Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“That’s….”

One of the old-timers, Arhat Goldsaber Cloudlayer, nearly passed out. He stood on the Stair of Valor and cultivated two godly-class energy arts, the Goldsaber Mystifying Unification God Dao and the Cloudlayer Godwind Empyrean Flow. Unfortunately, the two arts would sometimes explosively clash within him.

His cultivation base was high enough to keep the effects under control, but unfortunately it made further cultivation progress impossible. That was why he had come to seek treatment from Yang Qi, and he had definitely not expected to see a scene like this play out.

An army of angels like this could crush anything in its path. The rumbling of its passage, its terrifying aura, and the dazzling radiance and light it cast spread in all directions, causing countless top experts to open their eyes and look over.

“An army with a million soldiers? They’re so strong! Each and every one of them. Why does it seem like there’s some boundless will and power backing them. It’s like the might and thoughts of gods! And those halos… those are primeval god skills! Look at the density of them! Just one of those halos must increase their power by many times over, and they have too many to count!”

“Primeval god skills! And they’re all Chaos Gods! This army is invincible! It could crush any opponent and any target!”

“Where did he get that army?”

“Who is this Yang Qi character? I can’t believe he got an army like this. Radiance and light? Yes, that is boundless radiance and light, enough to compete with the league-lord himself.”

“It’s actually kind of funny. Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven has been trying to think of a way to get his own agents into the forces of the Emissary of Radiance and Light. But now the emissary shows up with an army of a million Chaos Gods! There couldn’t possibly be anyone with more fighting prowess than him now.”

“Oh, that's right. I heard that this Yang Qi could summon halos of blessing and damnification. If he got in a fight with another army, he would bless his own troops and damn the troops of the other. It would turn into a massacre, wouldn’t it?”

As word spread, more and more old-timers came out to see what was happening.

Even as they looked on, an immense palace appeared, which was the God Palace of Radiance and Light. As the angels took their place inside, it began thrumming with a holy aura and psalms of praise.

Vortexes sprang up as god formations appeared in the palace. Then Yang Qi’s voice could be heard.

“Elders, I am the Emissary of Radiance and Light, leader of the Army of Radiance and Light. I am now considering applicants for elders in my newly constructed God Palace of Radiance and Light. Those who join me will receive handsome compensation, as well as talismans filled with the power of primeval god skills. Such talismans will be of immense help in any instance of combat with the wretch-devils from the future world.”

As more and more old-timers gathered in the area, one of them raised his voice and said, “Oh exalted Emissary of Radiance and Light, would it be possible to see a demonstration of how powerful your primeval god skills are?”

Yang Qi’s eyes glittered as he looked over at the man who had spoken, who was known as Penta Ghost-God and who cultivated an ancient ghost-god technique called the Ghost-God Ennea-Life Battle Magic. He was so strong that he had even fought Leaf Dao-Denier in the competition for dharmaraja spots. Although he lost in the end, his incredible performance had made him somewhat famous.

He was only an ordinary elder king, but he was definitely on the same level as the god-generals in terms of fighting prowess. He was the subject of many recruitment efforts, but was a haughty individual and refused to acknowledge allegiance to anyone who ranked less than Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. Obviously, he was curious to see the miracles Yang Qi had up his sleeve.

“That's a good question, Elder King Penta Ghost-God,” Yang Qi said, flying out into the open. Waving his hand, he summoned a future warrior he had captured some time ago, a fourth division Shattered God.

“Yang Zhong!”

“Yes, Patriarch!” A disciple of the Yang Clan emerged, a genius who had just recently reached the Godmyth level.

“What do you think of this Yang Clan disciple, Elder King Penta Ghost-God?” Yang Qi asked.

“Average,” he replied, shaking his head. “Mediocre at best.”

“I see. What if I told you that, after being blessed by my primeval god skills, he could easily defeat this fourth division Shattered God?” Yang Qi asked.

“That’s completely impossible,” Penta Ghost-God said. “It doesn't matter what the god skills are, they couldn’t make someone capable of fighting that high above their level. Who do you think you are, an actual god?”

“I see. Yang Zhong, take these two talismans with primeval god skill blessings in them. I want you to use them to fight this future warrior. Do you dare accept the challenge?”

“Of course!” Yang Zhong replied. “I live and die for the glory of the Yang Clan! And when it comes to fighting, not a single disciple of the Yang Clan will show an ounce of fear.”

Yang Qi sent the talismans over to Yang Zhong, then waved his hand to create a radiant fighting platform. “Very well, begin fighting.”

As everyone watched, the future warrior hopped onto the platform. Laughing madly, he said, “Bring it on, people of the Dao Defense League. I’m not afraid of you fools! We future warriors will soon take over your immortal dao civilization. To a higher civilization like ours, you people are nothing more than wild savages. We’re going to conquer every last one of you! DIE!”

Leaping forward, he unleashed his most deadly and powerful move, a consummate fist technique from the future world.

“Myriad Army Shattering!”

The deadly fist strike rumbled forth like the advance of a magnificent army with thousands of men and horses. There were also hosts of spacecraft that flew out from behind him, their cannons primed to destroy entire worlds.

Whoosh!

Completely unflustered, Yang Zhong flew up into the air and activated the first talisman, causing primeval god skills to surround him. Instantly, he was capable of incredible speeds, and at the same time, he became perfectly in sync with the spatial magical laws around him. Next, he activated the second talisman, causing halos of damnification to surround the future warrior.

“Aaaiiiieee!” the warrior screamed as he suddenly slowed down and became ten thousand times weaker than before.

The primeval god skills Yang Qi could now use were very different than from before. Even top experts like Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven could be weakened by them, much less a fourth division Shattered God.

RUMBLE!

The fighters clashed, and Yang Zhong attacked relentlessly. As for the future warrior, each blow he struck was weaker than the previous one and took longer to prepare. It was obvious that he was no match whatsoever for Yang Zhong.

POP!

Yang Zhong surged with godly might as he said, “Eight Tribes Godfist: Buddha Dragon Prajñā Lokapāla Fist!”

The fist strike contained a host of countless golden buddha dragons that swirled into the shape of an enormous buddha.

The blow slammed into the future warrior, who began coughing up gobs of blood, making it obvious how one-sided this fight was.

“Prepare to die!” Yang Zhong said, unleashing a series of dozens of moves from godly-class energy arts, which formed a cauldron that slammed down onto the future warrior. Screams rang out, but soon faded away, whereupon Yang Zhong flew off of the fighting platform. “Patriarch, I’ve accomplished the mission.”

“Excellent. As a reward, I will personally impart a profound technique to you.” With that, he waved his finger and sent the Aeonic Heaven-Dao Life-Destruction Zen Art into Yang Zhong. Afterward, he turned to the gathered old-timers and said, “Well, what do you think?”

“Incredible! Completely incredible!” Penta Ghost-God cried. “Your god skills are virtually invincible. If you blessed your Army of Radiance and Light with them, one can only imagine how powerful they would be.”

Yang Qi laughed. “That’s right, my Army of Radiance and Light is clearly the top force in the Dao Defense League. And any of you who join my army will be guaranteed to be blessed by primeval god skills as well. It will make you almost impossible to beat in combat.”

“I’ll join!” Penta Ghost-God said. “Emissary of Radiance and Light, only you follow the true path. Instead of ruling by force, you use pure radiance and light to bring a better tomorrow to the Dao Defense League.”

“I’ll join too!” another patriarch said. “I might have missed out at becoming a god-general, but now I don't care. There’s no way any of the god-generals could come close to being as amazing as the exalted Emissary of Radiance and Light.”

This old-timer was Hegemon Rampager, a leader from a thirty-second ranked immortal world. More and more people like him were lining up.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi’s Army of Radiance and Light grew in size and might. At the same time, word began spreading throughout the Dao Defense League.

The benefits were simply staggering. Not only could people who joined the Army of Radiance and Light have their cultivation injuries healed, they would also be blessed by primeval god skills. Considering how difficult and deadly it was to fight against the future warriors, even the stupidest person could tell which army was the better one to follow.

‘All the heroes in heaven and earth are coming under my authority!’ Yang Qi thought, feeling very pleased with how things were turning out. In fact, he was already wondering if he should challenge Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven at the next session of court.

Either way, considering all of Yang Qi’s successes, it was a given that the league-lord was plotting to bring him down.