Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi quickly sent out a projection of Humanoid True Energy that entered the giant leader's sea of energy.

Shivering, the leader looked at Yang Qi and said, “You’re… you’re so vicious….”

“There’s nothing vicious about it. You treated me like an enemy, so I’m treating you like the dog you are. Go and pass my message along. And don’t piss me off; you can’t afford to. Besides, I'm fairly certain I know who sent you to cause trouble for me. It was Yun Hailan, wasn’t it? Well, you can tell her something for me. One of these days, I'm going to pay her back with full interest. And whatever schemes or plots she hatches to deal with me will be nothing more than jokes. No matter how smart she thinks she is, she’s no better than a chicken or dog.”

With that, he waved his hand dismissively.

He wasn’t afraid of causing a scene like this in the institute. After all, conflicts often erupted between students and giants, and as long as no one got killed, the institute would turn a blind eye to it.

Besides, he had just shown them that he was close to the Lifeseizing level, and had also indicated that he would achieve a breakthrough soon.

Once that happened, and he was an elite student, these guards would either have to suck up to him or suffer the consequences. Elite students were far above and beyond ordinary people.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t deserve to be called elite.

The leader of the giants could see the killing intent in Yang Qi’s eyes, and therefore, didn’t dare to say another word. He vanished in a figurative wisp of smoke, clearly terrified of provoking even more hatred.

As for the other giants, they simply prostrated to Yang Qi and remained there unmoving.

Before long, the leader of the guards came back, followed by a young man of approximately twenty-five years of age. He had an imposing bearing, and a very fair face. Looking Yang Qi up and down, he said, “You’re Yang Susu’s nephew? She's been in seclusion cultivating a very important energy art, and cannot be disturbed. However, she told me ahead of time to entertain you if you came. Come, follow me.”

This bossy fellow had an aura that far surpassed the Master of Energy level. One glance would reveal to anyone that he was a Lifeseizer.

Truth be told, other than people like Yun Hailan, everyone in the College of Elite Students was a Lifeseizer.

The Demi-Immortal Institute was the top power in all the Rich-Lush Continent, with as many experts as the sky had clouds. It wasn’t a rare thing at all to see Lifeseizers there.

It was only after arriving that Yang Qi found out his aunt had long since reached the Lifeseizing level, and was in the College of Elite Students.

‘Who is this guy? A friend of Aunt Susu?’

Now that he was finally able to visit Aunt Susu, he had assumed that she would come out to meet him. Never could he have guessed that some bossy man would be the one to escort him in. A bit displeased, and also wary, he followed the man inside.

When the man realized that Yang Qi was walking right next to him, he frowned and stopped in place. Looking very irritated, he raised his voice and said, “The College of Elite Students is filled with all sorts of spell formations and illusory regions. Unless you're a Lifeseizer, it can be a very dangerous place. Considering how weak you are, you’d better stay behind me. No wandering off, and no causing any trouble, you hear?”

“I’ll be fine,” Yang Qi replied calmly. “Those spell formations and illusory regions won’t hurt Lifeseizers, so they probably won't affect me either. If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility.”

“What?” Eyes widening, the man glared at Yang Qi for a long moment. However, Yang Qi didn’t react at all, provoking a sinister smile. “Well then, just be careful.”

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, he blurred into motion, vanishing without a trace.

This area was a maze of corridors and doors that twisted and turned this way and that. The temples were very tall, and covered with murals that featured strange magical symbols and spell formations. Anyone who took a wrong step could find themselves falling into a bottomless pit or worse.

As for the elite student, he was so irritated by what Yang Qi had said that, in his hostility, he simply abandoned him in the hopes that he would get hurt or worse.

After only five breaths of time passed, he had gone through nearly a hundred different corridors, and was deep within the temple area.

At that point, he stopped, flicked his sleeve and gave a cold harrumph. “That reckless idiot is a mere outer campus student! How dare he act so arrogantly? I’ll just leave him back there to do some soul searching. That will save me some effort keeping him in check in the future.”

“Oh, really? These corridors don't seem very dangerous. So what if there are a few illusory regions or true energy barriers? With a high enough cultivation base, dealing with those things isn’t any problem at all.”

The elite student spun to find Yang Qi standing right behind him, looking completely calm. In fact, he was even examining one of the murals on the wall.

“You—!” After that, the man was at such a loss for words that he just made some gurgling sounds.

“Very well, Elder Brother,” Yang Qi replied coolly. “Continue on. I haven't seen my Aunt Susu for ten years now.”

The young man snorted, and looked like he might actually launch an attack to try to assess Yang Qi’s energy arts. After all, he was a powerful Lifeseizer and made it a practice of acting arrogant and bossy around other students. In fact, he viewed them like slaves or servants. To have lost so much face in front of Yang Qi was almost unbearable.

However, after a long moment of consideration, he got his anger into check and continued onward.

As the moments crept by, they went through numerous corridors and past countless temples. Eventually, they came to a stop in front of one in particular. The young man knocked on the door nine times in a row, and the sounds which echoed out from within seemed to come from another world.

CREAK!

The door slowly opened, revealing nothing but darkness, with a spiral staircase ascending up into parts unknown.

“Alright, your aunt is in secluded meditation here. She knows you've come.” Snorting coldly, the young man pointed into the darkness.

“Oh, really?” Yang Qi had already sent his true energy into this particular temple, and got the distinct sensation that it was a very dangerous place. He could even sense the aura of some sort of sealed devil-god.

This was definitely not his Aunt Susu’s secluded meditation chamber. It was obviously a trap!

Licking his lips, Yang Qi gestured at the door and said, “Well, Elder Brother, why don’t you come in with me?”

The young man’s eyes bulged as though he might lose his temper, but then he calmed himself. Smiling viciously, he said, “I have another matter to attend to. You go in on your own.”

“Don’t tell me there’s something dangerous in there?” Yang Qi asked, clasping his hands behind his back. He had no idea why this young man seemed to have it out for him. However, considering that the guards outside had given him a hard time, and now one of the elite students seemed to be targeting him, it definitely meant that someone higher up had issued orders.

‘Could it be Yun Hailan?’ he thought. ‘But she's only a Master of Energy, and doesn’t have much clout in the institute. How could she be issuing orders to a Lifeseizer? Don’t tell me that she has connections to the leadership of the institute. I’ll have to ask Aunt Susu.’

“Cut the crap, you brat. Get in there!”

WHIZZZ!

The young man thrust his palm out, sending masses of true energy raging out to create a powerful energy field covered with palm projections. It was almost like a mountain of palms surging toward Yang Qi.

“You’re right, punk! This isn’t Yang Susu’s secluded meditation chamber. This is the College of Elite Students’ Devil Suppression Cave! We have all sorts of vicious devil-banes here, so get in and enjoy yourself. How dare an outer campus student talk back to me so many times! If I didn’t punish you, my dignity would hit rock bottom! Oh, I might as well tell you that someone put a reward on your head! And I'm collecting it! After you get eaten by some devil-ghost, remember that the person who killed you was me, Ouyang Hu!”

Yang Qi had been waiting for this Ouyang Hu to attack him, and therefore, simply eyed the incoming mountain of true energy and prepared to make a move.

However, it was at that point that a streak of sword light shot through the palaces, radiating a massive gravitational force, and surrounded by a huge energy field. In the blink of an eye, it completely shattered the mountain of true energy.

Then, the sword light transformed into a vortex that consumed the fragmented energy clusters.

“You’ve really got some guts, Ouyang Hu! How dare you harm a family member of mine!” The voice belonged to a woman, and although it was as melodious as a flowing stream, it was also as sharp as a sword.

“Yang Susu!” Ouyang Hu blurted, shivering and backing up as if to flee the scene.

Even as he turned, a woman appeared at the end of the corridor. Waving her hand, she sucked the sword light back into her palm. She was tall and slender, with long legs that made her as graceful and lithe as an immortal crane. Her garb consisted of an aqua-green waistcoat, and her flowing black hair was bound with fiery-red gauze. The contrast between the green and the red was like the contrast between fire and water, or between yin and yang. She looked both calm and profound, like starlight reflected on the waters of a deep well.

Clearly, her cultivation base was on a far higher level than this Ouyang Hu’s.

Calming down a bit, Ouyang Hu, seemingly very confident in his position, said, “This doesn’t have anything to do with you, Yang Susu. Your nephew offended someone who the Crown Prince has taken a liking to, and I'm following her orders. I'm just showing respect to the Crown Prince. Don’t tell me that you’re going to defy him?”