Sage Monarch

In this fight between Yang Qi and Chu Tiange, only one person would come out alive at the end. The other would be dead.

Both of them knew that holding back wasn't an option.

Chu Tiange wanted Yang Qi's sun gem, his gold and jade garment, and his Heart of the Sea thumb-ring of holding. And Yang Qi needed Chu Tiange dead, lest he unleash a host of other complications.

One was an elite student and powerful expert in the Lifeseizing level.

The other cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and was backed by the power of twenty ancient megamammoths. This was like a battle between two spectacular giants.

The fact that Yang Qi continued to batter him with this Infernal Deity Spear caused Chu Tiange's killing intent to rise to ferocious heights.

"Cosmic Rotation; Rattle Heaven and Earth!"

His Cosmic Sunflare Sword began to vibrate, causing a humming sound to fill the air, along with resplendent sword light. It seemed as if the sword itself were transforming into a burning flame spirit.

Countless burning flames of sword energy swirled together, hot enough to melt metal, to the point where the stones and boulders in the Fiendcorpse Mountains began to liquefy. Even the numerous subterranean tunnels began to fill with lava. This technique was different from Yang Qi's Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, and yet, was clearly its rival in this situation.

Yang Qi's technique was a godly-class energy art, whereas the Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique was merely a royal-class art. However, the cultivation level disparity between the two was nothing to disregard.

After all, Chu Tiange's cultivation was a hundred times more powerful than Yang Qi's.

He had pushed his technique to the point of near perfection, allowing him to guide the quintessence of the great sun above, and use burning, righteous sword energy to wipe out wretch-devils of all sorts.

This was a true battle to the death.

A vicious expression filled Chu Tiange's face as he unleashed a move that could shake the lands and rock the mountains. His energy sword slashed through the air like a fire dragon, slamming into the Infernal Deity Spear with astonishing power.

"Little punk! Get ready to die!" he shouted. "I never could have imagined that you would be this strong. Just what energy art is that? It's definitely not royal-class. In fact, I bet it's beyond imperial-class. Its saintly-class, isn't it? Yun Hailan thought she could lure that mysterious armored figure out into the open and kill him. Who would have thought that he was actually you, someone she views as being trash. Well, you pulled a fast one on me. But once I get that energy art of yours, I'll be able to surpass the Crown Prince! Ha! He used his Son of Heaven's Godfist, an imperial-class energy art, to reach the Legendary level. If I could get a saintly-class energy art, then I could go beyond the Legendary level! I could reach the Great Sage level!"

"Great Sage level? Might as well keep dreaming!" Yang Qi had long since learned that after the Lifeseizing level was the Legendary level. But now, thanks to Chu Tiange, he realized that beyond that was the Great Sage level. Of course, he had no idea what heaven-shaking, earth-shattering powers came at that level.

As he faced Chu Tiange's attack, his blood boiled, pumping like liquid gold to power his Fiend-Devil Wings, Infernal Deity Plate Armor and Infernal Deity Spear.

During the course of the fighting, he had continuously absorbed elements of the Cosmic Sunflare Sword into his sea of energy, where he used it to solidify his embryonic Hellfire Crucible.

In fact, if he closed his eyes and focused on his dantian region, he could see the crucible formed of dark golden blood, covered with ancient designs, and the script of ancient gods.

Each magical symbol was like a sharp blade that echoed with the screams of fallen, disgraced gods.

Every time the Infernal Deity Spear clashed with the Cosmic Sunflare Sword, it would absorb some of it. And before long, something like the blood of a sun god existed in the embryonic Hellfire Crucible.

The point of the Cosmic Sunflare Sword was to gather the burning quintessence of the sun and mold it into a nascent divinity. At its highest level, the practitioner would become one with the sun, and would become a virtual incarnation of the Sun God, allowing him to walk about within the mortal world.

It was a consummate discipline invented by a miraculous individual in ancient times.

But now, Yang Qi's aura of hell was drawing that Sun God into his Hellfire Crucible, and using his power to improve it.

As the crucible took form, his Infernal Deity Spear grew more corporeal!

Bam!

The spear once again slammed into the Cosmic Sunflare Sword, and his sea of energy churned like lava, or a volcano on the verge of erupting.

By now, Chu Tiange realized that no matter what sword technique he used, his attacks could not pierce Yang Qi's Infernal Deity Plate Armor, and worse, Yang Qi's true energy was growing fiercer and fiercer. Shaken, he glared at Yang Qi with even more killing intent than before.

After all, as Yang Qi got stronger and stronger, it only revealed how powerful his energy art was. And Chu Tiange couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like to acquire it. And that thought filled him with excitement.

"Time to call it a day," Chu Tiange murmured. "Dragonization!" His energy surged like the ocean, causing true energy flames to erupt behind his head, making it look like a shining sun hanging behind him.

"Behold a flame god from the distant reaches. Fire Dragon of the Great Sun; Nascent Divinity Quintessence. True spirit of mine, emerge! Slay this wretch-devil for me!"

The halo of burning light behind him looked almost like a divine dragon made of shining true energy. It reared its enormous head, its red eyes blazing, a sun sigil on its forehead, its draconic whiskers swirling about it, its horns as sharp as iron, its scales burning as if with fire.

"Yang Qi, you brat, I didn't want to use this move, but sadly, you've given me no choice. You should feel proud that you've made me try out this secret magic that I have worked so hard to cultivate. I forged this fire dragon with the quintessence of my soul, and you will be destroyed by its might!"

Chu Tiange's voice was as cold as a cruel god's, with no compassion whatsoever for mortal men.

As for the fire dragon, it swirled out from the halo behind him, becoming a streak of flame that shot toward Yang Qi.

Yang Qi felt massive pressure weighing down on him, almost as if a real divine dragon from the sun were approaching him. Even the power of twenty megamammoths could do nothing but retreat in the face of such power.

This was Chu Tiange's ultimate trump card, his most deadly secret magic. Obviously, he would only use something like this if he had no other choice. He hadn't even resorted to using it back in their fight in Krorän.

"DIE!" Yang Qi howled, his Fiend-Devil Wings flitting to propel him toward the fire dragon.

And yet, how could he have anticipated that, in that very moment, the fire dragon's power would spread out, locking down the air in the entire area, holding him in place as surely as if with iron fetters. Then, it began to crush down on him as if to destroy him.

Not even his Fiend-Devil Wings were capable of moving him!

This shocking level of power was nothing to look down upon.

"Infernal Deity Spear!"

Yang Qi poured all of the strength he could muster into the Infernal Deity Spear, causing it to glow brightly with an aura of death, piercing through the fetter-like energy bonds holding him in place, and heading directly toward the Fire Dragon of the Great Sun.

The dragon, dozens of meters long, and lithe as a snake, reached out with its dragon claws and grabbed onto the Infernal Deity Spear as if to crush it out of existence.

"Nascent Divinity Quintessence; Fire Dragon Armageddon! Let the burning sun fall to immolate gods and massacre immortals!"

WHIZZZ!

Chu Tiange was pouring all of his energy into the fire dragon, holding nothing back in his effort to kill Yang Qi and then extract his energy arts from him.

Snap! Crack!

Under the destructive power of the fire dragon, the Infernal Deity Spear first trembled, then shattered, sending dark golden fragments flying out in all directions.

Then, the fire dragon of true energy pierced Yang Qi's Infernal Deity Plate Armor and stabbed into his body.

BOOOOOOOM! The dragon burned into his meridians, coursing toward his sea of energy with heat as intense as the sun. It seemed that, within moments, he would turn into an entity of pure flame.

"Time to die!" Chu Tiange said. "Even if you were stronger than you are, you would still burn to death! The nascent divinity fire dragon expression of my Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique is strong enough to melt rocks! It will extract your memories from your soul, and tell me all the details of that secret magic of yours." With that, he erupted into maniacal laughter and took a step forward toward Yang Qi.

However, before he could do anything more than that, the flames that had engulfed Yang Qi winked out.

WHIZZZ!

A thrumming boom could be heard as an enormous crucible appeared behind Yang Qi, seemingly corporeal in every aspect. And inside of that crucible was a fire dragon, struggling desperately to escape.

In this moment of crisis, Yang Qi finished his Hellfire Crucible, and threw Chu Tiange's fire dragon into it, that nascent divinity quintessence that he had worked so bitterly hard to cultivate.

As of this moment, Yang Qi radiated an aura that seemed to contain the power to dominate gods.

And it was only emphasized by the screams of the fire dragon behind him.

"Alright, Chu Tiange. Now it's your turn to face death!"

Yang Qi took a step forward.