Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

August Patriarch Fire Dragon once again had the upper hand. He had a hundred and forty-nine more talismans than Yang Qi, and a much higher cultivation base, so it was little wonder.

Even more terrifying, as a fire dragon he inherently possessed some of the blood of a primal-chaos elder-snake. That, and the fact that he had the lance of King Infinisnake, made his energy even more dreadful.

There was no doubt about it, Yang Qi was in a deadly struggle.

“Snakelance Bolstering!”

Without any warning, August Patriarch Fire Dragon’s snakelance suddenly crumbled, becoming a stream of quintessence energy that shot into the imperial snakecharms and doubled the power of the primal-chaos elder-snake. It opened its mouth and swallowed up the other eight hundred talismans, as well as Yang Qi.

“Perfect!” August Patriarch Fire Dragon said. “This is my trump card. It cost me a god item, but it’ll be worth it to assimilate you and your vital energy!” He burst out into hearty laughter, yet didn’t take time for celebration. Dropping down cross-legged, he suddenly exhaled a stream of fire. “You have some of King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallions? Hand them over! Give them to me, and I’ll make your end less painful. Otherwise, you’ll experience the terror of being roasted alive by thousands of different types of true flame!”

“Oh really?” a voice said. Suddenly, golden light appeared within the depths of the primal-chaos elder-snake. It started out as a tiny speck, but quickly spread out, causing the huge snake to twist and writhe with pain as it shone with a golden color.

“What’s going on?” August Patriarch Fire Dragon said, clearly shocked. “What’s happening?”

Yang Qi burst out laughing. “I wanted you to swallow me. That made it much easier for me to use my God Legion Seal to strike at you. You completely fell for my trick, August Patriarch Fire Dragon. In the end, you're actually not a match for me. Now give me those talismans!”

WHIZZZ!

The golden imp appeared, and August Patriarch Fire Dragon’s kingdom of fire was defeated again and again as the golden light spread.

RUMBLE!

Eventually, the primal-chaos elder-snake exploded and the golden imp reached out to grab the one thousand, eight hundred and fifty-one talismans before they could fly away.

POP!

Yang Qi exhaled some true energy and the talismans began wriggling as golden light expunged the fire dragon branding mark from the thousand that had them.

Bloodcurdling screams rang out as the branding marks were erased, and August Patriarch Fire Dragon himself trembled as he was overwhelmed with the pain of having his vital energy damaged.

“No! How could this be happening? Who is that golden imp? And how could you possibly have a God Legion Seal?” August Patriarch Fire Dragon was one of the top leaders of an immortal world, with access to all sorts of ancient legends. How could he possibly not know what the God Legion Seal was?

For one thing, it was a blessing from the ancient legion of gods. It wasn’t something that could be searched for and found, thus it was a complete shock to find one here with Yang Qi.

August Patriarch Fire Dragon wanted to flee, but had been thoroughly locked down by the power of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Even as he struggled, the monarch power in the area surged together and a projection of King Immortal-Slayer appeared behind August Patriarch Fire Dragon.

“Stop struggling, August Patriarch Fire Dragon,” Yang Qi said, his voice booming. “I’ve summoned the soul of King Immortal-Slayer and he’s standing right behind you.”

August Patriarch Fire Dragon could sense the profoundly sinister aura behind him, yet when he turned around, he didn't see anything. The truth was that no matter which way he looked, King Immortal-Slayer would remain behind his field of vision.

But he could still sense him, and that was a terrifying thing.

He spun in place, then spun again, and again, almost like a top. But it was all to no avail.

‘Finally,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Eighteen hundred and fifty-one talismans. That’s more than half!’

The swirling, primal-chaos elder-snake that he could now control was powerful enough that it could cause sprawling areas within the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to turn into a true void of primal-chaos.

As the snake swirled around him, he pulsed with godpower and magical laws, deathless godpower filling every part of him.

“And now, I’ll call upon all the unclaimed talismans in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart! Come to me!” His primal-chaos elder-snake roared, and from within the depths of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, responding howls rang out and more primal-chaos elder-snakes appeared.

They were small, as each of them corresponded to a single talisman. Normally speaking, searching for them one by one in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart would have been an impossibility. But now Yang Qi could simply summon them to him.

Furthermore, he would be able to sense any talismans that were currently held by another person.

One. Two. Three….

Eventually, one hundred and forty-nine more talismans flew to join the enormous primal-chaos elder-snake. Yang Qi now had a total of two thousand of the talismans, fully two thirds of the total three thousand.

With this many talismans, he could easily crush an immortal world, and was fully as strong as a Dao-Demolisher with nine lineaments. Of course, when he finally reached the Godmyth level, the tribulation he would incite would defy imagination. In fact, it would surpass anything that any member of the legion of gods had faced in the past. Therefore, his current collection of talismans wouldn’t be enough to devour it.

Perhaps if he got all three thousand, he could.

After all, Yang Qi wasn't just a Fateless One now. He also had the constitution of a Reincarnated One and a Future One. He was a combination of three unique constitutions.

With the two thousand talismans in hand, Yang Qi unleashed devastating power onto August Patriarch Fire Dragon.

August Patriarch Fire Dragon howled in rage. He knew that he was done for, but wasn’t ready to resign himself to his fate. As a Godmyth patriarch, how could he possibly allow a mere fourth stage immortal general to defeat him?

“You think you can kill me? I’m a Godmyth! I'm eternally indestructible! I'm very nearly deathless! How could a brat like you defeat me?” Throwing his hands out, he shouted, “Myriad-Dragons Holy-Pilgrimage Faith-Master God-Dao!”

RUMBLE!

Ten thousand true dragons erupted from within him and converged on his palm as he prepared to fight to the death.

Yang Qi walked forward, and as he called on the Hand of the One God, a brilliant light spread out in all directions, completely overwhelming the Myriad-Dragons Holy-Pilgrimage Faith-Master God-Dao!

“Dragon Returns to the Sea! Eight Tribes Godfist!”

August Patriarch Fire Dragon quickly transformed into a four-headed, eight-armed entity, with each head being that of a divine dragon. Looking like he was going crazy, he began raining fist strikes down on Yang Qi, drawing on all of his vital energy.

“Divine Dragon Emerges from Water!

“Eight Dragons Fly to Heaven!

“Hornless Dragon Enters its Cave!

“Battle Dragon Retires in Peace!

“Grand Dragon Turns its Head!

“Vile Dragon Devours a God!”

In the time it takes a spark to fly off a piece of flint, a host of moves were unleashed, transforming the entire area into a reflection of the Eight Tribes Heaven and causing an enormous pagoda to appear above him.

This was an animadestiny pagoda created from his dao fruit, and was a secret incantation from that world of dragons. It was the most holy of pagodas from the Myriad-Dragons Holy-Pilgrimage Faith-Master God-Dao, the Eight Tribes Stūpa! As of this moment, the true power of the Godmyth level was on display. [1]

Yang Qi’s true energy was blasted away by the technique, yet he still had the advantage.

“You're really putting up a hard fight. Sadly, it's useless. Prepare to die!” He threw his hands out and sagelight erupted, filled with projections of the legion of gods, all of whom were chanting curses. It was the Sagely Sacrifice, the next energy art transformation of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Supposedly, when the Sagely Sacrifice was cultivated to completion, it would invoke projections of the legion of gods, who would gather sacrifices for the Sovereign Lord.

“Let the glory of the Lord be preached throughout the world….”

“The blessings of the Lord will shower upon all living beings….”

As the projections chanted, the power of the Sagely Sacrifice slammed into August Patriarch Fire Dragon.

Yang Qi felt his true energy surging out of him, evaporating almost like steam. Clearly, the Sagely Sacrifice required a huge expenditure of true energy.

“Agggghhh!”

August Patriarch Fire Dragon felt himself being crushed and devastated by the Sagely Sacrifice. Not even he, a Godmyth, could stand up to it.

1. A stūpa is an important aspect of Buddhist architecture. More info here and here is a link to example images.