Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘So, they all took the bait,’ Princess Jadefall thought, her heart pounding as she realized that Yang Qi’s plan had worked. Proud Warpatience, the crown prince, the kid in yellow… all of them flew into the labyrinth.

Yang Qi had lured the snakes out of their holes and was preparing to take them all out at once.

If he succeeded, it would be a windfall and he would definitely be able to completely overturn the general structure of the Titan Emperor Heaven. In fact, it would likely change the Thirty-Six Thousand Immortal Worlds Coalition in a dramatic way.

For him, getting the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart would be a complete game-changer.

With it, taking over thirty-six thousand immortal worlds would be simple. Even three hundred million would be within the realm of possibility, and he would also be able to strive ahead directly toward the Deathless Throne.

Princess Jadefall drew on the twin energies of a Fateless One and a Reincarnated One, causing a primal-chaos image to spring up behind her, within which was a porcelain godspore.

That godspore was her true form, how she had started out as a Reincarnated One. No matter how many times she was reincarnated, her substructure would never change. After going through multiple reincarnations, her inherent nature had become muddled, but now she had been reminded of its past, and her previous wisdom and knowledge awakened by Yang Qi.

Without any hesitation, she flew into the labyrinth.

‘They’re all here,’ Yang Qi thought. His divine will had long since filled the entire labyrinth, allowing him to keep a close eye on everything.

The trident Hu Latu had spoken of was fully thirty-thousand meters long and covered with raging waves. As it turned out, it contained a water-type godly-class energy art within it. Surprisingly, it was none other than the Cardinal Grand Brahma Punishes the Water God Energy Art.

Yang Qi had acquired the fire-type version of this same art from Proud Warpatience. Apparently, both of them were part of a set that included metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

The complete set would conform to the five phases and could unleash a consummate and mysterious power that could shake all creation.

‘Great! I got another part of the set!’ He inhaled, sucking the god item into himself until it turned into a spring of water flowing into his blood, filled with deathless godliness.

‘Now that I have the water- and fire-types together, I can definitely release even more impressive godpower. Unfortunately, it’s not quite enough to push me to third stage Thought-Demolishing. Once I'm at that level, I’ll be able to summon seventh stage Wilds-Demolishers and truly dominate anyone in the Titan Emperor Heaven.’

Proud Warpatience was the first to arrive at the location where Titan Dragonguard was ‘fighting’ with Hu Latu. Proud Warpatience didn’t hesitate to leap into the fight.

WHOOOOOSH!

“Your life is mine, brat!”

Immediately, the clone that was fighting Hu Latu looked over and shouted, “Proud Warpatience? I can’t believe you’re ambushing me!”

From the look of things, it would be very difficult for him to keep fighting Hu Latu and defend against Proud Warpatience at the same time.

Proud Warpatience immediately resorted to his Cardinal Grand Brahma Punishes the Fire God Energy Art, summoning a host of flames that took the form of numerous flowers, including hibiscuses, peonies, night queen flowers, chrysanthemums, and the like, all of them burning with the raw power of the universe.

Yang Qi’s true self remained off to the side, invisible, but drawing on his Wheel of Fate to summon crackling lightning that he added to the illusory region. It was Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning, which could not only vanquish evil, but could also overturn the senses of people caught in its power, making them confused and befuddled. It only added a further bit of realism to the illusion at play.

Even as Proud Warpatience leaped into the illusory region and began battling Yang Qi’s clone, more people approached, namely the crown prince, the kid in yellow, and Chancellor Demi-Immortal.

Instead of taking action, Yang Qi kept in communication with Princess Jadefall and simply allowed them to come.

Eventually, the fight with Proud Warpatience had been going on for many hours and Yang Qi’s clone seemed to be weakening. Yet nothing Proud Warpatience tried had succeeded in killing him.

“Crown Prince,” Proud Warpatience shouted. “I know you were right behind me! You’re just waiting to swoop in and take advantage at the end of the fight, aren’t you!? If we don’t win this fight today, and he escapes, it would lead to grave consequences.”

“Since you put it that way,” the crown prince said coolly, “I guess I’ll stake everything on this one blow! Titan Godpower!”

An enormous hammer appeared in his hands, which he thrust out with explosive power that surpassed even Proud Warpatience.

It was another god item, the famed Hammer of Titan.

It was even more powerful than the eye of Titan, which was kept in the middle of the Titan Emperor Heaven. And the crown prince’s cultivation base seemed linked to it on an enigmatic level, to the point where even just striking out with it seemed capable of crushing the entire lair within the labyrinth.

During the entire time, Yang Qi sat there, quiet and unmoving.

He was still waiting for the young man in yellow to make his move.

He was the true target, and Yang Qi would pay almost any price to make sure he ended up dead.

As the fighting intensified, Yang Qi poured out more vital energy to make sure the illusion was realistic and that the crown prince and Proud Warpatience were both completely wrapped up in it.

It was very draining to have both of these individuals stuck in the illusion, but it was worth it.

“Should we make our move?” Chancellor Demi-Immortal asked of the young man in yellow as they remained hidden and invisible nearby. “It looks like Yang Qi’s vital energy is running low. If we strike now, we could probably kill him. What if one of them goes all out or flees, and the whole fight is thrown out of balance?”

“Just wait a moment,” the young man in yellow said. “Something about this situation seems odd. It doesn’t make sense that Yang Qi would be this weak. What if this is all a trap, and we're just about to fall right into it?”

“A trap? Impossible. Even if Yang Qi were stronger than we realized, he’s not a Godmyth. He's fighting the crown prince, Proud Warpatience, and the Brahman Society emissaries. How could anyone deal with so many ninth stage Dao-Demolishers? Even sovereigns of heaven would have trouble with that many enemies. The fact that he's holding his own is impressive enough. If he were any stronger, how could we possibly deal with him?”

“Look, calm down. Just keep watching until they waste a bit more vital energy.” For some reason, the young man in yellow felt profoundly nervous about how things were playing out.

‘Why aren’t they taking the bait?’ Yang Qi thought. The young man in yellow was the true target. Without snagging him, it wouldn’t matter if Yang Qi killed Proud Warpatience and the crown prince. It wasn’t as if taking their power would benefit him much.

“Jadefall! Do something to up the ante!”

In response, Princess Jadefall released some energy fluctuations which the young man in yellow instantly detected. Face falling, he said, “This is bad. That’s the aura of a Reincarnated One. Yang Qi must be on his last legs and is calling out to Princess Jadefall to come help. If the two of them join forces, they’ll be unstoppable. We have to kill him now!”

“I told you we shouldn’t have waited this long!” Chancellor Demi-Immortal said.

“It’s not too late! Come on!”

The young man in yellow leaped forward, throwing out a paper talisman that shredded into pieces and transformed into three legacy medallions. He spat blood on them, and rumbling sounds echoed out as a projection of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart appeared. Fusing with it, he shot toward Yang Qi’s clone.

‘Alright!’ Yang Qi thought. Although he felt a surge of delight, he quickly forced himself into a state of calm. All emotions, be they anxiety, fear, delight, or anything else, completely vanished.

In the blink of an eye, he became like a golden god from ancient times. At the same time, the illusory region vanished and Proud Warpatience and the crown prince suddenly lurched to a stop, completely locked in place and unable to move.

A golden cage sprang into being, rumbling down and locking onto everyone present!

Yang Qi really was preparing to take everyone out at once!

Crack!

Without any hesitation, Yang Qi unleashed a stream of golden, porcelain power that smashed into his archenemy, the young man in yellow. The force was such that the entire lair around him was wiped out of existence!

“ARRGGH!”

Both the young man in yellow and Chancellor Demi-Immortal were caught completely off guard and the projection of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart was ripped apart. The two of them let loose agonized shrieks as blood sprayed out of numerous wounds on their bodies.

“This is bad! He tricked us!” The young man in yellow was the quick-thinking type who could make snap decisions. Without any hesitation, he said, “Immortal-Slayer Power! Primeval Execution!”

WHACK!

He smashed a hole into the golden prison Yang Qi had created, and leaped toward it. However, in his rush, he didn’t notice that the cage was surrounded by even more glowing light that he crashed right into. His escape attempt failed!

“Damnation!” he cried, feeling crazed madness rising up within him. “King Immortal-Slayer’s Soul!”

Behind him, an immense figure popped into being.