Sage Monarch

Who could possibly have guessed that such extreme danger would visit the prosperous Sage Monarch planetary system, with its strict mystical network of laws and immense powers of destiny and faith?

There was no question about it: great jeopardy had come.

The handsomely pretty young man was none other than the 'heartless man' that Holy Mother Greensura had so often mentioned to Yang Qi. His father, at least in name.

As Yang Qi's clone stared at the man, he could tell from his powerful aura that he was too strong to fight. In fact, not even Yang Qi's true self would have been able to do anything about him, much less the clone. Maybe if his true self used the God Legion Seal, he might stand a chance. But not on his own strength.

"Proud Heaven!" the Holy Mother grated. "What are you doing here?!"

"What am I doing here?" He looked over at Yang Qi. "Well, my wonderful son, you caused a big stir. You actually destroyed the Titan Emperor Collegium, slaughtering and enslaving everyone. You instituted a new mystical network of laws and unified the planetary system. Although the mortal world is like nothing compared to the immortal world, it's still nothing to scoff at. You might have been able to fool your superiors, but you couldn't pull the wool over my eyes."

Although Proud Heaven was handsome, his smile seemed particularly wicked.

Yang Qi's clone looked back at him and said, "I heard you're a Future One, which means you don't even belong in this part of space-time. You're a clone, aren't you? What exactly are you doing here?"

"Future One…?" Proud Heaven looked at Yang Qi's clone for a long moment, then coolly continued, "So, you're a clone too. What a pity. Your true self isn't here, so killing you won't do me any good. I couldn't care less about your three godly-class energy arts. Your true self is the Fateless One. He's the one I need."

"Tell us why you're here, Proud Heaven," the Holy Mother said coldly. "Don't tell me you're planning to kill us?"

"Oh, no. Not that. I wouldn't kill you, Greensura. However, I am going to take you with me." Another vicious smile spread out on his face. "I'd hoped to kill the Fateless One, my so-called son. But since his true self isn't here, I guess he'll survive to live another day. Sadly, this clone of mine can't stay in the mortal world for long, so waiting for him to come back isn't an option. I'll take you with me to ensure that he'll come looking for me later."

"You're a spineless animal, Proud Heaven!" the Holy Mother shouted.

He suddenly burst out laughing, apparently not angered at all by her words. "Spineless animal? You still have a sharp tongue when it comes to cursing, Greensura. Well done. I'm curious what other inventive curses you'll hurl at me after I take you captive. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'll just use you to lure out my son, the Fateless One Yang Qi. Within the boundless immortal worlds, there are still some people who can rival the legion of gods. And among them are the Fateless Ones, who are beyond even my ability to handle. But now that I have a chance to get one for my own, there's no way I'll let him get away."

He looked back at Yang Qi's clone. "Well? What do you think, Yang Qi? You have only one chance to join me. Right here, right now. Follow all of my commands down to the letter. If you don't, you'll never see your mother again."

"How dare you!" the clone said, his killing intent surging as he took a few steps forward. "If you take my mother away, I'll kill you. I'll make sure you never get reborn again, not for all eternity."

"Oh?" Proud Heaven's voice suddenly turned cold and hard. "You think you're strong enough to stand up to me? Back the fuck down!"

He suddenly let loose a palm strike, causing azure vital energy to flow out and create something like a primeval azure heaven.

"You might be a Fateless One, brat, but your true self isn't here. You're a puny immortal clone, and you think you can defy me? Watch and learn. This is a greater godly class energy art! Primeval Azure Heaven Fist!"

As the fist flew forth, heaven and earth seemed to grow larger. It was as if Proud Heaven's fist strength were giving birth to the boundless azure sky of the primeval era. This was a power that could split apart heaven and earth, establish a new cosmos, and break apart planes of existence.

"Triple godly-class energy arts!" the clone said, his pupils becoming dots as he looked at the spectacular attack Proud Heaven had unleashed. In the blink of an eye, the clone's three godly-class energy arts swept forth to meet the Primeval Azure Heaven Fist.

POP!

When they smashed into each other, the clone staggered backward, his skin ripping and tearing, causing blood and vital energy alike to spray out of him.

In this most critical of moments, Yang Qi's clone nearly went crazy and resorted to a boundless, taboo technique.

"Ultimate Faith!"

As the words left his mouth, endless streams of faith power converged on him, healing all of his wounds and powering him up to a level of strength ten times beyond what he had before.

An image appeared above his head that represented every living being in both the Gyroscope planetary system and the Sage Monarch planetary system, as well as a dazzling array of millions upon millions of planets.

Each of those planets teamed with life, all of whom were kowtowing and chanting the same sutra: "The Sage Monarch is Deathless, Yang Qi is Eternal…"

That was the requirement for everyone who lived under the mystical network of laws Yang Qi had created, to chant such sutras on a daily basis. Every practitioner of cultivation would offer worship to Yang Qi when practicing meditation. Any who failed to do so would be sentenced to death, along with their entire clan.

And of course, that immense wellspring of faith had a profound effect on the clone, and allowed him to use Ultimate Faith as a deadly trump card. After all, Yang Qi had prepared Ultimate Faith just in case the immortal worlds sent some powerful person down to deal with him. And of course, it could be used just as well on Proud Heaven.

The move drew on the faith and thoughts of all living beings, causing everyone in both the Gyroscope planetary system and the Sage Monarch planetary system to suddenly see a mental image of a powerful enemy, who was none other than Proud Heaven.

In that moment, they all denounced him mentally, as though he were a most evil and vicious devil-ghost, an enemy of all living things.

Hatred!

This was raw hatred!

And it rose up from the depths of the hearts of all living beings.

Suddenly, a tempest arose that shattered the Primeval Azure Heaven Fist. It was impossible to count how many living beings inhabited the millions upon millions of planets that filled two enormous planetary systems. How strong would their combined powers of faith be? How much hatred could that generate?

Enough to hate heaven, hate earth, and hate all ghosts and gods!

Seemingly infinite hatred turned into a powerful attack of faith, which was channeled through Yang Qi's clone to strike at Proud Heaven.

"Oh, so you know how to do that?" Proud Heaven's pupils suddenly constricted. "I never thought your clone would have such an incredible trump card, brat. But it's not enough to deal with me!" In the blink of an eye, an ancient azure god appeared above his head. It wore a kāṣāya, and its head was surrounded by an azure halo. It looked very much like a monk, or perhaps an ancient buddha!

"Buddha Shakes Mountains and Rivers!"

In the blink of an eye, boundless buddha power descended with crushing force. This was a profound combination of a godly-class energy art and a buddhist cultivation energy art, something profoundly mysterious in every aspect.

As for the buddhist cultivation energy art, it was the type that could neutralize sin and dilute hatred.

"Mother, get out of here! Get into my immortal kingdom in the Hell of Mahānata! This Proud Heaven is only a clone, so there's a limit to how long he can stave off the magical laws trying to expel him. I'll just keep chipping away at his power! Clone Sacrifice!"

The Holy Mother quickly turned toward the passageway to the Hell of Mahānata.

"Sorry, you're not going anywhere!" Proud Heaven said, a cruel smile on his face. "I'm really surprised at how strong you are for a clone. Unfortunately, I'm not letting Greensura out of my sight. I don't care what bait you use to try and distract me!"

"Reversal of Heaven and Earth; Future Dao of Gods! Boundless Future!"

A strange and majestic will emanated from Proud Heaven, becoming a dazzling light that surrounded him until he glowed with godlight! In the blink of an eye, he could move thousands of times faster than before.

Proud Heaven's clone form fell to pieces as he fought against the power of Yang Qi's Ultimate Faith, becoming nothing but a blur of godlight shooting toward the Holy Mother.

Her face fell as she realized that she wouldn't have time to reach the passageway to the Hell of Mahānata.

"You're coming with me." The godlight wrapped around the Holy Mother, then pierced through to an immortal world above. Then, both the light and the Holy Mother faded away into nothing, leaving behind not a trace that either of them had ever existed.

The only thing that remained behind was a final message from Proud Heaven. "If you want your mother back, Yang Qi, ascend to the immortal worlds. Come to the planes above and search for me. I'll be waiting." Then he burst into laughter, which slowly faded away into nothing.

"Dammit. Dammit!" Yang Qi's clone threw back his head and let loose a long cry. Unfortunately, there was no way he could break through the barriers of the immortal world above to give chase.

"Proud Heaven! Your name is Proud Heaven, huh?" Clenching his hand into a fist, he struck out at nothing, causing the space around him to shatter. "You just wait. I'm going to find you and kill you with my own hands! I can't believe you came down here and kidnapped my mother!"

Yang Qi had lost badly in this encounter.

Not even he could have guessed that he would end up facing an opponent like this.

1. A kāṣāya is the robe of an ordained Buddhist monk or nun. Here's the , and a link to a .