Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“What? You mean that vicious Yang Qi from the Titan Emperor Collegium is here? And he declared war on the Great Metropolis Collegium?”

“Who’s Yang Qi? How come I've never heard of him before?”

“Have you been living under a rock or something? The biggest news lately is about a new genius in the Titan Emperor Collegium, a guy named Yang Qi. He killed an elder king there, and even fought some of their vice-rectors. The craziest thing is that he's only a first order Demi-Immortal. Everybody’s been talking about it.”

“He’s that strong? Where did he come from? He must have benefited from some immense good fortune. If we can kill him, we can take that good fortune for our own, along with whatever other magical treasures he has.”

“Of course we need to kill him. The longer he stays alive here in the Immortal Army Battlefield, the bigger the threat is to all of us.”

“Kill him! We have to kill him!”

News began to spread rapidly, and before long just about everyone in the Immortal Army Battlefield knew that Yang Qi had slaughtered the disciples of the Lightning Society from the Great Metropolis Collegium.

Experts and geniuses of cultivation always had high ambitions, therefore a whole host of people already wanted to find Yang Qi and take their shot at killing him. It was a common thing for the top geniuses to view themselves as unparalleled under heaven, people that no one could beat in battle.

“Do you want to find more enemies to slaughter, Junior Brother?” Sword Seventeen asked as they flew along inside Yang Qi’s God Legion Paradise. Yang Qi had used the power of his primeval godworm to throw up a shield that blended perfectly with the space around them, leaving no trace of their passage and making it impossible to see them.

When one had mastered the godly laws of space, it was a simple thing to become invisible.

“No slaughter for now,” Yang Qi said as he sat cross-legged. “Let’s wait and see what happens after the incident from before.

“Our enemies want others to do their dirty work for them, but I'm going to make them eat their own medicine. I couldn't care less about the so-called geniuses from all of the collegiums. But that buzz cut kid in yellow isn’t from the mortal world like everyone else. It seems highly likely that he traveled here from the future, possibly because of King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallions. He’s a big threat to me, thus, I need him out of the picture. Immediately.”

“I agree,” Sword Seventeen said. “The mere sight of that punk disagrees with me.”

By this point, Yang Qi was so thoroughly invisible that not even his aura could be detected by any outsider.

Further back, Liege Beast, Chancellor Demi-Immortal and the young man in yellow all stopped in their tracks.

“What's going on? Why did his energy fluctuations suddenly vanish?” The yellow-garbed young man looked off into the distance. “Don’t tell me he realized we were following him.”

“I doubt it,” said Chancellor Demi-Immortal. “It’s probably just a precaution against enemies in general. Strutting around in the open here is a good way to get killed. Trust me, I know Yang Qi better than just about anyone, and he’s full of craft and cunning. We'd better go into hiding ourselves, otherwise we just might end up getting killed by his other enemies.”

“You’re right,” the young man replied. After all, he had suffered at Yang Qi’s hand before. “He's definitely not easy to deal with. If we're not careful, our pursuit is going to turn into a reverse trap.” Suddenly, he started to fade out of visual sight. “Immortal-Slayers Power: World of Kings!”

A new world appeared around him, filled with the aura of a king. It surrounded both Chancellor Demi-Immortal and Liege Beast, then vanished into the folds of space.

“This is the power of King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallion, the World of Kings. Its power exists on a higher level than most planes of existence and will ensure that no one can detect our presence. We are now like monarchs that exist above the dao of heaven, able to calmly gaze about the Immortal Army Battlefield.”

“This World of Kings is so strong!” Liege Beast said. “It even distorts magical laws. It’s like the kingdom of an immortal. No one will be able to detect our presence now, much less see us.”

“Yang Qi has a powerful personal domain of his own, so it’s only natural that I’d want to compete with him. The World of Kings came with the third of King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallions. With it, I'm safe from virtually any danger I might encounter.” The young man burst out into hearty laughter.

However, even as his laughter rang out something slammed into the World of Kings.

BOOOOM!

In the blink of an eye, cracks and fissures spread out over its greyspace, making it seem like it might collapse.

“What?” the young man blurted, looking around in shock.

SWISH!

A beam of light entered the greyspace of the World of Kings and headed straight toward the young man.

There was no time to ponder what to do, so he unleashed a devastating fist strike, which slammed into the beam of light. The World of Kings faded out of existence, ejecting its three occupants into the open.

Looking over at a distant, shadowy figure, the young man said, “Yang Qi? Is that you?! How did you see me? How did you do it?”

The shadowy figure blurred toward him, and stopped only a few dozen meters away a moment later. Of course, it was none other than Yang Qi.

“It’s been a while since we met face-to-face,” Yang Qi said. He chuckled. “Who would have guessed that you really would track down that third legacy medallion? You know, if you do things like the Crown Prince, you’re not going to meet a good end. Remember, it was me who slaughtered him.”

“You might have a high cultivation base, Yang Qi, and you might have the God Legion Seal, but don’t forget that the seal is broken. And problems have arisen amongst the legion of gods. Heaven and earth are changing! After the gods experience nirvanic rebirth, a new epoch will come about. I'm here to watch that happen; and it's only by getting back to that era of godly nirvanic rebirth that I can shed the most powerful fetters of all and become something that surpasses the gods.”

Other than Yang Qi, no one present had a clue what the yellow-garbed young man was talking about.

However, at this point he ignored the young man in yellow and shifted his gaze to the left. “Well, hello there, Chancellor Demi-Immortal! In case you forgot, I used to be a student at your Demi-Immortal Institute. Sadly, thanks to you, I ended up eradicating the institute’s core teachings and doctrines. Oh, and I killed your daughter too. Sorry about that.”

“You monster!” Chancellor Demi-Immortal growled, his voice alive with hatred. “I should never have let you stay alive. If I had known how things would turn out, I would have had the Crown Prince kill you!”

Yang Qi snorted coldly. “Even now, you persist in your obstinate ways. You know, if you hadn’t tried to jump in and save the Crown Prince during our duel, your daughter wouldn’t be dead right now. Instead of remaining impartial, you chose sides. So don't blame me. That said, if you want to reunite with your daughter, I’d be happy to kill you right here and now.”

Obviously, there was no way Yang Qi was going to let Chancellor Demi-Immortal off the hook for everything that happened in the past.

Hardly able to keep his voice steady, Chancellor Demi-Immortal said, “Don’t forget, Yang Qi, I have that aunt of yours under my control.”

“My Aunt Susu?” Yang Qi’s eyes shone like beacons of light. “She has a Seven Apertures Sprite Body, and she's long since joined that ancient race of people to further her cultivation.”

Chancellor Demi-Immortal burst out laughing. “I guess you didn’t know that one of the founding patriarchs of the Demi-Immortal Institute resides amongst the Spritefolk. I’ve already been in contact with him, and all it will take is a single word from me to cause endless deadly trouble for your aunt. What do you think? Still refuse to bend the knee to me? Maybe if you grovel and beg, I’ll spare your aunt's life.”

“The only thing you’re doing, Chancellor Demi-Immortal, is ensuring that you die sooner rather than later. If my Aunt Susu passes away, fine. I can resurrect her. Once I reach the Demolishing level and become an immortal, my energy arts will produce a Wheel of Fate. With its power, resurrecting people becomes simple. You can’t beat me in a fight, Chancellor. I'm a god who controls my own fate, and as my energy arts grow more powerful, any hope you have to survive grows thinner and thinner.”

“You!” Chancellor Demi-Immortal said through gritted teeth. “You’re not going to leave the Immortal Army Battlefield alive!”

At this point, Yang Qi turned his attention back to the yellow-garbed young man.

“Brother,” he said, “we have no real grudges or animosity between us. You’re a miracle, and I'm a miracle. So why don’t we just join forces? We could definitely dominate the mortal world, then move on to control the immortal world. What do you think? If you agree to join me, and kill Chancellor Demi-Immortal and this society chief, I’ll use my energy arts to help you find the rest of King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy medallions. I know that there are nine in total, and considering you have three, I have the feeling you’ll end up tangling with other foreordained opponents who have medallions. With my help, you could easily kill them all.”

Yang Qi’s glib words caused the yellow-garbed young man’s aura to flicker, as though he were considering the offer.

“You….” Both Chancellor Demi-Immortal and Liege Beast were visibly taken aback, and obviously worried that the young man might actually follow through. And if he betrayed them, it was obvious that they would die in the blink of an eye. With the yellow-garbed young man and Yang Qi on the same side, there wouldn’t be anyone who could stand in their way.

However, after a long moment, the young man started laughing uproariously.

“What’s so funny?” Yang Qi said, frowning. “You don’t like my proposal?”

“No, it’s a great proposal. Really. I like it. And you know, I’d love to work with you. You’re right. Before long I’ll be up against two other opponents who both have legacy medallions. The fighting will be fierce, and whoever comes out on top will be the ultimate successor of King Immortal-Slayer. Unfortunately, we can’t team up. You see, you’re one of the Fateless Ones. You don’t exist in the future.”