Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

They flew for a month, which was when Yang Qi truly came to understand what the weather was like in the god world.

Snow was constantly falling, making everything a somber white. Eventually, the demonlings stopped coming out, preferring to hide in the deeper, warmer water, where they weren’t in danger of freezing to death. No more crone harpies appeared. Apparently, even they had to fear the wind and snow.

During that entire month, it never stopped snowing.

When there wasn't snow falling, there was snow deluging.

It got colder and colder, to the point where they had to keep moving to prevent from freezing up. Patches of ice were now visible on the water, although the heat from below was slowly melting it.

It was Yang Qi’s first time seeing a freakish storm like this.

The month of travel often had Lightning Dragonriser feeling tired to the point of death. It required every ounce of godpower he had to keep flying along. And sometimes he was so exhausted he nearly fell out of the sky to be eaten by ravenous demonlings. However, Yang Qi would catch up and infuse him with energy. After a very short meditative rest, they would then continue on their way.

Thanks to this method of travel through the snowstorms, Lightning Dragonriser’s energy arts were actually improving.

They proceeded through the snow, never bothering to find islands upon which to rest. When they tired, Yang Qi would summon a Purrfect God Art bubble for them to meditate and rest in. He never gave them godpower, preferring to let them develop it on their own.

They had consumed numerous medicinal pills and assimilated the blood infant, giving them very impressive godpower. But there were still things within them that were holding them back. Thankfully, it was very helpful to go through this process of putting every ounce of effort into flying, then recovering their energy and repeating the process.

It was a session of tempering that was producing amazing results.

In fact, it was superior to anything they could have possibly experienced in the immortal worlds, except perhaps for their time in the Great Necropolis. That said, not even the Great Necropolis could truly compare to the god world.

“Yang Qi... I need to rest,” said Sword Seventeen, and with a yelp, he plummeted out of the air, spiraling down toward the water. Apparently, he was so exhausted that he had completely run out of godpower, down to the last scrap.

Before he could hit the water, Yang Qi flicked his finger, causing a bubble to spring into being around him, protecting him from the falling snow.

“I can’t do it!” Yang Zhan said, and he started falling as well, until Yang Qi summoned a bubble for him.

Lightning Dragonriser had made big progress lately, but it was an extreme form of cultivation that he never could have accomplished without Yang Qi’s help. And now, he was only starting to realize that Yang Qi never seemed to rest. He had been flying nonstop the entire time, heading in the same direction, using bubbles to help everyone else rest.

“What’s going on Yang Qi?” he asked. “Don’t you need to rest?”

“Of course not,” Brahma answered, flying over. “Why else do you think he was so quick to decline the invitation from the gods of the Lightningbolt Continent? He’s already become one with heaven and earth, and can go on and on without rest. You have no way of even guessing what his true level is.”

“But that’s impossible!” Lightning Dragonriser said. “Even the patriarch gods from Lightningbolt Continent couldn’t fly for a month in a snowstorm without stopping. Are you even stronger than the gods?”

“You’ll understand once we reach the House of God Ordainment,” Yang Qi said coolly. “Eventually, we’ll all get high standings, including you. Tell me, how has this month of tempering improved your cultivation base?”

There was no need for Lightning Dragonriser to even answer the question. He was already twice as strong as when he had left Lightningbolt City. He could obviously deal with the Bloodgore Trials without any problem now. That said, he wasn’t going to just let his guard down. The Lightningbolt Continent might as well have been a tiny village. In the wider world outside of it, it was impossible to predict what kind of people they would run into. More than ever, he was convinced that sticking with Yang Qi was the best thing.

“It's been snowing for a month,” Jadefall said. “When is it going to stop? Don’t tell me we're entering an ice age.”

“A month of snow?” Lightning Dragonriser said. “That’s nothing. Even if it snowed for fifteen or twenty years, it still wouldn't count as an ice age. It would need to go for a thousand years or more for that. I'm going to guess this snow won’t last for more than a few years. And it wouldn’t surprise me if, afterward, things get so hot and dry it becomes unbearable. Then we might have to seek refuge in the kingdoms of gods.”

“Let’s just keep flying,” Brahma said. “My only regret is that there aren’t any demonlings to kill along the way.”

“With snowfall this heavy, the demonlings are all in hiding. Think about it, even we're only able to fly because of Yang Qi helping us with his Purrfect God Art. If the demonlings tried to fly around right now, they would die. You’re right, let’s keep going. At this rate, we should reach our destination in half a year or so.”

Thus, their journey continued, with Yang Qi not resting at all, and everyone else only taking short breaks when they became completely exhausted.

**

One day, Yang Qi realized that a new continent had appeared up ahead.

He had to use his Lord's Eye to see it, whereas the others couldn’t see it at all thanks to the sheets of snow.

It was a sprawling land that was obviously bigger than the Lightningbolt Continent. The snow was still heavily falling there, but there was a busy harbor visible. Apparently, the people there weren’t worried about the snow, as there were all sorts of merchant ships going to and fro.

The city that surrounded the harbor was protected by a huge spell formation that kept the snow at bay.

It had obviously been built by gods.

Only the gods would have the resources to build such places. When the gods couldn’t afford to build kingdoms, but had enough believers, they would create cities to provide defenses against the evils that existed around them.

Both the harbor and the city were far larger than Lightningbolt City, and the mere fact that they were protected by spell formations was very telling. After all, Lightningbolt City didn’t even have any spell formations.

Yang Qi saw mountains on this continent, places that surely had godstone mines.

In a place with as much business and wealth as this, there were certainly major consortiums full of all sorts of dubious characters.

“That’s the Primal-Chaos Continent,” Lightning Dragonriser said, sounding more than a little excited. “I can’t believe we got here so quickly. It hardly seemed like half a year of travel. Hopefully we can still make it to the Bloodgore Trials.”

With that, they flew into the harbor.

When the locals saw people flying in from the open ocean, many of them gasped in surprise.

“I can’t believe there are people flying around in weather like this! Apparently there are a lot of people who don't fear death.”

“I didn't notice. Are they experts of some sort? They must be here for the House of God Ordainment’s Bloodgore Trials. I really don’t understand why so many people show up for the trials. Out of ten thousand participants, only one survives.”

“People have grand aspirations. It’s little wonder. Most of the participants are nobodies who live horrible lives. They would do anything for a chance to rise up in life.”

“Quit dreaming if you think that’s going to happen. Just live your life. Work. Earn some godstones. Buy some medicinal pills to get stronger. Look, it's snowing so badly that we would die without the right pills.”

“Do you know how expensive medicinal pills are? Those shysters are making it impossible for us to live. We should revolt!”

“Revolt? How? People like them could slaughter ten thousand of you with the flick of a finger.”

When Yang Qi landed on the pier, the crowds parted for him. They were all commoners and Despots, people who worked like porters and kept their heads down, struggling to survive.

How very miserable.

“This city is called Triopolis,” Lightning Dragonriser explained. “The House of God Ordainment has a sect hall here. I can help you become novice disciples there, and join the Bloodgore Trials. We arrived just in time. Remember, a lot of Quasi-Gods are going to be here to join the trials.” With that, he led them into the city.