Sage Monarch

As far as Yang Qi was concerned, Brahma Echo-Silk really was crazy.

Although the Brahman Immortal World was currently transforming, it hadn't reached a critical moment and yet she wanted him to go in and loosen the seal. The power of the future world hadn't reached the moment of full eruption, so if he tried to take action now, he would be painting a target on himself and putting himself in great danger. The experts of the Brahman Immortal World would surely notice him, pounce on him, and kill him.

It was as if Brahma Echo-Silk just wanted him dead.

Thus, he responded with a sarcastic quip. He knew that Brahma Echo-Silk was a Fraudulent One, and that because of that she probably spouted as many lies as she did truths.

When he had originally suggested that the two of them work together, it was because he was too weak. But now that he had acquired a piece of the Cruiser of Civilization, he was ready to end their cooperation. After all, from the moment they started 'working together' until now, he hadn't actually benefited at all as a result of the agreement.

"You're just trying to get me killed, Brahma Echo-Silk," he said. "I'm done. You're on your own now."

Brahma Echo-Silk reacted with fury.

"You're really not going to help me, Yang Qi?" she said via divine will. "Things have gotten out of control. If the Brahman River keeps devouring more and more immortal worlds, more and more people are going to suffer and die. Don't you want to help them? Look, another one just got destroyed. Millions upon millions of living things just died! This is a tragedy. An atrocity! Are you really that indifferent?"

Yang Qi laughed. "So now you're trying to appeal to my sense of righteousness? Sorry, I don't trust you. You're a Fraudulent One, and I have no way of knowing exactly how you might be trying to take advantage of me. If those immortal worlds die, then so be it. Life and death are both common things that happen every moment of every day. There are millions upon millions of immortal worlds, and destruction is a common thing among them. I couldn't save them all even if I tried. Besides, life and death are fixed by heaven and earth. When the legion of gods takes a breath, a myriad of worlds are destroyed. When they take another breath, a myriad of worlds are born. Please, don't use such ridiculous excuses to try to sway me."

Although his words infuriated Brahma Echo-Silk even more, she simply smiled coldly. "So you're saying you're not going to help me? You're going to break our agreement?"

"Break our agreement? Did we actually have a formal agreement? What was it, for me to take your place in death? I have the right to change plans at any time, and you're a Fraudulent One, who had ill intentions from the beginning. You think I wasn't aware of how terrifying that seal is? Breaking it open would probably rip me to shreds." Not interested in bantering with this woman, he said, "From here on out, you do your thing and I'll do mine. We can each rely on our own skills to get through this catastrophe."

"Yang Qi! You!" A moment later, Brahma Echo-Silk's expression turned sinister. "If you don't get in there, open that seal, and release Brahma's heart, I'll reveal your secret identity. Then who will be in the bad position? You'll end up crushed!"

Yang Qi didn't seem worried at all by the open threat. "You have a secret identity, too. Maybe I'll reveal that. I'd advise you to not go down this route."

"Go ahead and try that. You see, this body really does belong to the old Brahma Echo-Silk, the Enlightened One. I just possessed it. My true self, the actual Fraudulent One, is in a distant immortal world, a place you can never reach. But you're different. You're here as your true self, aren't you? If we do this, I may lose a clone, but you'll actually die. Think this through carefully, Yang Qi."

'I knew all along this woman was a schemer.' Immediately, Yang Qi's heart filled with killing intent. 'If I hadn't acquired the fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization, I would have been completely stuck. Considering she's a Fraudulent One, I can't leave her alive. And I can't spare her Glorious Treasure Heaven either. If the Brahman River is going to consume her and her immortal world eventually anyway, maybe I should just step in and do so first.'

"Well, what do you think, Yang Qi? I'll give you the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Live. Or die. It's all in your hands."

As Brahma Echo-Silk hovered high above the children of Brahma with the other patriarchs, she looked down at Yang Qi with a faint smile.

"If you don't agree to my demands, I'll reveal your identity. If you try to bite back by revealing my identity, there's no way the parliament of elders is going to believe you. Your death, and your counterstrike, will both be meaningless."

"Well played, Fraudulent One!" Yang Qi said through gritted teeth. "You really live up to your name. However, I'm not interested in playing your games. Boundless Parasitization!"

Without any warning, Yang Qi sent the Cruiser of Civilization through the Flatverse right into Brahma Echo-Silk's body.

She suddenly felt something in her sea of energy, and when she cast her senses inside, it was to her shock that she saw a tiny spacecraft. Before she could react, the spacecraft's powers spread through her meridians, locking down her nascent divinity and making it impossible for her to move.

Then an exact copy of her appeared, a power double, while she ended up being sucked into the Cruiser of Civilization.

Inside the Cruiser of Civilization, Yang Qi strode toward her with a vicious smile on his face. "Brahma Echo-Silk! You thought you were strong enough to threaten me? Little did you know that I could handle you with ease. Once the power eruption begins, I'll detonate your power double. People will assume you experience cultivation deviation and accidentally self-detonated."

"You sinister villain!" she blurted, backing away from him. "Please, don't. Don't do this. I was mistaken just now, I would never reveal your identity!"

"Too late for that." Yang Qi reached out and placed his palm on the top of her head. In the blink of an eye, she collapsed into an expression of vital energy that pulsed with the aura of an Enlightened One. He quickly absorbed it. She also had the will of a Fraudulent One which tried to escape. But how could it possibly flee from inside the Cruiser of Civilization?

Yang Qi grabbed the will and devoured it. Along with it came the coordinates of the thirteenth ranked immortal world, the Glorious Treasure Heaven.

'I need to go wipe out this Glorious Treasure Heaven. Long delays usually lead to trouble, and I need to get to the level of one one-billionth power as quickly as possible. At that point, I'll be able to travel through the universe in many ways. Forget the Flatverse, I'll have access to the Octoverse and the Sextuverse.'

WHOOSH!

Yang Qi vanished.

**

As the Brahman River continued devouring immortal worlds, powerful forces rose up and fought back. Unfortunately, the Brahman River was fierce and only seemed to get more and more powerful as it went along.

"Patriarch, this is where the Sage Sword Heaven is supposed to be. But it's gone. Vanished without a trace!"

"It doesn't matter. The Sage Sword Heaven is only a seventh ranked immortal world. We'll soon rise to the level of being able to consume tenth ranked immortal worlds!"

August Patriarch Proud Wing and the other patriarchs were all focused on prayer, using their psychic connection to pour power into the Brahman River and continue its expansion.

Meanwhile, at another high-level immortal world, the current events had the entire place in chaos. It was a place that glittered with the aura of treasures and magical items, and was none other than the Glorious Treasure Heaven.

POP!

Within the depths of that immortal world was an Incarnated God patriarch who had called a meeting. Present in the meeting was a beautiful woman, who was sitting there with her eyes closed. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open and blood sprayed out of her mouth.

"Did it work, Goddess Treasure!?" one of the other Incarnated God patriarchs asked.

"Did it work? No. Damn!" Grinding her teeth, she continued, "I'd tricked a powerful young man named Yang Qi into sacrificing himself. But at the last minute, he defied me. He's ruined my entire plan. Dammit!"

"So what do we do now?"

"There's nothing we can do. The Brahman River is going to continue to devour its way upward. In a few days, the apocalypse will come. Right now, it's devouring the Martial Blood Heaven!"

"Let's leave this place. We Godmyths can do without an immortal world. We can just leave and drift about in the universe."

"That's probably for the best," Goddess Treasure said. "I'm not going to let you off the hook for this, Yang Qi. Soon enough, you'll know what a Fraudulent One can do!"

"Oh really?" a voice said, and at the same time an enormous spacecraft appeared outside of the immortal world. Goddess Treasure let out a shriek as the immortal world around her began trembling, then she flew up and tried to escape through the greyspace. Before she could, a hand reached out and grabbed her by the neck. "Goddess Treasure. Fraudulent One. Your Glorious Treasure Heaven was about to be destroyed by the Brahman River, but I got here first."

"You! I can't believe you're so strong, Yang Qi! How did you get here so quickly?" Glaring at him in anger, she said, "Why are you doing this?"

"No special reason," he replied. "I need resources, and the Glorious Treasure Heaven is obviously full of magical treasures. Your immortal world is going to be a big boost for me."

Looking down, he waved his hands and all of the magical treasures from the Glorious Treasure Heaven flew into the Cruiser of Civilization. At the same time, he bound all of the top experts, including Goddess Treasure, and they all disappeared. Then, disciples from the Sage Monarch Heaven poured out and began conquering the Glorious Treasure Heaven.