Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had just killed four Great Sages in a row, and then absorbed their sage motes into his God Legion Paradise, provoking dramatic transformations. After filling himself to the brim with true energy, he used the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to push forward into the seventh Legendary transformation.

Each of the nine Legendary transformations were different. The sixth was particularly difficult, but once it was achieved, and the personal domain was formed, reaching the Ghost-God Transformation was relatively simple.

All one had to do was absorb different types of empyrean-baleful energy, and thus add the power of ghost-gods to one's personal domain.

The primal-chaos paleo-energy of the Rich-Lush Continent was a type of empyrean-baleful energy that only Yang Qi could absorb.

The Crown Prince had his immortal armor, which contained, not sage motes, but immortal motes. The fact that he had broken into his God Legion Paradise made Yang Qi realize that, without taking some extraordinary action, it would be difficult to prevail over him in the fight.

And thus, he had made the snap decision to call upon the Jambudvīpa Deluge to try to reach the Ghost-God Transformation. Considering how many sage motes he had acquired, he probably had enough to go all the way to the Half Sage level, given enough time.

'In the term "empyrean-baleful", the empyrean relates to gods, and the baleful relates to ghosts! The power of multiple planes will converge in me, and boundless hells will become part of my pure land.'

Yang Qi was currently surrounded by the Jambudvīpa Deluge as he faced the Crown Prince. But then, he drew upon the explosive power of another type of tribulation. Beyond the waters of the Jambudvīpa Deluge, countless space-time wormholes began to belch endless flames.

They were as red as blood, and almost looked like blooming 'queen of the night' flowers. Those flowers only lived for a short, fleeting moment, and yet, these flames erupted out without cease.

"Fleeting Fire!"

The Crown Prince shrank back from the fire, his eyes flashing with vigilance as he tried to find a way to escape from the God Legion Paradise, and the blood-red Night Queen Flame.

The Night Queen Flame was a grand tribulation of heaven and earth just like the Jambudvīpa Deluge was. Both were rare, and when they appeared, it indicated that something very unusual was going on.

Despite the fact that the Crown Prince had his immortal armor, he still didn't dare to make contact with them, and was already backing away in the hopes of escaping the God Legion Paradise as quickly as possible.

"Think you can just leave, Crown Prince?"

As the tribulation wreathed Yang Qi, it entered his meridians and acupoints, flickering with destructive power. And as a result, figures appeared within the depths of the God Legion Paradise, almost like ghosts and gods of heaven and earth.

Instead of weakening because of the tribulation, Yang Qi seemed to be growing stronger. In fact, his aura and his true energy were indeed becoming more powerful. And the greyspace of the God Legion Paradise moved and shifted as winged ghost-gods became visible in its interlocking segments.

"Fist of the Halls of Heaven!"

Yang Qi stepped forward, keeping the God Legion Paradise closed tight so that the Crown Prince had no avenue of escape, and aiming a fist strike directly at him.

Stopping in his tracks, the Crown Prince said, "Well, it seems I have no other choice but to bury you here! Jambudvīpa Deluge and Night Queen Flame are nothing special. I have immortal armor and immortal motes. No attack of yours could harm me!"

Then he thrust his halberd out, parting the water and flame as he shot directly toward Yang Qi's heart.

Bam!

Yang Qi struck out with his other fist, and the halls of heaven appeared again. He was unleashing two fist strikes at the same time. Sagelight combined with the Jambudvīpa Deluge and the Night Queen Flame as Yang Qi directly struck out toward the Crown Prince's halberd.

The immortal motes on the halberd had broken into the God Legion Paradise, and yet Yang Qi was using his fleshly body to strike it. It seemed like a very risky and dangerous move.

As the power of the two fist strikes combined, blood-red light and sagelight flared. Then, Yang Qi struck the halberd, and sparks showered out in all directions. At the same time, a tremor passed through the Crown Prince as his halberd was knocked back.

This was a first!

In terms of raw power, the Crown Prince was at a disadvantage.

He had his immortal armor, and yet, he couldn't pierce Yang Qi's defenses.

As for the Great Sages who had survived the fighting so far, their hearts sank at the realization of what they were seeing.

"Get ready to die!" Yang Qi shouted, unleashing another double fist strike. Each blow that he unleashed had the power to sunder the heavens and crush the earth, and utilized the energy of both the Jambudvīpa Deluge and the Night Queen Flame.

Suddenly, he opened his mouth and inhaled all the tribulation water and fire, which caused the God Legion Paradise to grow larger. There were even godly trees that began to sprout up from nowhere within it.

As for the sagelight inside him, it seemed to be growing more real by the moment.

In that moment, Yang Qi suddenly seemed to grow taller and stronger, superior to the Crown Prince in almost every aspect. He had entered the seventh transformation and was now a Ghost-God Legendary.

Less than a hundred days ago, he had been in the third transformation. But now, thanks to the pressure provided by the Crown Prince, he had changed on a fundamental level.

"Bring the halls of heaven to the mortal world!"

Without any hesitation, he unleashed another fist strike.

It was a blow that could crush mountains and scatter seas, and even caused divine signs to appear within the God Legion Paradise. There was a god riding a dragon, who wielded an axe that could cleave primal-chaos itself. There was a black-robed old man with a brush, who painted yin and yang, the taiji, and the eight trigrams. There was a five-colored goddess creating five phases spirit stones….

BOOM!

The fist struck the Crown Prince, and he staggered backward, and even the immortal motes on his armor seemed stunned.

For the first time, he was backing away from Yang Qi.

"The Crown Prince has been beaten into retreat!? Not even his immortal armor can stand up to Yang Qi? This… this is unbelievable."

"Don't tell me the Crown Prince is really going to lose this fight."

"What are we supposed to do? The primal-chaos paleo-energy is so strong! There's no way we can break free. Besides, that Jambudvīpa Deluge could hit us at any moment."

The terrified Great Sages kept trying to break free of the God Legion Paradise, but were unable. Even worse, Yang Qi was now a Ghost-God Legendary, and was forcing the Crown Prince into retreat.

"Not even the Crown Prince can fight him! Yang Qi is beating everyone and slaughtering Great Sages. We're in extreme danger!"

None of the Great Sages dared to try to make another move against Yang Qi.

Swish!

It was in that moment that radiant starlight spread out behind the Crown Prince, forming into two wings.

Wings of the Starry Sky!

It was a consummate art from primeval times, which could summon interstellar tempests.

"What do you call your personal domain? Some sort of paradise? Hah! I'll destroy every last inch of it!"

He flapped his Wings of the Starry Sky, and suddenly, a hail of falling stars descended on the God Legion Paradise, which was none other than a massive interstellar tempest.

"Heavenly bodies of the legion of heavens, lend me your glory! Pierce all heavens to exterminate this evil being!" The Crown Prince reached up as if to grab heaven itself. As he did, an immense, glorious network of constellations appeared, filled with a river of silver, and countless planets. In the blink of an eye, glorious starlight descended, smashing into the greyspace of the God Legion Paradise.

"Wings of the Starry Sky?" Almost on instinct alone, Yang Qi summoned his Angel Wings.

A moment later, dazzling sagelight shot up to meet the falling starlight, and destroyed it with utter impunity. Every scrap of the starlight that had entered the God Legion Paradise was vanquished.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi's wings unfurled, instantly reaching a wingspan of tens of thousands of kilometers, piercing into the void and drawing upon all of the radiance and light of heaven and earth.

Metal elemental fay!

Earth elemental fay!

Fire elemental fay!

Water elemental fay!

Wood elemental fay!

Space elemental fay!

Light elemental fay!

Countless elemental fays transformed into angels, giving the Angel Wings stupefying power that could crush the Wings of the Starry Sky.

A dimensional barrier appeared high in the sky, covering the dazzling constellations, and severing the source of power for the Crown Prince's wings. Instantly, the Wings of the Starry Sky began to turn dark.

"Six Daos Downfall!" Yang Qi struck out six times with the Fist of the Halls of Heaven, each blow of which slammed into the Crown Prince.

POP!

The Crown Prince staggered backward, and as he did, his wings crumbled into ash.

"He actually eclipsed the glory of the Wings of the Starry Sky!? What wings are those?"

"The Crown Prince's wings were defeated!"

"What do we do now?!"

Heart pounding with anxiety, Yun Hailan shouted, "This is the moment of truth! Great Sages, attack now! Kill Yang Qi and rescue the Crown Prince!"

And yet, the Great Sages all remained in place, unmoving, waiting to see what would happen between the Crown Prince and Yang Qi.

"Die!" the Crown Prince shouted. Although his wings had been destroyed, and he was in a very bad position, he was still a valiant fighter. Hefting his halberd, he said, "The great dao of the Immortal-Slayer can destroy anything! In the immortal planes, the host of immortals massacred the gods!"

Cracks spread out over his body, which then began to emit dazzling shafts of light, revealing a spectacular image. It was a painting of numerous immortals fighting the legion of gods, creating a blood-soaked scene of battle leading all the way to heaven!

RUUUUMBLE!

Suddenly, a powerful will appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere.

As it did, the Crown Prince began to grow larger, and his true energy surged with heaven-shaking, earth-toppling force. Immortal energy rippled out of him as he seemed to surpass the Great Sage level and transform into an actual immortal.

"Yang Qi, you've forced me to waste my quintessence-blood as a sacrifice, to draw an immortal-spirit into me. You have only yourself to blame for this, understand? You might have been able to escape before, but now, there is nowhere you can flee to!"

His eyes were like burning, immortal fire as all the potential within him was released. Apparently, he was reaching out to another plane to draw on the immense power of an immortal-spirit.

It was very similar to how Yang Qi had connected to the will of that bronze immortal, which had eventually been destroyed by his God Legion Seal. However, in this case, the Crown Prince actually controlled the will of that immortal-spirit, giving him access to incredible power.

"There's no question what will happen now. Tremble! And be destroyed!"

As the Crown Prince slashed out with his halberd, the greyspace of the God Legion Paradise began to shatter.

1. The flower described here is epiphyllum oxypetalum, which is a species of cactus that rarely blooms, and when it does bloom, does so at night. The flower will then wilt before dawn. The name of the flower is part of a common Chinese idiom, and as a result, the flower itself is widely known to most educated Chinese people. I asked MDB if she had heard of it, and she immediately quoted the idiom in question. Anyway, the point of using the flower in this context is its "temporary, fleeting" nature. .

2. In my first draft, I translated this type of fire as "Queen of the Night Flame", because of the flower being named 'queen of the night'. However, even I got confused by the term when it came up again later; after not seeing it for a while, my brain parsed it as (Queen of the)(Night Flame) as opposed to (Queen of the Night)(Flame). Because of that, I decided to switch it to Night Queen Flame to avoid that element of confusion.