Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had killed five black floodwyrms that were in the Lifeseizing level, acquiring five demon cores. That was definitely enough to help his three brothers reach the Lifeseizing level.

As for the two extra, he tossed them into his Hellfire Crucible.

Ignoring the energy fluctuations he had just noticed, he focused on absorbing the power of the cores.

Each of them was roughly the size of a human head, and glowed with the light of the moon, plus an image that looked like a black floodwyrm consuming the moon. The power in those cores was enough to level a small city.

But right now, the quintessence within the cores was converted by the Hellfire Crucible, and turned into power for Yang Qi, fusing into his Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. As it did, the fiftieth particle within him woke up, giving him access to the power of fifty ancient megamammoths. And that meant that he could now enter Tertiary Lifeseizing.

However, after absorbing the two black floodwyrm demon cores, he realized that he was in a bottleneck, which meant that he still needed some more time. Stilling his cultivation base, he rose to his feet, and looked up toward the surface, which was the source of the fluctuations he had detected.

The fluctuations even woke up some of the powerful entities that lurked in the various sea gullies.

Yang Qi watched as more than a hundred black floodwyrms in the Lifeseizing level emerged from the depths of the underwater rivers, unleashing demon energy that flowed toward the source of the fluctuations.

At the same time, the enormous, crystalline palace in the center of the plane, the Black Floodwyrm Grotto, began to pulse with light. Apparently, some huge spell formation was being activated.

‘What a pity!’ Yang Qi thought, shaking his head at the scene. ‘I just can’t proceed any further.’ It would be madness for him to try to enter the Black Floodwyrm Grotto now. ‘I wonder what expert has arrived. Is someone really going to try to attack the Black Floodwyrm Grotto? Is this person really not afraid of King Black Floodwyrm? I should sneak away and get back to the surface to see what's going on. In the water, the black floodwyrms have the advantage, but up above, it’ll be the other way around.’

Taking advantage of the chaos, he slipped away and then headed up toward the surface.

As soon as he burst out of the water, he unfurled his wings and then flew higher up into the sky. Looking out at the water, he saw massive waves surging back and forth. Various energy arts which were being unleashed caused massive pillars of water to shoot hundreds of meters up into the air before raining back down.

Apparently, some huge fight between two major experts was playing out under the water.

Right now, he wasn’t afraid at all. Now that he was out of the Black Sea, all it would take would be the flap of his Fiend-Devil Wings to escape any enemy who tried to attack him.

He could essentially come and go as he pleased.

Suddenly, a huge bubble of water formed, then exploded, revealing a young man in blue clothing, holding a long spear in his hand. It was not an energy weapon, but rather corporeal, and surged with spirit energy that indicated it was actually a spirit weapon.

It was far more powerful than the trident Yang Qi had finished forging, and the blue-garbed young man was even more powerful than his weapon. Suddenly, his true energy surged out to create a blue suit of armor, as well as a pair of spectacular wings.

Furthermore, the pulsing true energy fluctuations which rolled off of him made it seem like he was capable of controlling all water flows under heaven.

Whether it was clouds or rain, or even the mist in the Black Sea, this young man could manipulate them all.

His aura surpassed that of even the Tertiary Lifeseizer Longxuan Ye that Yang Qi had encountered on Manyflowers Peak. From the look of it, he had already performed five lifeseizings.

No wonder he was confident enough to enter the Black Sea and take on the black floodwyrms.

‘I wonder where this guy is from. He uses water-type energy arts, that’s for sure.’ Even as Yang Qi examined him, the blue-garbed young man turned to face nine black floodwyrms.

Leading them was one floodwyrm whose armor-like scales glistened with bright light. It had five claws, and swirling horns that made it almost look like a black dragon. Standing atop its head was a boy in a black tunic and trousers, holding a dual-crescent-bladed halberd.

That boy was not a manifestation of Humanoid True Energy, but rather, a nascent divinity created by the black floodwyrm’s soul, making him much more powerful.

‘This black floodwyrm leader is incredible!’ In fact, Yang Qi could tell that he was no weaker than the young man in blue.

“You really think you can just waltz into the Black Floodwyrm Grotto, punk?” the floodwyrm said. “Do you know how powerful the demon kings of the seventy-two grottos are? You cultivate Tsunami of the Sea King, right? That’s a consummate technique from the Sea God Institute, which makes you like a king of the sea. Unfortunately for you, I'm one of the top cultivation geniuses from the Black Floodwyrm Grotto. I'm going to capture you, extract your soul, and then rip all your techniques out of it.”

“Dream on, you freakish hellion!” The blue-garbed young man spun and then shot off into the distance.

As for the nine black floodwyrms, they immediately gave chase.

Before long, they were nearing the edge of the sea, where the sandy desert once again began.

Yang Qi then watched as the entire group entered the desert.

The entire time, he kept focused on the depths of the Black Sea, curious to see whether or not the Legendary King Black Floodwyrm would appear. However, he never sensed any Legendary aura.

He had met Legendaries before, namely, Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, and could thus identify such auras. And if he had sensed anything like that, he would have fled at top speed. However, for whatever reason, King Floodwyrm never appeared. Perhaps he was away, or perhaps he was focused on cultivation and was ignoring the activities of the younger generation.

The Black Sea was located right in the middle of the Northern Frontier Desert, and was surrounded by endless dunes, mountains of sand, and violent storms.

At a certain point, the blue-robed young man landed on one of the dunes.

Moments later, the black floodwyrms arrived, black mist swirling around them. As for the incarnation of the leader, he looked coldly at the young man and said, “You think that you can weaken us by luring us out into the desert? Don’t forget that you also cultivate water-type energy arts. You’ll be limited here just as we are.”

“So what? I’ve achieved multiple lifeseizings. Out here, I can unleash the full potential of my power. Who exactly are you? Tell me your name so I can report it to my superiors after I kill you.”

“Jiao Wufeng,” the leader said coldly. “What about you?”

“I'm Jun Tianchou, conclave student from the Sea God Institute.” Although this Jun Tianchou spoke in very domineering fashion, he was actually so good-looking that he bordered on pretty.

Jiao Wufeng let loose a long laugh. “So, seems I'm going to be performing a big service for the exalted King Black Floodwyrm. He’d love to offer a conclave student to the emissary from the Hanging Mountain. And I’ll earn a hefty reward.”

Eyes flickering, Jun Tianchou said, “An emissary from the Hanging Mountain is in the Black Floodwyrm Grotto? There, right now, with King Floodwyrm? How come I didn't sense any such aura?”

Jiao Wufeng chuckled. “Trying to squeeze some information out of me? Well, I guess it won't hurt. You’re dead anyway. The exalted Black King Floodwyrm most certainly is entertaining the emissary from the Hanging Mountain. They’re in the depths of the subterranean rivers, inspecting the Dragonizing Grand Spell Formation. You know, I’d bet money that you're here on a mission for the Sea God Institute, trying to find information about the emissary. Sadly for you, the only thing you’ll find is an early grave.”

“Well then, Jiao Wufeng. You're one of the top experts among the Demonfolk, right? Go ahead and make your move.”

Instead, Jiao Wufeng snorted coldly and turned to look out into the desert sands. “You’ve been following us for a while, punk. Are you a friend of this Jun Tianchou? There’s no need to skulk around out there. I noticed you quite a while ago.”

A bit surprised, Yang Qi stepped out into the open. Considering he was only a Secondary Lifeseizer, he didn't seem like much at all compared to the Quinary Lifeseizers Jun Tianchou and Jiao Wufeng.

Of course, he was also intentionally masking his true level of strength.

Eyes flashing, Jun Tianchou said, “Brother, I can tell from your garments that you’re from the Demi-Immortal Institute. Why don’t you come fight by my side? I’ll watch your back. We’re both from prestigious, orthodox institutes, so we can’t let each other get hurt by these hellions.”

Yang Qi was actually a bit surprised at the kindness he sensed in Jun Tianchou’s words. Thanks to his dealings with people like Yun Hailan and Gu Che, he actually had a relatively poor impression of students from the Sea God Institute, and hadn’t expected this Jun Tianchou to immediately offer to protect him.

As a Quinary Lifeseizer, he truly did qualify to protect someone in Secondary Lifeseizing.

Already, Yang Qi liked this Jun Tianchou.

“Brother Jun, you're right. I'm from the Demi-Immortal Institute, and I came here to slaughter hellions from the Black Floodwyrm Grotto.” Blurring into motion, he flew over and stood at Jun Tianchou’s side.

“Excellent energy arts!” Jun Tianchou said, nodding in admiration. “You stay behind me. These beasts are nothing to take lightly. The nine of them have a spell formation prepared called the Nine Dragons Fatal Strike Array. Even I would be in big trouble if I got stuck in it. Seems you’re in Secondary Lifeseizing, right? Be careful. If something goes wrong, you won't be able to escape. Even in the desert, these nine will be able to catch up with you if you fled.”

1. Jiao Wufeng: The “Jiao” is actually the word for floodwyrm/flood dragon. Wu means “no” and Feng means “wind”.