Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-960

The more dangerous the situation, the more calm and focused Yang Qi was. Without hesitation, he summoned his God Legion Paradise to keep the fog at bay.

Unfortunately, when he did that, he began sinking down into the blood river. In the blink of an eye, he was down to his ankles. In response, he focused his will and reached out more fully to the magical laws around him, which caused him to rise back up.

There could hardly be any more effective method for tempering the will, as if he was weak, he would immediately die.

He had no idea what entities might lurk in the depths of this river, but he was sure that they were horrifying. If he ended up sinking into the river, no one would be able to save him. And because of the immense pressure of the river, he wouldn’t be able to open a passage to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. After all, the pressure in the depths of the river would vastly surpass the cave temple of the Vajra Māyādevī.

That said, he wasn’t even thinking of trying to rely on the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Throwing his hands out, he drew on his psychic power and reached deep into his sea of consciousness, where his nascent divinity and will existed. His nascent divinity was currently pulsing, not because of martial disciplines, but in imitation of the magical laws. He was very close to breaking through his limitations. Thanks to the danger he was in, his nascent divinity and will were transforming in unheard-of ways.

At the moment, the temple and godhood weren’t even important. Right now, he had to remain absolutely focused on not sinking down into the blood river.

Suddenly, Yang Qi felt profoundly weak, like an oil lamp on the verge of flickering out. He cleared his mind, emptying himself of everything and relaxing.

A moment later, his psychic power returned to normal and he proceeded forward again.

Because of the blood-colored fog, anyone else in Yang Qi’s position would easily get lost. However, deep in his heart, Yang Qi knew where the opposite bank was.

The fog was so thick it was almost liquid, and there was a bloody wind blowing, causing the surface of his God Legion Paradise to be splattered with blood. Eventually, the blood began flowing down, turning into wriggling worms that tried to eat their way inside to devour Yang Qi.

“Cleansing Flame,” he said, and fire shot out from him, burning the blood into nothing but ash.

Step by step, he continued onward.

BOOM!

At a certain point, a whirlpool suddenly sprang up directly in front of him, causing waves to roll out on the blood river.

Yang Qi’s heart pounded as he moved up and down along with the waves. He was riding the tide, and it wasn’t anything to do with energy arts, but rather his mental state. And as the waves grew wilder, he had to work harder to keep that state stable.

Suddenly, a wave rolled toward him that was dozens of meters tall, and pulsing with the might of blood-devils. However, Yang Qi simply continued on, going up and down with it like a leaf drifting on the wind.

After several hours of extreme danger, the waves ceased. Yang Qi now stood in the middle of the blood river, surrounded by incredibly thick fog. Despite being unable to see the temple up ahead, he could sense it.

He almost felt like collapsing from the intensity of this session of cultivation, but he knew he had to keep focused, forget about the God Legion Seal and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, and focus completely on himself.

Although the rolling waves had ceased, something else had appeared: a swirling vortex, within which was a blood-colored devil-god of some sort. He wore a blood-colored mask and a matching suit of armor. He had a long spear in his hand, and was mounted on a blood-colored steed. And it was without hesitation that he charged toward Yang Qi.

“What? Is this a product of the baleful energy here?” When it came to the waves and fog, Yang Qi wasn’t afraid at all. But here was a blood-devil knight that was directly attacking him. Considering the threat posed by sinking into the river, it seemed almost impossible to get involved in a fight with something like this.

However, he knew that dealing with difficult situations was exactly what would benefit him.

As the blood-devil knight approached, he clenched his hand into a fist and struck out, completely destroying it. However, he sank down into the blood sea almost to his knees in the process.

He almost felt like he had lost his legs, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t pull himself back out.

However, after a long moment, he succeeded.

Unfortunately, even more blood-devil knights were now appearing off in the distance, all of them charging toward him with full force. Having no other choice, Yang Qi began to run. The blood-devil knights were fast, but so was Yang Qi. And he had gained significant enlightenment during the ordeal of riding the blood waves. Unfortunately, he still had not grasped enough understanding of the magical laws of this place to achieve flight.

He was almost like a seabird, flitting across the water at top speed. All he had to do was get to the opposite shore.

Unfortunately, more and more blood-devil knights appeared, no matter how many he dodged.

Swish. Swoosh.

The nearby blood-devil knights threw their spears, which were themselves formed from blood, and pierced toward him with incredible force.

He instantly summoned the God Legion Paradise, and marvelously, it actually destroyed the blood spears and then converted them into backlash attacks that destroyed every blood-devil knight they encountered. Laughing heartily, Yang Qi sped up.

As he blasted through the blood-devil knights, he eventually reached a point where the fog began to thin enough that he caught sight of the temple up ahead. When he did, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Yet that was when an intense rumbling sound erupted from the depths of the river, and Yang Qi suddenly experienced a sensation of deadly crisis. The knights all sank down into the blood, and taking their place was a huge blood hand. It rose three hundred meters above him, and its five fingers were all dozens of meters from end to end. And there was a black hole in the palm that threatened to devour Yang Qi.

‘Not good,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Something's coming up from the depths of the river.’ Howling, he pushed forward with as much speed as he could muster, heading straight toward the opposite shore. However, the hand moved with even greater speed and was soon on the verge of grabbing him.

At the last second, Yang Qi leaped forward.

POP!

The hand smashed down onto the river, causing a huge splash. Then it snaked forward again, this time angling to cut off Yang Qi’s path forward.

Yang Qi lunged in a different direction, and this time he barely managed to slip through the cracks between the fingers.

Seemingly enraged, the hand continued relentlessly toward Yang Qi, causing a wall-like wave to rise up in front of him.

Yang Qi waved his hand, sending out a sword of energy that sliced a hole open in the wall.

Somersaulting through the hole, he leaped forward again and was on the shore.

Exhaustion washed through him as he turned to face the hand of blood, which, surprisingly, was actually trying to pursue him.

Snorting coldly, he said, “You think I'm afraid of you now that I'm on the shore?” With his feet on solid ground, he quickly drew on his true energy to unleash a stream of King Life-Killer’s sword technique, which could kill life and slaughter blood.

Crack!

The sword energy lashed into the hand, cutting off one of the fingers, which dropped down to the ground and splashed into a pool of blood that then drained back into the river.

The hand faded away.

As it did, a wild and arrogant will communicated with him. “Just wait until you try to get back. I’ll be waiting for you....”

Turning, Yang Qi looked at the temple, which was actually a huge island in the middle of the river.

‘That devil will try to kill me when I head back. I definitely can't afford to underestimate it. However, all of this training is great for me. Perhaps by the time I head back, my enlightenment will reach the point where I can kill that thing.’

Feeling weary to his bones, he sat down cross-legged and meditated for a bit. Eventually, he was filling up with energy again, his nascent divinity and sea of consciousness shimmering with bright light. He rose to his feet, filled with so much confidence that he felt like he could do anything. Crossing the river had improved his cultivation base significantly and pushed his psychic scale to an even more complete level.

‘I wonder how much godhood is in this temple. Should I take it all for myself, or should I save some for the sect?’