Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-321

Jambudvīpa Deluge had arrived, and the sight of it caused Nie Chaoguang’s pupils to dilate.

Back in the Spirit Origin Association in the Quake-Dawn Continent, he had seen top experts face Jambudvīpa Deluge during their tribulations.

It was a tribulation that could destroy sage motes, and in fact, Nie Chaoguang had even seen some of those top experts sink into it. It was a tribulation water that could dissolve the void and visit death by drowning up those who faced it.

The water would emerge from nowhere and fill up the domain of the person facing the tribulation. And a person could not simply abandon their domain any more than they could abandon their head. Not without dying. After all, the personal domain was an extension of a person’s mind and body.

And now, Jambudvīpa Deluge was filling Yang Qi’s personal domain, covering over the legion of gods, and turning everything pitch black.

“Everyone get back!” Ghost Emperor Yama warned. “If the Jambudvīpa Deluge breaks out into the open, then everything for hundreds of kilometers will be melted into nothing. Not even I could stop it. That water can melt sage motes! How did Yang Qi manage to piss off heaven this much? Is it because his magical laws are too strong? All he did was reach the sixth Legendary transformation! He should be facing tribulation lightning, but instead it's the Jambudvīpa Deluge that Great Sages usually face.”

Nie Chaoguang didn't hesitate to fly as far away as he could.

Meanwhile, Ghost Emperor Yama flew up into the air and looked down at Yang Qi’s personal domain, which now seemed like a mass of inky darkness. He couldn't see anything inside; the greyspace was being corroded, making it seem as fragile as an eggshell. From what he could tell, it would be only moments before the greyspace exploded, and Jambudvīpa Deluge water exploded out in all directions.

However, that was when Ghost Emperor Yama realized that Yang Qi was still there in the tribulation water. He hadn’t been melted, and in fact, was actually glowing with brilliant light. It was almost as if he were seeping himself in the water, absorbing its nutrients through his skin, and experiencing a baptism. It was like he was absorbing energy from heaven and all creation.

‘His flesh and blood already surpass that of a Great Sage. He’s so strong! Technically, I could beat him, but an ordinary Great Sage definitely couldn’t stand up to him.’ Ghost Emperor Yama could also see the red glow of the Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment in the tribulation water. It seemed deeply connected to Yang Qi, as if it had become such a part of him that it was like an out-of-body incarnation, a second nascent divinity.

The mere sight of it was actually terrifying.

Yang Qi had thrown caution to the wind in his attempt to improve his cultivation base. After all, time was extremely limited for him. Two months had already passed, and after another month went by, the hundred-day period would be up, and the Crown Prince would return. When he did, he would wield the might of a Great Sage, and therefore, Yang Qi’s only hope for victory was to finish his God Legion Paradise.

Yang Qi was facing death by drowning in the Jambudvīpa Deluge, and yet, he was not dead. In fact, the power of his Physique of the Sovereign Lord was now fully on display as he suddenly began to absorb the tribulation water, and use it to temper himself.

His true energy was hard and unyielding, invincible and domineering, and now it was being imbued with the Jambudvīpa Deluge, which was only serving to improve it.

Jambudvīpa.

In the ancient Godtongue, it was another word for ‘all living beings’. The ‘world of Jambudvīpa’ was the ‘world of mortals’. In the eyes of the legion of gods, even immortals counted as being among ‘all living beings’.

And thus, the Jambudvīpa Deluge was a flood that would drown all living beings. Once it began, it would rise to the halls of heaven, after which, no living beings would exist.

Yang Qi’s true energy came from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, making him completely hard and unyielding. His attacks could pierce anything and everything, and could kill the soul and fleshly body alike.

However, the Jambudvīpa Deluge contained the will of all living beings, and when it encountered his true energy, it imbued it with the ultimate core of life.

His true energy was like a sage, a monarch, an emperor, a sovereign….

All living beings existed within his true energy.

Waves of tribulation water lapped up against the greyspace with corrosive power, and yet, the Yore-Wilds’ Heart fragment repaired the greyspace without cease. Because of the process, the greyspace was strengthened, and soon, the tribulation water actually became part of it.

The legion of gods had created all life.

Without life, the glory of the legion of gods could not be upheld.

Because of the Jambudvīpa Deluge, Yang Qi now had what it took to support all life. In fact, he could bring forth life from his greyspace, whether that meant men or women, old or young, emperors or kings, generals or ministers. Mortal individuals of all sorts, and people from all planes, could now appear within his personal domain.

WHIZZZ!

A beam of holy light began to rise up.

The tribulation water began to sink, absorbed into Yang Qi himself; the ‘living beings’ of the Jambudvīpa had been converted into a host of gods.

“The legion of gods has been restored, the pure land has been completed; the God Legion Paradise, my preheaven personal domain….” Somehow, Yang Qi seemed taller than before, and as he was immersed in holy light, he truly looked like the Sovereign Lord.

The God Legion Paradise was finished.

An imposing aura weighed down on everything for hundreds of kilometers in every direction, filling everyone it touched with the impulse to drop to their knees in worship. In that moment, the golden imp in his forehead imparted a new fist technique to him.

It was called the Fist of the Halls of Heaven, and was another consummate martial discipline of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. He couldn’t use it in the sixth Legendary transformation; he would have to wait until the Great Sage level for that.

With this fist, he could somehow connect to the halls of heaven that the legion of gods inhabited. Power from the halls of heaven could be used to strike fear into the hearts of the horde of devils, and also, to eradicate worlds.

It could be considered invincible, and as such, a true godly-class energy art, something that vastly surpassed things like the Demi-Immortal Sage Magic from the Demi-Immortal Institute.

The Infernal Deity Spear. The God Legion Battle Robe. The Angel Wings. The Hellfire Crucible. The Hell Portal. The Devil-God Seal. The God Legion Paradise. All of them were manifestations of true energy.

And now, he had another true energy state, the Fist of the Halls of Heaven, a martial discipline that he could use when he finally pushed his cultivation to the Great Sage level.

Something else happened when he formed the God Legion Paradise; another two million particles within him woke up.

Five million.

He now had the strength of that many ancient megamammoths, which was simply terrifying to contemplate. When such power coursed through his veins and meridians, and then was unleashed into the open, it could shake heaven.

‘At long last, I have my God Legion Paradise…. I'm not sure exactly how strong I am, but I'm definitely strong enough to kill a Great Sage. Now that I'm a Personal-Domain Legendary, the next step will be the Ghost-God Transformation, in which I absorb the empyrean-baleful power of heaven and earth, and use it to refine my personal domain, and build up extraordinary ghost-god power.’

As Yang Qi looked up, he saw that his personal domain had absorbed all the clouds in the sky, leaving nothing behind but the shining moon.

He took a deep breath, he could sense the power of the bright moon entering him, creating a vortex that allowed a moon to rise in the God Legion Paradise.

At this point, Yang Qi turned to look at Ghost Emperor Yama. “I formed my God Legion Paradise, Ghost Emperor Yama. You lose. Hand over Great Sage Quake-Cloud’s sage motes.”

“Hmph!” Ghost Emperor Yama was not happy at all, but knew that he had to abide by the agreement. Taking the sage motes out, he tossed them over to Yang Qi.

They were filled with the power of a Great Sage, so he sent them into his God Legion Paradise to be refined for his own use. Now, he could use those sage motes to unleash even greater power with his attacks, which would make it even easier to defeat a Great Sage.

Yet again, his confidence in being able to handle the Crown Prince grew.

‘I'm waiting for you, Crown Prince, and I'm definitely going to kill you. Twenty days. That's all the time left. Hurry up. Death awaits!’

Looking back at Ghost Emperor Yama, he said, “So, back when that immortal was fighting me, you tried to take advantage of the situation to kill me, didn’t you?”

All of a sudden, Ghost Emperor Yama felt very flustered, but after a moment passed, he forced himself into a state of calm. Glaring at Yang Qi, he said, “That’s right. I said all along that you were my prey. If you had slipped up at all, I would have killed you, and taken everything away from you. What, did you really think I had decided to be your servant or something?”

“You’re going to be my servant sooner or later. And then you’ll do any little thing I say.” Yang Qi didn’t bother acting politely. It was obvious that Ghost Emperor Yama wouldn't be bothering him again. He had made a move twice, and suffered greatly, and as of this moment, it was even possible to see fear in his eyes. However, Yang Qi would not forget the disloyalty that existed in his core.

At this point, Yang Qi began to issue orders. “Gather everyone into Sage Monarch City, and lock the gates. We’ll practice cultivation day and night, and gather our power. When the fighting starts with the Crown Prince, the city needs to be ready to pierce through space at any moment. I wouldn’t put it past the Crown Prince to try something underhanded, and directly attack my family.”

Instantly, Sage Monarch City burst into activity.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi looked out into the void, aware that, win or lose, it would all end soon.

As the date for the showdown approached, all of the people of the Rich-Lush Continent, from the poor folks to the great sects to the aristocratic clans, were discussing the matter. It was the same in the Western Continent. The coming battle would be the focus of all eyes.

On one side was the leader of the Crown Prince Society, a preeminent and haughty individual, a supposed god from heaven descended into the mortal world, who had finally become a Great Sage.

On the other side was a representative of the common people. After stumbling across some good fortune, he advanced by leaps and bounds, and as a very young man, became a Legendary.

In the coming conflict, most people hoped that Yang Qi would win. After all, it was now common for people to tell the story of how, back when he was a Lifeseizer, he had defeated Legendaries. However, for a Legendary to defeat a Great Sage was another matter, and in fact, many believed it to be impossible.

1. Quick reminder that the ‘halls of heaven’ is the word that basically means THE Heaven in Christian belief. In order to distinguish it from the countless other usages of “heaven” in this story, I’m giving it the unique name ‘halls of heaven’ (which also conforms to the way the term is used in Buddhism).