<b>Chapter 1331: Profound Sea Monarch</b>
While Li Qiye was chatting with Daoist Puresun, a loud commotion came about. A person descended from the sky and aroused the attention of the crowd.
This was a youth adorned with a dragon robe and an imperial crown. He carried great momentum just like an emperor on a tour of his kingdom.
Countless God-monarch rings rotated around his body. Each of them had a god in the center, so it looked as if he had thousands of gods protecting him in addition to millions of citizens in worship.
When his rings came together, a towering figure emerged. It gathered the faith of billions, allowing it to be enveloped by his blood energy. This boundless figure didn't look like a shadow at all. Instead, it was more like a true god. It stood behind him and quietly protected this youth.
This figure could instantly suppress all paragons and weaker God-Monarchs. The youth didn't need to do anything, just this figure alone could sweep through all of his enemies!
“Now this is a True Monarch!” The older paragons were slightly astonished. They understood the significance of the shadow behind him.
When a cultivator reached a certain level within the paragon realm, they could think about opening up their own territory. This was especially true for those who were capable of entering the path of the grand era. They would contemplate starting their own sects or establishing a branch within the existing one.
This was because at this particular level, they could accept the tributes of their citizens, allowing them to grow stronger with the blood energy of their vassals. This benefited both their cultivation and battle prowess. On the battlefield, there was a great difference between those who were receiving tributes and those who weren't.
As for paragons that reached the True Monarch level, not only were they worshipped by their citizens, they would have become deified, thus being nourished by a great amount of blood energy.
Someone shouted after seeing the youth: “Profound Sea God-Monarch!”
“The king of the Profound Sea Dynasty!” Even those who had never seen him before were shaken after hearing his title.
This dynasty was part of Gu Chun's four branches.
An older knowledgeable cultivator with great insight saw the shadow behind him and emotionally stated: “This monarch is quite unfathomable. Not only is he decisive and ambitious, he is also blessed with good fortune. He wants to expand his dynasty's territory.”
“Yes, I heard he could be considered an exceptional individual among the dynasty's wise sages who have helped expand the dynasty.” Another charming spirit from the Abyss Sea movingly added: “He treats his citizens quite well, which is why he possesses this powerful visual phenomenon.”
“With so much blood energy from his citizens empowering him, I don't think anyone is stronger than him at the True Monarch level.” Another paragon from the previous generation made this verdict.
Opening more territories was very beneficial to paragons of this level. Because of this, many great powers would have numerous branches erected by their own paragons. Of course, this alone wouldn't be enough. It was not difficult for a True Monarch to expand their territory since they would have ample power to seize lands by force.
Administration was required for these new territories. Only when one could let their own citizens prosper would they be rewarded during the ceremony for the divine investiture. Their citizens would offer even more vitality, relative to the population and level of prosperity.
There was an old saying in the mortal world: if one's belly wasn't full, they wouldn't be thinking about worshipping some random deities or devils. Only when your citizens are blessed by your rule would they grow stronger from a peaceful life. With that, their blood energy would invigorate the territory and the ruler. The stronger the citizens, the stronger the True Monarch after the inauguration process.
However, it wasn't easy to run multiple kingdoms and bless them with prosperity. Because of this, many God-Monarchs would abandon their administration and choose to cultivate instead. They would, in turn, use spirit medicines and pills to make up for the lack of energy from their citizens.
Even though this was an inferior method, it still gave them a chance to surpass the True Monarch level and perhaps even reach the Godking realm. Nevertheless, this had its disadvantages and shortcomings. With a sufficient amount of blood energy, these True Monarchs could become something even greater than an ordinary Godking. They could become entities praised as World Dominating Godkings, Nine Worlds Godkings, or even a mythical Emperor Assailant.
“The Profound Monarch might not have the ambition to become the Immortal Emperor, but he is aiming to be an Emperor Assailant.” An experienced paragon commented after seeing the great amount of vitality strengthening the shadow behind the monarch.
He was correct. Many talented prodigies could easily surpass the bottleneck of being a True Monarch. However, they couldn't govern their citizens well enough, so during their divine inauguration, they would fail to receive a great amount of blood energy. Later on, they could still become a Godking, but they would be limited to the Grand Godking or Heavenly Godking levels.
A cultivator who understood him couldn't help but state: “His edge is far beyond that compared to the other True Monarchs. Look, he has the right hand of god!”
After hearing this, many shifted their attention towards the monarch's right hand. It was different from the rest of his body. His hand was as white as jade and even more exquisite and beautiful than a woman's hand. It was as if it was carved from a perfect piece of jade; it gave off an unparalleled gentleness.
Such a flawless hand was beyond criticism. It was no wonder why people would call it the right hand of god.
Someone curiously asked: “What is the power of this right hand?”
The cultivator who knew about it shook his head: “I'm not quite sure. I heard those who have seen the power of this hand are all dead. Some believe that it is quite mighty, others state that it could change something from being rotten to magical. It might even contain the mysteries of the gods.”
Under the eyes of the crowd, the monarch boarded the Evil Devourer School's boat and went inside.
This garnered everyone's full attention because the feud between him and Li Qiye was no secret. They all knew that Li Qiye killed his favorite concubine.
He walked into the internal compartment in a domineering manner as if he was the sole ruler of the world. His eyes swept through the room and saw Daoist Puresun. Despite his imperious temperament, he still bowed and cupped his fists respectfully: “Senior Brother, long time no see.”
He might be a preeminent character to outsiders, but he was still the daoist's junior brother and showed no signs of arrogance in his presence.
“Congratulations, Junior Brother. Your divine ceremony was quite perfect, it has paved a straight path for you into the future. It is only a matter of time before you surpass me.” The daoist stared at the figure behind the monarch and couldn't help but voice his praise.
“I cannot compare with you, Senior Brother.” The monarch smilingly said. Despite his arrogant nature, this sentence was quite sincere.
He thought very highly of himself, but he understood his limits very well when standing before his senior brother. Others might not have seen the daoist's matchless talents, but after growing up with him, he knew of his brother's invincibility and power more than anyone!
The daoist only smiled in response.
At this time, the monarch's gaze fell upon Li Qiye. It turned quite cold like two divine blades, sharp enough to sever all creations.
He lowered his tone: “You are Li Qiye!”
Li Qiye smilingly replied: “That's right.”
The glint that flashed in his eyes gave off a commanding pressure. No one would question his power since he was among the top ranking members of the younger generation. He stated: “You killed my concubine!”
Li Qiye remained seated there leisurely: “If your concubine's name is Gongsun Meiyu, then yes, I killed your concubine.”
The cold aura of the monarch bloomed even more. He chillingly said: “Do you know the consequences of opposing me?”
“I don't.” Li Qiye was still all-smiles: “However, I know the result of those who antagonize me. A light sentence would be death, a heavy sentence would be sect destruction.”
The daoist only sat there with a smile while watching this confrontation between the two.