Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had quickly and casually taken down four top masters, and hadn't received even the tiniest injury in the process. Everyone looking on was completely stunned, and knew that they were looking at a new consummate expert.

All of the disciples present had power indexes of at least two thousand. And they all had magical treasures that would push their fighting prowess so high that they could rival the leaders of the top sects. People like Battle Resister would be considered average compared to these disciples, and that wasn't even to mention what the chief disciples were like. They had power indexes over three thousand. The fact that Yang Qi had defeated four such enemies was completely unprecedented and impossible to duplicate.

Furthermore, he had greatly benefited from the experience, having tempered his nascent divinity and rid himself of his dependence on the God Legion Seal.

The truth was that the worst type of obstacle was over-reliance on something. In fact, there was a name for such obstacles: dependency-devils.

Cultivators who had powerful magical treasures could definitely be considered strong, and could benefit greatly from them in their progress. However, long-term use would negatively affect their nascent divinity, and at a certain point, they would have to rid themselves of that obstacle before their nascent divinity could rise to a higher level.

It was a balancing factor of the dao of heaven.

It was true that Yang Qi had used the God Legion Seal to quickly and smoothly progress through his cultivation. But if he didn't defeat the dependency-devils that had formed, he would have eventually sunk into oblivion. Dependency-devils were dangerous monsters that couldn't be taken lightly, and if left unchecked, they could eventually take over.

Thankfully, now that Yang Qi understood how dependency-devils worked, he would be able to safely use the God Legion Seal again in the future. That said, he wouldn't do so long-term. Instead, he would rely on himself.

And eventually, he would truly abandon the God Legion Seal. That was the wisest decision possible. Unfortunately, he couldn't completely abandon it right now. Perhaps he could avoid using it, but he couldn't simply give it to someone else.

In fact, maybe he would even destroy it. Perhaps he could revise the ultimate meaning of the legion of gods and remake the world.

Although his nascent divinity was shining with more brilliance than ever, it wasn't something people could see from the outside. In fact, many people assumed from the way that he seemed to be inwardly focused that he was working hard to recover his energy and return to his peak state.

In fact, Emperor Heart-Celestial even held back from making a move until he was sure Yang Qi was ready.

"Take your time," he said. "I'll wait until you're at your peak state." He simply stood there with a calm smile on his face, not looking the least bit anxious. In fact, he seemed like the kind of person who would never have any negative emotions, as if his heart and soul were completely under control.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi suddenly began thrumming with true energy. "I'm always at my peak state, Emperor Heart-Celestial, my friend. I'm ready. We can begin fighting whenever you're ready."

"Alright!"

Crash!

Emperor Heart-Celestial attacked without hesitation, moving so quickly that the onlookers couldn't track his motion. Yang Qi instantly felt pressure on his nascent divinity. His will and senses felt like they were locked down, as though his opponent's palm attack was impossible to defend against.

Whatever energy art it was, it was remarkable to the point of almost being unbelievable.

Thankfully, Yang Qi had just expunged his dependency-devils, making his nascent divinity more glorious than ever. His cultivation base and energy arts had advanced, and there was nothing holding him back. Power surged through him as the immense palm bore down on him, filling his ears with thunderous rumbling sounds. To those observing the fight, that palm looked as gentle and calm as if it were designed to whisk flowers off the shoulder.

But Yang Qi knew that it was a deadly combination of yin and yang, an amalgamation of hard and soft. It could transform at any moment, as though it used the will to incarnate gods, used gods to incarnate immortals, and then converted immortals back into gods to reach a state of complete invincibility.

The transformations in this attack were truly enigmatic and profound.

However, Yang Qi perceived them down to their core meaning. He threw his hands out in front of his chest and drew on all of his energy arts to meet the incoming attack.

POP!

Yang Qi staggered backward, very nearly falling into the river of blood.

As for Emperor Heart-Celestial, he didn't seem affected by the clash, but there was a flicker on his face that seemed to indicate he was activating internal energy arts to neutralize the force of Yang Qi's blow. Although it seemed like he had knocked Yang Qi backward toward the river, the truth was that he had sent his force into Yang Qi's body. In response, Yang Qi had moved backward to redirect the force of the blow into the ground.

All of the onlookers were top masters in their own right, so many of them were able to pick up on these minute details.

It was a complete shock to see Emperor Heart-Celestial, who normally defeated opponents in a single move, do nothing but force Yang Qi back a few steps. Apparently, Yang Qi wasn't even hurt!

"Nice!" Emperor Heart-Celestial said. Fully circulating the energy in his body three times, he said, "You're definitely skilled. I can't believe you negated my palm attack. It was only after gaining enlightenment of an imperial heart, balancing countless streams of godpower, and conquering knowledge-devils of the legion of gods that I was able to create my Deathless Emperor's Dao Fist. You just tasted the first stance, Unprecedented and Unduplicated. However, I have a few more stances to show you. If I can't use them to defeat you, then that godhood will belong to you."

Not only did Emperor Heart-Celestial seem to have complete confidence in this Deathless Emperor's Dao Fist of his, it was also obvious that it was an unusually amazing technique that he had honed to perfection.

"Bring it on!" Yang Qi said, standing fearlessly at the very edge of the blood river. Hands stretched out from the river toward him, apparently drawn by the sensation of his blood and energy, yet they were destroyed by his defensive empyrean energy.

Everyone who could see him standing there was deeply impressed, and knew that Memory Peak obviously occupied a higher standing in the sect now. In fact, even if Yang Qi lost the fight with Emperor Heart-Celestial, the entire Will Manifestation Heaven Sect was still going to hear about what he had done today, even the elders.

Instead of pressing the attack, Emperor Heart-Celestial waited until he was sure that Yang Qi was ready, then said, "Alright! The next move is called Great Heights Reached! After that, there are a whole series of moves that flow from one to the next. If you think you can't defend yourself, you can always concede."

"I'm very interested in seeing these moves of yours, Brother," Yang Qi said. There was no way he would pass up the chance to learn from the indomitable Emperor Heart-Celestial. Each of his attacks were the kind that could crush virtually any enemy, and perhaps if Yang Qi hadn't vanquished his dependency-devils, he might not have been able to deal with them. But things were different now.

As Emperor Heart-Celestial circulated his energy and prepared to attack, Yang Qi took a deep breath. He had no magical treasures on him. No Engine of the One God, no God Legion Seal, none of King Heaven-Devourer's talismans, and no Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

All he had were his energy arts.

Emperor Heart-Celestial let out a savage howl that shredded the spatial magical laws in the area, then became a prismatic beam of light that shot directly toward Yang Qi.

Yang Qi could see that this was an incredibly advanced fist technique, and it definitely lived up to the name Great Heights Reached.

"Excellent fist technique!" Yang Qi's spirits soared as if he were fighting the gods themselves. All of a sudden, he thrust his palms out using moves that defied imagination. Thanks to the pressure provided by Emperor Heart-Celestial, Yang Qi was actually spontaneously creating his own martial discipline!

POP!

The attacks met, and although a tremor passed through Yang Qi, he didn't fall back. If he did, he would tumble right into the blood river.

"Well done," Emperor Heart-Celestial said, then unleashed a whole host of moves. "Beyond All Compare. Without Parallel in History. No Successor Ever. Unheard-Of and Unprecedented. Never Seen in History!"

His attacks were hard and unyielding, and every one seemed unprecedented and impossible to duplicate. Even their names reflected their uniqueness. It was certainly befitting for a chief disciple in the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect to have supreme moves such as these.

Yang Qi immediately slipped into a state of complete calm. It was as though a starry sky stretched above him, each star pulsing with the sensation of the Deathless Throne. It was as if the god world was above him, and hell below. Hell and heaven appeared, making him half darkness and gloom, half radiance and light. Half wretched evil, and half righteous justice.

His left hand suddenly flared with brilliant godpower, and his right hand became a rushing river of darkness, and as they combined, they seemed to rip open the air around him. Of course, they were still in the Land of God Extermination, in the middle of a bloody battlefield, so for him to devastate the area around him like this made everyone wonder just what level of will he possessed.

Obviously, it was a very dangerous situation.

Emperor Heart-Celestial pressed his attack in full, while Yang Qi waited at the edge of the blood river. They clashed, and a huge boom rang out, as well as a massive shock wave. Yang Qi would die if he fell back, yet he stood there as if his legs were rooted to the ground.

The audience all edged backward.

They knew that if an attack like this had hit any one of them, they would die. Not a single one could do what Yang Qi was doing.

An Yiru felt like her heart was in her throat. After all, if Yang Qi could actually stand up to Emperor Heart-Celestial, didn't that mean he was the number one disciple in the entire Will Manifestation Heaven Sect?