Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

At long last, Yang Qi had reached the Terrifying level.

It was considered a major breakthrough, and while most people who reached that level would have a psychic scale of one, Yang Qi had immediately burst through to ninety. That just went to show how much he had prepared for this moment. In fact, he had prepared so well that nothing could stand in his way in the moment of breakthrough. He was even able to assimilate eighteen godpower seeds, pushing all of the martial disciplines of the Great Necropolis to the highest level possible in the process.

Whether it was the God Tombstone Palms, the Stone Necropolis Energy, the God-Ordaining Incantation, or any of the other abilities, he now understood them like the back of his own hand. And none of them were tainted with any sort of misfortune.

Nobody actually knew how many gods had been laid to rest in the Great Necropolis, but there was an astronomical amount of godhood available there. And the vengefulness of the dead gods had been left behind, tainting the godpower.

As the Inheritors cultivated their powers, that misfortune and anger would wear away at them, making them highly likely to experience cultivation deviation. It was actually a major negative side-effect of having Inheritor powers. Now that Yang Qi was in the Terrifying level, though, he didn't have to worry about that.

As his divine will converged, psychic lightning appeared within the psychic tempest that swirled around him. This wasn’t ordinary magical lightning, but the most supreme type that could exist, god lightning formed by the mutual interaction of yin and yang, or of the spiritual and physical souls. Supposedly, this was something that only people in the mid Terrifying level could provoke, yet here Yang Qi was, provoking it right after breaking through. Obviously, he had pushed his imperial-heaven pre-beginning powers and the Civilization Founding Grand Magic to their ultimate extent.

At the same time, his Unspoiled Body reached the level of three hundred tribulations and his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth reached a higher level, causing the energy of the King of Godmammoths to surge within him. With no effort at all, he could cause a bubble to appear around him that represented the Great Necropolis itself, profound, powerful, and impossible to break into.

Right now, it was highly likely that Yang Qi could vanquish someone like the Shepherd in a fight.

Having a Terrifying will convergence really was profoundly terrifying.

“You finally reached the Terrifying level, Yang Qi,” said the immortal-slaying clone. “You're far, far stronger than I was when I first achieved my breakthrough. Very well done. As your psychic scale continues to grow, and you cut down more Inheritors and take their godpower seeds, you’ll eventually become the final Inheritor. And then you can take the Great Necropolis for your own. At that point, I don’t think we’ll need to worry about any ill side-effects from King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. After all, the necropolis is clearly strong enough to crush the will of King Immortal-Slayer. The necropolis surpasses all ages and times. It doesn’t exist in the three realms, five phases, or six daos. It’s outside of the river of history, very similar to you as a Fateless One. In fact, I suspect that the Great Necropolis came from a very strange part of the god world, which is why it's so unique.”

“The truth about the Great Necropolis is definitely one of the big mysteries of the god world,” Yang Qi said. “And it clearly surpasses the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. That said, I don’t think it’s related to the Sovereign Lord. Probably the only way to find out the details will be to join the legion of gods. Not even assimilating those eighteen godpower seeds has given me sufficient enlightenment to gain any understanding.”

He extended his hand and revealed another godpower seed, which he crushed, cleansed with brilliant light, and then, when it was as clear as crystal, popped into his mouth. That seed had belonged to Shi Yuan, and now that Yang Qi had consumed it, it meant that he had devoured nineteen of them. Yet again, his psychic scale rose, this time to the level of ninety-one.

Right now, the psychic lightning he could produce would easily destroy an immortal world with a rank of a thousand. As of this moment, there was no way that Bastard Seacliff could vie for the position of league-lord.

“Bastard Seacliff, you and your House of God Bastards are the children of gods, banished to the world of us mortals. However, rumor has it that you people have boundless godliness within you. Refining that godliness back into its original state would be like creating a medicinal pill containing the quintessence of the legion of gods. That’s why, when the Executors of the Ancient Road capture you god bastards, they always turn you into pills. And that’s exactly what I'm going to do to you, Bastard Seacliff. Let’s see if that’ll be enough to get my immortal-slaying clone higher into the Terrifying level.” Yang Qi had hated Bastard Seacliff ever since their initial clash at Mu Yexi’s banquet, but now he had no reason to fear him.

He was a hundred times stronger than before, or even more. Of course, his overall cultivation level had not changed; he was still on the fourth stair of the Deathless Heavenly Stairway. No longer would he be forced to suppress his advancement. Becoming an Inheritor had come with some major benefits, which meant that when he finally achieved his next breakthrough, he could very possibly reach the mid Terrifying level at the same time.

Truth be told, he was now qualified to go to the god world.

Unfortunately, the Great Necropolis was blocking the way.

‘Soon, I'm going to fight it out with Proud Heaven, plus whomever from the Primeval Age has the God Legion Seal. The two of you are still reveling in the fact that you have the God Legion Seal, but I’ve already broken free from such shackles. I'm now starting to gain enlightenment of that which belongs solely to me. I’ll definitely surpass both of you, and eventually establish a new heaven and earth of my own.’ Yang Qi was feeling more confident than ever about his path forward.

“And now, clone, I'm going to help you to get even stronger. Prepare to cultivate the Purrfect God Art!” Reaching out, he placed his palm onto his clone’s back.

The clone immediately floated up into the air, the psychic power around him creating a tempest like that from a doomsday. Yang Qi was pouring energy arts into him, including the enlightenment of the Purrfect God Art, Unspoiled Body, and the divine abilities of the Great Necropolis.

Slowly but surely, ten thousand years passed. Of course, the flow of time was different in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

When the process ended, the clone dropped back down to the ground; his psychic scale was at fifty, and he had gained significant enlightenment of new matters. Over the millennia that had passed, hundreds of godhood stars had fallen down from the sky. That said, the sea of stars above was still glittering just as gloriously as before. As for the godpower held within those fallen stars, Yang Qi used it to improve his own psychic systems, such as the imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems.

When it was all over, Yang Qi and his clone threw their heads back and laughed heartily. Both of them were convinced that there was nothing under heaven that could stand in their path. Together, they could crush any obstacle. Yang Qi found it quite marvelous that the clone had started out as an exact copy of himself, but was now a completely independent entity. And they still both helped each other. If it weren’t for the clone, he would likely have become a puppet to the imperial couple.

“It's time to go back out,” Yang Qi said coolly. “During this ten thousand years of cultivation, I fully assimilated the nineteen godpower seeds. I have no impurities within me, and my Purrfect God Art has reached an impeccable state. Now, the time has come to see what crouching tigers and hidden dragons will come out of the woodwork during the sect assembly and the competition for the spot of league-lord. All the superpower sects from the Ancient Road to the Gods will be there. The Royal Palace of Assassins have already made a scene, and Proud Heaven has no reason to stay in hiding.”

His hatred of Proud Heaven hadn’t diminished over time. Nor had he given up thoughts of capturing the bearer of the God Legion Seal from the Primeval Age. Although he had freed himself from the seal, he knew that restoring it to its complete state would give him access to the full Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. In turn, that would allow him to unlock the potential of the Unspoiled Body, and the combination of god and devil would be unparalleled under heaven.

Swoosh....

He left the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and returned to the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect’s warded area. The situation was just as he had left it, and there were still two days left before the assembly was to start.

Upon seeing Yang Qi, the sectlord rose to his feet with a smile and said, “Yang Qi, you’re back. What happened? Did the Woodfern Couple Palace cause problems for you? Some things happened while you were gone. For instance, the Royal Palace of—”

Yang Qi waved his hand to cut him off. “I'm aware of everything that’s happened. I achieved a major breakthrough, the details of which I’ll explain to you shortly. The fortunes of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect are about to dramatically change.”