Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The firmament-blood lightning-origin, thrumming with immense power, entered the immortal-slaying clone, causing his energy arts to erupt and his cultivation level to skyrocket. Cracking and creaking sounds could be heard inside of him as he reached the Grand Emperor level and his power index began to climb.

Five… six… eight… ten….

It didn’t stop until it reached twenty. In that very short time, the immortal-slaying clone’s cultivation base became as strong as twenty Grand Emperors, and his entire body was transformed on a fundamental level.

Meanwhile, the nearby seventy-one patriarchs were also affected, their cultivation bases rising to higher levels. Soon, all of them were on the third stair of the Deathless Heavenly Stairway, and their energy arts had become vastly more powerful. It was almost as if those seventy-one monarchs of ancient times were back.

The immortal-slaying clone’s fighting prowess was domineering to the extreme. Furthermore, he could tell that as he furthered his cultivation, the mysterious power streaming into him from the depths of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart would provoke even more transformations.

‘Just as I expected,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Now that the immortal-slaying clone has become this strong, the will of King Immortal-Slayer is stirring in anticipation of waking up. King Immortal-Slayer prepared for this long ago, leaving behind certain resources and aids to ensure that the process is a success. For the moment, he’s actually helping the immortal-slaying clone reach the ultimate level. I wonder if my clone will become an actual god before I do.’

Things were still going according to plan for Yang Qi. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for him to use that firmament-blood lightning-origin for himself. If he could, he would definitely rise to a much higher level.

Right now, his power index was at one hundred five. After he assimilated the god soul of God-Noble Goldensword, it would climb even higher, definitely surpassing the young chaplain of the Ancestral Wilds Basilica, or anyone else like him.

Within the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the grand spell formation operated endlessly, and Yang Qi sang the Eternal Heavenly Aria, blessing everything in the area.

After the breakthrough, the clone realized that his true self was about to subjugate a god. He waved his hand, causing rifts to open up in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, out of which poured blessings of magical laws that gave power to the Army of Holy Sages and Yang Qi’s new Grand Emperor subordinates.

With the combined blessings of the Eternal Heavenly Aria and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, Yang Qi’s army was more domineering than ever. If all of this wasn't enough to deal with God-Noble Goldensword’s god soul, then nothing would be.

Drawing on his new powers, the immortal-slaying clone reached out to take control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. The chart shuddered and twitched, and then, out in the darkness and gloom, a stream of golden light became visible.

It was none other than God-Noble Goldensword, who had been trapped in the chart this entire time. The chart was immense, and even a god who was placed inside could fly this way and that forever without running into anything. In fact, throughout the years, it had been used in exactly that fashion to trap countless gods. And God-Noble Goldensword was only a god soul, with no godhood. Although he was immensely strong, compared to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart he was like nothing.

Now Yang Qi was using the power of the chart, his army, and fifty Grand Emperors to trap the god soul in place.

“Seal of Radiance and Light! Suppress!” he said coldly.

The Grand Emperors and the billions upon billions of angels in the army, all of them blessed by the Eternal Heavenly Aria, clenched their hands into fists and thrust them out to create an immense sealing mark of radiance and light. It was something that could suppress any and all wretch-devils, and had been used in the past by the Sovereign Lord to issue commands to the legion of gods. Explosive cracking sounds rang out, and massive energy flows erupted as the sealing mark slammed into God-Noble Goldensword.

“You despicable insect!” God-Noble Goldensword howled. “You filthy human! How dare you set up a formation to try destroying me? I won’t let you do this! I'm going to destroy your entire army. Golden Sword Fills Heaven; Sumeru Sword-King! One Sword to Vanquish Myriad Laws!One Sword to Execute Myriad Spirits!”

His sword shot out, becoming a river that was millions upon millions of kilometers in length that swept about in all directions, surrounding the Army of Holy Sages. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of thousands of angels were completely wiped out of existence.

“Incredible,” Yang Qi breathed, shocked at the force God-Noble Goldensword was unleashing. Not daring to hesitate, he blurred into motion, becoming a streak of light that shot directly toward God-Noble Goldensword.

The Hand of the One God and the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art blazed with intense, holy light as they smashed through the sword energy and pierced deep into God-Noble Goldensword’s god soul.

Outside the formation, the fifty Grand Emperors and the billions of angels were all chanting a boundless god curse, a new element of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth that Yang Qi had unlocked with his most recent breakthrough. It was a curse that represented the holiness and perfection of the Sovereign Lord himself, and could wrest control of anything in existence. It was the Sovereign Lord’s Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse.

Anyone who was touched by this curse would lose all control of their own faculties and functions.

As they chanted, talismans emerged from their mouths and swirled forward to wrap and bind God-Noble Goldensword, preventing him from unleashing the most powerful aspects of his dao of the sword.

God-Noble Goldensword couldn’t have struck it more unlucky. Being trapped in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, he was vastly weaker than normal. And now Yang Qi had him trapped in a spell formation and bound with a curse. His energy arts were ninety percent weaker than normal, and he was clearly starting to lose the fight.

“Kingdom of Gold!” he growled, unleashing his sword kingdom, which lent more power and sharpness to his sword technique. Now, the stabs of his sword were capable of slicing apart Yang Qi’s fist attacks.

“Great Art of the Golden Slash!” A golden streak of light appeared as God-Noble Goldensword slashed apart everything coming his way.

‘This god soul’s sword technique can shake heaven and earth to the point where ghosts and gods weep,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Unfortunately, he's an arrow that's reached the end of its flight. I can use this opportunity to push King Life-Killer’s dao of the sword to the consummate level. When I combine the ultimate techniques of the ancient seventy-two monarchs, it creates something that can rival the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. They’re like a positive and a negative, which, when combined, will let me devastate the god world!’

Rumbling sounds echoed out as Yang Qi’s fingers became a sword. Glittering with bright light, he met the Great Art of the Golden Slash, and when the two swords collided, a massive shock wave rolled out.

“Golden Bell of Forsaken Destruction!”

God-Noble Goldensword’s sword energy became like an enormous bell that surrounded him. Then he chuckled coldly as he slashed his sword out, sending tiny streams of sword light flying out like spring rain or coiling dragons. In the blink of an eye, all of heaven and earth filled with dramatic transformations, making it seem like God-Noble Goldensword was in no way at a disadvantage in the fight.

As the two of them fought back and forth, Yang Qi's forces continued chanting the curse, devastating God-Noble Goldensword’s techniques and weakening him further and further.

The instant he stopped using his true energy to fight back against the binding fetters, he would instantly be sealed tight and incapable of moving.

This battle with a god soul was pushing Yang Qi’s energy arts to new heights.

Normally speaking, no amount of deep thought or enlightenment would have provided insight into sword techniques, but sometimes experience could be the best teacher. As long as he didn’t die in the process, facing a god soul with perfect techniques and moves was the best way to learn.

At the same time, Yang Qi’s Stupendous will convergence was already at its peak.

At a certain point during the fight, the photonic computers of the Cruiser of Civilization suddenly spoke up.

[Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Will convergence breakthrough imminent. Next level: Destabilizing.]

However, Yang Qi hardly paid attention to the voice, as he was completely immersed in the dao of the sword. It was almost as if he were at one with the sword. Every slash of his sword was like a combination of his soul, nascent divinity, enlightenment, flesh and blood. Every slash of his sword pierced into the future to search for a great dao, parting the mists of confusion and enabling his will to seek perfection.

RIP!

Suddenly, something within his sea of consciousness broke, and his will surged with strength.

[Breakthrough successful. Destabilizing level reached. Power increasing….]

Thanks to this consummate battle of the dao of the sword, Yang Qi had broken through to the Destabilizing level.

Normal. Stupendous. Destabilizing. Terrifying. Paramount. Unbounded. Annulled.

Those were the levels of will convergence, and Destabilizing was essentially the strongest beneath the legion of gods, providing immense and explosive fighting prowess. Water was soft and gentle, but if it was propelled with enough pressure and speed, it could slice through diamonds. And will could be used to propel power.