Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-295

“Hey, get over here!” Yang Qi waved his hand, causing a raging wind to spring up and grab some nearby members of the Crown Prince Society who had noticed him and then averted their gazes.

They were all Lifeseizers, and included both elite and conclave students, indicating that they were both strong, and had high positions. However, compared to Yang Qi, they weren’t even ants.

At this point, the only person in the Demi-Immortal Institute who could do anything to Yang Qi would be the chancellor. Even if all the other students joined forces, they wouldn’t be able to fight him.

After all, he wasn’t worried about a large-scale battle.

If necessary, he could summon an army of fiend-devils from the void, including giant snakes from the Hell of Nagas.

Truth be told, even people from the Quake-Dawn Continent would have to form a team of dozens of Legendaries to fight a giant snake of the same level as them. So what need was there to even mention people from the Rich-Lush Continent?

“We're under attack!” screamed one of the conclave students. “Quick, report the matter to the elders and prime elders in the Minorcosm World! The Demi-Immortal Institute is under attack!”

“Like hell it is!”

SMACK! Yang Qi slapped the student across the side of the face, sending a bit of blood splattering onto the ground. “If you insist on talking crap, the next slap will kill you. Now tell me, what's the latest news about the Crown Prince?”

“The Crown Prince… he’s in the Great Sage level already, and he's coming back in a few days. You just wait, Yang Qi! Your days are definitely numbered! Everybody in the entire Demi-Immortal Institute works for the Crown Prince now. Besides, the Crown Prince is backed by an organization that you couldn’t possibly deal with. Your only hope to stay alive is to drop to your knees right now and beg for mercy. Come on. Do it!”

“Are you feeling suicidal or something?” Yang Qi said with a cold smile. “Well, considering you’re so loyal to the Crown Prince, I guess I’ll just cripple your energy arts.”

Suddenly, his true energy flared into activity with incomparable invincibility.

“Stay your hand!” someone shouted from off in the distance. A moment later, a group of Legendaries appeared. Of course, they all were staunch supporters of the Crown Prince Society, and also grand elders of the institute.

The Seven Preheaven Masters. The Three Pure Yang Elders. Patriarchs Wind and Cloud.

In addition to them, there were some other top experts in the seventh, eighth, and even ninth Legendary transformation. All of them had the word “Law” embroidered on their robes, indicating that they had the power to enforce the rules of the institute.

They were the grand elders of law enforcement, a group which everyone feared deeply.

The Hall of Law Enforcement was located deep in the Minorcosm World, and was tasked with punishing traitors and renegades. Any students who broke rules could be executed by them, a power they would not hesitate to draw upon. Because of that, every single grand elder from the Hall of Law Enforcement was at the very least a Personal-Domain Legendary.

That guaranteed that the Hall of Law Enforcement would be respected by all. After all, in the Rich-Lush Continent, Legendaries were virtually mythological figures.

“What gall!” Patriarch Wind said. “You just got back, Yang Qi, and you're already breaking the rules of the institute? I can’t believe you would go so far as to cripple the energy arts of a conclave student! Just who do you think you are? Conclave students are precious treasures to the institute! If one of them really did violate some important law, they should be handed over to the Hall of Law Enforcement for interrogation and sentencing. What authority do you have here? You think you can just go around punishing people? Put that student down immediately, admit your crimes to the grand elders of law enforcement, and await your own punishment. If you don't, we’ll toss you into the Devil Suppression Hall, to be tormented day and night.”

“Very funny!” Yang Qi said, keeping his grip on the conclave student. “I've performed some incredible services for the institute and the Rich-Lush Continent, Patriarch Wind. I repaired the damage to heaven. I saved the world! That puts me in a much higher position than you, and yet you think you can go hurling accusations and orders left and right? Completely disgraceful! Don’t tell me you want to end up like Grand Elder Feat-Virtue? And as for you, Seven Preheaven Masters and Three Pure Yang Elders, have you forgotten the lesson I taught you not too long ago?”

Back when Yang Qi applied to become a holy neophyte, it was this very group who had interfered.

In the end, Grand Elder Feat-Virtue ended up dead, and the Seven Preheaven Masters were seriously injured. In fact, a few of them had to be treated in the institute’s Soul Rejuvenation Cistern before they could recover. Because of that, the Seven Preheaven Masters hated Yang Qi down to their marrow, and wished they could just kill him.

Their leader, Master Jadecrux, was actually having trouble controlling his killing intent as he listened to Yang Qi speak. Although he knew he wasn’t a match for him, he couldn’t prevent a sinister smile from spreading out across his face at the thought that at least he had the upper hand. The Crown Prince was a Great Sage now, and was off in space-time dealing with some issues with the Hanging Mountain.

Soon, he would return as the ruler of everything under heaven, and would unite the Rich-Lush Continent under his control.

When that happened, Yang Qi would be dead.

“What gall!” Master Jadecrux said. “Seriously, you are simply too brazen! It doesn’t matter if you’re a holy neophyte, you can’t just go around killing and robbing people.” With that, he turned to a nearby Never-Dying Legendary and said, “Grand Elder Law-Chief, sir, as the highest-ranking member of the Hall of Law Enforcement, I hereby request that you handle this matter personally!”

This particular grand elder was called Law-Chief because of his position of oversight in the Hall of Law Enforcement. Normally, he didn’t make public appearances, but nonetheless, was considered one of the top figures in the institute. When he spoke, people listened and complied, even the holy neophytes. In fact, other than the chancellor himself, there was no one who out-ranked him.

He was a middle-aged man clad in a long robe, who carried no weapon in his hand, and yet caused everything to tremble because of his mere presence.

His gaze was so sharp that anyone it touched would immediately begin to tremble from fear, and would put any thoughts of violating the law far from mind.

“Put that student down, Yang Qi!” he said. “Your behavior is a clear violation of the rules of the institute. You know full well you’re not permitted to randomly pick fights on campus! True, your crimes, including the murder of Grand Elder Feat-Virtue, were wiped away when you repaired the damage to heaven. From that day forward, you had a clean slate. But now you’re committing more crimes? Sorry, but this is not acceptable.”

“What crime did I commit?” Yang Qi asked.

As the various grand elders were talking, Ghost Emperor Yama stood there quietly, watching. To him, it was like looking at a bunch of ants bickering with each other. Because of how he kept his energy sealed, few people were paying attention to him, and assumed he was a servant of some sort.

Lady-Princess Silvermoon was attracting a bit more attention, and yet, most people were intent on the dialogue playing out.

“First,” Grand Elder Law-Chief said coolly, sounding like a judge pronouncing a sentence, “you went to the Western Continent and killed a host of people. You even destroyed Silvermoon. In fact, I see Lady-Princess Silvermoon standing right there behind you. We grand elders ran a thorough investigation into the matter, and concluded that it was you who damaged the delicate relationship between the Western Continent and the Rich-Lush Continent. Because of you, all communication and travel between the two continents has ceased, which has resulted in severe financial losses on our part. Quite a few organizations have petitioned the Demi-Immortal Institute to punish you over the matter. In fact, all the prime elders have been called back to the institute to decide what to do about the matter.”

“Are you serious?” Yang Qi said, his eyes flashing with sinister coldness. “The Western Continent has long since started eyeing the Rich-Lush Continent like a tiger eyes its prey. By the time I showed up there, they were already tyrannizing our people! Raising prices. Robbing them outright. Don’t tell me you people didn’t know about all that!”

Ignoring Yang Qi’s explanation, Grand Elder Law-Chief continued, “Second! You kidnapped a holy neophyte of the institute, namely, Huang Hou. And you also colluded with Hua Tianxiong from the Sun Moon Institute to murder the Crown Prince. Thankfully, the Crown Prince managed to kill both him and Young Master Shroud-Heaven, and at the same time, rescue Huang Hou. It was Huang Hou who revealed how you also murdered numerous other conclave students at the House of Shadowblight. All of these are major crimes.”

Yang Qi snorted coldly. “Those people were all working with the House of Shadowblight, a heretical group of wretch-devils. Anybody would be justified in ridding our organization of people like that.”

Grand Elder Law-Chief was completely ignoring anything that Yang Qi said. “Third! When you joined the Demi-Immortal Institute, you killed fellow disciples, and forced other disciples to give you a ‘blood tribute’ by killing even more. Step forward, Jiang Fan.”

Immediately, Jiang Fan and his companions stepped out.

“It was him!” Jiang Fan announced loudly. “It was Yang Qi! He killed Chu Tiange and Huang Hong. Then he forced us to give him a ‘blood tribute’ by killing Song Haishan and Gu Fenxian! He’s evil to the core, a real monster! He definitely follows the dao of devils.”

Jiang Fan then went on to provide a detailed account of everything that happened that day, including how Yang Qi killed Huang Hong, and how he had forced them to kill Gu Fenxian and Song Haishan. At long last, Yun Hailan’s suspicions were confirmed as being true, right in front of everyone present.

“There’s plenty of evidence on hand to prove your guilt, Yang Qi. Do you really think you can talk yourself out of this? Do you really think you can convince all of these people that we’re slandering you? ” He sighed and shook his head. “Who would have thought that a vicious, bloodthirsty individual like you would somehow get into the Demi-Immortal Institute? You deranged beast! I can only grieve and lament that things turned out this way!”

“The evidence is beyond conclusive!” Patriarch Cloud said. “It doesn’t matter what he said, he’s obviously guilty. Men, take him into custody!”