Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

An enormous ship had run aground.

The storm had clearly blown it across the sea until it smashed into the offshore reef, killing quite a few people on board. That said, there were survivors who were now struggling to make it ashore.

It was a very impressive-looking ship.

Instead of being made from wood, it was made from incredibly tough bleached bones. Despite having struck the reef, it was merely stuck in the shallows. The actual structure of the ship was mostly undamaged and would need only minimal repairs to make it seaworthy.

As for the survivors, they were all fierce-looking individuals with sabers in hand.

Even as they cried for help, they emanated wretched, fiendish auras.

“They’re pirates!” said Brahma. “Pirates of the god world! They murder for profit, sailing the high seas to sack merchant ships and only coming ashore to capture slaves that they sell to the wretch-god kingdoms. Don’t let them see us! If they have a peak Terrifying expert, we're finished. The captain of that ship can definitely use true energy externally, and probably glide through the air. We obviously can’t fight a person like that. Furthermore, that ship is clearly made from seawyrm devil-bones. Seawyrms are like floodwyrms, except larger and more dangerous. When the gods kill them, they sell their bones for exorbitant prices for use in ship-building. The result is a ship that can terrify all kinds of godlings with its attack power. And the way it can split the water as it moves makes it incredibly fast. Let’s just slowly back away before they notice us.”

During the past few days, they had all developed a cautious nature. Considering they had just arrived in the god world, they wanted to avoid contact with any of the locals, especially the dangerous pirates. The last thing they wanted was to be enslaved and sold to some wretch-god.

There were all kinds of wretch-gods in the god world, and they were all extremely vicious and evil. They loved capturing ordinary citizens and draining them of power. To them, even mid Terrifying experts were nothing more than objects to be sacrificed.

“Wait a moment,” Yang Qi said, “they’ve already spotted us. Get ready to fight....”

Just as he had said, some of the pirates had made it to shore already and were heading in their direction, sabers at the ready.

They were speaking in Godtongue, the common language of the god world.

Of course, Yang Qi and his companions could all understand the language, and thus knew exactly what the pirates were saying.

“Look, some savages!”

“Drifters, right up ahead on the beach. It’s hard to say who exactly they are, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s capture them. The ship is only slightly damaged, and with a bit of work it’ll be as good as new. If we enslave these savages, we can make a nice profit selling them to a wretch-god somewhere.”

“There are more than a dozen of them, including a couple women. I haven’t enjoyed myself in a long time....”

The pirates were dressed in tough, serviceable clothing, and the sharp, glittering sabers in their hands were clearly remarkable god items.

Of course, god items sometimes made their way to the mortal world. However, such items were like gourmet delicacies dropped into a cesspool. They didn’t compare at all to their original nature and function.

Because of that, the god items that the group had brought with them had all been ground into powder during their journey through the space-time passageway. If the group had possessed tools or weapons, it would have been a lot easier to fell trees, but instead they had been forced to use their hands.

The approaching pirates were all extremely fit and muscular. Obviously, they had either been in the god world for a long time, or were natives. Their bulging muscles looked like rocks, and their pulsing godpower caused their garments to flap around them as they moved.

That said, Yang Qi could tell that they were all in the mid Terrifying level, with psychic scales around three or four hundred. They were like the old-timers from the Executors of the Ancient Road and were obviously not in a position to compare to Yang Qi.

“We’re going to have to fight,” Yang Qi said. “Be careful!”

Taking the lead, he rushed out toward the pirates. This was going to be his first fight in the god world, and he had no idea exactly what it would be like.

Swish!

The nearest pirate to him had a face full of scars. As Yang Qi neared, he slashed out with his glittering saber, using a very profound saber technique: the initial angle of attack made it seem like it was intended to hack him in two from top to bottom. But the truth was that the move was a feint! At the last minute, a second saber slashed out from behind the pirate's back, heading directly toward Yang Qi’s waist to lop him in half!

He had been hiding a second saber behind his back all along!

But was Yang Qi the kind of person who would fall for a trick like that? He had battle experience that stemmed from the God Legion Seal, making him the master of every type of fighting trick there was. In terms of fighting theory, no one could match him.

He twisted with blinding speed, his hand shooting into the saber light and right through the opening the man had left.

Planting one foot, he leaped forward like a snake slipping into a mountain crevice, his hand slicing through the pirate’s clothing and instantly stabbing into his chest.

“Aaaiiiieee!” the pirate screamed, his energy instantly draining out of him. Then he toppled backward and flopped onto the ground, a gaping hole in his chest. Meanwhile, Yang Qi stood over him, two sabers in his hands.

They were long and razor-sharp, with complex designs on the blades. Obviously, those designs were spell formations, but unfortunately, Yang Qi could tell that he wouldn’t be able to activate such things until he was in the Peak Terrifying level. That said, the sharpness of the blades would be more than enough to kill someone.

With that, he lunged into the pirates like a tiger among a flock of sheep. Saber light flashed as he attacked, using the saber to take advantage of the weaknesses of every opponent he faced.

He was far stronger than any of these pirates, being just on the verge of the peak Terrifying level. His only disadvantage was that he wasn’t used to the magical laws of the god world and couldn't release his true energy outside his body.

The average citizens in the god world were in the mid Terrifying level, which meant they couldn't even fly, and were as easy to slaughter as the commoners in the mortal world. Even wild beasts could devour them. In fact, Brahma had recently explained that they were generally referred to as Plebeians.

People who were even a bit higher, for example on the cusp of the peak Terrifying level, could dominate their fellows, and would be strong enough to enslave them. Brahma called people like that the Despots.

Yet even people like that were minor figures.

After all, they were like nothing compared to the true peak Terrifying experts. People such as that, who could release godpower outside of their bodies, were called Quasi-Gods.

And after them were the actual gods with godhood. Lesser Gods were the kind of people who could found their own kingdoms within the god world and would have forces of followers consisting of Plebeians, Despots, and Quasi-Gods.

Gods were the truly powerful entities in the god world.

These pirates were all Despots, and as for Yang Qi and his companions, considering their experiences so far, they could also be considered Despots. Thus, the close-quarter fighting raged.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam!

The pirates were immediately shoved back across the battlefield, with several of them falling in death. Yang Qi and his people were the cream of the crop from the mortal world, most of whom had millions upon millions of years of fighting experience. Although they were restrained by the essence of the god world, that didn’t do anything to their experience. In fact, when it came to fighting, they definitely had experienced much more in their lives than these pirates.

Compared to them, the pirates were like children playing a game.

After all, the average lifespan for ordinary people in the god world was a mere hundred years.

And although Despots could hope to live past two hundred, it was rare for any to reach a thousand years of age. It was only the gods who could be considered deathless. Could someone who only had a few dozen years of fighting experience really match up to someone who had been a warrior for hundreds of millions of years?

And that wasn’t to mention the fact that, thanks to the experience granted him by the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi surpassed everyone else by far.

SWISH!

The Shepherd was using martial arts from hell, unleashing spectacular moves as he twisted and turned across the beach. His hands blurred as he disarmed two pirates and turned their sabers on them, causing two streaks of light to pass through the necks of both opponents. The pirates flopped onto the sand.

“Blood from god world savages!” he shouted, delighted. Unfortunately, his godpower could only flow within his own body, and he couldn’t use it to unleash the devil arts necessary to absorb the blood.

“Ah, what a pity. Nothing like that blood could possibly exist in the mortal world. If I could absorb it, I would definitely advance by leaps and bounds. Oh well, after they’re all dead, I’ll see if I have anything that will work.”

As he continued fighting, the saber in his hand almost seemed to possess its own spirit. Any martial arts expert from the mortal world would have been completely flabbergasted at his display of skill.

Meanwhile, Sword Seventeen was laughing heartily. “These god world pirates are trash! They have almost no experience fighting! They might be as strong as us, but they’re like flowers in a greenhouse! They’re completely useless in a fight; I alone could cut down ten of them without any effort at all.”

Brahma nodded and thought, ‘These people are nothing to look down on. They rose to the top in the brutality of the mortal world, tempering their willpower and perseverance to the limit. Sooner or later, they’re going to be important people here.’

As Yang Qi slaughtered the pirates on the shore and took their weapons, there were people watching from aboard the ship.

“This is bad. Look, how could those savages’ martial arts be so advanced?” One of the pirates hurried into the main cabin. “Captain, there are some savages outside with incredible martial arts. They’re slaughtering the crew!”

“How dare they kill my men! I need to see what this is all about!”

The captain appeared, clad in a flowing cape, his eyes as sharp as razors. From the immense godpower swirling around him, it was obvious he was a peak Terrifying expert.