Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘No!’ Sectlord Nine Yangs thought, terror gripping his heart. ‘I experienced countless trials and tribulations to reach the Chaos God level. I'm only one step away from the Deathless Throne! I'm so close to being eternally indestructible! Deathless! Able to survive the destruction of the universe itself! How could a heaven-devil take over my soul?’

His expression distorted so viciously that he almost looked like he was experiencing cultivation deviation right then and there.

Chuckling, Yang Qi said, “I can tell from your expression that you really are in the initial stages of cultivation deviation, and a monster has already started forming within you. That’s why you have such an arrogant and conceited personality. And it's also why you're so overconfident. The stronger that monster gets, the crazier you act.”

As Yang Qi’s words battered Sectlord Nine Yangs, his soul quivered, the insanity within it twitching as though it might erupt at any moment.

POP!

Sectlord Nine Yangs suddenly coughed up a huge mouthful of black blood that radiated such intense devil energy it was obvious that he was deeply in the clutches of cultivation deviation.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

All of a sudden, several shadowy figures appeared behind Sectlord Nine Yangs. One of them was taller than the others and pulsed with powerful dragon energy as he placed a hand on Sectlord Nine Yangs’ back, sending devil-subduing dragon power into him. A moment later, Sectlord Nine Yangs calmed down.

“Many thanks, Dragon King,” Sectlord Nine Yangs said. “I nearly fooled this villainous brat. He thought he could incite a heart-devil within me, but I had it under control the whole time. Of course, that vital energy of yours provided some secondary help.”

“If you had no devil in your heart, how could I incite it?” Yang Qi said, his words echoing out loudly for everyone to hear. “A devil won’t rise up if it doesn’t exist to begin with. How could just a few words from me cause a monster to take over a powerful Chaos God like you?”

A very unsightly expression overtook Sectlord Nine Yangs’ face.

The truth was that although Sectlord Nine Yangs did have some hidden injuries, they weren’t as bad as Yang Qi had made it sound. He had used the Glad Tidings of the Lord to make things a lot more dramatic than they really were. Sectlord Nine Yangs did have nine yin-yang vortexes that created an imbalance of yin and yang. And he really was showing signs of experiencing cultivation deviation and transforming into a yin-yang monster.

But Yang Qi had only made the situation a bit worse.

That said, Yang Qi immediately felt very wary of the shadowy figures who had appeared behind Sectlord Nine Yangs. They were Dragonfolk from the God Dragon Tribe, and one of them had a very high rank.

“Not bad, Dragon Proudheaven,” said Dragon King. “Not bad at all. I underestimated you. All it took were some fanciful words on your part to throw Sectlord Nine Yangs’ heart into chaos. But if you think that's enough to get you off the hook with us, you’re gravely mistaken. The God Dragon Tribe is going to kill you, no matter what. Presumably, you’ve heard that we already wiped out all the fire dragons.”

“Who cares about the fire dragons?” Yang Qi said. “We were just discussing my importance to the alliance. Then I said a few things and caused a mighty sectlord to cough up blood. I'd say that shows how valuable I am. You see, I'm the only person who can rid Sectlord Nine Yangs of his injuries and that monster. If you push things too far here and kill me, then in the future, it won't matter how much he begs heaven and earth, he won’t get any help from anyone.”

Eyes flashing with vicious light, Sectlord Nine Yangs said, “Enough of this talk of hidden injuries, boy! And drop the chatter about cultivation deviation. Even if I did have problems like that, and you were the only one who could help, I would just force you to do it. And if you refused, I would make you live a life in which you only wished you could die!”

At this point, another patriarch stepped out of the shadows. “Sectlord Nine Yangs,” he said, “it’s obvious you have injuries, there’s no need for such talk.” Looking at Yang Qi, he continued, “Well done, Dragon Proudheaven. You’ve proven how valuable you are and thus, have earned a spot among us. You are a holy, august patriarch of medicine, with a rank much higher than the elder kings. You’re equal to us now.”

Glaring, Sectlord Nine Yangs said, “Winter Bloodless? Don’t tell me you’re going to set yourself against the Nine Yangs God Sect and the God Dragon Tribe!”

With a cold harrumph, Patriarch Kingheaven rose to his feet. “What if Winter Bloodless and I join forces? Do you think the two of us are going to be scared of the God Dragon Tribe and the Nine Yangs God Sect? Dragon Proudheaven is just too important to the alliance. You want to turn him into a puppet to work for you? Sorry, that’s not going to happen.”

“Fine. Then I'm going to kill him! That way, nobody can make use of him!”

Sectlord Nine Yangs began striding toward Yang Qi, as if he intended to attack him.

Before Yang Qi could do anything, Patriarch Winter Bloodless unleashed a beam of godlight that block Sectlord Nine Yangs’ path.

“Have a death wish, Winter Bloodless!?” Sectlord Nine Yangs barked angrily.

Snorting coldly, Winter Bloodless replied, “I saw the devilishness in you just now, Sectlord Nine Yangs.”

As everyone else sat there waiting to see exactly how things would play out, Dragon King suddenly unleashed a stream of light shaped like a dragon, which shot toward Yang Qi at top speed. Yet even as it wrapped around Yang Qi, he shrugged, sending an intangible wave of power out that shattered the light and devoured it.

Jaw dropping, Dragon King said, “How did you get this strong? You actually destroyed my Unbounded Dragon Lasso?”

“I'm not particularly strong,” Yang Qi said as his energy surged in eye-catching fashion. “Do you people really think that I'm just some tool that you can use however you wish? You think that I’ll just go along with whatever arrangement you come up with? Dragon King, you’ve forcibly cultivated the Eight Tribes Godfist, which has given rise to toxic dragon particles in your body. You’ve really put yourself in a dangerous situation. If you continue to practice your cultivation in that fashion, you’ll eventually transform from being a god dragon into a toxic dragon. You think that's your ticket to the Deathless Throne?”

“That’s nothing but alarmist talk,” Dragon King said. However, he couldn’t prevent an unsightly expression from appearing on his face. After all, Yang Qi had just openly revealed the weaknesses in his cultivation.

“Fine. Take a look at the real Eight Tribes Godfist!” Yang Qi had come to the realization that if he didn’t show how strong he was, he wouldn’t be able to get any of these people to submit to him. Even Winter Bloodless and Patriarch Kingheaven were only protecting him because they intended to use him.

RUMBLE!

He launched a punch with the full power of the Eight Tribes Heaven, revealing a level of strength that surpassed the imaginations of everyone present.

Dragon King snorted coldly. “You combined all eight energy arts, huh? Unfortunately, your cultivation level is still too low. You might be a genius among the Dragonfolk, but I'm still going to crush you into dust!” Dragon King also had a fist technique, something that wasn’t the Eight Tribes Godfist, but a different secret magic. “Grand Devil-Subduing True-Empyrean Godfist!”

The wailing of ghosts and weeping of gods echoed out as his fist transformed into an enormous dragon claw that could crush anything in its path and vanquish all types of devil-ghosts.

When the two fists collided, Yang Qi staggered backward. Crack! All of a sudden, his entire body collapsed into numerous black streams of light.

“See how weak you are, boy!? You really think you qualify to fight me?” Laughing, Dragon King reached out to grab the black streams of light.

Unfortunately for him, the black streaks subsequently exploded, transforming into a hail of hells that wrapped around him and formed an aegis that sealed him in place.

“An aegis? You think you can trap me in this thing?” Enraged, Dragon King launched another fist strike, the kind that could devastate universes. Yet it did nothing to the aegis.

“I'm taking you to another world, Dragon King!”

RUMBLE!

A black passageway opened and swallowed the aegis, Dragon King, and Yang Qi. In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

“That was….”

“The power of monarchs. That was the power of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart!”

“The Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart!? It wrapped up Dragon Proudheaven and Dragon King and took them away. What's going on here? Don’t tell me that Dragon Proudheaven is just like Leaf Dao-Denier! Does he have some of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions? Can he enter the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart?!”

Some of the old-timers had reached out toward the spot where the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart appeared, hoping to stop the passageway from closing, but unfortunately, they were too slow and their efforts were fruitless.

“They're gone. Really and truly gone. What do we do now?” Sectlord Nine Yangs and Winter Bloodless exchanged confused glances. Nobody was sure exactly what to do now that this completely unexpected turn of events had occurred.

Whirrrrrrr.

All of a sudden, another passageway opened and Yang Qi stepped out. It closed behind him, but Dragon King was still nowhere to be seen.

“Where’s Dragon King, boy?” The other Dragonfolk were gritting their teeth in anger. However, they were merely Buddha Gods, and didn’t dare to make a move on Yang Qi.