Sage Monarch

Experts in the ninth Legendary transformations were said to be ‘never-dying’. Cut off an arm, and it would regrow. Cut off a head, and the same thing would happen. Even if you chopped one up into mincemeat, they would still be able to live again.

Their life force and powers of regeneration came because their spirit and soul were ensconced in the void, and were on the very cusp of the Great Sage level.

They were figures who had long since combined all the various aspects of the sun, the moon, the stars, heaven and earth, and all types of ghosts and gods. By using that combination as a furnace, they seized good fortune for their cultivation base, and survived countless tribulations.

The Crown Prince, Young Master Shroud-Heaven, and Hua Tianxiong were such individuals, and were beyond what Yang Qi could handle, even with the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. The final Never-Dying Transformation surpassed the other transformations on an exponential level. In fact, even if Yang Qi reached the third or fourth transformation, he would likely be useless against an opponent like that.

The only way he could possibly fight a Never-Dying Legendary was if he successfully formed his own personal domain, the God Legion Paradise, which was impenetrable to all magic, impervious to all evil, and blessed by the legion of gods.

Of course, even with that level of power, he would still not match up to the Crown Prince.

From what Yang Qi could tell, the Crown Prince surpassed the Never-Dying Transformation. He already had traces of a Great Sage aura, and as such, could actually be referred to as a Half Sage. He was already at the point that certain Great Sages would be incapable of killing him.

That was one of the reasons that no one had been able to keep him in check when he ran rampant.

If the chancellors of the four institutes had attacked him with deadly intent, but failed to kill him, the grudge that would have resulted would have been irreparable. After the Crown Prince recovered, he would definitely have razed the institutes to the ground.

After all, the chancellors all knew that the Crown Prince’s blood and spirit came from a higher plane.

BOOOOM!

Yang Qi’s mind was instantly destabilized, all by the mere presence of the Never-Dying Legendary that had suddenly appeared. And he could do nothing from stopping an enormous palm from flying out and hitting the Grand Emperor's Pagoda.

The hand was the color of bronze, and didn't look human at all; it was the hand of some ancient devil, backed by terrifying, hellish power. As soon as it touched the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, a massive burst of evil power immediately rushed into its depths.

The dimensions inside the pagoda were thrown into chaos, and Yang Qi was powerless to fight back. He was sent flying backward until he smacked into one of the walls, where he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

“Damnation!” he spat, trying to catch his breath. Thankfully, the power of the Sovereign Lord that existed in him helped him to recover rather quickly. Not only did he recover from any injuries, his own true energy was able to harness some of the Never-Dying power that had entered his body to strengthen him a bit.

“Grand Emperor's Pagoda, stabilize.”

Yang Qi quickly stabilized the pagoda, then looked out into the hell monsoon to find an enormous bronze giant there, a fiend-devil clad in bronze armor that was covered with channels of flowing lava. From the look of it, this creature could easily turn the entire world into a lava-filled hell.

‘Bronzeblaze fiend-devil!’ Yang Qi murmured, visibly taken aback. The burning aura of this fiend-devil reminded him of how his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth had been early on; it was like the pure aura of hell.

There was no question about it; this Never-Dying devil was truly from the depths of hell. It was not like the fiend-devils from earlier, who merely came from planes close to hell, and had been infected by wretch energy.

Those types of fiend-devils, and the true hell-born fiend-devils, were different on a substructural level. Because they came from different planes, hell-born fiend-devils could easily kill ten fiend-devils of a similar level who came from less powerful planes.

“Shake with fear, mortal!” the bronzeblaze fiend-devil said, using the purest form of Helltongue. “You should be trembling. To face me should be an honor for you.”

A bronze fist that no one could possibly evade struck out, laced with burning lava.

It slammed into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, once again sending Yang Qi flying.

Next, the bronzeblaze fiend-devil went on to unleash a bevy of fist-strikes, making him seem like an untiring machine of combat. He wasn't even using any energy arts, just raw power. Over and over again, he smashed the Grand Emperor's Pagoda with power from hell that no one could possibly fight against.

As for Yang Qi, he was being battered back and forth in unprecedented fashion, to the point where his meridians and sea of energy seemed to be on the verge of collapsing.

Thanks to the progress he had made with the Physique of the Sovereign Lord, his flesh, blood, meridians, and sea of energy all had dimensional aspects, making it much easier for him to fight people above his level, but the attack he was suffering now simply defied any previous limits he had reached.

‘How could the horde of devils in hell possibly defeat me, someone blessed by the legion of gods? My heart and mind are that of the Sovereign Lord, the leader of the legion of gods. The Sovereign Lord brings radiance and light to the world, and drives away the darkness. Let his eternal kingdom come….’

A higher will within Yang Qi suddenly erupted out, a higher aura that originated with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, something that wasn't willing to be cowed by monsters from hell.

What were hellborn monsters in the end? Bugs to be crushed beneath the feet of godmammoths!

Now, the inheritor of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was being attacked by a low-grade monster from hell, and was struggling to survive. Because of such humiliation, it was in this moment that the true potential of his godly-class energy art was unleashed.

Yang Qi’s will was touched by the will of ancient godmammoths, and thus, he suddenly grew more powerful. In the blink of an eye, the hellish power was vanquished by the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and Yang Qi’s meridians were healed.

Another thousand blows smashed into him, and yet Yang Qi didn’t move. He stood there tall and straight in the middle of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, focusing all his energy on withstanding the onslaught.

Then, when the moment was right, he struck back. The Grand Emperor's Pagoda suddenly began to spin wildly, dodging the burning, bronze fist, and streaking forth to attack the bronzeblaze fiend-devil.

“Mortal! How despicable of you! How dare you evade me, much less fight back….” Enraged, the bronzeblaze fiend-devil smacked the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, sending it flying off into the distance.

‘This is my chance to escape, and also get closer to the Planar Pearl!’ Sending a burst of true energy into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, Yang Qi activated a spell formation to provide a burst of speed. “Time Flows Like Water!”

The Grand Emperor's Pagoda became like a stream of flowing water that sped away from the bronzeblaze fiend-devil.

The fiend-devil howled in fury, apparently to notify other powerful experts who were in between himself and the Planar Pearl.

“Mortal!”

“You low-down scum!”

“Paltry ant!”

“Worm! How dare you approach such exalted hellish beings as us. Prepare to die!”

Numerous powerful auras locked down onto the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, fully ten Never-Dying fiend-devils.

Another huge bronze hand slammed into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, causing it to tilt to the side. Then, a pitch-black, saw-toothed sword sliced deep into the pagoda itself, sending evil energy into it to destroy its spell formations.

“Aiieee! Save me, milord!”

Sadly, Blightczar Manyrivers was in the very location of the attack, and although he was a Space-Void Legendary, not even he could survive such force.

Before, Yang Qi had been able to protect him with the powers of the pagoda, but not any longer. In the blink of an eye, Blightczar Manyrivers perished.

Earlier, Yang Qi had hoped that if Blightczar Manyrivers served him loyally, he could entrust him with the defense of Yanhaven. A Legendary would have been a powerful protector for the city. Unfortunately, now he was dead.

As Blightczar Manyrivers slipped into death, he was joined by Patriarch Frost-Drake.

After all, he was only a Nonary Lifeseizer, and thus, wasn’t even close to Blightczar Manyrivers. Both of them died immediately, and didn’t even leave behind demon cores.

Also in the area of destruction were a thousand spirit weapons, which Yang Qi had acquired from Young Master Shroud-Heaven, and had hoped to distribute them to younger ones in his clan. Unfortunately, the destructive force which bore down on them was too much to handle.

‘Damnation! If I hadn’t been given Mission: Mend Heaven by the chancellor, I wouldn’t be in this situation! Just wait until I get the job done, then I’ll demand that the Demi-Immortal Institute pay me back!’

Holding nothing back in terms of true energy, he tried to dodge back and forth, avoiding the attacks and heading on toward the Planar Pearl. Unfortunately, the attacks were so powerful that the Grand Emperor's Pagoda’s trajectory was destabilized.

He was now facing no small danger. The spell formations of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda were on the verge of shattering, and if they did, there would be nothing to defend from outside attacks. In fact, the fiend-devils would be able to just enter the pagoda and attack Yang Qi physically. If they caught him, there was no doubt that they would skin him alive and turn him into a garment.

There was no time for thought or planning. Calling on his Hell Portal, he summoned masses of monsters, using them as fuel to cover the Grand Emperor's Pagoda with Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World. He even ignited the demon core of the Ghost-God fiend-devil he had recently killed, and used it to power one of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda’s formations.

This formation was called the Disintegration Formation. By using powerful demon cores as fuel, it could cause the power of a grand emperor to erupt out in a mighty attack. In some ways, it was like the self-detonation of a powerful expert.

Right now, Yang Qi didn't hesitate to use his most powerful demon core to fuel that explosion.

As soon as the core entered the formation, the personal domain of a Ghost-God Legendary sprang up around the pagoda, and then exploded. The massive power immediately forced all of the enemies some distance away.

“Wow, mortal, you self-detonated?”

“No! He crushed the demon core of a Ghost-God Legendary!”

“This thing can force a demon core like that to detonate? What a spectacular treasure! I've seen a lot of Great Sage magical treasures, but I've never seen any as powerful as this.”

“Hurry! He’s heading toward the Planar Pearl. We have to stop him!”