Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘Jing Wuxue. A Lifeseizer.’ This was not Yang Qi’s first time hearing the name.

Back when he was in the eighth phase, he came to find that he was definitely not a match for the terrifying Chu Tiange. But now, he was in the ninth phase, with the power of fifteen ancient megamammoths, and most of the life force quintessence of the lightning mammoth gone.

It was hard to say exactly how powerful his three best assets were, the Infernal Deity Spear, Infernal Deity Aegis and Fiend-Devil Wings. The only way to find out for sure was to find some top expert to compare with.

However, he could defeat other Masters of Energy with hardly any effort at all. Only Lifeseizers, who were generally a hundred times more powerful than Masters of Energy, could provide him with the experience he needed. And that was also the best way to absorb the last bits of the lightning mammoth.

At the moment, his true energy was surging mightily, as if urging him to find someone challenging to fight.

“Let’s go. If we leave now, we can reach Krorän in less than a day. Considering it's morning now, we should be able to get there by nightfall. The darkness of a snowy night is perfect to clear out demons and devils.”

Yang Qi rose to his feet, and his four friends joined.

Before leaving, they changed clothing, donning white clothing and cloaks that were made from snowbear fur. Not only were they very warm, but they would also provide a large measure of camouflage, which would make it much easier to ambush the vampire brigands.

Snowbear fur was so warm that it would even allow mortals to survive in the bitter night cold.

Of course, these outfits were gifted to them by the villa lord.

Because Yang Qi and his friends were Demi-Immortal Institute students with profound energy arts, they hadn’t brought changes of clothing with them. But with these snowbear cloaks, they would be able to conserve true energy.

Thus clad, they vanished into the night in blurs of white, leaving not even a footprint behind as they sped through the snow.

They followed their maps until roughly nightfall, at which point they detected the odor of blood in the cold around them.

Yang Qi stopped in his tracks and reached out, letting a snowflake land on his finger. Unexpectedly, the snowflake had a bit of red on it, which was none other than blood-colored true energy.

‘What powerful demonic energy. How much human blood must have been consumed to cause the snowflakes to smell like it?’ Obviously, someone had cultivated their blood energy arts to the point where they could fuse their energy with the clouds. Thus, the snowflakes were stained red with blood.

Without a doubt, some freakish hellion was in the area.

“Krorän is right up ahead,” Li He said.

Sure enough, they soon caught sight of a magnificent metropolis, surrounded by smaller cities that served as guard stations. All of the buildings and structures were in very bad shape, as though some chaotic battle had been fought there.

There were massive stone columns and pillars, and domed temples that gave a glimpse into the city’s past glory.

This was the legendary city of Krorän, which in its golden era had housed millions upon millions of residents. Now, there weren’t any living beings at all, only vampire brigands.

Yang Qi and his friends dropped to the ground and crawled to the top of a nearby hill, which gave them a good vantage point of the city, as well as the various vampire brigands that were on patrol.

The blood-red garments they wore made them particularly eye-catching in the brilliant white snow.

They moved with incredible agility, and because their body structures were based on frigid yin qualities, were also completely unaffected by the frigid cold. According to the rumors, after cultivating blood demon energy arts, and consuming enough blood, a person could become a blood demon. In addition to spectacular power, it would bring a ferocious change in personality, and would force that person to live by consuming human blood.

“So many brigands!”

Yang Qi’s eyes were like blades as he examined the scene. In the smaller guard cities, there were tens of thousands of patrolling vampire brigands, including ones from the fifth to the ninth phase.

As for Krorän itself, it contained well over a thousand major structures, a testament to how rich the city had once been.

There were more vampire brigands patrolling the outskirts of the city, so there was little need to mention what it would be like in its depths.

“What do we do now?” Liang Dong said, making sure to keep his energy concealed. He knew full well what the deadly consequences would be if he didn’t. “According to the rumors, blood demon energy arts are quite miraculous. Supposedly, they originate with the Devil Sutra of the Blood Emperor, an imperial-class energy art. The Blood Demon Grotto cultivates a subsidiary version which is only royal-class, but it still leads to incredible cultivation progress. After consuming enough blood, one can reach Energy Eruption in only two or three months, and the Energy Weapon level in only a year….”

“That fast?” Yang Qi exclaimed. To the country bumpkins of Yanhaven, an energy artist who reached the Energy Eruption level in ten years was considered gifted.

“Yeah,” Hua Yinhu replied. “All you have to do is drink a lot of blood, which makes it a very attractive option to many. According to the legends, there was an ancient devil king who saw humankind flourishing, and created the Devil Sutra of the Blood Emperor in an attempt to seduce them to the dao of devils. And it worked. Some people will go crazy for power. Not me though.”

“In the past,” Li He added, “there were even some students in the institute who resorted to cultivating the dao of devils in the hopes of gaining more power. But that’s been strictly forbidden for a long time now.”

When Yang Qi used the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to summon his Infernal Deity Spear and Fiend-Devil Wings, it definitely resembled an energy art from the dao of devils. If the Demi-Immortal Institute found out about that, it would lead to problems.

Of course, the truth was that the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the most orthodox energy art amongst gods and spirits. It was upright and majestic, something used by the legions of gods in heaven to crush hell. However, because of how it was touched by the aura of hell, there were certain aspects of it that seemed fiendish and devil-like.

Part of that was due to the fact that Yang Qi’s level was simply too low. For example, his Fiend-Devil Wings would eventually transform, becoming Angel Wings. And they would experience even further transformations later. At that point, the mere snap of his fingers would allow him to travel through all sorts of planes and dimensions.

As he hid in the snow, Yang Qi analyzed his energy arts.

He still itched to communicate with the golden imp that resided in his forehead, but unfortunately, it remained as still as if it were asleep.

That was currently the biggest mystery of all to him.

His godly technique came from that golden imp. But who exactly was the imp?

“You know,” Yang Qi said, “the institute sent a lot of people out here to hunt vampire brigands. If Krorän is the focal point, it's safe to assume we’ll run into some other students here. And considering how the brigands have been terrorizing all of the northwest, there’s no way that the other institutes didn't send people.”

“That’s right. How could that have slipped my mind?” Li He said. “There are over a million freshman students in the Demi-Immortal Institute, as well as plenty in the Outer and Inner Campuses. And that’s not to mention the elite students. There must be a lot of us in the Krorän area. I guess we’ll just have to play things by ear.”

Almost as if in response to what had just been said, he suddenly heard a whistling sound nearby.

Moments later, they saw figures speeding through the snow.

Apparently, the vampire brigands also detected the noise. Howling, they drew their blades and bows. Some of them even manned cannons on the city walls.

When such massive cannons were used, they could kill even a Master of Energy.

“They’re from our institute!” Li He exclaimed. “Look, Yang Qi. They’re from the Gentlemen’s Society; they usually wear white headbands and green clothing.”

With that, he rose to his feet fearlessly, looking almost like a snowbear.

Sure enough, there were several hundred students coming from the east, all of them dressed in green clothing, with white headbands, and swords in their hands. They were marching in tight formation, connecting their true energy to defend themselves. There were thirty-six students out in front who were Masters of Energy, leading the charge as they cut down any vampire brigands that got in their way.

BOOOOOOOM!

One of the cannons on the wall suddenly heaved backward as it launched an enormous projectile toward the students from the Gentlemen’s Society.

In response, they shouted, unleashing their energy to form a huge protective shield that stopped the projectile in mid-flight and sent it flying backward to smash into the city wall. Instantly, dozens of vampire brigands were wiped out.

Next, several hundred students joined their voices together to shout, “Thunder Fist!”

At the same time, they all unleashed precisely timed fist strikes.

A massive wave of energy rolled out, smashing into the city gate. The huge, seemingly impregnable metal gate was shredded to pieces as surely as if it had been made of paper.

Yang Qi watched as the hundreds of students from the Gentlemen’s Society destroyed a city gate that weighed a hundred thousand pounds. Then, they unleashed energy arts with deadly force, cutting down the vampire brigands who were on guard.

“Incredible,” Yang Qi murmured. “This Gentlemen’s Society is so strong!”

“Brother Yang Qi,” Li He said, “this is just one squad from the Gentlemen’s Society. They have tens of thousands of members overall; they’re the second most powerful society next to the Crown Prince Society after all. I think even the Crown Prince fears their leader.”