Sage Monarch

Two almighty beings were joining forces to remold Yang Immortal-Slayer and help him form monarch godhood. The purrling and King Immortal-Slayer were each completely one-of-a-kind, and they had taken the time to compare their respective understandings and come up with the perfect plan.

The purrling started by using its energy arts to create a bubble around Yang Immortal-Slayer.

Before long, Yang Immortal-Slayer was transforming. The particles that made him up thrummed with power as they changed into something like bubbles that could expand or retract at will. It was as if they existed, yet didn't exist, or were alive, but at the same time were destroyed. Boundless, unending power flowed through him in indescribable fashion.

"Excellent," said King Immortal-Slayer, "he's in a state of being neither false nor empty, both material and immaterial. His dao is transforming. Now, I shall send my will into him to stimulate his mind!" Without any hesitation, he sent his will into Yang Immortal-Slayer's sea of consciousness. "Yang Immortal-Slayer, hurry and draw on your psyche to form a resonance with me!"

Yang Immortal-Slayer did just that, causing energy streams of the preheaven dao of gods to flow through him.

"Consummate enlightenment," King Immortal-Slayer said. "With one thought, flowers bloom. With one thought, trees wither. With one thought, life and extermination. With one thought, nirvanic rebirth. Remember, your thoughts are your everything. What you imagine in your sea of consciousness is true and real. You must come to understand what is true and real, and what is empty and void. Understand what are thoughts and what are not thoughts. This is called Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, which is neither perception nor non-perception. It is a world, an expression of space-time, a place with neither desire nor physicality, a miraculous thought. Your fleshly body is surrounded by a world that doesn't exist. It is not thought. Yet it isn't a lack of thought."

All of a sudden Yang Immortal-Slayer vanished from sight.

Yang Qi could tell that he had entered a marvelous aspect of space-time that was impossible for he himself to reach. Only someone halfway into the Annulled level could enter it.

There were many aspects of space-time in the god world, and in this case, the world of Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana was without desire or physicality. It consisted only of minute psychic fluctuations. Although Yang Qi understood what it was, understanding it didn't mean he could enter it.

For instance, in the impure lands, everyone understood how amazing it was to be an emperor. But that didn't mean they could simply be emperors.

The purrling and King Immortal-Slayer were working together, one remolding that which was physical, the other remolding that which was psychic. As a result, Yang Immortal-Slayer's physical body vanished and he entered the space-time of Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, a place of infinite secrets.

According to legend, only half-Annulled experts could enter that place. Those who reached the half-Annulled level would disappear, leaving behind only their thoughts. Yet those thoughts could destroy heaven and earth, pierce through everything, invert the cosmos, and bring extermination to the legion of gods.

It was the level the Sovereign Lord had reached.

Yang Qi suddenly realized that he had gone into a trance. His psychic power twitched, and he experienced a baptism, gaining even more enlightenment of his monarch godhood.

Shortly afterward, Yang Immortal-Slayer returned from the realm of Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana. His body formed again, and the purrling spat out another bubble, which entered him and caused his cultivation base to rise. Then King Immortal-Slayer unleashed more profound psychic and divine abilities.

As Yang Immortal-Slayer slowly gained enlightenment, he shivered, and like a caterpillar emerging from a cocoon, Paramount will convergence emerged. He had achieved his breakthrough before reaching godly ascension, which meant that he had successfully formed monarch godhood. Of course, there was still a lot more work to do going forward.

"I did it!" Yang Immortal-Slayer said, breathing a sigh of relief. The psychic power in his sea of consciousness felt invincible, and very different from before.

"It worked," King Immortal-Slayer said, also sighing with relief. "I almost can't believe that the mighty purrling and I were able to work together to create an expert with monarch godhood. It was a big drain on my power. I don't think I could do this a second time. Yang Immortal-Slayer, the next thing you need to do is have Yang Qi explain to you all of his experiences regarding completing monarch godhood. You'll need a huge amount of medicinal pills and power. For now, your current state is too eye-catching. I'll place a sealing mark on you that will keep your psychic power under wraps. You'll seem like nothing more than a peak Terrifying expert. That said, you'll still seem incredibly powerful. Incidentally, an even more powerful entity will want to take you as an apprentice in the future, and help you grow further. Be prepared."

As King Immortal-Slayer vanished, the purrling purred twice to say, "Take care, Powerful Entity." Then it snuggled into Jadefall's arms and fell asleep.

"Where are we going to get all these medicinal pills we need?" Yang Qi grumbled. He needed medicinal pills for himself, and now Yang Immortal-Slayer was being added into the mix. Where was he ever going to get his hands on everything he needed? He could create his own godnotes and godstones, but couldn't simply pull Paramount medicinal pills out of thin air. It might be possible to find small collections for sale, but he needed millions or possibly even hundreds of millions of them. Anyone who heard of such a thing would pass out from shock.

Furthermore, there was another problem. When forming his own monarch godhood, he had relied on the God Legion Seal's ability to absorb godpower from around him. But Yang Immortal-Slayer wouldn't have that option, so what were they to do? Completely forming monarch godhood was no easy task.

"What do we do next, Yang Qi?" Jadefall asked. She knew that Yang Qi would need to find medicinal pills, and was confident that they would be able to do so. Given how strong they were getting, they would have plenty of opportunities to search for medicinal pills.

As they discussed the matter, Arhat Thousand-Hands hurried over.

"Well? Did you break through?"

"No," Yang Immortal-Slayer replied. Even if he had told the truth, there was no way Arhat Thousand-Hands would have believed him.

"I shouldn't even have asked. By the way, something really big happened in the sect. As the leader of the Sage Monarch Society, Jadefall, you probably already know."

"Oh? What happened?" Jadefall asked. "I've been in seclusion, and only came out to visit Yang Immortal-Slayer. I'm not aware of what's been going on."

"Oh, I see. A Paramount God came to visit our sect and offer formal greetings. The Lord of the True Void. People are saying that he's friends with the houselord. As soon as he arrived, the houselord sent down orders that all disciples are to come attend a ceremony at the God-Ordaining Dais. Supposedly, it wasn't easy for the houselord to convince the Lord of the True Void to come, but he's going to give a lecture about the dao for a full two hours. He may even take some of our disciples as novitiates, if he sees someone impressive."

'The Lord of the True Void? A Paramount God? A lecture about the dao?' Yang Qi had never personally seen a Paramount God. King Immortal-Slayer didn't count, and the nine chief elders of the sect were only Perfect Gods.

Paramount Gods with Unbounded will convergence could look down on anything and everything.

However, considering that Yang Qi had just listened to King Immortal-Slayer explain the dao, he wasn't particularly impressed by the idea of hearing whatever this Lord of the True Void had to say.

That said, if the sect had mandated disciples attend, he wouldn't defy the orders.

"Sounds important," he said. "I think I'll go talk to everyone about this. If the Lord of the True Void is really going to take some apprentices, perhaps some of my brethren will be accepted."

"Good point," Jadefall said to Yang Qi via will projection. "This might be a great opportunity. By the way, remember what King Immortal-Slayer said when he left just now? That he was sealing Yang Immortal-Slayer in the hopes that he'd be taken as an apprentice by an almighty being? Maybe that's the way to get those medicinal pills."

"Right, right," Yang Qi replied. "He did say that. He must have anticipated that the Lord of the True Void was coming." Raising his voice, he said, "Let's go. We have things to talk about."

With that, he and his people converged in a palace that Jadefall had ordered to be constructed for them. Obviously, the Sage Monarch Society needed an actual headquarters to meet at. It wasn't nearly as impressive as Mount Dragon Head had been. However, Yang Qi didn't care. Once Jadefall improved her cultivation base a bit, perhaps by becoming a Consummate God, he could give her his fragments of the Cruiser of Civilization to use as the foundation for their headquarters. Like Mount Dragon Head, the cruiser could hang in the air above the god kingdom, with a minor world inside.

Soon, everyone had gathered, including Peaklord Memory, Peaklord Celestial, and Sectlord Will Manifestation. All the experts of the Sage Monarch Society were present.

"A Paramount God has come to the sect, Yang Qi," the Shepherd said. "What are we going to do? It seems like a good opportunity. If we could attract the attention of his Paramount God and be taken as apprentices, we'd have access to amazing resources, and would also have much better protection."

"But what if this Paramount God has evil intentions?" said Proud World. "What if it's a wretch-god of some sort? I say we should keep a low profile for now. There will always be opportunities to take advantage of; we don't want to press our luck right now."

1. I'm sure all of you are familiar with Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, right? Haha. In "real life" it's a state of both perception and non-perception. If you want to learn more, google or .