Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The chancellor’s gaze pierced from within the Minorcosm World all the way to the Heavendawn Quarry near the western ocean.

The mine was completely locked down, and bursting with demon energy. The chancellor was profoundly insightful, but it didn’t take much observation on his part to realize that the Nine-Heavens Ten-Earths Demon-Devil-Horde World-Ending Grand Spell Formation was too powerful for ordinary people to fight against. Even a Great Sage who ended up caught in it would be in trouble. For the Crown Prince to be stuck in it meant that he was in incredible danger.

Furthermore, Young Master Shroud-Heaven’s cultivation base was no weaker than his. The Crown Prince might have the legacy of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, and have supreme control over the vital energy of the lands, but the spell formation was a game-changer.

The chancellor’s plan had been for the Crown Prince to use the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to push all the way into the Great Sage level. Then, he could have killed any enemy in his path. But in a surprise twist, the noble spirit, the asura, and even the chancellor’s nascent divinity sealing mark had been wiped out.

And now, the chancellor had no way to even know where the pagoda was.

After all, despite having come into possession of it, he had not forged it, had never completely taken it for his own, and could not control it.

‘My plan has failed…. So, will the Rich-Lush Continent experience a major catastrophe now? Apparently so. Did this really happen because of Yang Qi? If he has the pagoda, how do I figure out who’s backing him? If his backer is this powerful, probing for information could bring disaster to the Demi-Immortal Institute. For now, I’ll just watch from the shadows. The Crown Prince won’t die. In fact, this could be good training for him. Perhaps forcing him to wait a bit before reaching the Great Sage level won’t be such a bad thing. And if I intervened right now, there’s no way Great Sage Shroud-Heaven would simply stand by and do nothing….’

Sure enough, he could sense that another powerful entity was watching this duel between two members of the younger generation. Both of the contenders had powerful backers; one was supported by the Hanging Mountain, the other, the Demi-Immortal Institute.

If the chancellor made a move now, Great Sage Shroud-Heaven would do the same. And a fight between two Great Sages could have a profoundly negative effect on the continent as a whole.

Since both Great Sages were tacitly agreeing to refrain from interfering, the only thing to be done was to wait and see how things would play out between the Crown Prince and Young Master Shroud-Heaven.

“Don’t let me down….” the chancellor murmured. Then, he closed his eyes.

Back in the Nine-Heavens Ten-Earths Demon-Devil-Horde World-Ending Grand Spell Formation, the battle raged on between the Crown Prince and Young Master Shroud-Heaven. One had the projection of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, and the other had a consummate demon-god. Both were at the peak of their power, and every time their spear and halberd made contact, massive shock waves exploded out, destroying various areas of the Heavendawn Quarry.

Then, right in the middle of the fighting, the sura power which had been pulsing in the Sura Devil-Eye vanished. Both the Crown Prince and Young Master Shroud-Heaven looked down with visible shock.

‘What?!’ Young Master Shroud-Heaven thought. ‘Thanks to all my work setting up this trap, I knew about the Grand Emperor's Pagoda and the asura. I was planning to use that power to kill him and achieve my goals. How could the pagoda and the asura both have vanished? Is this the Crown Prince’s doing?’

The Crown Prince was similarly stunned. ‘The chancellor snuck the pagoda into there for the purpose of me using it during this fight. With the power of the Demon Sage formation he diverted to that location, the pagoda should have absorbed the asura and vanquished the noble spirit. Then I could have used the power of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush’s legacy to absorb the treasure. How could it have vanished? Did Great Sage Shroud-Heaven do this? Have I fallen into a real trap this time?’

Although Young Master Shroud-Heaven had experienced somewhat of a setback because of the disappearance of the pagoda, the Crown Prince had it worse off. As long as he didn't get the pagoda, Young Master Shroud-Heaven still had the advantage in the fight, thanks to his overall control of the spell formation. And it would be very difficult for the Crown Prince to escape.

‘The Crown Prince is definitely not the one who caused the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to vanish!’ Young Master Shroud-Heaven thought. Obviously, if the Crown Prince had been the one to take it, he would have instantly become more powerful. Instead, he was looking around nervously, seemingly seeking an opening to escape from the spell formation.

In that moment, Young Master Shroud-Heaven realized that the Crown Prince’s plan had been foiled, and that he wanted to flee.

Chuckling, he said, “Your plan failed, didn’t it Crown Prince? My father knew all along about your chancellor’s scheme with the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. You two thought that hiding it here would be your ticket to defeating me? Well, that pagoda is now buried in the depths of my Demon Sage formation. And soon, you will be too!”

He then looked on eagerly to see how the Crown Prince would respond to his threats.

“Even if you do have the Grand Emperor's Pagoda now, it won’t do you any good,” the Crown Prince replied. “I'm invincible! Not just in the Rich-Lush Continent, but also in the universe at large!” As he stood there proudly, he looked like a god of battle, a warrior who could never possibly be beaten in battle. “The Grand Emperor's Pagoda is a mere material possession. Not having it is actually better. I will use my own strength to connect with heaven and break all shackles! The Great Sage level is only the starting point for me! I will defy heaven!”

RUMBLE!

His dual-crescent-bladed halberd pierced through the air toward Young Master Shroud-Heaven.

“Son of Heaven’s Godfist; Son of Heaven’s Horoscopy. The Son of Heaven controls the cosmos, and will unite all the lands!”

Young Master Shroud-Heaven was caught off guard, and staggered backward under the force of the attack.

Clearly, he was shocked that the Crown Prince had actually been hiding his true strength. However, at least he had confirmed that the Crown Prince didn't have the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. Feeling a bit more confident, he calmed his heart and smiled in vicious fashion.

“You will die this day, Crown Prince. You think some idle threats will help you beat me? What a joke! Heaven-Demon Spear Art! Heaven-Demon Descends!”

As Young Master Shroud-Heaven went through the initial forms of what was obviously a consummate spear technique, a vortex sprang up around the tip of the weapon. At the same time, a long, sharp horn sprouted from his head.

“Ghost-God Transformation. Astral-Star Transformation. Never-Dying Transformation! Come forth, Heaven-Demon Domain!”

RUMBLE!

Massive amounts of true energy exploded out of him to create a personal domain, which was none other than the Heaven-Demon Domain. Countless daemons appeared within it, and the demon energy which surged out caused Young Master Shroud-Heaven to look like the picture of a demon-god.

The sixth Legendary transformation was when one could create a domain, a unique dimension in which one could be virtually invincible. Normally speaking, an enemy would have to spend ten times as much effort to make any successful attack on an enemy protected in that way.

Furthermore, Young Master Shroud-Heaven’s domain benefited from the Demon Sage formation, and was even stronger than normal. Within a few breaths of time, it negated all of the Crown Prince’s attacks.

“Heaven-Demon Domain? I’ll break that too!” The Crown Prince strode forward, sweeping his halberd through the air, using a mysterious technique that caused numerous streams of light to slash through the air, slamming into the domain, and instantly damaging it visibly.

“The Son of Heaven wields a halberd to wage war in the four corners of the earth!” It almost seemed as if this halberd technique of the Crown Prince was enough to defeat and even kill Young Master Shroud-Heaven.

“Feeling suicidal, Crown Prince? Sura Secret Magic! Grand Asura Undying Technique! Demon Dao. Devil Dao. Demon and Devil Combined!”

Blood-colored light surged into the sky, making Young Master Shroud-Heaven even more intimidating than before.

“You're stuck in my spell formation, Crown Prince, and there’s no way you’ll escape!” Meanwhile, some distance away, deep in the sea of clouds, the Grand Emperor's Pagoda floated there, Yang Qi still inside. The pagoda's aura was now masked, and it was invisible. Now, Yang Qi realized that the inside was a dimension very much like his thumb-ring of holding.

There were even areas that were so profound and mysterious that he couldn’t reach them.

Furthermore, he now knew that he actually couldn’t control all of the marvelous aspects of the pagoda. He simply didn’t have enough true energy. Even just using it to escape the spell formation had wasted more than half of his reserves.

Back in the location of the fight between the Crown Prince and Young Master Shroud-Heaven, the thick clouds that covered the area made it impossible for outsiders to observe the battle. However, Yang Qi could use the powers of the pagoda to pierce that barrier and observe, although it did involve further drainage of energy.

Normally speaking, not even ten Nonary Lifeseizers combined would be able to control the Grand Emperor's Pagoda like this. Even Legendaries in the second transformation would have difficulty doing so.

The fact that Yang Qi could control it now was remarkable to say the least.