Sage Monarch

'There's something strange about this courtyard,' Yang Qi thought, looking around. After doing so, he realized that there was a subterranean spell formation in the middle of the place, and that it was radiating a strange devil energy.

In addition, the plants in the courtyard were all swaying in conformity to various odd rhythms. An ordinary person would easily be wrapped up in the fluctuations, and would soon begin to lose their bearings.

All of a sudden, zither music floated out from one of the lakes in the courtyard, a devilish tune that pierced deep into the mind. At the same time, a host of beautiful immortal women flew out and began to scatter hexagonal flower petals, the six sides of which conformed to the six sensory pleasures.

The devilish music was extremely enticing, and as for the flowers, they were Six Pleasures Devil Orchids.

Snorting coldly, Yang Qi waved his hand, sending sagelight out to fill the courtyard. Then, everything erupted into sagefire, and the devilish air faded away.

"Very impressive…."

The sound of soft clapping rang out as a group of people appeared in the air above the courtyard. In the lead was Young Master Sanitus Maximus.

The rest were all young Great Sages dressed in yellow garb, who were obviously the elite forces of Sanitus.

There was only one person applauding Yang Qi, and it was of course Sanitus Maximus. Landing, he slowly approached Yang Qi, and as he did, the courtyard changed, filling with powerful devil energy.

"You're strong, so I guess it's no wonder you got a Titan Emperor Medallion. You didn't even have trouble with my Six Pleasures Devil Orchids. I guess I'll have to handle you myself. Come on. Hand over that medallion. I'll go check into the Titan Emperor Collegium for you."

"So, you want my medallion." Yang Qi smiled. A quick check confirmed that Sanitus Maximus' cultivation base was in the fourth step, making him a True Real Sage. His followers were all second step Nirvanic Resurrection Sages. Obviously those levels made the young master completely confident that he could deal with Yang Qi.

Yang Qi had already put the pieces together. Obviously, the yellow-garbed young man from earlier had been lying, and had led him to this courtyard as part of a plot to take the Titan Emperor Medallion.

They were literally planning to murder him and rob him right in the presence of the Titan Emperor Collegium.

"What I don't understand is how a mere second step Nirvanic Resurrection Sage could possibly get a Titan Emperor Medallion. Is the immortal world blind or something?" Sanitus Maximus extended his hand.

'Should I kill this guy?' Yang Qi thought. He knew that he was in the city of Sanitus, one of the planetary cities in the Central Planetary River, a place where there were more experts than the sky had clouds. Although he hadn't sensed any Demi-Immortal auras yet, he could tell that there were several Without Limit and Epic Saga Sages in the area. And there were also warding spells and spell formations that would likely be activated if he killed Sanitus Maximus, which would make it difficult to escape.

WHOOSH!

Even as he considered all of these matters, Sanitus Maximus attacked.

He waved his finger, sending a stream of energy out that turned into sword light. The sword light filled the air rapidly, creating a net that instantly locked down Yang Qi.

"Thousand-Ton Sword Net!"

Yang Qi casually waved his hand and destroyed the net. However, the sword light then converged on itself into a single point, which exploded out into an enormous sword dragon that swirled around him aggressively.

"Rising Dragon Slaughter!"

This was a hidden aspect of the Thousand-Ton Sword Net, and was its most deadly function. Thousands of streams of sword light could converge into an enormous dragon which would slaughter the enemy. The sword dragon swirled, flickering with the power of both yin and yang.

A move like this was the type of sword technique that only the top grand masters of swordplay could call upon. It was far more incredible than anything Mammoth Force, Lion Hightower, or the other young chiefs of the Demonfolk could do.

Clearly, this Sanitus Maximus was the type of person who could fight and kill people higher than his own level.

And yet, it was a sword technique that Yang Qi didn't find particularly worrisome.

The sword dragon swirled around him, then slammed into his defensive true energy, causing a rumbling boom to echo out.

'I guess I might as well kill this group. If I just let them have my Titan Emperor Medallion, word will spread, and things wouldn't go well for me afterward.' In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi's killing intent surged.

Just as he was about to make his move, another beam of sword light appeared, falling from high in the sky, moving at incredible speed. As it fell, it split into a host of smaller strands, accompanied by intense rumbling sounds.

The sword energy arrived without any warning, and before anyone could react, it shot toward the yellow-garbed Great Sages who were standing around Sanitus Maximus. Then, screams rang out as they were ripped to shreds, leaving behind nothing but wisps of green smoke.

"Who's there!?" Sanitus Maximus shouted, sucking his own sword energy back into him and then looking around vigilantly.

"You've got a lot of guts, Young Master Sanitus. You know full well that this Yang Qi came to the Central Planetary River with a Titan Emperor Medallion. But instead of helping him to report in, you're trying to steal his medallion? That's a clear violation of the laws of the Titan Emperor Collegium!"

A young man appeared, clad in green clothing, and wearing a wide, conical bamboo hat. His hands were empty of any weapon, and he seemed to be no older than twenty, although considering the level of his energy arts, he was probably much older than that. After all, the sword energy which swirled around him was like that of a sword from heaven itself, which could dominate tens of thousands of other swords and techniques.

His mere appearance on the scene caused much of the surrounding courtyard to collapse. The warding magics, the dirt, everything melted.

"Who are you…?" Sanitus Maximus asked, backing up a few paces. Obviously, this newcomer was a dangerous person.

"It doesn't matter who I am. You broke the laws of the Titan Emperor Collegium, and therefore, you deserve to die. You and your corrupt clan are hereby sentenced to death! In fact, this entire city deserves to be wiped off the map!" He slowly looked up, revealing chiseled features, and eyes that had clearly experienced many hardships in life. In fact, it seemed as if all of the misery and suffering of human existence were visible on his face.

Based on his aura, he was a fifth step Light King Sage, and yet, there was definitely greater power lurking within him.

"Stay your hand!"

RUMBLE!

An eruption of energy transformed into a wormhole, out of which stepped an old man who clearly resembled Sanitus Maximus. His aura was roughly similar to Ape Heavenhelve's, making him a ninth step expert.

An Epic Saga Sage.

This was none other than the chief magistrate of Sanitus.

He was the leader of one of the thirty thousand great cities of the Central Planetary River, and he was flanked by several eighth step Without Limit Sages, who were the prime elders of the city.

"Who are you? A student from the Titan Emperor Collegium?" Glaring at the young man in green, he said, "What gives you the right to kill anyone in Sanitus? Those men were my elite guards!"

"You Sanitus people have got a lot of guts. You flagrantly violated the law, and thus, not even death can wipe out your crimes. I sincerely doubt that you were unaware of your son's plan to acquire a Titan Emperor Medallion via murder, and then join the Titan Emperor Collegium with it."

"He's lying, Father!" Sanitus Maximus said. "That's not what I was doing! I was just receiving this new student, only to realize that he was secretly trying to steal treasures from Sanitus! Obviously I had to stop him from doing that!"

Yang Qi almost couldn't believe that this young master was being so overtly shameless.

"So that's how it is," Chief Magistrate Sanitus said with a nod. "This is a misunderstanding, young man. Now you know the truth; this newcomer is the criminal here. Listen, I used to be a student in the Titan Emperor Collegium, and I'm still friends with many of the elders there. Who exactly are you? There are a lot of societies in the collegium. Which one do you come from? Why don't you take this law-breaker into custody and confiscate his Titan Emperor Medallion."

"Invert right and wrong. Turn black into white." The young man in green chuckled. "That's exactly what you're doing. You have glib tongues, but I know the truth. Sorry, you can't just break the rules of the Titan Emperor Collegium and then walk free. Your son is going to die today."

"What incredible gall!" City Magistrate Sanitus shouted. "Alright. Show me how exactly you plan to kill my son. It seems you students of the Titan Emperor Collegium get crazier every day. You're a measly fifth step Light King Sage, making you embarrassingly weak among the students of the Titan Emperor Collegium, and you dare to cause problems here in Sanitus?"

The young man in green laughed. "Ai. The ignorant always act very bravely. Fine. I guess the time has come to show you what students from the Titan Emperor Collegium are really capable of! Mysterious Principles Hail from the North Stars. Violet Auroras Summon the Profound Lord. Great Daos Slash Apart Dusk. The Heavenly Sword Develops the Preheaven!"

A long sword suddenly appeared behind him, its blade decorated with a turtle and a snake. As soon as it appeared, it swished through the air, creating seventy-two projections of itself, which then swept forth like rivers.

RUMBLE!

A divine sword had come to the world.

This young man in the bamboo hat was only in the fifth step, but he was unleashing a deadly attack on someone in the ninth step.

Instantly, the entire world turned into a chaotic, primeval realm of swords.

At this point, City Magistrate Sanitus' face fell, and he shivered visibly.

"Preheaven Godsword Technique! That's the Preheaven Godsword Technique! Are you from the Invincible Society?!" Suddenly, he erupted with the energy field of an Epic Saga Sage. "Dragon-Subduing Sage Domain!"

His sage domain spread out, profound and as mysterious as a dragon.

In the blink of an eye, the sword will in the area was locked down.

"Since you recognize my Preheaven Godsword Technique, then you must also know this move: Myriad Sword Ancestral Convergence!" Completely unfazed by the sage domain, the young man in green suddenly began to emit streams of sword will, even from his pores, which thundered high into the sky to form ten thousand swords.

Each sword moved as if in conformity to a great dao, and they looked like supernatural works of divine beings.

In the blink of an eye, the ten thousand swords stabbed forth.

RUMBLE!

The Dragon-Subduing Sage Domain shattered.

The domain of a ninth step Great Sage had been destroyed by a fifth step Great Sage. What kind of sword technique was it that could do such a thing? Obviously, this young man in green was a spectacular individual.

After the sage domain was destroyed, the young man in green sent a bright streak of white sword light shooting through the air to stab directly into Sanitus Maximus.

Sanitus Maximus screamed briefly before he was melted away, becoming nothing more than a green wisp of smoke.

"My son!" City Magistrate Sanitus howled.

At this point, the young man in green turned to Yang Qi.

'Let's go, Junior Brother,' he said via thought transmission. 'I'm Sword Seventeen from the Invincible Society, and Master sent me here to pick you up.'

1. Buddhism talks of "seven emotions and six sensory pleasures". The six sensory pleasures are associated with the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

2. There is a whole bunch of stuff packed into this sword technique and its description. Frankly, most of it isn't relevant to the plot so I'm not going to go too crazy with explanations. The "turtle and snake" reference is specifically a depiction of the "" of the four divine creatures of Chinese mythology. Sometimes those black turtles (or Xuanwu turtles), will be depicted as a standalone turtle, but traditionally, the turtle is intertwined with a snake. In any case, the term "mysterious principles" is a set phrase that contains the character "xuan" which can also mean "black" when associated to the turtle. So here, it has a double meaning. That meaning is emphasized by the "north stars" a.k.a. the Big Dipper constellation. After all, the black turtle represents the north. Incidentally, the "Profound Lord" is another way to refer to the black turtle, and is NOT the Sovereign Lord or One God that we hear about a lot. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if there are some other aspects I missed that connect all the terms in Chinese, but considering that this is not an important aspect of the plot, I don't think it's particularly important.