Sage Monarch

“Who's this guy?” Sword Seventeen murmured. The mere sight of this newcomer gave him goosebumps. He knew how terrifyingly powerful someone would have to be to approach Yang Qi and himself. Now that he had fused with a primeval godworm, he was even more sensitive to spatial fluctuations, so the fact that this person had approached them without being noticed was very telling.

It was exactly the same with Yang Qi, who had even better control of the godly laws of space than Sword Seventeen.

The yellow-garbed young man with the buzz cut was only a third step Great Sage, which meant that he must have unique talents similar to Yang Qi’s. For some reason, Yang Qi felt like he was finally facing off with a true rival, a sensation he hadn’t experienced again after killing the Crown Prince. As for the sixth and seventh order Demi-Immortals that he had dominated recently, he had known all along that he would eventually beat them. Never had he considered them rivals.

Only the strongest and most terrifying opponents could claim that right.

“Who might you be?” Yang Qi asked, keeping his attention fully focused on the newcomer, wrapping some energy around the godworm eggs in case he needed to use them to boost his power.

“Me?” the young man replied, staring at Yang Qi like a hunter would look at prey. “You don’t know me. But guess what? I know you. You’re Yang Qi from the Rich-Lush Continent, who joined the Titan Emperor Collegium and the Invincible Society. Here you are in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, using primeval god skills and acting like the fisherman dealing with the sandpiper and the clam. You have a mother godworm and her treasure trove, including part of the Mourn-Parting Heaven-Palace. 

“As you can see, I know everything about you. You killed some piece of trash called the Crown Prince, and got King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallion from him. Because of that, it's little wonder you’ve accomplished so much. Well, hand over the godworm eggs and your primeval god skills, as well as your treasure. And especially King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallion. Give me everything you possess and serve me as my slave.”

“You do know a lot, don’t you?” Yang Qi said, frowning slightly. The truth was that he wasn't the least bit angry to hear this young man’s demands. “There’s a familiar aura on you. It’s the aura of King Immortal-Slayer, isn’t it? You have one of the other legacy medallions, don’t you?”

“Wrong,” the young man replied, his eyes flickering with scorn. He extended his hand and two medallions appeared, which had been fused together. “I have two, which I happened to acquire from other successors of King Immortal-Slayer that I killed. They were far, far stronger than that scum the Crown Prince. Every time you acquire one of these medallions, your energy arts, energy flows, divine abilities, and magical strength all increase by tenfold or more. Sometimes even a hundredfold. Once I get the third medallion from you, I’ll be well on my way to acquiring all nine. Then I’ll become the reincarnated King Immortal-Slayer and will be able to take control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Of course, even just three medallions will be enough to let me travel freely in and out of the chart. Henceforth, this place is going to be like my backyard.”

Sword Seventeen was starting to get very annoyed at this yellow-garbed young man with the buzz cut. The young man didn’t seem to come from this space and time, and was looking at the two of them like they were primitive savages or aborigines. 

“Considering how big your mouth is,” Sword Seventeen said, “aren’t you worried about biting your tongue?”

“Oh? You dare to talk back to me, vermin? Thanks to that little quip about me biting my tongue, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to cripple your energy arts and turn you into a mortal. Then I’ll cut your tongue out so that you can wallow eternally in the misery of human suffering.

“I know that you're from the Invincible Society, and that everyone is scared of your Eldest Brother and the Invincible Dugu. They’re both Paragon Demi-Immortals, just on the verge of becoming Demolishers. But to me, the mighty successor of King Immortal-Slayer, they’re not worthy to be anything other than slaves. Eventually, the Invincible Society, and the Titan Emperor Collegium as a whole, will all serve me. If you knew what was good for you, you’d join me now. I’ll treat you well.”

“Anyone who insults my Master will DIE!” Sword Seventeen had reached his limit, and without any warning he attacked.

SWISH!

A beam of sword light shot out, the expression of a consummate sword technique that flew like an eagle directly toward the young man in yellow.

“Invincible Sword: Live Forever!”

The sword light flowed like a mighty river that went on forever. All cultivators hoped to live forever, and that was the inspiration for this sword move: Solitary Sword Lives Forever.

RUUUUUUMBLE!

The sword will reached the target before the sword energy. This sword move was not somber and deadly, but rather vigorous, ancient, and abundant with life and movement.

From what Yang Qi could tell, it was something that could even kill second order Greater Demi-Immortals; obviously Sword Seventeen had greatly benefited after fusing with the godworm.

“Oh? Solitary Sword Lives Forever? That’s a consummate sword technique. Sadly for you, I'm the successor of King Immortal-Slayer. The point of being immortal is to live forever, and I'm designed to slay immortals. I'm the bane of your existence! I can slay anything and everything, so, to me, the idea of ‘living forever and never dying’ is a complete and utter joke!”

BZZZ!

The young man extended a finger and touched the tip of the incoming sword. In response, sword energy exploded with deadly ferocity, yet none of it entered him.

Shockingly, he had stopped the sword move with his finger!

Creak. Crunch.

Sword Seventeen’s sword began bending under the force, and the mockery in the young man’s eyes grew more intense. “Considering the level of your cultivation base, you don't deserve to even fight my finger. I should kill you with a mere breath. However, to prevent any funny business from Yang Qi, I’ll go the ridiculous extent of killing you with this one move.”

“Hope!” Sword Seventeen shouted, suddenly switching moves to Solitary Sword Fosters Hope. Streams of true energy that resembled faith poured into the sword, and in the blink of an eye, the tip began to shine with light as dazzling as the sun, which stabbed slowly into the young man’s defensive vital energy.

“Well, this move is a bit better,” the young man said, chuckling coldly. Flicking his finger, he sent all the sword energy back in the opposite direction.

This entire time, he hadn’t taken a single step forward or back.

“Piety!”

RUUUUUUMBLE!

A pious expression could be seen on Sword Seventeen’s face. There was no doubting the fact that he was piously devoted to the dao of the sword, and energy arts. This move took that piety and transformed it into a devastatingly powerful attack.

This was Solitary Sword Displays Piety.

Solitary Sword Lives Forever. Solitary Sword Fosters Hope. Solitary Sword Displays Piety.

The three moves combined, creating a destructive river that could overwhelm anything and everything.

“Hmm?”

At this point, a look of surprise appeared in the eyes of the yellow-garbed young man. Never could he have guessed that Sword Seventeen, who he had looked down upon so much, could release such might in battle.

It was actually miraculous, as far as he was concerned.

Solitary Sword Displays Piety pierced through his defensive true energy, forcing him to acknowledge that trifling with disciples of the Invincible Society wasn’t a good idea. Even the weakest of their number could unleash spectacularly devastating moves.

“You really think I'm going to make a mistake and lose this fight, bug? No, you’re too weak.” All of a sudden, he erupted with blinding light that focused on his finger, creating unprecedented sharpness. “Chaos in the World!”

Instantly, it was as if the entire world had been thrown into chaos. Vital energy went wild, the flames of war leapt high, and time seemed to slow. Life became torment.

Sword Seventeen was tossed backward, as if he had been struck by lightning. His nascent divinity was thrown into chaos, and blood sprayed out of his mouth as he tumbled backward like a kite with its string cut.

However, that was when Yang Qi made his move.

Without any warning, he began singing the Eternal Heavenly Aria, the sound of which wrapped up Sword Seventeen, baptizing him in halos and instantly healing all of his wounds.

Then Yang Qi reached out and summoned the Infernal Deity Spear. By this point, the spear was so real that it looked like an actual immortal item. It was covered with complex designs, including numerous eyes that very much resembled those of fiend-devils.

Pointing his spear at the young man, he said, “I don’t care if you’re the successor of King Immortal-Slayer. If you mess with me, you die. Just like that other successor, the Crown Prince. King Immortal-Slayer? He’s some loser who tried to fight the legion of gods and failed. And you’re going to end up like him. Dead. That's your fate.

“By the way, I don’t have that legacy medallion. You think I want something from an immortal like King Immortal-Slayer? The legion of gods crushed him, and I'm going to do the same to you.”

“What?” the young man said. However, Yang Qi was already blurring toward him, so he clenched his hands into fists and shouted, “A Thousand Autumns!”

The young man’s fist hit the spear, and he flew backward. “You're not a successor of King Immortal-Slayer? How dare you speak so rudely to one who is!”