Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had been preparing and building up power, and now, thanks to this hell monsoon, he was finally making a breakthrough to another level.

Originally, he had assumed it would take several months of work to reach the Spirit-Soul Transformation, but as it turned out, seven days and nights of fighting pushed him to the level he needed. And it was all thanks to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

And now, a sea of lightning was forming overhead. Within it writhed dragons, snakes, and beasts of all kinds, bursting with killing intent, surrounded by the chanting of god-spirits.

This was only happening because of the unique nature of Yang Qi’s psychic tempest.

This tribulation lightning was many, many times fiercer and more powerful than anything Yang Qi had faced before. There were even lightning gods with axes and other weapons, ready to chop Yang Qi to pieces.

And yet, he just stood there in the midst of the lightning, not moving an inch. Behind him, an enormous godmammoth appeared, who simply inhaled all of the ‘water’ of the sea of lightning. As it did, it transformed into a lightning mammoth surrounded by a river of sparks and electricity.

Mysterious changes immediately began to occur to Yang Qi as he stepped into the Spirit-Soul Transformation. The Grand Emperor's Pagoda rotated above his head, sending out vibrations that caused the space around him to shatter like a mirror.

And because of how the godmammoth had absorbed the lightning, particles began to awaken in him like crazy. One thousand particles. Two thousand. Three thousand…. Before, he had two thousand, but now, he increased it by a full three thousand to five thousand. All of them were like megamammoths formed from true energy, like a bizarre scene from the most primeval times when the megamammoths ruled supreme.

In antiquity, there were hosts of demons that existed, and yet, the Mammothfolk were not considered to be part of the Demonfolk. They were the descendants of the godmammoths, and were thus holy and god-like. In fact, they were often raised by the god-spirits of the ancient world.

As for this new host of mammoths, they didn’t have a scrap of demon energy, but instead, were completely holy.

The Young Lady made sure to memorize every detail of what she was seeing so that she could report it to her father.

Yang Qi didn't care. He had reached the point where he was done keeping secrets. Perhaps people would be able to guess what type of energy art he cultivated because of things like this, but at the moment, it wouldn't become widespread knowledge. At the most, the chancellor would be in on the secret.

In any case, it was past the point where he could hide his true technique.

Back in the Lifeseizing level, he had been able to rely on his sword technique to fool people. But now that he was a Legendary, trying to rely on that technique would only get him killed.

The Cosmic Sunflare Sword, Moonset Hyperlunar Sword, and Ravaging Dual Sword technique were not the proper tools to use his true abilities. Although they could still be useful, compared to the Infernal Deity Spear, they were too weak.

With the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, he could crush anyone who got in his way.

And that was even more the case now that he had succeeded with the Spirit-Soul Transformation.

The power of five thousand ancient megamammoths was almost beyond comprehension; it was the type of power that could literally level mountains and drain seas.

Of course, he had only scratched the surface of his ultimate potential. Eventually, he would be strong enough that the Rich-Lush Continent was like a speck of dust to him, something he could simply toss into the sun to destroy it if he wanted.

That was power that surpassed even the Great Sage level.

“Congratulations, Yang Qi,” the Young Lady said. “You achieved another breakthrough. You're a Spirit-Soul Legendary now. Once you reach the third Legendary transformation, you’ll be able to truly use the powers of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. You’ll be able to break through many types of godwardings, and create your own rich and lush kingdoms within the void. Furthermore, you’ll be able to cast the domain inherent to the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, the Rich-Lush Domain.”

“What?” Yang Qi asked, shocked. “When I'm a Space-Void Legendary I’ll be able to use the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to summon a personal domain?”

“Of course. What, you think that the fabled Grand Emperor Rich-Lush’s most powerful magical treasure is just a chunk of bronze? Your cultivation level is too low to unleash its full potential, that’s all. If I had it….” From her tone of voice, it seemed she thought that Yang Qi having the Grand Emperor's Pagoda was a big waste. “Well, let’s just say that the Crown Prince wouldn't be the number one figure in his generation. Nor would he be the next chancellor.”

‘So, that’s how it is,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘If I reach the Space-Void Transformation, I actually can use the pagoda’s domain, which is called the Rich-Lush Domain. Well, it won’t be as good as the God Legion Paradise, but I guess having at least one domain is better than nothing.’

The God Legion Paradise would come with the sixth Legendary transformation, a pure land of the legion of gods, a kingdom of light that could crush all other domains.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to say how many months or years it would take to reach that point. Right now, Yang Qi was in the second transformation. He had a powerful soul, and a fleshly body that was like the Sovereign Lord’s, but he still couldn’t pierce through the void on his own.

After looking around, Yang Qi said, “I've wiped out all the fiend-devils from this part of the hell monsoon. Let’s continue on.” As for the hell monsoon itself, it stretched through numerous aspects of space-time, and was not something that Yang Qi could stop.

Not even sun flares or spatial tempests could compare to hell monsoons.

Their power could eat away at the most powerful of magical sealings, and would inflict damage that could not easily be recovered from.

“Your luck is bad, Yang Qi,” the Young Lady said, shaking her head. “This hell monsoon couldn’t have come at a worse time. Thanks to it, the sealing mark is now even worse off than ever. It's going to be ten times as difficult to repair it as before. Hurry up and call on your Great Sage for help. Otherwise, you’ll never accomplish the mission, and my father will be forced to punish you for killing Grand Elder Feat-Virtue.”

Yang Qi chuckled coldly. “It's obvious that your father sent me on this mission to try to force me to reveal who my Great Sage backer is. And if I don’t have one, he’ll crush me, take the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, and give it to the Crown Prince.”

“Well, of course,” the Young Lady replied, not bothering to try to deny it. “We live in a world in which power and resources count for everything. Without them, you’re dead. If you’ve been stirring up trouble in the Demi-Immortal Institute without a Great Sage to back you, then you’ve been living on borrowed time. If you do have that backing, then your actions can be considered justified.”

Yang Qi shook his head sadly. “Ai…. Public morals are degenerating with every day that passes. People just aren’t like they used to be in the old days. The Demi-Immortal Institute is losing its right to provide enlightenment to the masses, and set the compass of morality. If I ever end up taking over the institute, I’ll definitely enact a plan of reform and inspiration.”

“Cut the crap. Go repair that seal. Now that you're a Spirit-Soul Legendary, you should be able to see the sealed area up ahead, and which parts are damaged.”

“Let me see….” Yang Qi opened his Lord's Eye, and instantly, the layers of mist that had surrounded him vanished, and he saw the endless spatial tempests and boundless devil energy. As for the devil energy, it came from howling fiend-devil counts, Legendary experts who seemed to be searching for targets. Yang Qi could also sense numerous locations off in the distance that seemed to be locked down with magic. There was also one particular area that currently surged with massive amounts of devil energy.

That final location was the origin of the hell monsoon, a place that had been sealed by ancient Great Sages. Unfortunately, the seal had been corroded through the years until it was possible for things like the hell monsoon to pass through it.

As he neared, the damaged areas became visible. Beyond the openings were other planes of existence, continents and small worlds that were filled with monsters, most of whom were focused on destroying the sealing marks to a further degree. To repair the damage, Yang Qi would have to get much closer, and thus, face more danger.

Most likely, those nests of devils would have monsters in the eighth or ninth Legendary transformation. No wonder the Crown Prince had failed to repair the sealing marks. 

As Yang Qi assessed the situation, his expression flickered. It was obvious that he simply wasn’t strong enough to do what was being asked of him. Perhaps the God Legion Seal would be strong enough to destroy all the fiend-devils in question, except, he couldn't actively wield the God Legion Seal. All he could do was wade into the action, try to avoid being killed, and hope it activated.

However, that would be taking a huge risk, and Yang Qi didn't like taking unnecessary risks. He liked to be confident in the outcome of whatever he did.

What if he got into a deadly situation, and the God Legion Seal didn’t activate? What would he do? Just die?

Unfortunately, he didn't see any other options.

He simply had to brace himself, and advance.

Looking at the dense devil energy, he thought, ‘I’ll give it a shot. But I can’t do this kind of thing again. My hand is being forced, all thanks to the Crown Prince and the chancellor. However, I guess I can consider it training. Let’s see how far I can push the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.’