Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

In this bitter fight to the end, Yang Qi stabbed Jiao Wufeng through, killing him before he even slammed into the ground.

The spear pierced into his mouth and came out of his floodwyrm tail, turning him into a meat kabob.

It would be difficult for most people to conceive how a Quinary Lifeseizer could possibly be killed by someone in the Tertiary Lifeseizing level. And yet, there was no denying the bloody scene which had played out.

As for the surviving black floodwyrms, they were astonished to the core.

Now that their leader had been crushed right in front of them, they knew that they were hopelessly outmatched. And thus, Jun Tianchou, conclave student from the Sea God Institute, cut them down one by one.

His harpoon moved like the wind, stabbing through the floodwyrms with ease. Within mere moments, they fell from the sky, massive amounts of true energy erupting out of them.

With the wave of his hand, Jun Tianchou summoned a blue jade bottle gourd, which began to suck in all of the true energy. Actually, that bottle gourd looked very similar to the Heart of the Sea thumb-ring.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi dropped down, his Infernal Deity Spear having sucked all of Jiao Wufeng’s true energy into his Hellfire Crucible to be refined.

Normally speaking, he wouldn’t be able to do anything with that true energy, and it would have dissipated. But now, he was a Tertiary Lifeseizer.

Because of that, his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth had undergone massive changes. For example, the lava in his Hellfire Crucible had become a different color. It was now platinum, with holy flames dancing on its surface, which was none other than sagefire.

There were still many mysterious aspects to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth that Yang Qi wasn’t familiar with. However, as his cultivation base grew, such things would be revealed, and would provide him with immense benefit.

That was one of the unequaled elements of the godly-class energy art.

If godly-class energy arts were the same as ordinary energy arts, then why were they techniques that were usually cultivated by gods?

Common people and gods were simply not on the same level. One existed in the highest heavens, the other wallowed on the face of the earth.

Yang Qi extended his hand, causing silvery light to radiate out from Jiao Wufeng’s demon core. It almost looked like a real moon, and it contained a massive life force aura that seemed like it was just on the verge of breaking out to form a living being.

Demon cores from demonlings in the Quinary Lifeseizing level were considered precious treasures in the Demi-Immortal Institute, and were only accessible to conclave students.

For the moment, he couldn’t refine it. He could only use his Hellfire Crucible to slowly chip away at it, and gradually extract its life force quintessence.

Even still, now that he was a Tertiary Lifeseizer, every move he made thrummed with power, making him seem so invincibly domineering that even Jun Tianchou couldn’t help but admire him.

“Brother, you’re nothing less than a peerless talent! Since when did a person like you rise up in the Demi-Immortal Institute?”

“Ah, who cares about the Demi-Immortal Institute and the Sea God Institute? We're all individuals, right? It was a pleasure to work with you to cut down these hellions, Brother. There’s nothing more gratifying than punishing evildoers. And what’s more important than making good friends? By joining forces to rid the world of devils and demons, we can bring out the best in each other. You know, since we’ve already started calling each other Brother, why not make it official and become sworn siblings?” Yang Qi was in a wonderful mood, not only because of reaching Tertiary Lifeseizing, but also because of how good of a person Jun Tianchou seemed to be.

Otherwise, why else would he have offered to protect him so quickly earlier?

“Become sworn siblings?” Jun Tianchou’s eyes glittered. Seemingly infected by Yang Qi’s mood, and also impressed by what he had just seen, he replied, “Great idea. We obviously hit it off right from the start. Let’s do it right here. We can offer the corpses of the floodwyrms to heaven as a sacrifice to seal our oath.”

“That sounds perfect.”

Yang Qi was of the opinion that making new friends was always a good thing. Waving his hand, he sent out three streams of sword energy down into the ground to act in the stead of incense sticks.

Jun Tianchou smiled, using his energy arts to pile the black floodwyrms up onto a nearby dune to act as their sacrificial offering.

With that, the two of them dropped to their knees.

“I, Yang Qi…”

“I, Jun Tianchou…”

With that, they joined their voices together. “… hereby offer this sacrifice to heaven to become sworn siblings. Henceforth, we shall share honor and disgrace, and join forces to fight any enemy. If either of us betrays the other, may we be put to death at the edge of a sword.”

With that, they kowtowed eight times. Afterward, they rose to their feet, looked at each other, and burst out in contented laughter.

It was all a bit unbelievable.

The two of them hardly knew each other, but had fought side by side, and thus decided to take each other as sworn siblings. In any case, they were both so advanced in cultivation that it wasn't a big deal to take on a new sworn sibling if that person was a kindred spirit.

Yang Qi couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. After taking down Jiao Wufeng, he had been caught up in the moment, and casually suggested to Jun Tianchou that they become sworn siblings. Who would have thought that he would agree? Now he had a brother in the Sea God Institute.

Inwardly, Jun Tianchou let out a soft sigh. After all, he was a conclave student from the Sea God Institute, a mighty individual whom scores of other students called Elder Brother. Even students from other institutes would show him the utmost respect. However, he was a shrewd individual; based on what had just played out, he was sure that Yang Qi was a spectacular genius. It didn’t matter that he was from another institute; he had limitless potential, and if he kept on his current path, would likely end up in the higher echelons of the Demi-Immortal Institute. Having a sworn brother like that would be of great benefit down the line.

Normally speaking, a person with such potential would have been wary of strangers, but instead, had directly suggested they become brothers. That indicated that either he wasn’t interested in gaining power in his institute, or, he was the type of person who did whatever he wanted, regardless of what others thought.

Either way, his personality appealed to Jun Tianchou.

“Brother, I'm a conclave student in the Sea God Institute. Considering my high position, if people from the Demi-Immortal Institute found out that you and I are now sworn brothers, well, it could be dangerous for you.”

Yang Qi chuckled. “That doesn’t matter. I'm just at the Demi-Immortal Institute temporarily, working on my cultivation. I'm not interested in pursuing power. Institutes are temporary. Brothers are for life. So, Brother, what do you plan to do with these black floodwyrms?”

“Well, they’re treasures, so I’ll take them away with me.” His eyes hardened. “You know, the corpse of Jiao Wufeng is full of things that can make great ingredients for magical treasures. If I handed his corpse in to the Sea God Institute, the reward would be a hefty sum of merit points. Listen, Brother, I have an idea. Although I killed the black floodwyrms, and you killed Jiao Wufeng, you obviously don’t have a hoarding item. On the other hand, I have this Heart of the Sea bottle gourd which can contain all the corpses. So how about I take the corpses, and you take the demon cores. What do you say?”

Yang Qi nodded. “Great idea. I’m in your debt now, Brother. I was hoping to get some demon cores just like these to help some of my brothers back home to cultivate the Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique. If you're sure, then I’ll take them.” Inside, he was thinking that this new brother of his really was a good person. After all, even though the corpses were valuable, the demon cores were definitely more precious. And yet, he made it sound like it was the opposite, to make the matter more acceptable in terms of face.

“Alright then. You take these eight demon cores.” Jun Tianchou waved his hand and tossed them over. Each and every one was from a Lifeseizing level floodwyrm. “The Cosmic Sunflare Sword and black floodwyrm demon cores complement each other like fire and water. Your friends will definitely reach a much higher level.”

Yang Qi put the demon cores away, then watched as Jun Tianchou sucked the corpses into his blue bottle gourd.

From what he could tell, the bottle gourd could definitely hold a lot more than his thumb-ring.

“I guess it's a good thing King Floodwyrm is entertaining the emissary from the Hanging Mountain in the depths of the sea. If he had been there in Black Floodwyrm Grotto, things might have turned out very different.” With that, Jun Tianchou looked off into the distance. “We shouldn’t stick around here for much longer. Let’s go.”

With that, they flew into the air. After flying along for about two hours, they landed onto a rather beautiful mountain that jutted up from the desert sands.

“By the way, Brother,” Yang Qi said, “have you heard any rumors in the Sea God Institute about a girl named Yun Hailan?”

“Yun Hailan? Hm. One of us Seafolk who has the blood of a sea god in her?” His eyes flickered. “Didn’t she end up studying at the Demi-Immortal Institute?”

“That’s right. She’s made quite the name for herself already. She’s in the Lifeseizing level, and even more noteworthy, has earned the favor of the leader of the Crown Prince Society. She also took Patriarchs Wind and Cloud as masters.”

“Earned the favor of the Crown Prince?” Jun Tianchou’s expression flickered. Apparently, he knew who the Crown Prince was.

Yang Qi could sense that Jun Tianchou didn’t seem to have very positive feelings about the Crown Prince. “Wait. Are you telling me that even conclave disciples in the Sea God Institute have to worry about the Crown Prince?”

“When it comes to the four institutes in the Rich-Lush Continent, geniuses abound. However, when it comes to the Crown Prince from the Demi-Immortal Institute, he’s a star among stars. No one in the younger generation can even come close to being his match. That said, Brother, I’d say you have even greater potential than me. If you end up finding the right good fortune, you might end up as a rival of the Crown Prince.”

“Who is this guy anyway?” Yang Qi asked. “I haven’t been in the Demi-Immortal Institute for very long, so I don't know much about him.”

“I heard that he’s a god from heaven descended into the mortal world. He’s not even human. He’s literally heavenly. Furthermore, people say that his mother had a dream of a falling star, which was when she came to be pregnant. Even stranger, his mother was a virgin.”