Sage Monarch

Iron Monarch was taking to the field of battle in very different circumstances than anyone up to this point. Young Master Ling Tian hadn't had any chance to rest. Furthermore, Iron Monarch's power index and psychic scale surpassed those of Iron Boxer and Iron Falcon.

In Yang Qi's estimate, Iron Monarch's psychic scale was at least ninety-five.

And he was attacking with such ferocity that Young Master Ling Tian hardly had any time to react and was instantly sent stumbling backward.

However, a moment later, saber light flared as Young Master Ling Tian shifted from defense to offense. Burning quintessence-blood and longevity, he thrust his saber out, snapping Iron Monarch's sword in two. Then he unleashed another devastating saber slash, causing a shining halo to appear around his head.

'That's the light of a primeval god skill!' Yang Qi thought. 'The Light of the Cutting Edge! I can't believe this Young Master Ling Tian's energy arts are at this level. Very formidable. Although, it can't even come close to my Eternal Heavenly Aria. Can he really turn defeat into victory?'

Gong!

Iron Monarch had clearly not even considered that Young Master Ling Tian would unleash a saber move this exquisite at this point in the fight, so he was too slow to back up. A suit of armor suddenly appeared as the saber closed in, but sadly for him, the armor wasn't strong enough to stop the attack. Saber energy slashed into him, causing him to scream in agony as he was chopped in half. This time, there was no way Young Master Ling Tian was going to let his opponent escape, so he unleashed a stream of shining saber light that filled the area.

In the blink of an eye, Iron Monarch was overwhelmed by the light, and again let loose a horrified scream. Who could ever have guessed that Young Master Ling Tian would be this ferocious?

"I'm very curious to see how many Great Necropolis savages will die by my hand. You can't even win by tag-teaming me!"

"The tag-teaming isn't over! I'm Iron Elite!" Explosive laughter rang out as a burly man stepped forward and prepared to launch an attack on Young Master Ling Tian.

"Hold on!" someone said, stepping forward to get in the way of Iron Elite.

It was none other than Yang Qi.

"What, boy. Don't tell me you're trying to block my path?" Voice thrumming with fiery rage, he said, "Who are you?"

"Just how many of you 'Iron' people are there?" Yang Qi asked. "According to the rules of this assembly, we're supposed to be having one-on-one fights. And each organization has the right to send one young elite into the competition. If you locals from the Great Necropolis want to fight for the position of league-lord, fine. But don't use underhanded methods like tag-teaming. How faceless could you be?"

"What business is it of yours? Not even the hosts of the assembly are bothering to interfere." Letting loose an angry shout, Iron Elite launched three fist attacks in Yang Qi's direction. "Who the hell do you think you are to block my path? Are you suicidal or something?"

Smiling, Yang Qi inhaled, then all of a sudden, Iron Elite's arms were severed and flopped down onto the ground in front of him, where they continued to twitch and writhe.

"Y-you... what... what energy art was that?" Iron Elite said. At the moment, it felt as though a tiny blade of ice were streaming through his innards, causing such immense pain that he wished he could die.

"Many thanks for the assistance, Daoist Brother," said Young Master Ling Tian. A scream rang out as he slashed Iron Monarch's nascent divinity in half, then quickly assimilated his soul, flesh, and blood.

"You're too kind," Yang Qi replied coolly. "I just couldn't bear to see these Great Necropolis savages using contemptible methods like tag-teaming. What would be the point of someone winning the position of league-lord like that? I'm not sure how many of these 'Iron' people there are, but none of them seem to be on the same level as you, Young Master Ling Tian. I suspect that, in order to fight you, they accepted a blessing of power offered by some consummate expert. I wonder who it was."

"You're quite ferocious yourself, Daoist Brother. After all, you defeated Iron Elite with a single blow. But could it be that you stepped in just now because you want to fight me?"

"Of course not. I just wanted to stop the tag-teaming." With that, Yang Qi waved his finger, causing Young Master Ling Tian to shiver as he felt warm energy spreading through him, restoring the vital energy he had lost during the fighting. A look of surprise appeared on his face. "Brother, your energy arts are incredible. You have my sincere admiration. I can't believe you restored me to my peak, just like that."

"It was a simple thing," Yang Qi said. "Go ahead and take your stand here on the platform, Daoist Brother. I'll stand as your dharmic guard. Let's see if any other shameless locals try to do any tag-teaming."

Looking over at Iron Elite, he said, "If you have any other 'Iron' folk out there, have them all come out at the same time. This assembly is intended to be for people from the Ancient Road to the Gods, and I'm here to make sure you locals don't cause any trouble."

Yang Qi had reduced the pontifex of the Sackcloth Cathedral to a streak of gore, which obviously made him a major enemy of the Great Necropolis locals. And seeing that Young Master Ling Tian might be a valuable ally, he had stepped forward to help him.

Not only would that be an opportunity to portray himself as being honorable and righteous, but it would also be a big blow to the locals.

"You people..." Iron Elite said, trembling. "Fine, I concede. Just let me go. But you should know that in our alliance of Great Necropolis locals, there are countless experts. In fact, there are millions of people with the name Iron. We'll never stop coming. If you think this tag-teaming was bad, just wait until we destroy all of your young elites!"

"Millions? I guess you must count pigs among your so-called experts then." Yang Qi laughed. "Well, if that's how many you have, then have them step forward. I want to see how strong they are."

"Hey!" someone shouted from the audience. "Hurry up and fight. Enough with the useless chatter. Junior Sectlord Will Manifestation, why don't you just fight it out with Young Master Ling Tian for the spot of league-lord? It's obvious that the two of you will have to deal with each other eventually. Why pretend to help him? Could it be that you just want to use him as cannon fodder?"

'Who was that?' Yang Qi thought, looking around. Obviously, it was a no-name from one of the other sects who was acting on orders from someone more powerful. Instead of responding to the person, Yang Qi looked over at Huangfu Genesis, Mu Renwang, and Su Xin. "The competition for league-lord will be fierce. Whoever wins will only do so after expending a huge amount of effort, and I really don't think tag-teaming should be the basis for victory."

"It doesn't matter," Huangfu Genesis replied coolly. "And tag-teaming isn't the big deal you're making it out to be. You're just trying to steal the spotlight, aren't you? The truth is as you said just now: whoever becomes the league-lord will have to expend immense effort to come out victorious. If you can't handle a few people ganging up on you, then how could anyone be convinced that you're invincible? No, our league-lord needs to be the kind who has dealt with such situations."

"Oh, I see," Yang Qi replied, nodded. Obviously, Huangfu Genesis wasn't particularly pleased with what he was doing.

"What do you say?" barked one of the chief elders from the Genesis Sanctum. "Are you going to compete, Yang Qi? Or not. If you are, then start fighting with Young Master Ling Tian. Show us who the winner is and who the loser is. If you don't plan to compete, then get off the stage and let Young Master Ling Tian keep fighting. Whoever remains on the fighting platform in the end will be the victor."

"That's right," Mu Renwang said. "Considering that you and Young Master Ling Tian are the only ones on the platform right now, if you don't start fighting, then what kind of an example would it be? Are you really just going to sit there as a dharmic guard to make sure people don't tag-team Young Master Ling Tian? That would basically be the two of you joining forces, which is against the rules."

"Yeah. That's definitely against the rules!"

Quite a few people nodded and expressed similar sentiments.

"There can only be one person left standing on the fighting platform. It's clearly against the rules for two people to work together."

Upon hearing all of the murmuring, Young Master Ling Tian hefted his saber. "Daoist Brother Yang Qi, I'm very thankful for how you helped me. But they're right. Anyone who can't handle some tag-teaming doesn't have the right to be the league-lord. Right now, we're the only ones left standing, so we need to have a fair fight. Regardless of which of us wins, I'll consider you a friend."

"Alright!" Yang Qi said, nodding. "If that's how you feel, then let's fight!"

"Please hold nothing back, Daoist Brother Yang Qi. I'm at my peak right now, all thanks to you. Here I come, watch out!"

In the shortest of moments, a blaze of saber light closed in on Yang Qi's head.

Yang Qi didn't even look at it. He threw a fist out, and the saber light was flung backward, forcing Young Master Ling Tian to retreat several paces, visibly shaken and surprised.

"Your energy arts are incredibly powerful, Daoist Brother. Now let's see how your movement techniques are." With that, he moved forward in a blur, his feet not even touching the ground, then unleashed a saber slash of such exquisite precision that it would surely cut through anything in its path.

Yet Yang Qi didn't do anything other than release another fist strike.

Instantly, the saber light fell apart.

Young Master Ling Tian scampered to the side with shocking speed, trying to flank Yang Qi and hit him with a host of saber moves. As for Yang Qi, he remained in place, using fists, fingers, and palms to block every single attack. There simply wasn't any way for Young Master Ling Tian to land a blow onto his body.

As for the audience, they watched in shock as this incredible display of first-class martial arts played out in front of them.

At a certain point, Young Master Ling Tian let out a shout, yet again reaching out to draw on that mysterious power and using it to let loose a deadly saber slash. Gasps could be heard as everyone realized that this was the moment in which victory and defeat would be determined.