Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

In the Halls of Heaven, there were medicinal pills that could raise people to the level of God-Lords. There were even preheaven nascent divinities that could be unlocked and used to force preheaven spirit bodies.

That said, the resources there couldn’t easily be used to reach levels beyond that of God-Lord. And going past thirty billion could only be achieved by years of hard work, as well as psychic baptisms that couldn’t be provided by medicinal pills or magical treasure.

The strongest of Yang Qi’s subordinates were Dugu Sheji and Yang Primal-Chaos. After them were his brethren from the impure lands, and some of the Dragonfolk experts.

Although they were all strong, and getting stronger, they simply weren’t in a position to fight on the battlefield.

However, a challenge had been issued.

They were obviously trying to embarrass Yang Qi, yet he didn’t care.

“Don’t tell me you’re too scared to accept the challenge, Yang Qi,” Yang Voidprime said. “If our armies clash, the casualties will be too immense. I heard that you don’t like to see your people die. If that’s true, the best thing would be to resolve our conflict before the armies assembled here.”

“Who said I was scared, Yang Voidprime?” Yang Qi said. “I'm the emperor of the Sage Monarch Empire, so I'm responsible for its fate. I'm its protector, and I'm standing right here. Anyone who wants to cause problems for my empire has to get past me, first. I heard that you’re formed from fateless energy, Yang Voidprime. So how about the two of us fight first? I'm curious to see what you're all about, and whether you qualify to fight me. Or is your challenge nothing more than attempted suicide?”

WHOOSH!

Yang Qi flew out and stood between the two armies.

The shockwaves caused by the clashing destinies were so intense that anyone weaker than a God-Lord would instantly be wiped out of existence.

Normally speaking, an emperor wouldn’t be the first one out onto the battlefield. But Yang Qi knew that if he wasn’t, his entire empire would collapse. None of his subordinates could serve as a champion. The best they could do was pray to the empire and provide destiny for him to fight with.

Taking his place up front, Yang Qi produced a long sword that seemed magical in nature, whose most casual movement caused everything around it to shake.

Many of the old-timers reacted with open shock. “Is that the Lord of the Sword Dao? He refined the Lord of the Sword Dao into a weapon?”

“That’s right,” Yang Qi said, “I refined the Lord of the Sword Dao into a weapon. So what do you fools count for in comparison? Considering all the noise you’re making, Yang Voidprime, why don’t you come fight me?” Yang Qi extended the sword and pointed it at him in a clear challenge.

“The Sage Monarch Empire really doesn’t have anyone worth mentioning in it.” Yang Voidprime wanted nothing more than to kill Yang Qi, but at the same time, he knew he couldn’t do it himself.

If he could have, there wouldn't have been a need for this war.

But Yang Qi had a psychic scale of three hundred billion, which was far beyond Yang Voidprime. Neither could Proud Heaven, the Lord of the Chiliocosm, or any of the other old-timers pull it off.

“Hailan,” Yang Voidprime said, giving her a look that indicated he wanted her to join him. However, not even the two of them working together would be strong enough. “He’s the only person in the Sage Monarch Empire who can really fight us. Considering we have so many experts on our side, we shouldn’t let them go to waste. Brother Proud Heaven, why don’t you join us? Let’s kill him and put an end to the Sage Monarch Empire.”

“Grand Generalissimo. Prime Minister. Imperial Preceptor. You three join us. I’ll probe him to find his weakness, and once I do, I’ll use the destiny to strike like lightning. Once we break open his defenses, we can send our forces in and wipe out his people. Lord of the Chiliocosm. Heaven-Defeating Dugu. You lead the army in when the time comes.”

The forces of the three dynasties were ready to spring into motion.

“Oh? Teaming up on me?” Yang Qi looked at the assembled forces and laughed. “I guess that means I really am the top figure in the god world. Ever since the Sovereign Lord and King Immortal-Slayer fell, there hasn't been someone who could get all of you to work together against.”

“Today is the showdown between our great nations. And even if we’re just killing a rabbit, we still need to use the force of a lion. Look, enough jabbering. We're not here to bully you, so go ahead and have some of your subordinates join you. This isn’t just going to be a contest of destiny. We have ten times as many top experts as you, but there’s still time to surrender. If you want to, just get on your knees.”

“We’ll see who gets on their knees,” Yang Qi said. “Alright, come at me, all of you. I'm curious to see who the strongest expert in the god world really is.”

He was currently completely confident, no matter how many enemies he faced. Furthermore, this action would instill faith in his followers. And he had to defend them. If they lost heart, his destiny would plummet and the results would be too horrible to contemplate.

Besides, he knew that his enemies were just trying to intimidate him. There were obviously higher-level experts who were just waiting to see how things would play out before stepping in for the final battle.

If his empire was destroyed, the god world would continue with a tripartite balance of power. But if he came out victorious, then Yang Qi would be the ultimate figure, and the High Priestess and the King of Godmammoths would never be resurrected.

“We’re going to kill you today, Yang Qi,” Yang Voidprime said as he and Hailan walked out. “And we're going to take over your empire and enslave your people.”

The grand generalissimo, prime minister, and imperial preceptor from the Central Dynasty joined them, as did Heaven-Reaching Dugu, Heaven-Immolating Dugu, and Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu.

In total, there were eight. All of them had psychic scales of a hundred billion or more. And Yang Voidprime and Hailan were above the level of the old Lord of the Sword Dao. As for the others, they were all elite experts who had managed to escape the wrath of the Sovereign Lord, and were apex entities in the god world.

They fanned out to face Yang Qi, with Hailan and Yang Voidprime taking the centermost positions.

“Void Slash!”

Yang Voidprime was the first to attack.

He was empty handed, yet as he lunged forward, he was like a sword, spear, saber, and whip, all combined.

Swish!

Yang Qi didn’t even bother looking up. He simply thrust his hand out, causing a surge of power as he unleashed the Fist of the Halls of Heaven.

BAM!

Yang Qi hardly moved, while Yang Voidprime was sent spinning backward like a bird being knocked out of the sky.

“You think you can fight me alone?” Yang Qi said. Taking advantage of the moment, he launched another attack at Yang Voidprime, trying to slash him apart and take his fateless power. With it, he knew he would have a very good chance of reaching the half-Annulled level.

However, Yang Voidprime proved to be quite impressive. Yang Qi hit him with immense power that should have been enough to destroy him, yet he managed to negate it.

Obviously, completely vanquishing him would be difficult. And that wasn't to mention that Yang Qi had to be careful about attacks from the other opponents, or that Proud Heaven had the ability to attack him with destiny.

“Die!” Hailan jumped forward with a whip that was some sort of preheaven magical treasure, bright blue and filled with streams of faith.

Yang Qi could faintly see that ancient figure who had officiated sacrifices for the Sovereign Lord.

She was the High Priestess, and when she took action, any opponent she faced would be damned by myriad tribulations.