Sage Monarch

The Ten Universes ability was the ultimate expression of Proud Heaven's cultivation base.

It was impossible to say how many consummate abilities he had collected over the years in order to create it. Every stance was closely linked with the others, even more so than the nine stances of the Hand of the One God.

Of course, that wasn't because Proud Heaven was superior to the Sovereign Lord. It was because of how the consummate Ten Universes was created by him, therefore it was uniquely suited to him.

It was always best to use techniques suited to oneself.

Although the Hand of the One God was mighty when it was unleashed by people such as Yang Qi or Proud Heaven, nothing could be better than a technique one had created based on their personal dao.

The ten stances of the Ten Universes technique could be considered sky-obfuscating and land-enshrouding.

Agitation of Nature. Pulse of the Void. Sword of the Cosmos. Rot of Nihility. Sacrifice of Chaos. Restoration of the Epoch. Crippling of Civilization. Enemy of the World. Destruction of the Macrocosm. Nirvana of the Universe!

Those ten stances each contained boundless divine abilities, and when unleashed, would cause the surrounding vital energy to create projections of Proud Heaven himself. The mere fluctuations of the energy art were enough to destroy heaven and extinguish the earth, and Yang Qi already felt like his soul was about to explode.

It was Proud Heaven's most deadly and splendid attack; it was brutal and crushing, something that could decide life or death in the briefest of moments.

Yang Qi felt like howling in rage. However, in his sea of energy, a purring sound could be heard ten times in a row. And with each purring sound, a bubble appeared in the palm of his hand, which then shot out to meet one of the deadly moves of the Ten Universes.

Pop. Pop. Pop!

Ten popping sounds rang out as the ten bubbles burst. And as a result, the power of Proud Heaven's assault was reduced by ninety-nine percent. Yang Qi took advantage of the moment to use the combination of the Hand of the One God and the Unspoiled Body to throw up another layer of defense.

He had long since entered into a state of complete calm in which he wasn't even thinking about victory or defeat. Instead, it was as if he were training, improving himself by constantly focusing on not being killed.

That state was when he fought the best.

The true battle had begun. After Yang Qi had been so violently battered by Proud Heaven, the two of them backed away from each other. So far, neither seemed capable of taking the other out.

As for the Shepherd, Proud World, and Doom, Yang Qi had taken pains to ensure that they weren't hit by any of the shockwaves.

Glaring at Yang Qi with sinister eyes, Proud Heaven said, "I have to say you've earned my admiration, Yang Qi. You can actually stand up to my consummate art, the Ten Universes. And not only did you survive all of the moves, you came out completely unscathed. You're the only person who could possibly do that. Not even the emperor of the executors could survive up to this point."

Yang Qi didn't respond. Instead, he focused on the true energy flows inside him. They were raging so out of control that he couldn't have talked even if he wanted to. Drawing on the Annulled Grand Magic, he quickly forced the energy to flow correctly back into his sea of energy. It was almost like getting a flood under control. If he hadn't succeeded, his meridians would have been damaged, and the consequences of that would have been too horrible to contemplate.

After three full cycles of energy circulation, he was in the position to speak again. The truth was that he had been injured. And the fact that Proud Heaven had immediately been able to speak after their clash just showed how much stronger the man was.

After all, he had been to the god world, and returned. He obviously knew many secrets of the place. If Yang Qi had been there, it was obvious that his cultivation base would have benefited.

As Proud Heaven stood there with his energy surging, he seemed like some sort of martial arts giant who couldn't possibly be defeated. He was a consummate wretch-devil whose eyes were locked onto Yang Qi's soul, which ensured that even if Yang Qi fled to the edges of reality, he wouldn't be able to escape him.

"Your Ten Universes weren't very impressive, Proud Heaven," Yang Qi said in a casual tone. "Is that really the best you can do? If your own personal energy art can't do anything to me, and you don't have anything stronger, perhaps we should come back in a year to have a rematch."

"Very well." Proud Heaven said. "I admit that I underestimated you, Yang Qi. Apparently my Ten Universes can't hurt you. But what happens if I keep attacking you? I could do it all day, and every time I do, I would back it with unbelievable power. In other words, it'll only get worse and worse for you. At this point, I'm going to ask you one more time: are you willing to work with me? The two of us could benefit a lot from each other. If you disagree, you really will perish here."

"What do you plan to fight me with?" Yang Qi said, inwardly converging his power and preparing his techniques. Thanks to the fierce fighting, he felt that he was actually hovering on the verge of another breakthrough. If he finished climbing the Deathless Heavenly Stairway, he'd become a Grand Emperor, and would definitely be able to defeat Proud Heaven.

He was already confident that he knew the extent of Proud Heaven's trump cards.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Proud Heaven, I'm not actually a Grand Emperor. What if I went all out and achieved my breakthrough right here and now? Would you be able to beat me then?"

Skipping the subterfuge, Yang Qi just explained his trump card, hoping it would strike fear into Proud Heaven's heart.

As expected, Proud Heaven's eyes turned very sharp. "Very impressive, Yang Qi. But are you really willing to take that risk? What if you fail to become a Grand Emperor? I guarantee you that during the process, when your vital energy is the most chaotic, I'll strike you with a deadly blow."

"I refuse to believe you can actually do that," Yang Qi replied with a broad smile. He knew there was no way Proud Heaven would just let him reach the Grand Emperor level without trying to stop him. But he was also confident that he couldn't be stopped. "Besides, after reaching the mid Terrifying level, I can open a path to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart at any time. So how exactly do you think you can interfere with my breakthrough?"

He wasn't lying. After pushing his psychic scale past three hundred, he was able to sense the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart again. And his immortal-slaying clone had already made preparations, in case there was a reaction between their eight legacy medallions and the ninth that they didn't possess.

In the depths of the chart, the clone was drawing on the scintillating power of the godhood stars, funneling it into the Engine of the One God, including the genetic systems, vivicreation systems, power assessment systems, psychic scaling systems, and heavenly workings calculations systems.

Because of the godhood stars, it was only possible to power up those five major systems while in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Godhood stars fell one after another, yet the sky still looked as dazzling as ever. In fact, it seemed possible that, in the very depths of the chart, godhood stars were actually being created to replace them.

Slowly but surely, the five major systems were powering up.

The clone also had the imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems working at full speed.

With the Cruiser of Civilization operating at this level, it was possible to help the clone improve his psychic scale, power, and physical body.

If the Cruiser of Civilization were whole, it could theoretically transform an ordinary mortal into a god. Of course, that was under the assumption that the Lord of Civilization himself was operating it.

Right now, it wasn't possible for the clone to use it for godly ascension. But he could use it to calculate the workings of heaven, and analyze his weaknesses, making himself more perfect. After Yang Qi had cleaned out the treasure storehouse of the Executors of the Ancient Road, the clone had begun working on his cultivation base, simultaneously using the Engine of the One God to full effect.

His cultivation base was now at an unfathomable level, and his energy arts were as well. The heavenly workings calculations systems were immensely enigmatic. Not even the Executors of the Ancient Road had anything that could consume godhood like they could. Supposedly, they were second only to the Engine of the One God itself, and were key to controlling the Cruiser of Civilization as a whole.

With enough power, one could make calculations about the workings of heaven, and could understand energy arts, divine abilities, and constitutions on the deepest level.

They could even analyze a person and help them push their genes and psychic scale to a more perfect state.

Yang Qi had long since acquired the genetic systems and the psychic scaling systems, but had lacked the larger structure to use them to improve his cultivation base. It was like having some pieces of fish and meat, but not having a skilled chef to turn them into a delectable meal.

The heavenly workings calculations systems were like that chef.

A lesser skilled chef could turn some fish and meat into a mushy mess, whereas an amazing chef could produce gourmet food with it.

Right now, the immortal-slaying clone was like that fish or meat, and the heavenly workings calculations systems were about to turn him into a gourmet dish.

He was slowly heading toward becoming a god.