Sage Monarch

Bright Fatality shouted his challenge in such a booming voice that waves rolled out across the blood river. That alone made it obvious just how profound his energy arts were. This was not the kind of person that an ordinary cultivator could possibly contend with.

Taking a step forward, he said, "I'm going to beat you until you have no face left, then Memory Peak will never again dare to compete with Nāropa Peak."

Chuckling coldly, An Yiru prepared to walk forward and accept the challenge. But before she could, Yang Qi reached out to block her path.

"Don't bother," he said. "I'll handle this."

She nodded. Bright Fatality's energy arts were advanced enough that she wasn't completely confident in being able to win a fight against him. However, Yang Qi was much stronger than her, so having him take the lead in the fight was a smart idea.

"Just be careful," she said quietly.

"I'll be fine," he replied. Stepping forward, he said, "What's all this hooting and hollering? I'm here to critique those 'energy arts' of yours. I can see that you're pretty arrogant, but do you really think that you're unparalleled under heaven?"

"What gall you have! Who are you?" Bright Fatality was virtually steaming with killing energy, making it more than obvious exactly what he wanted to do to Yang Qi. "Are you a disciple from Memory Peak? How dare you speak like that to me. I'm a chief disciple! Are you just tired of living or something?"

"There's no need to raise your voice, Bright Fatality," An Yiru said. "This is a new disciple my Master just took in. His cultivation base is very profound and enigmatic, and he's definitely going to be the next chief disciple. In a moment, you'll lose to him, and I just hope you don't get so angry that you commit suicide afterward." Continuing in this scathing fashion, she said, "Don't worry, this Junior Brother of mine won't kill you. He'll just cripple your energy arts and make sure you live a life of horrific torment. Perhaps if you grovel in front of him, he'll spare you."

"Damn you!" Bright Fatality shot back. "Well I am going to kill this Junior Brother of yours. And I'm not going to let you off the hook, either. You'll be punished so badly today you'll wish you could die."

Of course, Yang Qi understood the hidden message with her taunts. Obviously, she didn't want him to show any mercy, and was in fact telling him to use deadly force.

The matter had escalated to the point where it was an open conflict between mountain peaks. Of course, the sect rules prohibited the brutal killing of fellow disciples, and any who violated those rules would be punished. However, it wasn't unheard of for severe injuries to occur in fights like this, and that was a different matter entirely. He wouldn't be held responsible for something like that.

'Who would've thought that the friction between mountain peaks in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect would be this intense? And I'm right in the middle of it all. What should I do? I guess I shouldn't worry too much. The main priority is to make a name for myself, so the peaklord realizes how valuable I am....' That little girl who led Memory Peak had a very profound cultivation base, and he knew that the more valuable he was to her, the more thoroughly she would protect him.

Therefore, his eyes began to flicker with killing intent.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, Bright Fatality attacked, his hand taking a strange arcing path through the air, moving with speed that could break through the shackles of magical laws.

Yang Qi dipped to the side, then lunged forward, keeping his eyes on the dangerous knifehand. He knew he had to be very careful in this fight. His opponent had a power index of three thousand, whereas he himself had no tricks up his sleeve. He had no magical treasures, so he could only rely on his own energy arts to seize victory.

Of course, he was doing this intentionally to temper himself. He wanted to see exactly what he could accomplish without the Engine of the One God, the God Legion Seal, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, the Aeonic God Destroyer, and other such treasures.

This was tough training.

Furthermore, the magical laws in the Land of God Extermination made it an even better place for training. And there could be no better opponent for such tempering than a chief disciple.

Bright Fatality's knifehand descended with ruthless speed, filled with countless transformations. In fact, his hands were so much like a blade that they erupted with blade energy, the kind that could easily destroy countless immortal worlds, if it were unleashed outside of this place.

At the last moment, he shifted to a double-handed attack, making him seem like a mantis.

"That's his unique energy art," An Yiru said, "the Twin-Extremities Cultivation-Origin God-Slashing Saber!"

Gong!

Yang Qi threw his arms out to defend himself, and he and Bright Fatality clashed. Afterward, Bright Fatality staggered backward, whereas Yang Qi remained in place, unmoving.

It was obvious how different their techniques were. Plus, Yang Qi's cultivation base had advanced by leaps and bounds recently, and his true energy had gained numerous transformations. His nascent divinity had gained even further control of the transformations of godmammoths, making him more unpredictable and dangerous than ever.

Whoosh!

They fought back and forth in front of the blood river, looking like two energy arts masters in the mortal world. After all, if they weren't in this special location, the shockwaves from their fighting would be enough to shatter numerous immortal worlds.

Yang Qi unleashed the Endless Mourning Finger Technique, sending out a river of hatred and mourning, and booms rang out when it clashed with his opponents saber energy.

The surrounding disciples were shocked. How could any of them ever have guessed that this new disciple from Memory Peak would be so impressive? Of course, they had all been surprised by how he rescued that female student, but that was totally different than fighting toe to toe with one of the chief disciples. In fact, he actually seemed superior to this chief disciple!

The two of them went back and forth for over a hundred rounds of combat.

Eventually, Bright Fatality was starting to get both angry and anxious. 'I cultivate a consummate energy art, and was just on the verge of declaring myself invincible! How could I ever have guessed that this punk would randomly come along and put me in such a bad position? At this rate, how will I ever reach the Terrifying level? Alright, fine. I'll just show him my nascent divinity secret magic!'

Howling with rage, he clenched his fists, causing his upper garments to explode, leaving him bare-chested and pulsing with energy. All of a sudden, tattoos became visible all over him. They depicted gods of all sorts, some with three heads and six arms, and some with dozens of heads and three legs. All of them carried weapons in their hands, and looked completely vicious. He even had tattoos on his face, as if these heaven-gods existed within his very blood, and he was now summoning them into the open.

The heaven-gods flowed across his skin and converged on his fist, where they seemed to offer worship to some entity out in the void. The faith power of these gods was apparently opening a passageway that reached out into the distant god world itself.

Even Sorrow Might was shocked by the terrifying energy pulsing from within Bright Fatality. In fact, he even suddenly blurted, "What? Is that the Myriad Gods Holy Pilgrimage Energy Art?! I heard that to cultivate that energy art, you have to find the skeleton, flesh, and blood of ten thousand gods. You also need plenty of godliness. It's a brutal technique to cultivate, as you have to subdue each and every one of those gods, enduring their wrath during the process. However, after you've succeeded, those myriad gods will go on a holy pilgrimage through the void, giving you access to godpower from the ancient past!"

Apparently, he finally realized how much of a threat Bright Fatality was, and it made him nervous.

"That's right, Sorrow Might!" Bright Fatality shouted. "You recognize this energy art, don't you? Normally I wouldn't resort to this move, but considering that so much godhood has appeared in the Land of God Extermination, I have to get it for Nāropa Peak. Anyone who tries to block my path will end up dead and buried right here on the shores of this river of blood!"

Bright Fatality suddenly let loose a howl, and moved with such incredible agility that it almost looked like a teleportation.

Pop!

He was suddenly right behind Yang Qi, where he let loose a palm strike.

Yang Qi spun to meet the attack, and was sent staggering two steps backward. Inwardly, he was shocked by how much stronger his opponent had become so quickly. Furthermore, the attack he had unleashed was now pouring into Yang Qi, causing a myriad of wretch-gods to appear within his mind, where they assailed him with a curse of wretched, evil power.

RUMBLE!

Without pausing for a moment, Bright Fatality threw out a fist strike.

Exhaling sharply, Yang Qi drew on all the godpower he had to counterattack with both hands.

RIP!

Two fists met, and Yang Qi staggered back. Meanwhile, Bright Fatality flipped backward, then landed on his feet and jumped forward, fist flying with vicious ferocity.

Yang Qi was using one of the consummate techniques of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, the Fist of the Halls of Heaven. This was a contest of strength and skill, and Yang Qi was very curious to see how he would fare against his opponent's wretched energy art.

As they exchanged blows, the wide-eyed audience looked on, completely taken aback by how ferociously Yang Qi was fighting. Obviously, Bright Fatality's technique was based on power and speed, and to counter that, one needed something that offset strength with softness. Instead, Yang Qi seemed to be meeting strength with strength. How could that possibly defeat the Myriad Gods Holy Pilgrimage Energy Art?

Even after hundreds of exchanges, Yang Qi hadn't made any progress, whereas Bright Fatality seemed to be moving faster and faster, circling around Yang Qi and attacking him from all angles. Any other person who faced an onslaught like this would have surely been reduced to rubble already.

An Yiru was actually starting to get worried for Yang Qi.

'I can't believe Bright Fatality is this strong,' she thought. 'He's definitely beyond me. It's too bad Master said I can't cultivate the Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic. Otherwise, I'd be a lot stronger. That said, it would probably hinder my progress toward the Terrifying level. Master is always looking out for my best interests. If I were in the same position as Yang Qi right now, my meridians would've already been destroyed. Of course, I wouldn't try to compete with him in terms of strength. I would have made it a bit harder for him to hit me instead.'

Meanwhile, Sorrow Might looked at Yang Qi and thought, 'Where did this brat come from? And how come he isn't dead yet?'