A grand scheme was unfolding.
The two peaklords were both Terrifying experts who had risen to that level on their own merits, without using the psychic scaling systems. And the sectlord had been an apex-level figure even before the arrival of the Great Necropolis.
All three of them were very intrigued by the immortal-slaying clone’s vicious plan; if they pooled their power to turn the Wretch-God Apostle into a puppet, and succeeded, it would turn the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect into a more powerful force than it had ever been.
The clone entered the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, leaving behind a vortex for the three Terrifying experts to send their power into. When they caught sight of the god formation inside the chart, they were shocked. How could they have imagined that there would be so many boundless godhood stars sending godhood raining into the clone?
Meanwhile, the clone drew on the Engine of the One God and the imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems to stay in his peak state.
‘So strong!’ That was what all three of the experts from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect were thinking. Shaken, they sent their true energy pouring into the formation to keep it fully powered.
“Psychic scaling systems!” The clone poured godhood power into the systems to activate them, whereupon brilliant light flared, piercing into his sea of consciousness.
There, his nascent divinity felt like it was being bathed in intense coldness.
Streams of black smoke began rising up, along with strands of karma that came from the faith power the clone had absorbed from countless living beings, which were restrictions on his nascent divinity.
Now that he had the psychic scaling systems, the clone could easily take the karma that had been restricting his nascent divinity and seal it into a clump. Although he couldn’t dissolve it, he could both free his nascent divinity and also store that karma for use later in the fight against King Immortal-Slayer.
Or, it could possibly be a tool or weapon to use against the Wretch-God Apostle.
All of a sudden, the psychic scaling systems provided a report based on what was happening in the clone’s sea of consciousness.
[Beep-beep-beep. Psychic scale at zero point nine nine nine nine.]
As the clone well knew, “one” was the level to describe a Terrifying expert.
His cultivation base was now on the very cusp of reaching that level. However, the final breakthrough was going to be extremely difficult. Furthermore, he didn’t want to use the psychic scaling systems to do it. Once he succeeded, he would become incomparably powerful, able to push the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to such a high level that it would almost become something brand new.
When the clone had Terrifying fighting prowess, he would be even more intimidating, considering he had control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. At that point, he would be able to surpass Yang Qi in the slaughter he could unleash.
That said, Yang Qi would also be extraordinary in his own way.
The photonic computers also provided reports on the three experts from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect.
[Beep-beep-beep… Three experts detected with Terrifying psychic power. One is in level five, one in level eight, the other in level six. None of them have unleashed their full potential output.]
Using the god formation, the clone reached out to Yang Qi. “I’m here, Yang Qi. Are you ready?”
Yang Qi was in the middle of his guileful dealings with the Wretch-God Apostle when suddenly he heard the clone speaking to him. In his heart, he burst out laughing. ‘So the Wretch-God Apostle is going to be my puppet. He’s crafty and murderous, and is already thinking of a way to break our agreement. He’ll never guess that I’m going to beat him to the punch. With the sectlord, the two peaklords, and the psychic scaling systems, I’ll definitely be able to secure a victory!’
Looking at the Wretch-God Apostle, Yang Qi said, “Alright, I’m going to pass some of the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body to you. At the same time, you help me temper and strengthen my nascent divinity. If I can break through the restraints on my sea of consciousness and gain better control of the tribulation energy within me, the two of us will definitely be in a position to take on the Executors of the Ancient Road together.”
The Wretch-God Apostle cackled. “Of course. Don’t worry, someone like me would never deceive a child like you!”
Yang Qi slowly approached the Wretch-God Apostle. Up close, he could see that, underneath all the chains and manacles, the man was probably twice as large as an ordinary human.
‘My fleshly body is so powerful now that it’s actually hard to control, much less fly,’ Yang Qi thought. Using his current will to drive his body felt like being a tiny child trying to wield an enormous sledgehammer.
Thankfully, his immortal-slaying clone and the psychic scaling systems made all the difference. Now all that remained was to see what exactly the Wretch-God Apostle planned to do.
As Yang Qi neared, the Wretch-God Apostle suddenly burst out in maniacal laughter and thrust his hand out with splayed fingers, causing a burst of gravitational power to shoot toward Yang Qi. Unexpectedly, he was trying to break into Yang Qi’s sea of consciousness and seize his nascent divinity.
“You!”
Obviously, the Wretch-God Apostle had no intention of working with Yang Qi, and instead wanted to wipe out his mind, absorb his thoughts, devour his fleshly body, and hopefully get the secrets of the sheepskin scroll as a result.
Yang Qi immediately sent his mind into a zen samādhi trance. At the same time, the immortal-slaying clone used boundless godhood power to activate the psychic scaling systems and the imperial-heaven pre-beginning systems. Then he strengthened Yang Qi’s sea of consciousness, making it impossible for the Wretch-God Apostle to harm him.
“Damn you!” The Wretch-God Apostle pulled his hand back and prepared to attempt some other crafty move.
“What are you doing, Wretch-God Apostle!?” Yang Qi said. “I can’t believe you’re trying to harm me! Luckily, my nascent divinity and will can be protected by a secret magic I have. Did you really think a move like that would be enough to deal with me?”
“You’re really keeping a lot of secrets, boy,” the Wretch-God Apostle said with an insincere smile. “I was just testing your will, that’s all. I wanted to see if you could withstand some further stimulation. Now that I know how strong you are, I have to say, I’m impressed. Your will is actually as strong as the Terrifying level, you just can’t achieve the actual breakthrough. Well, with my secret technique, you’ll definitely be able to release your latent potential!”
Snorting coldly, Yang Qi said, “Fine. I’ll trust you just one more time. Okay, send your energy art into me!”
“Fine. Pay attention!” His plot having failed, the Wretch-God Apostle knew he needed to just play along for now. Without any hesitation, he sent his energy art surging into Yang Qi’s meridians. “Open your sea of consciousness and let me in. Understand?”
“Of course I understand,” Yang Qi replied coldly. “No tricks, though, alright? I’m prepared for anything.” Despite his tough words, his voice quavered in a way that seemed to say his words were forced and he wasn’t very confident at all.
‘This brat is quite a swindler,’ the Wretch-God Apostle thought. ‘But compared to me, he’s an amateur. Soon he’ll find out what it’s like to face the secret magic I’ve been cultivating in this prison for the past several hundred millions of years.’
Even still, he was hatching vicious plans.
As his true energy entered Yang Qi and flowed through his meridians, the Wretch-God Apostle finally realized just how incredibly tough Yang Qi’s body was. In fact, it was even difficult for his true energy to navigate to the sea of energy. And once there, all he saw was an immense vortex that began sucking him in.
‘I can’t even tell how deep his sea of energy is!? It seems as if it’s fused with some sort of boundless god item.’ The Wretch-God Apostle had originally hoped to probe at the secrets in Yang Qi’s sea of energy, but then the sea of energy shivered and a burst of true energy and will erupted from it.
As soon as it hit the wretch-god true energy, he suddenly realized that it contained some of the magical symbols that were the tribulations of the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body.
‘This thing is incredible! The brat really wasn’t lying!’ Overjoyed, he brought the true energy into himself, whereupon cracking and creaking sounds rang out as his substructure began to transform and get stronger.
Something like an explosion rang out, then, two hours later, another. Of course, those were tribulations.
About four hours later, he had passed two tribulations. That was when Yang Qi closed his sea of energy.
“What are you doing, boy!?” the Wretch-God Apostle blurted in anger. “Why did you stop? My will and psyche could easily sustain a full fifty of those tribulations.”
“Because we had a deal, Wretch-God Apostle,” Yang Qi said. “Have you forgotten that you’re supposed to help me with your energy arts?”
“Very crafty, boy.” With that, he sent his will into Yang Qi and headed toward his nascent divinity. “This is my secret magic, the Wretch-God Spirit-Consciousness Immortal-Slaughtering Grand Technique. Memorize it well!”
