Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

At long last, some of the color returned to Yang Zhan’s face.

“Qi’er!” he said, his eyes lighting up with delight. “Your martial arts aren't crippled after all?”

Never could he possibly have imagined that in what seemed to be a moment of ultimate despair, things would suddenly turn completely around.

“Father,” Yang Qi said respectfully, “my sea of energy was indeed destroyed. However, because of being struck by lightning, I experienced some sort of transformation. My meridians and sea of energy recovered, and I actually got stronger. In fact, I advanced so dramatically that I’m already in the Energy Eruption level.”

Considering that his eldest and second brother had both been seriously injured and even poisoned, Yang Qi’s worries of the moment had disappeared. Actually, his fist strike from moments ago hadn’t even been filled with the true force of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. He had only used Yang Clan martial arts, techniques that only clan members would have access to.

If he had actually used the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, then Yang Feng would have been shredded to pieces.

Smiling, Yang Zhan said, “Qi’er, Yang Feng has been in the Energy Eruption level for a long time now. The fact that you could so easily defeat him after just achieving your breakthrough indicates that there is more to your newfound powers than you’ve let on.”

“You’re right, Father. The lightning tempered my body, giving my fist strikes incredible force, force that actually surpasses that of ordinary experts in the Energy Eruption level.” Yang Qi was well aware that the best thing he could do to help his father right now was not reveal the truth about what had happened to him. “In fact, I think I could even crush experts in the sixth phase, the Energy Weapon level.”

For a long moment, Yang Zhan roared with laughter. Then he breathed a long sigh of relief and said, “The heavens have stepped in to rescue my bloodline! I’ll definitely figure out a way to cure your eldest and second brothers from the shadowblight.”

At this point, Yang Shi looked up from the broken body of his son, glared at Yang Qi, and said, “Very clever, you little swine! I can’t believe you would use such ruthless methods against a member of your own clan!”

Yang Qi looked around at the gathered clan members. “Ladies and gentlemen, you all saw what happened; he was the one to make the first move. He can only blame himself for his lack of skill. And wasn’t it only moments ago that all of you urged him to teach me a lesson? Except, the person to be taught a lesson turned out to be him. He dug his own grave, right? What’s wrong with that, Yang Shi? What, you’re gonna try to avenge him now?”

“You!” Yang Shi spat, clearly enraged. However, considering his status in the clan, it wouldn’t be appropriate to make a move on Yang Qi. Besides, Yang Zhan was off to the side glaring at him menacingly, and the Humanoid True Energy that he had used a moment ago meant that his cultivation base was very close to the Master of Energy level, which struck even more fear into Yang Shi’s heart.

Suddenly, one of Yang Qi’s other uncles rose to his feet. “Yang Shi is your uncle, you little punk. Is that how you talk to your elders? And what makes you think you have the right to injure your cousin?”

Currently, there were over thirty experts in the hall who were considered uncles to Yang Qi because of their seniority in the clan. Yang Shi, Yang Zhen, and Yang Xu were the three most powerful among them, their energy arts all being in the eighth phase.

Most of the rest were in the sixth or seventh phases, with a few being as low as the fifth. Even still, they were all top experts. In the Rich-Lush Continent, anyone with fifth phase energy arts were considered extremely powerful, the type of individuals who could single-handedly defeat a hundred ordinary enemies.

In fact, according to the customs of the Yang Clan, anyone in the fifth phase or above could conduct affairs outside of the clan, and even settle down elsewhere to work on their own endeavors.

As for this uncle who had just rebuked Yang Qi, his name was Yang Kui. He had a cultivation base in the sixth phase, allowing him to form weapons from energy, and was considered one of the top experts within the clan. He had long since taken charge of the interests of the Yang Clan in Redleaf City in the east.

“What’s that supposed to mean? It was a fair match. Was I supposed to hold back or something? Besides, there’s no way I'm going to walk on eggshells around people who are trying to usurp my father as the clan lord. I’m not being unreasonable, am I, Uncle Yang Kui? And why did you suddenly stand up? Don’t tell me you want to fight me too? Well, that’s fine. I'm more than happy to swap pointers. Hopefully you can last for a few more moves than Yang Feng.”

The casual way that Yang Qi spoke caused Yang Kui’s face to turn bright red.

“You!” he blurted, walking right out into the middle of the hall. “Fine. Since you asked for it, I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget, you disrespectful brat!”

“Please, do as you wish!” Yang Qi said, standing there straight and tall, apparently waiting for Yang Kui to attack him.

As for Yang Zhan, his eyebrows twitched as though he wanted to say something, but he held his tongue and waited to see how things would play out. He wanted to see what surprises this supposedly “unfilial” son of his had up his sleeve.

“Can Yang Qi really defeat an expert in the Energy Weapon level?”

The crowd was now looking on with bated breath.

“How is he doing all of this? Sixth phase experts are ten times stronger than people in the fifth phase. Even ten fifth-phase fighters working together wouldn’t be able to take down someone in the sixth phase. Is Yang Qi looking to get killed?”

“I can’t believe something like this happened. Yang Qi obviously had his martial arts crippled, but then received an unexpected blessing in the form of a lightning strike, causing his energy arts to significantly advance. I have to say, though, he's acting a bit too arrogantly. He's actually challenging someone in a higher phase than himself.”

By now, most of the higher-level experts were whispering amongst themselves about the scene playing out, and the younger talented individuals were all staring at him with glittering eyes.

Of course, in terms of seniority, Yang Zhan was the highest-ranking member present.

Among the younger generation, Yang Qi and his brothers were actually somewhere in the middle. After all, over the past several years, quite a few geniuses had risen up in the subsidiary branches of the clan.

Glaring aggressively, Yang Kui looked at Yang Zhan and said, “Your son wants to fight me, Yang Zhan. What do you say?”

“It won't hurt for you to give him some advice about energy arts and cultivation base,” Yang Zhan casually said.

“Fine. No holds barred! If I hurt him, I don’t want to hear any complaints from you!” Yang Kui clenched his hands into fists and drew upon his energy arts. Then, he made a chopping motion with both hands, causing energy to surge out and take the form of two long sabers. After hefting them for a moment, he lunged at Yang Qi, slashing the sabers in his direction.

“Insane Devil Energy Sabers!”

Yang Kui cultivated the Insane Devil Energy Art unique to the Yang Clan, an aggressive and violent technique that used energy to create devilish sabers of frightening appearance, whose crazed aura would strike fear into the hearts of anyone with a lower cultivation base.

However, Yang Qi seemed completely calm.

With a single step, he evaded the blow. Then, he twisted like a wriggling snake, as smoothly as a fish swimming through water. It was none other than one of the most orthodox martial techniques of the Yang Clan, the One Hundred Transformations of the Fish-Dragon.

The Yang Clan had many unique martial techniques, all of them profound and mysterious. And when such techniques were cultivated to the pinnacle, they could turn the foul and rotten into the rare and ethereal.

Besides, with Yang Qi’s Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to power the Yang Clan martial techniques, it pushed them to the ultimate level of perfection. As a result, he completely evaded any danger. He had been one of the young elites of the clan to begin with, and definitely not a hedonistic silkpants. With his advanced cultivation base, and the several days of cultivation he had just experienced, he had matured, not just in his personality, but also in his martial abilities.

“Hmph!”

When Yang Kui saw that Yang Qi easily evaded his Insane Devil Energy Sabers, he shifted tactics. He splayed his fingers, causing five streams of energy to flow out that looked like flying swords, so sharp that they could slice iron as easily as mud. In fact, if such blades hit a human, they would likely cut that person in half.

Everyone in the audience could tell that Yang Qi was now in a very bad position. This was Yang Kui’s Five Blooming Plum Blossoms, a trump card technique in which all five fingers summoned an energy weapon. It involved a heavy drainage of true energy, but was also so mysterious that it was nearly impossible to evade.

“Hundred Paces Divine Fist!” Yang Qi shouted, leaping backward, and simultaneously unleashing dozens of fist strikes. As he did, spiraling energy waves shot out to slam into the five energy swords.

Normally speaking, there was a massive gap between the fifth phase of Energy Eruption and the sixth phase of Energy Weapon. They were as different as the sky above and the mud down below. However, even a fierce tiger can be brought down by a pack of wolves. Yang Qi moved with incredible speed, utilizing his Hundred Paces Divine Fists over and over again. Spiraling energy smashed into the flying swords, until finally, they shattered into pieces.

They had been completely defeated by the Hundred Paces Divine Fists.

“What? How could he unleash so many Hundred Paces Divine Fists in such a short time? People in the Energy Eruption level can’t draw so deeply on their true energy for such a protracted time!”

When Yang Shi, Yang Zhen, and Yang Xu saw what was happening, their eyes nearly popped out of their skulls. Yang Qi was violating some of the most common understandings of cultivation. His reserves of true energy seemed completely unreal.

Although his true energy reserves obviously weren’t on the same level as Yang Kui, who was in the Energy Weapon level, they were still far beyond what they should have been. For someone like Yang Qi to utilize dozens of Hundred Paces Divine Fist enabled him to simply overwhelm the energy weapons which had been arrayed against him.

Essentially, using so many Hundred Paces Divine Fists made Yang Qi, who was only in the fifth phase, at least ten times more powerful than average.

‘What powerful true energy!’ Yang Kui thought, shaking physically as he looked at the remaining fist strikes closing in on him. Without any hesitation, he quickly summoned an energy shield.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam! Bam!!!

A torrent of fist strikes slammed into the energy shield, causing it to ripple and distort, and also emanate a droning buzz.

And Yang Qi didn’t stop. In the shortest amount of time, he unleashed more than a hundred fist strikes.

Each and every one sent energy streaming out, making it look like a river of motion around him. A raging aura filled the meeting hall, making everyone feel as though they were in the presence of some primeval beast.

At this point, the trembling audience couldn’t hold back from making various exclamations of shock. Yang Qi’s use of over a hundred fist strikes was simply too incredible.

“This guy… he’s a freak! He’s not even human! Even if he had a massive store of true energy, how could his meridians sustain this flow in the Energy Eruption level? Isn’t he afraid of his meridians being damaged?”

“His meridians must not be human! He just unleashed over a hundred fist strikes! Not even demonlings can do that sort of thing!”

“What kind of meridians does he have? And how can his sea of energy sustain this? Unless his body is made of iron, there’s no way he can keep this up, right? Does getting struck by lightning really make you this strong?”

Despite having witnessed what was happening with their own eyes, everyone was still partially convinced that they were seeing things.

Over and over, Yang Kui was shoved backward through the hall.

He couldn’t even collect himself enough to fight back. He could only pour more true energy into his shield to protect himself. With each moment that ticked by, his true energy was draining away faster and faster.

As he continued to power his energy shield, Yang Kui thought, “Is this brat some kind of monster? Such power in the Energy Eruption level! Shouldn’t he be dead? He’s fighting as fiercely as a dragon or tiger! I'm in the sixth phase, but not even my energy arts are a match for him. If this keeps going, I'm going to run out of energy and suffer defeat.”

However, Yang Kui was a veteran of over a hundred duels, so there was no way he would suffer defeat so easily.

“Insane Devil Detonation!” he shouted.

Pouring even more energy into his shield, he caused it to grow larger and larger, until it was a pulsing sphere. Finally, it exploded, completely wiping out any remaining fist strikes from Yang Qi.

Shaken, Yang Qi staggered backward as the blast from the Insane Devil Detonation shoved him across the battlefield. At this point, there was no way for him to unleash any more Hundred Paces Divine Fists.

“Stand down, you little punk!” Yang Kui growled, flying toward him like a bird. As he sailed through the air, he curled his fingers into hooks, making him look like a mighty eagle about to slash a decrepit wolf into pieces.