Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Young Master Leaf was keeping far too many secrets, thus Yang Qi had no confidence in being able to beat him in a fight right now. And at the moment, it didn’t seem like it would be possible to take his legacy medallions. However, the one advantage Yang Qi had was that, thanks to the photonic computers, he could secretly observe him at any time.

Also, he could always sense his general location thanks to the legacy medallions. But because of the God Legion Seal, Young Master Leaf couldn't sense him.

As it was said, if you know yourself and know your enemy, you’ll always be victorious. So Yang Qi would use every scheme and trick in his book to get information on Young Master Leaf. Of course, the most important task at hand would be to improve his cultivation and get stronger. [1]

Right now, both he and his clone were eighth stage Antiquity-Demolishers. In other words, they were immortal emperors. And soon enough, they would reach ninth stage Dao-Demolishing, which was the highest point in the Demolishing level.

The difference between the eighth and ninth stage was immense, more than the normal difference between two distinct levels. After all, one formed a dao heart in the ninth stage—sometimes called a dao fruit—which led to another subdivision of nine levels. As dao lineaments appeared on the dao heart, one progressed further toward the peak. Of course, the peak was nine lineaments, after which one could break through to the Godmyth level.

As of yet, Yang Qi hadn’t formed a dao heart.

Doing so was a major accomplishment that was essentially equivalent to creating a power double, and would lead to a tenfold increase in power, or perhaps even a hundredfold. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to make a dao heart, and it required a combination of immense power, magical laws, and will.

Thankfully, Yang Qi had a huge collection of resources, including the god crystals given him by the god Brahma. He also had a deep understanding of the profundities of power itself. And as his photonic computers were further unlocked, he grew more deeply aware of how genes, vital energy, science, and technology all worked together, which gave him further cultivation benefits. Because of that, breaking through to the Dao-Demolishing level shouldn’t be a major issue for him. And so he found a place in the depths of the spatial tempests of the universe, where he sealed himself in seclusion.

He would need to be very careful during this session of cultivation, but at the same time he couldn’t wait to see what transformations would occur with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth when he achieved his breakthrough. And how far would he get, considering the reserves he had built up?

In terms of the tribulation to come, he wasn’t worried about it. The fury of the dao of heaven could be defeated by a simple fist strike, and usually turned out to be a great influx of nutrients.

As he began his session of cultivation, the various abilities of the Cruiser of Civilization started upgrading and the ship’s systems reached new levels. It was a good thing that Yang Qi had refrained from these upgrades back when he reached the requisite power levels back in the Brahman Immortal World. As it turned out, the fluctuations being released were significant.

Power tempests raged around the spacecraft and the photonic computers flickered as they produced intelligent, illusory projections. This was a high-level function of the photonic computers, actual living beings produced from raw data. Because of their structure, they were capable of incredible speeds.

[Life support systems fully operational.]

[Genetic systems fully operational.]

[Weapons and power systems fully operational.]

[Mecha and warship systems fully operational.]

[Defense and shield systems fully operational.]

[Hyperdrive systems fully operational.]

[Replicator systems fully operational.]

[Diagnostic systems fully operational.]

Yang Qi couldn’t have been more delighted to hear the reports coming in from the various photonic computers. And this was before he had even absorbed the god crystals. Once that happened, there was no saying how much further the Cruiser of Civilization would advance.

Ignoring the weapons and power systems for the moment, he focused his attention on the genetic systems.

“Scan me and analyze my genetics!”

Yang Qi was now tapping into the most advanced science and technology from the ancient era, using it to analyze himself, and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, in the hopes of a better understanding of himself.

A beam of light swept over him from head to toe, and the photonic computers began to report. [Perfect genes that surpass the magical laws of gods…. Currently in prototype state. Power double not yet created…. Power core activated…. Perfect core…. Dao heart… insufficient… recovering… replenishing….]

Even as the words echoed out, the photonic computers projected images of Yang Qi that had been taken from six different hyperdimensional angles. Everything about him was visible, including his vital energy fluctuations and gene combinations, among other things.

‘So that’s how it is. So that’s how it is! My Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth isn’t complete! I have a perfect foundation of magical laws, but I'm incomplete. In fact, I'm only at one third of what I could be.’

Thanks to this analysis, many previous areas of confusion in cultivation were cleared up. Many things were made clear, as if he had suddenly been given access to a mirror that reflected himself perfectly.

He even had answers to questions he hadn’t realized existed.

Instantly, Yang Qi felt as if he understood everything more clearly. He realized that in terms of improving his divine will, psychic abilities, strength, energy, will, mind, vitality, and blood… they were all internal factors.

Yang Qi burst out laughing. ‘No amount of power from the Cruiser of Civilization is going to help me. Thanks to that analysis, I now understand myself in a way that ten thousand years of rumination would never have provided. It was just like the ancient saying seek the dao at dawn, die fulfilled in the evening.’ [2]

What Yang Qi lacked was not power, but enlightenment. Immortal pills, miraculous medicines, the corpses of god-devils… none of those things would be particularly helpful to him. He needed to understand himself! Not even power from a god would help. Once he fully understood himself, though, nothing could stop him.

Thanks to this analysis, he now realized that he only had one third of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and that the other aspects were in the other two parts of the God Legion Seal.

Only by completing his God Legion Seal and acquiring the full legacy of the most paramount of Lords could he truly advance by leaps and bounds. At that point, he would surpass the magical laws of the gods and usher in a new civilization.

“Dao heart, form!”

Now was the time to start forming his dao heart.

Actually, thanks to his sudden burst of enlightenment from moments ago, he had already broken through to Dao-Demolishing. He had already converged his quintessence-blood and vital energy into a clump, which was a brewing dao fruit.

“Fateless dao fruit!”

His divine will flickered like lightning and a burst of vital energy surged out above his head, where it took the shape of something that looked like both a fruit and a heart, yet was neither. It pulsed with an aura of fatelessness, and it seemed like, if it burst into the open, it would twist and distort great daos and magical laws, transforming the fates of all living things in the world.

RUMBLE!

Universal fluctuations rolled out, creating tribulations that could destroy hundreds upon hundreds of immortal worlds. The dao of heaven was furious, and it immediately created a tribulation cloud that would cause the hearts of even Shattered Gods to grow cold.

However, as soon as the fateless dao fruit appeared above Yang Qi’s head, a soft pulsing music echoed out and provoked instant transformations among the tribulation clouds.

As soon as the music touched one of the tribulation clouds, it became an auspicious cloud filled with god-spirits and power-warriors, as numerous as ants, all of them prostrating in worship, surrounded by the beating of drums and other immortal music.

It was as if the tribulation clouds were infected by some sort of plague, as one after another was transformed into auspicious clouds. [3]

It was a scene the likes of which was unprecedented in all ways.

Throughout all of history, there had never been a situation in which tribulation clouds were transformed into auspicious clouds. And that was the result of the mere forming of Yang Qi’s fateless dao fruit. It could change the direst calamity into good luck. That was what resulted from controlling the power of fate. It could subvert the power of all karma, spread good tidings to all living things, and avoid all catastrophe.

As the auspicious clouds gathered above, beautiful music, sagelight, and holy hymns echoed out above him as though the Sovereign Lord of the many heavens was blessing all creation.

“It worked!”

The auspicious clouds flowed into him, entering his dao heart, becoming a part of it, and filling him with a sensation of power.

“Aaaiiiieee!” The scream of a woman suddenly echoed out as Goddess Treasure from the Glorious Treasure Heaven appeared in his grasp.

“There’s no need for such ridiculous screaming,” he said. “I'm not going to do anything to you, as long as you follow my instructions.”

“Okay!” Goddess Treasure blurted. “Just let me go, and I’ll do anything you want. I'm a Fraudulent One, I can fool just about anyone for you!”

“Is that so? Considering you Fraudulent Ones are expert scammers, how could I possibly trust you?” It really was impossible to tell how many crafty plots and machinations existed inside of her. Therefore, he reached out, clamped his hand down on the top of her head, and drew on the powers of his fateless dao fruit. Instantly, distorted images began to rise up, howling and screaming defiantly.

Yang Qi devoured them, and soon his dao heart gained the sensation of being full of crafty plots and machinations.

Goddess Treasure writhed for a bit, then turned limp, seemingly unable to lift a finger. Terror filled her eyes as she realized that although she still had all of her magic and she was still an Incarnated God, her ability to scheme and plot was gone. And her head felt like it was splitting apart.

“You… you took my Fraudulent constitution! But how? I was born a Fraudulent One! My entire life consisted of scamming people!”

“Fraudulent Ones are born because they have preheaven vital energy from primal-chaos itself, filled with crafty plots and machinations. I just extracted that preheaven vital energy, returning your constitution to that of a normal person. It’s something I only just learned how to do!”

1. If you know yourself and know your enemy, you’ll always be victorious is a colloquial twist on a passage from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The original passage is basically the same, but says that you will “never be defeated” as opposed to “always be victorious.” Literally, both versions are based on the characters for “a hundred battles”. So the first says “in a hundred battles, you will win a hundred” and the latter says, “in a hundred battles, none will end in defeat”.

2. Quick note that this saying about “seeking the dao at dawn” is a real-life concept or saying from Daoism. Er Gen used it a few times in ISSTH, or at least, variations of it. Some of you might remember that tear-jerking scene with Ke Yunhai in chapter 597, when he essentially references the saying to justify death.

3. Since it's been a few chapters since the term “auspicious cloud” came up, here is a quick reminder of what they look like.