Sage Monarch

All of a sudden, Greensura said, "True Devil. Sovereign Lord. Why haven't you come out yet?"

The god world was shrinking rapidly, and at the same time, crumbling everywhere. To the shock of all present, that world, which had remained unchanging for aeons, suddenly became the size of a pellet and shot into Greensura's chest. As for the Deathless Heaven Empire, it was left hanging alone in the thin, fading primal-chaos.

People could hardly wrap their minds around what was happening.

Everyone could tell that an era of great destruction had arrived. The god world was gone, and that meant that the fates of all people had reached the end of the line.

The war was reaching its final blaze of glory.

As Greensura called out, energy fluctuations suddenly rolled out from the Sage Monarch Empire.

And they were coming from two specific members of Yang Qi's brethren.

It was his sworn brother, Yang Doom! In the past, he had been called simply: Doom. He was the bearer of the God Legion Seal from the Primeval Age. The other was the Shepherd, the previous leader of the sages and mahātmās of hell.

All of a sudden, Yang Doom erupted with unbounded radiance and light! It was with the same ease as blowing some dust that he stepped into the half-Annulled level, then continued rising in power, his psychic scale reaching a trillion as he sucked in the destiny of the empire around him.

The Shepherd also rose to a higher level, quickly breaking past a psychic scale of a trillion.

Of course, Yang Doom wasn't Yang Doom. He was actually the Sovereign Lord. And he was backed with a blazing sun of radiance and light, the power of which sought to destroy the Sage Monarch Empire.

As for the Shepherd, he wasn't one of Yang Qi's brethren, he was the True Devil. And he also wanted to destroy Yang Qi's empire.

The dao of heaven was collapsing, and order was falling apart.

A storm of destruction was descending on the Sage Monarch Empire. Their psychic fluctuations alone were enough to slaughter everyone in the empire.

The Sovereign Lord. The True Devil. They had finally shown their faces.

As for the True Devil, he was backed by a blazing sun of pure darkness.

"I gave you everything, Yang Qi," said the Sovereign Lord. "And now the time has come for you to pay me back!"

"I also gave you everything, Yang Qi," said the True Devil. "You got my Mahātmā Jade, and now the time has come to pay me back!"

Dramatic things were happening in Yang Qi's Sage Monarch Empire.

A destructive revolution was underway.

The empire's destiny was crashing, and many of the citizens were transforming either into angels of radiance and light or devils of darkness and gloom.

The True Devil and the Sovereign Lord had chosen this moment for their comeback, and they were trying to seize all the resources they could.

Purr!

However, that was when the purrling opened its eyes and spat out a bubble. Before the two experts could react, they were trapped, and balance was restored. However, that seal would obviously not last for long.

In his mind, Yang Qi said, 'God Legion Seal. Soul of the Ancestor God. Combine!' This was his true trump card that he had planned to use against the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil. The Soul of the Ancestor God was vastly beyond the level of Operation Demon Destruction's deathless devil embryo.

The God Legion Seal appeared on Yang Qi's forehead, and as it combined with the Soul of the Ancestor God, everything was pushed back, both radiance and light, and darkness and gloom.

Then, everything combined!

The True Devil and the Sovereign Lord suddenly became ordinary citizens again.

Pop!

The True Devil and the Sovereign Lord were ejected, and everything went back to normal. A black and white shadow flew out of the Sage Monarch Empire.

Inside the empire, Yang Doom and the Shepherd had returned to their previous state. However, they remained in the half-Annulled level!

Yang Qi burst out laughing. "Sovereign Lord, True Devil, I knew that you were hiding in my empire. And I had a plan for how to deal with you all along. Now you've been expelled, and your little attempt did nothing but push two of my brethren into the half-Annulled level. Many thanks to you!"

Outside of the Sage Monarch Empire, the stream of black and white combined, then shot toward Proud Heaven.

Shockingly, they were going to attempt to possess him!

"Give your body to us, Proud Heaven! And give us the Great Necropolis! We are its true owners!" In the blink of an eye, the True Devil and the Sovereign Lord shot right toward Proud Heaven.

Proud Heaven shivered, then a cruel smile appeared on his face. "Hailan!"

In response to his words, she appeared behind him, and he stepped aside. Before the Sovereign Lord and True Devil knew what was happening, they were sucked into her belly, where an unborn child existed.

Moments later, the child appeared, radiating immense power that merged with the Great Necropolis, which hovered above its head.

Bloodcurdling screams rang out from the True Devil and the Sovereign Lord.

"What's this? What's going on? How could this be happening?"

"This is the result of all my hard work! The King of Annulled!" Proud Heaven suddenly erupted with psychic power as his plot against the True Devil and the Sovereign Lord was revealed. By means of the devil embryo and the Great Necropolis, he was taking the True Devil and Sovereign Lord to make himself stronger.

"King of the Great Dao? King of Fate? They're all false. Only my King of the Annulled is real! I am now the true Sovereign Lord of the god world!" Proud Heaven's cultivation base was reaching the ultimate limit.

Taking advantage of the clash between Yang Qi and Greensura, he clenched his hand into a palm... and attacked Greensura!

Immense power rumbled toward her, causing her to look over her shoulder and shout, "Proud Heaven, you vicious wolf!"

"Am I vicious? I thought we were supposed to be working together. Well, I've assimilated the Sovereign Lord, the True Devil, and the Great Necropolis. I have more power than anyone's ever experienced. You can't fight me! I'm going to devour the god world. Which means I'm going to devour you! Then I'm going to kill Yang Qi. Everything will be mine!"

He viciously clenched his hand and a pellet was ripped out of Greensura, which was none other than the god world. Instantly, the Great Necropolis covered it.

"Die!" Yang Qi said, turning into a blur that shot toward Proud Heaven, who spun to face him. However, Yang Qi had already used his fateless power to grab Greensura.

In the blink of an eye, he had her in his hand.

By this point, Greensura wasn't controlled by the essence of the god world. She was really his mother. Proud Heaven himself had extracted the god world pellet from her.

"Mother!" Yang Qi said, sending his will into her.

Blinking, she looked over at him, and it was clear she remembered everything that had played out. This was the real Greensura, and she was in the half-Annulled level. That said, her cultivation base was weak, far below the level of the High Priestess and the others. After all, she wasn't the god world anymore.

"Go into my empire, mother. Lead the fight against the Deathless Heaven Empire. The fight between me and Proud Heaven has only just begun!" With that, he sent her down to his empire, where the fight with the Deathless Heaven Dynasty was still raging.

Of course, the Deathless Heaven Dynasty was crumbling, with the King of Godmammoths, High Priestess, Demon Master, and others having lost their morale. Some among their forces were already surrendering.

Sadly for them, Yang Qi was too strong, and the attacks of the Sage Monarch Empire were too devastating.

RUMBLE!

Furthermore, the Sage Monarch Empire now had five half-Annulled experts: Yang Immortal-Slayer, the Invincible Dugu, Yang Doom, the Shepherd, and Greensura. That wasn't to mention the upgraded sage monarch magistrates. There just wasn't anything the Deathless Heaven Empire could do to fight back.

It only took about an hour to wrap things up.

The King of Godmammoths, High Priestess, and Demon Master all surrendered. The Deathless Heaven Empire was no more.

As for Proud Heaven, he hovered far above, his power levels rising.

Having devoured the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil, as well as the essence of the god world, he was reaching an unheard-of level of power.

Because of that, he didn't even care that his empire had been destroyed.

"The fight is over for you, Yang Qi," he said hoarsely. "Now that you've devoured my Deathless Heaven Empire, your destiny has reached an unprecedented level. Your empire is truly invincible."

Hailan was standing next to him.

Suddenly, he smashed his palm into her, provoking a scream that echoed out for a moment as she faded away into nothing.

Expression hardly changing, Proud Heaven growled, "Useless woman. Now you're dead forever. Now that you've given birth to the King of the Annulled, you serve no purpose."

Yang Qi didn't show much of a reaction either. "You've lost, Proud Heaven. Why not just kill yourself."

"Kill myself?" Proud Heaven threw his head back and laughed. "Very funny, Yang Qi. That's like a child claiming to be an emperor. You see, destiny doesn't matter much in the face of the truly Annulled. If you don't believe me, well... just wait a moment while I reach the true Annulled level. You're going to die, and your empire is going to die. This is the strongest you've ever been, but it's not going to do you any good. I'm happy to cut you down when you're at your peak. I look forward to the look of despair on your face. Then I'll eliminate everyone else, until I'm the only person remaining."

"Ai..." Yang Qi sighed. "You created your King of the Annulled. And your body is the Great Necropolis. But sadly for you, you missed something huge. You see, that King of the Annulled is mine. Didn't you realize that? I placed my own life force quintessence inside Hailan.

"Look, I'm not going to lord it over you. You're simply no match for me. You can begin now, King Immortal-Slayer!"

"AGGGHHH!"

Proud Heaven's head filled with intense pain as the image of King Immortal-Slayer appeared behind him.

"Come to me, King of the Annulled. I'm your father!" Yang Qi made a beckoning gesture, and the King of the Annulled flew over to him, the Great Necropolis in its hand.

"No!" Proud Heaven screamed. He knew that his cultivation base was strong enough that he could kill Yang Qi, but in the blink of an eye, everything had changed as Yang Qi seized control.

BAM!

Then Yang Qi walked forward and punched him in the face, sending him tumbling backward, another scream escaping his lips.

Yang Qi walked over and stamped down on his chest, causing him to squeal like a pig. Then he trampled him, kicking him in the face and chest over and over until they caved in, leaving him a bloody paste. He now existed in a universe of never-ending pain.

"Great Necropolis!" Yang Qi said, calling on the power of the King of the Annulled.

Instantly, Proud Heaven was trapped.

Yang Qi exhaled onto the necropolis, causing it to become his own, filling it with his psyche. Suddenly, he came to understand everything about the profundities of the necropolis, and all its transformations. That was when he realized that the Great Necropolis didn't represent an end, but a beginning.

Proud Heaven struggled inside, wracked with pain and screaming in rage, but completely helpless.

"I refuse to accept this, Yang Qi!" Proud Heaven shouted. "I've never been stronger than this! But you beat me with no effort! No! I'm the apex entity of all existence! How could I be destroyed like this?!"

"I never considered you to be a match for me," Yang Qi said. "I've been playing you this entire time."

"No!" he screamed. "I'm going to destroy everything. Die! Die! All of you, just DIE!"

RUMBLE!

He self-detonated, drawing on the power of the god world to do so, hoping to destroy Yang Qi with himself.

However, Yang Qi simply used the Great Necropolis to suck up the force of the blast.

Then his voice rang out, "Proud Heaven, you sought to self-detonate using your power and that of the god world to open the final aspect of the Great Necropolis. But now you realize that I have no enemies left."

Yet even as he spoke those words about not having any enemies left, a dazzling beam of sword energy appeared, heading right toward his forehead.

It was impossible to say where the sword light came from, and while it came when Yang Qi was at his strongest, in some ways, he was also at his weakest, as he had just assimilated the Great Necropolis and was using it to defend against the detonation of the god world. Without Yang Qi to contain the force of the explosion, everything would have been destroyed.

The sword light was attacking at just the right moment, hoping to seize victory right at the last. It was Star Swordlife, and a brutal smile could be seen on his face. Somehow, he had survived until the very end.

The truth was that not even he was sure how it happened.

Sadly for him, Yang Qi's forehead transformed into a vortex that quickly devoured the sword energy. Then, he reached out and grabbed the shocked Star Swordlife. "How did you know, Yang Qi?"

"Because I'm omniscient. You've been pestering me ever since the immortal worlds. I knew all along that you wouldn't just disappear." Yang Qi exhaled and burning fire wrapped around Star Swordlife, turning him into streams of life force that faded away in all directions.

At that point, Yang Qi floated down into his empire. There, the King of Godmammoths, Demon Master, and High Priestess all knelt to him.

"Is it all over, Yang Qi?" Greensura asked. She was flanked by Yang Zhan, Yang Susu, and all his other friends and family.

He exhaled, and King Immortal-Slayer flew out as well.

"It's over, everyone," he said, his voice both soft and resolute. "I have no enemies left. My empire is invincible, and we've created something one-of-a-kind: an ideal nation. There is no such thing as hell. The impure lands are no more. The immortal worlds are gone. The past doesn't exist, nor does the future."

Everyone knew that they had just barely survived a major disaster, and it was a very unique feeling.

"Now, we transcend," he said. "In this new world, I'll bring back all the living beings that died. It will be a new place. Everyone, pray for me. Pray for yourselves. Pray for the empire. Pray for the void. Pray for fate...."

Everyone sat down cross-legged and began to pray.

Using the Great Necropolis, Yang Qi absorbed what remained of the primal-chaos paleo-energy. As he took it into himself, the world became deathly silent. There was no light, no time, no space, no primal-chaos, no living beings, no world.

Everything became nothing.

However, the Great Necropolis was fully open.

"Come, everyone. Come into the Great Necropolis." As Yang Qi led his father and mother, and all of his brethren, into the necropolis, he said, "The Great Necropolis buries the world, but it still represents life. It's not an end, but a beginning!"

Everyone went inside, leaving not a single living thing in the outside world.

Then, boundless light erupted from the Great Necropolis, and cracking sounds rang out from Yang Qi. "Transcend!"

The Great Necropolis vanished, and everyone vanished with it. Yang Qi vanished. His empire, his glory, his ideals, his faith, his valor, they all vanished.

It was impossible to say where they went. It was almost as if they had never existed.

However, when the Great Necropolis vanished, a pure expression of vital energy suddenly rippled out into the void. Then a multitude of worlds came into being, filling space.

Life had appeared again.

Slowly but surely, the impure lands came to be again. Then immortal worlds came into existence. Even the god world came to be.

After untold billions of years passed, after untold generations, the legion of gods yet again came to exist. However, there was a legend among this new legion of gods that said that a higher form of civilization existed. And countless experts in the legion of gods wanted to go there. It was just how countless cultivators from the impure lands wanted to ascend to the immortal worlds.

It was an eternal legend. A door had been opened. No one knew what type of civilization existed above the god civilization.

But it was there.

As the years passed, myths and histories came and went.

But that legend remained in the hearts of people for all eternity.

The End