Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

In the briefest of moments, everything turned around.

Moments ago, the domineering members of the Crown Prince Society had Yang Qi surrounded, and were preparing to attack with full force. But then, Gu Fenxian ended up being captured, Jiang Fan was stomped into the ground, and Song Haishan was crushed.

The Crown Prince Society’s battle formation was completely routed.

As for those members who had been about to flee, when they heard Yang Qi’s words, they froze in place, not daring to move. Even worse, Yang Qi unleashed a deadly manifestation of Humanoid True Energy, which instantly locked down onto all of their auras.

Instantly, they could tell that this Humanoid True Energy was something they couldn’t possibly hope to fight against.

However, one of the students present was apparently unconvinced.

“I'm leaving, and nobody’s gonna get in my way!” he said, flying up into the air. A moment later, the Humanoid True Energy appeared above him, smashed its hand down, and knocked him out of the sky, nearly killing him.

The man was a Tertiary Lifeseizer, and yet, he was slammed into the ground with seemingly no effort by the Humanoid True Energy.

Yang Qi had killed Jiao Wufeng, a powerful Quinary Lifeseizer, and had then absorbed his demon core and used it to gain access to the power of sixty ancient megamammoths. Not even the Quaternary Lifeseizer Jiang Fan was a match, let alone this weaker student.

“A bunch of useless dogs and chickens,” Yang Qi growled. “You really want to keep pushing my buttons?” Looking around at the cowering students, Yang Qi suddenly realized that he had the entire situation completely under control.

This was power.

This was respect.

In the world he lived in, respect came only with enough power.

Nodding in satisfaction, he moved his foot off of Jiang Fan. Jiang Fan struggled to extricate himself from the soil, looking completely different than he had moments ago. As of now, he was bedraggled and covered with dirt, making him seem more like a beggar than a powerful Lifeseizer.

“What energy art was that?” he said, still hardly able to believe that he had been beaten. “My Starry River Zodiac Cyclone Art is widely known for having incredibly powerful true energy! Even a Quinary Lifeseizer shouldn’t be able to defeat it so easily. Who exactly are you? A lowborn commoner like you shouldn’t be so strong! You must have been parasitized by a hellion or a monster. I'm going to report this to the institute, and demand you be investigated!”

“Still struggling with delusions of grandeur?” Yang Qi said, once again planting his foot on Jiang Fan’s chest. “Don’t you understand the situation you’re in?” Then he sent some true energy into Jiang Fan’s meridians, causing him to scream from the pain, making him sound like a pig going to the slaughter. “Whether you believe it or not, I’ll cripple your energy arts if I have to. Then your entire life of cultivation will have been a complete waste.”

It was only at this point that an expression of fear overtook Jiang Fan’s face. “Alright, I believe you. Let’s talk this through. We're from the Crown Prince Society, aren’t you afraid of the Crown Prince?”

“The Crown Prince? Me afraid of him? Isn’t he the one looking to cause trouble for me? I don’t have any grudge with your Crown Prince Society. You’ve brought this upon yourselves. Actually, I think I should probably be a bit more vicious!” Yang Qi looked down at Jiang Fan, his eyes glinting with sinister light.

“Okay!” Jiang Fan blurted. “I promise not to cause any more trouble for you! This is all our fault! Let’s just pretend none of it ever happened.”

“You can’t let him off the hook, Elder Brother Jiang Fan!” Song Haishan suddenly shrieked. “I refuse to believe that he’ll actually cripple your energy arts! Isn’t he afraid that the institute will punish him? Hurting fellow disciples is a big crime!”

BAM!

Yang Qi waved his hand, sending a blast of energy to smack Song Haishan right across the side of the face, sending blood and teeth flying. “You don't have the right to participate in this conversation, Song Haishan. After I'm finished dealing with Jiang Fan, it’ll be your turn. You think I wouldn’t dare to cripple him? All of this was started by you people, and the institute will take that into consideration. For me, it's simply self-defense. Besides, the institute knows that I'm a genius with a high cultivation base. You really think they would just get rid of someone like that? As for the Crown Prince Society, all I have to do is join one of the other societies, and then you won't be able to do anything about me. Your Crown Prince isn't going to commit a heinous crime by murdering me in the middle of the institute, is he?”

Yang Qi waved his hand, sending out a stream of true energy.

C-C-CRACK!

Popping like that of fireworks echoed out inside of Jiang Fan as one of his meridians was destroyed.

Jiang Fan’s eyes went slack as he realized that Yang Qi really was preparing to cripple his energy arts. And being a cripple like that would be worse than being dead.

Before that could happen, he suddenly shouted, “Fine, Yang Qi! What do I have to do to get you to let me go?”

Meridians could be healed by the use of spirit medicines and special healing techniques. But once one’s sea of energy was destroyed, there would be no hope of recovery.

“Oh?” Yang Qi said, holding his energy in place. “You want me to let you go? That can be done.”

“What do you want?” Jiang Fan said, his heart suddenly burning with hope. “We can swear oaths to abandon any thoughts of revenge. We can keep the events of today completely secret.”

“I don't trust a word that comes out of your mouth,” Yang Qi replied. “The only way to resolve this situation is for you to provide me with a blood tribute.”

“Blood tribute?” Jiang Fan said, stunned.

“That’s right. A blood tribute.” Yang Qi’s eyes glittered. “The choice is up to you. One option is to have your energy arts crippled by me. I'm not a kindhearted person, and considering how far things have gone here, it’s only natural that I’d want to cut the weeds and eliminate the roots. Why wouldn’t I just kill all of you to make sure there were no witnesses? Good thing for you I don’t go around killing people left and right. However, I can’t just let you go, right? You need to do something to earn my trust. You need to get your hands dirty.”

“Just tell us what you want us to do, alright?” Jiang Fan said, his heart already beginning to sink.

“Kill Song Haishan!” Yang Qi shouted. “And Gu Fenxian too! All of you! Cut them down. Do it together, and do it quickly. That is the blood tribute I demand. Personally kill the two of them, and then I’ll believe you won’t spread word of what happened today. Then, all of you can leave.”

“W-what?” Jiang Fan said, so astonished he could hardly speak. Never in his wildest imaginings could he have guessed that Yang Qi would be so vicious! He was proving true the old saying, all great men are ruthless. The blood tribute he required was that the other students personally kill Song Haishan and Gu Fenxian. If they did something like that, they would never be able to take it back.

At this point, a Secondary Lifeseizer named Huang Hong shouted, “Yang Qi, you cruel villain! I can’t believe you would demand a blood tribute like that. If we killed Gu Fenxian and Song Haishan, we would be doomed! Not only would we be responsible for covering up the truth, you could threaten to reveal the secret at any time! There’s no way we’ll agree to something like that! I’ll never agree to kill someone. If you’ve got what it takes, just go ahead and violate institute rules to cripple me! There’s no way you’d dare to do it! If you've got the guts, then just—”

“What did you just say?” Yang Qi interrupted, his voice as cold as ice. “I dare you to repeat it!” Then he began to walk toward Huang Hong.

Huang Hong clearly wasn't willing to back down. Staring snidely at Yang Qi, he said, “Ah, come on, Yang Qi. That same act? I'm not buying it anymore. You're completely screwed here, and yet you’re still struggling to escape? You think that talking tough will scare us? You think we’ll really give in and give you your blood tribute? I’ll tell you what, if you forced us to do something like that, neither the Crown Prince Society nor the institute itself would let you off the hook. Maybe you could escape somehow, but not your family, friends, and brothers. And what about your aunt, Yang Susu? She would be punished too. And thus, I refuse to believe that you’ll do anything.”

“That’s exactly right!” Song Haishan shouted. “I also refuse to believe. Even if you had three heads, six arms, and eighty-one lives, there’s no way you would dare to hurt us. Don’t fall for his bluff, everyone. Just wait and see what he actually dares to do!”

“How heinous of you, Yang Qi!” Gu Fenxian said. The mere mention of the ‘blood tribute’ had caused flames of fury to dance in his eyes. “You actually want the other members of the Crown Prince Society to put us to death? I don't care how things turn out today, I can guarantee that my Gu Clan is going to wipe the Yang Clan off the map!”

Clearly, there was no way his hatred of Yang Qi could ever be eliminated.

“Well, are you going to do it Yang Qi? If you've got what it takes, then start with me!” Huang Hong laughed loudly. “I know you cultivate some sort of devil technique, and are hiding your true strength. But institute rules still apply here. If you do anything to us, your friends are going to get dragged into it. Think it through, man! We're giving you a chance right now to reveal your secrets, and—”

Snap!

Suddenly, a spear stabbed into his chest.

He looked down in shock, then looked back up the length of the spear to see Yang Qi holding it. Expression flickering with both incredulity and pain, he said, “Y-you… you killed me…?”

“You were working harder than anyone to piss me off. Who else would I kill?”

Yang Qi rotated the Infernal Deity Spear, causing a burst of true energy to surge into Huang Hong.

Suddenly, Huang Hong exploded into bits, and all of the true energy inside of him was sucked into the spear.

Huang Hong, Secondary Lifeseizer and elite student, was completely wiped out of existence by Yang Qi’s Infernal Deity Spear.

He hadn’t even been able to fight back.

Everyone looked on in mute shock. The only thing that remained of Huang Hong was an echoing scream of anguish, and even that faded away. Not a single shred of evidence was left behind to indicate that Huang Hong had ever existed.

As of this moment, everyone present realized how vicious and merciless Yang Qi could be.

As for Song Haishan and Gu Fenxian, moments ago they had been yelling angrily, but now, they simply looked on with ashen faces.

“Since you refused to give me a blood tribute, I decided to give one to you.” Brandishing the Infernal Deity Spear, he said, “You think I'm worried about how this will play out? Sorry, but I’m not. When it comes to killing people, I don't hesitate. To me, nothing is taboo.”