Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Space-time rippled and distorted as a strange and mysterious passageway opened up.

As the enormous spacecraft flew along inside, its numerous systems operated, producing a humming sound like that of countless bees. In fact, if one looked closely, it was possible to see a network of defenses surrounding the craft that actually resembled a beehive. Anyone who wanted to reach the ship itself would have to navigate through the complex beehive structure.

And of course, ordinary individuals would find that impossible.

The spatial ‘beehive’ was filled with all sorts of powerful morphlings, who could swarm forth in a sea of fury to overwhelm any intruder. They were virtually invincible by sheer force of numbers alone.

Such was the might of a fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization equipped with vivicreation systems.

Perhaps this was the true origin of morphlings, or perhaps the future world had developed science and technology based on the Cruiser of Civilization. It was hard to say.

The spacecraft was crewed by a small group of warriors who were standing ramrod straight, all of them dressed in military uniforms, their eyes laser-focused in front of them. These incredibly powerful people were the special ops team led by the legendary General Samman, whose eyes seemed completely emotionless as he stared at the photonic computer screen in front of him.

[Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep.]

The photonic computer began giving new information. [Paramount science and technology detected. Another fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization is scanning us. Should we jam the signal?]

“Jam it!” General Samman said, the hint of a cruel smile turning up the corner of his mouth.

Smiling, one of the other warriors stepped forward. “We’re not only going to accomplish our mission, sir, we’re going to get rich in the process. Who would’ve thought we would acquire another fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization?”

“You’re exactly right,” General Samman said, his voice as emotionless as a photonic computer’s. “Our reason for going to the immortal dao civilization is to conquer it. The Primeval Age is that of the legion of gods. The Middle Age belongs to the immortal dao civilization. And of course, in our age—the Sovereign Lord’s Age—it is foreordained that we will conquer everything. We will break the cycle of karma and the dao of heaven. In one short month, we will reach the Middle Age. In addition to accomplishing the mission given to us by the great magister, we will slaughter and conquer to our heart's content. We will bring the Middle Age’s immortal dao civilization to ruins!”

“Yes, sir!” the other warriors said.

“In the Middle Age, the immortal dao civilization studies matters of destiny and energy circulation,” General Samman continued. “We need to break through the barriers of the dao of immortals to slaughter all of these fools. Bring their civilization to an end. Destroy their destiny. If we do that, the dao of immortals will naturally end. Then our future world can absorb the Middle Age and the Primeval Age. And with the energy released by the destruction of the dao of heaven, we can bring about a new era. A new world. Everything will change and we will usher in a true golden age, the age that he who exists above the legion of gods, the Sovereign Lord, always wished to see. It will be an age with no past and no future, an eternal golden age that will never change. An era in which the concept of time doesn't exist!

“Let it come,” General Samman murmured. “I can't even imagine how wonderful that era will be! And yet, it is my thirst to see it that drives me here to slaughter and conquer. Kill them all. Seize everything from them. Take no captives or slaves. Wipe them out. Understand? Our mission is to slaughter and destroy. To annihilate.”

“Yes sir!”

“What thrilling times,” General Samman murmured with a smile so cruel that even fiend-devils in hell would shiver at the sight of it.

After all, his fate was that of destruction.

**

In the Sage Panacea Sect, Yang Qi was absorbing the power of the god pill, and simultaneously accepting the power being transmitted from the Heaven Beyond Heaven. At the same time, the imperial snakecharms he had installed near the future world passageway were also feeding him power. He had three sources of power pouring into him, cleansing and strengthening him.

His bones began creaking. As he was filled with power, the images of numerous hells appeared within him as though he were transforming into the leader of all the countless hells.

Once he reached the Godmyth level, he could tap into the essences of all the hells, which numbered as many as the eternal sands of the universe. With the true seeds of all those hells blessing him, it would be an easy task to bring the godpower of hell into the world of men.

It was a horrifying prospect, and entailed the possibility of overwhelming the glory of the legion of gods.

But that was only one of the terrifying aspects of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Unfortunately, he was currently in a very difficult transition. As he blindly groped for those true seeds of essence from hell, he slowly made his way toward the Godmyth level.

It was the correct method, but it was something that couldn’t be rushed. In one month, General Samman would arrive, bearing the mission of Proud Heaven himself. At that point, Yang Qi would have nowhere to hide, unless he completely abandoned everything he had worked so hard to build. Of course, he had no desire to do that. And it seemed likely that his only chance to truly advance his purposes was to use the destiny and resources of the Dao Defense League.

‘This isn’t going to work. This method is too slow. I had assumed that after building up so many resources, reaching the Godmyth level would be an easy task. Why is it turning out to be so hard? Damn it all! Fine. I guess I need to go with plan B. Time for a trip to the Tusita Heaven.’

All of a sudden, Yang Qi transformed, becoming like an ordinary immortal in the Godmyth level. Thanks to the powers of the Cruiser of Civilization, he could easily make himself seem like a seventh division Measureless God.

However, he didn’t want to stick out in the Tusita Heaven, so disguised himself as a fifth division Nirvanic God, instead.

Then he blurred into motion, vanishing as he headed to the part of the universe inhabited by thirty-third ranked immortal worlds. It was an area filled with deadly tempests and few signs of habitation. The primal-chaos debris fields were filled with lurking ancient beasts, the kind that would be hellish nightmares to any low-level immortals who encountered them. But to high-level immortals, the place would be like a holy land of cultivation, perhaps even an amusement park. Hidden treasures abounded, and killing the primal-chaos beasts could provide incredible crafting materials.

Of course, Yang Qi didn’t care about such things. Using his Lord's Eye, he quickly spotted an enormous, violet immortal world that was close to becoming a god world. Because of the murky nature of the primal-chaos, it was impossible to tell how large this violet world was.

After all, compared to places like the Tusita Heaven, twentieth ranked immortal worlds were like grains of sand compared to the ocean itself.

As Yang Qi neared, he saw that the surface of the Tusita Heaven was covered with numerous castles built from violet-covered crystals, patrolled by endless squads of immortals. There were also countless naturally formed spell formations adding to the defenses.

Yang Qi didn’t need to announce himself. He just walked up to the nearest entrance and pulled out an emerald-green identity plaque that read: Clandestine Operative of the Green Clan.

The soldiers on guard took the medallion, and when they saw what it was they were visibly shaken. “What? You’re from the Green Clan? Go on in. The teleportation portal is right there!”

Thus, Yang Qi passed through the gates without any incident. Stepping onto the teleportation portal, he entered the Tusita Heaven.

Yang Qi inhaled the violet energy and looked around at the city. Everything was made from violet crystal—even the ground, which was particularly tough. It reminded Yang Qi of things he had read in ancient daoist texts regarding the ancient kingdom of the gods.

Yang Qi knew that the Tusita Heaven was a place of incredible power. The violet crystal everywhere ensured that high-level universal power was available in all corners.

Being unfamiliar with his surroundings, and not wanting to make any stupid blunders, he called out to Young Lady Green Blaze. “Come to me immediately!”

Moments later, a nearby teleportation portal blazed with light and a host of soldiers appeared, all of them clad in emerald green armor. Their mere presence caused the faces of many nearby onlookers to flicker with fear.

At a single glance, Yang Qi could see that all of these armored soldiers were Godmyths. In the Tusita Heaven, even the lowliest commoners were Dao-Demolishers with seven, eight, or nine lineaments on their dao heart.

And Godmyths were a common sight.

In lower immortal worlds, Godmyths were patriarchs and leaders, people considered to have incredibly high positions. But in the Tusita Heaven, they were essentially low-level government officials.

In the Tusita Heaven, everything was different. And when high-level individuals appeared, the low-level citizens would immediately back up to the side of the road and stand there with the utmost respect.

The streets were luxurious and filled with shops and stores of all sorts. Yang Qi could sense that the magical laws here were very strong, such that ordinary experts wouldn’t be able to assess the city as a whole. However, by drawing on a bit of power he was able to ascertain that the population of this one city likely surpassed that of the entirety of most twentieth ranked immortal worlds.

Just how big was the Tusita Heaven?

The mere question caused Yang Qi’s heart to begin thumping with fear. If Young Master Leaf truly gained the approval of this place’s essence and became the Lord of Tusita, how terrifying would he be? Yang Qi doubted that anything other than becoming the ruler of the Heaven Beyond Heaven would help him. Unfortunately, that process was incredibly difficult and his immortal-slaying clone needed time.

The green-armored soldiers marched up to Yang Qi, and one of them, an Incarnated God, dropped to his knee. “My respects, Milord. Young Lady Green Blaze can’t come in person for fear of revealing her identity and arousing suspicion. Please, come with us to her mansion. She's already preparing a welcoming dinner.”