Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“That's a load of garbage,” Yang Qi said to Hailan. “I'm not even half-Annulled yet. How could I be a threat to the essence of the god world?”

Yun Hailan from the impure lands had been a will projection of this woman. Of course, Yang Qi killed her after she had nearly damned him to myriad tribulations.

“You think you have to be half-Annulled to be a threat to the essence of the god world? The God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade are destructive items that can build things more powerful than the god world can produce. Furthermore, the God Legion Seal can absorb the power of the god world and turn it into godnotes and godstones. If you don’t deserve to die for stealing from the god world, who does? But in the end, although the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade are impressive, the god world itself is what’s the most impressive. It continues expanding in the world of primal-chaos, and has long since become the most colossal thing in existence. It surpasses all magical treasures and all other entities. And your mere existence is a threat to it. You see, we've come here today backed by the might of the god world’s essence, with the purpose of destroying you. And you will die beyond the shadow of a doubt.”

A pleased smile could be seen on Hailan’s face, although to Yang Qi, it looked like the most disgusting thing imaginable.

“The essence of the god world....” Yang Qi knew that Hailan wasn’t just saying random things. It was entirely likely that some of her words were true. However, the essence of the god world couldn’t converge into a manifestation of power that would oppose Yang Qi. Instead, it would use other manifestations to oppose him.

For instance, whatever good fortune Star Swordlife had come across might be connected to the essence of the god world. The Sovereign Lord’s fall in years past was also likely due in part to some mysterious connection to the essence of the god world.

If the essence of the god world was actively opposing him, it could mean he was in real danger. That said, he wasn’t worried. He would kill anyone who dared to oppose him and stop him from transcending.

“Cut the crap,” he said. “You have nine on your side now, but you're still as weak as chickens and dogs. I'm going to bury all of you!”

Suddenly, the sword in his hand vanished.

Going forward, he wasn’t going to fight with sword techniques.

Although his sword technique was advanced, it wasn't his most impressive asset. His greatest weapons to use for attacking were the Sage Monarch Grand Magic and the Hand of the One God.

“Get ready, everyone,” Star Swordlife said. “You can’t afford to underestimate him. He’s like a convergence of baleful energy, and his Hand of the One God and Sage Monarch Grand Magic are terrifying. Back in the impure lands, I tried to handle him alone and failed. We have to work together. Destroy his energy. Of course, he won’t repent even if you kill him, so we have to capture and seal him.” Star Swordlife was still spouting the same words he had been since back in the impure lands.

“I won’t take pity on you this time, Yang Qi,” he continued. “I'm going to seal you in the depths of the essence of the god world for all eternity. Understand?” Under his direction, the other experts got into formation, causing them to look like nine shining stars.

A swirling vortex of power surged toward Yang Qi. All of his opponents were top experts, and they knew that without working together, they weren’t a match for him.

They had learned their lesson moments before, and were now working together in unison.

“Nine Combined as One!”

The formation they were in caused nine shadowy figures to appear, like snakes, dragons, whips, or bolts of electricity, all of them extremely deadly and powerful.

“Unmovable as a Mountain!”

Yang Qi stood strong, causing the explosive energy and sounds of megamammoths to erupt from him, allowing to stand as firm as a mountain. At the same time, primal-chaos paleo-energy surged around him.

He almost seemed like the King of Godmammoths, powering up to his peak.

“You nine are like nothing to me. Screw the hell off!” The primal-chaos paleo-energy surged out like meteors as big as mountains, creating a hand that could stir the god world itself, and cause the creation of countless civilizations.

It was a hand of creation, a hand of heaven on high.

And it was the hand that could manipulate the civilizations of people from behind the scenes.

RUMBLE!

A massive explosion occurred as Yang Qi's single hand slammed into the nine experts. Instantly, the nine shadowy figures exploded. Yet again, Yang Qi was one man guarding a mountain pass, preventing ten thousand men from breaking through.

SPLAT!

Heaven-Immolating Dugu coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face pale as he stared in shock at Yang Qi.

“Dao of Life!”

Star Swordlife thrust his sword out, causing sword light that pulsed with life force to enter Heaven-Immolating Dugu, healing his wounds and leaving him feeling invigorated.

“This kid seems like the incarnation of the life force of heaven and earth!” Heaven-Immolating Dugu said in shock.

Yang Qi had been just about to press the attack when he saw the turn of events.

Not even Yang Qi could penetrate the depths of the god world to reach its core, which contained its life force. That was what gave birth to the jungles, ores, and living beings that inhabited the god world. Later, the living beings eventually became the demonlings and humans that filled the lands.

Now Star Swordlife was using that life force, which made it seem likely that he was actually part of the life force of the god world. In other words, unless the god world died, he couldn’t be destroyed.

He could even restore lost life force to his comrades, bringing them back to life in any circumstance in which they weren’t completely destroyed.

The mighty power of resurrection was terrifying.

It was a blessing to his allies, but a nightmare for Yang Qi. Now, Yang Qi understood what Hailan had meant about the essence of the god world opposing him. Star Swordlife had been created by the life force of the god world itself; no wonder he could achieve such freakish progress.

“See, Yang Qi?” Hailan said. Although she had been shoved back by Yang Qi, she wasn’t hurt. “Star Swordlife is an incarnation of the life force of the god world. He can save any of us, even from death. So it doesn’t matter how you harm us, you won’t be able to kill us unless you destroy the entire god world. Now do you understand how horrifying an enemy you're facing?”

“Very bombastic!” Yang Qi said, taking a few measured steps forward. “Son of Heaven Subdues the Border Regions!”

It was with explosive force that he unleashed the Nation-Fate Godfist. He had long since extrapolated more moves than it contained, and it was incredibly mighty when backed with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. In fact, it was even superior to the Hand of the One God.

After all, the Hand of the One God was the hand of the Creator, not anything human.

But the Nation-Fate Godfist was a manifestation of power.

Right now, Yang Qi wasn't interested in Hailan, the nine Dugu patriarchs, or the high officials from the Central Dynasty. In fact, he didn’t even care about Star Swordlife. Instead, he targeted Yang Voidprime.

“Watch out!” Star Swordlife shouted. “Everyone defend Yang Voidprime! He’s an expression of fateless energy. If Yang Qi kills him, he’ll take all of that energy and become unstoppable!”

“Since when did I become a person who needs to be saved?” Yang Voidprime said angrily. “Yang Qi! I'm not going to let you get away with this. You think I'm that useless? Just wait to see how strong I really am. Fateless Seal: Open!”

RUMBLE!

Yang Voidprime suddenly unsealed something inside of himself. It was like his sealing mark had been shackled with ancient chains, but now they were falling away.

Instantly, Yang Voidprime’s strength rose. His psychic scale climbed from the level of a hundred and thirty billion all the way to two hundred and fifty billion. The shockwaves from his powerup were causing the other experts to be violently pushed away from him.

Ding!

His fist met Yang Qi’s, and a vicious smile appeared on his face. “You forced me to undo my Fateless Seal, Yang Qi. And for that, you deserve to die ten thousand times over. I was going to eventually use that power to reach the half-Annulled level, and now you’ve forced me to waste it. Damn you!”