Sage Monarch

Yang Qi looked at the Profound House of Battle Energy off in the distance, and nodded inwardly. A raging aura of battle rose up from it, and he could see sect disciples flying here and there, or training. It was an entire world unto itself, protected by countless god formations.

Of course, such god formations weren't particularly impressive to Yang Qi. In fact, he could destroy them as easily as exhaling.

Their arrival in front of the main gate provoked a reaction from quite a few disciples.

Swish. Swish. Swish.

Suddenly a few dozen beams of light appeared and flew forth to block the path of Battle Resister.

"Houselord, you're back?"

As the individuals within the beams of light took shape, it became obvious that they were looking at Battle Resister with expressions of open vigilance. It definitely didn't seem like the reception a returning houselord would receive, in which the disciples would welcome him with cheers and delight. Yang Qi immediately got the sense that something strange was going on.

"You're wearing the uniforms of inner society disciples. Presumably, you belong to factions run by prime elders who are currently in seclusion. What are you doing here?" When Battle Resister saw how serious their expressions were, he continued, "Tell me what's going on here. Was there a disturbance in the sect?"

"Houselord, the prime elders you mentioned are already out of seclusion. They're entertaining the emissaries of the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence. You've been gone for several months, and the emissaries were getting impatient. As a superpower sect from the Ancient Road to the Gods, they would make a perfect ally to take down the Joyflower Palace."

"Bullcrap!" Battle Resister shouted. "Who the hell do the people from the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence think they are? They're all rapacious wolves! They might have been a superpower sect once, but they vanished after entering the Great Necropolis. Now they're back wanting to drag the Profound House of Battle Energy into whatever they're wrapped up in. I bet they just want some cannon fodder. Bring out those two emissaries. There's no way I'll let them take advantage of our sect."

"Houselord, we absolutely cannot afford to offend the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence!" one of the disciples declared. "At the moment, they're ten times larger than our Profound House of Battle Energy. If fighting broke out, I doubt any of us would survive. Besides, the Joyflower Palace is going around destroying one sect after another. Don't tell me we're just going to wait around to be eradicated."

"What impudence! Who the hell are you? How dare you go around talking to the houselord like that!" Battle Resister suddenly blurred into motion.

The disciple in question had a power index of three hundred, so considering that Battle Resister was at the level of two thousand, there was simply no way the two could be compared.

Shink. Clink. Swish.

Even as the first disciple was sent tumbling backward, the rest of the disciples suddenly drew their weapons, including sabers, swords, and even some crossbows, all of which were god items. Clearly, these were reserve weapons from the Profound House of Battle Energy.

"What do you people think you're doing?" Battle Resister shouted. "How dare you draw weapons on me, the houselord. You've earned yourself the death sentence."

One of the disciples chuckled darkly. "I'm sorry to tell you that, starting today, you're not the houselord. The prime elders have already made the decision to expel you. They've made an agreement with the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence, and have elected a new houselord. Going forward, the Profound House of Battle Energy is going to be a subsidiary faction of the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence. They brought some incredible gifts for us, including god pills, god items, and even some fragments of godhood. Could we really refuse an offer like that?"

"That's right," another disciple said. "The Profound House of Battle Energy is going to join the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence and help them conquer all of existence. And of course we're going to destroy the Joyflower Palace. Brothers, I heard that the women from the Joyflower Palace are quite lovely! I can't wait to try them out. Supposedly they keep men as consorts, so it's only appropriate we turn them all into slave girls!" With that, he burst out into laughter.

"This is shockingly outrageous!" Battle Resister said, nearly in a rage. Ignoring the disciples, he threw his head back and let loose a booming roar.

RUMBLE!

An explosive wave of energy rolled out, and before the nearby disciples could react, they were ripped to shreds, their god items crushed, and even their flesh and blood wiped out of existence.

"Everyone get out here, right now! You bastards want to ruin the hundreds of millions of years of history of the Profound House of Battle Energy? Never! Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence? Don't you people know that sticking to them is like asking a tiger for its skin?"

Yang Qi was a bit taken aback by how ruthless Battle Resister was being, using a mere shout to kill the nearby disciples. It had happened so quickly that none of them had even had a chance to react.

It just went to show how enigmatically strong Battle Resister was.

After going all out in the fight with Empress Joyflower, he had spent time healing in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, which had also helped him to reach an even higher level of enlightenment.

"How dare you, Battle Resister!" someone shouted angrily. A moment later, a tall young man appeared in front of Battle Resister, as if by teleportation.

He had his hands clasped behind his back, and wore a long robe. He pulsed with battle energy, and was flanked by several of the prime elders, as well as a man and woman who were clearly not wearing the uniform of the Profound House of Battle Energy. Obviously, these were the emissaries from the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence.

Yang Qi wasn't very familiar with all the superpower sects from the Ancient Road to the Gods. But he did know that the Joyflower Palace, Profound House of Battle Energy, and Cipher-Devil Sword Sect were actually not considered superpowers. The superpower sects had long since entered the depths of the Great Necropolis to probe its most mysterious secrets.

Contrary to expectation, one such sect was making its debut here and now.

Of course, by this point, Empress Joyflower was strong enough to brush shoulders with the superpowers, especially considering she was capable of unleashing Terrifying will. And she was apparently still making progress with whatever remarkable ability she was working on. Who knew what she would be like upon finishing her endeavors.

Yang Qi surreptitiously activated the power assessment systems and found that the man and woman had power indexes beyond two thousand five hundred, and very close to three thousand. And they surely had hidden trump cards that would make them even more powerful. The prime elders had power indexes of about two thousand, and as for the tall young man, he seemed roughly on the same level as Battle Resister.

"Battle Kilomountain! Are you leading this rebellion against me?" Battle Resister shouted. "You're my Junior Brother! I helped train and raise you, I can't believe you would betray me!"

Battle Kilomountain burst out laughing. "You fool, Battle Resister. Why even mention having trained me. You think that makes you superior to me or something? I can't believe Master made you the houselord. It's your fault the sect is in the sorry state it's in. The prime elders all agreed to oust you, so I suggest you fall in line and agree to work for me as an elder. If you refuse to submit, we'll expel you from the sect and cripple your energy arts!"

"That's right, Battle Resister," one of the prime elders said. "You made a huge mistake, and deserve to have this happen to you. We're going to take back all of the energy arts you acquired from the sect."

Instead of reacting with anger, Battle Resister laughed. "And what mistake did I make, Elder Serpent? Mind explaining it clearly?" Despite his laughter, he was furious at these unexpected developments.

"Your mistake?" another prime elder said. "Not allying with the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence! They sent emissaries over and over again, but you refused all of their offers. Were you just trying to piss them off? Were you trying to get the Profound House of Battle Energy destroyed? Don't you know that the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence is a superpower sect!?"

Meanwhile, the man from the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence took a few steps forward and, with a sinister smile, said, "Exactly, Battle Resister. You refused our Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence over and over again, which was a complete and utter humiliation! The best thing to do is to cripple you. Now that you're back, nobody can save you."

"I agree," said the female emissary. "All of the disciples of the Profound House of Battle Energy are here today, and there are plenty who are loyal to him. Why not simply kill him and turn him into a puppet, or even a magical treasure?" It was only at this point that she noticed Yang Qi. "Who are you? Don't tell me you're here to help him. Not that I'm worried. It doesn't matter who Battle Resister has to help him, he's going to die. That's the only outcome for people who defy the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence!"

"My apologies, Brother Yang Qi," Battle Resister said. "I didn't intend to drag you into this."

"It's fine," Yang Qi replied. "From what I can tell, this sect is full of traitors. How dare they try to expel you, the rightful houselord. Rebels and scoundrels like these are the kind of people that anyone has the right to punish. Besides, I couldn't care less about the Immortal House of Supreme Preeminence. Superpower sect? Every ten steps I kill an enemy, and walk a thousand miles unimpeded. What do I have to be scared of? I'm here to help you, and that includes quelling this uprising in your sect." [1]

"Brother Yang Qi, please, don't trouble yourself," Battle Resister said. "I'm curious to see why these people think they qualify to expel and cripple me. I've accomplished a lot as the houselord, and won many victories. The Profound House of Battle Energy used to be unstable, but my campaigns on the Ancient Road to the Gods led to countless victories, and brought about the deaths of endless fiend-devils. Step forward, Battle Kilomountain. If you want to be the houselord, then why don't we just have a duel? Whoever wins gets the position!"

1. Yang Qi quotes a poem by the famous poet Li Bai, entitled Ode to Gallantry. Later, the most famous wuxia novelist Jin Yong wrote a wuxia novel of the same name, taking inspiration from the poem.