Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Immortal Dao Age was changing, and Yang Qi was the top expert in it. Unfortunately, Proud Heaven took control of the wills of the Great Necropolis and King Immortal-Slayer, then disappeared onto the Ancient Road to the Gods.

Yang Qi immediately gave chase with deadly determination.

He simply couldn’t allow Proud Heaven to truly control the Great Necropolis. Yang Qi knew that his plans had clearly come to fruition in a resounding success. With the help of the Great Necropolis, he managed to get King Immortal-Slayer’s will under control, and then used that will to shrink the Great Necropolis down to a manageable size.

If Proud Heaven took the Great Necropolis to the god world and continued to assimilate it, then it was highly likely that he would end up combining it with the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and becoming a new Wretch-God. And if that happened, Yang Qi would definitely die at his hands.

Another reason he was chasing Proud Heaven with such determination was that, despite having taken the Great Necropolis, there was no way he could take full advantage of its powers. He might have shrunk it down, but the will of King Immortal-Slayer was still inside, struggling defiantly. Otherwise, even if Proud Heaven were a god, he wouldn’t have been able to dominate the necropolis.

In other words, Yang Qi still had a chance to take it from him.

Yang Qi shot after Proud Heaven like a meteor catching up to the moon, and before long, could see him just ahead. Normally speaking, it was said that once you walked the ancient road, you could never go back. But Yang Qi wasn't an ordinary person. He could look down on the power of the ancient road now; after all, he had two God Legion Seals.

And if Proud Heaven could go to the god world and return, why couldn't Yang Qi?

‘You think that just because you took the Great Necropolis, Proud Heaven, you control everything now? Nobody owns the Great Necropolis. I'm the only one who qualifies. So you’re going to give it back, along with your God Legion Seal!'

As he sped after Proud Heaven, Yang Qi smiled coldly. ‘Be absorbed!’

A golden figure emerged from his forehead, quickly transforming into a golden vortex that began to spin wildly. Proud Heaven suddenly stopped in his tracks as he felt something pulling at him; specifically, the Great Necropolis was now twitching as though it might fly out of his hand.

Although he currently possessed the Great Necropolis, he didn’t actually own it, which meant that it could fly away at any moment.

Furthermore, Proud Heaven had inserted his God Legion Seal into the necropolis as a further way to erode its essence and force it to acknowledge him. If he became its ultimate successor, the other Inheritors would never have any chance of taking control of it. Unfortunately for him, the power of the Great Necropolis was so immense that it wasn’t possible to do that single-handedly.

On the other hand, there was no disputing the fact that Yang Qi had control over the God Legion Seal. Therefore, once he used his seal to call out to the final third piece within the Great Necropolis, it began to twitch and wriggle.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Proud Heaven said when he realized what happened. Drawing on his true energy, he summoned an enormous tombstone behind him. Grinning evilly, he said, “I just acquired a huge amount of godpower from the Great Necropolis, Yang Qi. My cultivation base isn’t any weaker than yours now. Considering we’re evenly matched, there’s no need to fight each other to death. Once you reach the god world, you’ll see how broad and spacious it is, and how many countless gods there are who will want to kill us. Why don’t we join forces and conquer the place together? What do you think?”

“I think you’re full of bullcrap. If I kill you, I get everything, including the Great Necropolis, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the will of King Immortal-Slayer, and the final piece of the God Legion Seal. Then I’ll turn you into a puppet and use you to conquer the god world. This is your last chance to hand the God Legion Seal over to me.”

“You're delusional!” Proud Heaven growled. Drawing on his true energy and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he summoned an enormous projection of a godmammoth behind him. It was powerful enough to trample heaven and earth, crush the sun and moon, and communicate with god-spirits. Instantly, a wild and sinister wind sprang up on the Ancient Road to the Gods.

This was Yang Qi's first time on the Ancient Road to the Gods, and looking around, he could immediately see how large it was. It was another world, and it had immensely powerful magical laws. However, thanks to how close-knit the laws were, it was impossible to get lost. All one had to do was follow the direction of the magical laws, and they would eventually reach the end of the road.

“Time to die!” Yang Qi said as he strode forward, his every footfall shaking the road and causing cracks to spread out on its surface. As he advanced, the King of Godmammoths appeared behind him and lashed out toward Proud Heaven with a whip.

It was the Mammoth King’s God Whip!

With two God Legion Seals, Yang Qi had immense enlightenment of the martial disciplines of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and now understood the profundities of the King of Godmammoths.

As the Mammoth King’s God Whip snapped out, booms filled the ancient road, and there were even some nearby mountains that shattered from its might.

Next, Yang Qi fully drew on his Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Of the ten great daos of humans, those of the hegemon and the hero once again appeared, causing Yang Qi to thrum with the energy of a heroic hegemon. In that short moment, Proud Heaven suddenly felt as if Yang Qi had transformed from one attacker into three. Bearing down on him was the Mammoth King’s God Whip, as well as the hegemon and the hero, who wielded a saber and spear respectively.

And not even a god could have predicted where exactly the strikes would land.

‘Fuck!’ Proud Heaven thought. ‘I can’t believe the kid has reached this level. With two pieces of the God Legion Seal, his abilities are vastly beyond what they were before. Not even I can defeat them! I don’t think even a Lesser God could kill him, and probably not even secure a slight victory. The brat may as well be a god himself.’

Proud Heaven exhaled deeply, bending like a bow as he sent the projected tombstone flying forth to meet the Mammoth King’s God Whip. Then he lunged forward as viciously as a wolf or tiger, unexpectedly using the Great Necropolis itself as a weapon to attack Yang Qi.

By the time Yang Qi realized what was happening, the energy of the hero and the hegemon were struck, and collapsed. At the same time, the Great Necropolis seemed to transform, being propelled by the power of King Immortal-Slayer to rumble toward Yang Qi.

It was a fist attack that surpassed the level of ordinary gods, and was obviously a secret magic of Proud Heaven.

“You think you can fight me using the power of the Great Necropolis?” Yang Qi said. “That’s wishful thinking if I ever heard it!” Thrusting his hand out toward the Great Necropolis, he seemingly prepared to fight force with force. “Who is King Immortal-Slayer anyway? If he defies me, he’ll die. I’m a true monarch, while he is a false one. The Sage Monarch Grand Magic is a true king in this world. A Monarch of Myriad Monarchs. I am the Sage Monarch!”

Under this immense pressure, Yang Qi unleashed his Sage Monarch Grand Magic. As he did, the ultimate meaning of kings and monarchs became clear in his mind. After all, he had long since mastered the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art, and could use it to devastating effect.

Thanks to the pressure of the will of King Immortal-Slayer and the transformations to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the moment he attacked Proud Heaven, his life force quintessence reached a higher level and he suddenly understood far more about the Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, Nothing.

Yang Qi was like the king of the two aspects of Hero and Hegemon. Suddenly, the projected image of a monarch appeared behind him, a king with a military banner in his hand, severing heads and leaving carnage in his wake. Mountains and rivers are shattered, the wind is filled with catkins. State and country are exterminated, the generals die in war.

That was a king.

A king waged war in all directions, filling the lands with his banners.

The army followed the monarch’s commands, marching wherever he indicated, causing blood to flow in rivers. When the king gave an order, corpses would pile up.

That was a monarch.

The saber of a hegemon.

The spear of a hero.

The flag of a king!

“The monarch victorious!” Yang Qi said, clenching his hand into a fist and throwing all of his energy arts into it as he punched out toward the Great Necropolis. “You might have the Great Necropolis, Proud Heaven, but you can’t use it, you piece of trash! That thing belongs in my hands! I'm the only one who can unleash its might. Hand it over!”

The king’s banner waved behind him, and on either side, the hero and the hegemon channeled their power into it, causing energy to thrum that surpassed the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and any of the magical devices Yang Qi possessed. It was the perfect match for Yang Qi’s cultivation base.

The will of a monarch entered the Great Necropolis, and instantly, King Immortal-Slayer sensed it. “A monarch! So, you’ve gained enlightenment of the profundities of the kings. It’s superficial, but you’re on the right path....”

King Immortal-Slayer’s will wanted to free itself, but was bound by the Great Necropolis. Yet it was still possible for Proud Heaven and Yang Qi to hear it speak.

“Damn this Great Necropolis. What is this thing? It can actually suppress my will!? Nothing in the world can defeat me, not even the God Legion Seal. Besides, I shattered that seal. And yet this necropolis actually seems stronger than that....”

RIP!

Proud Heaven lunged backward, his face ashen after meeting Yang Qi’s attack.

“Well done, boy!” Proud Heaven said, keeping his grip on the Great Necropolis. Unable to control himself, he coughed up a huge mouthful of blood; obviously, Yang Qi’s attack had severely injured him.

Yang Qi could immediately confirm that although Proud Heaven was strong, his enlightenment couldn’t compare to Yang Qi’s enlightenment of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic. It conformed to his own dao and was the bane of other daos, the Ten Universes included.

“Don’t fight back unnecessarily, Proud Heaven,” Yang Qi said coolly. “And there’s no need to pretend to be so hurt. I’m not going to fall for a trick like that and attack you for no reason.”

1. There are two lines of poetry here, one is a quote from a poem by , a Song Dynasty poet and politician who is famous for resisting the Mongol invasion of Jiangxi in 1275. He’s still a popular symbol of patriotism and righteousness. The second line of poetry seems to be made up by Divine Dreamwalker, as far as I can tell. Both are my own translation, I couldn’t easily find an existing translation of Wen Tianxiang’s line of poetry.