Sage Monarch

There were a lot of grand elders present, but not Holy Daughter Manyflowers, which gave Yang Qi a very sinking feeling. Back when he had left for the Western Continent, he had arranged for her to take over as the new Grand Elder Feat-Virtue. Unfortunately, he had noticed earlier that someone else was wearing the uniform of that position. It seemed highly likely that Holy Daughter Manyflowers was suffering because of Yang Qi, and that was something he couldn’t stand for. 

As far as he was concerned, the Demi-Immortal Institute was full of ungrateful curs. Maybe they were the most powerful organization in the Rich-Lush Continent, but he had been to the Western Continent and the Quake-Dawn Continent, which had been a very eye-opening experience. At this point, he didn't care about the institute at all, and in fact, had decided that doing things on his own would be the best course of action.

He would build the Sage Monarch Society into a powerful organization of its own, one that could rule all heaven and earth.

Instantly, the chancellor’s gaze became sharp enough to slice open heaven, and pierce directly into Yang Qi’s heart.

“What? You want to formally leave the Demi-Immortal Institute?”

“That’s right. There’s no reason for me to stay around any longer. Let’s be straight: you're the chancellor, and yet not even you act in a fair and impartial way. Everything you do is to benefit the Crown Prince. Look, I'm not interested in fighting with you people, although I will kill the Crown Prince sooner or later.” Yang Qi emphasized all of his main points by jabbing his index finger in the chancellor’s direction.

Immediately, the grand elders began shouting with righteous indignation.

“What incredible gall!”

“How dare you!”

Ghost Emperor Yama glanced at them and then rolled his eyes. “Do you insects want to die? Ants clamoring. That's all you are. Don’t spoil my mood, you’ll regret it.”

In the blink of an eye, the prime elders became as quiet as mice.

Not the chancellor though. “As a holy neophyte, you know full well that your heart and soul belong to the institute. You live as a member of the Demi-Immortal Institute, and you’ll die as one. If you formally leave, you’ll become a rebel and a traitor, and no matter how long you live, we’ll go all out to kill you. And that includes me.

“In the entire history of our institute, never once has a holy neophyte done something like this. Each and every one would die to maintain the glory and honor of our organization. You could commit no worse crime. After all, if you left, and we didn't kill you, then our position in the Rich-Lush Continent would suffer horrendously, and we would become the ultimate laughingstock.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi didn’t seem frightened at all by the chancellor’s glare. Instead, he seemed to be glowing with holy light. “Compared to the glory of the legion of gods, the reputation of the Demi-Immortal Institute isn't even worth mentioning.”

“Come on, Yang Qi,” the Young Lady said angrily, “are you really trying to convince us that you represent the legion of gods? Only the Crown Prince is a god from heaven descended into the mortal world!”

Ignoring her, Yang Qi said, “How about this, Chancellor: if you want to kill me, go ahead and make your move. Then we can all see how far you’ll go to help the Crown Prince. I just took a trip to the Quake-Dawn Continent, and I learned a lot of behind-the-scenes information. For example, the Crown Prince is the son of the Holy Daughter of the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. And not even they know whether or not he’s really a god from heaven descended into the mortal world. 

“In fact, I even heard rumors that their Holy Daughter had an affair with an important person from the Rich-Lush Continent, and that he’s the father. I'm pretty sure you’re the only person who matches that description, Chancellor. It's common knowledge around here that you had an intimate relationship with the Crown Prince’s mother. Could it be that the Crown Prince is actually your son, and that that’s why you’re protecting him?”

“You shut the hell up!” the chancellor shouted, his eyes bulging. “Enough, Yang Qi.”

“No, it’s not enough. I'm leaving the Demi-Immortal Institute, whether you like it or not. Now tell me where Holy Daughter Manyflowers is. And where’s my Aunt Susu? If you don’t hand them over immediately, people are going to start dying. A lot of them.” Yang Qi wasn’t making the slightest attempt to be polite. In fact, he was tearing the chancellor’s figurative face into shreds. “Listen up, Ghost Emperor Yama! If these people don’t hand over Holy Daughter Manyflowers and Yang Susu, then the two of us are going to take on the entire Demi-Immortal Institute. If you kill the chancellor, I’ll give you the Infernal Deity Spear. I swear it on the glory of the legion of gods.”

“Are you serious?” Ghost Emperor Yama said, his face lighting up.

“Of course I'm serious. I just swore it on the legion of gods. Do you really think that I, the representative of the gods, would betray their glory? I couldn’t do that anymore than you could betray the leader of the Hell of Yamas.” Yang Qi was throwing caution to the wind. If the Demi-Immortal Institute didn’t conceded to his demands, he would make sure rivers of blood flowed. Ghost Emperor Yama could definitely deal with the chancellor, and Yang Qi could decimate the other leaders. After all, he had a whole squad of mercenaries to help him, and he could also summon an army of fiend-devils.

Other than the Crown Prince, the only fear-inspiring member of the Demi-Immortal Institute was the chancellor himself. It was just too bad the Crown Prince wasn't around as well.

“As long as you can kill the chancellor, Ghost Emperor Yama, or at least keep him occupied, then I can kill everyone else.” Yang Qi’s words couldn’t have been more shocking. He was being insulting to the extreme, and overbearing in a way that surpassed the Crown Prince. Throughout all the years which had passed, the Crown Prince had never dared to challenge the chancellor, and yet Yang Qi was actually threatening to have him killed by Ghost Emperor Yama.

It was a case of tit for tat. You treat me heartlessly? I’ll treat you without mercy!

And at the moment, Yang Qi had the ultimate advantage. All Ghost Emperor Yama had to do was keep the chancellor occupied for a bit, and the Demi-Immortal Institute would be no more.

“How dare you, Yang Qi!” the Young Lady shouted in fury, her body glowing with starlight as though she intended to make a move. 

Unfortunately for her, Ghost Emperor Yama’s eyes had already locked onto the chancellor. “So, the new chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute is a brilliant talent who reached the Great Sage level quicker than most. Sadly, you’re just too young. Alright, get over here. Yang Qi swore to the legion of gods, and that means the two of us are going to fight. By the way, don't even think of trying to defend your subordinates at the same time. If I let that happen, I might as well stop calling myself a devil king!”

In the hopes of getting the Infernal Deity Spear, Ghost Emperor Yama was ready to go all out.

“Oh really?” Frowning, the chancellor looked over at Ghost Emperor Yama, fully aware that the situation was turning very grim. Yang Qi wasn’t willing to back down, and was acting more overbearing than it seemed possible.

The chancellor was essentially the most powerful person in the Rich-Lush Continent, and yet he was being forced into a corner by a Legendary, and a holy neophyte of his own institute at that. How could he possibly have any face left?

On the other hand, if he ended up fighting Ghost Emperor Yama, it was entirely likely that Yang Qi would massacre everyone else in the institute. And that wasn’t even bringing Yang Qi’s Demi-Immortal backer into the equation. For all intents and purposes, the chancellor was now in an impossible situation.

However, it was in that very moment that a sealed rift down below suddenly broke open. 

“Stay your hand, Yang Qi! Stay your hand!”

Devil energy erupted out of it, along with Holy Daughter Manyflowers. Obviously, she had been imprisoned in some sort of subterranean devil-suppression hall, a punishment inflicted only on people who had committed terrible crimes.

As she emerged, the chains which had been binding her collapsed, and she rushed to stand in front of Yang Qi. “Stay your hand! Yang Qi, as soon as you left, the prime elders cooked up an excuse to imprison me. Thankfully, I benefited a lot in the hall of devil-suppression. The training was intense, but I advanced a lot. And Susu isn’t in the Rich-Lush Continent any longer, she left with two prime elders, Great Sages who returned from the void to take her on a search for information about the founder of the Demi-Immortal Institute, as well as the ancient Spritefolk. If you destroy the Demi-Immortal Institute, it could be really bad for Susu.”

“I’ll go find Aunt Susu myself,” Yang Qi said. “By the way, what crime were you charged with that got you imprisoned? The Demi-Immortal Institute doesn't handle things with fairness and impartiality, which frankly causes my hackles to rise from fury. What’s the point in you sticking around here? Why don’t you leave the Demi-Immortal Institute with me?”

She shook her head. “I can't. The institute has treated me well throughout the years, so I don’t have any right to leave it. Besides, you really shouldn’t be fighting them either. Why don't the both of you just back down?”

This time, it was Yang Qi’s turn to shake his head. “The Crown Prince is already a Great Sage. I have nowhere to back down to. My own life or death is on the line, so there’s no way I'm going to give face to anybody. In fact, I'm going to take it away.”

“You can’t!” Holy Daughter Manyflowers said.

“Moron!” Yang Qi said. Reaching out, he tapped her head, rendering her unconscious. Then he tossed her into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. He cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and bore the weight of the will of the gods. He did things in a domineering and overbearing fashion, just like the godmammoths of old. How could he possibly allow someone to just tell him what to do?

“However it happens, Chancellor, I'm leaving the Demi-Immortal Institute for good. If you try to stop me, rivers of blood will flow, and I’ll stack up mountains of corpses. I really do represent the legion of gods, and therefore, I'm not going to just sit back and let the Demi-Immortal Institute blaspheme their glory. I honestly don’t care whether you believe me or not. That’s my stance here, so do what you want. Are you really going to fight? Or will you let me go?”

The chancellor stood there, a host of emotions playing out on his face. Never in his wildest dreams could he have guessed that he would be pushed to this point. In the end, Ghost Emperor Yama was just too strong, and the chancellor was not confident that he could beat him in a fight.

A long moment passed, and the chancellor regained his composure. 

“Fine,” he said coolly. “I understand the situation now. However, the truth is that you've committed no crime, so there’s no need for you to formally leave the Demi-Immortal Institute. How about this instead: you can fight it out with the Crown Prince when he gets back. I imagine it will be within about a hundred days. I’ll work things out with the other three institutes, and I’ll even arrange for the emperor himself to preside over the formalities. Whichever of you comes out alive in the end will be the new chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute. That’s the most fair and impartial way to handle the situation. You’re not a Great Sage, but perhaps you're strong enough to kill one. That in itself qualifies you to be the chancellor. Look, I'm done arguing here. Starting today, no grand elder, prime elder or any other person in the Demi-Immortal Institute will be allowed to interfere in matters pertaining to the Crown Prince and Yang Qi!”

It was in very casual fashion that the chancellor issued a shocking decree.

He was going to retire, and was letting the Crown Prince and Yang Qi fight each other to earn the right of succession. One of them would be the new chancellor!