Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi’s voice rang out loud and clear for everyone to hear.

Many of the chief elders immediately looked over at him, and even the junior superintendent stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder in incredulity.

“What did you just say?” said Chief Elder Winter Bladedark. “You can treat Chang Rong’s symptoms? Not even I can do that, how exactly are you supposed to be able to?” Many of the chief elders were shaking their heads, clearly in disapproval of how Yang Qi was disrupting the situation.

Strolling out into the open, Yang Qi replied, “I said I can treat him. I wouldn't say that unless I could.”

“Bah!” spat Peaklord Grand Might. “This is a critical moment of life or death for the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, boy! How dare you cause a scene! Men, arrest him immediately!”

“How impudent!” Yang Qi shot back with a glare. “Peaklord Grand Might, is it possible that you are the spy? Why else would you want to stop me from helping a fellow disciple? Now shut the hell up and get out of my way!”

He flicked his sleeve, sending out two strange blasts of winds that instantly transformed into two huge dragons. The dragons shot directly toward Peaklord Grand Might, who of course was a Terrifying expert. Like many of the other chief elders, he had reached that level thanks to the psychic scaling systems, but that didn’t mean his cultivation base was weak.

Yet when these two blasts of wind reached him, his eyes widened as he realized that, to his complete and utter surprise, if he didn’t do anything, he would quickly be sucked into Yang Qi’s sleeves.

It was a critical moment, so he chopped out with a knifehand, slicing the two gusts of wind in half and redirecting them toward the nearby wall. The wall creaked and cracks spread out on its surface, although they were instantly repaired by the spell formation inside.

Peaklord Grand Might shivered, then looked at Yang Qi with astonishment in his eyes. “Y-your... your energy arts and cultivation. When did they reach this level? What magical treasure were you using?”

“Magical treasure? You think I need a magical treasure?” Yang Qi had his Unspoiled Body, and could control the flow of time in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, allowing him to carry out a hundred years of cultivation in only a few hours.

During his recent extended period of cultivation in the chart, he had partially combined three of his major energy arts, which were currently split into three sections in his sea of energy. To some extent, they were like three nations involved in a tripartite balance of power. When one nation grew stronger than the others, the remaining two would work hard to catch up and even gain dominance. It was because of that principle that the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art were constantly developing.

As for the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic, he kept it tightly sealed, so it didn’t disturb the balance of the other three. Perhaps, if his cultivation base were higher and he had reached the Terrifying level, he would have been able to create an ever more complicated amalgamation of energy arts.

A ‘hundred schools of thought’ so to speak.

Right now, that wasn't possible, so he had to stick with the tripartite balance of power and work hard to achieve that so-called hundred schools of thought.

Everyone present was completely taken aback that a deadly expert had appeared at this stage in the game. Furthermore, Yang Qi was so strong that he actually made a move on Peaklord Grand Might. He obviously wasn’t a Terrifying expert, yet he clearly had fighting prowess that placed him on the same level as someone who was in the early stage of that level.

Fighting prowess of that sort was nothing less than stupefying.

Winter Bladedark was the first to recover from his shock. At first, he had been completely unconvinced that Yang Qi could treat his apprentice’s condition. But after what he had just seen, he had hope. Holding Chang Rong out in his arms, he said, “Go ahead. If you can save his life, I’ll pay you back in any way I can.”

“I'm not asking for a reward,” Yang Qi said. “He’s a fellow disciple, so it's my duty to help him.” Reaching out, he accepted Chang Rong and sent a stream of energy into him.

“Infernal Deities of Heaven and Earth; Guide and Lead the Soul.... Summon the Soul from Hell, Receive Elucidations from Earth and Heaven....”

A mysterious energy began pulsing from the depths of Chang Rong’s soul, and at the same time, streams of will began to converge on his body.

The junior superintendent’s expression flickered as he saw what was happening. ‘That’s a long-lost consummate technique from hell, a dao of gods from the primeval infernal deities, used to summon souls.’ For some reason, he didn’t seem interested at all in fighting Emperor Heart-Celestial anymore. Of course, given his status and prestige, he couldn’t launch an unexpected attack on Yang Qi right now.

“Come Forth, Infernal Deities!”

One shadowy figure after another appeared, surrounding Chang Rong and chanting the Great Compassion Mantra. Meanwhile, everyone looked on as a mysterious hellish vortex appeared, within which a soul began to take form. The sectlord’s eyes glittered. At first, he could hardly believe what he was seeing, but then his heart suddenly surged with courage and the desire to defy this junior superintendent.

A long moment passed, then Yang Qi put Chang Rong down. Chang Rong let loose a long, seemingly pained sigh, but there couldn’t have been a greater cause for rejoicing for the onlookers. Obviously, he was recovering!

Hardly able to contain himself, Winter Bladedark hurried over and said, “Chang Rong, are you better?” He sent some true energy into his apprentice, who opened his eyes. Almost immediately, Winter Bladedark could sense that his apprentice’s mind was there, and his nascent divinity was clear. Although he was still badly hurt, he was on his way to a full recovery.

“He’ll be fine,” Yang Qi said. “However, he needs to rest well. And he should avoid any kind of fighting for the next thousand years. Have him stay relaxed and focused on restoring his nascent divinity. In the end, he should be able to reach a higher level of enlightenment because of all this.” Yang Qi knew that having his soul summoned back from hell would actually provide him with significant enlightenment. In the end, he would benefit from this catastrophe.

“Many thanks, many thanks,” Winter Bladedark said. “Who could ever have guessed that a disciple like you would appear in Memory Peak? You’re a real blessing to the entire sect.” From the way he addressed Yang Qi, it was almost like he viewed him as an equal. Some of that was because of how Yang Qi had saved his apprentice, and the other was because of the strength he had shown with his sleeve attack earlier. It was obvious that Yang Qi was at least as strong as someone in the early Terrifying level.

“I could never have guessed that the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect would have a disciple like this,” the junior superintendent said loudly. “Why don’t you come over here and spar a bit? You’re dismissed, Emperor Heart-Celestial. You’re no match for me, but you get to leave with your life.”

“That's fine, I’ll let Brother Yang Qi handle you,” Emperor Heart-Celestial said. He was both the optimistic type, and someone who didn't care about matters of victory or defeat. He knew that he wasn’t a match for the junior superintendent, and at the same time, had perceived moments ago that Yang Qi’s cultivation base was vastly beyond his.

Walking over to Yang Qi, he said, “Brother, the sect is in grave peril right now, and we’re all relying on you.”

“Don’t worry,” Yang Qi said. Flicking his finger, he sent some gentle true energy into Emperor Heart-Celestial, healing him and restoring him to his peak. In fact, some black smoke rose up from him, which was heterogeneous true energy that the junior superintendent had infected him with.

Clicking his tongue in admiration, Peaklord Celestial thought, ‘It seems Memory Peak’s fortunes have changed. They really picked up a treasure of a disciple. Is this kid even human? How could humans have potential like this?’

“Many thanks, Brother Yang Qi,” Emperor Heart-Celestial said. “I couldn’t be more in admiration of your cultivation base. You saved my life, and now you’re responsible for the sect as a whole. Please be careful, that junior superintendent is a real expert.”

“Fear not,” Yang Qi said. “I should be able to last for fifty moves against him.”

Walking out in front of the junior superintendent, he smiled and said, “Did you just say something about our sect having nobody that could be a match for you? Well I'm right here. And you can forget about fifty moves. You might as well prepare for five hundred. Oh, one other thing: I'm going to beat you.”

“Beat me?” Killing intent flashed in the junior superintendent’s eyes. “You’ve got a big mouth, I’ll give you that. And you're stronger than Emperor Heart-Celestial. But you definitely can’t defend against fifty moves from me, yet you go to the length of saying you’ll beat me?”

“You heard me right,” Yang Qi said. “I'm going to beat you. If you think I can’t, then what do you say we make a bet?”

“What kind of bet?” The junior superintendent looked at Yang Qi through narrowed eyes, almost as if he were preparing to attack at any moment. Obviously, he had been playing around earlier, but now he was ready to do some actual fighting.

“Oh, nothing special,” Yang Qi said coolly. “You just made five demands of us, right? How about if I lose, presumably in death, then the sect will guarantee that at least one of your demands is met. And afterward, you can continue to do whatever you deem necessary to get the sect to meet the rest of your demands. But if I win, you retract your five demands. Furthermore, you Executors of the Ancient Road will give a hundred pieces of godhood to the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect as tribute every year. And you’ll also promise to not cause any further trouble for us.”

“What incredible gall!” one of the four executors said, his eyes flashing viciously. “If you think the Executors of the Ancient Road will give tribute to anyone, you’re definitely crazy, boy.”

“No, that’s fine,” the junior superintendent said. “I agree. I don’t mind making a promise with someone doomed to die. Besides, in the end, I'm going to assimilate you and see what your special powers are. The fact that you healed someone I hit with the Soul-Seizing Psyche-Exterminating Grand Palm shows that you definitely have some unique abilities.”

“So, you agree to the bet? Great.” Yang Qi chuckled. “In that case, let’s begin.”

Truth be told, this junior superintendent was so strong that, without drawing on his magical treasures, Yang Qi wasn’t sure he could defeat him. However, it was a good opportunity to push his energy arts to the limit and see what they were really capable of.

Regardless of what happened, this was going to be a spectacular battle.