Sage Monarch

'So, I can't stand up to even a single move from a Demi-Immortal.'

Even using Creation, he still ended up covered with wounds with his sage domain severely damaged. It also took a very long moment to neutralize the energy raging throughout his body.

The upside was that after getting the Demi-Immortal's energy under control and sending it to his Hellfire Crucible, his blood vessels and meridians improved significantly.

Yet again, the unique properties of the God Legion Paradise were on display.

As long as he wasn't killed, virtually any attack levied against him could be converted into useful energy. Even the most dangerous fiend-devil power from hell was included in that.

Although he couldn't really fight a Demi-Immortal at the moment, at least he wouldn't be killed instantly.

Looking up, he said, "So what if you're a Demi-Immortal? You're only a Lesser Demi-Immortal, right?"

Laughing heartily, he shot upward, heading directly toward Northstar Sea.

The Hand of the One God parted all mists and clouds as he resorted to three stances this time. Creation. Destruction. Nature. The profoundly enigmatic truths of the martial path were clearly evident within these moves.

There were multiple stances within the Hand of the One God, but right now he only had enlightenment of three of them. The final stance, Nature, was what he had gained understanding of earlier when slaughtering the two ninth step Great Sages, thanks to the resulting increase in the Blood of the One God.

The move of Nature could slash open the cosmos itself, immediately causing numerous symbols of divination to appear. Subterranean torrents, volcanoes, pools of lightning, and other images appeared, then merged with each other to form the most imposing image of nature possible.

It was an image that represented the most mystical and supernatural elements of the natural world, all combined into one martial stance.

The transformations of yin and yang encompassed all of the connections of heaven and earth, and the transpositions of the sun and moon.

Tens of thousands of shining moons and burning suns appeared in Yang Qi's palm as it bore down on Northstar Sea.

'I can't believe this savage is so strong!' Northstar Sea thought. He had only just recently become a Lesser Demi-Immortal, but that was still nothing to scoff at, and he had assumed that taking care of Yang Qi would be an easy task.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi only seemed to get stronger with each exchange of moves and was not the kind of opponent that could be taken out with a single attack.

"You want to die, you despicable barbarian? Fine, I'll make your wish come true!" Northstar Sea suddenly exploded with the aura of a Demi-Immortal and a minor world appeared over his head. Waving his hand, he sent a streak of dazzling light through space-time to slash Yang Qi's Nature stance into pieces.

"Trample Heaven to Pieces!" Northstar Sea growled. Numerous spell formation charts appeared beneath his feet, spreading out to form an enormous Go board which began descending toward Yang Qi and the Sage Monarch Continent.

Yang Qi's facial expression was the picture of calm. He knew that he absolutely had to go all out to keep Northstar Sea at bay. If he didn't, and the man's spell formation charts hit the Sage Monarch Continent, the lands would be in dire trouble.

"Uproot Mountains and Rivers!" Yang Qi said, waving his hands out in front of him. As he did, an enormous pillar of magical laws shot up into the spell formation charts, temporarily halting their momentum.

"You, a puny savage, are forcing me to use one of my most deadly moves. I'm intrigued! You obviously have a battle body from an immortal plane, and soon it's going to be mine. Prepare to face my Iron-Blood Warfare Energy!"

Swish!

The energies of iron and blood swirled above Northstar Sea's head, taking the form of a huge banner. At the same time, the flames of war seemed to engulf the universe.

In response, several Demi-Immortals suddenly flew out from the Northstar Fleet.

"Northstar Sea is actually using his Iron-Blood Warfare Energy! That's a majestic heavenly-class energy art; in other words, an immortal skill. It combines true energy and magical laws to become the Iron-Blood Battle Banner, which can unleash unimaginable destructive power. Normally speaking, it's something that would only be used to fight fellow Demi-Immortals. But he's actually using it on that puny savage? Is that really necessary?"

"Yeah! What level is that savage anyway? He's only in the second step?"

"A second step Great Sage is fighting a Demi-Immortal and has forced him to use a heavenly-class energy art? Am I seeing things?"

"That barbarian is definitely a consummate genius. You hardly ever see battle bodies from the immortal worlds, but that's definitely what he has. Although, for a slave to be in the possession of a battle body would be a big waste. The best thing to do would be to strip away his soul and take over his fleshly body with some sort of soul-possession technique. Obviously, that's exactly what Northstar Sea wants to do."

"I don't think a battle body like that even exists in the Megaplexus planetary system. We can't let Northstar Sea get it. We have to get it!"

"Go now! Get that savage. And make sure not to harm his fleshly body, otherwise it will all be a big waste. Capture him alive!"

RUMBLE!

Clearly, Northstar Sea had been ready for a development like this. "I can't believe you people want to steal this husk of a body. It's mine!"

Laughing heartily, he sent out a divine glow that completely blocked the path of anyone from the fleet. At the same time, he waved his Iron-Blood Battle Banner, which swept out to wrap up both Yang Qi and the Sage Monarch Continent.

As soon as the Iron-Blood Battle Banner unfurled, Yang Qi knew that he was in a moment of life or death, and it forced him into a state of complete, emotionless calm. Without any hesitation, he sent his God Legion Paradise out, enlarging it to the point where it contained the entire Sage Monarch Continent.

Then he began growing larger, throwing his head back and raging at the heavens like an ancient megamammoth.

Under the assault of the Iron-Blood Battle Banner, the surface of the God Legion Paradise began to crack and crumble. The mad power of a Demi-Immortal almost immediately began to turn Yang Qi's true energy into dust.

Not even the God Legion Paradise was able to stand up to this level of power.

"The God Legion Paradise is the Glory of the Lord. I am the Lord, and the Glory of the One God Protects the Legion of Gods…." Dazzling sagelight poured out of him, like the final radiance of the setting sun.

Divine light swirled over his head to resist the Iron-Blood Battle Banner and, in the end, stopped its momentum.

"Damnation! Are you trying to force me to kill you?" Northstar Sea stamped down with his foot.

RUMBLE!

The void shattered as an enormous spell formation appeared, taking the shape of a gigantic Go board.

POP!

Yang Qi finally lost control, and blood sprayed out of his mouth as he tumbled backward. He had managed to hold on thus far under the assault of a Demi-Immortal, but he couldn't last much longer. He was like an oil lamp flickering on the verge of being extinguished.

His cultivation level was simply too low to stand up to this enemy.

"There's no reason to keep this fight going, savage," Northstar Sea said. "Your body is mine, and I'll imprison your soul to experience torture like that of the worst hell."

He waved the Iron-Blood Battle Banner again, causing it to shrink back down as it shot forward.

'Time to go for broke!' Yang Qi thought. With that, he prepared to cast aside the pain he felt and burn all of the Blood of the One God to activate the God Legion Seal. It was only recently that he had come to a new level of enlightenment and had an inkling of how to use the Blood of the One God to actively control the seal.

However, the Blood of the One God was extremely precious and he didn't want to waste it. It represented all of the bitter cultivation he had practiced since leaving the Hell of Mahānata. If he destroyed that blood, he would drop back to the level of only being able to fight seventh step Great Sages.

Unfortunately, he had reached a point where he couldn't hold back any longer.

Maintaining complete focus, he prepared to make that grievous sacrifice.

However, that was when a beam of light appeared behind him, and a hand stretched out that was as fair as crystal or jade. It was fair and slender, but at the same time, more stable than anything, and it pulsed with the aura of the most venerable, paragon-like entities.

POP!

The hand sent out a stream of true energy that could crush anything it touched, and caused everything around it to twist and distort from the boundless and mysterious level of power it contained.

When that jade-like hand touched the Iron-Blood Battle Banner, the banner collapsed into nothing.

What level of power was this?

It seemed weak on the surface, but in truth, it had the power to demolish the void.

"What's this?" Northstar Sea blurted, instantly convinced that this hand was far beyond his own capability to deal with.

Without any hesitation, he began to back up.

As he did, the voice of a woman rang out. "Who the hell do you think you are!? Did you just call my son a savage? If anyone here is a savage, it's you!"

A beautiful young woman appeared, hardly more than a teenager. And yet, as soon as Northstar Sea laid eyes on her, it was as if he had lost control of all of his true energy, which began rushing toward her like she was a black hole.

"You, a mere Lesser Demi-Immortal, dare to mess with my son?"

She was none other than the Holy Mother of the Hanging Mountain, and Yang Qi's mother, Greensura.

Her mere presence and aura caused all space and time in the area to settle down.

C-C-CRACK!

Her hand was an unwavering weapon that could destroy emotions, personality, reason, and desire.

She blurred into motion, and in the same moment, appeared behind the fleeing Northstar Sea.

Northstar Sea spun, clenched his hand into a fist, and launched an attack.

"Iron-Blood Battle Dao; A Fist to Devastate the Nine Heavens!"

"Ai!" The Holy Mother merely sighed. "You, a mere firefly, seek to outshine the bright moon?" She reached out with an open palm and grabbed his fist. Instantly, creaking sounds could be heard, then crunching sounds as his bones were crushed.

Crack!

She twisted her hand, ripping his arm off of his torso.

'Not good!' he thought, turning to flee.

And yet, she simply took a step forward and reached out with her slender hand again. As she did, jade dragons erupted out of her palm, twisting and turning in all directions.

Her hand was like that of an infernal deity as it latched onto Northstar Sea's head, making it impossible for him to move. In response, he screamed in agony. "This… this is the Jade-Emperor Profound-Welkin Exalted-Celestial God-Dao! How could an energy art like this appear in the mortal world!?"

"Heard of it? Then you know it's a godly-class energy art…." When the Holy Mother spoke, her voice was soft, yet even as the words left her mouth Northstar Sea melted into a pool of blood and gore. He was dead. Utterly and thoroughly dead.

1. I know "welkin" is not a very common word, so here's the definition: the sky; the vault of heaven.