Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Wow! Two major experts are going to fight it out!”

“These two are truly invincible masters. One’s the chief of the buddha dragons from the Dragonfolk, and the other is one of the Four Emperors of the Heavenly Court. This is going to be like a war between dragons and tigers. I wonder who will win.”

“I'd say it will be Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. That Dragonfolk chief might be strong, but the Grand Emperors were the ones who founded the ancient Heavenly Court!”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends in a draw with both of them hurt and drained of vital energy. Then maybe the rest of us will have a shot at winning the title of league-lord. How lucky would that be?”

“It won’t be as simple as that. People like this understand mysteries known only to heaven, and are essentially invincible. They carefully plan everything out before taking action, so there’s no way they’ll both end up hurt. Besides, the fact that Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven is here implies that the other three Grand Emperors might show up. Grand Emperors Myriadmagic Heavenspan, Ninelimits Paragon, and Heavenearth Vastocean. Do you really think you would be able to take the position of league-lord with them around? None of us old-timers are going to become league-lord, mark my words.”

“Forget the position of league-lord. But there are still the two emissaries, nine dharmarajas, and twenty-four god-generals. They’re all going to be positions of incredible power.”

“There will be fierce fighting for those positions too. The Dao Defense League is in such disorder that I originally assumed it wouldn’t be possible for a league-lord to unite everything. But now that we’re dealing with Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, things are different. Not even the leaders of the thirty-third ranked immortal worlds would be a problem for him. They’ll have no choice but to listen to his orders. He's going to be a person so powerful it's hard to imagine. He was without equal back in the ancient Heavenly Court, so just imagine how things are going to be now.”

Everyone was very excited to see how this fight would play out between Buddha Shakya-Karma and Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven.

It was a contest the likes of which would occur once every few hundred million years or so.

Furthermore, there was no way they would reach a compromise. Obviously, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was not going to back down from the challenge.

Without any warning, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven blurred into motion, appearing a moment later on the stage. “I accept your challenge, Buddha Shakya-Karma,” he said. “Let’s see which of us has a better cultivation base nowadays. I'm honestly surprised that you would issue a challenge directly. Have the Dragonfolk started to gain back some of their courage of yesteryear?”

“Fine, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. Please, give me a few tips.”

Buddha Shakya-Karma didn’t beat around the bush. Without hesitation, he launched a palm strike, his fingers curled like dragon claws, and glowing with golden light.

“I, Buddha, Interrogate Heaven!”

Everything trembled and creaked, as though the pillars holding up heaven were about to crumble. It was already clear that Buddha Shakya-Karma’s divine abilities vastly surpassed those of his son's.

As for Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, he simply looked at the incoming palm strike and thrust out his own palm. There didn’t seem to be anything special about his move, but when the two palms collided, Buddha Shakya-Karma staggered backward, while Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven simply stood there unmoving.

Everyone marveled at the strength on display. Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven had won the initial clash, but Buddha Shakya-Karma obviously wasn’t ready to back down yet. In fact, he advanced. Truth be told, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was somewhat shocked. Although his move moments ago had seemed unimpressive, the truth was that he had secretly imbued it with first-class magical laws and godpower related to fire. It was a blow that would have turned almost any other opponent into ashes.

Yet Buddha Shakya-Karma not only negated its effects, but immediately went back on the offensive. He was really unimaginably strong.

Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven knew that he couldn't afford any slipups, so he decided to go all out. He immediately let loose a whole string of palm strikes that were filled with the fury of gods and strong enough to shake the dome of heaven.

Buddha Shakya-Karma was also holding nothing back. He used palm techniques, claw attacks, fist strikes, and more. He slapped, shoved, and stabbed. He seemed to slip in and out of countless universal dimensions, with each small step capable of moving millions upon millions of light-years.

He moved so swiftly that it was almost impossible to track his movements.

However, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was able to lock on to him and launch palm strike after palm strike, causing bursts of flame to fill the area.

This wasn’t the same fire as that of the five phases. It was a fire that represented civilization. After all, of all the countless civilizations that existed, none could exist without fire. The core meaning of that fire indicated that Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven would eventually join the legion of gods, as only the gods could create new civilizations.

“Buddha and I Combine!” Buddha Shakya-Karma said. He could see that he was losing ground, and he most likely wouldn’t be able to defeat Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. Yet how could he just give up? He had planned for this moment for a long time, and wasn’t willing to cast aside all that work. Drawing more deeply on his ferocious nature, he tapped into the power of the primeval past.

The will of a buddha appeared, almost like the blessing of the legion of gods. It was a dao from the most primeval of times.

He swept his hand out in front of him and a host of universes appeared! It was like the duel had turned into a universal clash of the most epic proportions.

A fist strike that could connect parallel universes was definitely something that seemed like the work of the legion of gods.

“Hmm?” Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s expression flickered and he unleashed a furious combination of palm techniques that contained the power of creation itself. Every step he took could melt universes, and his blows all caused something akin to lava to splash out.

Abilities that could refine universal primal-chaos and turn it into a physical object were extremely rare. As Yang Qi watched the fight play out, he couldn’t help admiring the two combatants. And by observing with his Lord's Eye, he could see energy arts operations and magical laws much more clearly. As a result, he gained new levels of understanding in areas that had previously been unclear.

Right now he was only a third division Incarnated God, with plenty of room for improvement when it came to enlightenment. Thankfully, this fight was proving to be a huge help. He had the feeling that by the time it was over, he might reach the enlightenment level of the Shattered God level, or possibly even the Nirvanic God level.

Given some time, he would definitely achieve another breakthrough.

‘What’s that?’ At a certain point, Yang Qi realized that Buddha Shakya-Karma had something inside of him that was reminiscent of Empress Jadefall’s godspore. There was a mighty will in him and it caused every ounce of him to glow with a golden light.

It was almost as if he had been possessed by a god-spirit, or had at least been directly blessed with power by one. It was something explosive that seemed capable of bursting out into the open at any time.

A few breaths of time passed, then Buddha Shakya-Karma smiled viciously. All of a sudden a mighty will appeared, causing his energy arts to grow more powerful and allowing him to break free from Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s control. “Unless you have some other trick up your sleeve, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, you’ve lost. Did you really think I’d already gone all out? You’re looking at my consummate discipline, the Three World Karma. Past. Present. Future. Three worlds, tied together by the cause and effect of karma! By combining the godpower of the three worlds, I will devastate your soul!”

RUMBLE!

His true energy surged and all the old-timers present felt their vision was growing dim. They were filled with the sensation that they were wrapped up by the karma of three worlds, making it hard to determine if they were currently in the past, the present, or the future.

This was not a technique for immortals, nor was it Buddha Shakya-Karma’s personal power. This was something from the legion of gods. Either that, or it was something from a buddha who was on the same level as the legion of gods.

Three Worlds Karma!

The vital energy around Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven exploded, and in the blink of an eye he was in a very bad position.

Although no one could clearly see what was happening, everyone was shocked.

“Buddha Shakya-Karma is ruthlessly ambitious. He’s really trying to take out Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven!”

“Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven has lost, badly.”

“He's finished!”

“This is bad. Don’t tell me that the Humanfolk are going to be surpassed by the Dragonfolk! If that happens, they’re going to defecate all over us!”

“Contemptible!”

Meanwhile, Yang Qi knew full well that the Three Worlds Karma was so strong that not even he could stand up to it. It seemed like Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was in a really bad predicament. However, in that moment, three streams of power erupted from Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, combining with his own true energy and advancing it instantly to a much higher level.

It was almost like when Yang Qi’s immortal-slaying clone had joined forces with the seventy-one patriarchs.

“I knew all along what you were up to, Buddha Shakya-Karma. Not only will I not allow you to take away my power within the Dao Defense League, but I'm also going to thoroughly defeat you Dragonfolk! Come forth, ancient Heavenly Court!”

He thrust his palm out and a projection of the Heavenly Court appeared, spreading out to fill the stage. It absolutely crushed the Three Worlds Karma, then slammed directly into Buddha Shakya-Karma’s chest.

“Aggghhhh!” he howled as he was flung off the stage in a blast of wind that caught up all the other Dragonfolk and flung them out of the Heaven-Dao Operation God-Temple.