Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-853

Chuckling coldly, Yang Qi said, “Come on, let’s get going. There are a lot of people in that kingdom of gold. Seems quite a few of them want to get the legacy of this God-Noble Goldensword. Incidentally, how many people do you think have come into the Great Necropolis from the Ancient Road to the Gods?”

“The Ancient Road to the Gods stretches on, seemingly without end,” Holy Daughter Joyflower said. “There are as many factions as the eternal sands, all of them indescribably powerful. In terms of overall scale, the road is vastly larger than all of the immortal worlds. Regardless of which age a person comes from, compared to the Ancient Road to the Gods they're all frogs in a well. It’s only when you step onto the Ancient Road to the Gods that you become a true expert.”

‘If the Ancient Road to the Gods is like that, then what’s the god world like?’ Yang Qi thought. He sighed. “So if the Great Necropolis drifted along the road from the god world, and the road is as you described, then there are likely countless experts in here. If they escape out into the immortal dao civilization, it's going to be a big problem for my Dao Defense League.”

“Considering how strong you are right now, you should be able to keep your people safe,” she replied. “But if you keep getting stronger, you’re definitely going to be a domineering force. After all, now that you’ve mastered the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art, your power index must be over a hundred. That makes you one of the top figures on the Ancient Road to the Gods.”

When they first met, Holy Daughter Joyflower’s power index had only been at the level of forty, which was enough for her to survive for many years on the Ancient Road to the Gods. With Yang Qi’s level currently being at over a hundred, and his fighting prowess even stronger than that, he was definitely not in a poor position.

Furthermore, his sword energy and dao of the sword were growing stronger and stronger, and as he fought his way through the golden clouds, leaving a trail of blood behind him, he eventually reached an enormous stone arena.

It was roughly the size of the old Rich-Lush Continent from the mortal world, but instead of being constructed of what appeared to be pure gold, it was apparently made of limestone. There were numerous altars in it, each of which featured a golden sword stabbed into its depths, shining with golden light.

In the middle of all the altars was an even larger altar, atop which sat an old man in a golden robe, who also shone with golden light and pulsed with something like godhood.

The power assessment systems immediately barked a warning.

[Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. The soul of a god has been detected. It is complete, but lacks godhood. Power index over three hundred!]

“What? He has a power index of over three hundred!?” Yang Qi took a few steps back, shock visible on his face. If this golden-robed god soul had a power of index of three hundred, it meant it was three times as strong as him and could likely kill him with a single casual blow. Even worse, the dao of the sword focused on speed and ruthlessness, so even trying to rely on escaping into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart seemed dangerous. This old man could likely decapitate any enemy he faced before they even knew what was happening.

“It’s fine,” Holy Daughter Joyflower said. “You just have to pass the trial, enter that stone arena, and accept the legacy. I just wonder how exactly to do it. Regardless, make sure to watch out for people from the Star River Sword Sect.”

Almost as soon as she was done talking, a host of golden streams of light flew toward them from a nearby location, all of them vastly stronger than the Grand Emperors from outside. Each of them resolved into cultivators wearing different outfits, indicating that they were from different powerful organizations on the Ancient Road to the Gods.

[Numerous hostiles detected. Power index thirty. Fifty. Seventy. Sixty.]

The Cruiser of Civilization identified each of the enemies it scanned, and all of them had power indexes in the dozens. Not a single one of them was as weak as Eldest Brother Secundus, the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court, or Patriarch Hell-Crusher.

Yang Qi really felt like he was a frog in a well.

As the Cruiser of Civilization continued scanning the newcomers, it suddenly locked onto one of them in particular.

[Caution. Caution. Expert detected. A Chaos God with a power index of one hundred and one.]

Yang Qi looked over and saw what appeared to be a young man of no more than fifteen or sixteen years old. He still seemed to have baby fat, and he had a bracelet on his wrist that was made of interlocking swords. He was apparently weaker than Yang Qi, being only a ninth division Chaos God.

Of course, out in the Dao Defense League, a person like that wouldn’t even be an elder king, much less a god-general or a dharmaraja.

Apparently, the young man sensed Yang Qi looking at him and looked back. When their gazes locked, Yang Qi didn’t feel even a scrap of emotion. It was as if the young man were completely focused on the dao of the sword, and lived for the sword alone.

“That’s the junior sectlord from the Star River Sword Sect,” Holy Daughter Joyflower explained. “He was actually born on the Ancient Road to the Gods. Rumor has it his mother dreamed of a universe of swords, which led to him being born. He’s very formidable, and no one can match him in terms of the sword. He’s definitely going to be dead set on inheriting the sword dao legacy of God-Noble Goldensword. Those people with him are others from the Star River Sword Sect, sent along more as moral support than to help protect him.”

‘Another expert born out of a dream?’ Yang Qi thought, shocked. ‘Yet he doesn’t seem to have one of the three thousand special constitutions. He’s obviously very strong, though.’

With that, he retracted his gaze, not wanting to cause any problems at this early stage.

In addition to the people from the Star River Sword Sect, there were other organizations present who Holy Daughter Joyflower went on to introduce. “See those people in the multi-colored robes? They’re from the Cipher-Devil Sword Sect, and are very formidable with their Cipher-Devil Sword Technique. They’re considered a top force on the Ancient Road to the Gods. Other than them, I can see people from the Gåma Basilica, Fallen Heroes School, Peach Void Mountain, Cloudsea Hall, and Blacktree Cavern.”

All of the experts who were flying toward the stone altars were Grand Emperors from the Ancient Road to the Gods, and Holy Daughter Joyflower seemed to know who all of them were. That was the knowledge that came from spending hundreds of millions of years on the road.

In the mortal world, countless civilizations would come and go in that length of time.

“What organization are you from, Holy Daughter Joyflower?” Yang Qi asked. “I doubt you could single-handedly hold your own against numerous experts from the Ancestral Wilds Basilica.”

“I work for one of the top organizations, the Joyflower Palace. Unfortunately, I offended one of the elders there and was forced to take a dangerous mission. Until I finish that mission, I'm not welcome back. The other members of the Joyflower Palace are in the Great Necropolis as well, although the place is so big that I haven’t run into any of them recently.”

“The Joyflower Palace.” In all of the ancient records Yang Qi had read, he had never heard of the Joyflower Palace, which led him to believe that it hadn’t existed in the Primeval Age. That said, the world of the Ancient Road to the Gods was immense, and who knew what kind of organizations had risen up over the course of the past hundreds of millions of years.

‘If I could subjugate all of these experts and send them to the Dao Defense League, it would definitely be the most domineering organization in existence,’ Yang Qi thought. They would definitely be his top secret weapon if he could do that. At that point, who other than he would be able to control the Immortal Dao Age? Earlier, he never would have been able to do it, but considering his recent breakthroughs, defeating experts like this was definitely within the realm of possibility. On the other hand, dealing with the organizations they came from would be a different story. And if he caused the wrong kind of trouble, it might be impossible to keep the Dao Defense League safe.

Although it was developing rapidly, compared to the Ancient Road to the Gods it was still nothing. And unfortunately, he wasn’t yet strong enough to take the entire Dao Defense League into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Meanwhile, some of the people had noticed Holy Daughter Joyflower; from her clothing, they could tell who she was, and it caused fear to flicker in their eyes. Apparently, the Joyflower Palace had a reputation for being quite fierce.

After everyone entered the area with the altars, golden light suddenly sprang up from the borders. At the same time, the old man in the middle suddenly rose to his feet, thrumming with an immense aura. “I am the soul of the perished God-Noble Goldensword. I gained enlightenment of countless abstrusities of the dao of the sword, and I seek a successor. Perhaps one of you here today is connected to me by destiny, and will get my legacy. All you have to do is gain understanding of my sword techniques, and you will gain my power. Unfortunately, I have locked this area down. I will either find my successor among you, or you will all die!”

This was God-Noble Goldensword, a fallen god from the ancient era. Although he had no godhood left, his god soul was still unimaginably powerful.