Sage Monarch

This prince from the Misty Kingdom was quite gutsy. He didn't hesitate to fight back, drawing on power like that of a god dragon rising from the water. Deathless godliness filled his movements as he unleashed a godly-class energy art, the Void Mist Mountain and Sea Interstice. Combined with the power of his fan, it was nothing to take lightly.

The god dragon emanated godly might as it shot forward, nearing Yang Qi's throne in the blink of an eye. There, its claws stretched out with seemingly limitless power.

"Vast and Widespread Wisdom and Knowledge, Consummate and Perfect Like the Sea!" Prince Mist spoke eight words, each of them a dhāraṇī incantation that represented the mighty and profound core meaning of an energy art.

The eight words fused with the claws of the dragons, creating a powerful move designed to capture an opponent. This was one of the consummate arts of the Misty Kingdom, known as Good Fortune in Hand, which could capture even immortals. It was a profound skill that the legion of gods would use to grasp at good fortune.

Having unleashed this move, the prince of the Misty Kingdom was absolutely convinced that he would reach Yang Qi and leave him either severely injured or dead.

"You're forcing my hand, Yang Qi! I know about your ability to summon fiend-devils, but that won't do you any good. I alone am more terrifying than an entire nation of enemies!"

His mere voice contained a deadly battle technique which would pierce into his enemy's sea of consciousness. Combined with Good Fortune in Hand, it would unleash a most profound and boundless power.

RUMBLE!

The dragon claw of Good Fortune in Hand slammed into Yang Qi's chest! He didn't dodge, and he didn't defend himself. He just watched as the godly-class energy art hit him.

"You're dead!" the prince shouted in glee. With that, the dragon claw sank into Yang Qi to dig out his sea of energy.

However, as soon as the claw was inside Yang Qi, the prince realized that something seemed off. In fact, his energy art seemed to be sinking into the sea of energy like a rock into water. And when he tried, he couldn't pull it back out.

'How could this be happening?'

Lunging forward, he plunged his physical hand into Yang Qi's chest to grab his heart.

But then he found his hand stuck as well.

Then Yang Qi's flesh began wriggling, almost as if it were a swamp filled with quicksand. Suddenly, the prince found himself being sucked inward, and no matter how he struggled it did no good.

"What's going on?" he blurted. He tried to jerk his hand free, but Yang Qi was shining with a brilliant light that pulled relentlessly at Prince Mist's true energy, nascent divinity, and soul.

He was completely incapable of taking even a single step backward.

"Oh, nothing," Yang Qi said. "I'm just going to assimilate you and take your god item." Suddenly, he trembled even more violently and complex designs sprang out, wrapped around Prince Mist, and sucked him in.

It was a completely shocking sight.

Prince Mist screamed, but could do nothing to stop his arm from being sucked in. Then it was his shoulder, and his screams intensified.

The thousands of supreme rectors and other top experts who were watching shook with fear at this sight that completely defied imagination.

"Let me go this instant!" Prince Mist screamed. "If you offend the Misty Kingdom, you'll never escape the consequences!"

By this point, half of his head had been absorbed. He screamed, threatened, and cursed, but Yang Qi didn't say anything in response.

His body was a bottomless swamp ready to devour any living thing.

"AIIIIIEEEE-"

Finally, the screams were cut off, as Prince Mist and his Fan of Mists were completely absorbed by Yang Qi.

It was almost impossible to describe how terrifying the scene was.

A top expert had just made threats and vows, only to be absorbed in the blink of an eye. The bizarreness of the situation struck fear into the hearts of many of the experts present.

Even Eldest Brother was staring with wide eyes at Yang Qi. "Junior Brother… this… did you really just devour Prince Mist?"

"Yep. He had ill intentions, and wouldn't stop boasting." Yang Qi looked completely unruffled, as though nothing had just happened. His face completely expressionless, he said, "Not even death can wipe out his crimes. And if the Misty Kingdom dares to invade, I'll wipe out everyone they send down to the last man. His Fan of Mists has some deathless godliness which will be perfect for my own boundless energy art. I should be able to reach a higher level soon. Who knows, maybe I'll be a Paragon Demi-Immortal soon. At that point, I'll be able to summon fiend-devils with actual immortal bodies, enough to overwhelm the entire mortal world."

As an eighth order Demi-Immortal, Yang Qi could currently summon fiend-devil Demolishers that didn't have immortal bodies. Being able to summon actual immortals would make him even stronger, to the point where he could pick a fight with an immortal world.

The crowd's response to his words was utter silence.

After all, they had just witnessed the terrifying sight of a top expert being casually consumed.

Yang Qi's other allies who were present, such as his Elder Brothers and Sisters, had previously been very upset by how Prince Mist had disrupted the dignity of the occasion.

However, the way Yang Qi handled the situation had only helped them in the end. Yang Qi had not killed a chicken to frighten the monkeys, he had killed a monkey to frighten the chickens. And now all of the chickens were sitting there trembling in fear.

At this point, Yang Qi brushed off his clothes and looked around with a genial smile. "There's no need to be alarmed, ladies and gentlemen. I'm not the type of person who's easy to kill. When friends come to visit, I'm quick to drink with them. But when an enemy comes, I send them to hell. Now that you're all here, let's get down to business. I plan to form an enormous planetary system, and I'd originally envisioned my hands soaked with blood from the effort. But as they say, there is virtue in sparing life. Therefore, I'm not going to launch any offensive. That said, I happen to cultivate an incredible energy art that requires immense amounts of faith and destiny. And since you have all come here with honest intentions, I want you to go back to your various planetary systems and set up temples to me so that I can gather faith. I also want you to send your top experts here for special training. What do you say? I would like to institute a hard and fast rule requiring that I get one half of the faith of your populations. Well?"

Yang Qi was clearly angling to profit handsomely during these negotiations.

His original plan had been to ask for one hundredth of the faith of the various planetary systems, which wouldn't have been anything particularly outrageous.

But devouring Prince Mist had firmly established his might and he wasn't nearly as nervous as he had been before. Therefore, he decided to up the ante.

In response to his words, the expressions of the various supreme rectors flickered with numerous emotions.

"What?!" someone said. "You want faith from our planetary systems? We can't open that can of worms!"

"But can we refuse? You saw what he just did. He's not even afraid of the Misty Kingdom. And if he can summon fiend-devils with immortal bodies, how could we possibly fight him? This guy defies all laws and principles, even of those of the heavens!"

"So what are we supposed to do? If we really start giving him faith, we'll lose control of our own planetary systems. And besides, that faith belongs to the immortal worlds above."

"We definitely can't do this. Demanding faith from us is crossing a bottom line!"

"Offering tribute is a possibility, but definitely not faith. That violates the decrees of the immortal worlds. If we cross that line, we might as well declare war on ourselves."

At this point, one of the supreme rectors stood up. "Yang Qi, this is completely and utterly outrageous. We owe our faith to the immortal worlds, and if we break that stipulation things will turn very bad. You know the saying. Better to be a broken piece of jade than an intact clay tile. We all agree: death before dishonor! Considering you've offended the Titan Emperor Heaven, it's only a matter of time before you suffer a severe punishment. By the way, if you offend our Great Metropolis planetary system, I'm afraid… well, you won't be able to deal with the aftermath."

"Oh? Great Metropolis planetary system?" Yang Qi thought for a moment. "Did your collegium have a student named Lei Jiuzhou? Society chief of the Lightning Society? I met him in the Immortal Army Battlefield. He had just become a heaven-immortal, but sadly I had to kill him. I even assimilated his power afterward. You think it's better to be a broken piece of jade than an intact clay tile? Fine. I hereby cut off negotiations with your planetary system, and sentence you all to death."

Yang Qi produced a command medallion which he tossed over to Eldest Brother. "Eldest Brother, hurry over with an army of fiend-devils and dismantle the Great Metropolis planetary system. You can have ten thousand fiend-devil Demolishers and a hundred billion ordinary fiend-devils. Open the space-time wormholes immediately. Give everyone you encounter a chance to join the Sage Monarch Collegium. If they refuse, kill them."

"Yes, Junior Brother! I'll handle it!" Smiling grimly, Eldest Brother accepted the command medallion.

"How dare you! How dare you! You're deranged, Yang Qi! Demented! Do you really defy all laws and principles, even of those of heaven? Have you no respect?"

"Defy the laws and principles of heaven?" Yang Qi said coldly. "Laws belong to me. And as for heaven, well, I am heaven. Look, I demand faith. That's my bottom line. Cross it, and I'll shed rivers of blood."

"In that case, I'm done with all of this! We'll meet again on the field of battle! Then we'll see who comes out on top!" Supreme Rector Great Metropolis turned to leave.

"Where do you think you're going? And what makes you think you can even leave? I already sent the orders to conquer your planetary system, and that makes you an enemy deserving of death! You said that the faith in your planetary system belongs to the Great Metropolis Heaven, right? I'll give you one chance to live: pray to the heaven on high. See if your immortal world will save you. If it works, I'll spare you, and even let you have the Great Metropolis planetary system back."

He waved his hand, locking down space-time in the area. "Well? Start praying! Your faith belongs to the immortal world, so let's see if they'll help you."

"You!" Supreme Rector Great Metropolis blurted, his face flushing red, then turning ashen white.

1. Leave out the conjunctions and you have eight words in the incantation.

2. Lei Jiuzhou met his end in .