Sage Monarch

"What did you just say?" Totem Warlord said, visibly shocked that Yang Qi would dare to demand compensation. "We killed some servant who wasn't even a Quasi-God, and you're demanding compensation? Am I hearing things?"

"You're not hearing things," Yang Qi replied coolly. "I want compensation. You took a life, so what makes you think I wouldn't ask for it?"

BAM!

One of Lesser Gods slapped his hand down on the table. "Are you tired of living, boy!? You may be the son of somebody important from the House of God Ordainment, and maybe you did start this Sage Monarch Consortium. But we're from the dao of devils! Unless you run back and hide in your sect's god kingdom, then never come out, you'll end up dead if you cross us!"

"That's right! Over the past few years, the Emptyhell Throne has killed a lot of disciples from the House of God Ordainment."

"Who do you think you are? You're just a Lesser God! That's nothing compared to the god world as a whole. Besides, Eldest Brother Tu Xue is a Greater God. Do you know how vastly separated the two of you are? Have you even thought about that? We're giving you a lot of face by just sitting here and talking to you, yet you're actually being so insulting as to demand compensation?"

"This is a really joke. I can't believe a Lesser God is demanding compensation from a Greater God. You'd better watch out, I might just kill you where you stand."

Most of the experts from the dao of devils were laughing, although some were spitting in contempt.

"Slow down," said the Totem Warlord. "We came here to do business, and this is a city controlled by the House of God Ordainment. We can't afford to offend the wrong people. Tu Xue, you killed a servant girl, so pay up. Give him a godnote."

"A single godnote?" Tu Xue burst out laughing. "I love nothing more than to drain the blood of virgins. Here. Take ten godnotes and bring me nine more virgins."

He produced ten godnotes, which he sent flying toward Yang Qi in the form of a razor-sharp saber.

Yang Qi waved his hand and sucked the godnotes into his sleeve.

"Hmm?" Tu Xue murmured. "Well done, boy. It seems you do have some skills. Sadly, they're complete crap compared to what I can do. Now go find me those nine virgins. I can almost taste them already."

"Your compensation is one godnote?" Yang Qi said, looking completely unfazed. "Do you think this is some kind of game?"

"How much do you want, then?" Tu Xue asked.

"Simple. If you kill a person, you pay with your life. That's heaven's law and earth's principle. You killed this servant girl, therefore you won't leave here alive. Alright? Those are the rules."

"Kill a person, pay with your life?" Tu Xue's jaw dropped as if he had just heard a very funny joke. "I killed some ant-like servant girl, and you want my life in return? Am I hearing things?"

"You're not hearing things. Kill a person, pay with your life. And that's why I say you won't be leaving here alive."

BOOOM!

Rising to his feet, the Totem Warlord suddenly smashed his fists into the table, shattering it. Glaring at Yang Qi, he said, "You're quite the showoff, boy, aren't you? Don't you realize that you're trying to pull a tooth from the tiger's mouth? We're all Greater Gods, yet a puny Lesser God like you dares to run your mouth without any thought at all. I honestly can't believe you'd say something like 'kill a person, pay with your life'. And you would apply that to some servant girl? Even if we killed you, the House of God Ordainment wouldn't do a thing to us."

"It seems to me we need to take this ignorant brat and put him in his place," Tu Xue said, and he and his brother Tu Xing rose to their feet, staring at Yang Qi as if he were already dead.

"I suppose that means you're refusing to pay with your life for killing my servant girl," Yang Qi said, simply sitting there calmly. "You also broke my conference table. That's just making your outstanding bill even larger."

"That's enough," said one of the other disciples. "This brat is a complete and utter psycho. Elder Brothers, there's no need for you to do anything. I'll teach him a lesson right now!" The disciple strode over to Yang Qi and reached out with a hand that resembled a ghost claw, with fingers like pitch-black iron hooks.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi didn't so much as look at the devil palm heading toward him. He thrust his palm out, and a scream could be heard as the disciple was thrown back into the wall, where he was crushed into a mass of gore that oozed down onto the ground. He was so dead that he couldn't possibly be more dead.

"What?!" the Totem Warlord blurted, his energy arts surging as he first looked at Yang Qi, then at the smear of gore dripping down the wall and onto the floor. Voice icy cold, he said, "Well, who would have guessed that you're so strong, boy?"

"Kill someone, pay with your life," Yang Qi said, brushing off his shoulders. "The time has come to give your life, Tu Xue."

"You know your stuff, boy," Tu Xue said. "But given the level of your cultivation, you're insane if you think you can take my life. However, I admit you're right. If you kill a person, you have to pay with your life. You just killed a disciple from the dao of devils, so what do you think is going to happen next?"

"Disciples from the dao of devils are people?" Yang Qi said. "I think not. I said 'kill a person, pay with your life' not 'kill a devil pay with your life'. Ridding the world of devils and demons is a very virtuous thing to do."

"Damn you!" said Shaqing Jun, the skinny man that looked like a stalk of bamboo. He had remained silent up to this point, but now he turned into a green streak of light that shot toward Yang Qi with incredible speed, aiming directly at his heart.

"You're next," Yang Qi said. Without even looking at him, he thrust his hand out in a very mundane fashion.

BAM!

Shaqing Jun was hit directly in the face, sending him flying back into the wall. However, he didn't die. Gasping for breath, he remained sprawled on the wall as if he had been chained there, or even nailed to it.

"What?!" the Totem Warlord blurted. Tu Xue and Tu Xing were both visibly stunned. It might not have been very shocking for Yang Qi to have killed a lesser disciple, but for him to have defeated Shaqing Jun with a single move was unthinkable.

By way of comparison, it would be like an ordinary human picking up a rock and throwing it off to the side. That wouldn't be impressive at all. But for that same ordinary human to pick up a mountain and throw it away would be terrifying.

Compared to the unlucky disciple who had just died, Shaqing Jun's cultivation base was as superior as that mountain was to a rock.

"The rest of you aren't going anywhere, either. How dare you come here and try to cause trouble for me?" Yang Qi extended his hand, showing no mercy as he resorted directly to the Hand of the One God.

RUMBLE!

His move immediately caused the space in the area to begin collapsing. The disciples from the dao of devils all tried to back away, but the huge energy field Yang Qi had created made it impossible for them to do much of anything.

"Damn you!" the Totem Warlord said.

At that moment, he, Tu Xue, and Tu Xing all realized that Yang Qi was unfathomably powerful.

"D-don't... don't you realize we're the apprentices of Lone King Heavenbane?"

Yang Qi looked back at them. "Your Master is going to be dead soon. Do you really think I'll spare you?"

Then he became a streak of mysterious light that shot right into the Tu Clan Brothers. It was a consummate move from the Hand of the One God, bringing endless night and never-ending darkness. In the blink of an eye, the devil disciples were overwhelmed by pitch blackness.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam.

A dozen of the disciples exploded into clouds of blood. Meanwhile, Totem Warlord and Tu Xing were also hit, causing them to slam into the ground with blood spraying out of their mouths. As for Tu Xue, Yang Qi grabbed him with such strength that the man was immediately immobilized.

"You scum," Yang Qi said, shaking his head. "I almost can't believe that I took all of you out with only a single move. You couldn't stand up to just one little move?"

It wasn't as if there had been any suspense in the fight. Yang Qi could destroy any Greater God he encountered, and would only have had trouble if he faced a Consummate God.

Totem Warlord let out some rattling coughs that made it obvious his internal organs had been smashed to pieces. "Who exactly are you? There's no way you're a Lesser God. Only a Consummate God could possibly beat us. We make an absurd error here! We have eyes but didn't recognize gold-inlaid jade! We admit defeat!"

"Let my brother go!" Tu Xing said, coughing up blood. "Our Master is a patriarch from the dao of devils. You don't want to get into trouble with him!"

"I said it clearly already. Kill a person, pay with your life!" Yang Qi stared into the terrified eyes of Tu Xue and continued, "No one is allowed to casually kill people in the Sage Monarch Consortium. Did you really think I would let people from the dao of devils come here, kill someone, and just saunter off? If word spread, my people wouldn't have any sense of security. And who would agree to do business with us? Considering how wildly arrogant you've been, you won't be leaving here alive. Prepare to die!"

Crack!

A sound like an explosion could be heard inside Tu Xue as his godhood shattered.

Then, intense flames sprang out, and although he wanted to run, he was being held firmly in place by Yang Qi. The flames ate him up, and he was dead.

"You killed him!" Tu Xing wailed.

"You'll be next," Yang Qi said, walking toward him, his eyes burning with killing intent. "Anyone who dares to oppose me forfeits their right to life."

"If you kill me," Tu Xing screamed, "my Master will definitely come and kill you!"

"I want your Master, too. You people from the dao of devils disrupt the natural order. No wonder the boundless Sovereign Lord wanted to suppress hell. You people will never be purified." With that, Yang Qi viciously stomped his heel down on Tu Xing's head, causing it to explode in a cloud of blood.

"Don't kill me!" the Totem Warlord cried. "Don't kill me! I'll serve you like an animal!"

However, the moment he finished speaking, a beam of sword light shot from Yang Qi right into his heart, burning his godhood and sending him screaming into death.

Shaqing Jun was the only one left alive. "D-don't... don't kill me! I know we made a mistake! We shouldn't have tried to extort you. But who are you? Tell me so I can die in peace!"

"I really am just a Lesser God." Yang Qi extended his hand, surrounding Shaqing Jun with an expression of power that crushed him down into a little ball of blood and flesh.

All of the disciples from the dao of devils were dead.

Waving his hand, he gathered all of the quintessence energy from the dead disciples, collecting them into a devil śarīra. In some ways, it resembled godhood, but it clearly wasn't godhood.

It was the collected will, blood, and flesh of the people he had just killed, and it would make a very powerful ingredient for a medicinal pill.