Sage Monarch

This was a battle between a dragon and a tiger, and it was shocking everyone present.

It was a conflict of force versus force, power versus power. Each opponent was obviously intent on annihilating the other, ensuring that the forces on display were destructive to the extreme. If they had been fighting out in the open, the explosive side-effects would have been enough to wipe two thousandth ranked immortal worlds out of existence.

At the moment, three top experts had joined forces to keep the conflict under control; if they weren't there, countless people would already be dead.

Yang Qi was drawing on his most quintessential energy arts, with the exception of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, which he was keeping hidden. Instead, he was using his Unspoiled Body, Seventy-Two Monarchs Energy Art, and the abilities from the Great Necropolis.

None of those three energy arts were in any way inferior to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, especially the abilities from the Great Necropolis. And the profound combinations of all the moves he was using was enough to seize good fortune from heaven and earth, seize the quintessence of the universe, and snatch the souls of gods.

All of a sudden, Yang Qi thrust his hands out, and an enormous tombstone appeared, accompanied by thunderous rumbling. In the blink of an eye, the tombstone was bearing down on the man in the mask, who slashed at it with a whip-like strike and then fell back.

"Hold it!" the man said. "That's a martial discipline from the Great Necropolis, which only the Inheritors can use. Don't tell me you've become an Inheritor! How is that even possible? I thought you used that thing. Logically speaking, a bearer of that thing shouldn't be able to become an Inheritor."

The 'thing' to which he referred was none other than the God Legion Seal.

Inside, Yang Qi nodded and thought, 'So, I was right. Bearers of the God Legion Seal can't become Inheritors. Nor can people with King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. When the godpower seeds first emerged, they must have avoided such people at all costs.'

Chuckling, he said, "How could you possibly understand what I am? Hurry up and tell me who you are and where you're from. If you do, I'll spare you. If not, it will only be a moment before I figure out your whip technique and proceed to the part of the fight where I kill you."

"How impudent!" the masked man growled. "Not even Proud Heaven or that other guy could figure out my whip technique, but you think you can? I'm going to capture you and drag out all of your secrets. For example, how you became an Inheritor!"

RUMBLE!

The man attacked again, his arms and legs whipping in a strangely fluid motion that made them look exactly like whips. At the same time, they resembled mammoth trunks.

"Dracomammoth Descends the Mountain!"

Shouting, he attacked with devastating force, causing an image of an ancient god to rise up behind him as he used one of the most profound aspects of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Instead of evading the blow, Yang Qi took a step forward and threw out two palms, using a move from the Unspoiled Body called Boundless Tribulations and Kalpas. When the two moves hit each other, they unexpectedly caused a black hole to spring up.

The black hole disappeared a moment later, but the short time in which it existed was enough to fill everyone with dread at the power they sensed in it. The black hole was an aspect of Boundless Tribulations and Kalpas that had been specifically designed to deal with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and could negate many of its profundities. What better move could he use than that, considering he had finally met someone else using the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth?

"Cosmic Protomammoth!"

The masked man used another move, spinning through the air to create a projected image, in the middle of which was a godmammoth, bursting with power, whose trunk could span the heavens.

Then the man threw out his hands to block Yang Qi's every path of escape.

However, Yang Qi didn't even attempt to back up. Instead, he drew deeply on his Unspoiled Body.

"Damned by Myriad Tribulations!" He threw out his hands, causing a spiraling field of energy to appear that negated the incoming attack.

RUMBLE!

After clashing, the two opponents flew in opposite directions, before landing several dozen meters apart. The masked man didn't seem like he was even close to running out of energy. Surging with power, he said, "Get ready for my next move. God Above Gods!"

Boundless godpower erupted, sending his aura out like wave after wave to overwhelm everything in its path. It really was as if a god above all other gods was closing in with deadly force.

"Tribulation Sea Without Limit!"

Yang Qi flew forward and exchanged a full thirty palm strikes with the masked man. Finally, two bangs rang out as the masked man hit Yang Qi in the shoulder with a whip, but was struck by Yang Qi's fist in the process. The two of them flew apart, the masked man coughing up blood and Yang Qi's face draining of blood.

"They're both hurt!" Quite a few people in the audience rose to their feet; for both competitors to be badly hurt could be a good thing for people who wanted to take advantage of the situation for their own betterment.

"What do you think?" Yang Qi quickly circulated his energy to heal the injuries he had just sustained. Moments ago, it had felt like an ancient godmammoth had been rampaging inside of him.

Thankfully, the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body had been specifically created to deal with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Furthermore, he had his own godmammoth true energy. Acting quickly, he used the Purrfect God Art to capture the intruding godmammoth true energy and send it into his dantian region, where he added it to his own, giving him new insight into the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Not only had he already recovered from his injuries, he had gained further benefits. However, he continued pretending he was hurt, hoping to see who might try to take advantage of him in a moment of weakness.

"You got me, boy," the masked man said. Spitting out some more blood, he rose to his feet. Then he shot off the fighting platform, using a profound movement technique to vanish before anyone could see where he was heading.

He left behind only a few words. "You were just hit with my Mammoth King's God Whip, boy. It will stay inside you and eventually destroy your energy arts. There's no way you can get rid of it. It wasn't long ago that the Shepherd was hit with a similar art, and it took him a hundred million years to recover. The only thing that awaits you is death; I'll just wait until it happens."

As his voice faded away, everyone stood there looking down at Yang Qi. Although none of them went so far as to try to take advantage of him in the moment, the words spoken by the masked man were ringing in their ears.

"Mother, do you know who that masked man was?" Mu Yexi asked. "I can't believe all of this is happening. Should we continue throwing our support behind Yang Qi? And what happens if Bastard Seacliff shows up right now? This might be just the moment he was waiting for."

"It seems to me that Yang Qi has been seriously hurt," Su Xin said. "However, he still seems like he's hanging in there. Let's just wait and see what happens next. If he dies, at least he'll take some more people with him. And if he gets killed, we'll act quickly, take his body, and extract the power of his godpower seeds. With it, we'll be unstoppable! And that damned Huangfu Genesis will be the first to die!"

"You're right, this is going to be a good opportunity for us!" Mu Renwang said.

Meanwhile, laughter rang out as several dozen experts flew down to the fighting platform. As it turned out, they were going to take advantage of the situation and try to take Yang Qi out.

The group all exchanged glances, then one of them stepped out in front of the others. "Which of us should go first, friends? Who will challenge the junior sectlord of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect to a fight?"

"How about you go first, Zhang Deming!" another of the experts said. "You were the first to land on the platform. According to heaven's laws and earth's principles, you should have the first shot. The rest of us will wait here. If you lose, we'll take turns. Agreed?"

"Hmph. Hu Di? I see you Dog Barbarians are as treacherous as ever. You want me to go first? Sounds more like you want me to waste my energy, then jump in to take advantage of the situation. You think I'm going to let that happen? How about you go first instead?"

At this point, a rather skinny fellow stepped forward. "Look, this guy is injured, but as we all know, a centipede does not stop wriggling even after being stomped on. It'll definitely be a big drain on true energy for whoever fights him. I have a suggestion. If we wait until he builds his energy back up, then we'll all lose. So instead, how about we up the ante. Let's agree that, regardless of who goes in what order, whoever beats him can assimilate his cultivation base. And during that moment, no one can interfere."

"A wonderful suggestion from the House of God Thieves!" Hu Di from the Dog Barbarians said sarcastically. "Who in their right might would trust you people from the House of God Thieves? You're duplicitous backstabbers, every last one of you."