Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘This Battle Resister is a genius who I can’t let perish in this fight,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘His daoist techniques and energy arts make him vastly stronger than any other experts from ancient times. He actually created a zone of mercy around us. It might be a fledgling version, but it shows how talented he is. It seems people with Destabilizing will definitely can’t be looked down on.’

By forcing Empress Joyflower backward across the battlefield, Yang Qi managed to save Battle Resister.

As she floated backward as gracefully as a kite, she thrust out her palm again, unleashing another profound technique that seemed to have nothing to do with the Passionless God-King. It was resolute, austere, unsophisticated, and dauntless.

And Yang Qi had no idea what it was.

As soon as the fist hit Yang Qi’s attack, an elliptical energy field sprang up and the two attacks collapsed.

“You actually assimilated Leaf Dao-Denier’s blood, didn’t you?” Empress Joyflower said, her eyes blazing. “You used it to unlock more powers from the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart! That palm just now wasn’t your power, it contained the mighty power of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart! You really are quite the genius, and you’re definitely much more troublesome than that damned father of yours, Proud Heaven. It’s a horror to think what you’ll be like once you grow to your full potential. Yet that just makes me more interested in having you as a consort.”

“I already told you that I'm a Fateless One, and that Proud Heaven isn’t my father. But you keep bringing it up? It seems that your entire Joyflower Palace needs to die. What’s between you and Proud Heaven, anyway? Are you two a pair of fornicators?” Truth be told, Yang Qi hated few things more than being called the son of Proud Heaven.

Meanwhile, in response to being called a fornicator, Empress Joyflower’s face distorted with killing intent. “You know what? In the Joyflower Palace, it's forbidden to mention Proud Heaven and me in the same conversation! You’re not leaving this palace today!”

WHOOSH!

The fragrance of flowers filled the area as Empress Joyflower shot toward him with deadly intent, releasing a series of more than ten palm strikes, each of which came from a different energy art, yet all of which were obviously consummate skills from the god world.

Yang Qi spotted the Taiji Indestructible Chaos-Magic World-Terrorizing Profound Art, except it was used with indescribable speed. Before he could even react, a taiji symbol was viciously boring into his meridians.

He saw the Sunflower Palm, the Passionless Palm, the Heaven-Pressing Palm, and other techniques. There were so many of them that it almost seemed like Empress Joyflower had grown several extra pairs of arms.

Gong!

The sound of bells rang out as Yang Qi drew on the powers of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to give himself an edge. The empress was able to move so quickly that not even his Freedom Wings were enough to match her.

Right now, he was relying on the godpower of the seventy-two monarchs’ composite abilities.

“Monarch Battles in Heaven!”

“The King from the Mortal World!”

“Monarch of Myriad Monarchs!”

“Mountains and Rivers of Monarch Energy!”

“Sage Inside, Monarch Outside!”

“Dao of Monarchs; Dao of Hegemony!”

The consummate arts of the seventy-two brethren who were led by King Immortal-Slayer were so powerful that they could rival the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. And Yang Qi was currently linking with the godpower of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart to unleash these profound divine abilities in the composite form of the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art.

In other words, he wasn’t the one actually using them; it was the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Within the chart, his immortal-slaying clone stood there with a beam of light connecting him to the godhood stars above. As he absorbed the godhood, he combined it with the power of the chart and sent the resulting power out through Yang Qi’s sea of energy.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi’s collection of the seventy-two monarchs’ god items was incomplete and his cultivation base was weak, making it impossible for him to unleash the true expression of the set of techniques. He could only use a few dozen of the stances it contained.

That said, they were still nothing to look down on. They could part primal-chaos and cause worlds to appear, and at the same time, destroy the dao of heaven.

To create and destroy the dao of heaven was a true cycle of creation.

The empress and Yang Qi clashed, and he had only himself to rely on. Although the other sect leaders were still present, they could only exchange awkward glances and wonder what to do.

Battle Resister had already caught his breath and his eyes were brightly shining as his battle energy surged, causing a destructive halo to appear around his head. “What are you all standing around for? Are you just waiting to die? If Brother Yang Qi is defeated, we’re all done for. You’ve seen how cruel and vicious Empress Joyflower is; she definitely won’t let us go. Let’s join forces and attack!”

“Attack! Everyone together!” shouted a few of the sect leaders. Suddenly, magical treasures appeared, the most powerful god items that the sect leaders had, some of which had been kept in reserve for hundreds of millions of years.

BOOM!

A burst of energy appeared as the combined forces of the sect leaders bore down on Empress Joyflower, which seemed like it might succeed in locking her down.

None of the sect leaders were close to being a match for Empress Joyflower. But all of them were throwing caution to the wind, and also joining forces. Couple that with the power of the god items they were using, and it made their attacks terrifying to say the least. Obviously, if Yang Qi hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have been hurt at all. But considering she was in such a difficult situation, there was no way she would just slip away unharmed. In fact, she had no choice but to allow the power of the combined attacks to smash into her defensive empyrean energy.

Whump!

Her defensive energy rippled as she was forced backward several paces. Meanwhile, Yang Qi howled a thunderous howl and clenched his hand into a fist. Then he smashed his fist down, following it up with a chop, a slash, and a kick, creating a combination of all kinds of ancient power.

“Nine Heavens True Monarch!

“True Monarch Carves a Path!

“Great Dao like Heaven!

“Cutting Through Thorns and Thistles!”

His successive attacks made him seem like a warrior who was trapped and about to die, but was cutting a path for himself to reach the other shore of pāramitā, where he would be free from all worries.

Whizz!

Yang Qi was operating at his ultimate peak level.

Meanwhile, Empress Joyflower’s eyes grew even more fiery. “If you really want to die, Yang Qi, then don’t blame me for making it happen. It's time for you to see a secret magic that I've cultivated for hundreds of millions of years. Prepare for Terrifying will!”

Zzzzzap. Zzzzzap.

A stream of lightning shot out from her. It was no ordinary lightning, but lightning filled with godpower. It swirled around her as she stood there, shaking the heavens and causing the earth to quake, until the air itself began melting into liquid magical law.

As for Yang Qi, the temperature around him began rising by thousands of degrees, and the spatial magical laws were cast into chaos. Not even the godpower at his command could fight back, and the psychic tempest of lightning started to push him backward.

POP!

A god item shattered.

At the same time, Empress Joyflower attacked, her hand a bright red blur that slammed into Cavelord Blackwater, who exploded into nothing. Not even his bones were left behind, nor his nascent divinity or quintessence energy.

“Not good!” Battle Resister said, backing up toward Yang Qi. “Brother Yang Qi, we have to get out of here! She's going crazy, and there’s no way we can fight her. She’s using a secret magic and burning her quintessence vitality to temporarily reach the Terrifying level of will. We're simply not a match for her!”

‘She has a secret magic that can give her Terrifying will?!’ Upon hearing Battle Resister’s assessment, Yang Qi agreed that this was a losing battle. Furthermore, he was here as his true self. Terrifying will would end up wiping them all out, including his true nascent divinity and the God Legion Seal.

Empress Joyflower was continuously drawing on all of the power within her, sending out a psychic tempest in the Terrifying level.

One by one, the sect leaders’ god items began to explode; she was giving them no room to maneuver and no opportunities to take advantage of. In fact, as she took a step forward, another sect leader exploded.

“Let’s go!” Yang Qi barked. Knowing that he couldn't do anything about the other sect leaders, he grabbed Battle Resister, opened a vortex, and prepared to leap into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

“Where are you going? You think you can escape that easily!?” Considering that Empress Joyflower had employed a secret magic to temporarily reach the Terrifying level, there was no way she would just stand by while Yang Qi left. She waved her hand, sending out a burst of power that locked down the entire area.

Crack!

The passageway to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart closed. It was like Yang Qi had opened a door leading into his own house, only to have it slammed shut and locked right in his face. Even worse, not only was he cut off from access to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, but he was also incapable of communicating with his immortal-slaying clone.

‘Terrifying will truly deserves to be described as terrifying!’ he thought. And indeed, it was to his terror that he realized that he was in a situation he couldn’t escape from.

“You’re all going to die!” Empress Joyflower screamed, throwing her hands out to send countless silver threads shooting out. Yang Qi summoned his God Legion Paradise to protect himself and Battle Resister, but from the way the threads slammed into its defenses, it was obvious that it wouldn’t last very much longer.

The other sect leaders were in even worse positions.

When the silver strings slammed into them, they were rapidly drained of everything until they became nothing but desiccated corpses. Cipher Ever-Heaven struggled mightily when it came to him, but he only lasted a moment before exploding!