Sage Monarch

As soon as Southpalace Jade's head flew off her shoulders, her corpse tumbled downward. And before it could reach the ground, a stream of sagelight shot out and burned it into nothing. She had been in possession of many magical treasures, spirit medicines, and other precious items. Now, all of those things belonged to Yang Qi.

With one move, he had destroyed her. She had been the pride and joy of the Megaplexus Collegium, but not anymore.

Of course, her head was still alive. As she watched her body fade from existence, she screamed. "Impossible! How could I die here? I'm invincible! I have the daoist legacies of numerous powerful immortals! My good fortune was supposed to take me all the way to the dao of Demolishing! Someone even divined my future! They said my fate was incredible and full of blessing. I was supposed to rise to the highest heights, not die in a place like this!"

"Everything changed when you met me," Yang Qi said. "I'm a Fateless One. My fate is to change the fates of others." Even as Yang Qi's voice entered Southpalace Jade's sea of consciousness, her head exploded, leaving no trace of evidence that she had ever existed.

Yang Qi turned to face the young man from the Dragon Brilliance Collegium, the one with the long sword.

"Alright, Dragon Sun-Chaser. You're up next. Supposedly, you're the fiercest of them all, right? Now it's your turn to die."

Without a pause, Yang Qi blurred into motion toward him.

Dragon Sun-Chaser was quick to react. "Sun-Chasing Godsword: Heavenly Furnace Burns Bright!"

He shot forward with lightning speed, rotating as he flew along and unleashing a sword move that could dominate anything in existence. One sword to subdue heaven. One sword to shatter earth. One sword to slaughter man. Three swords combined, three treasured moves with infinite variations.

"The deathless sword will can stab through all darkness and gloom in the dome of heaven," he said, "and bring radiance and light to the world of mortals!" His sword became like a silver river pouring down from the highest heavens, destroying everything, causing the universe to sink down and hell to emerge.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi's hand blurred back and forth, and as it did the flesh in his palm pulsed, almost as though it were an enormous beating heart.

BOOOOOOOM!

The palm met the sword energy over and over again and, with each exchange, Yang Qi's power built up until he finally overwhelmed Dragon Sun-Chaser. All eight hundred forty million particles were alive within him, pulsing with immense genetic power that completely surpassed Dragon Sun-Chaser.

"I can't believe a piece of trash like you would dare to screw with me," Yang Qi said. "Your genetic power is only ten million times ordinary? Allow me to show you what truly perfect genes are like. This is life force from the legion of gods."

He reached out with splayed fingers, the roars of ancient megamammoths surrounding him. This was absolutely pure power, without the slightest impurity whatsoever.

Whizz!

The instant that power appeared, all of the opposing sword energy was vanquished and sealed, with no hope of ever breaking free.

Still, Dragon Sun-Chaser wasn't fazed.

"You might also have ten million times the power of an ordinary cultivator, but my sword qi can dispel all of it! Sword Energy Astral Redirection Dispellation Power!" Dragon Sun-Chaser's sword spun, creating a yin dragon and a yang dragon that swirled into a taiji symbol that shot forth to dispel Yang Qi's power.

"You think you're strong enough to dispel my energy?" Yang Qi said. He took a step forward, and when his foot landed it shook everything, causing mountains to crumble and rivers to divert their course. Even the dao of heaven seemed like it might collapse. No magical laws could do anything to the power Yang Qi was unleashing.

This was the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, so powers of dispellation, evasion, negation, or absorption were all completely useless, and in fact were little more than jokes.

Clang. Crack.

Two sounds rang out, the sounds of sword energy shattering and metal collapsing.

Dragon Sun-Chaser let out a frenzied shout as he saw immense, insane power rushing toward him. First, it destroyed his sword, then, it exploded his defensive true energy. His suit of armor turned into nothing more than dust.

"How could this be happening? My nascent divinity is about to be injured? I refuse to accept this! Boundless Sword Heart: Rapid Evasion!"

Without any hesitation, he converted his quintessence energy, flesh, blood, and soul into a single Boundless Sword Heart of flesh and blood that pierced through the air and began fading out of existence.

"Trying to run? Your genetic power and meticulously cultivated sword energy would be perfect for my Elder Brother."

Yang Qi reached out, sending an enormous hand projection flying out into the air that crushed everything in its path.

A rift was torn open and the flesh-and-blood sword heart appeared, which he grabbed. There in Yang Qi's hand was a bright red sword heart, pulsing and emitting sizzling sounds.

A voice echoed out from the sword. "Mercy! Spare me! I can help you! Don't you want one of the ten geniuses from the Dragon Brilliance Collegium as an ally? My death would be a huge loss, and my collegium wouldn't rest until my death was avenged. Do you really want to start a war between the Titan Emperor Collegium and the Dragon Brilliance Collegium?"

Yang Qi laughed loudly. "Start a war? I just so happen to love starting wars. In fact, let's start it right now. Elder Seventeenth Brother, I got this Boundless Sword Heart just for you!"

"Don't!" screamed Dragon Sun-Chaser. "I'll work myself to the bone for you! Just don't kill me! Aaaiiiieee!"

His final, agonized shriek rang out clear for all to hear as Yang Qi gave the sword heart to Sword Seventeen, who promptly absorbed it. Instantly, Sword Seventeen's genes erupted with power and his sword techniques climbed to a higher and more enigmatic level. It was as if he had become one with heaven and fused with the natural laws of the universe to create something far sharper than before.

Almost immediately, he entered a state of latent cultivation advancement.

Yang Qi laughed. "Once we're out of here, you can really be of assistance to me. After you fully assimilate that Boundless Sword Heart, your energy arts will increase dramatically and your sword techniques will advance by leaps and bounds."

In a flash, two top experts had met their end.

Southpalace Jade was dead.

Dragon Sun-Chaser was no more.

Before anyone else present could even react, Yang Qi was standing in a crater in the middle of the battlefield. Everyone else had been planning to hold back and make a move later, and as a result, they were now just standing there in shock.

"I'm out of here," murmured the barbaric young man with the long saber, the very one who had boasted of turning Yang Qi into a slave beast. Then he realized that Yang Qi was looking at him, and a feeling of foreboding rose up in his heart. Turning, he slashed a rift open in the air with his saber in the hopes of escaping.

Unfortunately, there was no escaping when Yang Qi locked down onto someone with his gaze.

"I thought you wanted to transform me into a beast? How about I transform you into a dog?"

Yang Qi blurred into motion, using his Angel Wings to move at speeds unmatched in the mortal world. That wasn't even mentioning his additional forty-nine imperial snakecharms, which gave him even greater control when moving through space-time.

ROAR!

Soundwaves rolled out from Yang Qi, throwing everything into chaos and forcing the barbaric young man to stop in his tracks.

Then, Yang Qi was in front of him.

SWISH!

Yang Qi's hands were like curved claws that shot out and locked onto the young man's throat.

"You want to fight?" the young man said, growling viciously. "Fine, let's duel! This saber of mine is an immortal item and its name is Fiend-Subduer. It was created to deal with fiend-gods with immense killing energy, and is the strongest weapon from the immortal world it originates in. Now you're going to get an idea of exactly how strong I am!" Howling, he slashed out with Fiend-Subduer, causing the energy of a fiend-god to erupt out without mercy.

In the blink of an eye, the saber was right in front of Yang Qi.

However, that was where it stopped. Yang Qi reached out and grabbed the blade with his hand. Not only did it not cut him, it couldn't budge an inch.

Bam!

Yang Qi twisted his hand and the saber snapped in two.

"Fiend-Subduer? Are you serious? The strongest weapon from which immortal world? You see, the strongest weapon here is my hand. And compared to me, you're as weak as could be. In fact, why don't you just die?"

Meanwhile, the barbaric young man's move had broken him away from Yang Qi, although he was staggering backward and coughing up blood.

Even as he prepared to continue fighting, Yang Qi stepped forward, grabbed his neck again, and hoisted him up like a captive duck.

The young man gurgled a bit, then managed to force some words out. "Let me go. I'm not going to turn you into a slave beast after all. I'll name you my chief rival! Just let me go, and we can have a bet! We'll meet up again in ten years and I'll beat you. You beating me this one time doesn't count for anything. I'll only acknowledge your superiority if you beat me twice! If you do, I'll humbly submit!"

"You think this is some kind of kid's game? You've clearly lost, but now you're asking to have a duel in ten years? Are you insane? Sorry, you only get one chance. And failure means death. In your next life, remember not to be such a lunatic. Delusions of grandeur will only earn you an early grave."

CRACK!

Just like that, the arrogant, barbaric young man was crushed to death.