Sage Monarch

The Superlative Defense was something that could defend against a myriad of attacks.

Back when Yang Qi fought the Crown Prince, not even eighteen Great Sages had been able to scratch its surface. And now, he was far, far stronger than back then. After adding the four major elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, the Superlative Defense really did live up to its descriptor, ‘superlative’.

‘Not even my Violet Emperor’s Nine Firmaments Palm could do anything to him?’ Ape Purgemalice thought. It was truly shocking to him, and he couldn’t help but wonder who exactly this Yang Qi was deep inside. Ape Purgemalice was at the ultimate peak of the sixth step, and was just on the verge of reaching the seventh. He had refined his cultivation base for an entire lifetime, and even had the legacy of an immortal. That was why he called himself Purgemalice.

Defeat malice, seek the truth.

Be boundless and without limit, indestructible and immeasurable.

And yet, his most powerful martial technique had done nothing to Yang Qi’s defenses.

“In that case, don’t blame me for what comes next. Seven Malices Heaven-Scroll!”

Swish!

The scroll in his hand opened, and a massive wind kicked up, along with a pure and boundless true energy. The reason it was called ‘Heaven-Scroll’ was because it had literally fallen from heaven. Just like the immortal ranking list, it was not something from the mortal world.

As soon as it was opened, projections of immortals appeared, who surrounded Ape Purgemalice, making him seem like an immortal king. He stood on immortal clouds, with stars surrounding his head. Then, he reached up with claw-like hands and ripped open the sky, his energy surging, bright shafts of light shooting out into space-time with the power to destroy magical laws.

“Seven Malices Heaven-Scroll; Crazed Malice Claw!”

Terrifying power erupted out, the type that could destroy thousands of worlds, and blot out the sun and moon. And all of it headed directly toward Yang Qi.

Yang Qi trembled under its might, and was even forced to bend down. But then he stood back up straight, his spine popping loudly as he did. By now, his bones weren’t really bones. They were more like chains inscribed with magical laws, and surrounded by flesh, blood, and meridians. And they were already connected on a certain level to the actual halls of heaven.

WHIZZZ!

Without any hesitation, he unleashed a fist strike to meet the Crazed Malice Claw.

When they collided, a massive shock wave rippled out that destroyed the land for thousands and thousands of kilometers.

“Maliceless Destruction!”

Ape Purgemalice became a ghostly blur that was impossible to make out clearly. However, his attacks were destructive enough to wipe out worlds.

Yang Qi simply stood there, meeting each attack with a defensive stance from the Fist of the Halls of Heaven.

When soldiers come, send a general to stop them. When floodwaters come, use earth to block them. Yang Qi did just that, adapting his measures to counteract whatever was sent toward him.

Ape Electrospace didn’t hold back either, and used his cudgel to unleash fiery lightning onto Yang Qi.

Both of these Apefolk experts were dead set on killing Yang Qi and getting his points.

As for Yang Qi, fighting two sixth step experts was the perfect opportunity to work on his fist technique. This was his first time being able to truly fight as a Great Sage.

RUMBLE!

An explosion ripped out, and the two apes were forced to back up.

Yang Qi had used another move from the Fist of the Halls of Heaven to completely vanquish their current attack.

Hardly taking a moment to recover, Ape Purgemalice suddenly pulled out a godly painting.

“Empty Malice Painting!”

The painting spread out to fill the sky, shattering the air and then weighing down with incredible force. As for Ape Purgemalice, he remained in the middle of the painting, like a general of the sky calling forth an army to crush the enemy.

Within the power of the painting, Ape Electrospace moved so quickly it was impossible to track him visually. He swept his cudgel back and forth with such vigor that it would cause dragons to twitch, black turtles to flee the water, white tigers to flee the mountains, and vermilion birds to leap into flight.

Yang Qi grinned. “Since you two want to die, I’ll accommodate you! Hell Portal, open!”

RUMBLE!

An enormous gate rose up behind Yang Qi, dripping with the blood of devil-gods, and covered with complex, terrifying artwork that seemed to be made from ancient bronze.

A voice began to speak from within the portal, speaking Helltongue. It was almost as though some suzerain of hell was waking up. “The great monarch ruler sleeps in the depths of hell, the Lord who exists above the legion of gods. In front of the mighty hell monarch, we have no choice but to show humility. Sir, you are the Lord of the legion of gods, and Your glory fills the universe. When the grand hell monarch calls, we have no choice but to answer….”

Crick. Crack…. 

Great Sage fiend-devils began to pour out of the Hell Portal, creating a massive army. There were all sorts of them, including asuras, giant naga snakes, bronzeblaze fiend-devils, warmonger giant-devils, euphoria god-devils, eight-armed dragon-devils, metal-smelting ghost-devils, swaying spirit-devils…. Virtually everything imaginable was coming out.

And all of them were Great Sages.

First step, second step, third step, fourth step. They were fierce and violent, and when they formed together into an army, it was a thing of terror.

This army of fiend-devils formed the perfect contrast to the godly painting Ape Purgemalice had just unfurled. It was an entire force of soldiers who didn't care at all about their own safety. If a group like that self-detonated, what would happen? It could lead to the destruction of an entire planet, and all the people on it.

The Hell of Mahānata was a huge place with endless hordes of fiend-devils, and now that Yang Qi was a Great Sage, the summoning powers of his Hell Portal had increased to the point where he could summon anything under the fifth step.

The powers of the portal were even further boosted by the fact that he was in an actual hell, and didn't need to pierce through any greyspaces.

Before Ape Electrospace could do anything, he was surrounded by fiend-devils, who then detonated. In the blink of an eye, he was lacerated by countless wounds, causing blood to spray everywhere.

Up above, the same thing happened to Ape Purgemalice, whose heaven-scroll immediately drained of power.

‘A flood of fiend-devils…?’ His face drained of blood, and he turned to flee.

Without even bothering to look at him, Yang Qi unleashed the Hand of the One God, causing the air to shrink rapidly, turning into a crystal that sealed both apes.

As they looked at him in terror, Ape Purgemalice said, “Who… who are you? How can you summon so many fiend-devils? Why do they listen to your orders?”

Yang Qi smiled coldly. “You ask too many questions. Besides, dead people don’t need explanations, do they?”

Crack!

The crystals shattered, and before Ape Electrospace and Ape Purgemalice could even scream, they were transformed into ash. Two elite fighters from the Apefolk were killed, just like that.

Yang Qi pulled their sage motes, quintessence-blood, and vital energy into the Hellfire Crucible, and the God Legion Paradise trembled as more holy trees and temples appeared in it, making it even more true and real.

WHOOSH!

Ape Purgemalice’s scroll flew over, and Yang Qi looked at it closely. The words written on the scroll were the script of immortals, which Yang Qi could read, thanks to the God Legion Seal.

Seven Malices Heaven-Scroll. 

It contained a boundless energy art called the Seven Malices, which had seven sub-categories of cultivation: Raving Malice, Despoiling Malice, Depleting Malice, Purging Malice, and so on.

Obviously, it really was a scroll from heaven, an immortal item with immortal motes. It surpassed the Demi-Immortal level, which meant that it had been forged by a true immortal, a Demolisher. It was profound to the extreme, and could definitely be formidable in combat. After all, it was a treasure that surpassed even the Grand Emperor's Pagoda or the Heaven-Dominating Golden Swordbreaker.

Unfortunately, given that it had been crafted by an immortal Demolisher, there was no way that Yang Qi could currently unlock its true secrets. Without any hesitation, he tossed it into the Hellfire Crucible as well, which caused a surge of dazzling light to rise up.

“The top disciples of the Apefolk are dead now. I wonder if Ape Heavenhelve is crying his eyes out.” Yang Qi checked the immortal ranking list, and saw their two names vanishing, and his points rising.

Of course, not only did he get the points for killing the two ape brothers, but also the points for all of the fiend-devils who had just self-detonated.

Outside, the buzz of conversation reached new, frenzied heights.

“What? Ape Electrospace and Ape Purgemalice both died? Look, Yang Qi’s points are rising again. There’s no way that anybody could ever catch up to him.”

“Those two ape brothers were both in the sixth step! How did Yang Qi manage to kill them?”

“I don't know. Ape Electrospace and Ape Purgemalice were both extremely strong, and yet Yang Qi cut them down. I wonder how Ape Heavenhelve is taking it.” Many heads began to turn to look in the direction of the chief of the Apefolk, Ape Heavenhelve.