Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

When Doom made the decision to give his God Legion Seal to Yang Qi in exchange for a chance to truly take down Proud Heaven, dramatic transformations occurred in heaven and earth. Proud Heaven instantly realized that the situation had slipped beyond his control, and that Yang Qi now had the best chance of winning.

However, his expression didn’t change to one of anxiety, but rather remained one of anticipation.

After all, he knew that the victor had not yet been determined, and there were still many things that could happen. And he most certainly had a secret weapon to call on.

The vortex opened, revealing the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Out of it flew the God Legion Seal, which Yang Qi grabbed. He now had two seals, one that belonged to him, and had once been linked to his own blood. The other was Doom's, which Yang Qi had already fused with. In other words, Yang Qi now had two God Legion Seals, and Doom had none, leaving him bereft of his previous status.

SPLAT!

Doom flopped onto the ground in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, soaked with blood, his power draining out of him. It was a terrifying sensation to lose his connection to the God Legion Seal and feel the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth fade away.

Most people would assume that having the God Legion Seal would lead to incredible glory, and meant that one had the support of the legion of gods. Anyone who willingly abandoned the seal would surely be abandoning all hope to live. They would be cursed by the gods and meet a grisly end. Right now, Doom was sinking into that oblivion; never could he have guessed that he would one day throw away the seal. Although he immediately felt regret, he still trusted that Yang Qi would save him in the end.

As for Yang Qi, the reason he hadn’t suffered such an ignominious fall upon abandoning his God Legion Seal was because he had the Unspoiled Body. It was the bane of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and the mutual push and pull between them helped him keep a tenuous balance. Even when he left the seal behind, the techniques remained within him, and even allowed him to forge his own path of unique divine abilities.

Because of his experience, Yang Qi knew what fate awaited Doom. Therefore, as soon as he arrived in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the immortal-slaying clone appeared behind him and thrust his palm out, sending his energy into Doom. At the same time, the sheepskin scroll appeared and True Devil tribulation began to smash into him, forcing Doom to cultivate the Unspoiled Body. Within moments, the same equilibrium appeared within him, and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth ceased flowing out of him. In fact, he even reached a higher level of enlightenment as a result!

Doom’s energy arts began experiencing the mutual complementary aspects of yin and yang, leaving him feeling refreshed and enlivened, just as Yang Qi had when he first cultivated the Unspoiled Body. And with someone to help him cultivate this way, he didn’t experience any slipups. Of course, thanks to Yang Qi having the Purrfect God Art and the divine abilities from the thirty-six masks, he had an even better understanding of the enigmatic way to combine energy arts.

“Brother Doom, considering you’ve decided to abandon the God Legion Seal, I certainly won’t let you down. Going forward, your Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth is actually going to improve significantly. This is a special method I devised, combining the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, the Unspoiled Body, the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art, and the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic, Purrfect God Art, imperial-heaven pre-beginning powers, and the arts of the thirty-six masks. Together, they form a consummate art that I call the Sage Monarch Grand Magic.”

The voice actually belonged to the immortal-slaying clone.

The clone had been in communication with Yang Qi, and knew that he had just benefited by getting another God Legion Seal.

With that, they were doing as Proud Heaven had done in creating his own dao.

Proud Heaven had his Ten Universes. They were: Nature, Void, Cosmos, Nihility, Chaos, Epoch, Civilization, World, Macrocosm, Universe. Ultimately, they were focused on space and time being the crux of the world, leading to incredible enlightenment.

Right now, Yang Qi was gaining enlightenment into the dao of the sage monarch, in other words, his Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Magical laws were swirling within his heart.

Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, Nothing.

Ten daos.

They represented that which was perfect and preeminent: the one origin, two polarities, three powers, four divisions, five phases, six directions, seven stars, eight trigrams, nine palaces, and ten preeminences.

The ten great daos of the many heavens.

In that moment, Yang Qi became like a sage, and at the same time, a monarch, a ruler, and a king. He was an emperor, a sovereign, a lord, a hero, a hegemon, and ambitious and ruthless. With one thought, he could shake all heaven and earth, and dominate everything that existed. He could achieve a dao of gods and become the ultimate ruler.

This was the Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

He was the center, and everything relied on him. What better bane could exist for Proud Heaven’s Ten Universes?

Proud Heaven had heaven, earth, yin, yang, time, and space. Yang Qi had sages, emperors, rulers, gods, and the Sovereign Lord. People controlled heaven and earth. Without them, heaven and earth were nothing. Meaningless. Empty.

As soon as the two seals were in his hand, a series of transformations began and Yang Qi burst out laughing. “Many thanks to you, Proud Heaven! Without you, I would never have gained enlightenment of my own dao. But now I understand the dao of humans. The Sage Monarch Grand Magic! The idea actually came from your Ten Universes! Henceforth, I will experience no more confusion, and will be on my way to the godly!”

The Sage Monarch Grand Magic. Ten daos.

In his heart, Yang Qi now understood what humans were fully capable of, whether sages or monarchs, whether that which was grand or that which was domineering. They were all different manifestations of what people were capable of.

Although the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was currently only a basic framework, it was also a foundation. As he gained more knowledge and came to a greater understanding of the workings of heaven, he would eventually piece them together into an invincible and perfect divine ability.

Right now, the Sage Monarch Grand Magic couldn't compare to the exquisite nature of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, nor the ferocity of the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art or the spectacular nature of the Unspoiled Body. However, there was nothing better suited to Yang Qi. Thus, when he used it, he was mighty.

By way of comparison, it was like an infant trying to wield a sledgehammer. Although that sledgehammer might be extremely powerful, in the hands of an infant, it couldn’t live up to its superior nature. Yang Qi was like that infant, and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and the other apex techniques were like sledgehammers. Meanwhile, the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was like a finely-crafted needle.

As he grew, that finely-crafted needle would become like a pillar that could prop up the heavens.

This was his technique.

“Yang Qi...” Proud Heaven said in a voice that almost didn’t sound human. “Well done. Very well done. You’re breaking through and coming to understand your own dao. Unfortunately, you have no logical way to assert that your dao is superior to mine.”

“Wrong, Proud Heaven. I have two God Legion Seals now, and you have no way to defend yourself. The time has come for you to die!” Yang Qi thrust his hand out to begin combining the seals.

Earlier, he had been worried about what unstoppable transformations might occur when he combined him. But things were different now. He understood his own dao and no longer had to rely on a mishmash of various martial disciplines. He had already combined everything into a single framework.

Never before had he been so clear about what he needed to do going forward.

“Saber of the Hegemon!”

As the seals combined, an enormous figure appeared overhead, a saber in hand that could cleave primal-chaos and cut apart the many heavens. Anyone who saw that figure would know that it could use that saber to dominate everything under heaven and take control of all creation.

Yang Qi’s Sage Monarch Grand Magic was based on the nature of humanity, and instantly caused his domineering will to spread out in all directions.

“Spear of Heroes!”

RUMBLE!

As the hegemon slashed out with his saber, a hero appeared opposite him, long spear in hand, pulsing with a heroic aura of bravery and daring.

Most people, in their hearts, wanted to be both hero and hegemon. As it was said, heroic hegemons could dominate everything under heaven.

That was what people sought. The Sage Monarch Grand Magic brought to life the dreams of all people, drawing on the ultimate meaning of both hegemons and heroes.

For now, he couldn’t draw on Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, God, or Nothing. He only had the most basic framework, and until he reached godly ascension, he wouldn't be able to draw on it fully.

That said, the path to the Ancient Road to the Gods and the legion of gods was now his to walk.

The hegemon had appeared.

The hero was in the world.

The heroic hegemon could dominate everything under heaven.

As the two God Legion Seals combined, heaven and earth shook wildly. The entire area around them crumbled, causing beams of bright light to shine out into the Great Necropolis around them.

Everyone, even those in the immortal worlds, even the Executors of the Ancient Road, could see the light piercing through the primal-chaos.