Sage Monarch

For seven seas of energy to have formed inside Yang Susu was something completely unprecedented.

From that, Yang Qi was starting to understand how terrifying the Seven Apertures Sprite Body was. Yang Susu now had seven furnaces that could refine vital energy, and although the function wasn't quite as marvelous as his Hellfire Crucible, it was still astonishing.

"Spritefolk Godfurnace…." Yang Susu murmured. Massive amounts of vital energy surged within her seven seas of energy, gradually transforming into true energy expressions that resembled pill furnaces. Each breath she took was now like the breathing of dozens of Lifeseizers, and the milky vital energy quintessence from beneath the ground seemed almost incapable of keeping up with it.

Yang Susu had experienced such a fundamental transformation that, instead of being human, she was now more like a god, immortal, or sage.

Now, it seemed as if she possessed some incredibly unusual energy art.

"Aunt Susu, what energy art are you cultivating?" Yang Qi asked. He was very curious about what marvelously enigmatic technique she was working on, which was clearly something that ordinary humans would never possess.

Eyes mostly blank, Yang Susu replied, "It's something I was enlightened about after opening my apertures. A mental dharma of the Spritefolk. It seems to be something buried deep in my blood."

"Oh?" Yang Qi replied, thoroughly taken aback. Some demonlings could awaken cultivation techniques that were buried in their memories or souls, but who would have thought that a similar thing would happen with Yang Susu and her Seven Apertures Sprite Body? Even stranger, it seemed that it all happened because of the forming of those seven seas of energy.

There happened to be a spring built into this hall of Manyflowers Palace which contained a milky-white flow of energy that was none other than the quintessence of the earth.

Also in the depths of that spring was an enormous spell formation, something that far surpassed an energy formation of the dao of monarchs. This was an energy formation of the imperial heaven, something that only Quinary Lifeseizers or higher could make use of.

However, not even the quintessence provided by that energy formation could possibly have been enough for Yang Susu. It was only thanks to the life force springwater that Yang Qi had provided that she was able to grasp this new mental dharma.

Before long, densely packed lightning bolts could be seen taking shape above her, as well as monsters, bane-devils, baleful energy and the like. Flames covered her.

Tribulation had come!

She was breaking into Quaternary Lifeseizing, and so Yang Qi prepared to stand guard.

And yet, even as the tribulation formed, her seven seas of energy erupted to life, sending energy out to form a huge vortex that easily sucked in the lightning, monsters, and other aspects of the tribulation.

Just like that, the tribulation vanished.

Yang Susu's cultivation base was advancing by leaps and bounds.

Even as Yang Qi breathed a sigh of relief, all of a sudden, the vital energy of heaven and earth fluctuated, and even more powerful monsters began to take shape, burning with ghostfire, their faces vicious to the extreme.

Another tribulation was starting!

'Another one? Is this the tribulation of Quinary Lifeseizing?' To his shock, Yang Qi realized that, right after reaching Quaternary Lifeseizing, the incredible power of the life force springwater was providing life force quintessence that was the equivalent of over a hundred years of bitter cultivation. Unexpectedly, that was provoking Quinary Lifeseizing tribulation.

Massive amounts of intense lightning began to fall, and in the blink of an eye, the entire hall was filled with baleful energy, devil-ghosts, lightning, earth, water, fire, wind and vital energy as sharp as a blade. Even Yang Qi was in danger because of it.

But then, a burst of sword energy swirled out to protect him, preventing any of the ill effects from affecting him.

Yang Qi looked into the nearly-empty bottle gourd, quickly absorbed all of the remaining life force springwater, then sent the resulting true energy out into his limbs and bones.

His life force springwater was completely used up. Back on the island of peach blossoms, he had used a significant amount to subjugate the Ice-Soul God-Sword, and drag it up from the mysterious kingdom of ice. He had then given some to his sworn brothers. And just moments ago, he had also provided a large amount to Yang Susu. Taking the last amount that he just had yet again caused his cultivation base to rise. At the same time, the life force springwater instantly fueled a new level of enlightenment of the sword energy of the Moonset Hyperlunar Sword that Holy Daughter Manyflowers had given him.

"Ice-Soul God-Sword; Moonset Hyperlunar Sword technique!"

All it took was a thought on Yang Qi's part for the martial technique to be fully employed. Two streams of sword energy shot out, one like yin, one like yang, which swirled around him like supple dragons. Together they formed a shield, half of which was ice, the other fire, a barrier that was impenetrable, and that could conquer every obstacle.

"Yin-Yang Tower Shield!"

The countless variations of Yang Qi's sword technique could quickly shift back and forth from a defensive shield to a sword formation. As it turned out, he was using Yang Susu's Quinary Lifeseizing tribulation to hone his sword technique.

It took an entire day for the tribulation to fade away. When it was all over, Yang Susu had transformed on a fundamental level. She opened her eyes, and saw Yang Qi working with numerous streams of sword energy, which were combined into a magnificent tableau. However, at the same time, the vital energy of heaven and earth vibrated as another tribulation began.

It was Senary Lifeseizing tribulation!

One spectacular event after another was taking place on Manyflowers Peak. First was Legendary tribulation, and then, Yang Susu experienced tribulations of Quaternary and Quinary Lifeseizing. And to top it all off, Yang Qi was now preparing to face Senary Lifeseizing tribulation.

After all, he was already at the peak of Quinary Lifeseizing, and was now working on combining the yin and yang aspects of his sword technique, backed by a sizeable amount of life force springwater.

Suddenly, the hundredth particle within him erupted, and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was stirred.

'What? Another tribulation?' Yang Susu was simply stunned by what she was seeing.

Around that time, a graceful woman appeared at the entrance of the hall, who was none other than Holy Daughter Manyflowers.

"Master!" Yang Susu blurted loudly.

Holy Daughter Manyflowers looked at the tribulation brewing, and her eyes sparkled with strange light. 'He's challenging Senary Lifeseizing tribulation? His cultivation base is even more amazing than I realized. He definitely has some profound secret that he's hiding. Well, it doesn't have anything to do with me.'

"Susu, come with me. The chancellor wants to see you!"

"What? The chancellor?" Yang Susu replied, clearly surprised.

"That's right. The most powerful person in the Demi-Immortal Institute: the chancellor." Holy Daughter Manyflowers seemed to be in too much of a hurry to worry about Yang Qi. Sending out a stream of true energy, she wrapped up Yang Susu and said, "Everyone in the Minorcosm World knows about you activating your Seven Apertures Sprite Body. The chancellor himself wants to help train you now! There's no time to lose. Let's go!"

"But what about Qi'er?"

"He'll be fine. Manyflowers Peak is locked down tight, so no one could possibly interfere. And letting him gain enlightenment of his cultivation base on his own will be better for him anyway." Even as the words left her mouth, Holy Daughter Manyflowers sped away with Yang Susu.

With them gone, Yang Qi could breathe a sigh of relief, and could actually call upon all of his true levels of power. Writhing silver snakes burrowed into his blood vessels, and devil energy erupted from the ground. Heaven-devils descended, and devilish projections appeared that tried to drag him down into the depths.

Completely unfazed, Yang Qi shouted as he summoned his Hellfire Crucible. As it erupted with gravitational force, it began to transform on a fundamental level. A pitch black doorway seemed to rise up from inside, which slowly opened, reaching out with force to drag all of the tribulation manifestations toward it like a river.

And yet, even more tribulation manifestations appeared everywhere, with shapeless monsters that lunged viciously at Yang Qi.

These monsters were like inner devils, and yet, had corporeal shape. The more powerful someone became, the more their inner power could affect the material world, and even the vital energy of heaven and earth.

The sheer number involved would be completely exhausting to virtually anyone who faced them.

Manyflowers Peak was now like a hive of devils, and if Yang Qi made one wrong move, he himself would transform into one of them, after which the full might of the Demi-Immortal Institute would be harnessed to destroy him.

And yet, he simply remained in place, a cold smile on his face as the monsters besieged him. Circulating his energy, he fought, his thoughts transforming constantly as he grew more used to this state, to this way of using martial arts, energy arts, vital energy, and the like.

Seven days and seven nights passed. By that point, all of the monsters which had appeared on Manyflowers Peak had been smashed into nothing but dust.

As for Yang Qi, he was calm in an unheard-of way as heaven-shaking, earth-toppling transformations occurred within him. One after another, particles began to awaken. One hundred and one. One hundred and two. On and on it went until a total of one hundred and eight particles were awake.

He was now fully in Senary Lifeseizing.

As for his sword technique, it only continued to rise along with him. He had his Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique, Moonset Hyperlunar Sword technique, and the seven moves he had learned from Patriarch Frost-Drake. Thanks to Holy Daughter Manyflowers, he now knew that those seven moves were from an ancient organization called the Ravaging Dual Sword Sect.

Unfortunately, that sect had long since been destroyed.

In the distant past, great sects had flourished, and there had been far more than four prominent ones. That was back when the Rich-Lush Continent was just a tiny speck in the Yore-Wilds Continent.

The Ravaging Dual Sword Sect had been more powerful than all of the four great institutes combined, and yet, had not been able to survive the destructive nature of the passage of time.

'Now that I'm in Senary Lifeseizing, my sword technique is complete. I don't even need to use the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to defeat any Lifeseizer in the Rich-Lush Continent. I only need to fear Legendaries, with their ability to manipulate magical laws. Now, I can leave and get ready for the martial arts competition.'

Feeling wonderful, he flew into the air off of Manyflowers Peak.

Even as he looked out at the beautiful sunlight streaming down over the mountains, a voice reached his ears. "Yang Qi, there's something I want to talk with you about."

"Hmm?" To Yang Qi's shock, that voice belonged to Yun Hailan.