Sage Monarch

Deathly silence prevailed and many a jaw dropped among the throngs of onlookers. Even Yuan Kuohai and those familiar with Yang Qi were flabbergasted. Although they had been confident he would win, they never could have guessed that he would win so decisively.

He didn't use any energy arts. In fact, he literally didn't move. No one had been able to detect the slightest stirring of true energy or power on his part. He had simply uttered two words. Die. Detonate.

As a result, his opponent died and his mecha detonated. Not even a corpse remained behind.

How did Yang Qi do it? Was it an energy art? A daoist technique? A curse?

In the immortal world, cultivators were particularly perceptive and were deeply familiar with all sorts of energy arts, daoist techniques, and curses. Generally speaking, they would be able to identify any move that they saw, at least on a foundational level.

Yet no one present, not even Proud Warpatience or Princess Jadefall, had any idea how Yang Qi had used two simple words to defeat his opponent. The ability to speak words and have them become reality touched on the most enigmatic of natural and magical laws, truths, great daos, and divine magics.

His words had become law!

Truth be told, no one present had even heard of anything like this.

The reality was that it was a new energy art that Yang Qi had only recently gained enlightenment of. The turnings of the Wheel of Fate could alter a person's fate. Words could become heavenly mandates. Speech could become reality. His enunciations could kill a person, depriving them of all their life and power.

This new energy art was an augmentation of the Flame of Hope and was called Glad Tidings of the Lord. Instead of being powered by true energy, it drew heavily on the power of fate to produce shocking results.

Ordinary people couldn't grasp the meaning and function of fate, but Yang Qi was a Fateless One. He had his God Legion Seal and the Wheel of Fate, therefore, he could pronounce the glad tidings of the One God. When he spoke, it was just like the adage which talked of a golden mouth and jade words. In his case, his mouth spoke magic and his words contained the dao.

His utterances were nothing less than daoist magic.

'Who the hell is this guy?' Princess Jadefall thought, her gaze locking onto Yang Qi. Of course, she was very pleased. 'He's a genius. A genius among our imperial clan. I have to report this to His Imperial Majesty, and also promote him immediately. With someone as powerful as him to lead our troops, our victory in battle will be guaranteed.'

As for Proud Warpatience, he was obviously enraged and clearly wanted to capture Yang Qi and assimilate him. 'Dammit, what daoist technique was that? Where did this guy come from? No wonder my son wasn't a match for him. Not even I can figure out what he just did. Wait, could he be someone with a unique physique type? What is he? A Past One? A Heaven Moving One? Or… could he be an Eternal One?'

Proud Warpatience's energy arts and psychic power converged in his eyes, creating what looked like an enormous net, filled with the power of an apocalypse. Volcanoes, earthquakes, meteor showers, floods, lightning storms, and all other types of destructive power could be seen in his gaze.

Yang Qi was aware that Proud Warpatience now wanted to kill him. And yet, that just fell in perfectly with his plan. The more he pissed off Proud Warpatience, the more Princess Jadefall would approve of him. The higher he rose in the ranks of the immortal world, the more possible it would be to achieve his broader goals.

Raising his voice, he said, "Oh exalted Princess Jadefall, I've killed this supposed Windblast Ninja, and am now ready to fight again and earn another victory. Soon, Proud Warpatience's army will come to the realization that your forces don't need to charge into battle. One simple soldier is all it will take to crush them into utter defeat. We imperial clansmen are the treasures of the empire and we take pride in preserving the traditions and destiny of the Titan Emperor Heaven. Random flunkies and losers can't compare to us. Even the supposed generalissimo of the armed forces is little more than a lackey or dog. He is literally courting death by causing trouble for you, ma'am."

It would have been difficult to speak more bitingly.

The officers in Proud Warpatience's forces were enraged beyond belief by his words, wanting nothing more than to wipe him out of existence.

"Are you looking to die!?" shouted one of the ninjas. His clothing was embroidered with the character for 'king', and he obviously occupied a much higher rank than Windblast Ninja. Leaping out into the middle of the battlefield, he said, "Generalissimo, allow me to slaughter this barbarian!"

Nodding, Proud Warpatience said, "Fine, do it."

This was Ninja King Liao, the ultimate commander of the Ninja Division. He had an out-of-body incarnation, a second nascent divinity that made him extremely dangerous in a fight. He also had all sorts of magical treasures that allowed him to perform short-range teleportations on the battlefield. That wasn't to mention all of the other mysterious energy arts he cultivated. All in all, it was virtually impossible for anyone to lock onto his true self in combat.

"I'm Ninja King Liao, commander of the Ninja Division," he said. "I don't know what evil technique you used to kill Windblast Ninja, but it doesn't matter. Your life ends here and now. I'll sacrifice your blood to my fallen brother, lest his death be meaningless. The fact that you're an imperial clansman won't help you at all. You've taken a life, and you will pay for it with your own."

As he spoke, thousands upon thousands of shadowy forms sprang out, a host of clones that would make it virtually impossible for anyone to determine where his true body was

In response, Yang Qi stretched out his hands and said, "Enfold."

His words rumbled like thunder, causing a sound wave to roll out that didn't contain any true energy or power fluctuations. And yet, it caused a bizarre scene to unfold.

All of the projected clones were crumpled together into one, and Ninja King Liao's true self was revealed.

Eyes flashing with astonishment, he said, "What's going on here? What just happened? My Manifold Illusory Projection Grand True Energy is invincible! My arts of substitution are without peer. I've never lost in a fight, not even against higher power levels than me. How could you possibly have done this? Wait—you aren't using raw power, you're using magical laws, aren't you? Or could it be heavenly stipulations and natural regulations?"

"You like to talk a lot, don't you?" Yang Qi said coldly. "Sadly, that won't help you escape death today." Then he spoke two more words. "Corpse shredding."

Only two words.

Crunch!

As everyone looked on in wide-eyed shock, Ninja King Liao was literally ripped to shreds. It was a rather slow process, allowing him to scream, "The pain! Generalissimo, save me! I don't want to die! My soul is being ripped to pieces! Without my soul, I'll become nothing, I'll— Aaaiiiieee!"

As the chunks of his remains tumbled to the ground, Yang Qi said, "Gather."

Waving the sleeve of his God Legion Battle Robe, he collected all of the pieces of the corpse together and caused them to vanish without a trace. Another top expert had been killed, and Yang Qi still hadn't moved.

The eyes of all onlookers shone with terror. Some of the soldiers were trembling and had trouble containing the trepidation that gripped their hearts.

"So, how many other experts from the Ninja Division would like to test out the Special Reconnaissance Division? Step forward. I'm ready to accept the challenge and kill the lot of you." Of course, there were a few other ninjas who had flown out earlier. He pointed at one of them and said, "You. Die."

Flop!

The man dropped to the ground like a log, his aura gone. It was impossible to say exactly how he had died; it was almost like he had been fated to just drop dead right then and there.

"Explode."

Yang Qi pointed at another top expert, who went on to explode loudly, becoming a pool of blood and gore on the ground.

"You lot. Be exterminated."

He waved his finger at an entire group, who withered and shriveled as though they had contracted some deadly disease. Yang Qi wasn't expending any true energy at all, yet he was massacring all the opponents who faced him.

It was something that seemed to defy logic and common sense.

"What is this? Is he a devil?"

The seemingly diseased ninjas all dropped to the ground, dead as dead could be. Their auras didn't exist anymore, and even if someone examined their corpses it would be impossible to determine the cause of death. They were just dead. Not fated to exist any longer, without even a discarnate soul left behind to indicate that they had ever been alive.

The morale among Proud Warpatience's troops was crumbling, leaving behind only a terrified instinct to flee from Yang Qi and make sure that he didn't even look at them. If they could have their way, they would have turned invisible on the spot.

If Yang Qi had killed these opponents in a fight, it would have been easier to accept. But his methods were just so bizarre and strange that everyone was filled with raw terror.

Any expert would feel like that when facing an opponent who could kill people in such an inexplicable way. After all, no one could defend against something they didn't even understand.

What they didn't know was that, given the level of Yang Qi's cultivation base, he was only completely confident in being able to alter the fate of fifth stage World-Demolishers. Anything higher than that would require the use of true energy and Blood of the One God.

Right now, the fate of sixth stage Abstrusity-Demolishers was too strong for him to affect with mere words. The abstruse magical laws and truths they possessed gave them control over their own fate, making it much more difficult to harm them with the Wheel of Fate.

That said, it was all wrapped up with the level of Yang Qi's cultivation base.

Once he was a Demolisher himself, he could definitely kill sixth stage immortal paragons with a word, and even affect seventh stage immortal ancestors.

In the ancient era, during that golden age which was nearly mythological in nature, the Sovereign Lord could slaughter or cripple gods with a word. He could destroy the Deathless Throne, create worlds, overturn universes, establish primal-chaos, and do any number of things, all by speaking. He had a golden mouth and jade words, and his utterances could not be defied.

"So, who's next? Come at me en masse if you wish. I can handle it."

No one responded. Apparently, not even Proud Warpatience was willing to tangle with Yang Qi.