Sage Monarch

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The blood infant was alive, its eyes open, smiling evilly at Yang Qi. At the same time, there was something bewitchingly charming about it, as though it was destined to grow into a beautiful person.

"Trying to enchant me?" Yang Qi said. "Well that's a joke if I ever heard one. Smashing of the Mighty Heaven-Dragon!" A massive roar erupted from his mouth, like the voices of millions upon millions of dragons all calling out at the same time. As the devil-subduing sound wave rolled out, the blood in the lake evaporated and the blood infant shot out into the open, transforming into a shadowy, blood-colored fiend-devil, pulsing with the power of a wretch-god.

The voice of a wretch-god then echoed out. "Who are you, boy? Why did you destroy my altar and try to take my blood infant?"

"Are you the will-clone of a wretch-god?" Yang Qi said, a serious expression overtaking his face. However, upon looking back in the direction of the Lightningbolt Continent, he saw that the wretch-god was there fighting the gods of the continent. And that meant that he couldn't afford to split off a clone at the moment. At the same time, it went to show how valuable this blood infant was.

And even if it was a god, Yang Qi wasn't going to be scared of it.

He reached out with an empty palm that seemed like it could seize hold of everything in the cosmos. Then he closed his hand into a fist and thrust it out with such deadly force that the entire island shook violently.

RIP!

The fist landed on the blood infant, but to Yang Qi it almost felt like he had hit an airbag. His godpower simply dispersed as if it were nothing.

"Nice energy art," the blood infant said, sounding surprised. "You're not even a god yet, but you're already quite formidable. Once you become a Lesser God, you're going to be shockingly powerful even with a godhood rating of only one. Why don't we turn weapons of war into gifts of jade and silk? Just let my blood altar keep functioning, and we can share the Lightningbolt Continent!"

"You, a puny wretch-god, want to negotiate with me?" He threw his hands out, drawing on the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, summoning an illusory flag into his hands that was none other than the Banner of Monarchs. The flag instantly stretched out, flames burning on its surface as it wrapped around the blood infant.

"Blood Corpses Destroy Heaven!" the blood infant growled, and blood-colored lightning shot out and slashed into the banner, causing huge booming noises to echo out.

Eyes narrowing, Yang Qi sent immense amounts of godpower forth, giving mountain-crushing weight to the banner.

But then the blood infant said, "Heaven-Piercing God Ability!"

The infant began spinning like a drill, unleashing immense godpower that pierced right through the banner, which finally exploded. "You just wait until my true self gets here, boy. Then I'll show you a thing or two."

"Where do you think you're going?" Yang Qi said with a smile. Flicking his finger, he sent out a miraculous bubble that instantly contained the blood infant. It was the Purrfect God Art!

Swish!

The bubble shrank down and flew over to Yang Qi, settling down onto his palm. Inside, the blood infant bashed back and forth, trying to escape, but it was all to no avail.

"Let's go!" Yang Qi said, flying up into the air.

In response, the Shepherd, Jadefall, and everyone else flew over to join him.

"I acquired a blood infant," Yang Qi explained. "Everything went very smoothly. Our cultivation is going to lead to godpower at least a hundred times greater than that of any ordinary Quasi-Gods." With that, he raised his voice and said, "Ladies and gentlemen from Lightningbolt City, the wretch-god altar has been destroyed. I'll take the lead from here. Follow after me as you can."

The experts from the Wang, Lightning, and Proud Clans slaughtered what remained of the wretch-god believers, then flew up into the air as well. They knew that their mission had been accomplished, and that it was all thanks to Yang Qi.

Yang Qi and his people surreptitiously made their way back to the Lightningbolt Continent, where they eventually landed on a remote beach.

Rustling sounds could be heard as nearby wild animals detected their presence. Some of the animals rushed forward to attack them, but they were no longer the helpless individuals they had been when they first arrived in the god world. In short order, the wild animals were wiped out. Next, they cleared out a space in the forest to sit down and have a discussion. Yang Qi waved his hand and set up a spell formation, then summoned a bubble around them.

"The mission to destroy the altar netted us a blood infant!" he said, bringing it out and showing it to them. "Let's join together to assimilate it. Afterward, we'll be so strong that no one will be able to stand in our way."

Looking at Yang Qi, Brahma said, "Tell us the truth, Yang Qi. None of us are really sure of how strong you are. If a Lesser God came, how confident are you that you could come out on top?"

"A Lesser God couldn't kill me," he replied coolly. "In fact, I could easily kill such a god, assuming it had a godhood rating of one."

"Great," Brahma said. "Then you should be the one to assimilate the blood infant. It'll bolster you with significant god vitality and help you reach the Lesser God level even sooner than normal."

"No need," Yang Qi replied. "I'd rather enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together with you. And I'm definitely not interested in being selfish. Besides, here in the god world, I don't need medicinal pills, because the God Legion Seal is constantly absorbing the surrounding essence and using it to bolster me. You really have no idea how powerful the complete God Legion Seal is."

Everyone nodded, fully aware that the God Legion Seal was proving more powerful and useful than ever, now that they were in the god world.

"Everyone settle down. I'll break down the blood infant and make you all stronger than ever." Yang Qi released the blood infant from the Purrfect God Art, and everyone unleashed their animadestiny true flame, surrounding it with fire. The blood infant shrieked, but was locked down and couldn't do anything.

Next, Yang Qi drew on the God Legion Seal, sending a stream of golden light out from his finger to destroy the blood infant.

Innumerable blood-colored projections flew this way and that, and while normal spell formations couldn't have stopped them, Yang Qi's Purrfect God Art could! Immense streams of godpower then poured into everyone present, causing them to slowly float up into the air as they went through their breathing exercises.

"Quickly assimilate it," Yang Qi said in a voice that echoed in their souls. "Transform your bodies, stimulate the dao of gods. Seek enlightenment of god. As you do, begin forming godhood within you...."

The immortal-slaying clone took the lead, reaching out again to connect with the will of King Immortal-Slayer, which caused a projection of King Immortal-Slayer to appear above him.

"Where are you, King Immortal-Slayer?!" he said in a booming voice. "I know you want my help to turn the Great Necropolis into your new body. Let's make a deal!"

"What deal?" the projection replied. "You're the bearer of the God Legion Seal. The two of us are the ultimate enemies. Why would you want to work out a deal?"

"Only profit is eternal," Yang Qi replied. "Enemies are not. Surely you understand that, King Immortal-Slayer. Give us power, and we'll help you!"

"Power? I'm trapped in the Great Necropolis! I can talk with you and your immortal-slaying clone, but you're crazy if I'm going to transfer power to you. I'm not going to waste resources like that."

"Well never mind then," Yang Qi replied. "I guess we'll expel your will for all time. God Legion Seal!" Even as the words left his mouth, he began to activate the power of the seal.

"Slow down," King Immortal-Slayer said. "Considering your cultivation base, you shouldn't be able to compare to gods at all, much less be qualified to talk about making a deal with me. But since you're the bearer of the God Legion Seal, it's a given that you'll be a god eventually. How about I give you some advice about how to reach godly ascension?"

"Advice about godly ascension?" Yang Qi laughed. "I know of ten thousand ways to achieve godly ascension. Why would I need any advice from you?"

"You have your own dao, so of course you don't need advice from others. But what about all your friends? In all fairness, your Sage Monarch Grand Magic really is spectacular. I almost can't believe you merged the Unspoiled Body and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. But you've only reached a superficial level of accomplishment. Besides, everyone should have their own dao. If your people cultivate your dao, it will lead to problems."

"So what do you want them to do, cultivate your dao instead?"

Yang Qi knew that King Immortal-Slayer had left some of his will on the immortal-slaying clone in the hopes of controlling him. Not even the clone was aware of it. However, there was no way Yang Qi would let that happen. However, because of that, it was entirely likely that King Immortal-Slayer not only knew about his Sage Monarch Grand Magic, but had actually mastered it. To someone like him, it wouldn't have been hard at all.

"King Immortal-Slayer, you're famous and invincible, a god from ancient times who actually fought the Sovereign Lord of the many heavens. So I'm very curious about your thoughts on my Sage Monarch Grand Magic." Clasping his hands behind his back, he stared straight at the projection of King Immortal-Slayer. "Is it good enough to be on the same level as the Sovereign Lord's technique? Is it enough to break through to the Annulled level?"

"It's a bit early to say," the projection replied. "Not even the Sovereign Lord achieved Annulled will convergence. He surpassed the Unbounded level, but was only half-Annulled. Then he perished. The framework you've built for your technique is impressive. Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, Nothing. The ten daos of the many heavens, with humans as the foundation. All ten daos are ways for humans to reach the peak. Unfortunately, despite how marvelous it is, there are huge gaps in it. You obviously can't use its most refined aspects. For example, that Banner of Monarchs. Do you know what a monarch really is? The true dao of monarchs isn't an expression of rage, backed by a million corpses, and used to conquer men. Instead, it's a way to convince people to follow you by means of morality. Your version of the dao of monarchs has no morality, which means you don't understand what it truly means to be a monarch. Your dao of monarchs is actually the dao of tyranny. The true dao of monarchs is governed by morality, while the dao of tyranny is governed by killing."

1. The Banner of Monarchs was mentioned once before in .