Sage Monarch

(footnote explains the spoiler title)

Yang Qi knew that neither the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, the Heaven-Dominating Golden Swordbreaker, nor any of his other techniques would do him any good against Ghost Emperor Yama.

It was true that the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the most primeval of consummate techniques, representative of the might of the Lord.

If he ran into an ordinary Great Sage, he would at least have the chance to escape with his life. But Ghost Emperor Yama was no ordinary Great Sage. He was a devil king from primeval times, and it had taken an entire team of Great Sages to seal him back in the day. Just now, he had locked down the entire area without even trying, which was something that bordered on the power of immortals.

In the Great Sage level, each and every step was vastly more powerful than the previous, and there was absolutely no question that Ghost Emperor Yama was a high-level Great Sage. His command of countless magical laws insured that not even the chancellors of the great institutes could do anything to him.

Of course, the chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute was mysterious and hard to read, so there was no telling what would happen if he and Ghost Emperor Yama actually broke out into fighting. In any case, that didn't matter. It wasn't as if the chancellor would show up in this situation to save the day.

Besides, Yang Qi didn't want help like that. No, he would make his own last-ditch effort to try to salvage the situation. He even went so far as to demand that Ghost Emperor Yama acknowledge allegiance to him and be his servant. After all, Ghost Emperor Yama was well aware of how powerful the God Legion Seal was, and knew that it could kill him.

"Feeling suicidal, brat?!" Ghost Emperor Yama yelled angrily. There was something particularly strange about how he focused his sinister eyes on Yang Qi's forehead, as though he could see his deepest secrets.

Yang Qi snorted coldly and took another step forward. "Look, Ghost Emperor Yama, do I need to call on my God Legion Seal, or not? There's someone else I'm anxious to kill in the Rich-Lush Continent, so either acknowledge allegiance to me, or be crushed. It's up to you."

"You're bluffing, punk. That God Legion Seal in your forehead is strong, but it's passive. You can't use it like a weapon! Besides, it's broken. Incomplete. If it were whole, not even an immortal could do anything to you. But last time we clashed, it didn't kill me, which indicates that it isn't fully powered. You know what, I think I'll grab you, dig the seal out of your head, and absorb it. Then I'll be the most powerful entity in the world!"

"Is that what you think?" Yang Qi shrugged. "Alright. Go ahead and try. Even if it isn't complete, it's enough to destroy an ant-devil like you. Remember, last time we met, I was only in the Lifeseizing level. That's why I couldn't control the seal directly. But now I'm a Legendary, so things are completely different." Throwing caution to the wind, Yang Qi took a casual step forward, seemingly daring Ghost Emperor Yama to attack him.

As for all the mercenaries, the conversation which was playing out was so shocking that many of them nearly collapsed into unconsciousness as they shrank into the corners of the hall, trembling like baby chickens. In contrast, Chaoguang watched the situation with glittering eyes, seemingly more and more curious with Yang Qi.

Never could he have guessed that Yang Qi would be able to deal with a vicious fiend like Ghost Emperor Yama. After all, despite the lofty words Ghost Emperor Yama kept spewing, he wasn't actually doing anything. In fact, he actually looked scared.

"You're definitely bluffing!" Ghost Emperor Yama said, licking his lips with his blood-red tongue. "If you could actually use it like a weapon, you little punk, you already would have. You're not going to talk your way out of this situation." With that, he shook out his hand, causing devil energy to pulse out, almost as if he were loosening up to begin fighting.

"If you think I'm lying, fine." Brushing his fingers through the air casually, Yang Qi said, "Go ahead and attack me. But I promise you, you'll regret it for the rest of your life, however short it is."

Instead, Ghost Emperor Yama stood there hesitantly, recalling the moment when the golden imp had appeared to him last time, and the horrific pain and injury that had resulted. The truth was that he did almost die back then. The might of the legion of gods had treated him like a rag doll, and the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to see that golden imp ever again.

Finally, he said, "I, Ghost Emperor Yama, am a top expert from the era of the Yore-Wilds! I've been sealed for tens of thousands of years, but now I'm free, and I'm going to dominate the world! Soon, the Rich-Lush Continent will be a sea of blood, and afterward, I'm going to slaughter everyone from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral!"

"Fine, go do what you have to do," Yang Qi said. "But if there's nothing else between the two of us, then I'm going to take my mercenaries and leave."

"You think you're just going to walk out of here, punk?" A sinister smile broke out on to Ghost Emperor Yama. Shaking his head, he continued, "I'm not letting you out of my sight. I want to know the truth about you, and therefore, I'm coming with you. Let's see how far you'll actually take this bluff."

Yang Qi smiled coldly. "You want to come with me? Alright. But I'm leaving Yama Mountain. You're not going to stop me are you?" Waving his hand, he helped all the mercenaries to their feet. "Come on, everyone. We're leaving. There's no way this Ghost Emperor Yama will use the warding magics of Yama Mountain to try to stop us. If even a speck of his devil energy touches us, he's done for."

Letting out a shout, he sent out numerous streams of true energy to attack the mountain itself, and break a passage open.

"Dirty little swine," Ghost Emperor Yama growled, instinctively waving his hands to disable Yama Mountain's warding magics, allowing Yang Qi to pass through them unharmed. Until he was absolutely sure of Yang Qi's limits, he didn't dare to do anything to provoke a reaction from the God Legion Seal.

Yang Qi and the mercenaries left Yama Mountain, to find themselves in the rotting swamps of the Heavencorpse Kingdom.

"Captain, are we really free?" one of the female mercenaries said, hardly able to believe what was happening.

"Yes," Yang Qi replied coolly. "You see, Ghost Emperor Yama was once thoroughly vanquished by my mysterious backer." Looking around at all the mercenaries, he continued, "We were deceived by the Grand-Wilds Mansion, recruited simply to be sacrifices to Ghost Emperor Yama. From here on out, all of you stick close to me. It's obvious that Ghost Emperor Yama won't let any of us off the hook if he has the chance."

"Yes, Captain!" the mercenaries all said. Clearly, all of them were completely and utterly devoted to Yang Qi now.

"Who would have thought that the Grand-Wilds Mansion would be so sinister," Chaoguang said. "It seems to me that they really want to challenge the authority of the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. By unleashing Ghost Emperor Yama on the world, they've ensured that the church will suffer a huge catastrophe."

"You're exactly right, you ants! A big disaster is coming to the Quake-Dawn Cathedral, thanks to me!"

RUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Ghost Emperor Yama himself appeared. Reaching out with his hand, he caused Yama Mountain to shrink down, and sent out powerful fluctuations that shook the Heavencorpse Dimension so badly that the blood swamps began to simply dry up.

Within moments, Yama Mountain was a magical treasure sitting on the palm of his hand. The truth was that the mountain was just like the Grand Emperor's Pagoda or the Heaven-Dominating Golden Swordbreaker. It was a sage item, crafted by the blood, sweat, and tears of a Great Sage. Although Yang Qi couldn't yet unleash the ultimate potential of the two sage items he currently had, Ghost Emperor Yama was different. He most certainly could draw on the full powers of Yama Mountain. After all, he had created it to begin with.

Putting the treasure away, he clasped his hands behind his back and, in the most sinister of voices, said, "Listen up, punk. Like I said, I'm coming with you. Wherever you go, I go. You can't be on guard all the time, so if I find out that you can't use the God Legion Seal, then you're dead!"

From the way he was eyeing Yang Qi, it seemed he regarded him as a precious treasure that he didn't want to lose sight of. In some ways, Yang Qi really was like a treasure. He had the God Legion Seal and a godly-class energy art, things that Ghost Emperor Yama could only dream of possessing.

"Fine," Yang Qi said. "Do whatever you want. But let me remind you that the chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute is no weaker than you. A few years ago, the Quake-Dawn Cathedral sent some Great Sages to look into the son of their Holy Daughter, who is supposedly a god from heaven descended into the mortal world. Except, the chancellor killed them. If you come with me to the Demi-Immortal Institute, you'll be in the middle of a whole bunch of enemies."

Of course, Yang Qi was intentionally trying to intimidate Ghost Emperor Yama.

"The Quake-Dawn Cathedral!?" Ghost Emperor Yama's eyes flickered with hatred. "So, their Holy Daughter gave birth to a supposed god from heaven descended into the mortal world. A son, huh. Well, it must be true. There's no way the Holy Daughter had an affair. Besides, I've seen that son of hers with my own eyes. He's innately strong, and noble on a substructural level. He just hasn't unleashed his true potential. Well, it doesn't matter. He's little more than a pawn in my clash with the Quake-Dawn Cathedral!"

Ghost Emperor Yama was obviously referring to the Crown Prince.

Yang Qi had known all along that the Crown Prince acquired life force springwater from Ghost Emperor Yama. That alone made it obvious that they had been working together. However, it was obvious that Ghost Emperor Yama was scheming against him, and viewed him as little more than lunch meat.

"Alright, let's go," Ghost Emperor Yama said. "I'm curious to see what this chancellor is like."

"Fine. I guess it won't hurt to have some more muscle on my side. But if you get in a fight, don't blame me for hitting you while you're down." With that Yang Qi summoned his Grand Emperor's Pagoda, causing a bit of purity to appear within the Heavencorpse Kingdom. "Everyone, come to the perimeter of my Grand Emperor's Pagoda." Settling down cross-legged, he began to activate the pagoda's defenses. "If you don't mind, please lend me some power via the pagoda. I need to refine these five phases spirits to push myself into the Five-Phases Transformation."

Yang Qi was itching to return to the Demi-Immortal Institute, or perhaps make contact with Hua Tianxiong to see about the situation with the Crown Prince. But now he had Ghost Emperor Yama shadowing him, which meant he was in constant danger. Because of that, he hoped to reach the Five-Phases Transformation as quickly as possible, and become even stronger.

As the mercenaries gathered around the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, they sent their true energy into it, causing the pagoda to shine with brilliant light.

"The Grand Emperor's Pagoda," Ghost Emperor Yama said. "After the Crown Prince got the legacy of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, that pagoda was supposed to go to him. How did you get it?"

1. The chapter title is a reference to an expression about wearing a tiger skin to frighten others.