Sage Monarch

A stream of black smoke had surrounded Yang Qi's consciousness.

Within it was the method to cultivate a very secret magic, and Yang Qi didn't hesitate to take it. And as soon as he began working with it, his psychic power began to improve.

Almost immediately, he sensed that he had improved control over his physical body. The child who had experienced such difficulty lifting the sledgehammer was now a bit older.

As he continued cultivating, he suddenly felt as though he were being forced to rely very heavily on the Wretch-God Apostle's will. Then he heard a voice. "Come. Come.... Enter my embrace. Have faith in the Wretch-God, and you will gain even more. The Wretch-God is the true lord of the god world...."

As the voice spoke, Yang Qi's mind began to grow foggy.

In response, the clone quickly made some adjustments to the psychic scaling systems, pulling Yang Qi back to lucidity. "Wretch-God Apostle!" he growled angrily. "You're plotting against me again!? You want me to exercise faith in the Wretch-God? To convert? You never had any intention of working with me, did you?"

Of course, his anger was a complete act.

The Wretch-God Apostle burst out laughing. "Fooled you, boy! You think you can really cultivate this secret magic of mine? You see, it really can be used to improve one's psyche. However, as you cultivate it, you'll create a psychic connection to the boundless Wretch-God. And for all intents and purposes, that's me! I'm his appointed representative in the world! Once you're connected to the Wretch-God, you have to follow my orders. Now hand over that sheepskin scroll! And give me all of your energy arts, your soul, and every magical treasure you have while you're at it!"

"You!" Yang Qi blurted, plastering a look of fury onto his face that was the complete opposite of the delight he felt inside. "I won't let you get away with this!"

As he began to draw on his psyche and will, back in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the psychic scaling systems vibrated.

"Now we can finally see what your psychic scale is, Yang Qi!" the clone murmured.

[Beep-beep-beep.... Yang Qi's psychic scale is one point five.... Unfortunately, the restraints on his body mean that he can only release power equivalent to zero point eight.]

Shockingly, the clone now realized that Yang Qi had already surpassed the level of "one", except he was unable to release the full potential of his power.

"Alright, you need to break through!" the clone said. "Yang Qi, you're usually the one helping me out, but now I'm going to provide the assistance. You're going to reach the Terrifying level right now!"

RUMBLE!

The clone threw all of the godhood power possible into the Engine of the One God and the psychic scaling systems, pushing them to new heights as they stimulated Yang Qi's nascent divinity.

In response, an immense will erupted from Yang Qi's nascent divinity, causing the Wretch-God Apostle's will to shudder violently.

"What?! How can the boy be struggling so much? He must have some secret weapons! Unfortunately for him, he's essentially fighting against the Wretch-God! I can handle this. I'm the Wretch-God, the Wretch-God is me! Wretch-God Fusion!"

RUMBLE!

As he reached out into the void, a mighty will descended onto him, something that vastly surpassed his own will.

He was being possessed by the Wretch-God, and it was causing his psychic power to skyrocket. Brimming with wretched evil, he smashed into the defenses of Yang Qi's sea of consciousness. As he did, an image of the Wretch-God appeared, his face indescribably wretched and foul. He was obviously treacherous, brutal, and ruthless. He epitomized just about every negative quality that could be imagined, and now he was trying to merge with Yang Qi's nascent divinity.

Next, the Wretch-God's voice filled Yang Qi's mind. "Have faith in me, and you can earn immortality. Betray me, and you'll suffer a myriad of tribulations...."

Both the Wretch-God and the Wretch-God Apostle were trying to possess Yang Qi at the same time! More precisely, they had combined into one and were trying to turn Yang Qi into an out-of-body incarnation, a second nascent divinity.

The Wretch-God Apostle was throwing all his cards on the table to try to win.

Turning to the sectlord and peaklords, the immortal-slaying clone said, "Perfect. Now's my chance, while he's going all in. Begin the transmission. Lock down my sea of consciousness and pull out all of the godhood you have ready!"

The sectlord's hands danced in front of him as he sent fifty pieces of godhood swirling out. The clone immediately inhaled them and sent them to the Engine of the One God, which allowed the psychic scaling systems to send out an immense blast of psychic power.

At the same time, the energy of countless civilizations surged into Yang Qi's sea of consciousness.

In the shortest of moments, the four mighty experts became like the embodiment of the mighty Lord of Civilization, standing above the River of Civilization and observing the countless civilizations that had appeared throughout history.

God civilizations, immortal civilizations, devil civilizations, human civilizations, martial arts civilizations, draconic civilizations.... The 'Lord of Civilization' looked out at countless civilizations streaming by, and at the same time, the psychic powers of the four experts surpassed their previous limitations.

The sectlord and both peaklords all felt themselves stepping into a much more powerful state as they kept their psychic fluctuations tightly connected. Meanwhile, the immortal-slaying clone was pushing his own psychic fluctuations to the limit. Together, the four of them took hold of the bundle of karma the clone had created and headed into Yang Qi's sea of consciousness.

As they did, Yang Qi's sea of consciousness was sealed, making it impossible for the Wretch-God Apostle to leave.

As the boundless psychic fluctuations merged with Yang Qi, he regained complete control over his body and pushed his psychic scale to incredible heights. In the blink of an eye, he was at the point of controlling, not twenty tribulations, but more like a hundred.

RUMBLE!

Rising to his feet, he circulated his true energy, and as his Unspoiled Body improved, his sea of consciousness shrank down. At the same time, he launched a vicious fist strike onto the Wretch-God Apostle's physical body, causing blood to spray out of his mouth and deeply weakening his psychic power.

Within Yang Qi's sea of consciousness, the Wretch-God Apostle howled, "What power is that? You tricked me! Don't harm my physical body! Let me out of here!"

His will battered this way and that, but he was incapable of freeing himself from Yang Qi's sea of consciousness.

Meanwhile, another voice rang out. "I trust you've been well since we last met, Wretch-God Apostle. I, Sectlord Will Manifestation, along with Peaklord Memory and Peaklord Celestial, have come to offer respects."

"So, it's you people. What are you doing here? You're using the psychic scaling systems to plot against me, eh? Well, that's not going to work! The Wretch-God's cultivation base is far beyond the Lord of Civilization's. Black Sun Wretch-God, Consummate Wretched Evil!" The Wretch-God Apostle's will surged, transforming into a black sun that began to drag the River of Civilization down.

The clone snorted. "You think that's going to work?"

He opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of golden light, within which was a tiny golden imp that shot into Yang Qi's sea of consciousness. It was the God Legion Seal! With the God Legion Seal at play, intense golden light stabbed into the Wretch-God's will, instantly setting him at a huge disadvantage. "Dear god! What is that doing here? The God Legion Seal? I can't believe it's the God Legion Seal!"

He was truly surprised. Never in his wildest dreams could he have ever imagined something like that appearing in Yang Qi's sea of consciousness.

The immortal-slaying clone burst out laughing. "The God Legion Seal can easily suppress your wretch-god will. Get ready, Wretch-God Apostle. You're about to acknowledge allegiance. Prepare to be sealed and turned into a believer! Psychic scaling systems! Imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems! Combine powers!"

RUMBLE!

The immortal-slaying clone's will was being pushed all the way to its limit to unleash the full power of the various systems, and at the same time, use his collection of karma to bind the Wretch-God Apostle's will in place.

"Begone!" the Wretch-God Apostle howled. "Not even the God Legion Seal can do anything to me. I'm going to take it and use it to completely destroy all of you!"

This was a virtually invincible enemy, someone that not even the Executors of the Ancient Road had been able to fully defeat, thus it was no surprise that he began pushing back against the golden light.

"Oh mighty Wretch-God, no greater opportunity could there be for you! Your sleeping will can truly come through the River of Time from the ancient past and be fully awakened!" He began muttering some sort of enchantment, causing immense vibrations of will to roll out. It was as if some even greater evil were coming, allowing his nascent divinity and will to begin breaking out from their confines. Obviously, he planned to return to his own body.

"The God Legion Seal...?"

Of course, the three experts from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect were completely bowled over, and very nearly passed out from shock. How could they have ever imagined that the God Legion Seal would appear? They knew that Proud Heaven had one piece of it, which was how he had sown such chaos on the Ancient Road to the Gods. He had very nearly reached the god world, only to be foiled by the executors at the last moment.

But now, here was another piece of that seal.

Despite being shaken, the sectlord could sense that the Wretch-God Apostle was making a big move. "Don't let him get back to his body!" he shouted. "The consequences will be too horrible to contemplate. Once his will and true energy combine again, they'll be impossible to separate. Attack together!"

Sadly, it seemed he was just a bit too late.

Crack!

The Wretch-God Apostle broke free and shot back toward his body.

However, in that same instant, the immortal-slaying clone's will also transformed, causing thunderous rumblings to echo out, along with images from the god world. Terrifying fluctuations filled the area, making it seem almost like someone from the god world was present. He had experienced a breakthrough in will convergence!

Instead of using the psychic scaling systems, he had taken advantage of a critical moment of combat to push himself to the next higher peak!

"Terrifying will?!" the sectlord blurted. "You broke through! You're a Terrifying expert!"