Sage Monarch

In the blink of an eye, Shi Yuan was grievously injured.

The sectlord had held back earlier, even when Shi Yuan was shouting about leaving the sect. If he hadn't, he might have been accused of improperly interfering in the affairs of the lower disciples. Instead, he had left things in Yang Qi's hands. But when Shi Yuan threatened to kill as many as half of the disciples in the sect, he finally took action.

Now no one could find fault with him cleaning house the way he was.

After all, how could it possibly be tolerated to have someone like Shi Yuan threatening to kill so many disciples in the sect? Even if he were more talented and important than he was, it was more than obvious to everyone present that he was completely deranged. And demented people such as that needed to be put in their place.

This was the moment Yang Qi had been waiting for.

Crack! Snap!

After flying into the formation, he immediately launched vicious attacks on Shi Yuan. Eyes filled with an almost cannibalistic rage, Shi Yuan blocked Zi Qiong's attack and began building up his energy to launch a counterattack against Yang Qi. By this point, he hated Yang Qi so much that he was more than willing to end his own life, as long as he took Yang Qi with him.

Zi Qiong could tell what was happening, and in order to make sure she continued to make a good impression on Yang Qi, went all out with her attacks. Her hands swirled in front of her, creating millions upon millions of palm projections, all of them seemingly powerful enough to turn the dome of heaven into ash. Rumblings sounds echoed out like an enormous millstone crushing everything in its path. Although her palm strikes seemed gentle and elegant, they were actually as powerful and weighty as mountains.

Her palm technique had long since surpassed the ordinary limitations of true energy, and it caused many onlookers to gasp in amazement, even chief elders. None of them could have ever guessed that her cultivation base would be so advanced, to the point where it actually surpassed many of the chief elders.

Meanwhile, Shi Yuan's hand had seemingly turned into stone, and his every strike carried the godpower of the Great Necropolis.

"God Tombstone Palms!"

Suddenly, Zi Qiong's palm technique changed, with each blow causing true energy to form a tombstone so enormous and powerful that it could crush anything and everything that got in its way.

Flowing text could be seen on the tombstone, inscriptions to a buried god. After all, the Great Necropolis had appeared in order to bury gods to begin with.

"God Tombstone Palms!" Shi Yuan unleashed the same technique, but it was completely devastated by Zi Qiong's version. Both of them were drawing on the essence of the Great Necropolis, but Zi Qiong had an additional godpower seed, which meant that she could absorb the energy faster. Shi Yuan could tell that his true energy was insufficient, and he would eventually be overwhelmed. If he were on the outside, he could have simply fled. But right now, he was trapped by the sectlord's Nine Cauldrons Grand Magic. Even worse, he was also under threat by Yang Qi.

POP!

Gasping, and with his true energy completely out of control, Shi Yuan was sent staggering back by Zi Qiong's God Tombstone Palms. Then he was hit from another direction by Yang Qi, sending him flying through the air to slam into one of the nine cauldrons, blood pouring out of his mouth.

"You vicious bastards!" he said as Yang Qi and Zi Qiong stood there in front of him. "I'm the hero of a generation, yet here I am in this dismal situation. If I were fighting you one on one, I would have nothing to fear. Even if I had to fight the sectlord, I could've at least escaped with my life. And then there's you, Junior Sectlord, you narcissistic prick. You're not a match for me, so instead you resorted to crafty plots and machinations. I only wish I'd killed the bitch Zi Qiong in the very beginning!"

Seeing that Zi Qiong was about to launch another attack with her God Tombstone Palms, Yang Qi said, "Wait a moment." Smiling coldly, he continued, "So, Shi Yuan, you really think I'm not a match for you? Alright. How about I let you heal up, and then the two of us can have a duel. Then we can prove once and for all whether or not I deserve to be the junior sectlord."

"Seriously?" Shi Yuan said, a flicker of hope appearing in his eyes. "What if I beat you?"

"Then you can leave," Yang Qi said.

"No, you can't do this!" Zi Qiong said. "Junior Sectlord, you absolutely mustn't do anything like that. Let me fight him. He's very dangerous; furthermore, he's on the verge of completely mastering the God Tombstone Palms. He has access to boundless godpower from the Great Necropolis, and without me to keep him in check, he'll be deadly. Plus, you have no way to actually destroy his physical body."

Yang Qi waved his hand dismissively. "You still believe that you Inheritors are eternally indestructible? I think I need to give you a little demonstration to prove that there is nothing truly impossible to destroy. Zi Qiong, it seems you've acknowledged allegiance to me, yet aren't truly convinced of my superiority. Prepare to see a real energy art in action. Henceforth, do my bidding in the sect, and I'll leave you alone."

"In that case, Junior Sectlord, I'll just step back and see how you kill Shi Yuan." Although Zi Qiong's eyes contained a flicker of displeasure, she quickly suppressed it. And just as she said, she fell back and waited to see Yang Qi in action.

"I originally didn't want to use this energy art, as I was worried it would lead to wide-scale death and destruction. But now that the sectlord has the scene locked down, let's see whether this is enough to kill you!" Keeping his eyes fixed on Shi Yuan, he continued, "First, hurry up and heal yourself!"

Yang Qi didn't really need to say anything in that regard. Shi Yuan would automatically heal, thanks to the godpower of the Great Necropolis. For all intents and purposes, he really was eternally indestructible.

Sadly for him, he had run into Yang Qi.

A short time later, he was back to his peak. "Bring it on you sham junior sectlord. Let me see just how amazing this supposed energy art of yours is."

The chief elders were closely watching the situation, curious what Yang Qi would use to defeat an Inheritor. After all, as a superpower sect, they were fully aware that the Inheritors were favored by the heavens and were symbols of the Great Necropolis that simply couldn't be killed.

Crack. Rattle.

Holy light began to surge out of Yang Qi, emerging from every pore on his body like the glow of a full moon. It wasn't intense, but rather pure, and as it swirled around him, it pulsed, transforming into a host of curses.

As everything trembled, the sectlord's expression flickered and he said, "Quick, help me bolster the nine cauldrons, otherwise that godpower is going to spread into the open!"

"Yes sir!" the chief elders responded, and they poured their true energy into the cauldrons, which began to shine brightly.

"Sectlord, what energy art is that?" Peaklord Celestial asked. "How come it's so strong?"

Both he and Peaklord Memory were shocked, and almost felt like they had no idea who Yang Qi was.

"It's an aspect of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth called the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse. According to the stories, once the curse is activated, it can topple heaven and earth, invert yin and yang, and overturn the cosmos. In its strongest form, it can overturn the god world and its foundations, obliterate the legion of gods, and bring about doomsday. Years ago, I had the opportunity to watch Proud Heaven fight the emperor of the Executors of the Ancient Road. At one point in the fight, Proud Heaven lamented that he hadn't mastered this curse, and that if he had, he would've been able to kill the emperor. However, he also mentioned that even if someone other than him mastered the curse, they wouldn't be able to use it, as they wouldn't be able to power it. But obviously...."

The sectlord didn't need to finish his statement. Peaklords Celestial and Memory both understood.

Not only had Yang Qi mastered the curse, but also, was able to use it.

As soon as it was activated, Yang Qi's aura changed, and it became obvious that he could crush Shi Yuan. As Shi Yuan realized that, his face fell, and he suddenly realized that he wasn't going to be able to defend himself.

Before, he had been waiting for Yang Qi to attack him, but now that he saw his momentum building up, he knew that just standing there wasn't the right thing to do.

"Enough with the parlor tricks! Prepare to die!"

WHOOSH!

Sword energy that glowed with stone-colored light shot directly toward Yang Qi's throat.

Yang Qi didn't even attempt to dodge. He extended his left index finger, and the power of the curse reduced the sword energy into dust.

Then he extended the rest of his fingers, opening his hand into a palm and thrusting it forward. Dazzling light shone and curse power flowed out, strong enough to topple both heaven and earth. The halls of heaven appeared, and before Shi Yuan could even react, he was surrounded and incapable of backing up, the godpower of the Great Necropolis crumbling around him.

Already, Yang Qi had the upper hand. His left hand surged with the power of the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse, while at the same time, a host of text appeared around his right hand. That text appeared to be a curse of some sort, but closer examination revealed that it was composed of countless tribulations. It was none other than the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body!

It was during his extended period of research and study into the Mahātmā Jade that he had come to understand even more about the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

In the past, he had unlocked many aspects of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, starting with the Infernal Deity Spear and the Fiend-Devil Wings. Later came the God Legion Paradise, Eternal Heavenly Aria, and Fist of the Halls of Heaven. Much later was the Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning, Heaven-Questioning Soul-Summoning Banner, and the Many Heavens God Seal.

But lastly was this. The Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse, which had come based on enlightenment of countless magical laws connected to the dao of heaven, the universe, primal-chaos, and the god world. This curse was similar to the technique on the sheepskin scroll, in which every character was a tribulation.

When cultivated to its ultimate form, the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse would be able to produce nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine different characters, each of them a curse.

Right now, Yang Qi was limited to a few dozen. In the past, he wouldn't have been able to do this, but thanks to acquiring some of Proud Heaven's true energy, he now had the ability to do so.

The truth was that the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body had actually been created by observing the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse. And the reason it had the word "myriad" in it was that it was intended to crush the godmammoths and challenge the might of the legion of gods.

That one extra character was supposed to imply its superiority.

Yang Qi had only cultivated these two techniques to the level of a few dozen characters, but the combination of the two was definitely enough to surpass the godpower of the Great Necropolis.

That was how he planned to kill Shi Yuan.