Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“You don’t need to know who I am,” the masked man replied with open disdain. “You just need to know that I’m about to defeat you. After all, the only thing a loser needs to know is that he’s lost. Nothing more.”

Yang Qi could sense that there was immense power brewing within the man, something that he was obviously prepared to release in a devastating attack. Smiling faintly, Yang Qi said, “You talk big. But the truth is that you’re nervous, otherwise you wouldn’t be hiding your power like this. Go ahead and attack whenever you’re ready. Truth be told, I don’t care what your name is, because you’re right; the only thing a loser needs to know is that he’s been beaten. By me. Nothing more.”

WHOOSH!

Unexpectedly, Yang Qi took the initiative, appearing right in front of the man and reaching out to grab his mask.

Many onlookers gasped in amazement at his display of speed. It was actually a consummate palm technique from the Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art, the Shadowful God Claw, which was said to be so effective it could even kill a person by grabbing their shadow.

Furthermore, once the claw had latched onto someone, they would be incapable of moving.

Considering the current level of Yang Qi’s energy arts and cultivation base, there were very few people in existence who could possibly evade this move. In fact, such people would be as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.

Yet, in shocking fashion, the man in the bronze mask managed to slip to the side and lash out with his arm, which almost resembled a whip as it struck Yang Qi’s outstretched hand.

Gong!

A booming sound rang out from Yang Qi’s hand like a bell, along with vibrations that caused many people to turn pale in the face. Some even coughed up blood.

The blow which had just been struck was so mighty that even an ancient god mountain would likely have exploded from it.

Yet it didn't seem to have any effect on Yang Qi, causing the masked man’s eyes to grow wide with astonishment. Taking advantage of his shock, Yang Qi reached out again, this time reaching toward his opponent’s arm.

However, the masked man quickly withdrew his arm, then whipped his other hand out like an axe preparing to cleave a mountain in half. In response, Yang Qi leaped back to avoid the blow. The truth was that although he hadn’t shown any visible reaction to the blow from moments ago it had stung quite badly. In fact, the divine ability backing it was so powerful that if he hadn’t recently cultivated his Unspoiled Body to the level of three hundred tribulations, he wouldn’t have been able to stand up to it.

What was even more shocking was that this man’s attacks reminded him of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. It almost felt as if he were being attacked by the whipping trunk of the King of Godmammoths.

‘Does this guy also cultivate the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth?’ he thought, shocked. As far as he knew, only the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth that could unleash force such as this. Considering the level of his Unspoiled Body, nothing else could cause him such stinging pain.

However, there was something different about this Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, as though the attack didn't contain the pure strength of the technique. It almost seemed like the hard and unyielding aspects of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth had been transformed so that someone without a God Legion Seal could use it.

‘Don’t tell me.... Is this a subordinate of the bearer of the God Legion Seal from the Primeval Age? Or could he be one of Proud Heaven’s men?’ As Yang Qi pressed his own attack, he realized that the movement of his opponent’s arms resembled two mammoth trunks, but at the same time, two whips. And he moved them with such flowing rapidity that the entire fighting platform was filled with reflections and projections of them.

Intense energy flows filled the platform like wind blades that slashed this way and that.

The experts sitting nearest the platform edged away nervously. Everyone was visibly taken aback.

Suddenly, Huangfu Genesis waved his arm and sent a huge energy field out to cover the fighting platform, preventing the gusts of wind generated by the masked man from reaching the audience. As a result, Huangfu Genesis himself felt as though he were being battered by the attack and could tell how immensely powerful the masked man was.

Yang Qi was also shocked; the masked man’s attacks seemed to grow more and more powerful, as though he would never stop.

Having faced a fist technique and an arm technique from this man, he could tell that he had cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to a very high level, yet didn’t have a God Legion Seal.

There were only two possibilities. The first was that someone had transferred the true energy of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth into him to empower him. The second was that someone had actually taught the energy arts of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to him. In that case, he wouldn’t need a God Legion Seal. Of course, it would have required making changes to the technique, which would make it less powerful than normal. From what Yang Qi could tell, the second possibility was the more likely of the two.

As they fought back and forth, Yang Qi was coming to realize that he had never seen any energy art like this before. It was powerful and mysterious in a way that was similar to Proud Heaven’s techniques, yet it contained profound differences. If he had to guess, he would say that it was actually a combination of the God Legion Seal from the Primeval Age and Proud Heaven’s fighting techniques, mixed together to create a brand new divine ability.

RIP!

Yang Qi’s arm was hit by the masked man’s strange arm technique.

Yang Qi flew backward, and at the same time, the masked man shot toward him to press the attack. It looked as though the two of them were very evenly matched.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the masked man was actually deeply astonished. Ever since he mastered his Mammoth King’s God Whip, he had been completely invincible. Even the most powerful opponents had been forced to either flee or be killed.

Yet here he was fighting someone who wasn’t even in the mid Terrifying level. It was force meeting force, and it caused the masked man to be riddled with disbelief.

After all, only he knew how powerful the Mammoth King’s God Whip really was.

“Hold it!” Yang Qi asked. “What energy art is that? How come it’s so powerful?”

The masked man chuckled coldly. “You should know exactly what energy art it is. What do you think? Having trouble putting your finger on it? I'm going to force you to use your ultimate trump card. If you don’t, you’re going to end up dead!”

“Which world do you come from?” Yang Qi asked. He knew that the man was talking about the God Legion Seal. However, it was also obvious that the man had no idea how strong Yang Qi really was. After all, he was an Inheritor with the Purrfect God Art, who had long since sloughed off the shackles of the God Legion Seal and begun working on his own school of thought. “Are you from the future world or the past one?”

“Keep on guessing, because I'm from neither, but at the same time, from both. I'm going to collect all of your quintessences and combine them to become the mightiest entity that’s ever existed.” By this point, the masked man’s voice was trembling with a touch of madness. “All other people are mere foils to my glory, and that includes you!”

RUMBLE!

The masked man unleashed an explosive kick that also resembled a whip. “Just now, I was only using the portion of my whip technique designed for hands. Next, you can see what my legs are capable of!”

He flew through the air with hands and legs that thrummed with immense power, as if he were a battle puppet designed by the ancient legion of gods. Now, both his hands and his legs were snapping about like whips, causing raging power to reach every corner of the fighting platform as he closed in on Yang Qi.

“Perfect. You’re finally using the full extent of your energy arts. I'm curious to see what you're actually able to do.” Yang Qi watched the blows of the whip technique closing in, and could tell that they were capable of detonating anything they touched. He ripped his two hands through the air in front of him, causing halos to bloom behind his head and the godpower of the Great Necropolis to shoot out. Instantly, the area around him transformed into an impenetrable kingdom of stone.

Then he punched out, causing an enormous fist of stone to hurtle forward to meet the masked man’s whip attack.

This was a contest of nothing but brute force!

Crack!

Huangfu Genesis’ face fell as the energy field he had put up suddenly cracked, and immense energy flows erupted out. Everyone backed away as quickly as possible, with some stragglers moving too slow and being ripped to shreds.

Mu Renwang and Su Xin exchanged a glance, then joined Huangfu Genesis to reseal the fighting platform with another energy shield. None of them could possibly have guessed that the fight between Yang Qi and the masked man would become this terrifying.

Everyone present was bowled over with shock, with the exception of the purrling, who was simply playing in Jadefall’s arms as if it wasn’t interested at all in what was happening around it. Jadefall scratched it behind the ears.

“I sure hope Yang Qi wins this fight,” she murmured.