Sage Monarch

“I’m aware of that,” Mammoth Heaven said. “The next thousand years of rulership will be determined by this fight. If Yang Qi dies, the power structure in the Hanging Mountain will remain the same. If he doesn’t, then my faction will slowly lose dominance.”

The Epic Saga Sage elders of the Mammothfolk were stunned.

“The situation isn’t that serious, August Patriarch,” one of them said. “Yang Qi isn’t that important. How could he change the political structure of the entire Hanging Mountain?”

“Yang Qi isn't important now. But if he successfully comes out on top of all of those experts, and receives the blessing of the immortal world, then he’ll be very powerful. And after that, his progress will only become more rapid. If we can’t kill him now when he’s just getting started, then we definitely won’t be able to in the future. Besides, one of the rewards is a place in the Titan Emperor Collegium. Whoever takes first place will become a student there.”

“What? The Titan Emperor Collegium?” The megamammoth elders were even more taken aback by this additional information. “Is the Titan Emperor Collegium even real?”

“Of course it is. In primeval times, the Yore-Wilds, Brute-Wilds, Waste-Wilds, and Proto-Wilds were all administered by the Titan Emperor Heaven. And the Titan Emperor Collegium is the governing instrument from that immortal world. It is an educational establishment designed to gather individuals of potential and groom them into real geniuses. Presumably you’ve heard the rumors of the man the Holy Mother was involved with. He came from the Titan Emperor Collegium, and was an immortal. A Demolisher. Supposedly, he committed some sort of crime, and was exiled to the lower worlds as a banished immortal.” [1]

“What? A banished immortal?” Ape Heavenhelve blurted, having finally caught ear. “No wonder. No wonder the Immortal World Assembly made her the Holy Mother! Normally speaking, an unchaste girl like her who birthed a son should never have been appointed as the Holy Mother. Now it makes sense why the immortal world issued the orders they did.”

“August Patriarch,” one of the elders said, “do you happen to know who exactly that banished immortal was?”

“All I know is that he was very, very important, and that eventually, he went back to the immortal world. I would say it’s highly likely that he is Yang Qi’s father.”

“Does that mean we have to leave Yang Qi alone?” Ape Heavenhelve said, grinding his teeth in frustration. 

Mammoth Heaven didn’t respond.

**

Outside, the audience was abuzz.

“I can't believe someone like him even exists. His level is so low, but look at how many top experts he killed. There weren’t even people like that in ancient times.”

“Yang Qi is ridiculously strong. It’s too bad we can't watch the fighting. This is going to be one spectacular finale. After all, Mammoth Manyvoids, Finest Magic and Stunning Beheader are all invincible fighters.”

“Plus, I heard that Ninja Unity and Wilds Primeking both have immortal items. Ordinary people in their level definitely couldn’t fight them.”

“Those five are apex-level fighters, and they're all teaming up against Yang Qi. I wonder how he’s going to deal with the situation.”

“It doesn't look good for him, that's for sure. Although, he could actually just run away, and would still win the competition. Whatever he does, you can’t underestimate him.”

“Underestimate him? He’s up against five peak experts, and the only way to win is to escape. Let’s see if he can pull it off.”

“You’re right. All he has to do is stay alive, and he wins. Once the competition is over, he’ll be on the same level as the chiefs of the Demonfolk.”

“Well that's obvious. Only eighth step Great Sages can be Demonfolk chiefs. And only someone in the eighth step could possibly get out of the situation he’s in right now.”

“Let’s wait and see. That's the only thing we can do now.”

The Hanging Mountain was a mix of all sorts of emotions right now. Some people were excited to watch the action, others were envious, angry, or sad….

But all of them were watching the immortal ranking list, and waiting to see which names would drop off of it next.

RUMBLE!

The fighting was just getting underway in the Hell of Mahānata.

Mammoth Manyvoids, Finest Magic, Stunning Beheader, Ninja Unity and Wilds Primeking were all unleashing deadly attacks onto Yang Qi, and calling on magical techniques and godly laws as they did.

Yang Qi had summoned his God Legion Paradise, and shrunk it down to a sixty-square-meter area. The dazzling sagelight made the domain’s greyspace look like a gigantic, magical gem.

So far, none of the godly law attacks had done a single thing to pierce Yang Qi’s defenses.

“Intangible Great Dao!” Finest Magic shouted, sending a heavenly river of paper talismans, true energy seeds, and elemental constructions toward Yang Qi.

Yang Qi simply reached out with the Hand of the One God to destroy the heavenly river.

To his godly move, techniques like that were laughable.

Then, Yang Qi blurred into motion. Conforming perfectly to the magical laws of the Hell of Mahānata, he appeared in front of Finest Magic, grabbed him with the Hand of the One God, and threw him tumbling off to the side.

“Sword of the Ninja!” Ninja Unity said, suddenly pulsing with immortal energy. A weapon appeared, long and curved, like a serpentine dragon. It had the character “ninja” 忍 on it, which was essentially the character for blade 刀 stabbing into the character for heart 心. The character itself was an immortal mote, which meant that an attack from it was nearly as deadly as the attack of an immortal. [2]

“Hammer of the Grand-Wilds!” Wilds Primeking shouted. He waved his sleeve, sending an enormous hammer out, forged from violet gold. It weighed millions of pounds, and had been forged by the means of some powerful divine ability. With the elements of ghosts and gods that it contained, it seemed like something an immortal would make to epitomize his martial path.

Both of these immortal weapons pulsed with true energy as they descended onto Yang Qi with devastating force.

Yang Qi turned, and thrust out both of his hands, each of them powered by the Hand of the One God. Instantly, the shining light of the two weapons faded, and Wilds Primeking and Ninja Unity staggered backward.

C-C-CRACK! 

Popping sounds erupted from behind Yang Qi as both Stunning Beheader and Mammoth Manyvoids attacked the God Legion Paradise, unleashing such massive power that the greyspace was broken, and the attacks bore down on Yang Qi.

“Myriad Mammoths, Many Voids!”

“Slaughter of the Heaven-Beheader!” [3]

The two attacks seemed to perfectly complement each other, almost as if it were a prearranged strategy.

Yang Qi bent like a tree in the wind, and before the force of the attacks could reach him, they were actually sucked up by the dazzling light of the God Legion Paradise.

“Nascent Divinity Ensconcement!”

All of a sudden, his domain filled with the heaven-shaking, earth-toppling power of the Jambudvīpa Deluge, Night Queen Flame, Amber Avalanche and Eternal Godwind.

Yang Qi’s godmammoth-like nascent divinity appeared, and this time, it was in perfect resonance with the Hell of Mahānata.

It was already beginning to link with the surrounding magical laws of space and time, as well as other key elements of the plane.

“This is bad!” Mammoth Manyvoids said. “He’s trying to break through to the second step. If he ensconces his nascent divinity, he’ll become a Nirvanic Resurrection Sage. Even worse, he’ll be able to draw on the grand power of the Hell of Mahānata. We definitely won’t be able to fight him in that state!”

“Don’t give him the chance to succeed!” Finest Magic shouted as he flew back toward the fighting. He had been tossed aside by the Hand of the One God, but hadn't been seriously injured, and right now, he had a very serious expression on his face. Furthermore, he pulsed with magical power. Shockingly, there was a sealing mark within him that was shining with bright light, forming a nine-sided star. It was the sealing mark of an immortal.

Suddenly, an immortal sword appeared in his hand, which he stabbed toward Yang Qi’s nascent divinity.

“He’s not strong enough to take all five of us on. If the fight keeps going like this, he’s dead for sure. That's why he's trying to reach the second step. He has to achieve that breakthrough to beat us. Don't give him the opportunity. Kill him!”

“Yes, join forces and attack!”

“Don’t slow down. This is the perfect moment to kill him.”

“Go all out, everyone!”

RUMBLE!

Without any hesitation, the five experts unleashed all of the destructive power they were capable of. Immortal energy from multiple planes was on display. In some immortal planes, immortal energy was rigorous. In others it was bloodthirsty, and in others, it was related to swords, or to darkness….

This was the ultimate level of power that these five were capable of, backed by their sage domains.

Snap! Crack!

The greyspace of the God Legion Paradise broke open, and a space-time wormhole appeared.

Massive destruction bore down on Yang Qi.

“We got through his domain!” Mammoth Manyvoids shouted in delight. “And look, he’s just about to break through. He’s at his weakest right now. Kill him! Don’t stop now!”

WHIZZZ!

However, even as the attacks were about to hit him, Yang Qi spoke.

“The legion of gods may be weak, but I'm not. The legion of gods is not omnipotent, but I am.”

He stood there in the middle of his domain, like the origin of all the power in the universe. And then, the power of the attacks vanished into him, disappearing without a trace.

---

1. Banished immortal is a “real-life” term you’ll find in the dictionary. To quote one definition “it was believed that immortals who had misbehaved in heaven were banished to live on earth for a time, where they were seen as wayward and unusual humans”. However, there is another factor. Although the story doesn't reveal this until much later, the author actually tweaks the definition of the word to correlate with another historical usage of the term “banished”. By itself, the character can also refer to a high official in ancient China who was demoted to a remote, minor post as a form of punishment. Despite being "banished" in that way, such officials were still important and powerful in whatever post they occupied. In the context of this story, that historical definition is relevant. So a “banished immortal” would have a lot of power and authority despite having been exiled. They might even have a specific task or mission to accomplish in order to be able to return from being banished, just like the historical officials who suffered the same fate. To some extent, this explanation borders on spoiler info, but frankly, considering how many hundreds of chapters I agonized over how to translate the term, I think it benefits you readers to know the basic meaning up front. Besides, most educated Chinese would immediately grasp the connections, so on the spoiler scale I would say it's about a 1/10.

2. You weebs out there probably know that the character 忍 does not actually mean ninja. Only by adding the 者 (a personifying character), does it become ninja 忍者. However, the full meaning of 忍 is a bit complex, so I tweaked this passage a bit to make the narrative flow a bit better. If you’re not familiar with what the 忍 character means, you can start with this basic information.

3. Stunning Beheader’s name is connected to a Chinese deity who fights against the Supreme Divinity, even after he is beheaded. Technically, he didn’t “behead heaven”; instead, he was beheaded. Even after losing his head, he continued to fight in defiance, and came to symbolize the indomitable spirit which will never give up. That said, there is more information and wordplay later in the novel which lead me to choose the “beheader” interpretation instead of “beheaded”. Remember, the author takes this stuff for inspiration, and does not use every term exactly the way it was used in “real” mythology.

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Hey everyone, I don't often make announcements like this, but I think this one is relevant for everyone. I did a video about the phrase "courting death" which I'm sure all of you are familiar with. Even I use it on occasion. There is a bit of context to the phrase that many readers might not be aware of. Check out the video here. 

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Note: I left out a rather large passage from this chapter that essentially recaps the fight so far and emphasizes how embarrassing it is for Ape Heavenhelve that his sons were killed by Yang Qi, and how much Yang Qi has benefited so far, and would continue to benefit. There was no new information at all, and considering the events happened just in the past few chapters, I don’t see how it adds to the narrative.

Click here for meme (courtesy Silfarion)