Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

It was a scene of utter chaos.

Houselord Spring-Autumn, Pontifex Flame, Prince Wei and Hua Chicheng from the Sun Moon Institute, had all come to the aid of Yang Qi and his sworn siblings, and were standing up to the Crown Prince.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi’s true energy had reacted to the Crown Prince’s attacking gaze in a way that had pushed him to the point of reaching Septenary Lifeseizing.

Multiple particles within him had woken up.

Instead of one hundred and eight, he now had one hundred and twenty-eight, in other words, the power of that many ancient megamammoths.

However, he still had to pass Septenary Lifeseizing tribulation, melt the rest of the residual power in his Hellfire Crucible, and then stabilize it with his God-Devil Seal.

Therefore, he simply watched as the current scene played out.

After all, top experts had interceded, and therefore, Yang Qi didn’t need to take the lead any longer. That said, he was extremely disappointed with the Demi-Immortal Institute. The Crown Prince was acting extremely rude and domineering, and yet, not a single Legendary grand elder was doing anything about it.

None of them were making any attempt to keep matters fair and just.

From that it could be seen exactly what position the Crown Prince occupied in the institute. He was at the top of the food chain, with everyone else beneath him. Apparently, the only person who outranked him was the chancellor, meaning that no one else would dare to defy his will.

Obviously, it didn’t matter that Yang Qi had come out victorious in the competition. Going forward, it would be very difficult for him to maintain a good standing in the Demi-Immortal Institute.

He knew that he was in a very precarious situation.

The Crown Prince was the type of person who would seek revenge over the smallest grievance, and was also the type who would cut the weeds and eliminate the roots, and target the friends and family of any enemy. However, it wouldn’t be easy for him to simply kill Yang Qi’s entire alliance of sworn siblings.

At the moment, he seemed so dead-set on killing Yang Qi that it wouldn't matter if even more people tried to stop him, he would still press forward.

Despite the fact that he had four major experts standing protectively in front of him, Yang Qi still felt fear. After all, the Crown Prince seemed like a fierce tiger looking at four prancing bunnies.

“So, this is how it's going to be,” the Crown Prince said. “I’ll just have to put an end to the entire lot of you. Let’s see if there’s anyone out there who will help you. The brat youngsters don't qualify to fight with me, but you old codgers are fairly strong. You know, I just finished making a magical treasure, and your souls and blood would make a great offering to it.”

Suddenly, a dual-crescent-bladed halberd appeared in his hand, red and gold, with decorations on the curved blades that resembled fierce ghosts and countless devil-gods. From the look of it, this was a weapon that came from the depths of the netherworld.

The four powerful experts facing the Crown Prince immediately erupted into a rage.

“A Purgatory Godhalberd!?”

“You actually forged that weapon?!”

“Of all the demon and devil weapons of the ancient past, I can’t believe you dared to forge that!”

“Aren’t you worried about being punished by the orthodox sects? Who could have guessed that you would forge a weapon of the ancient dao of hell?”

The Crown Prince hefted the halberd, making him look like a fierce devil-god. “Punished by the orthodox sects? I decide what’s orthodox and what’s not. I'm favored by the heavens. In any case, weapons cannot be considered inherently good or evil. It all comes down to the person wielding them. Right?”

Suddenly, he slashed the halberd through the air, causing scintillating blade light to shoot out. The sky flashed, and darkness spread everywhere, accompanied by a sinister, howling wind, and coldness that pierced down to the bones.

Shockingly, he was directly attacking Houselord Spring-Autumn, Pontifex Flame, Hua Chicheng and Prince Wei.

Various weapons appeared as the four experts defended themselves with weapons of their own, causing powerful fluctuations to roll out. Hua Chicheng also waved his hand, wrapping up Yang Qi and his sworn siblings and throwing them out of the arena floor.

This was a battle of the Legendary level, and not the type that Lifeseizers could participate in.

Even as Yang Qi and his fellows were ejected from the fighting floor, the Crown Prince lifted his halberd over his head and then slashed it down, shattering the air as it went.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four weapons exploded, becoming streams of blood-colored light that hit the four experts, sending them staggering backwards, covered with wounds.

Houselord Spring-Autumn had nearly been chopped in half at the waist. Pontifex Flame had a wicked, bleeding wound on his head. Hua Chicheng’s shoulder had been punched clean through. And Prince Wei’s left leg was so viciously cut that the bone was visible.

One move had defeated all four experts! The Crown Prince was as vicious as a tiger!

“Other than a Great Sage, nobody in this world could possibly be a match for me,” he said, flicking the blood off his halberd. “Houselord Spring-Autumn, Pontifex Flame, Prince Wei, Hua Chicheng. Even if more Legendaries than you joined forces, you still wouldn’t be able to fight me. How dare you act so brazenly in my presence! You three, I’ll give you one chance to get on your knees and join the Crown Prince Society. The House of Spring and Autumn and the Tabernacle of Flame will become subsidiary branches of my society, and all of your wealth and property will belong to me. You can do that, or you can die.”

“You!” Houselord Spring-Autumn shouted, putting pressure on the wound at his side to prevent the blood from flowing out. “I can’t believe the Demi-Immortal Institute allows such vicious behavior!”

“Enough!” All of the grand elders from the Sun Moon Institute stood up. “This is out of hand. Does the Demi-Immortal Institute really want to resort to open conflict with the Sun Moon Institute?”

Patriarchs Wind and Cloud both shot to their feet, clearly inspired by the Crown Prince’s show of strength.

“Open conflict?” Patriarch Wind said. “Fine. Let’s see who’s scared of whom.”

“The Crown Prince just defeated all four of them with one move,” Patriarch Cloud added. “And you people think you could do better?”

The Seven Preheaven Masters, the Three Pure Yang Elders, and all of the other grand elders of the Demi-Immortal Institute rose to their feet and looked down at the Crown Prince. In the end, he was just too strong. Even if they threw in a dissenting opinion, there was no way the Crown Prince would listen to them. For all intents and purposes, the chancellor and the prime paragon elders were the only ones who could keep him in check.

At the very least, there were no experts present who could deal with him.

“This is getting out of hand. Quick, send messages to the chancellors!” Many experts began to do just that.

Meanwhile, the Legendary grand elders from the True Dragon Institute and Sea God Institute also stood. “This competition is held by the four institutes, together. It stands to reason that Yang Qi should be the champion. He defeated every opponent, all the way until the Crown Prince came and caused a scene. However, considering how things have turned out, it seems the four chancellors need to weigh in on the matter.”

Some of them, ones who were particularly interested in justice and righteousness, began to call out to the Crown Prince. “Crown Prince, stay your hand. This matter needs to be resolved by the chancellors.”

“Oh?” The Crown Prince looked back up at them. Not giving any face at all, he said, “Why should I stay my hand? The chancellors are all busy working on their cultivation, and don’t have time to waste on trivial matters like this. I hold power over life and death here, so I’ll be making the decisions for them. Anyone who gets in my way will die. ”

His gaze shifted to Yang Qi. “This little brat Yang Qi is a dead man. In a moment, I’ll expel him from this institute and turn him into a roaming ghost that anyone can punish. The champion of this competition is, of course, Yun Hailan. As for the precious treasure that is the prize, the Gate of the Great Void, it belongs to her.”

Instantly, a buzz of shocked coversation rose up

“What? The grand prize is the Gate of the Great Void?”

“I've heard of that treasure! It has an even more impressive origin than the Pearl of the Thousand Illusions World. The chancellors really picked an incredible prize for the winner. Ah! No wonder the Crown Prince went to such great lengths to do all this. A Legendary couldn’t make a treasure like that, only someone in the Great Sage level.”

“Well, Yang Qi might be the champion, but it seems the prize belongs to the Crown Prince. He definitely won’t let it go to any potential rivals, especially Yang Qi.”

“Maybe. I mean, Yang Qi really came out of nowhere to prove himself a genius student. If the chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute is looking at the bigger picture, there’s no way he would let someone like that get killed so early in his development, right? If he did, then how could the institute produce any other geniuses in the future? Wouldn’t they be too frightened to show their faces?”

“The Crown Prince is just too strong. He could reach the Great Sage level at any moment. Once he does, the chancellors will have to openly cater to him. You never know, maybe they’ll just sacrifice Yang Qi to make things easier later.”

It was a completely chaotic situation. The Crown Prince wasn't giving face to anyone, and was establishing himself as an ultimate figure of authority. If nobody stopped him now, then it seemed likely his society would hold sway over the entire continent.

‘This is the arrogance that comes with power. The ability to just ignore the rules.’ Yang Qi looked coldly at the Crown Prince, aware that things had reached the point where the man was absolutely set on killing him, and killing anyone who tried to stop him. Not even two sect leaders and a prince were an exception.

All he could do now was regret the fact that he had progressed too slowly up to this point.

In the past, he had often imagined what it would be like to face off against him. He had come up with many plans of what to do, and had visualized many possible outcomes. Most of them had involved using the rules of the institute against the man. After all, he had assumed that those same rules would restrict the Crown Prince, and prevent him from doing anything too extreme.

However, he now realized the huge mistake he had made. The Crown Prince was even willing to kill grand elders from other institutes!