Sage Monarch

"Amazing!" Battle Resister said. Suddenly, he began to float up into the air, not because he was drawing on any sort of power, but simply because of his cultivation base. It was as if he were connected to heaven and earth in a mysterious fashion, and could slip through the various magical laws to their very source.

The dao was not merciful, yet, from his perspective, it suddenly did seem to have mercy.

"That's the Merciful level!" one of the other sect leaders exclaimed. "Battle Resister, who could ever have guessed that you would break through to the Merciful level? Rumor has it that only people who have mastered consummate techniques that abound in mercy can create a mental dharma like this. You've done it. This matches your personality perfectly!"

'The Merciful level?!' Leaf Dao-Denier thought. 'I've never heard of it before, but it's obviously incredible.' Furthermore, he had no idea how Yang Qi had done it.

After a long moment passed, Battle Resister dropped back down to the ground, looked at Yang Qi, and said, "Many thanks to you, Daoist Brother. You just provided me with incredible insight and godpower, which allowed me to break through to the Merciful level. With my energy arts having advanced like this, I'm now much more confident in being able to handle Empress Joyflower."

"No problem. In fact, I should thank you, Fellow Daoist. You helped me to significantly refine my cultivation base."

After all, Yang Qi had just unlocked ten drops of godhood, but only one of them was given back to Battle Resister. That alone had been enough for the man to break through to the Merciful level, whatever that was. Although Yang Qi couldn't be certain, his guess was that the reason it had provoked such a shocking result was that it had been touched by the godpower of monarchs from the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, as well as the aura of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. For Battle Resister, it was like sticking a willow branch into the mud, only to have it grow into a shade tree.

Battle Resister was visibly appreciative, and it was a given that he would be a helpful ally in the future.

Furthermore, Yang Qi now had nine more drops of liquid godhood, which would normally have taken him several months of work to produce. And the stronger he got, the easier it would be for him to handle the remaining godhood on his own.

After he assimilated those nine drops, his true self's power index would surpass four hundred.

"Would any of the rest of you like to help me with my cultivation?" Yang Qi asked. "If so, just send some true energy into me. Any type will do. I'll take it for just a moment, then return it to you with interest. You all saw how Battle Resister benefited just now."

"Alright!" one of the sect leaders said. Considering that Battle Resister had just reached the Merciful level, thanks to Yang Qi, there seemed to be no reason not to help him. "I'll give it a shot."

He stepped forward and was about to unleash his true energy when Yang Qi held out his hand to stop him.

"I was just performing a little test with Battle Resister," Yang Qi said. "The full process isn't a simple task. We should set up a spell formation first, to make sure that no one tries to take advantage of the moment to launch a sneak attack on us."

"Good idea," Battle Resister said. "This world forest is a mysterious place, and you never know what powerful enemies might be lurking about. I'll set up some spell formations right now. Merciful to All Beings; Escalations Everywhere; Way of Battle Victory."

He flicked his finger, sending out a stream of true energy that created numerous overlapping worlds around them.

Yang Qi silently nodded in approval. Obviously, Battle Resister was roughly on the same level as Empress Joyflower in terms of strength. It was good to have gained his trust as an ally, or at least, to have laid the foundations of trust.

Yang Qi also threw his hands out and began setting up spell formations, including ones from the buddhist schools, daoist schools, devil schools, and more. There were all types, including those which were wretched and righteous.

In the treasure storehouse of the Joyflower Palace, he had acquired twenty million god formations, giving him enlightenment that made him worthy of being a king of formations. In that regard, not even Battle Resister could match up to him.

The other experts could only watch as Yang Qi casually set up formation after formation, revealing his deep understanding of heaven and earth. There were many formations that they didn't understand, and the ways he could use the natural laws and power of the Great Necropolis left them filled with awe. Now more than ever, they took him to be a very mysterious entity that they needed to be very careful of.

Everyone present was capable of setting up spell formations, even Leaf Dao-Denier. In fact, it was a good way to put on a show of power. However, in terms of spell formation enlightenment, none of them even came close to Yang Qi. Compared to him, they were like children playing house and couldn't help but feel a sense of shame.

Soon enough, their corner of the world forest was locked down so tightly that even if Empress Joyflower herself came, it would be impossible for her to force her way inside their sealed area.

After all the work was done, everyone sat down cross-legged with Yang Qi in the middle. Even Leaf Dao-Denier joined in, although, from the glint in his eye, it seemed he was going to try taking advantage of the situation, perhaps by trying to get a better understanding of Yang Qi's cultivation base. Or perhaps he could somehow infect Yang Qi with a poisonous seed that he could later use to turn him into a puppet.

Leaf Dao-Denier had truly benefited during his time in the Great Necropolis, and after joining the Joyflower Palace, he had learned plenty of new, vicious techniques.

"And now, everyone," Yang Qi said, "send your power into me. Don't hold anything back...."

Leaf Dao-Denier couldn't help but notice the smile on Yang Qi's face, a smile he was very familiar with. After all, whenever that smile appeared, Leaf Dao-Denier usually ended up in a very bad position.

'Let's see him try to pull a fast one on me this time!' he thought, a vicious expression overtaking his face.

RUMBLE!

Ten sect leaders, all with power indexes of over a thousand, took action at the same time, sending power coursing into Yang Qi. Although their combined force couldn't actually rival that of a god, it was still many, many times beyond Yang Qi.

As the power entered him, a tempest sprang up in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart which resolved into a host of shadowy figures. They were none other than manifestations of will sent by the sect leaders as they attempted to pry at the details of Yang Qi's cultivation base, and possibly even possess him.

However, a bright gleam could be seen in the eye of Yang Qi's true self, and his immortal-slaying clone performed a complex hand incantation, causing the entire Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to ripple and distort, sending all of the incoming power to the godhood.

As a result, the sect leaders were all incapable of seeing anything clearly. When the borrowed power reached the godhood, the wills of the sect leaders collapsed. Meanwhile, the godhood began to emit creaking and cracking sounds as it started to crumble.

The God Legion Seal flew out to cover the godhood, which was slowly being converted into liquid. One drop. Two. Three. Four....

In the shortest of moments, a total of fifty drops appeared, which represented many years of cultivation on Yang Qi's part.

Immediately, his eyes shone with dazzling light as the drops turned into raging true energy that, after being converted by the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, turned into Blood of the One God.

Yet again, Yang Qi was making major progress in turning his blood and body into that of the ancient Sovereign Lord. At the same time, the countless particles within him were being converted from hells into heavens.

RUMBLE!

In that short time, his power index reached five hundred! He was now on roughly the same level as his immortal-slaying clone, although he was three times as strong in terms of fighting prowess.

He also sent some of the power into the Engine of the One God, which began thumping just like a heart.

Next, Yang Qi threw his hands out, causing huge rumbling sounds as he put some of the power of the godhood back into the true energy. Just as he had said, he would make sure all of the sect leaders benefited. However, when it came to those who bore him ill intentions, he placed seeds alongside them.

The seeds were from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and were called Heaven-God Hell-Exterminating Devil Embryos.

With them, he could easily place his own vital energy into an enemy's true energy cycle without their knowledge. The devil embryos would then draw on their quintessence vitality and put it under his control.

Now that his cultivation base was reaching new heights, it was even easier than before for him to use this ability.