Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“I’ll do my best to take care of all these Junior Brothers and Sisters,” Yang Qi said. “However, considering how large the battlefield is, they need to exercise caution. I won’t take responsibility if they get killed.”

Truth be told, he didn’t have any intention of ‘taking care’ of them. He couldn’t care less if they ended up dead. Besides, he knew that there were plenty of experts here who hoped to harm him.

If it came down to it, he might even end up killing them himself.

“Very well. Open the gateway to the Immortal Army Battlefield!” The supreme rector waved his hand, and a beam of light appeared which widened to reveal an ancient plane of existence. It was dusky and overcast, making it seem almost like hell. However, there was no devil energy, just an overwhelming will of battle and combat. It really did seem like some sort of ancient battlefield, complete with the sound of clashing weapons and armies on the move. There were even war drums.

This was the Immortal Army Battlefield, a plane where the host of immortals had once waged war. Later, it became a location for mortals to train and practice, which was very apt, considering it had a history of slaughter, death, and blood.

The students of the various collegiums were tasked with killing other students, and their performance could earn them rewards from the immortal worlds. The Titan Emperor Heaven and the Megaplexus Heaven hated each other deeply, as was common amongst various immortal worlds, and such feelings extended to the various students from the lower-level worlds, who wanted to earn face for those above them.

Of the millions of students who would be participating, many were elysian children, and there were even a few vice-rectors. They were people who had been to the Immortal Army Battlefield before, thus they were well-acquainted with the horrors therein. And they also had significant advantages because of such experience.

“Let’s go!”

As soon as the gateway opened, the students began to pour inside, most of them keeping together in tightly-knit groups. Yang Qi stuck with Sword Seventeen, and the two of them promptly vanished without a trace.

“Bah! That Yang Qi is way too conceited. He’s going to face the Immortal Army Battlefield with only one partner? Doesn’t he realize how many students will be trying to slaughter him in there? Even immortals can get killed if they’re not part of a big team. It’s possible to be ambushed by thousands upon thousands of enemy students. If they use spell formations, it’s possible that they could even cut down Demolishers!”

“Hmph! We Titan Emperor Collegium societies all agreed to team up. That's the only way to stay alive in the Immortal Army Battlefield. People as arrogant as Yang Qi have only one fate in store for them: death.”

“I've seen a lot of arrogant geniuses in my time, but I’ve never seen someone as unscrupulous as Yang Qi. Hopefully he gets killed, and we can somehow swoop in and get his godworm eggs.”

“Enough blathering. We’re going into the Immortal Army Battlefield, so we need to focus on sticking together. Otherwise, we're dead.”

“Well that’s obvious. Thankfully, our society chiefs all imbued nascent divinity will into our spell formations and magical devices. We’re definitely going to take out some enemy students this time.”

After the students entered the Immortal Army Battlefield, the Plane of Initiation settled into silence.

“What do you think, Supreme Rector?” one of the initiators said. “We picked the best students, and even imbued them with nascent divinity power. We’re definitely going to do well this time. We’ll definitely kill more enemies than we lose students.”

“We need to keep a close eye on Yang Qi,” the supreme rector replied. “It’s obvious that he’s obstinate and unruly, and in no way loyal to our collegium. If we get the chance, we definitely need to put him down and take all of his treasures."

“Yes,” another initiator said. “The leaders of the Hall of Beheadings and Executions and the Beastmaster Society disguised themselves as students and entered the Immortal Army Battlefield. And they weren’t the only ones. The society chiefs of the Everlasting Society and the Hegemon’s Society also went in. With so many people in there to cause problems for Yang Qi, he’s definitely going to end up dead.”

“I’ve confirmed that the Invincible Dugu already ascended,” the supreme rector said. “Considering that, we don’t have anything to worry about. In the past, we might not have been able to deal with Yang Qi. But he’s a villainous schemer, and has plenty of treasure that he never donated to the collegium. Considering how much of a rebel he is, we need to get rid of him as soon as possible. Otherwise, we might have a problem maintaining our control and power of the collegium.”

“By the way,” one of the initiators said, “if you’re certain the Invincible Dugu has ascended, and Yang Qi is stuck in the Immortal Army Battlefield, then why don't we attack the Sage Monarch planetary system and capture his clan and his mother? That way we can be prepared on all fronts.”

The supreme rector considered the suggestion for a moment, then said, “We could do that. However, I'm worried about Yang Qi’s clone. If we did something like that, his true self would be notified immediately and he might do something unexpected. If he really does command the godly laws of space, he might be able to leave the Immortal Army Battlefield, which would be disastrous.”

“So we just wait patiently and watch how the situation develops,” another initiator said. Turning to the initiator Yang Qi had initially dealt with, he said, “Old Yu, you were the one who met with Yang Qi to begin with. Did you get any useful information?”

“Nothing,” was the reply. “He’s a tough nut to crack, that kid. Very disrespectful. And now that he’s the society chief of the Invincible Society, that makes him no less influential than us. Not even I could keep him under control.”

Inside, that very same initiator was thinking, ‘I tried hard to find that yellow-garbed young man with the buzz cut, but couldn’t get any concrete information. The society chiefs are always accepting new students, and not even an initiator like me can check through all of them. However, based on what clues I did turn up, I have a sneaky suspicion the Beastmaster Society is involved….’

The man had hoped to keep the information to himself and be the sole beneficiary, but unfortunately hadn’t acquired any information he could use.

‘Hmph! I imbued my nascent divinity power into one of the vice-rectors. Let’s see if he can uncover any information. If Yang Qi and the young man in yellow are archenemies, they’ll definitely clash in the Immortal Army Battlefield. When that happens, I’ll find out and be the fisherman to their sandpiper and clam.’

A sinister smile creeped out across the face of the initiator.

WHIZZZ!

The gateway to the Immortal Army Battlefield closed.

Inside, Yang Qi found himself in an immense, seemingly endless world. Almost immediately, he felt like he had run into a powerful barrier. The space around him thrummed with an iron-clad battle spirit that battered into him, going to show how sturdy the space was here.

Landing on the ground, he looked around and saw mountains, rivers, and other terrain features. When he unleashed an experimental fist strike, space sank in, accompanied by a sound like the grating of metal.

‘So they have warding spells set up here to make the place incredibly sturdy. Seems to me that not even Demi-Immortals would be able to move about easily. Of course, compared to the greyspace of the Hell of Mahānata, this is like nothing.’ Shaking his head, Yang Qi looked up and saw a hazy blue sky overhead, stretching up so high it was impossible to tell its height. The ground beneath his feet was pockmarked and damaged, making the entire place seem wild and desolate. It really did look like some war had been fought here in the past.

He stamped his foot down, and the ground violently trembled as rifts opened up here and there.

“Let’s get going, Junior Brother!” Sword Seventeen said. “The other students will be here soon, and we want to stay out of their sight. There will probably be society chiefs in disguise amongst them.”

“Oh?” Yang Qi said in surprise. “I thought that only students could go to the Immortal Army Battlefield. Isn’t that the rule set by the immortal worlds?”

“Who said anything about a rule like that? Any expert from the mortal world can participate. Even the supreme rector could come if he wanted to. But people like him usually live like princes. They won’t do anything unless it provides a chance to ascend to the immortal world. Don’t forget, there are millions of top experts here, and they can use deadly spell formations. There was once when a supreme rector did go to the Immortal Army Battlefield, then got mobbed by students and killed. Those students got a huge reward from the immortal worlds and quickly ascended. You see, personal strength and power aren’t as important here as the strength of one’s team or group. Not even a Paragon Demi-Immortal could stand up to a spell formation powered by tens of thousands of weaker students.”

“Well, they’re complete trash,” Yang Qi said. “I'm a Greater Demi-Immortal, and not even a billion other Greater Demi-Immortals could do anything to me.”

“That’s obvious, Junior Brother. We're invincible, as everyone knows! However, there’s one important question. Can you summon armies of fiend-devils from the Hell of Mahānata here?”

“Of course. Not even the warding spells they have set could cause problems for me. When I was in the Hell of Gloom and Darkness I acquired the will of an ancient god, which significantly improved my God Legion Seal. This Immortal Army Battlefield is a thing of immortals, and obviously can't compare at all to my God Legion Seal.” He waved his hand and there was a sudden pulse of devil energy. “In fact, I can now connect directly to both the Hell of Mahānata and the Hell of Gloom and Darkness. I'd say that nobody on this battlefield could possibly defeat me.”

Smiling broadly, Sword Seventeen said, “You know what, Junior Brother? Master really knew what he was doing when he put you in charge of the Invincible Society. I'm going to bet that guy in yellow is here, so if we find him, we should kill him. Maybe you can’t use those legacy medallions of King Immortal-Slayer, but I could. And if we could control the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, we would be far more powerful than right now. In fact, we could purge the Titan Emperor Collegium, and even kill the supreme rector.”