Sage Monarch

Wilds Everlasting's retinue was made up of powerful Half Sages.

They were a core element of the Grand-Wilds Mansion, people who it was hoped would soon become Great Sages. They were completely loyal to Wilds Everlasting, and were trusted confidantes in every sense of the word.

Sadly, Yang Qi had killed them all with a single fist strike.

In fact, the shock wave from the blast spread out for an immense distance, killing everyone else who wasn't a Great Sage.

As for Wilds Everlasting, he was forced to resort to his Everlasting Sage Domain to defend himself.

Struggling upright, he maintained vigilance as Yang Qi floated out slowly from the haze.

"Who are you?" Wilds Everlasting said.

"Someone here to take your life," Yang Qi replied. As he spoke, an energy field spread out to surround everything for dozens of kilometers. It was a canopy that almost looked like an eggshell, which was actually nothing other than a many-layered greyspace.

This wasn't the God Legion Paradise, but rather, a powerful barrier that emanated from Yang Qi himself.

He had reached the level where his mere breathing created a resonance with heaven and earth. And the huge sage motes inside him definitely put him on an equal playing field with Great Sages, and could even allow him to crush them.

Wilds Everlasting was a burly fellow, and was strong enough to crush virtually any enemy. And yet, Yang Qi's energy field made him seem puny and weak.

Energy flickered around Wilds Everlasting's hands, as though he were powering up some powerful energy art. And his eyes flickered with brutal light; it was obvious that this interloper had no good intentions whatsoever.

"This is the Quake-Dawn Continent, and yet you dare to attack me? Don't you know how powerful the Grand-Wilds Mansion is here?"

"I came here specifically to kill you," Yang Qi replied. "So obviously I know who you are.

I know that you're planning to kill me, so I decided to take the initiative in the fight. Don't worry. I'll make sure to spread word of your death far and wide, and place all the blame on the Quake-Dawn Cathedral."

"I'm planning to kill you?" Wilds Everlasting was at first taken aback, but then something seemed to click in his mind. "You're Yang Qi, aren't you? That punk from the Rich-Lush Continent who supposedly has a godly-class energy art. You've been following me, and even eavesdropped on my conversation at the auction. Am I right?"

"Very smart. I expected nothing less of the son of the Wilds God. In terms of talent, you don't match up to the Crown Prince, but you surpass him in strength and power. You're definitely worthy of dying at my hands."

Wilds Everlasting burst out laughing. "Very big talk, Yang Qi. It's obvious that you're only a Legendary, and that you have a very weak substructure. You must have a very special energy art to be able to kill Great Sages as a mere Legendary. You know, I was just about to go looking for you. Who would have guessed that you would deliver yourself up to my front door? It's just like the old saying: you can wear out iron shoes in a fruitless search, then find what you're looking for without even trying. Well, it's time for you to become my slave. I doubt you know much about what I can do, so brace yourself. Everlasting Heaven Bow; Sun-Felling God Arrows!"

In the blink of an eye, an enormous bow made of true energy appeared in his hand. The bowstring was bright and colorful, and the bow itself thrummed with an immortal air. At each end of the bow, two primeval immortal-spirits appeared, their gaping mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth that clamped down onto the bowstring, causing it to fill with a row of enormous arrows. As for the arrows, they pulsed with an energy that seemed capable of exterminating anything and everything.

In fact, they seemed capable of piercing through the sun in the sky.

Twang. Twang. Twang. Twang….

Wilds Everlasting drew the bow and then released millions upon millions of arrows. They filled the sky like rain, piercing through the air with devastating force and speed.

"Immobilize!" Yang Qi said, extending his hand and unleashing a wave of energy. Instantly, the entire cloud of arrows stopped moving.

"Be destroyed!" Taking a step forward, he released a vortex of true energy which passed through the arrows and shattered them into dust.

Suddenly, Wilds Everlasting began to speak a dhāraṇī incantation.

"That Which Perishes Loses Radiance and Light. Only Everlasting True Will is Eternally within the World!"

In concert with the dhāraṇī incantation, the Everlasting Heaven Bow unleashed god arrows that radiated dazzling light, and were surrounded by the projected images of falling suns.

Pop!

The Sun-Felling God Arrows pierced through Yang Qi's true energy vortex, fully a hundred times as powerful as the previous volley of arrows.

"Even the Deathless will Pass Away; Even the Dazzling will Fall. Those who Betray the Legion of Gods will Inevitably Fall from Grace." Yang Qi clenched both hands into fists, then swept them out in front of him in movements that conformed to the will of heaven, and the legion of gods who created it.

A volcanic eruption of true energy destroyed the arrows; Yang Qi's fists glowed with pure, porcelain-colored sagelight. It was as if they were the manifestation of the paradise of the legion of gods, as if they were the halls of heaven in the mortal world.

The Fist of the Halls of Heaven once again destroyed everything in its path.

RUMBLE!

In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi's attack penetrated Wilds Everlasting's sage domain, and then bore down on his person with deadly force.

'He broke my sage domain?!' Wilds Everlasting was shocked, but managed to keep his cool. After all, he wasn't just the son of the Wilds God, he was also a fourth step Great Sage, far stronger than the now-deceased Chancellor Sea God or Chancellor True Dragon.

His Everlasting Sage Domain was a consummate discipline from the Grand-Wilds Mansion, and had been famous for a thousand years. And yet, Yang Qi simply broke through it and stepped inside, placing himself into what seemed to be incredible danger.

"Grand-Wilds Heaven-God! Wild and Barren Forbidden Region! Now that you're in my sage domain, the only end for you is death!" Wilds Everlasting unleashed streams of ancient mist that filled his sage domain, causing holy cathedrals to pop up like bamboo after a spring rain.

In the blink of an eye, those buildings became like a wild spell formation that trapped Yang Qi where he stood.

Yet again, Wilds Everlasting drew his Everlasting Heaven Bow, sending a hail of god arrows toward the imprisoned Yang Qi.

And yet, Yang Qi ignored the formation and the arrows. Clenching his fist, he punched out again.

"Where the halls of heaven exist, immortal-spirits shrink back in retreat!" A host of god-spirits suddenly appeared around him, and angels flew through the air around his fists as he stepped forward.

Instantly, the thousands of structures around him crumbled to the ground, and the spell formation was vanquished.

His twin fists pulsed with godly might that could end the heavens and crush the earth, and the light that shone from them seemed capable of piercing to the depths of the sage domain.

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

He took three steps forward, which destroyed all of the buildings that had risen up moments ago. And as he strode forward, the sage domain around him began to transform, turning into a paradise with a greyspace that looked like porcelain.

In shocking fashion, he had transformed this part of Wilds Everlasting's domain into his own God Legion Paradise.

"DIE!" Wilds Everlasting shouted, unleashing a single god arrow that was more powerful than any of the attacks so far, and glowed with blinding light.

It was fully a thousand kilometers long, and was backed by all of the power of his sage domain, as well as his own nascent divinity. In fact, it even thrummed with the aura of the Wilds God himself.

In the blink of an eye, the god arrow was right on top of Yang Qi, ready to take away all of his life force.

However, that was when Yang Qi stopped moving, faced the god arrow, and then opened the Lord's Eye.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Return from whence you came."

His booming voice was almost like music, and when it combined with the power of the Lord's Eye, the arrow stopped, trembled, slowly turned in place, and then rocketed back toward Wilds Everlasting.

"What?" Wilds Everlasting blurted in terror. "What energy art is that?!" Instantly, he unleashed a host of destructive fluctuations to try to defend himself against the incoming arrow.

He absolutely could not understand why his arrow was now flying toward him. Considering that he had imbued it with his own nascent divinity and quintessence energy, attacking with it had actually been a danger in and of itself.

RUMBLE!

The arrow slammed into him and exploded, causing vital energy to leak out of him like a waterfall.

He also coughed up a massive mouthful of blood which splashed out to stain the surrounding sage domain. Right now, there was only one thought in his mind: 'I have to get out of here!'

Swish!

Spinning, he turned and flew up into the air.

BOOM!

A fist slammed into him, knocking him down to the ground and shattering his bow.

There was no suspense about what would happen next. Wilds Everlasting had received grievous injuries to his vital energy, and although he tried to pull himself back together, it was in that moment that he heard something like music in his ears.

"Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust. That Which Flourishes will Fade, and the Falling Leaf will Become Part of the Root Once Again." Suddenly, the fist which had been descending toward him opened up, and turned into a hand which grabbed him.

Cracking sounds rang out as the space around him suddenly shrank down. In the shortest of moments, the shattered fragments of space closed in, creating something like a crystal ball.

Locked inside the fist-sized ball was Wilds Everlasting, who screamed in anguish, but could not escape. The crystal ball had a sizeable dimensional pocket which was perfect for containing captives, but could not be pierced even by a Great Sage.

Then, with almost no effort at all, Yang Qi crushed him to death.

Waving his hand, he plucked the heavenking thistle out from inside the ball.

When he had time, he would refine it for his own uses. Stowing the ball, he looked around at the surrounding destruction, then pulled out a few command medallions from the Grand Emperor's Pagoda and scattered them in the area.

Of course, those command medallions were from the Great Sages from the Quake-Dawn Cathedral that he had killed.

1. A dhāraṇī is a Buddhist chant, mnemonic code, incantation, or recitation. For more information you can check the . In Chinese, it literally is "true words" or "true statement". I'm going with the Sanskrit transliteration to keep the Buddhist flavor, and to make the term stand out as a special ability.

2. Almost any time you read about arrows connected to suns, it's likely a reference to who shot nine suns out of the sky.