Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘More. I need more!’ Yang Qi slid around the enormous tree in the form of a primal-chaos elder-snake, and as he consumed the god dao seeds, power filled every inch of him. At the same time, the particles within him seemed to become more closely connected to hell. In fact, it was almost as if the particles might not end up as godmammoths, but rather as minor hells of their own.

The particles had a path of transformation.

The initial awakening involved unlocking the power of ancient megamammoths. After that they became dracomammoths, then protomammoths, and finally godmammoths. However, after the godmammoth transformation, there was another transformation in which they became embryonic hells.

In the end, Yang Qi would have the might of countless hells within him. And he could use that to connect to the essence of actual hells, thus surpassing the legion of gods and becoming the incarnation of the Sovereign Lord.

The particles within Yang Qi were already showing the initial stages of transforming into hells.

Henceforth, when he launched attacks against his enemies, it would be like countless hells crushing them, like actually bringing hells into the world of men.

To transform the particles into hells, it not only required the absorption of hellish essence, but also immense power in general. In fact, it required a level of power that surpassed anything Yang Qi had ever experienced in his path of cultivation.

Soon, he could devour the god dao seeds with practiced ease. At the same time, down below, the thirty-six patriarchs were fighting in such intense fashion that it drew almost all of the attention away from Yang Qi.

Besides, the god dao seeds actually wouldn’t be of much use to those thirty-six, considering that they were already Godmyths. And only a freak like Yang Qi could consume so many of them without his own dao heart exploding because of it.

RUMBLE!

As the thirty-six patriarchs unleashed increasingly devastating attacks, the Live Forever God Tree swayed back and forth and planet-leaves began to fall. As they did, the planets crumbled, causing the deaths of uncountable living beings.

“Tusita True Law Medallion!”

The thirty-six patriarchs summoned an enormous magical treasure that seemed to open some sort of space-time passageway, which subsequently belched forth a violet energy flow.

“The Live Forever God Tree is a cancer on the Tusita Heaven!” one of the patriarchs roared. “It's been taking the destiny of young disciples for years, building it up for the old fogies of the imperial dynasty to use! Did they really think reaching the Deathless Throne would be so easy? Young Master Leaf used boundless essence power to make the Tusita True Law Medallion! Hurry up and unleash its power!”

Violet energy shot forth, which was none other than the will of the Tusita Heaven’s essence. As it rushed through the tree, any primal-chaos beasts that it encountered exploded, releasing waves of primal-chaos paleo-energy.

‘The perfect opportunity!’ Yang Qi thought, shooting onward to devour even more god dao seeds. In fact, he took so many that he couldn't even digest them, but instead threw them into his fragment of the Cruiser of Civilization. Later, he could give them to his father and brothers to help them reach the Godmyth level. Right now, they were just too weak to be of any importance in the Dao Defense League.

Several hours passed, and Yang Qi had devoured several thousands of the seeds, until it reached the point that he got no feeling at all from taking them.

He was really getting filled with power.

Yet he knew that each one he ate gave him more power and caused his fateless dao fruit to grow tougher. At the same time, the designs on its surface were growing more complex, to the point where it seemed like the thing would be indestructible even to a god.

POP!

As for the thirty-six patriarchs, they continued using all sorts of unknown techniques to make the leaves and god dao seeds of the tree fall down.

The vortex of god dao seeds that was entering Yang Qi was causing many of his protomammoth particles to explode directly into hells. If a Buddha or Chaos God could see him right now, they would see him, not as a person, but as hellish projection, a power double that could destroy hells in a way that surpassed even the ancient Sovereign Lord. After all, hells could normally be crushed, but not wiped out of existence.

‘Excellent. With the power of more than ten thousand god dao seeds, I'm strong enough to kill a seventh division Measureless God with a single unarmed strike.’

In the past, if Yang Qi wanted to deal with Measureless Gods, such as Heaven Dancer, he had to trap them in the Cruiser of Civilization and use the full power of his God Legion Seal.

But now, things were different.

He didn’t need the God Legion Seal, the Cruiser of Civilization, King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, or King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans. He could devastate someone like Heaven Dancer all with his own might.

From that, it was possible to see how much power could come from devouring god dao seeds.

Yang Qi even got the feeling that if he kept consuming them, he might be able to reach the Godmyth level without shattering his dao heart. Therefore, he continued with his feast, growing more powerful by the moment.

However, despite everything he had collected so far, he hadn’t been able to form any of the true godhood that the tree supposedly contained. To do that would probably require more along the lines of ten billion god dao seeds.

If that true godhood fell into the hands of old-timers who were currently Demigods, they would almost immediately be able to become true gods. And if Young Master Leaf got it, Yang Qi’s days would be numbered.

‘I have to get that true godhood! If I do, I won’t have to wait for a sandpiper, clam, and fisherman situation to develop with Young Master Leaf and General Samman. I could stand up to them as an equal.’

Yang Qi continued to move about as quickly as lightning, consuming one god dao seed after another.

It was impossible to say exactly how tall the Live Forever God Tree was. It seemed to stretch up endlessly. However, Yang Qi was certain of one thing: the god dao seeds at the heights of the tree were larger and filled with purer destiny and godpower. And there was something that seemed to be blocking his path to those levels, like a spatial magical law of some sort.

“Cruiser of Civilization. Activate hyperdrive systems!”

In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi vanished into the Flatverse and began climbing higher and higher, devouring more of the god dao seeds as he went along.

Yang Qi was an enormous snake whose sole purpose was to devour, then devour some more, and after that, devour even more.

Eventually, it was much to his delight that he reached the point where he felt as if his fateless dao fruit really was full. At this point it felt like it was about to burst, which would make him a Godmyth.

‘I've consumed hundreds of thousands of god dao seeds, and stored up even more hundreds of thousands in the Cruiser of Civilization. Once I get back to the Dao Defense League, I wonder how powerful my people will become.’

Right now, he was so strong that even if he faced genius Measureless Gods with unique constitutions that were at the peak level of their cultivation base, he would still be able to stomp them in a fight.

That meant that if he faced a Young Master Leaf that was as strong as he was before going into seclusion, he could beat him.

His trip to the Tusita Heaven really was proving to be worthwhile, and once he returned, the people who knew him would surely be struck speechless.

Down below, he could hear the sounds of combat coming from the thirty-six patriarchs. But none of them had any idea that Yang Qi was up here becoming more and more powerful.

‘A golden version!’ He suddenly spotted a god dao seed amidst the leaves that was golden in color and resembled a seated buddha. It pulsed with immense destiny, and as soon as he devoured it, he felt swept up by the dao of heaven. It was almost as if, going forward, he would constantly run into god items that he could take by simply picking them up. As he proceeded, he realized that all of the god dao seeds here were golden.

After devouring over ten thousand of them, his fateless dao fruit felt so plump that it hurt.

He was now vastly stronger, but his dao heart was trembling as though a detonation were imminent.

‘Alright, it won’t be long now. Once my dao heart cracks, I’ll get even closer to the Godmyth level and probably start forming virtual godhood. Maybe I should kill a few of those thirty-six patriarchs. That would really take Young Master Leaf down a notch.’ Delighted, he continued climbing higher in the tree.

The resistance was getting stronger, but he was getting more powerful at the same time, allowing him to pierce directly through the primal-chaos.

At a certain point, his Lord's Eye glittered as he caught sight of a god dao seed hanging at the very upper limits of the Live Forever God Tree.