Sage Monarch

More and more sura flame was building up inside of Yang Qi, and within his various acupoints, the martial arts of the various sura devils grew more refined. Their weapons were nearly blurs as they executed one deadly move after another, and called upon the most deadly battle techniques of the sura people.

And Yang Qi took it all in without hesitation.

All of a sudden, sixty particles within him erupted, releasing the power of sixty ancient megamammoths. As the energy spread out, his Hell Portal, Hellfire Crucible, Infernal Deity Spear, Infernal Deity Plate Armor and Fiend-Devil Wings all grew stronger, and absorbed even more sura flame.

As of this moment, he now had the power of two hundred sixty megamammoths.

His blood was the color of porcelain, untainted by the slightest speck of impurity. It was like the pure light of the stars and the moon, as boundless as the azure sky, as magnificent as the blazing sun.

The asura's explanation of the nine Legendary transformations had been profoundly enlightening, to the point where achieving Nonary Lifeseizing actually seemed like a simple matter.

He had long since built up enough energy to do so, but had just lacked the mental factors and enlightenment. But now, his path of cultivation had been made even more clear and open, and the moment of a breakthrough had arrived.

Nonary Lifeseizing!

For many energy arts cultivators, that level was the ultimate peak. In the Demi-Immortal Institute, conclave students of that level were the top experts, even higher than Yang Qi's current rank of elite student.

"Bane-devils and ghost-gods, emerge!" Yang Qi shouted amidst the flames. Instantly, a gale force wind filled the Sura Devil-Eye as the empyrean-baleful energy transformed into a host of monsters. Also visible were numerous bolts of lightning, accompanied by the crackle of thunder. Yet again, Yang Qi was facing Lifeseizing tribulation.

And this would be no scant tribulation. Normally speaking, considering he was in the Sura Devil-Eye, and in the presence of a mighty asura, most ghost-gods wouldn't dare to appear.

However, Yang Qi was simply too powerful. Not only did the ghost-gods come, but they came in seemingly endless waves. Suddenly, a monster burst out of the ground, muscles bulging as he charged toward Yang Qi like a moving mountain.

'A flawless god-devil? A devil-ghost formed from pure subterranean baleful energy?' The asura simply looked on as Yang Qi faced his Nonary Lifeseizing tribulation. After all, the asura was tightly shackled, and couldn't have interfered even if he wanted to.

BOOM!

Yang Qi attacked, blasting the flawless god-devil into bits before it could even reach him. Next, an armored heaven-god appeared in the sky above him, wielding a dual-crescent-bladed halberd which it slashed down toward him with the force to sunder mountains.

However, Yang Qi simply dodged to the side and struck out with such massive force that the heaven-god shattered.

The empyrean energy from heaven would attack in the fashion of god-spirits, whereas the subterranean baleful energy would become vicious monsters.

As the asura looked on, a vertical eye slowly opened up on its forehead. 'These monsters aren't very strong. They're almost like toy dolls. Just wait until you reach the seventh Ghost-God Transformation, when the empyrean-baleful energy creates devil-gods that can shake lands and rock mountains. Then you'll really understand what terror is. Back when I reached the Ghost-God Transformation, it was pure torture.'

More monsters poured forth, attempting to overwhelm Yang Qi.

RUMBLE! RUUUUMBLE!

Suddenly, a mass of lightning appeared above him. However, instead of consisting of zigzagged lightning bolts, it was composed of spherical masses that looked like pellet-sized meteors.

Instantly, the lightning-meteors began to fall like rain. Although they weren't very big, when they slammed into Yang Qi, they caused deafening booms to fill the enormous hall. Soon, he was surrounded by a sea of lightning. If there weren't an asura here, it was likely that the entire place would have been destroyed already.

'Quite an impressive tribulation. That's… Deadly Star Lightning. He's provoked Deadly Star Lightning in the Lifeseizing level? Who is this guy? And what technique does he cultivate? It's definitely nothing to look down on. Normally speaking, Deadly Star Lightning only appears in Legendary tribulations.' The asura was actually quite shocked by what he was seeing.

However, even as the Deadly Star Lightning exploded around Yang Qi, it was sucked into him and absorbed by his true energy. In the end, it didn't harm him in the least, neither his meridians nor his cultivation base.

It fell for roughly twelve hours straight, during which time Yang Qi didn't even experience discomfort. Instead, he was filled with heaven-shaking, earth-toppling power. Eventually, the tribulation was sending lightning dragons, lightning snakes, lightning tigers, lightning apes, and all sorts of other beasts at him, creatures from the ancient wilds of yore. However, none of it was effective against Yang Qi.

Just as he felt certain that the tribulation was about to end, a thunderous boom descended from above, like the toll of some enormous bell.

'Universal Polarity Godbell!?'

Never could Yang Qi have guessed that in the moment he was about to overcome the lightning tribulation, this would happen. He very clearly remembered Holy Daughter Manyflowers' Legendary tribulation, and how the Universal Polarity Godbell covered all of Manyflowers Peak for an entire day and night before she destroyed it.

Now, he was receiving the same treatment as her, except not as part of Legendary tribulation, but as part of Nonary Lifeseizing tribulation. But why?

As soon as the Universal Polarity Godbell appeared, Yang Qi knew that it was not the time to be distracted. The tribulation had just become very real.

The asura was similarly shocked, and even looked a bit worried. 'This little punk is a bit crafty, but he's an important pawn to me. He's the only way I can escape from here, get the Grand Emperor's Pagoda and become a Great Sage. He'll die eventually, but he can't die right now! I'll send him to hell only when he's not useful anymore!'

If Yang Qi ended up being killed in the tribulation, neither his bones nor his soul would remain behind, and the asura would end up completely empty-handed.

Unfortunately for him, the only thing he could do right now was wait to see how things played out.

Yang Qi was now inside the Universal Polarity Godbell, surrounded by pure darkness interlaced with flashing lightning. It was suffocating as the booming of the bell smashed into his very soul and mind, trying to destroy him, trying to crush him to bits. Soon, humanoid lightning appeared, and palaces made of electricity, even weapons….

The massive assault almost immediately drained away a significant portion of his true energy.

If a normal Nonary Lifeseizer encountered tribulation like this, they would be crushed out of existence, even some of the top geniuses. But for Yang Qi, it was nothing to worry about.

He took a deep breath, causing true energy to bubble up in his sea of energy. Instantly, Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World surged out to combat the Universal Polarity Godbell. As the immense power of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth fought back against the tribulation, the bell began to spin in dizzying fashion.

However, Yang Qi simply sat down, breathing steadily as he calmed his spirit and energy.

As time passed, he felt himself growing stronger, and could fairly sense the frustration of the Universal Polarity Godbell. The power of the bell waned and waned, until finally, in its moment of ultimate weakness, Yang Qi attacked.

BOOOM!

It was a shocking fist strike so powerful that it could shake heaven and earth. The Universal Polarity Godbell shattered, and all of the true energy that made it up immediately rushed into Yang Qi and became part of him. Instantly, his own true energy seemed to burst with life, filling him with a very strange sensation.

In fact, he almost felt like he could cast aside his physical form and exist as pure true energy.

Of course, it was only a fleeting feeling. If he did that now, he would actually die. True energy inhabited the human body like liquid would fill a bottle. If the bottle were to be smashed, the liquid would splash to the ground and evaporate.

However, what that feeling of his did prove was that he was now utterly and thoroughly in Nonary Lifeseizing, truly only a step away from the Legendary level.

The tribulation was over.

Of course, reaching the next level would be much, much more difficult than his previous success at going from the Energy Arts level to the Lifeseizing level. And considering he didn't know exactly how to go about achieving that breakthrough, he would need to take his time.

"So, brat, you reached Nonary Lifeseizing," the asura said, sounding a bit less haughty than before. "Not bad. Not bad at all! That was an incredible tribulation! As a Lifeseizer, you provoked the Universal Polarity Godbell. Even among the sura people, that's a rare thing. I wonder what will happen when you try to break through to the Legendary level. Will you topple heaven and destroy the earth?"

"Any instructions for me, Senior?" Yang Qi asked calmly.

"I just sensed immense demon-devil power from outside. It seems to me that Young Master Shroud-Heaven and the Crown Prince should be here shortly. And those demon-devils outside have gone all out to activate the Demon Sage spell formation and reach out to the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. I think—"

RUMBLE!

Even as he spoke, everything began to shake violently.