Sage Monarch

Each member of the Obliterators was a crack soldier, and obviously, they looked down on new recruits like Yang Qi. The fact that he was an imperial clansman probably made things worse, as most people thought members of the imperial clan were spineless cowards.

"Listen well, Titan Dragonguard," General Yuan Kuohai said. "Being a soldier in the Special Reconnaissance Division is very dangerous. You could get eliminated at any time, so you'd best prepare yourself mentally."

"No problem at all!" Yang Qi replied in a loud voice. "I can handle any mission."

"Fine, you're all dismissed!"

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

The five members of the Obliterators blurred into motion as they left, completely ignoring Yang Qi, and even hoping that he would fall behind and lose track of them.

Yang Qi merely chuckled coldly as he followed along, keeping right on their trail.

Yuan Kuohai watched in surprise. 'That imperial clansman is fast! Who would have guessed that the imperial clan would have an expert like him nowadays? No wonder the princess sent him here. Seems she's as incredibly perceptive as ever. Although, the Obliterators are no slouches. I wonder if he'll be able to fit in with them.'

By this point, the Obliterators had disappeared into a wormhole.

The military plane had all sorts of wormholes leading to various other locations in the imperial city, as well as to the immortal world at large. Because of that, it was a travel hub of sorts. As for the wormholes, they were an ancient type that had been created in a much earlier time period to facilitate military travel.

The immortal world was immense, and without wormholes it would be impossible for the army to move about and put out whatever fires might arise. It was easy to imagine what would happen if a rebellion erupted and it took the army years to get there.

Unfortunately, after the Obliterators had traveled through the wormhole for a short time, the passage ended abruptly and they popped out in a huge desert.

"The wormhole is broken!" one of the experts said. "What a pity. Because of all the wars here in the Titan Emperor Heaven, a lot of the wormholes have been damaged or broken. It's too bad we don't have any primeval godworms in our immortal world. When immortals make wormholes, they're very unstable. Using godworms is the only way to create stable, permanent versions. I guess we're going to have to fly the rest of the way to the Endless Forest."

"I wonder if that imperial clansman managed to keep up."

Without any hesitation, they sped out across the desert, moving as fast as lightning.

"That piece of trash is only going to hold us back. We've worked hard in our cultivation to reach the immortal warrior level, and from his aura he's clearly just stepped into Demolishing. He's as far below us as earth is from heaven. We're veterans of numerous battles who have killed too many enemies to even count. And we have perfect genes, too. Our fighting prowess is so incredible that not even immortal officers would stand a chance against us."

"Exactly. He obviously doesn't know the height of the heavens and the breadth of the earth. What does he think the Special Reconnaissance Division is? A playground for kids?"

"More like a game of death in which you enter alive and leave on a stretcher. Come on. I'm in no mood to wait around for him. If he can't keep up with us now, there's no way he'll survive the Endless Forest."

"The Endless Forest is a maze. Once we're inside, he'll never be able to catch up. He'll just end up wandering around on the outskirts."

"Oh really?" someone said.

"What?"

The five Obliterators stopped in their tracks and immediately fell into a battle formation that conformed to yin, yang, and the five phases. In the blink of an eye, their power levels climbed to a stunning level.

"Who's there?"

"Me, of course," Yang Qi said, stepping out of a fold in space and looking coldly at the Obliterators. "We're all members of the Special Reconnaissance Division, aren't we? Why are you trying so hard to shake me?"

Yang Qi could tell that these five soldiers were indeed crack troops who were comparable to the members of the Invincible Society. They were strong willed and obstinate, but, unfortunately, they lacked the incredible reserves of power and resources that were required for further breakthroughs.

In immortal worlds, ordinary people couldn't just achieve breakthroughs at will. One needed a corresponding technique, energy art, and cultivation technique, as well as immense power and plenty of magical laws. The slightest lack in any of those would make success impossible. This group of five had no techniques that could push them past second stage Space-Demolishing, and were thus stuck as immortal warriors.

The Obliterator with the spiked armor said, "So, you managed to keep up. Nice job, buddy. Seems you're skilled at covert tactics. In that case, let's see how strong you are in a fight. If you're good enough, maybe we can accept you after all."

"That's right," another of the soldiers said, staring at Yang Qi with triangular eyes. "You just joined the Special Reconnaissance Division, so you probably don't know what kind of reputation we Obliterators have. We're the fiercest group in the entire division, and we slaughter people like harvesting wheat. My call sign is Deathly Serpent. This fellow with the Hundred Spines Immortal Armor is our Eldest Brother, Savage Dragon. And these three are Brutal Tiger, Callous Panther, and Vicious Vulture."

Savage Dragon, Brutal Tiger, Callous Panther, Vicious Vulture, and Deathly Serpent.

The five call signs were intended to be fiendish and intimidating, to make sure that anyone who heard them would know that these were people who shouldn't be trifled with. But when Yang Qi heard the five call signs, he burst out laughing inside.

However, he managed to keep a straight face. 'And here I thought everyone in the immortal world had the demeanor of a transcendent being and floated around on clouds. Obviously, I was wrong. This place is basically the same as the mortal world—power is everything. In any case, these five seem like they would be good followers.'

"Don't just stand there, buddy," Eldest Brother Savage Dragon said. Waving a finger, he said, "Deathly Serpent, why don't you test him and see how strong he is? If he's good enough, maybe he can be your sidekick and handle chores for you."

"Sure thing!" Deathly Serpent flew into the air. "Alright, kid, let's see what you imperial clansmen can do!"

RUMBLE!

He splayed his fingers, sending magical law streaking out in the shape of serpents, which then grouped together into a formation. "Rise of the Heaven-Snake; Sun-Moon Obfuscation; Seven-Extinctions Entangling-Serpent Grand Immortal Skill!"

This was actually a group of heavenly-class energy arts combined into an immortal skill.

It was something reminiscent of ancient times, filled with immense danger and boiling with killing intent. It contained both magical laws in serpent form, and also a host of immortal souls shaped into something like a fierce snake god.

In fact, the souls came from immortals that Deathly Serpent had personally killed, and there seemed to be too many to count. Few people in the mortal world could survive being hit by a blow like this. After all, who in the mortal world could go around killing countless immortals and using their souls to power an immortal skill?

The Seven Extinctions Entangling-Serpent Grand Immortal Skill shot toward Yang Qi, as if to devour him; obviously, Deathly Serpent was using a deadly move that would kill Yang Qi if he didn't manage to block it.

"What the hell is this?" Yang Qi said. "I can't believe you would use something as ridiculous as this against me!"

He waved his sleeve, and a spinning wormhole vortex appeared, which the snake-like manifestation of the immortal skill fell into.

"The flick of my sleeve can open the cosmos," Yang Qi said coolly.

In the blink of an eye, the grand immortal skill was gone.

"What's going on?" Deathly Serpent said, staggering backward. Before he could do anything else, Yang Qi leaped forward, causing heaven-rending, earth-crushing godly might to rumble out as he extended his hand in a move that Deathly Serpent couldn't possibly evade.

Crack!

Before Deathly Serpent could react, Yang Qi's hand clamped onto his throat, and he felt himself being lifted into the air, sealing marks slamming into him that completely locked down his magical power.

"Deathly Serpent!"

"Deathly Serpent… are you alright?"

"Put him down!"

Savage Dragon, Brutal Tiger, Vicious Vulture, and Callous Panther all leaped forward and unleashed deadly moves of their own, making sure to lock down every avenue of escape.

"You bunch of weaklings. Did you really think all imperial clansmen are pushovers?" Laughing, Yang Qi spun in place, sending a shock wave out in all directions. "Heavenly Shockwave Shakes Space; Let the Infernal King Come; Curse Heaven and Earth; Transpose the Cosmos!"

Pop. Pop. Pop. Pop!

Four popping sounds rang out as Savage Dragon, Brutal Tiger, Vicious Vulture, and Callous Panther were knocked out of the sky, dazed, their true energy seeping out like mad.

However, they were quick to recover.

"Quick, back in formation!" Savage Dragon shouted, sending out a host of black chains toward Yang Qi.

"You think you can beat me that easily? All of you, back down!" Yang Qi's hand shot out in front of him and intense rumbling sounds filled the area. The Hand of the One God crushed space down into crystalline form, and in the blink of an eye all four of the other Obliterators were sealed in crystal bonds, causing them to drop down onto the desert floor with looks of terror etched on their faces.

Yang Qi's cultivation base was simply too powerful; not even four of the Obliterators working together had been able to deal with him. In fact, he beat them within the blink of an eye. It almost seemed like he had been playing.

"Y-you…" Deathly Serpent said, trembling, "just who are you? How could an imperial clansman like you have joined the army? Shouldn't you be a high official or something?"

"That's none of your concern. But if you join me, I can guarantee that all of you will get promotions. In fact, I can probably help you achieve cultivation base breakthroughs. Understand?" He flicked his finger, and more popping sounds rang out as the crystal bonds shattered, freeing Savage Dragon, Brutal Tiger, Vicious Vulture and Callous Panther. The four of them rose to their feet, exchanging awkward glances. None of them were quite sure what to do.

"Starting now, I'm the leader of the Obliterators," Yang Qi said. "Alright? Feel free to disagree. You can even run away, if you want. But if you flee the entire Titan Emperor Heaven, I'll track you down with no effort at all, no matter where you go."