Sage Monarch

"Guang'er!" the chancellor cried in anguish.

Not only had his effort to rescue the Crown Prince failed, but his own daughter had been dragged into the situation and killed. He had long occupied the ultimate position of authority in the Rich-Lush Continent, and had always considered his ultimate plans to be foolproof. And yet, in the end, Yang Qi completely stymied him.

Everything had been turned upside down.

"I'll make you pay for this, Yang Qi, if it's the last thing I do!" Rippling light covered the chancellor, with immense levels of power that instantly destroyed the Infernal Deity Spear sticking into his chest. Then he shot upward into the sky.

He knew that if he didn't escape now, he would end up dead.

Yang Qi had destroyed any bit of face the chancellor had left, and had gone so far as to kill his daughter. And the chancellor had been grievously injured, which meant that he couldn't possibly beat Ghost Emperor Yama.

"Myriad Devil Megapalm!" Ghost Emperor Yama shouted. He obviously wasn't willing to let the chancellor get away that easily. After all, killing him was his ticket to acquiring the rest of the Infernal Deity Spear. A host of devil-dragons swept out to form the shape of a huge hand, which shot toward the fleeing chancellor.

C-C-CRACK!

The chancellor's body shattered, becoming a mass of bloody chunks of flesh which immediately began to turn black from the devil energy.

"Infernal King God-Melting Formation!" Ghost Emperor Yama waved his sleeve, causing burning devil-dragons to surround the chancellor and begin melting his flesh into nothing.

"Oh great ancestors of the Demi-Immortal Institute, I am powerless to defend against this wretch-devil. Please, lend me your strength!"

Suddenly, a majestic stream of white energy appeared out of nowhere, pouring into the chancellor's shattered body. A moment later, he exploded again, becoming a white beam of light that shot off into the distance.

"Dammit!" Ghost Emperor Yama blurted. Transforming into a beam of black light, he gave chase.

After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he returned with a few streams of white light in his hand. "That bastard is fast. And he has the ability to split his nascent divinity into numerous aspects, which can then form together later to allow him to be reborn. Thankfully, I managed to wipe out ninety-nine percent of his quintessence energy. A little bit got away, but there's no way he'll be able to recover, even within ten thousand years."

"In other words, you didn't kill him." Yang Qi said. "This is bad. My Aunt Susu is in the clutches of some prime elders from the institute. Considering I killed the chancellor's daughter, if he escapes and finds those prime elders, she's going to be in great danger."

"I doubt it," Ghost Emperor Yama said. "He's definitely going to go into hiding. Otherwise, it would be too easy for you to track him down." He sighed. "It's a real pity I didn't manage to kill him. I could have the rest of the Infernal Deity Spear already if I did. What about this, Yang Qi: I'll give you some of my own boundless energy arts, and will even help you to reach the Great Sage level. In exchange, you give me the rest of Infernal Deity Spear. Okay? I simply can't stand the idea of going around with only half of it."

"How about instead, you go kill the chancellor," Yang Qi replied. "I'm not giving you the rest of the spear until you do. That was our deal, remember? As for the Great Sage level, what makes you think I can't do that on my own?"

At this point, he looked back into his God Legion Paradise, at the Crown Prince and Yun Hailan. There was also a swirling mass of starlight power that was all that remained of Young Lady Starlight.

"Nascent Divinity Starlight Body!" Ghost Emperor Yama exclaimed. "You're in luck, Yang Qi! That girl you killed, the chancellor's daughter, had a Nascent Divinity Starlight Body! That's a unique physique type from the ancient Starfolk. If you absorb that power into your personal domain, you'll be able to communicate with the stars much easier, and thus, reach the Astral-Star Transformation without a hitch."

"Oh really?" Slowly but surely, Yang Qi sent that power into the greyspace of his personal domain, which caused countless stars to appear there.

"Crown Prince. Yun Hailan. You always thought of yourself as safe within the protection provided by the chancellor, but he couldn't even defend himself in the end. He's been completely vanquished, and his daughter is dead. Now, you will suffer the same fate as her."

As of this moment, Yang Qi had achieved the victory he had long sought.

RUUUUMBLE!

Sage Monarch City began to rise high up into the sky, and as it did, the powerful elites that the Crown Prince had gathered to his side dropped to their knees.

All of them had born witness to the things Yang Qi had just done, which would eventually become the stuff of myth. Not even the founder of the continent, Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, had ever done anything this astonishing. After all, Yang Qi was still a mere Legendary, and had just slaughtered a whole group of Great Sages.

"Chancellor Yang Qi! Unifier of the Rich-Lush Continent! May you live and rule for all eternity!"

All of the students of the Demi-Immortal Institute began to shout such things as they kowtowed endlessly. Even Master Wind Gentleman and the other top experts like him joined in.

"Kill the scourge that is the Crown Prince!" Unparalleled Lightning shouted. "Remove him from these lands!" They were showing even more respect to Yang Qi than they had shown to Chancellor Demi-Immortal.

"Don't kill me, Yang Qi!" Yun Hailan suddenly blurted, her heart brimming with terror. She knew that all of her schemes and plots meant absolutely nothing now. She had been blessed and helped up to this point, even with the sealing mark from two immortal planes. But in front of Yang Qi, she was as weak as weak could be.

"I'll be your woman! I'll forsake the Crown Prince! I'll be yours, and I'll never turn my back on you!"

Whoosshhhh!

Yang Qi blurred into motion, appearing in front of her and reaching out to place his hand on top of her head. Then he sent out a stream of energy and sagelight to incinerate her sea of consciousness, and evaporate her soul.

"Yang Qi!" she screamed. "I'll remember this! For all eternity! Throughout all lives! I'll never let this go!"

A moment later, she was nothing but ashes.

Yun Hailan had finally perished at the hands of Yang Qi. As she did, countless streams of dragon energy and sea energy were sucked into the God Legion Paradise, where they became part of its greyspace.

Two sealing marks appeared, one that looked like a dragon, one that resembled a sea. They were only the size of a fist, but Yang Qi knew that they could be used to communicate with higher planes. In fact, he could already sense the power of those planes through the sealing marks. Perhaps in the future, he would step through space-time to visit those locations.

In the moment that he killed Yun Hailan, it was as if an enormous weight suddenly was removed from his soul, leaving him free and relaxed.

'I finally did it. I finally killed her.' He thought back to so long ago, when Yun Hailan had convinced him to steal that Latent Dragon Pill, and then ruthlessly dumped him. That was when he had been struck by lightning, and given the God Legion Seal. Many events played out afterward, all leading to this point.

Upon seeing Yun Hailan die, the Crown Prince shivered and rose to his feet. Glaring at Yang Qi, he said, "I can't believe you actually killed her."

"Yeah, I killed her. And you're next." Yang Qi was supreme within his domain. Furthermore, Ghost Emperor Yama had set up a spell formation to protect the entire area. Unless an actual Demi-Immortal came along, no one would be able to interfere.

And if someone like that did step into the picture, the God Legion Seal would surely react.

Snarling, the Crown Prince said, "I'm a god from heaven descended into the mortal world! I can't be defeated, and I'll never die. I'll escape, and when I come back, I'll kill you."

Suddenly, he burst into motion in an attempt to flee. Immortal armor once again spread out to cover him, glowing with immortal motes.

"On your knees!" Yang Qi said. Waving his hand, he caused the God Legion Paradise to suddenly shrink down rapidly. At the same time, massive vital energy converged on the Crown Prince, forcing him onto the ground in front of Yang Qi.

"I refuse to accept this! I'm a consummate genius! I'm a god!" Never in his entire life had the Crown Prince been subject to humiliation such as this.

BOOM!

Yang Qi hit him square in the chest, sending him stumbling onto his back, coughing up blood like mad.

Crack!

Even as the Crown Prince tried to struggle to his feet, Yang Qi stomped his foot down with the force of a herd of megamammoths. Instantly, the Crown Prince's lower half was turned into a bloody pulp.

"Immortal armor!" the Crown Prince said, struggling to draw on the power of his armor again. However, Yang Qi simply reached out, grabbed the armor, and crushed it, forcing the immortal motes therein to become a part of his God Legion Paradise.

Now, the Crown Prince had nothing left to rely on.

He had reached the end of the road.

"Nine Destructions Rebirth! Come on, Yang Qi, let's fight to the death!" The Crown Prince managed to push himself up into a sitting position, whereupon nirvanic flames engulfed him as he attempted, not only to be reborn, but to come back even stronger than before.

"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust," Yang Qi said coolly. "That Which Demises Shall Never Return." The Lord's Eye suddenly appeared on his forehead, and dazzling white light shot out to engulf the Crown Prince.

"The Lord said that some people will descend to hell, and some people will rise to the halls of heaven…. I am the Lord, and when I say something shall be destroyed, it will never be reborn!"

A scream of anguish rang out as the Crown Prince exploded, transforming into nothing more than ash and dust.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

The Crown Prince, a supposed god from heaven descended into the mortal world, had died.

Next for Yang Qi was the Hanging Mountain, his mother, and the truth about his origin.