Sage Monarch

Yet again, Yang Qi returned to the twentieth-ranked immortal world that was his Sage Monarch Heaven, where his immortal-slaying clone currently presided over matters. As soon as he arrived he unleashed boundless radiance and light, like a shining psalm that parted the clouds and shot out into the depths of primal-chaos.

Yang Qi wasn't worried at all about causing a scene.

He was now the second-most powerful person in the Dao Defense League, the Emissary of Radiance and Light, and second only to Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. Even if the league-lord himself wanted to cause problems, according to the law, he would have to do so formally. And that would require a lot of politicking.

Truth be told, there were many old-timers who wanted to do things their own way. Yang Qi was just the first person to buck the authority of Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven.

In fact, the old-timers were all itching to see sparks fly between Yang Qi and the league-lord. Without such conflict, it would essentially mean that the league-lord was an outright dictator, which no one wanted. Everyone was looking forward to what would happen in the days to come.

"Clone, you keep watch over things here while I go to the Heaven Beyond Heaven to face some tribulation. I plan to reach the fourth division Shattered God level, or possibly even become a fifth division Nirvanic God. At that point, I'll be able to summon ninth division Chaos God fiend-devils, purify them, and have an incredible army of angels to work with. I won't need help from any of the other old-timers to make myself the top force in the Dao Defense League. And it's also time to start taking control of the immortal world essence of the Heaven Beyond Heaven."

After handling some minor affairs, he left his clone in charge and departed.

Recently, his immortal-slaying clone had been advancing on almost a daily basis. As he worked with the seventy-one patriarchs, he pushed his way toward the peak of the Chaos God level and was preparing to ascend the Deathless Heavenly Stairway.

And now that he had seven of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, he was strong enough to keep the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart completely sealed up. In other words, it wouldn't open automatically after ten thousand years, like it used to.

And the power he could summon from the chart would make him almost invincible in a fight. That said, he was still far from having full control over the thing.

There were still godrelics and daoist texts to be found inside. The more power he gained, the more resources he could discover, like treasure troves left behind by ancient gods, or perhaps even their actual corpses. He had to get his hands on the final two legacy medallions before he could do that, though.

Swish!

Yang Qi entered the Heaven Beyond Heaven and found the power tempests to be as intense as ever. Endless mists floated everywhere, so thick he could hardly see his hand in front of his face. Even Chaos God entities that came here would likely get stuck and perish.

He was convinced that Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven would eventually make a move on him, so he needed to push his cultivation base to a higher level. He also needed to probe the essence of the Heaven Beyond Heaven and hopefully take control of the entire place. It was a thirty-third ranked immortal world, a mysterious place that made the Tusita Heaven seem weak by comparison. The resources, treasures, and power available in it surpassed imagination.

And he could probably use it to power the Cruiser of Civilization to a much higher level.

RUMBLE!

Thanks to his improved cultivation base—and of course, Chancellor Demi-Immortal's aura—he could sense the aura of the Heaven Beyond Heaven flowing toward him like liquid jade.

He laughed heartily as power coursed into him like a myriad of dragons. As he trembled, god tribulation formed above him in the shape of palaces from the kingdom of gods.

"Bless me, essence!"

The essence of the Heaven Beyond Heaven descended to crush him, but he simply devoured it, growing stronger as he did. God formations appeared, sending millions upon millions of swords down to kill him.

Crack!

His virtual godhood shattered, becoming true energy that flowed to all parts of his body. Then the vital energy of the god tribulation caused the virtual godhood to form anew, which was the sign of the Shattered and Nirvanic God levels.

The moment it formed together, he was in the fourth division, and as it became more solid he stepped into the fifth.

The fifth division was a watershed point. After all, the Nirvanic God level was named after nirvanic rebirth. As one's virtual godhood was born and reborn again and again it became more true and real, edging ever closer to becoming true godhood.

On the downside, the moment his virtual godhood shattered and was born again, his true energy was almost completely drained.

"True godhood, shatter!"

RUMBLE!

The true godhood he had stolen from the Tusita Heaven erupted, filling him with new power that coursed through all parts of his body, causing them to grow stronger, until they began to emanate a sensation of deathlessness.

Then the true godhood vanished, completely absorbed by his own power.

He had originally hoped that true godhood would get him all the way to the ninth division. However, after acquiring the seed of truth with other aspects of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth in it, he acquired a much broader foundation, thus required more power to make advancement. In the end, the true godhood only got him to the fifth division.

Unfortunately, fifth division Nirvanic Gods weren't considered impressive in the Dao Defense League. But this upgrade would make Yang Qi even more terrifying than before. Right now, Yang Qi was so much more powerful than when he had become the Emissary of Radiance and Light that, if he actually did fight with Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, it might be possible to gain an advantage. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled all of the tribulation, as well as much of the mist in the area. There were even some god formations that got caught up and absorbed.

The Heaven Beyond Heaven was a very dangerous place. Its climate gave birth to tornadoes of raw power, tempests of power crystals, violent volcanoes and surging oceans that weren't filled with water and fire respectively, but rather universal magical laws.

Yet Yang Qi consumed them.

He was now a fifth division Nirvanic God, and one of the first things he did was go a bit further into the depths of the Heaven Beyond Heaven.

Now that his true godhood was gone, if he wanted to rise to the sixth division he would have to get a new source of power.

Perhaps if he could harvest the core essence of the Heaven Beyond Heaven, it would be enough. In fact, maybe it would get him all the way to the ninth division.

If he became a ninth division Chaos God, then not even the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court would be a match for him. He would be invincible in the Dao Defense League and could strip Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven of his title of league-lord.

And eventually, he would break through to the Deathless Throne.

The Heaven Beyond Heaven was an uninhabited place that had always been sealed and never given birth to cultivation geniuses. In other words, it had no loss of destiny. It was very different than the Tusita Heaven, in which countless geniuses shared connection to its essence.

The essence of the Tusita Heaven was nowhere near as vigorous as that of the Heaven Beyond Heaven. It probably wasn't even half as strong. If all of its resources and destiny went to a single person, how powerful would they be?

As he proceeded into the depths of the immortal world, he would occasionally encounter god formations that would futilely attack him, or primal-chaos beasts that couldn't escape him. He devoured all of them to help replenish himself.

At a certain point deep inside, a map suddenly flew out from his belongings.

It was a piece of the Aeonic God Psalter, taken from Leaf Dao-Denier, who claimed he had found it in or near the Heaven Beyond Heaven. Leaf Dao-Denier still had two pieces, and there were seven in total. When combined, they would provide the complete Aeonic Heaven-Dao Life-Destruction Zen Art, as well as the full legacy of the map.

'Did the Aeonic God Psalter really come from the Heaven Beyond Heaven?' Yang Qi thought as he continued to absorb the essence and learn about the vital energy of the world around him. Following the directions on the map, he headed to a location where a boundless sea spread out in all directions, covered with rolling waves and a blanket of water vapor. Far out in that sea was an island with an immense temple on it, just barely visible to Yang Qi.

'Is this really seawater?'

He reached out and scooped up some of the water, only to find that it was made of pure primal-chaos quintessence vitality. A single drop would ordinarily be enough to melt the flesh of a sixth division cultivator. And even the water vapor would be enough to kill such Godmyths.

'The temple on that island must have information about the Aeonic God Psalter.' Just as he was preparing to start the search, he suddenly sensed the energy fluctuations of powerful divine abilities.

Sinking into the shadows, he waited to see who it might be.

Soon, a group of powerful old-timers appeared, people whom Yang Qi had never seen before. Landing on the ground, one of them said, "So, is that really the Aeonic God Temple? You're absolutely certain?"