Sage Monarch

"This is bad, Young Master Leaf! The monarch bonds shattered, and they unleashed their biggest attack yet!" Quite a few of Young Master Leaf's young companions were shouting in fury. They could sense that this cannon was unleashing incredible power, yet they were too proud and arrogant to flee.

Of course, even if they had tried to flee it wouldn't have done them any good.

The photonic computer that controlled the Cannon of Civilization had already locked on to them. The only possible way to escape would be for Young Master Leaf to call on King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and leave the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Young Master Leaf snorted coldly. "They say the Cannon of Civilization could devastate the god legion kingdom. But there's no way it's fully powered up. What could it possibly do to us? They're putting everything on the line with this one shot! After it's over, their power reserves are going to be completely empty. So what if they can unleash an attack to devastate the god legion kingdom? I'm destined to surpass the legion of gods! To me, the Cannon of Civilization is a mere tool. In fact, I want it for my own!"

"Heaven, Earth and the Cosmos; Ultimate Core of Tusita; Tome of Abstrusity!"

Intense buzzing sounds filled the area as an enormous book took shape in front of Young Master Leaf, its pages filled with text describing the most profound and abstruse aspects of heaven and earth.

It was the Tome of Abstrusity.

According to certain legends, it was a book written by the gods, which contained unknowable and eternal secrets that remained mysteries even to the legion of gods. It wasn't a magical treasure, but rather a godly-class energy art. It was impossible to say how Young Master Leaf had acquired it, but he was a Fortuned One, so it was little surprise that he would be able to summon something that would be a mystery even to the legion of gods.

The beam of light shooting out from the Cannon of Civilization slammed into the Tome of Abstrusity, but, although it damaged its surface, it still couldn't pierce through it.

Then the book flipped open, and as its pages blurred, filled with lines of text describing incomprehensible questions, the light from the Cannon of Civilization was absorbed.

"Amazing. Dammit!" Yang Qi was actually shaking with amazement and fury. How could he ever have guessed that Young Master Leaf would have energy arts like this? He was even able to stand up to the onslaught of the Cannon of Civilization.

"Fine, I'll throw in more power. Let's see how long this Tome of Abstrusity can last!" Gritting his teeth, Yang Qi sent over a hundred power śarīras into the cannon's reactor. There was an immediate response from the photonic computer.

[Scanning. Target has deployed the Tome of Abstrusity. Flaws… input… output… defenses… destroy… truth….]

Yang Qi had no idea what the photonic computer was talking about or trying to do. However, he could hear the Cannon of Civilization thrumming, as if with rage, as it sent an even more blinding column of light out, filled with immense destructive power that slammed into the Tome of Abstrusity.

Suddenly, a loud ripping sound could be heard, as well as something like the hiss of intense flames, as the Tome of Abstrusity was ripped to shreds and the light of the Cannon of Civilization slammed into Young Master Leaf.

The patriarchs were delighted.

"It worked! He's definitely going to end up hurt. Maybe even dead!"

"Good. We've finally eliminated that monster. Let's see him try to act arrogant now!"

"What kind of power was that? It actually had a compatibility level of one hundred percent!? So strong and mysterious!"

"Now we can make our escape."

"Don't celebrate yet," Yang Qi said coldly. His words were like a splash of cold water. "Look, not even the Cannon of Civilization can do anything to him."

Sure enough, the patriarchs looked over and saw that although the Cannon of Civilization had pierced through the Tome of Abstrusity and struck Young Master Leaf, the young man was surrounded by streams of magical symbols that formed an immortal garment. It was another energy art that protected him from the Cannon of Civilization; nothing else happened other than him backing up a few paces.

"Not bad," Young Master Leaf said. "Not bad at all." His cold smile was enough to cause anyone to shiver with fear upon hearing them. And his eyes were the stuff of nightmares. They looked less like human eyes and more like those of a devil. In fact, the most terrifying god-devils from hell couldn't match up to his baleful energy, nor his wicked aura.

'Is he even human?' Yang Qi thought. 'Is this what all Fortuned Ones are like? I guess it doesn't matter. We have to hit him again, then make our retreat. I have a feeling that, as long as the Cruiser of Civilization has enough power, we can get out of here.'

Raising his voice, he said, "This monster is too strong. We're definitely not a match for him. I'm going to power the ship up again and then we can flee. Agreed?"

"Alright!" the patriarchs responded. Originally, they had hoped to fight back against this Young Master Leaf, but now it was obvious that he was a god-devil they couldn't match up against. They quickly discussed the particulars.

"This spacecraft has a propulsion reactor that can be used to pierce through space-time. It's called the Permiverse Reactor, and it requires a huge amount of power. In fact, from the time we acquired this spacecraft until now, we've never even used it. After all, it can't be used to leave the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart anyway, so it would have been a big waste of power. If we can get away now, there's no way this Young Master Leaf will be able to catch up at first. But the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is huge, and since he has some of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, he controls this place. Eventually, we'll run out of power and he'll catch up."

"That's true. But in the end, we have to get out of here as quickly as possible. The Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is huge! There's no way he can catch up any time soon. Besides, as long as we have enough power, we can use the Permiverse Reactor to enter different hyperdimensions. We could even try to travel through the Flatverse. I refuse to believe that this Young Master Leaf would be able to follow us there."

As they discussed the matter, one of them fiddled with the photonic computer, after which a door opened next to the Cannon of Civilization that led to another area on the deck. This area featured an enormous power reactor, within which was what seemed to be a tiny universe of its own. Within that universe were countless pairs of white wings that actually resembled Yang Qi's Angel Wings. The main difference was that Yang Qi's version was made of pure power, whereas these were obviously some form of technology.

'It seems the mechanical civilization drew inspiration from the wings of angels to create this incredible machine. Interesting. These wings actually seem more complete than my Angel Wings. Maybe studying them will help me make some improvements. After all, my cultivation level is just too low to unlock all the secrets of the Angel Wings. It seems to me that whatever almighty being created this thing must have actually glimpsed the Sovereign Lord creating the Angel Wings.'

Yang Qi looked at all of the various wings and already felt his enlightenment growing.

"Hurry up and produce your power stones, friend," one of the patriarchs said.

"Alright!" Yang Qi replied, his eyes glittering. He produced more śarīras and tossed them into the Permiverse Reactor, whereupon the countless wings inside began to flap. Yang Qi felt his Angel Wings stirring as if in reaction.

[Engage!] the photonic computer said. In response, the entire spacecraft suddenly shrank down by thousands of times, taking Yang Qi and everyone in it into another universe, a flat place that seemed to lack an up or a down. Every living being that entered it became flat.

Yang Qi felt as if he had entered another time, as if everything from the previous universe were inconsequential.

'This is marvelous! And here I thought it was amazing that there were different planes of existence and immortal worlds. As it turns out, my understanding of the universe is actually very superficial. So this is the Flatverse?'

Meanwhile, on the outside, the light cast by the Cannon of Civilization faded away and Young Master Leaf watched as the spacecraft shrank down and vanished.

"It pierced through the void?" he said, sneering. "Doing that here in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart will do nothing but drain their power. Get back here!" Making a grasping gesture, he said, "Heavenly-Empyrean Vital-Incarnation Paragon Palm!"

An enormous hand appeared, ripping through the void as if to drag a fish out of water. Cracking and crunching sounds rang out, and energy blasts rolled out. He almost looked like a god reaching down and rifling among the immortal worlds as if they were grains of sand.

Unfortunately, even after a long moment, he couldn't find any trace of the Cruiser of Civilization.

"What did they do? How did they manage to escape me?" His anger quickly mounted until it was a raging fire. "Damnit! Nobody escapes from me! Be destroyed! Raging Flame God!"

Everything around him shattered, until he caught sight of something very strange.

It was a completely flat streak of light, which he reached out to grab.

"The Flatverse! A function the Cruiser of Civilization can utilize with enough power. So, they entered the Flatverse. That's close to the power of the legion of gods." He chuckled. "Unfortunately, although they can enter the Flatverse, they can't use it to leave the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart!"

1. The author consistently emphasizes that this is a single piece of the Cruiser of Civilization. Sometimes including that extra information bogs down the sentences, so I leave it out. Be aware going forward that there will be situations which just say "Cruiser of Civilization" but is only intended to refer to this one fragment, rather than the whole.