Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The asura was using Sura Rebirth Magic, drawing on all its power to appear inside the Grand Emperor's Pagoda and try to take over Yang Qi’s body for its own use. Then, he would use Yang Qi’s energy arts to kill him for good.

His rebirth magic was only a temporary respite from disaster. After all, the power of the Demon Sage spell formation would soon exterminate him even inside the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. He needed to parasitize Yang Qi as quickly as possible, so that he could use Yang Qi’s life force to stand in for his own.

Therefore, when he saw Yang Qi suck his soul, his true energy, and his life force into one specific location in his forehead, he didn’t even pause before going after him.

Unfortunately for him, what he actually encountered was the golden imp. The God Legion Seal.

The instant the power of the asura touched it, boundless golden light shone out from the golden imp. Apparently, it was only in moments that Yang Qi truly couldn't fight back that the imp would do anything.

Its mighty power filled the Grand Emperor's Pagoda, causing even that supreme aura of a grand emperor to become the opposite of glorious. At the summit of the pagoda were two powerful forces, one being the nascent divinity sealing mark of the chancellor, the other being the noble spirit of the pagoda itself. Both of those forces were backed by the power of a Great Sage, and were powerful enough to exterminate anything in existence. However, when compared to the shining light of the God Legion Seal, they were like nothing.

In fact, their auras even began to shrink down.

Yang Qi could sense shock from the chancellor’s energy projection; he obviously couldn’t understand how such a powerful new force had come to appear in the pagoda.

The God Legion Seal surpassed the projection’s understanding. That seal was not equivalent to a Great Sage, it was a power far beyond that. It came from the legion of gods, to whom Great Sages were like ants.

In front of the legion of gods, even Grand Emperor Rich-Lush would be forced to act with the utmost humility and respect.

The asura immediately screamed in terror. “What is that? It’s… it’s melting me!”

Beneath the golden light, the asura's flesh and blood began to drip away.

The asura was even weaker than Ghost Emperor Yama; before the God Legion Seal could even do anything specific, he was dying. And thanks to that weakened state, he was quickly sucked into the depths of the pagoda, including his flesh, blood, quintessence, magical laws, and everything else that made him up.

Yang Qi looked on. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to prevent the Grand Emperor's Pagoda from taking the asura away.

However, he also knew that the pagoda would automatically transform the asura into power that he could use to temper himself, or bless his friends and family. Of course, he first had to acquire the pagoda for himself.

Even as the asura was destroyed by the light from the golden imp, the noble spirit of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda spoke, his voice quivering with rage. “Who dares to challenge the authority of the Grand Emperor?”

In coordination with his words, a massive power erupted out, taking the form of a bronze axe that slashed toward the golden imp.

That bronze axe was mighty to a divine level, the kind of thing that could cleave mountains and divert rivers, even destroy the sky. It was virtually invincible.

It was actually a warding magic that was built into the Grand Emperor's Pagoda.

The noble spirit of the pagoda could control all aspects of its defense. Anyone who wanted to take control of the pagoda would have to deal with the attacks of that spirit, who would stop at nothing to repel all invaders.

Even the chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute had been incapable of fully taking control of it; the most he had been able to do was put a sealing mark in place that was capable of standing toe to toe with the noble spirit.

As the axe slashed toward the golden imp, the imp waved its finger. When that tiny finger hit the tip of the axe, the gigantic weapon shattered.

Then, the imp spoke in a voice that only a member of the legion of gods could speak in. “Whoever defies the majesty of the legion of gods shall die!”

WHIZZZ!

It waved its finger again, and massive power surged forth, locking down all of the pagoda’s warding magics. This magical treasure, created by the Great Sage Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, was rendered completely defenseless by a single wave of the finger of the golden imp that was the God Legion Seal.

The pagoda’s noble spirit was too stunned to even react.

Then, the golden imp waved another finger. “You have been found guilty by the legion of gods!”

The noble spirit immediately burst into flames, screaming as it faded away into nothing. This noble spirit, an entity which had existed for countless tens upon tens of thousands of years, was easily destroyed by the golden imp.

Now, the only other powerful entity in the pagoda was the projection cast by the chancellor’s sealing mark.

Earlier, he had been facing off with the noble spirit, but with that spirit dead, the chancellor was free to seize control of the pagoda. And he didn’t waste any time in trying to do just that.

But then, the golden imp said, “Any who blaspheme against the legion of gods shall die!”

It waved its finger again.

RUMBLE!

Before it could react, the chancellor’s sealing mark exploded into nothing.

Now, the Grand Emperor's Pagoda was completely filled with the golden light from the imp. The chancellor’s sealing magic had tried to seize control, but had offended the legion of gods, and was wiped out of existence.

Every last bit of Grand Emperor Rich-Lush’s aura had been expunged from the pagoda.

And all the scraps of the asura’s flesh and blood had been absorbed for use as fuel.

With all threats having been eliminated, the golden imp once again settled into immobility within Yang Qi’s forehead.

Yang Qi was now regaining his composure, and found that he was actually connected to the pagoda on the level of his soul. Rising to his feet, he saw all the doors within the pagoda open, allowing him to reach the highest level, where the chancellor and the noble spirit had been earlier.

Within that hall was an enormous spell formation chart, covered with countless paper talismans, each of which was one of the various warding magics that protected the pagoda. It almost looked like a map of the starry sky.

All a person had to do was send some true energy into that chart, and they would be able to control every aspect of the pagoda. And that was exactly what Yang Qi did.

As of this moment, he was the owner of the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. He could control its movement, and could even allow people to enter it and use the immense stores of vital energy therein to practice cultivation.

Even if Grand Emperor Rich-Lush, the original owner of the pagoda, showed up and tried to take control of it, he would fail. With the God Legion Seal in place, no one would ever dare to try to do so. After all, that would constitute an offense to the legion of gods.

And even someone like Grand Emperor Rich-Lush who offended the gods would end up dying.

‘With this pagoda under my control, the chancellor’s plan will definitely fail!’ Yang Qi was now confident that there was no way the Crown Prince would easily become a Great Sage.

Hand resting on the spell formation chart, he thought, ‘I should just let Young Master Shroud-Heaven and the Crown Prince fight to the bitter end. Hopefully they both get seriously injured. Right now, I need to get out of here.’

In that same moment, the Nine-Heavens Ten-Earths Demon-Devil-Horde World-Ending Grand Spell Formation surged with heaven-shaking, earth-toppling power.

Even as the spell formation sent the power of a Demon Sage into the pagoda to destroy it, Yang Qi used his true energy to activate one of the pagoda’s functions. In the blink of an eye, it pierced into the air and vanished.

The enormous spell formation had previously had the entire area locked down, which would have prevented anyone from leaving. Even a Great Sage would have been forced to expend a huge amount of energy to do so.

But the power of the God Legion Seal still lingered in the Grand Emperor's Pagoda. And the spirit of the huge spell formation could sense that, and was terrified.

Not even hordes of demons or devils would dare to profane the legion of gods. The gods were simply too powerful.

In the moment that the Grand Emperor's Pagoda vanished, something happened in the Demi-Immortal Institute, specifically, in the Minorcosm World. Within a mysterious aspect of space-time there, a man opened his eyes, and they shone with intense light. He was none other than the chancellor. “What was that power? I couldn’t even fight it. Not even the founder of the Demi-Immortal Institute could have stood up to it. It made me feel like a mortal. Heaven and earth, the stars, mountains and rivers, the boundless void… compared to that power, they are like the things of mortals. So terrifying…. Don’t tell me that was connected to Yang Qi? Impossible. With power like that, he could have killed the Crown Prince in the blink of an eye. Not even everyone in the Rich-Lush Continent working together could stand up to power like that. The Grand Emperor's Pagoda was taken over, and then it vanished. The Crown Prince is going to have a rough time getting out of that spell formation….”