Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Doom, the Shepherd, Proud World, and Yang Qi were in the depths of the Great Necropolis, where the vital energy was like stone, making it difficult for even mid Terrifying experts to move about. And yet someone was trying to assassinate Yang Qi? It was a completely astonishing development.

Whoever this person was, they were trying to catch Yang Qi off guard and kill him with a single blow. It might have been a good plan for someone else in the mid Terrifying level.

But it wasn’t that easy to get the drop on Yang Qi.

Before Doom could shout a warning, Yang Qi spun in place and jabbed two fingers out, which locked on to a viper-like stream of sword energy. Upon being grabbed, the sword energy twisted and writhed for a moment before exploding into a powder that enveloped Yang Qi.

However, he simply sent a vibration pulsing through himself, dispelling the sword energy.

Then he curled his fingers, pulling the sword energy back into his palm, where it formed a resplendent sphere of sword light that he sent shooting back into the surrounding mist.

A moment later, a muffled grunt could be heard; apparently, Yang Qi had hit the target and inflicted an injury of some sort.

WHOOSH!

He immediately flew in the direction of the sound, becoming a streak of golden light that shot through the stone-like primal-chaos, shattering everything in his path.

“Let’s go!” Doom said, following Yang Qi. The others did the same. Moments later, they reached something like a cave within the primal-chaos, within which they sensed the warm aura of a human.

There was also blood splattered about, although the cave was completely empty.

Yang Qi was the first to arrive. Reaching out, he wiped some of the blood off the ground, then burned the blood with true energy, causing it to turn into white steam that rose up into the air, where it took the shape of a human, writhing in agony.

“Did you really think it would be so easy to plot against me?” he said. “Considering you left so much blood behind, I guess I’ll just curse you! Myriad Hells!”

He thrust his hand out, and a host of hells appeared, as many as there were stars in the sky. They began swirling, forming a vortex beneath the human figure, who struggled in vain as it was dragged downward.

Within the vortex were countless ghost claws and distorted human faces, as well as the enraged screams of millions upon millions of fiend-devils.

Shaken, Doom thought, ‘That’s… that’s the most wicked, brutal, vicious, and ruthless curse there could be. It seems like it’s from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, except transformed. Could it be a combination of the Unspoiled Body and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth? This assassin is in for some pain.’

“Aaaiiiieee!” the human shape screamed. “How ruthless of you, Yang Qi. I didn’t hurt you! And you killed so many people from our Royal Palace of Assassins. I was just trying to get revenge. How could I have guessed you would be so strong, you dirty little swine? This curse can’t do anything to me! Boundless Self-Immolation. Empty Assassination!”

RIP!

The figure exploded and the curse power faded away.

Yang Qi chuckled. “So it was the King of Assassins, leader of the Royal Palace of Assassins, and a mid Terrifying expert. As it turns out, he’s not dead, but has instead been hiding here in the depths of the Great Necropolis. Sadly for him, he’s not a match for me. Thanks to my curse, a third of his vital energy has been destroyed. Considering how weak he is now, it would be an easy matter to track him down and kill him.”

“It's not worth it,” Doom said. “The King of Assassins is too stealthy. Tracking him would be difficult, even more so within the stone-like vital energy of the Great Necropolis. Don’t let your emotions affect your decisions, Yang Qi. If you really want to kill him, wait until we find the essence of the Great Necropolis. You’ll be much stronger then, and perhaps I can join you as an Inheritor. At that point, killing the King of Assassins would be as easy as turning over your hand.”

“But there’s a bigger issue here,” Proud World said. “It’s not as if our group is easy to track, especially here in the depths of the Great Necropolis. So how was this guy following us? And why did he attack us? Furthermore, how can he move around so easily here? Could it be that he's also an Inheritor?”

“I agree that it’s very suspicious,” Yang Qi said. “In terms of strength, the King of Assassins doesn’t measure up to me. But given how easily he moves around, I'd say it would make perfect sense that he’s an Inheritor. And it's also likely he’s working with someone else. Someone very powerful.”

“Someone very powerful?” Doom said. “There aren’t very many people from the ancient road who are as powerful as the King of Assassins. In fact, I'd say there’s only one person….”

“Proud Heaven!” they all said at the same time, and strange expressions appeared on all of their faces as they wondered if their group of four was somehow being manipulated by Proud Heaven.

This shocking level of power was nothing to look down upon.

“Don’t read too much into the situation,” Doom said. “This is probably just a coincidence. There’s no way Proud Heaven is that intelligent! If he was, he would’ve already killed both Yang Qi and me. Why would he go to the trouble of sending the King of Assassins to harass us? No, it’s got to be a coincidence.”

“Agreed,” Yang Qi said. “There’s no need to be looking over our shoulders everywhere we go. Let’s focus on finding the source of the Great Necropolis godpower seeds.” Clearing his thoughts, he led the group onward.

Whooosh!

The four of them pierced through the vital energy like lightning as Yang Qi and Doom finally showed what they were truly capable of.

After they were gone, a handful of tiny paper talismans appeared a short distance away within the stone-like vital energy. They swirled out and created another cave, a few meters in diameter. Within the cave sat an old man in black garments, who was currently gasping for breath. Pulling out a bottle gourd of medicinal pills, he began gobbling pills as if they were popcorn.

After some time passed, he recovered, yet still seemed so listless that he could hardly move.

‘Damnation! That dirty swine was a lot stronger than I anticipated!’ This man in black was of course the King of Assassins. Not only had he failed to kill Yang Qi, he had actually been severely injured in the process. ‘If I hadn’t become an Inheritor, I would’ve been killed by that pig. He really is exceptionally talented. No wonder Proud Heaven hired me to kill him.’

Meanwhile, in another location deep in the Great Necropolis, on an immortal world ranked three thousand, a fierce battle raged.

Eighteen Executors of the Ancient Road had a young man surrounded and were unleashing devastating attacks. All of the executors were princes on the same level as Prince Nobledeath. They were all very, very close to the mid Terrifying level, and had psychic scales of ninety-nine.

They were unleashing a torrent of palm techniques, sword techniques, sword energy, blade light, all of which became a sky-obfuscating, land-enshrouding river that slammed into the young man.

Shockingly, the young man was incredibly tough. Although he was surrounded and had no way to escape, he was by no means defeated. He was surrounded by a rain of swords that allowed him to defend himself against the powerful assault.

The young man was not in the mid Terrifying level, yet was able to stand up to the attack of a group of executors, all of whom had psychic scales of ninety-nine. That in itself was incredible, and in fact, there was only one person in existence who could pull such a feat off.

Star Swordlife.

His cultivation base was far beyond what it had been during the incident with the Flower-Seizing Marauder. However, considering he was facing eighteen executors, it was obvious that he was in extreme danger.

RIP!

All of a sudden, one of the executor princes pierced Star Swordlife’s sword light, landing a palm strike that sent him flying backward.

“Preheaven Sword Energy: Blade of Law!” they shouted in unison.

Joining forces, they sent out a powerful palm attack, yet again sending Star Swordlife tumbling backward.

One of the executors stepped forward, laughing heartily. “So your name is Star Swordlife, boy? You have good sword technique, so why not agree to be our slave? That way you won't die!”

“You might as well quit dreaming!” Star Swordlife said angrily. “You executors kill living beings wherever you go, but I won’t kill you in return. I’ll just seal you!”

The other princes all burst out laughing.

“We’ve never met anyone as arrogant as you; at least, none who lived long. And you’re even going so far as to accuse us of killing innocent people? What a freak! Maybe we should just take him captive.”

One of the other princes lunged forward, eyes flickering with a wicked light as he launched a palm strike at Star Swordlife’s head.

In the face of this attack, Star Swordlife had no choice but to close his eyes and wait to die.

However, that was when he heard a whooshing sound, as though something had just passed by his ear. Then, he opened his eyes, and found that all eighteen of the executor princes had been beheaded.

Expressions of rage could be seen in their eyes, yet they were completely dead and incapable of uttering a single word. Then their corpses exploded, turning into ash, their vital energy wiped out of existence.

Afterward, a young man appeared, clad in an azure robe. He looked like a scholar, but at the same time, an assassin. Even more so, he looked like a wandering hero who bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied the fate of mankind.

He had just beheaded eighteen top experts with a single move!

Star Swordlife was so shocked that he very nearly turned and ran.

Although he wasn't pleased that this young man had just killed eighteen people right in front of him, he obviously didn't dare to say anything about it. He had almost died at the hands of these executors, while this young man had just killed them with hardly any effort.

Star Swordlife wasn’t completely suicidal, so he kept his mouth shut.