Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Look upon death as going home, look upon death as going home....”

All of the executors began murmuring the same words, making the scene suddenly seem profoundly tragic. All of them were prepared to meet death, and none were afraid.

All of a sudden, Yang Qi’s view of the Executors of the Ancient Road changed a bit.

They really weren’t afraid of dying.

As for the emperor, he burst out laughing. “As they say, one should look upon death as going home. So what do we have to be afraid of? How ridiculous to use death to threaten us, Yang Qi. We’re the Executors of the Ancient Road! We don’t fear death!”

“That's good,” Yang Qi replied. “I have to admire you for that. Sadly, I can’t just let you die. You’re too valuable. Instead, I think I’ll let you enjoy the eternal torment of my Heaven and Earth Furnace.”

An enormous furnace appeared behind him, a product of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. A primal-chaos elder-snake emerged from the furnace and quickly sucked the executors inside, whereupon their miserable screams rang out.

King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions were gone, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart was nowhere to be seen, and the godhood stars couldn’t be used.

However, Yang Qi still had all of the legacy items of the other seventy-one monarchs. In fact, his divine will was so powerful that he could easily reach out to all of the various immortal worlds and pull the remaining legacy items to him, wherever they existed.

However, no such scattered items even existed anymore on any other worlds, which meant that any items he hadn’t collected yet could only exist in the god world.

When everyone else saw how Yang Qi dealt with the executors, they sighed. For such a powerful force to be disposed of so quickly and cleanly was something that had never been seen in the mortal world.

As for Yang Qi, his face betrayed neither delight nor sorrow. He remained expressionless as he returned to the Sage Monarch League, where expansion and construction was already underway. All of the executors’ remaining treasures had been plundered, and the god Brahma had taken charge.

The immortal-slaying clone approached around this time. Although he’d been freed from certain constraints, the fact that he had lost both King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart had weakened him significantly.

“Everything is taken care of, Yang Qi,” he said, “except Proud Heaven escaped. He could definitely cause big problems in the future. What are you planning to do? Are we going to head to the god world immediately?”

“Don’t worry,” Yang Qi said. “I’ll kill Proud Heaven eventually, and take the Great Necropolis back from him. And the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart belongs to you, so I’ll definitely help you get it back. I refuse to believe that Proud Heaven will be able to call the wind and summon the rain in the god world, especially now that he’s lost his God Legion Seal.”

At this point, Sectlord Will Manifestation approached. “We need to call a general meeting, Yang Qi,” he said. “Getting our top experts to the god world should be the main priority. If the Ancient Road to the Gods disappears, we’ll be stuck here forever. And then what would be the point of any of this?”

“Well, of course,” Yang Qi said. “Call the meeting. Everyone who’s even close to the mid Terrifying level should come. We’re going to have a big session of cultivation, in which we try to get as many people into the mid Terrifying level as possible. No one under that level will do any good in the god world. Brahma, why don’t you explain to us exactly what the god world is like?”

Brahma hurried forward. “If you go to the god world as you are, you’ll definitely be mobbed as soon as you arrive. After all, you have the complete God Legion Seal. Unless you manage to conceal its power, the other gods will sense it.”

“I can conceal its power,” Yang Qi said, “so don't worry about that. Furthermore, I don't have any true use for the God Legion Seal. I’ve broken free from its restraints, making it like a rowboat that I have no need of, having reached the opposite shore. How strong are the magical laws in the god world?”

“The magical laws?” Brahma said, then a thoughtful expression overtook his face for a moment. “They’re indescribable and unimaginable. Mid Terrifying experts there are like commoners in the mortal world. They can’t fly, can’t move heavy stones, can’t chop down trees easily, and would have a hard time building a house. And that’s not even to mention doing anything magical or superhuman. If you and your subordinates all went there and were attacked by some animals, most of you would die in the fight. The Sage Monarch League might be strong here, but a swarm of godlings would wipe you out there.”

“The god world is that incredible?” Yang Qi asked, frowning.

“It is!” Brahma replied seriously. “Because of how you’ve assimilated so many god items, you might think that the god world isn’t that impressive. But once a god item enters the mortal world, it loses a lot of its effectiveness. They can only truly unleash their potential in the god world itself. Think about it. A dragon in the shallows falls victim to the shrimps, a tiger on the plain can be torn to pieces by the dogs. Aren’t dragons and tigers incredibly powerful and fierce? Yet if they’re in the wrong environment, they can be considered weak. God items are like sharks, and the god world is the ocean. But if you take a shark and throw it on the seashore, then what happens? Just about anyone could kill it. Am I right?”

“That does make sense,” Yang Qi said, nodding. Even the God Legion Seal was limited as to what it could do in the mortal world. As Brahma said, it was like a shark thrown on the seashore.

“So I advise you to only take mid Terrifying experts with you,” Brahma continued. “And not just ordinary people. That would be the safest course of action. Of course, the best would be for you to go alone.”

“Alone?” He shook his head. “I definitely can’t do that. If the Ancient Road to the Gods vanished, then how would I bring my people to me? They would lose their chance to reach godly ascension.”

“That’s true. Gods from the god world can’t return to the mortal world, and that would be even truer if the Ancient Road to the Gods disappears. How about this: go ahead and take your most valuable people with you. But leave behind the ones with low cultivation bases. If you brought those to the god world, the tempestuous magical laws would either crush them to death, or damage them so badly they would long to die.”

Yang Qi was already aware that people beneath the Terrifying level couldn’t survive in the god world.

And early Terrifying experts would be able to do little more than crawl around and gasp for breath. Yang Qi wouldn't be able to care for them, much less establish his own authority or kingdom. In the god world, only Consummate Gods could establish kingdoms. Even Yang Qi himself would be like nothing more than a commoner in the god world. It might have been tolerable if he had the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, but it seemed unlikely that he would be able to reach out and open a passageway to it once he was in the god world.

That said, in order to truly understand the magical laws there, he needed to visit the place personally.

Yang Qi nodded. “In that case, I need to transform my father and brothers on the deepest level. I can probably take a few dozen people with me, no more. Brahma, I’ll obviously be taking you with me. I won’t let you down considering how you’ve helped me. And I doubt it will be difficult for you to truly become a god again.”

“I trust you,” Brahma said. “The god world is a very dangerous place. There are peak Terrifying experts there who are not yet gods. If they realized what I was, they would definitely rip me to shreds and devour me to gain access to my memories and experiences.” He shivered involuntarily. Clearly, the god world was also a place where the weak were the prey of the strong.

With that, Yang Qi called forth his seventeen fellow disciples from the Invincible Society, plus his sworn siblings from the old Rich-Lush Continent. He also summoned his father Yang Zhan, and his brothers Yang Yunchong and Yang Hualong. Without any hesitation, he began to baptize them and help them push their cultivation bases to the Terrifying level.

The God Legion Seal shone with brilliant light that pierced into everyone present. Before long, their eyes shone with radiance and light as, one after another, they showed signs of imminent breakthroughs.

Eldest Brother was the first to break into the mid Terrifying level. After him was Yang Zhan. Unfortunately, Yang Yunchong and Yang Hualong were both stuck in bottlenecks and couldn’t proceed past the early Terrifying level.

Brahma sighed. “The God Legion Seal is indeed formidable. It can help people break through this easily? Is it complete? According to the rumors, the complete God Legion Seal was blessed by all the gods of the many heavens, and can make it easy to achieve godly ascension. Unfortunately, you can’t yet release its most profound nature.”

Next, more of Yang Qi’s sworn siblings broke through. Unfortunately, some had constitutions so weak that they could only progress so far before getting stuck.

As time went on, the Sage Monarch League secured its position as the absolute strongest force in the mortal world. All enemies were destroyed, and all resistance was routed. There was no question as to its superiority.

Yang Qi sighed. “It's too bad, Eldest Brother, Second Brother. I really wish I could help you reach the mid Terrifying level. I just can’t take you to the god world like this.”

“Don’t worry about it, Third Brother!” Yang Yunchong said. He laughed. “You’ve already done well enough as it is. You and father go to the god world and continue getting stronger. We’ll stay behind in the mortal world to take care of things here. We're already in an infinitely better position than we were in Yanhaven on the old Rich-Lush Continent. Besides, we’ll be safe here. Nothing around here could possibly hurt us.”

“That’s right, Third Brother,” Yang Hualong said, clasping Yang Qi’s shoulder comfortingly. “Go to the god world and continue growing. Take all of the mid Terrifying experts with you. Don’t worry, we can keep things under control here. Besides, one day you’ll be a Consummate God, or even a Paramount God. Maybe you’ll even surpass the Sovereign Lord himself. And once you are, perhaps you can open a passageway back to the mortal world for us to join you.”

“Alright, Eldest Brother, Second Brother. Maybe you can't achieve your breakthroughs, but I'm still going to plant some of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth in you, as well as the Unspoiled Body. Keep cultivating my Sage Monarch Grand Magic, and you shouldn’t have any problems with them. You’ll break through eventually. Remember, once you do, go to the god world, assuming the Ancient Road to the Gods hasn’t disappeared. Then we can reunite.”

Thanks to Yang Qi’s help, there was no way his brothers would need to fear even mid Terrifying experts.