Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had gone so far as to sacrifice the demon core of a Ghost-God fiend-devil, so the explosion it created was almost the same level as the self-detonation of an actual Ghost-God Legendary.

Unfortunately, considering how many powerful greater fiend-devils he was facing, even a blast of that level didn’t count for very much. At the very most, it could open up a bit of space between the various streams of true energy.

And yet, that was all the opportunity Yang Qi needed.

Pouring the power of thirty thousand ancient megamammoths into the pagoda, he sent it hurtling onward, causing screaming sounds to echo out.

BAM!

A Never-Dying fiend-devil lunged in his path, only to be smashed aside as he continued onward toward the Planar Pearl.

“Amazing. This kid is incredible.” The chancellor shook his head. “So many fiend-devils, even a bronzeblaze fiend-devil from a hellish plane, and none of them can stop him. He’s vicious, merciless, and can make snap decisions. I have to say he surpasses even me. Forgetting everything else, he definitely has the temperament to dominate the Rich-Lush Continent. The tiny pond that is the Demi-Immortal Institute definitely can’t handle a big fish like him. If he stays alive, he might even have what it takes to subjugate higher planes of existence.”

More and more fiend-devils were rising up from within the hell monsoon, all of them besieging Yang Qi and the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, trying to stop them from getting close to the Planar Pearl. The Planar Pearl had been created in the days of the Yore-Wilds Continent, by the combined efforts of numerous Great Sages, and even a Demi-Immortal. It was a powerful seal that contained the might of radiance and light, as well as the pure energy of the immortal dao. It was designed to restrain wretch energy and prevent fiend-devils from approaching it. In fact, only by endlessly pouring wretch energy into it had they managed to corrode and restrain some of the radiance and light.

If Yang Qi could get close to the Planar Pearl, then it would make it much more difficult for the fiend-devils to do anything to him.

BOOOOM!

Even as numerous fiend-devils took action, it was possible to see that in the very depths of the hell monsoon, numerous gargantuan beasts were rising up.

They were mountainous in size and clad in armor, like terrifying dragons from primeval times. As they neared, they opened their mouths to belch toxic liquid, and lashed out with immensely long tongues to grab the Grand Emperor's Pagoda.

Caught off guard, Yang Qi could do nothing to prevent one of the tongues from wrapping around the pagoda, which was then dragged into the belly of the beast to be digested.

“Burst!” Yang Qi immediately poured some true energy into another of the pagoda’s formations, the Massive Energy Burst Formation. Numerous streams of air flowed together to make an enormous bubble, which grew larger and larger until the hellish beast exploded, sending flows of energy spattering out in all directions. At the same time, a demon core dropped into Yang Qi’s hand.

The beast had only been in the sixth Legendary transformation. Although it had a personal domain, it was nothing like the bronzeblaze fiend-devil Yang Qi had fought moments ago.

Unfortunately, the slight delay it had caused meant that Yang Qi’s pursuers were catching up.

The Grand Emperor's Pagoda was clearly in bad shape; it was hardly moving, and the glowing layers of spell formation shields were flickering out.

“The time has come,” the chancellor said, remaining riveted on what was happening. “That last blow destroyed most of the pagoda’s spell formations. Yang Qi’s cultivation base just isn’t high enough to power the pagoda for this long. Each one of those shield layers that goes out represents another destroyed spell formation.” Yang Qi seemed like an oil lamp on the verge of flickering out. Unless his powerful backer stepped in to protect him, it seemed a foregone conclusion that he would die.

At this point, the chancellor was preparing to step in to save him. After all, he didn’t want the Grand Emperor's Pagoda to fall into the hands of fiend-devils. Besides, Yang Qi was clearly a top talent, and for him to die would be a big waste.

‘This is the last stretch,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘I have to put everything on the line.’ He circulated his power and glanced at the numerous spatial spell formations that had stopped working. It was a moment of critical danger, and yet, the golden imp had not yet done anything to help him. It was almost as if the God Legion Seal didn’t care at all whether or not he lived or died.

Obviously, it would be foolish to continue to wait around until the Grand Emperor's Pagoda was destroyed. After all, if the God Legion Seal continued to remain inactive at that point, he would be dead.

It wasn't worth it to gamble.

Gritting his teeth, he thought, ‘What a pity I have to resort to this. Alright. Heaven-demon seed! Give me some power!’

All of a sudden, a green seed appeared in his forehead, which he activated to the fullest degree possible. Instantly, a mysterious, mighty power erupted from it, catalyzing his physical body, and instantly pushing his true energy to incredible heights. This was the raw power of a heaven-demon, which despite not being able to match up to Sovereign Lord True Energy, was simply too abundant to describe with words.

RUMBLE!

Power coursed through the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, and all of the weakened shields flared to life. The entire thing glowed more brightly than ever, and there were even some spell formations that had been inactive before, but were now ready for use.

That included some of the formations that would normally require a Great Sage to operate.

The more than two thousand spell formations in the pagoda caused brilliant light to spring up everywhere, neutralizing any incoming attacks. With that burst of strength, Yang Qi continued toward the Planar Pearl.

“Demon power?” the chancellor said, shocked. “How could he also have demon power? Unless I'm mistaken, that must be a heaven-demon seed created by Great Sage Shroud-Heaven. Those things are vile! Once unleashed, they give spectacular, godly power, and yet, transform one into Demonfolk on a substructural level. Once that thing takes hold, it will turn anyone into a greater demon. Where did he get it, and more importantly, why is he using it?”

“He has too many secrets, Father,” the Young Lady said, sighing. “Look, he's reached the Planar Pearl. Let’s see how he gets that power in check, and whether he pours true energy into the Planar Pearl. If he uses heaven-demon true energy, not only would he not repair the pearl, he would provoke a backlash from the will of the numerous Great Sages who created it. He would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.”

“This is the moment of truth, and of ultimate danger. Once the Planar Pearl sucks him dry, the fiend-devils will descend on him.” It was almost as if the chancellor knew exactly how everything would play out. “Years ago when I sent the Crown Prince to try to repair the Planar Pearl, he also got to this point. But he didn’t dare to pour too much of his true energy into it. After the sacrifice became too dangerous, he had to turn and flee.”

‘Whew….’ As Yang Qi entered a new world of radiance and light, he found himself face to face with the enormous pearl, set into the greyspace of the plane itself. It pulsed with pure brightness, with the energy of the immortal dao, something that weakened the devil energy that filled the area, and instantly suppressed the heaven-demon energy on Yang Qi.

It didn't take long for all of that green energy to be shoved back into Yang Qi’s forehead, where it once again took the shape of a heaven-demon seed.

‘It actually worked! Using the heaven-demon seed in just the right moment actually saved my life. And then the power of the Planar Pearl suppressed it right back down into submission.’ The Grand Emperor's Pagoda shrank down to the size of a mote of dust, and then came to rest on the surface of the pearl. Few of the attacks being sent his way were capable of reaching him, giving him at least a bit of time to recover.

Originally, the heaven-demon seed that Young Master Shroud-Heaven had given him, hidden in the five phases treasures, should have entered him and been impossible to drive away. Once he tried to draw on its power, he would have fallen under its control, and eventually become a greater demon that Young Master Shroud-Heaven could have enslaved.

But now, Yang Qi had killed two birds with one stone. Not only had he used the power of the seed to escape the fiend-devils, he had used the power of the Planar Pearl to keep the seed in check.

It was the classic strategy of getting the tiger and the wolf to kill each other. Now he was right where he wanted to be: in front of the Planar Pearl. Unfortunately, that also meant that he was in an even more dangerous situation than before.

Now he needed to send his true energy into the pearl.

If he used too much true energy, he would perish, and yet, if he didn't go all out, he couldn’t accomplish the mission.

‘Regardless, I have to give it a shot. Perhaps the fundamental nature of my true energy will do something unexpected.’ First, he took a bit of time to recuperate, and used the power of radiance and light that shone off the Planar Pearl to heal his injuries. He also stabilized his true energy.

At the same time, the radiance and light that emanated from the pearl was constantly being imbued into the greyspace.

After less than two hours passed, Yang Qi was back to his top state. Because of how he had drawn relentlessly on his true energy during the fighting earlier, he had actually made a bit of progress. Unfortunately, he needed some more external power to reach the point of having the power of a total of fifty thousand ancient megamammoths. Once his soul and his blood were one, he would be able to tear rifts into the void, and become a Space-Void Legendary.

‘So, Planar Pearl, you protect the entire Rich-Lush Continent, and prevent fiend-devils from entering en masse. As a child of the Rich-Lush Continent, it’s my duty to protect my home. Forget about the Demi-Immortal Institute’s mission, I'm not going to let these fiend-devils invade.’

Peering into the pearl, he saw that it was made up of layer after layer, so many dimensions that they were impossible to count. And deep in its core was a shining bundle of radiance and light. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to enter that area.

The Planar Pearl was vastly more powerful than the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. After all, the pagoda had been created by Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, whereas the pearl had been crafted in the days of the Yore-Wilds, by a whole host of Great Sages.

The pearl was connected to the greyspace of the continent itself, and was completely one with the void. It was something similar to the sun or the moon, something so powerful that even after years of assault, and years of battery by hell monsoons, it was still intact. And Yang Qi’s task was to pour his own true energy into it to cleanse it, and restore it to its true luster.

WHIZZZ!

After a moment of thought, he drew on his Sovereign Lord True Energy and sent it into the pearl.

The true energy began to flow out of him like a river, instantly making him feel like he was emptying out.

Yang Qi’s true energy was so abundant that, normally speaking, he could draw on it fully for a whole month without any problems. That was something that not even people in the seventh or eighth Legendary transformation could match. But the Planar Pearl was something of an entirely different nature. It needed so much energy that, within a few breaths of time, Yang Qi realized that he didn’t have enough.

However, there was an upside. His energy was the purest type possible, something that was of the legion of gods. The radiance and light of the Sovereign Lord was something that far surpassed anything which the Planar Pearl could produce.

Therefore, the moment his energy entered the pearl, it vibrated, as though some profoundly ancient will were waking up inside of it….