Sage Monarch

'It really is an age of outstanding heroes,' Yang Qi thought, sighing as he looked at this Young Master Ling Tian, the Saber Hegemon. He had originally assumed that everyone else would be too terrified to participate in the competition and it would just be himself and Bastard Seacliff fighting each other. But in the end, there were plenty of hidden dragons and crouching tigers on the Ancient Road to the Gods.

Yang Qi could tell that this Young Master Ling Tian had very powerful energy arts, and that he was at one with his incredibly sharp saber.

Most people assumed that the reason Young Master Ling Tian's saber made one's eyes feel like they were about to bleed was because it was so sharp. But the truth was that it all came down to Young Master Ling Tian's psyche and will. They were what formed the razor-sharp edge of the saber, and that was why it was so painful to look at.

The truth was that this saber wasn't even really a saber. It was a pure expression of psyche and will, which meant that Young Master Ling Tian could slash apart anything in heaven and earth.

"Do you scum really think you deserve to sit in the league-lord's throne?" Young Master Ling Tian said. "Screw off. You don't even deserve to look at that throne!"

"Y-yes, of course...." The elites who had just been hit by Young Master Ling Tian's saber, but whose lives had been spared, crawled to their feet and quickly departed, fully convinced that they weren't qualified to contend with this level of saber technique.

It was a shocking saber that could slash apart civilization, epochs, annals, and history. It could dominate the world, which was why Young Master Ling Tian was called the Saber Hegemon.

Facing the three consummate experts, Young Master Ling Tian said, "Mu Renwang. Empress Su Xin. Pontiff Huangfu Genesis. Now that I'm here, is there anyone else who thinks they're qualified to be the league-lord?"

"I had no idea you were still alive, Young Master Ling Tian," Huangfu Genesis said. "It seems your saber technique has reached an even higher level than before. It's truly worthy of praise. That said, the competition isn't over yet. If you want to be the league-lord, you have to accept any and all challenges. The people you knocked down with your saber just now were small fries, not top figures."

"That's fine. I never thought that a single saber move would be enough to secure the position of league-lord. However, I'm still very curious to see who else out there dares to challenge me and my saber!"

Looking around, he flourished his weapon and shouted, "Well? Does anyone dare?"

"I dare!"

RUMBLE!

A burly fellow who looked very much like an iron tower stepped forward. When he landed on the platform, the entire plane of existence trembled. He had fists like metal, and was covered with rippling muscles that made him seem like a weapon of battle in human form.

"Who are you?" Young Master Ling Tian asked.

Grinning viciously, the man said, "I'm from the two thousandth ranked Nailuo Immortal World. Call me Iron Boxer! How can you people from the Ancient Road to the Gods possibly measure up to the cream of the crop from us locals? We were born here in the Great Necropolis, and our blood is the noblest there could be."

"Iron Boxer?" Young Master Ling Tian gave a faint smile, then he suddenly moved so quickly that, before anyone could react, his saber was right at Iron Boxer's neck.

However, Iron Boxer just reached out and grabbed the saber, causing a chiming sound to ring out, after which the weapon stopped in place, incapable of moving.

"I can't believe a sissy-boy like you calls yourself the Saber Hegemon," Iron Boxer said. "Now get the hell out of my face! Go back and suck your mother's teat!" From the black glow coming from his fingers, it was obvious that he was using some sort of magical power that made him impervious to all sorts of weapons.

"Ice can't flow like water!"

Swish!

Young Master Ling Tian suddenly moved like a ghost, twisting around until he was behind Iron Boxer, where he unleashed another saber strike.

Iron Boxer turned and thrust his fist out again. However, just when it was about to hit the saber, the blade changed directions and slashed toward his thigh. The two of them held nothing back as they fought with deadly force.

As Yang Qi watched, he came to the conclusion that Young Master Ling Tian's saber technique was incredibly refined, but at the same time, Iron Boxer's fist technique had also reached the acme of perfection.

Both of them had psychic scales over ninety and energy arts that made them as strong as people with power indexes over seven thousand. And as they fought, it became obvious that they were evenly matched.

Yang Qi watched them, nodding in admiration.

Their moves were exquisite, and both of them clearly had extensive fighting experience. Obviously, they were both veterans of countless battles.

The two of them clearly had superior understanding regarding the theory of martial arts and the transformations of martial arts moves. Yang Qi had fighting experience, but that experience couldn't compare to experts from the Ancient Road to the Gods who had lived for millions upon millions of years.

All of a sudden, Young Master Ling Tian seemed to come to the conclusion that getting involved in a protracted fight wasn't a good idea and resorted to an incredible set of saber moves.

"Withered Tree Revived in Spring!

"Heavenly River in Dire Straits!

"God Looks Up Hopefully!

"The Stars Glitter Radiantly!"

It was hard to say whether he had invented this saber technique, or if it had been created by a god who had long since been lost in the sands of time. As he unleashed the moves, astrological phenomena sprang up everywhere. Divine trees bloomed and withered, spring came and went, freezing winds blew, heaven and earth mourned, the sun, moon, and highest heavens rotated, and great daos engulfed the world, causing the deaths of ghosts and gods.

In the briefest of moments, numerous streams of saber energy surrounded Iron Boxer.

Iron Boxer bellowed in rage as he unleashed his own set of consummate energy arts, yet none of them enabled him to fully free himself from Young Master Ling Tian's saber.

A saber flashed and a head flew.

Swish!

Blood sprinkled down like rain as the head flew through the air. Shockingly, Young Master Ling Tian had decapitated Iron Boxer!

Everyone could see the look of disbelief on Iron Boxer's face as his head flew through the air. And truth be told, not even the members of the audience were sure of exactly what move Young Master Ling Tian had used.

With the exception of Yang Qi. From what he could tell, Young Master Ling Tian had pierced through space and drawn on an immense source of power that allowed him to cut through Iron Boxer's impervious defenses.

Of course, just because he had been decapitated didn't mean that Iron Boxer was dead. Even without his head, he still unleashed a torrent of fist strikes directed at Young Master Ling Tian, forcing him backward across the platform. Then, Iron Boxer blurred into motion, scooping up his head and shooting off of the platform, whereupon he vanished from sight.

"Little punk! You just wait! I'm not going to forget about this!"

Young Master Ling Ting snorted coldly. "I hit you with my Soul-Severing Saber-Nimbus Art. Even if you don't die, you'll be so seriously injured that you'll never be able to get revenge on me." He chuckled. "I spent billions of years of cultivation mastering that move so that I could use it on the Executors of the Ancient Road. You Great Necropolis savages may have strong bodies, but you don't match up to the executors. And you think you can fight me?"

At this point, a sinister, cackling laughter filled the area, and a figure appeared who looked like a king of some sort, clad in a golden robe. "Actually, I'll be getting revenge on you for cutting down my Brother, Iron Boxer. I'm Iron Falcon, and I'll show you what true skill is really like, you sissy-boy!"

WHOOSH!

The newcomer threw both hands out like iron claws forged in the god world. Then he moved in with an incredible movement technique, using such quickness that it seemed almost like he weighed nothing at all.

It was another Great Necropolis local, apparently an associate of Iron Boxer.

As Yang Qi watched, he saw that Young Master Ling Tian seemed to be moving a bit slower than before. He had obviously wasted a lot of vital energy in his fight with Iron Boxer, and recovering that lost vital energy wasn't anything that could happen quickly.

As for Iron Falcon, his claw attacks seemed like they could rip apart the canopy of heaven. Most of the onlookers were completely shocked, and knew that if they were to fight him, they would definitely be killed.

After some fighting, Young Master Ling Tian suddenly drew on that mysterious power of his, unleashing a host of moves that finally managed to hit Iron Falcon's waist. In fact, he was slashed in half, provoking an agonized shriek. A moment later, he flew away. "You just wait, boy. My big bro is going to come to avenge me!"

Even as he vanished, and before Young Master Ling Tian could possibly catch his breath, another person appeared, a young man with massive arms and a narrow waist.

"I'm Iron Monarch!" he growled. "How dare you treat my two younger brothers like that? If I don't kill you, how could I ever hold my head high?"

Swissshhhhh!

A long sword appeared in his hand, and he unleashed a tempest of attacks on Young Master Ling Tian that caused enormous sparks to fall onto the surface of the platform.

Everyone was shocked that these three could be this strong, except for Yang Qi, who suspected that something fishy was going on.