Sage Monarch

Yang Qi was very familiar with the aura of the Quake-Dawn Continent, as well as the way people from there tended to dress. Considering he had just returned from that very location, he was even a bit familiar with their local customs.

As such, he immediately realized that this burly Great Sage standing next to the chancellor was from the Quake-Dawn Continent. The only question was what he was doing here.

That said, his presence was little surprise. After all, there were plenty of space-time wormholes leading from the Quake-Dawn Continent to the Rich-Lush Continent.

And considering all the dramatic things that had occurred in the Rich-Lush Continent recently, it was quickly becoming a destination for many top experts and organizations from the Quake-Dawn Continent.

Not only was there the Yore-Wilds' Heart fragment to be had, but also, valuable information about the Crown Prince.

Yang Qi had long since become aware that the Crown Prince was actually the son of the Quake-Dawn Cathedral's Holy Daughter, born after she dreamed of falling stars. Although it was an event from many years ago, it was for unknown reasons that the Quake-Dawn Cathedral had suddenly become interested in the Crown Prince again.

'Could it be that this is why the Crown Prince reached the Great Sage level so suddenly? Did the Quake-Dawn Cathedral help him? It seems highly likely….'

The more Yang Qi thought about it, the more it seemed that it must be true. It would not only explain how the Crown Prince had achieved his breakthrough, but also how he had so easily killed Hua Tianxiong and Young Master Shroud-Heaven, which had wrecked all of Yang Qi's plans.

It seemed very possible that it was because of this Great Sage from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral.

"He's from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral!" growled Ghost Emperor Yama. Yang Qi turned to look at him and could see the hatred burning in his eyes.

Despite his anger, he didn't do anything, opting instead to wait to see how the situation played out. Ghost Emperor Yama had been imprisoned tens of thousands of years ago by people from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral, and he hated them as deeply as the sea. There was nothing in the world that could resolve that enmity.

Yang Qi looked back at the chancellor, who was staring at him in open shock, his mouth open as if he were planning to speak.

But then the chancellor's eyes shifted to Ghost Emperor Yama, and they narrowed slightly.

Before anything else could happen, one of the Half Sage prime elders shouted, "Yang Qi! What are you doing? Rebelling? You're going to bring your friends and family to utter disaster, and that aunt of yours too. Yang Susu has a Seven Apertures Sprite Body, and we've been taking good care of her because of it. But how can we continue to help her if you act like this? In fact, we'll be forced to punish her and deprive her cultivation resources permanently!"

"Are you threatening me?" Yang Qi said, his expression flickering.

"It's not a threat, it's a fact," the prime elder said. "Thanks to you being bedeviled, your friends, your family, and also Yang Susu are all going to be put on trial. It doesn't matter how skilled or strong you are, considering how you've defied the laws of the Demi-Immortal Institute, we have no choice but to put you to death."

"Alright, prepare to die," Yang Qi said.

"What did you just say?" the prime elder replied, shock flickering in his eyes.

"I said, prepare yourself to die!" The killing intent in his words couldn't have been plainer. "One of the things I hate most in life is when people threaten my friends, my family, and my sworn siblings. Anyone who threatens me will die, along with everyone related to him!"

Yang Qi waved his hand, and spatial fluctuations rolled out, along with a beam of light that instantly reached the prime elder. Apparently, it was locked down onto his soul, making it completely impossible for him to evade it.

Now that Yang Qi was a Five-Phases Legendary, with the power of a million ancient megamammoths, he was definitely capable of killing Half Sages.

Face falling, the prime elder backed up, and spatial fluctuations rolled out as he called on his personal domain. However, his personal domain could not block the incoming light.

The prime elder was on the verge of being killed, and yet the chancellor wasn't doing a thing. Instead, he seemed to be staring at Ghost Emperor Yama.

As for the Great Sage from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral, he seemed stunned at the levels of power Yang Qi was revealing. Suddenly, the man extended his index and middle fingers, clamping down onto the beam of light, which caused Yang Qi to tremble and stagger backward a few paces.

In the blink of an eye, the Great Sage ended Yang Qi's attack, and even hurt him a bit.

Having just escaped with his life, the prime elder wiped the sweat from his brow and then shouted, "What gall! Perversely disgraceful! Chancellor, this situation has gone out of control! You have to exterminate him and everyone connected to him! If you don't, how could we maintain the honor and dignity of the Demi-Immortal Institute?"

"Outrageous effrontery!" another prime elder said. "He's a pure fiend-devil! If we don't kill him, the Demi-Immortal Institute won't have any face left in the Rich-Lush Continent."

"Kill him! Chancellor, just hurry up and kill him!"

All of the prime elders began to call out similar things.

"Everybody shut your mouths!" It wasn't the chancellor who spoke, but rather, the Great Sage from the Quake-Dawn Continent. Taking a few steps forward, he looked at Yang Qi and said, "Release Grand Elder Law-Chief and do as I say."

"Do as you say? Who are you?" Of course, Yang Qi didn't release Grand Elder Law-Chief, and in fact, tightened his grip on his neck, causing the man to gurgle a bit.

"I'm Great Sage Quake-Cloud, from the most important organization in the Quake-Dawn Continent, the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. What energy art do you cultivate? Tell the truth, immediately. You're obviously in the Five-Phases Transformation, and yet you can fight Half Sages. Even in the Quake-Dawn Continent, that would make you a rare genius. I'll give you two choices. First: tell me the secrets of your energy arts, from beginning to end. If you do, I'll ask the Demi-Immortal Institute to do me a favor and let you go. Second choice: be stubborn. In that case, I'll take you captive and drill chains of Quake-Dawn godsteel into your spine. That way, you'll undergo the burning torment of godsteel day and night for as long as I see fit. Oh. I'll also take all of your friends and family captive as well, and do the same thing to them. Presumably, you've never experienced the torture of being stabbed with Quake-Dawn godsteel, so trust me when I say that it's no joke."

As the man spoke, Yang Qi realized that there was a very slight grating sound coming from behind him, which was apparently Ghost Emperor Yama grinding his teeth.

After all, he had been imprisoned with Quake-Dawn godsteel for tens of thousands of years, and had experienced the exact torment this man was referring to. And now, a Great Sage from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral was standing right in front of him, talking about Quake-Dawn godsteel. How could he not want to kill the man?

"Is that so?" Yang Qi said, looking completely cool and confident. "Well, now I'm interested to see how strong this Quake-Dawn godsteel actually is, and how much it hurts."

"Imbecile!" the Great Sage shouted, killing intent flaring in his eyes. "Fine. I'll show you exactly how much it hurts. Of course the ignorant seem fearless! Hmm. I think I'll just use that servant of yours to show you. After I kill him, you'll definitely acknowledge allegiance and reveal the secrets of your energy art!"

Clink. Clank.

All of a sudden, a chain appeared out of nowhere, which blurred, not toward Yang Qi, but toward Ghost Emperor Yama.

It was a classic case of killing a chicken to frighten the monkey. By cutting down one of Yang Qi's companions, this man hoped to intimidate Yang Qi. And at the moment, Yang Qi had two companions. One was a woman, Lady-Princess Silvermoon. Considering that this Great Sage Quake-Cloud was relatively conceited, he wouldn't attack a woman. Therefore, the only other natural choice was Ghost Emperor Yama.

At the moment, Ghost Emperor Yama looked like an old man in dark robes. At best, he could be said to be unsightly. To Great Sage Quake-Cloud, he seemed like the perfect 'chicken' to kill.

"Dammit!" Ghost Emperor Yama shouted. "You, a measly Great Sage, dare to insult me like this!? You all deserve to die! Everyone in the Demi-Immortal Institute and the Quake-Dawn Cathedral can just DIE! Rivers of blood are going to flow because of me! Great Sage Quake-Cloud? Bullshit! You're only in the first step of the Great Sage level. How dare you call yourself an actual Great Sage!"

He had reached the point where he couldn't hold back any longer. He was a majestic devil king, but had been suppressed for tens of thousands of years, all thanks to a whole group of Great Sages from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral. Great Sage Quake-Cloud had only recently reached the Great Sage level, and his cultivation base wasn't particularly strong. To Ghost Emperor Yama, a person like that might not be as low as an ant, but he definitely wasn't anything impressive.

BOOOOM!

The 'old man' that was Ghost Emperor Yama exploded, and massive amounts of devil energy spilled out in all directions. In the blink of an eye, the Demi-Immortal Institute was covered with a devilish tempest, making it seem like the Hell of Yamas. Even the chancellor was shocked, and prepared to start fighting.

"Quake-Dawn godsteel? Be destroyed!"

SNAP!

Ghost Emperor Yama's pitch-black, devilish hand latched onto the chain, then squeezed down, shattering it into ash. Next, he reached out, his enormous hand sailing toward Great Sage Quake-Cloud, shattering the air as it went, blotting out the sun and turning it into something devilish. Space-time bent under the power of the devil energy, as it came to be under the complete control of Ghost Emperor Yama.

"You're… you're a seventh step Great Sage!?"

Great Sage Quake-Cloud immediately turned to flee, and yet, he was too late. Ghost Emperor Yama's devil hand reached him and—

POP!

The man's head burst like a watermelon.