Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

A new vortex opened, revealing innumerable immortal worlds and planes of existence in the Primeval Age. Although Proud Heaven and his cohorts had already spread ruin in the Primeval Age, there were still plenty of humans, Demonfolk, and Devilfolk who had survived the war. But now, Proud Heaven was bringing about mass destruction there.

An apocalypse had come as one planet and immortal world after another was destroyed.

Proud Heaven really was particularly cruel and ruthless. During his years in the Primeval Age, he had secretly created numerous vital energy spell formations that, in this critical moment, he was using to devour the destiny of the entire age. He was powering up with the energy of both the past and the future, and it was definitely going to make him domineering and without rival.

And he had already stated his intention to do the same to the Immortal Dao Age.

Thankfully, the Immortal Dao Age was being watched over by Yang Qi, which meant Proud Heaven couldn't do anything to it at the moment. The presence of the Great Necropolis ensured that the Immortal Dao Age was the strongest of the three ages; not even a god could destroy it right now, much less Proud Heaven.

However, that didn’t mean that Yang Qi could do anything other than watch as the Primeval Age and the Future Age were destroyed, their dao of heaven put to an end.

Proud Heaven was already pulsing with the boundless power of Ending.

It was none other than the energy of an Ending One.

Among the three thousand great constitutions, the Fateless Ones were the kings, with the Eternal Ones and Fortuned Ones coming in secondary. Never before had there been such a thing as an Ending One.

Normally speaking, the dao of heaven was something that could never possibly end.

But now, Proud Heaven was absorbing the dao of heaven from innumerous immortal worlds. In other words, he was ending the dao of heaven. Thus, he was stepping into his role as an Ending One.

The Ending One.

Crash!

The Primeval Age was put to an end. From Yang Qi’s perspective, it was now nothing but darkness and gloom, filled with primal-chaos. Even if one traveled through time to the Primeval Age, they would find that the civilizations and history there had been completely removed. There were no epic sagas to recount their glory. There was only primal-chaos.

It was the same in the future world. There was no glorious history there, no amazing civilization. Science and technology no longer existed. There was only primal-chaos.

Only the present was concrete and safe.

Only it was true and real.

Yang Qi could sense the dao of heaven trembling as if in fear of Proud Heaven, as if it knew that Proud Heaven wanted to put it to an end. Without Yang Qi present, he definitely would. Then he would pierce through the void, reach the god world, and become the mightiest of gods. Unfortunately, that outcome was as unrealistic as flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water.

Two green streaks of light appeared like writhing dragons, swirling around Proud Heaven into the shape of a taiji symbol, which he then devoured.

They were the dao of heaven from the Primeval Age and the Future Age.

What was the dao of heaven? It encompassed natural and magical laws, and existed between that which had a will and that which did not. Proud Heaven devoured the dao of heaven from both the future and the past, and as it turned into true energy, it went on to solidify into godpower. In fact, he was just on the verge of forming godhood. All he had to do now was get to the god world, and his energy arts would advance, allowing him to form godhood and become a Lesser God.

“Yang Qi, did you know that I could have reached godly ascension any time I wanted? But I didn’t want to. Do you know why? In the god world, the Lesser Gods are led by the Common Gods. And I refuse to accept an arrangement like that. I want to be a god among gods. My power has reached an apex and my Ending One constitution is heading toward completion. Now I'm going to end you, and afterward, fully end the dao of heaven.”

“Fine,” Yang Qi said, standing there with his hands clasped behind his back. “You said it, Proud Heaven. Your power has reached an apex. Therefore, the time has come for me to kill you.”

“Make your move!” Proud Heaven shouted.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi took a step forward, moving across the Ancient Road to the Gods like an explosive dragon. In the blink of an eye, he was in front of Proud Heaven, where he threw his arms out like spears, or sledgehammers, or mountains, or seas, or falling suns and moons, or kowtowing gods.

He only used one move, but he didn't hesitate to draw on the top capabilities of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, unleashing fist strikes that could shatter anything they touched, even godhood. Proud Heaven’s body emitted creaking and crunching sounds, like a stone statue being struck with immense force. He had just absorbed the power of the dao of heaven, so his true energy currently burned like the sun.

‘How is the brat so strong?’ Proud Heaven thought, shocked. He had just absorbed the nine magisters and sacrificed both the Primeval Age and the Future Age, ending their dao of heaven. That had provoked a dramatic transformation within him, to the point where he had assumed he would be able to crush Yang Qi instantly. But contrary to expectation, Yang Qi only seemed to be getting fiercer and fiercer. In fact, this one move almost seemed too much to handle.

“Ten Universes!” he shouted, speeding backward to avoid Yang Qi’s attack. Then he struck back, using the Ten Universes. Nature, Void, Cosmos, Nihility, Chaos, Epoch, Civilization, World, Macrocosm, Universe. One universe after another appeared, harrying the dao of heaven and sowing chaos among the workings of heaven.

Yang Qi showed no fear. Head high and chest out, he strode forward. He was like a dragon embodied, with a mouth like a primal-chaos elder-snake and arms like mammoth trunks, his every move pulsing with power.

The God Legion Seal appeared over his head, releasing immense radiance and light, constantly calling out to Proud Heaven’s piece of the seal and forcing him to expend effort to suppress it.

Little did Proud Heaven know that during the time he had spent sacrificing the Primeval Age and the Future Age, Yang Qi hadn’t actually just stood there waiting for him to finish. Instead, he had been seeking further enlightenment of the God Legion Seal while simultaneously absorbing destiny from the Immortal Dao Age.

When the Great Necropolis had ejected so many countless immortal worlds, including all the top experts from the Ancient Road to the Gods, it ensured that the destiny in the Immortal Dao Age increased by millions upon millions of times. In fact, compared to the Immortal Dao Age, the combined destiny of the Primeval Age and the Future Age were unimpressive at best. And now that the Sage Monarch League had the upper hand in the fight against the Executors of the Ancient Road, his people were more enlivened than ever, which ensured that the flow of destiny entering him was constantly pushing his cultivation base and enlightenment to higher levels.

On top of that, Yang Qi was constantly unlocking more of the secrets of the God Legion Seal. There was no way that two combined pieces of the seal would only provide just a simple boost in strength.

“Innumerable Kalpas and Tribulations!”

The Mahātmā Jade and the sheepskin scroll appeared over his head, and as his quintessence energy flowed into the scroll, characters flowed out of it. Because of his advanced cultivation, his Unspoiled Body instantly broke through to the level of a thousand tribulations.

Meanwhile, his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was also advancing triumphantly.

RUMBLE!

Instantly, dramatic transformations began occurring within him. At the same time, Yang Qi unleashed a cascade of attacks onto Proud Heaven.

“Dominating Saber of the Hegemon!”

RUMBLE!

A hegemonic energy flowed out, making his fist like a mountain of the gods as it slammed into Proud Heaven’s head. When Proud Heaven saw Yang Qi growing stronger by the moment, he thrust his hands out and revealed the ultimate meaning of Ending. They clashed, and Yang Qi flew backward, seemingly unfazed. At the same time, Proud Heaven staggered backward.

‘Damnation!’ Proud Heaven thought. ‘I’ve taken in so much of the destiny of the dao of heaven. Two ages full! But not even that is enough to crush Yang Qi? And I still can't take the upper hand? How is that even possible? It must be because of the Great Necropolis. The Immortal Dao Age didn’t inherently have much destiny, definitely not compared to the Primeval and Future Ages. But Yang Qi clearly has access to destiny that surpasses that of the two ages I sacrificed.’

The only upside to the situation was that Proud Heaven now had the Great Necropolis in his own hands, and within it, both King Immortal-Slayer’s will and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

“Time to go for broke!” he said, unleashing his Ten Universes to their ultimate level. “Ten Universes; Heaven in Chaos; Gods Perish; Ghosts Befuddled!”

Quintessence energy within him ignited, and he was wreathed in intense flames.

Yang Qi backed up. ‘He’s burning his life force....’

Proud Heaven unleashed an attack that Yang Qi quickly dodged. Then, Proud Heaven spun and shot off in the opposite direction, clearly hoping to make his escape.

He was no longer confident that he would be able to defeat Yang Qi.

Yang Qi quickly sped after him. “Have you no sense of shame, Proud Heaven? You can't fight me so you just run? Do you really think you can run all the way to the god world?”

Proud Heaven laughed. “Follow me if you want, Yang Qi. You have the upper hand here in the mortal world, where I can't use my most powerful assets. If you’ve got what it takes, come find me in the god world to continue our fight. I’ll be waiting!”

With that, he vanished into the misty depths of the Ancient Road to the Gods.

Yang Qi hurried after him, keeping full vigilance. Before long, the chase led them to the end of the ancient road.

There, an enormous cavern could be seen, within which was a glittering, raging light that seemed capable of killing even mid Terrifying experts. Obviously, this passageway led to another world.

This was the end of the Ancient Road to the Gods, the part that led directly into the god world.

Seeing that Yang Qi couldn't catch up, Proud Heaven said, “You stay here!”

Just in front of the passageway, Proud Heaven stopped. The Great Necropolis in his hand was trembling violently and spitting out golden light everywhere.

Yang Qi wanted the third piece of the God Legion Seal, and knew that if it entered the passageway, he would never get it. And who knew what the god world would be like, or if he would ever be able to return once he went there? All enmities and grudges needed to be resolved in the mortal world before he could proceed.