Sage Monarch

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Five Unbounded experts from the dao of devils had been snatched by Yang Qi in a single move. Then, with little fanfare, he took them to a remote aspect of space-time, where he set up an altar, prepared his God Legion Seal, and pulled out a golden command medallion that contained a host of sacrificial items.

He was carrying out a Sagely Sacrifice.

Yang Qi placed the Mahātmā Jade on the altar, then exhaled deeply, causing a glittering stream of light to swirl out and surround the altar in the form of a large bubble. It was the Purrfect God Art, and it even contained a portion of the might and majesty of the actual purrling.

"Ancient legion of gods; sacrifice to the heaven on high; let the One God appear; suppress everything everywhere...." An image of the Sovereign Lord appeared, holding the world in one hand and ripping apart the void with the other. He exhaled time, and his feet stomped on hell below. His hair was long and exceedingly white, and he himself seemed capable of manipulating all times and dimensions.

SNICK!

The Sovereign Lord breathed out a stream of fire that surrounded the five Unbounded experts, whose screams Yang Qi ignored.

Heaven and earth trembled as Yang Qi held the sun and moon in his grasp, maintaining control of everything above and below.

The quintessence energy and will of the Iron-Emperor Wretch-Dragon shattered, entering the pure white fire, then transforming into a burning pillar that shot upward as if to break free.

However, the Purrfect God Art bubble sent it bouncing back.

In this place, Yang Qi controlled space and could easily create a host of mirrors to reflect any light within it.

"No! Don't kill me! Don't sacrifice me! Who are you? Are you controlling Patriarch Bloodcloak?" The four remaining Unbounded experts were all making such pleas. They were even hoping Yang Qi would simply enslave them. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears.

How profoundly tragic!

They quickly sank into the depth of despair as they realized that Yang Qi was unmoved. He threw his hands out, sending out a host of complex sealing marks that caused them to melt into a white light that shot into his God Legion Seal.

"By my name, enter the Unbounded; the holiest of sacrifices, will reveal the Annulled!" After melting their souls, Yang Qi drew on the nine deadly stances of the Hand of the One God, not to destroy the souls, but to sacrifice them. Next, colorful ripples and distortions rolled out from him.

The Eternal Heavenly Aria!

As he sang, halos blossomed everywhere.

Then a glowing beam erupted from the God Legion Seal, hot enough to end any ice age. And it slammed right into the Mahātmā Jade.

RUUUUUUUUMBLE!

The piece of jade expanded as if it might explode, and the sealing marks that covered it started snapping and shattering. An ancient aura surged out from it, along with shockwaves that felt to Yang Qi like they were Paramount Gods being detonated alive. It was a level of force he would expect if he powered up the Grand Tribulation Cannon for ten days and nights.

What wouldn't he do to break this seal?

He continued singing, and explosive power built up in the sealing marks. At the same time, bubbles popped into being, surrounding the seals and crushing them with deadly force.

With the boundless power of the Devil-God Seal, he captured the destructive power in the sealing marks and channeled it into a sphere that was both transparent and opaque, like a mixture between darkness and light, blackness and white. It was neither good, nor bad, yet was both.

'Incredible. I had to sacrifice the power of five Unbounded experts to remove the destructive power in those seals. Even still, I have to be careful. If the power escapes from confinement, it would kill even a Paramount God. I can only use this in a very dire situation. And now I have to deal with the final and most ultimate of the sealing marks, the one created by Patriarch Deva. Once I do, I can assimilate the jade, and when my cultivation base climbs to the next level, I'll be a Paramount God with mid Unbounded will convergence!'

Yang Qi looked at the final sealing mark on the jade, which wrapped around it like a sinuous dragon.

'It seems to me that I need to use the psychic fluctuations of the Mahātmā Jade itself to destroy this seal.'

Within Yang Qi's sea of consciousness were boundless psychic fluctuations centered on a collection of jade fragments. They were mixed with ten thousand tribulation characters, making something like a massive tornado.

Devils converged until an army appeared, as numerous as the eternal sands, heaven-devils that were both real and illusory.

Yang Qi knew that these devils had come for him, yet he wasn't worried. He had already assimilated three pieces of the Mahātmā Jade, making him like the embodiment of an ancient mahātmā. Therefore, he simply sat there in the swirling cloud of devils, smiling as he said, "I will sacrifice myself and go to hell before I let anyone else do so."

One golden character at a time poured into that final sealing mark, until it finally started trembling.

'It's the moment of truth! Patriarch Deva, you're not the Sovereign Lord. In fact, you don't even measure up to the Lord of the Sword Dao or the Lord of Civilization. Maybe if I didn't have some other pieces of the Mahātmā Jade already, I wouldn't be able to deal with your sealing mark. But sadly for you, I already have three pieces! Do you really think you can overwhelm the resonance created by the True Devil and all the sages and mahātmās of the dao of devils?'

Smiling coldly, Yang Qi unleashed the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse, as well as the tribulations characters of the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body. One was an ultimate energy art from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, the other a trump card from the dao of devils. And their combined might was now smashing into the Mahātmā Jade.

The sealing mark seemed to howl in grief as it was sucked into a bubble created by the Purrfect God Art.

RUMBLE!

Astonishing signs and portents flashed in the sky as the workings of heaven fluctuated in an enigmatic fashion.

Finally, the sealing mark faded, becoming a green glow that Yang Qi sucked inside of him. As the glow entered him, he pulsed with astonishing psychic fluctuations.

"Boundless Lightning Reserve; Divine Will Evolution!"

His psychic power climbed, pushing him slowly out of the early Unbounded level. The area surrounding him became filled with lightning, like hosts of primal-chaos elder-snakes writhing about.

Already, the mere blink of his eyes could unleash psychic power strong enough to rend apart entire continents.

RUMBLE!

A massive eruption of power occurred as he again drew upon the God Legion Seal, absorbing the essence of the god world at a rate a hundred times faster than before. Endless tribulations descended, enough to destroy the void of the god world.

Images appeared behind Yang Qi, featuring the destruction of innumerable god worlds, and at the same time, his forehead contained both the sun and the moon.

Boundless power flowed through him, countless convergences of energy that swirled into his monarch godhood. At long last, his godhood was transforming, becoming a vortex of energy that seemed to exist and simultaneously not exist.

This was the strongest state he had ever entered!

He had finally become a Paramount God!

By way of illustration, if Unbounded will convergence were a crown prince, or the minister of a nation, then a Paramount God was the emperor. Although Unbounded experts inevitably became Paramount Gods, it was something that only came with time. And in terms of fighting prowess, it was obvious that Paramount Gods were superior to anyone below their level.

Paramount Gods were Paramount Gods, and they had godhood that allowed them to produce clouds with one turn of the hand and rain with another. They were the true rulers in the god world.

Yang Qi had finally reached a point where he could play a critical role in the god world. Furthermore, after assimilating another piece of the Mahātmā Jade, he was now in the mid Unbounded level.

All he had to do now was get more pieces of the jade, for instance, the one in the Proud Clan, and the one in the Bastille of the One God, and he could reach the late, or even peak Unbounded level. And ultimately, he should be able to step into the Annulled level.

The most ultimate patriarchs of the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty and the Nacrelight Sageland were nothing more than mid Unbounded experts. And even though Patriarch Deva was stronger than them, he still wasn't a late Paramount God, otherwise he would indeed be on the same level as the Lord of Civilization.

Although Yang Qi currently couldn't beat Patriarch Deva in a fight, considering he had monarch godhood, it wouldn't be possible for Patriarch Deva to kill him.

'Considering I broke the seal on the jade, it's certain Patriarch Deva will be hurrying in this direction to interfere. But I'm not afraid of him. I think it's time to see what my cultivation base is capable of. I wonder how many moves I can last against him. He won't find it easy to deal with me. And that means I could kill the crown prince with ease....'

Retracting his power, Yang Qi changed his appearance, causing black armor to spread out over his body and devil energy to spring up around him. He was drawing on the devil arts of the Mahātmā Jade, making his face seem twisted and evil. In fact, he looked exactly like a powerful expert from ancient times, an elite member of the dao of devils.

Meanwhile, a ripple appeared, out of which stepped an old man who was none other than Patriarch Deva.

Staring at Yang Qi in surprise, he said, "You're not Patriarch Bloodcloak. Who are you?"

"Me?" Yang Qi cackled madly. "Who could have guessed that people would forget about me? I waged war alongside the True Devil for years! I'm the Second Devil General! It seems I'm back in an age of true power!"