Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Yang Qi had just been distracting the pirate captain with his words, looking for the right moment to launch an unexpected attack. He knew that the captain was stronger than him and could use his true energy externally, which meant he was very dangerous.

He was so ferocious that he could kill all the mid Terrifying experts in the mortal world without hardly trying.

But in the god world, he couldn’t be considered particularly impressive. And although Yang Qi might have been able to pull off some sort of escape, that wasn’t what he was interested in. Besides, if word spread that there were people from the mortal world in this area, they would never be able to rest peacefully. It would definitely lead to no end of trouble.

There was only one option here: slaughter the pirates down to the last man.

RUUUUUUUUMBLE!

Golden light shone brightly as the blade shot forth, making it seem almost as if true energy were being released externally from it. Yang Qi had focused his quintessence energy so masterfully in this attack that it seemed like he might be ready to experience a breakthrough.

‘How could this be happening?’ the pirate captain thought. ‘My defensive godpower can’t stop him? I'm in the peak Terrifying level! I can manipulate godpower! There’s no way a mid Terrifying cultivator can break my defenses!’

His disbelief was meaningless, the razor-sharp blade making it clear what the facts were.

The pirate captain scrambled backward, incapable of even launching a counter-attack.

“Too slow!” Yang Qi shouted. “You lack fighting experience!”

Without any hesitation, he pressed the attack, not holding back anything. He knew that he was fighting a peak Terrifying expert, a Quasi-God, and that the slightest mistake on his part would end with him being injured or worse.

Thankfully, the man was sadly lacking in fighting experience, otherwise Yang Qi would never have been a match for him.

Yang Qi unleashed a tempest of saber techniques, backed by the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, making them formidable enough to conquer every obstacle. As a result, the pirate captain was boxed in and incapable of evading the assault.

The shocked captain unleashed his godpower to defend himself, but it did no good. His vital energy shattered like a crystal vase, quickly dissipating into nothing.

“Mammoth King’s Flowing Decapitation!” Yang Qi howled, his saber flowing forth in a succession of deadly moves so powerful that the saber apparently couldn’t take the force and began to crack.

“Damn you!” the pirate blurted as he realized he couldn't dodge the attack. Instead, he raised his arm to defend himself. Then a thwacking sound could be heard as his arm was chopped off, causing him to tremble in pain.

However, even as the blood spurted out of the wound, he shouted. “Blood Lightning Energy Art!”

RIP!

His severed arm exploded, turning into blood-colored light that shattered Yang Qi’s crumbling saber, then transformed into an enormous crimson hand that rumbled on toward Yang Qi himself.

Of course, thanks to Yang Qi’s extensive fighting experience, he could anticipate all sorts of possibilities, including this one. Sadly, the magical laws of the god world had his godpower locked down, making it impossible to manipulate it outside his body.

The hand slammed into him, throwing him a full nine meters back across the sand. At the same time, blood-colored light stabbed into him, piercing his meridians and spreading out to restrain him.

Meanwhile, the pirate captain was howling in agony. Now that his arm was severed, he had lost it for good. In the god world, the bodies of gods weren’t like bodies in the mortal world, which could continue existing even after being ground into powder.

“I’ll never forgive you for this!” the captain shouted, backing up. Waving his remaining hand, he said, “Attack! All of you! Kill them!”

The other pirates, who had just now made it to the shore, nocked arrows to their bows and began firing them up the beach. Arrows immediately began buzzing like hornets that could tear their victims to shreds.

“Watch out!” Brahma shouted. Of course, veterans of countless battles like Yang Qi’s companions didn’t need such warnings and were already leaping for cover behind various rock outcroppings on the beach.

“Take this!” the frenzied captain shouted, waving his remaining arm and sending a fist-sized projectile of godpower and vital energy shooting out. It slammed into one of the rocks, causing a massive explosion that sent Yang Qi and his people flying to the side, stunned.

“Capture them!” the captain yelled. Obviously, he didn’t want to kill someone as valuable as Yang Qi, so he reached out, causing an enormous hand of true energy to wrap around Yang Qi.

Then he sent the godpower inside of him to take control of his body. Unfortunately, he instantly lost control of the godpower as something like a black hole sprang open inside Yang Qi and began ravenously devouring it.

The pirate captain only had the energy arts of a Lesser God, so how could he possibly match up to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth? If he simply battered Yang Qi with deadly attacks, it would have quickly injured him. But instead he was trying to control him with true energy, only to have that energy taken from him.

That was the result of the God Legion Seal having all types of godpower built into it.

The pirate had unleashed a huge torrent of godpower, therefore, this development provoked an expression of complete shock. He quickly tried to retract his godpower, but it was too late for that. Yang Qi bounded forward, laid hands on him, and sent the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth surging into him.

“Aaaiiiieee!” screamed the captain. He had just been injured, then suddenly found his godpower being sucked away from him, leaving him completely flustered. He had a lot of experience fighting, but obviously couldn’t compare to experts from the mortal world who had survived innumerable deadly situations.

Because of that, he couldn’t possibly ward off Yang Qi’s attack, and could only unleash a bevy of energy arts, in the hopes of landing a blow.

Sadly, his godpower disappeared as surely as if it were entering the belly of a gobblewock.

Golden light shone off of Yang Qi as he absorbed the captain’s true energy. Yang Qi smiled viciously as he then burned that energy to purify himself and grow his own power.

He felt as if something inside him was just beginning to emerge and grow strong. His psychic power seemed to be converging, and there seemed to be magical and natural laws that were about to break.

RUMBLE!

The vital energy around him started collapsing, and bright golden light shot out of him, spreading for dozens of meters in every direction.

“What’s this?” the captain shrieked in alarm. However, before he could do anything else, the golden light overwhelmed him, causing green smoke to rise off of his skin for a moment before he simply vanished into nothing.

Yang Qi had immense potential built up within him. Just now, he had used the God Legion Seal on the pirate captain’s godpower, and had even thrown in the devouring capabilities of King Heaven-Devourer’s talismans. That sacrifice had pushed him past his previous limitations. He had broken into the peak Terrifying level!

His reserves were more formidable than an average peak Terrifying expert; now that he had broken through, there was no way that some trashy pirate captain could possibly be a match for him.

Thus, Yang Qi killed him in one move.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

More arrows filled the sky, but how could Yang Qi possibly care about things like that?

He was now a peak Terrifying expert, a Quasi-God who merely had to wave his hand and summon a golden shield to stop the flying arrows. Now that he could unleash his godpower outside of his body and use his divine abilities, he was able to reveal his true strength.

Furthermore, he could use all of the potential of the God Legion Seal.

The God Legion Seal was complete, and now that it was in the god world, Yang Qi could funnel godpower into it and finally break through the strange barriers that had existed within it back in the mortal world.

Thanks to Yang Qi’s transformation, the entire beach was bathed in golden light, and the sand beneath his feet seemed to be on the verge of melting.

“Net!” he said, and golden threads shot out to create an enormous net that spread out to fill the entire area. It descended on the pirates and they screamed miserably as they were firmly immobilized.

“Very good.”

Yang Qi flew up into the air, and a pair of holy wings sprouted from his back, allowing him to hover and survey the scene from above. Thanks to the endless amount of godpower available, using the God Legion Seal didn’t tire him out now. As long as the god world existed, so would he.

It was as if he had an endless amount of fuel that ensured he would never dry up.

Furthermore, his cultivation base could operate at speeds surpassing that of ordinary gods.

Now that he had broken through, Yang Qi knew that he could devastate any other Quasi-God. And now he realized why Proud Heaven had wanted so badly to have the complete God Legion Seal. It was virtually a cheat item here in the god world, making him invincible in terms of cultivation and fighting.

Now that the pirates were trapped in the net, Yang Qi’s companions emerged from cover and stared at him in delight.

“You broke through, Yang Qi?”

“I did. Truth be told, I could’ve broken through the moment we arrived in the god world. My battle with Proud Heaven unlocked all sorts of enlightenment of my Sage Monarch Grand Magic. I originally intended to wait, except... the pirate king’s peak Terrifying godpower burned open a hole that helped me understand one of the first magical laws of the god world.”

Brahma nodded. “Yes, the god world has many laws, and breaking through the first one will provide immense power. Unfortunately, my cultivation base still needs some work before I can become a Quasi-God. My past injuries were too severe. But now we have a good opportunity on our hands. Instead of spending time cultivating in the wilderness, we can take these pirates and their treasures. If we can figure out where their base is, we’ll have even more resources available for cultivation.”