Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
Chapter 399: Number One

A powerful Demi-Immortal descended into the square, his voluminous white robes embroidered with the script of the immortal world and his hands covered with golden veins that seemed to imply he carried the power of law and order within him.

He was not an ordinary student, but rather an elder from one of the societies, with a high level of authority. The Titan Emperor Collegium was the highest educational establishment in all of the Four Wilds planetary systems. Even the freshman students and servants there were famous and powerful individuals, so it wasn’t even necessary to describe how amazing an elder would be. Obviously, they would command far more respect than any ordinary student.

Only Demi-Immortals could become elders. Anyone who was lower, even a ninth step Great Sage, could be no more than a student.

As soon as this elder touched down into the square, he began to walk toward the door that led to the World of Mirages.

However, someone blurred into motion and then came to a stop in front of him to block his path.

It was none other than Yan Weiyi.

“What do you think you’re doing, Elder White Stone?” he said. “Could it be that you're planning to interfere with the entrance ceremony? Are you really going to break the collegium’s rules like that?”

“Yan Weiyi!” Elder White Stone said. “Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the strange things going on in the entrance ceremony? The magical laws of the World of Mirages have been tampered with. A student just died! That's a big problem. I have to get in there and stop what's happening.”

“What right do you have to interfere?” Yan Weiyi replied coldly. “The rules for the entrance ceremony were set long ago. Nobody is allowed to meddle with the proceedings. All kinds of things can happen in the World of Mirages, sometimes even things that are beyond prediction. Normally, people who die inside are reborn outside, but the fact that the rules have changed just goes to show how skilled my Junior Brother is. Without such skills, do you really think the Invincible Society would have taken him as our eighteenth disciple?”

The truth was, even Yan Weiyi was profoundly surprised by what had happened. He couldn’t think of any way that Yang Qi would have been able to kill someone and prevent them from being born again. It was too hard to believe that he had actually tampered with the magical laws of life and death.

However, the details didn’t really matter. There was no way Yan Weiyi was going to allow anyone to interrupt the entrance ceremony and cause problems for Yang Qi. This Elder White Stone was from the Everlasting Society, so it was obvious what was going on. He wanted to retaliate for someone from the Everlasting Alliance dying. If that happened, it would be bad for the reputation of the Invincible Society. Besides, it was already a foregone conclusion that Yang Qi’s performance was going to cause an enormous stir. It would earn a lot of face for the Invincible Society, and thus, Yan Weiyi knew exactly what he had to do in this situation: prevent Elder White Stone from interfering and let Yang Qi earn glory in the World of Mirages. The better he performed, the better it would reflect on his master, the Invincible Dugu.

“What’s that supposed to mean, Yan Weiyi!?” Elder White Stone shouted angrily. “Am I the elder here, or are you? If I say that I'm going to go into the entrance ceremony then nobody’s going to stop me!”

Yan Weiyi didn’t take even a single step backward. “The entrance ceremony has been held in this way for hundreds of thousands of years. You think you can end the traditions of the Titan Emperor Collegium just like that? What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?”

Eyes flashing, Elder White Stone said, “You don’t qualify to interrogate elders. I'm just acting on the wishes of the other elders in general. Now get the hell out of my way!” With that, he extended his hand to push Yan Weiyi out of his way.

“Looking to die?!”

Swish!

There was a blur of light that no one could see clearly, and then Elder White Stone screamed and scrambled backward. However, he only did so with one arm. His other arm flipped through the air, spraying blood everywhere. Before he could react, a paper talisman settled onto the stump, instantly sealing it so that it could never grow back.

Normally speaking, Demi-Immortals could grow back, not just arms, but entire bodies. Their longevity was virtually as long as heaven’s and therefore, they could come back after being almost completely destroyed. But Yan Weiyi had used a divine light to seal Elder White Stone’s life force.

“Adjudicating God Nimbus!?” Elder White Stone blurted in terror, staggering back and clamping his hand down onto the stump of his arm. “You, you actually dared to attack me? I–”

“So what if I attacked you?” Yan Weiyi said coolly. “My Adjudicating God Nimbus is divided up into eighteen phases, and I only used the tenth phase just now. That’s quite a bit weaker than the eighteenth phase that my Eldest Brother can use. You’re lucky that I only took away an arm and not your life.”

“Your Eldest Brother?” Even Elder White Stone’s face fell at the mention of Yan Weiyi’s Eldest Brother, who was known as a nightmarish figure who had shed torrents of blood in his rise to the spot of number one student in the Titan Emperor Collegium.

The collegium had hosts of heroes and geniuses, and had existed for hundreds of thousands of years. Every single student was amazing, therefore, it could only be imagined what the number one student among them all was like.

Even some of the old-timers in the collegium had tangled with the Invincible Society’s Eldest Brother in the past. All of them had come out on the losing end, and some had even died.

“I already cut off one of your arms, Elder White Stone. If you don’t back down immediately, then you can only blame your own pigheadedness for getting yourself killed.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Yan Weiyi took another step forward. “Why wouldn’t I? If I did, what would happen? You think the Hall of Beheadings and Executions would try to punish me? Fine. I’ll have my Eldest Brother go talk things out with them. Or maybe I’ll call on my Master’s help. Hopefully it won't result in the Hall of Beheadings and Executions getting completely restructured.” [1]

“I’m not going to forget this!” Elder White Stone said through gritted teeth. Picking up his severed arm, he continued, “And things are going to end badly for the Invincible Society because of it!” With that, he flew up into the air and vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, the other elders were talking about the matter.

“Well, everyone, Yan Weiyi just cut off Elder White Stone’s arm. What should we do? Should we go down there and talk some reason into him?”

“Talk reason into him? He's a fiendish monster! Forget about the lower-ranking seven disciples in the Invincible Society. Their top ten are all devil kings in the flesh.”

“I agree. Whenever the students from the Invincible Society do anything, it results in storms of blood and carnage. If he wants to prevent us from going into the entrance ceremony, I don’t think any of us can do anything about it.”

“Wait patiently and watch how the situation develops. I'm curious to see what Elder White Stone does. Presumably, he’ll go report the matter to the Everlasting Society.”

Of course, none of them dared to do a single thing.

**

Outside of the World of Mirages, a violent windstorm of an event was playing out, and inside, daggers were unsheathed and bows were aimed.

The death of Yu Quan had left all of the students in the entrance ceremony shaken to the core. After all, he had really died, which was a terrifying thought.

“Kill him!” Tai Cangyi shouted. “If he can break the rules like that, it means we’re all in danger. Stamp out the source of trouble! End his life!”

His bronze skin suddenly began erupting with immense power as he once again utilized his Myriad Bronzes Divine Pellet. The power of immortal motes flowed through him, fusing with him and pushing him to a higher level, until he was as strong as a ninth step Epic Saga Sage.

Then he clenched his fist and punched out toward Yang Qi. “Extinguish Heaven, Devastate Earth!”

Heaven and earth crumbled, and power erupted with volcanic might. True energy created numerous volcanoes that sent bronze liquid flowing out with deadly force.

Yang Qi snorted coldly as his Angel Wings unfurled. He flapped them, instantly nullifying all energy arts and energy fields in the area.

Then, he called on the Hand of the One God again.

“Creation!” he said.

RUMBLE!

This was the initial form of the Hand of the One God, a move called Creation. It was a simple word, but it represented how the supreme Lord had created the universe bit by bit.

Yang Qi’s hands moved in concentric circles, and with each rotation it was as if billions of planes were coming into existence filled with mountains, rivers, streams, lands, cosmoses, yin, yang, the five phases, earth, water, fire, wind, and countless other elements.

His two hands created an image that resembled nature itself, which then rumbled toward Tai Cangyi.

Tai Cangyi’s move of Extinguish Heaven, Devastate Earth collided with Creation, and a massive shock wave rolled out in all directions, sending many of the lower-level students tumbling backward.

POP!

That single move determined victory and defeat. A fountain of blood sprayed from Tai Cangyi’s mouth as he shot backward as fast as a bullet, his immortal motes fading and the connection between his body and the Myriad Bronzes Divine Pellet vanishing.

The experts from the Everlasting Alliance were stunned, but they quickly recovered.

“Kill him!”

Without any hesitation, they unleashed their most deadly and devastating techniques, sending a torrent of divine light rumbling in Yang Qi’s direction.

There were even some other students who decided that they should hit Yang Qi when he was down and added their own attacks to those of the Everlasting Alliance.

“God Legion Paradise!” Yang Qi said without hesitation. Instantly, sagelight flared as the Superlative Defense appeared, turning everything in the sixty-square-meter area around him into a domain of the gods.

All of the incoming attacks slammed into the God Legion Paradise, but did nothing to it.

After emerging from the Hell of Mahānata, Yang Qi could kill eighth step Great Sages. Then he had practiced cultivation for nearly a year with his mother. Because of all those things, he had long since reached the point of being able to break through to the third step and become an Eternal Sands Sage. Now he could easily stand up to a ninth step Epic Saga Sage, and with an immortal item he could even kill one.

“The time has come to use my Heaven-Burying Bow, my Heaven-Wasting Arrows, and my newly acquired Golden Dragonscale Godskiff. Come forth!” Immortal energy pulsed as a bow, a group of arrows, and a divine boat appeared within the God Legion Paradise.

Intense rumbling sounds and dazzling light shone out from the three immortal items.

In one smooth motion, he grabbed the Heaven-Burying Bow and nocked a Heaven-Wasting Arrow.

Then he loosed the arrow, which vanished, only to appear a moment later right in front of Tai Cangyi’s chest.

1. The “Hall of Beheadings and Executions” could be translated a number of different ways. It could also be “criminal law” or “criminal justice”. Due to some wordplay later on, I'm calling it “Beheading and Executions Society”.