Sage Monarch

The dust was still settling. Yang Qi had killed Sectlord Traceless Slasher of the God-Slashing Sword Sect, and also struck a grievous blow against his backer, an Inspiring One. As a result, he now had complete control of the Sage Sword Heaven, a seventh ranked immortal world full of plentiful resources. It went without saying that the resources he now had access to vastly surpassed anything from the Titan Emperor Heaven, or even the Brahman Immortal World.

However, he couldn't stop thinking about the Inspiring One's parting words. He had promised to return and cause more problems, and it didn't feel good to have that threat hanging over him. However, there was nothing he could do about the matter, other than just forget about the Sage Sword Heaven. His current plan was to come up with a plan for how to make the best use of this place to benefit his lower world.

'It's time, to turn the Sage Monarch planetary system into an immortal world,' he thought. 'Or is it? It's a period of extreme unrest, and creating a new immortal world would likely attract a lot of attention. Maybe I should just keep funneling resources down there to stockpile. Besides, raising it to a first rank immortal world would be pointless, and wouldn't come with any benefits. It would just make the place a big target.'

Making the Sage Monarch planetary system a first ranked immortal world would put it on par with the Titan Emperor Heaven. In fact, it might even start out smaller than that. Other surrounding immortal worlds would definitely take notice, and would very likely send people to try to conquer it.

Yang Qi also knew that, in some locations, newly ascended immortal worlds became the target of top experts, who would attempt to assimilate them to improve their cultivation base. Although he was fairly certain he could defend against such people, he also didn't want to go through that trouble.

The best thing to do would be to stockpile enough resources to make the Sage Monarch planetary system a fifth ranked immortal world, at the very minimum. A place on roughly the same level as the Brahman Immortal World would be able to stand on its own amidst the endless forest of other immortal worlds.

Another factor that played into the situation was that he really didn't know what he was doing when it came to creating and improving immortal worlds. Learning a bit more would probably be a good thing.

As Yang Qi thought about all these things, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit contemplated how long delays usually lead to trouble, and said, "Daoist Brother Yellow, you've killed Traceless Slasher and driven off the Incarnated God. What do you plan to do next? We're all here, ready to take orders. People are unsure of what to do at the moment, so you need to act quickly to prevent word from spreading. If the immortal worlds under our control learn of what has happened, it could cause big problems. Many of them might try to free themselves from our rule and defect to higher-ranked immortal worlds. And the Ancient Beast Heaven is always itching to invade us, which could turn out to be a big disaster."

Yang Qi nodded. "Yes, that's a good point. Thanks for the reminder. Our top priority now is to win the hearts of the populace and make sure they acknowledge allegiance to you."

RUMBLE!

A boundless energy flow shot out from Yang Qi, filling heaven and earth, reaching the far corners of the immortal world and completely locking it down. Immediately, he could sense the magical laws of this world, which were based on the essence of the dao of the sword. Normally speaking, he wouldn't have been able to take control of them, but after assimilating a Slashing One it was a different story.

Traceless Slasher had spent countless years practicing cultivation here, inhaling and exhaling this place's essence. He was essentially at one with the immortal world around him, and now that Yang Qi had absorbed him, he could easily take control of the place.

Everyone present was trembling in fear. They all felt that a catastrophe was looming over their heads, and they knew that there was nowhere to run to. They were the leaders of the Sage Sword Heaven, therefore there was no one they could reach out to for help.

"I've locked down all passages leading in and out of this immortal world. Not even a fly could escape. Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit, I have no interest in this place. Go ahead and unify this immortal world into a single sword sect under your control. Afterward, I'll need your help to accomplish something even grander."

If Yang Qi refrained from taking control of the immortal world himself, it would leave him more flexible in the impending catastrophe. Thus, he handed it over to Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. An enormous throne suddenly appeared, in which he sat and waited for her to handle matters.

"Sectlord Emptydeath, step forward," Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit said. She had control now, as well as the backing of Yang Qi, thus, she wasn't afraid of anything.

The first thing to do was purge her immortal world, and naturally she would start with the sect that hated her the most—especially its sectlord.

"You… you slut! I'd rather die than submit to you. Leaders of the Emptydeath Sword Sect, hear my command. It's better to be a broken piece of jade than an intact clay tile. So flee! I'll take my stand, and the rest of you escape from here. Even if only one of you makes it, you can work hard to avenge my death!" Sectlord Emptydeath waved his hand, sending a beam of sword light slashing toward Yang Qi, hoping to delay him for long enough to allow the Emptydeath Sword Sect disciples to escape.

"You're suicidally reckless aren't you?" Yang Qi said. "Begone!"

The sword light shattered and Sectlord Emptydeath was locked in place, unable to move, bound by the magical laws of space. Yang Qi hadn't used any true energy whatsoever, only the Glad Tidings of the Lord.

"You think your Emptydeath Sword Sect can escape under these circumstances," he continued. "I have this entire immortal world locked down. And not even an Incarnated God and Inspiring One is a match for me. So what do you think you can do? The divine will of an Incarnated God can cover an entire tenth ranked immortal world, and I'm just as strong as that. What, you think I'm trying to pull a fast one on you or something?"

"That's right," Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit said. "Run? To where? Daoist Brother Yellow, please, I beg of you, allow me to deal with him. I'm going to peel his flesh off of his body bit by bit and use his suffering to resolve my hatred."

"If that's what you want, fine. He's completely and utterly immobilized, so do as you wish."

At long last, terror rose up in the eyes of Sectlord Emptydeath. "Daoist Brother Yellow, er, I mean, um, Senior Yellow, I know that I'm in the wrong here. Please, let me off the hook and I won't cause any more mischief. I won't oppose the Ice Spirit Sword Sect. I'll acknowledge allegiance to you! And… right, I'll even hand over all of the disciples of my sect to be slaves. Please, just spare my life!"

Completely ignoring his words, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit said, "Die!"

King Life-Killer's sage swords flew out and sliced the shrieking Sectlord Emptydeath into pieces. They fell to the ground, a wriggling mass of blood and gore that seemed to want to shape back together into human form, but was incapable.

Sectlord Emptydeath had been chopped into thousands of pieces, but was not dead. And each piece was wracked with indescribable pain. It was a horror the likes of which would be expected in hell, and was the worst type of torment possible from the dao of the sword. Thanks to the power of King Life-Killer's sage swords, Sectlord Emptydeath wasn't even able to kill himself. His soul was simply forced to endure the torment.

The agonized shrieks he made in the moment before being chopped to pieces still lingered in the hearts of everyone present, causing their faces to drain of blood, and cold sweat to break out all over their bodies.

It was three days and nights before his energy finally drained away. Everyone else present was so frightened that they didn't even dare to think about trying to run away. For all they knew, the monster Yang Qi would see such torment inflicted on them.

They had been frightened into a submission that would ensure they never acted out of line.

"Sword Seventeen, step forward!"

"Alright!" Sword Seventeen said, leaping out into the open.

"Assimilate him." Sword Seventeen immediately began to take Sectlord Emptydeath's quintessence energy. The sectlord was a Godmyth who had cultivated the dao of the sword for countless years. After cleansing his quintessence energy with sagefire, Yang Qi sent it to Sword Seventeen. Sword Seventeen was able to immediately assimilate some of it, but kept the rest stored for later use; it was obviously too much power for him to handle right now.

"Daoist Brother Yellow, what do we do with everyone else from the God-Slashing Sword Sect? Their sectlord Traceless Slasher is dead. Should we kill Inexorable Slasher too? I doubt he'll offer allegiance, and considering the hatred in his heart he'll surely cause trouble later." As she turned to look at Inexorable Slasher, he dropped to his knees.

"I'll acknowledge allegiance," he said. "Traceless Slasher was acting on his own, and for the trouble he caused, he deserved to die at the hands of the heaven-god. Henceforth, I offer my faith to this heaven-god. I'll become a believer and do whatever he asks!"

In his hope of saving his own life, Inexorable Slasher was willing to treat Yang Qi as a heaven-god.

"Fine," Yang Qi said, nodding. "I accept. The faith of a Tempered God will be very useful. Definitely better than killing you." Waving his hand, he sent a beam of sagelight into Inexorable Slasher's head. "That is my Light of Faith. If you ever even think about plotting or scheming against me, I'll know, and your efforts to save yourself will have been in vain."