Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Xie Feng looked Yang Qi up and down and then said, “So, you’re Yang Qi?”

“That’s right, I'm Yang Qi.” Yang Qi knew who Xie Feng was in the Crown Prince Society. He was very powerful, and answered directly to the Crown Prince himself. Considering that, there was no way that Yang Qi would go easy on him, and in fact, already felt the itch to use deadly fighting methods.

The members of the Crown Prince Society were bad apples one and all.

Clasping his hands behind him, Xie Feng said, “It’s really a pity. Why does someone with energy arts as good as yours insist on opposing the Crown Prince and his society?”

“I’ve never opposed the Crown Prince Society,” Yang Qi replied. “Yun Hailan betrayed me, and I want her dead. She nearly got everyone in my clan killed, and that's an enmity that must be avenged. The truth is that your Crown Prince Society has been helping Yun Hailan to put pressure on me. What. I'm just supposed to let you walk all over me?”

“That's right. When the Crown Prince Society puts pressure on someone, the proper response is to let yourself get walked over. Anyone who fights back gets killed. Soon, the Crown Prince will be the Son of Heaven, and his will shall become an extension of the will of heaven. As for the Crown Prince Society, we’re loyal to him, not to supposed justice expected by society at large.” Xie Feng’s speech was nothing short of fear-inspiring, and he did nothing to conceal the arrogant and despotic goals of the Crown Prince Society.

“Oh really?” Yang Qi said, his expression turning grim. “Well then, I guess I’ll be fighting your society to the bitter end.”

“Not necessarily. You still have a choice: join us. I know that reaching this level of cultivation isn’t easy, so as long as you become one of us, and cast aside your desire for revenge against Yun Hailan, then I guarantee your troubles will be at an end. Of course, if you insist on being stubborn, then your days are numbered. In fact, I’ll make sure you understand this very day what it means to defy the might of heaven.”

Yang Qi laughed. “Defy the might of heaven? So you put yourself on the same level as heaven itself? Considering how small the Rich-Lush Continent is, how come your little Crown Prince hasn’t taken it over already? Compared to the Quake-Dawn Continent, he might as well be a shrimp larva.”

Considering that Yang Qi now had come to realize how small the Rich-Lush Continent was, he also knew that for the Crown Prince to declare himself like heaven showed him to be nothing more than a frog in a well.

At that point, Xie Feng decided to stop mincing words. Obviously, Yang Qi could not be won over, and therefore, needed to be shown the error of his ways.

“Pig-headed fool!”

He flipped his hand over, causing the vital energy in the area to shatter as a heaven-toppling hand print appeared above Yang Qi. It was like a black hole of vital energy that sucked madly at everything around it, even tugging at the true energy in Yang Qi’s dantian region.

Xie Feng was called the Heaven-Toppler because every move he made was powerful enough to topple heaven and shake the earth.

His true energy was abundant to an inconceivable degree. If it weren’t, he wouldn’t have reached a leadership position in the Crown Prince Society.

Furthermore, he had all sorts of consummate skills and abilities at his disposal.

‘Black hole of vital energy? Cute. Except that my Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth can prevent any true energy loss….’ Snorting coldly in his heart, Yang Qi proceeded to make his move.

The truth was that he had held back a bit when fighting Ao Yiyue. He had not fully drawn on his own staggering reserves of true energy, and had instead relied mostly on the sword technique itself. He had also drawn on the true energy of the Ice-Soul God-Sword and made it seem like his own.

However, the truth was that his most powerful energy art, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, had remained hidden in his sea of energy.

There was no way he could reveal the truth. He couldn’t use the Infernal Deity Spear, Infernal Deity Plate Armor, or Hellfire Crucible. However, he could secretly draw upon the true energy of the technique to make his sword more powerful.

“One sword to exterminate natural law. Two swords to pierce the heavens. Three swords to fracture time and space. Four swords to slaughter the universe….” As he unleashed his sword technique, he pulled true energy from his dantian region and sent it into the Ice-Soul God-Sword, causing it to shine brilliantly.

“If you think my fight with Ao Yiyue showed my true strength, Xie Feng, then you’ve made a big mistake. Do you really think I'm that weak? Do you really think I’ve been relying on the strength of the Ice-Soul God-Sword? Let me tell you, this sword is nothing more than a slave to me!”

Yang Qi knew he couldn’t hold back against a person like Xie Feng, and therefore, he powered his sword energy with the true energy of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Thankfully, not even Legendaries would be able to see the truth unless they sent their own true energy into his dantian region.

SWOOOOSH!

Four streams of heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sword energy shot forth, destroying Xie Feng’s true energy.

“Treacherous villain!” Never in his wildest dreams could Xie Feng have guessed that Yang Qi would actually be this strong. He had assumed that Yang Qi had already pushed himself to the limit, only to realize that what he had witnessed up to this point was only the tip of the iceberg.

“Lord Brahma's Gauntlets!”

All of a sudden, two light-golden gloves appeared on Xie Feng’s hands, exceptionally precious objects covered with complex designs. As a result, he was covered with a golden glow, and even his skin shone with a faint golden color.

It was like he was surrounded by golden clouds as he shoved his hands out in front of him, causing two enormous palm projections to appear. Intense rumbling sounds echoed out with mountain-toppling, sea-draining force as the palms filled the fighting arena and bore down on Yang Qi.

“Mahābrahman Buddhist Palm!” blurted one of the elders in the observation dimension. “This Xie Feng actually cultivates the Mahābrahman Buddhist Palm! It's a consummate discipline that supposedly originated from an ancient Buddhist sect. Each palm contains the power to move mountains and fill in seas. As for Lord Brahma's Gauntlets, they’re a spectacular magical treasure that contains the ancient power of Buddha! Used together, they allow Xie Feng to become one with Buddha, and unleash the mighty power of a god!”

“The ancient Buddhist sects have long since vanished into the sands of history. But Yang Qi is so strong, and has such immense reserves of secret power, that he’s actually forced Xie Feng to use both Lord Brahma's Gauntlets and the Mahābrahman Buddhist Palm.”

“That’s right. There’s definitely some incredible power in Yang Qi’s sea of energy. That’s how he's fueling that sword technique of his. But where did this power come from? How much true energy does he have?”

“This is no ordinary kid.”

The elders watching Yang Qi’s match were completely and utterly astonished.

“I've never used these gauntlets, Yang Qi. You’re the first person I've ever unleashed them on! Normally speaking, only Legendaries deserve to see them. Once Lord Brahma's Gauntlets are out in the open, they must drink the blood of the opponent. Therefore, your blood will be used to consecrate them!”

Xie Feng was actually furious that a nobody like Yang Qi had forced him to use the magical treasure he had kept secret for so long. It was really a huge loss of face for him.

A humiliation.

And the only way to cleanse that humiliation was with blood.

He was like a huge dragon, surging with power, surrounded by roiling winds that caused the air to distort. As he attacked, numerous golden deities appeared around him, dharmic guards in plate armor that were only the size of a finger. As they chanted Buddhist scriptures, they truly made Xie Feng seem like a king of the gods.

He released palm strike after palm strike, which descended on Yang Qi, filled with innumerable deities in plate armor, almost like a mountain of force.

In the face of the mighty attack, Yang Qi simply remained calm and poured true energy into his Ice-Soul God-Sword in preparation to make his move.

“To meet your myriad of divine palm strikes, Xie Feng, I’ll use one sword move. Then you’ll be able to see what true godpower is like.”

Suddenly, Yang Qi’s sword erupted with destructive power as the blade transformed, seemingly becoming a host of ghost-gods from the netherworld, infernal deities tasked with reaping the lives of humans.

The Ice-Soul God-Sword had transformed into a sword crafted to harvest souls.

The truth was that Yang Qi had inserted the Infernal Deity Spear into his sword technique. He couldn’t use the spear openly, but over the past three months, had perfected the technique to use aspects of it with his sword.

The spear technique used with the Infernal Deity Spear was something beyond the compare of the Ravaging Dual Sword Sect’s technique. After all, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was a godly-class energy art. Even the Ravaging Dual Sword Sect’s most secret manuals were only saintly-class.

With his incredible perseverance and willpower, and by reaching out to the God Legion Seal and the golden imp, Yang Qi managed to fuse his spear technique with his sword technique. Although it wasn’t perfect, it was enough to deal with anyone under the Legendary level.

A moment later, the Mahābrahman Buddhist Palm and the Ice-Soul God-Sword slammed into each other.

Dark clouds spread out, which caused the golden deities to shiver in fear, and then explode.

It was as if Yang Qi was an infernal deity, and that every sweep of his Ice-Soul God-Sword was enough to cause all souls in the area to tremble.

His sword technique was now an expression of soul-harvesting beings from the depths of hell, and was nothing like the skills found in the mortal world.

Pop!

His sword slashed through the air more quickly than the eye could track as it headed toward Xie Feng’s forehead. Shocked, Xie Feng immediately backed up and threw his palms up to protect his head.

“What sword technique is that?” he asked.

“The type that can kill you,” Yang Qi replied. He seemed to be striding forward casually, and yet was moving with incredible speed. As his sword sliced through the air, a song of death began to drift about. “The Nightfall Symphony…. Anyone who hears this song, even the legion of gods, will experience the fall of night.”

As Yang Qi unleashed this ultimate sword technique, he suddenly felt as though he could communicate with the golden imp, and was gaining new enlightenment as a result. As his sword technique continued to transform, it slashed into Lord Brahma's Gauntlets, and beyond, into Xie Feng’s hands.