Sage Monarch

The attacks from the five experts had been just on the verge of hitting Yang Qi. However, that was when he used some mysterious ability to negate them. He was now fusing with the Hell of Mahānata, and its powers were freely mixing with his.

He was reaching the next highest level of enlightenment, and ensconcing his nascent divinity into the void around him.

RUMBLE!

Immense force was building up inside of him. At the same time, the magical laws of the Hell of Mahānata were rushing into the God Legion Paradise and toward him. As of this moment, the God Legion Paradise was the Hell of Mahānata, and the reverse was also true.

Everyone present looked on in shock as Yang Qi’s soul imbedded itself deeply into the essence of the surrounding hell.

Looking terrified, Mammoth Manyvoids said, “Go, go, go! We still have time to turn things around. Destroy his domain! His nascent divinity still isn’t completely part of the Hell of Mahānata.”

With that, he spat out a mouthful of blood that transformed into a psychic tempest. A plethora of magical symbols swirled out, which he directed with his hands. 

“Let the Host of Immortals Come!” His blood became the host of immortals, which then descended onto the God Legion Paradise.

“Inaugurate the God Temple!” Finest Magic said, causing an immense temple to fly out and radiate crushing pressure.

“Axe of the Ghost, Skill of the God!” Stunning Beheader shouted. He also spat out a mouthful of blood, causing an enormous axe to appear, which he used to slash at the God Legion Paradise. The God Legion Paradise broke open again, and in the blink of an eye, the axe was on top of Yang Qi, seemingly just on the verge of slashing him to bits.

At the same time, Wilds Primeking and Ninja Unity joined forces, unleashing their immortal items, driving them with both blood and longevity to try to kill Yang Qi.

Smash!

The God Legion Paradise had been battered nearly to pieces, with the greyspace having been broken open everywhere, and the vital energy transformed into primal-chaos.

And all five experts stepped inside, hoping to kill Yang Qi in his own domain.

**

Outside in the Hanging Mountain, the audience could see Yang Qi’s name flickering and turning dark, which indicated that he was just on the verge of dying.

“Damn, the young master is in trouble,” Leviathan Truesoaring said, his face draining of blood.

“Keep your cool,” Yan Wubing said, staring at the ranking list. “The young master will surely turn things around.”

“There’s no way the brat can hold on,” Chief Lion said. “He's dead.” He and the chief of the Sharkfolk were both delightedly watching Yang Qi’s name.

**

“Everyone attack!” 

In the middle of the God Legion Paradise, Yang Qi faced the combined force of five top experts, all of whom wanted to kill him.

“That Which is Glorious Shall Not Demise. That Which is Splendid Will Always Exist in My Heart. That Which is Eternal Will Always Be. That Which is Deathless Belongs Only to the Lord….” The Fist of the Halls of Heaven appeared, and the Hand of the One God reached out with the power to topple mountains and drain seas.

Yet again, the power of the five attacking experts was neutralized.

“That’s not going to work!” Mammoth Manyvoids shouted. “We’re going to kill you, no matter what you do!” With that, he burned more of his quintessence-blood and lifespan to power another attack.

Suddenly, a host of sword nimbuses appeared, which formed together into an immense spell formation that could slaughter devils and gods.

“The Heaven-Sword Cometh!”

Mammoth Manyvoids was drawing on every ounce of power and skill he could muster to send this enormous sword formation over to kill Yang Qi.

Sage domains assaulted him, and explosions rang out as the God Legion Paradise finally collapsed.

“His life force aura is going out!”

“He can’t take this level of attack!”

“His meridians, sea of energy and even his soul are vanishing.”

“Push the attack. Take his life!”

The attacks battered Yang Qi relentlessly, causing his name on the immortal ranking list to flicker and darken severely. It looked like a candle in the wind, just on the verge of winking out.

The five experts howled as they drew deeply on their true energy.

Smack!

Yang Qi finally vanished. From what everyone present could tell, there wasn’t even a single piece of ash left behind. In fact, the five experts began to look around in confusion to try to determine his location.

The only thing left behind was a gaping crater filled with devil energy and hellish ores.

The Hell of Mahānata was deep, with lands that ran down for thousands of kilometers. In fact, no one even knew how deep the earth went. No words existed to describe that level of depth.

“Is he dead?” Mammoth Manyvoids said. “Why did he just vanish? Who killed him? Did one of you get his points, because I didn’t? His quintessence energy is just gone! He must have died, right? We should be able to take his sage motes and quintessence energy now.”

“I didn't get his points,” Finest Magic said, shaking his head.

“Me either.” Stunning Beheader looked around thoughtfully for clues. Unfortunately, there was no trace of Yang Qi anywhere.

“He must not be dead!” Wilds Primeking blurted. 

“Reach out to the immortal ranking list!” Ninja Unity said. “Look, his name is still in first place! The fact that his name is still there means the immortal ranking list is still connected to his energy. This is bad! He—”

Suddenly, two blood-curdling screams rang out, and Wilds Primeking and Ninja Unity were suddenly sent tumbling violently backward.

Mammoth Manyvoids, Finest Magic, and Stunning Beheader all backed up, their hackles rising.

Suddenly, a pulse of magic swept forth, making it seem like the world was about to explode.

“This is bad. Run!” Mammoth Manyvoids shouted.

Yang Qi stepped out into the open, his God Legion Battle Robe fluttering, making him look like a god-spirit strolling in the mortal world.

“I've ensconced my nascent divinity in the Hell of Mahānata!” he said.

Everyone looked over in shock and realized that, just as he had said, his godmammoth nascent divinity was now deeply connected to the Hell of Mahānata, fused with it. In fact, it was now impossible to tell the difference between Yang Qi’s true energy, and the energy of the surrounding hell.

Immediately, the entire group felt the power of expulsion building up, trying to remove them from the plane. It was almost as if the Hell of Mahānata had become Yang Qi’s sage domain; anyone who entered it against his wishes would face grave opposition.

A tempest sprang into being, with Yang Qi at the center. It contained a Jambudvīpa Deluge, Night Queen Flame, an Amber Avalanche, and an Eternal Godwind, and all of them began to bore into Yang Qi through his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

“Not good!” Mammoth Manyvoids shouted. He knew exactly what was happening. “He ensconced his nascent divinity! He made it part of the essence of the Hell of Mahānata! His true energy here is as boundless as Mahānata itself! And now he’s powering up.”

“The Hell of Mahānata is basically as strong as an immortal plane,” Finest Magic said. “Not even Demi-Immortals should be able to ensconce nascent divinities here. But he did it! The stronger the plane you ensconce your nascent divinity into, the more power you have! This should be impossible. How did he do it?”

Voice trembling, Stunning Beheader said, “If his nascent divinity is ensconced in hell, then… is he a god, or a devil?” 

Stammering, Wilds Primeking said, “Th-those are the f-four elemental tribulations of earth, water, fire and wind? Jambudvīpa Deluge? Night Queen Flame…? Those are tribulations that normally appear for Without Limit Sages. What is he doing with them? Breathing them in? Shouldn't that kill him? How could he still be alive?”

“Get out of here!” Ninja Unity blurted. He was a top expert from the Hall of Ninjas, and thus, had no illusions at all about what was to come. There was no way they could kill Yang Qi now.

Having ensconced his nascent divinity, he was a Nirvanic Resurrection Sage. The way that he had disappeared moments ago was a function of nirvanic resurrection. For all intents and purposes, there was no way to kill him in the Hell of Mahānata.

After all, his nascent divinity had been ensconced there.

Not even an eighth step Great Sage could do anything to him now.

Eyes flashing, Mammoth Manyvoids gritted his teeth and said, “Wait. There’s still a chance. He's in the middle of facing tribulation. Cut him down! Use taboo skills if you have to!” Even as the words left his mouth, he waved his arms, which became like two blood dragons. 

“Heaven-Demon Body Deformation!”

When Finest Magic saw what was happening, his eyes bulged in shock. ‘He’s using the secret magic of Heaven-Demon Body Deformation? That’s going to injure his fleshly body and his cultivation base, and will force him to drop in level. However, he’ll get a temporary tenfold boost to power. He’ll drop from the seventh step to the sixth after this!’

“He’s right!” he shouted. “We can’t hold anything back!”

RIIIIP!

Suddenly, Finest Magic’s fleshly body exploded as he also paid a steep price to let loose a deadly attack.

All of the others did the same. They were not leaving themselves any avenue of escape as they tried to put an end to Yang Qi.

“That’s not going to work,” Yang Qi said. He opened his Lord's Eye, and sky-obfuscating, land-enshrouding sagelight erupted out, along with holy hymns of praise. As of this moment, Yang Qi truly did look like some sort of sage or saint. His long hair even seemed to pulse with power that could tear open continents.

Smack! 

A godmammoth lunged forward, negating Finest Magic’s attack. Then, a scream rang out as he was reduced to ash by the Hand of the One God. No amount of struggling did him any good.

In the blink of an eye, his aura vanished, and even his soul disappeared. His nascent divinity mark was ensconced in some distant plane, but unfortunately, even it was wiped out. There would be no nirvanic resurrection for him.

A seventh step Great Sage had been crushed out of existence by Yang Qi.