Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had finally reached the Lifeseizing level.

He could now detect the complex varieties of vital energy that existed in heaven and earth, as well as the dangerous transformations they were capable of. The countless energy vortexes he sensed were capable of reducing the strongest metals into ash.

Immense power coursed through him.

He took a breath, and could see streams of moonlight becoming refreshing vital energy that flowed into him and became part of his life force quintessence.

At the same time, he could tell that he was breathing in a certain spirit energy that cleansed the impurities within him.

He was now capable of maintaining complete purity of body, both within and without.

He could also tell that he could now subsist without any need to eat ordinary food. The only nourishment he needed was the spirit energy of heaven and earth, and the quintessence of the sun and moon.

Lifeseizers had no need to rely on things that ordinary humans needed.

They could gather energy to seize life.

Energy was life. Life was energy.

Seizing the spirit energy of heaven and earth to sustain oneself was one of the marvelous aspects of the Lifeseizing level. At this level of cultivation, if Yang Qi found himself trapped in some deadly location with no food or water, he could last for dozens of years, perhaps even over a hundred, without dying.

All he needed was spirit energy of heaven and earth.

The moment he reached the Lifeseizing level, his true energy underwent heaven-shaking, earth-toppling transformations, and could now probe and absorb the countless mysterious elements within the vital energy around him.

He was even able to grasp at a simplistic understanding of space-time.

Of course, space-time was actually a very ancient word, and Lifeseizers couldn't possibly have a full understanding of it, much less be able to control it.

For instance, although Yang Qi's Heart of the Sea thumb-ring had a tiny dimension inside of it, that was not a full expression of space-time. Space-time implied fluctuations in time itself.

Yang Qi was now a Lifeseizer, and although he had an increased understanding, he could not yet manipulate the power of space-time to forge items like the Heart of the Sea thumb-ring. He needed to advance much further in his cultivation to accomplish that.

"Moonlight quintessence!"

He let loose a long cry, and the boundless moonlight that hung over the surface of the water swirled around him as rippling halos.

His control over the power of moonlight had reached an incredible level.

"Drain rivers and dry up seas! Crystal palace!"

He shoved his hands down toward the water, solidifying it instantly. Strangely, there was no frigid energy, because this was not an ice-based energy art. Instead, he was using immense power to reconstruct the water into crystal.

RUUUUMBLE!

Then, he lifted his hands up, causing the crystalline water to rise, taking the shape of an enormous palace. Although it looked like water, it was as tough as metal; in fact, during the process of forming, it emitted creaking and crunching sounds like that of metal scraping against metal.

It was fully a thousand paces from end to end, and came complete with tables, chairs, beds, and other furniture, all of it formed from beautiful, crystallized water.

It was a true masterpiece, created entirely by use of true energy.

Only Yang Qi could do something like this after having just entered the Lifeseizing level.

Not even Chu Tiange would have been capable of compressing water into crystal; the true energy wastage would have been too severe.

And to create a palace with such a method would normally have been impossible even for ten Lifeseizers working together.

And even if they somehow succeeded, they definitely wouldn't be able to maintain the structure for more than about ten breaths of time.

But Yang Qi seemed completely at ease creating and maintaining this enormous palace, and from the look of it, could do so for hours. In fact, he wasn't even done with his work. A moment later, numerous crystalline trees began to rise up on the palace grounds.

Even more spectacular, the water also formed crystalline tigers, elephants, and people, who looked startlingly lifelike as they moved about within the palace.

This was a level that surpassed Chu Tiange in every imaginable sense.

Yang Qi experienced unprecedented difficulty in reaching the Lifeseizing level, but now that he had succeeded, he counted as one of the most powerful Primary Lifeseizers possible.

In fact, if he went all out, he would most likely have no problem dealing with Tertiary or Quaternary Lifeseizers.

Nonary was the highest possible level for Lifeseizers. Each process of seizing life was difficult to the extreme. However, success brought increased longevity each time. Nonary Lifeseizers could easily live for three thousand years, giving them plenty of time to pursue their next breakthrough and reach the Legendary level.

Chu Tiange had only been a Primary Lifeseizer. Had he been a Secondary Lifeseizer, he would have been so strong that he could have easily trounced Yang Qi.

But now that Yang Qi was also in the Lifeseizing level, it would be a simple thing for him to destroy Secondary or Tertiary Lifeseizers.

That was how powerful a godly-class energy art was. The techniques employed by gods were not to be taken lightly. Cultivating such techniques was dangerous, but successfully breaking into a higher level with them was like being blessed by the gods, chosen as their representative to the masses below.

"A crystalline palace, a heavenly abode. Unfortunately, it's not permanent. If my true energy were strong enough, and I could turn the entire ocean into a crystalline palace, that would truly be the power of gods. But I'm not quite there yet."

Sighing, he retracted his true energy, and instantly, the crystalline palace, trees, tigers, floodwyrms, immortal cranes, elephants, and people all collapsed, yet again becoming water that splashed back down into the ocean below. The entrancing scene ended as surely as if it had been a dream.

The palace had been created by Yang Qi's true energy, so as soon as that energy left it, it was only natural that it would collapse.

Even still, what he had done was something that most experts on the Rich-Lush Continent could not.

Thankfully, Yang Qi wasn't an inherently arrogant person, and knew his place in the world. The Demi-Immortal Institute was filled with countless experts of all sorts. And there was also the Crown Prince, who had long since reached the Legendary level. It was impossible for Yang Qi to even guess how powerful that made him.

This small accomplishment of his own was nothing worth bragging about.

'So,' he thought, 'should I go apply to become an elite student now?'

With that, he settled down cross-legged on the surface of the water, which crystallized around him. Seventh phase experts could walk on water, so there was little need to mention the power of Lifeseizers.

If he became an elite student, that would earn him a much higher status, and access to even better resources.

However, he was worried that it would also be risky; he still didn't want anyone knowing about his godly-class energy art.

Becoming an elite student would definitely put him in the spotlight, and would prompt many top experts in the institute to look into him. Unfortunately, he wasn't completely confident in being able to keep his secrets under such scrutiny.

Although the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth could hide itself, Yang Qi was getting so powerful that he worried high-level experts might be able to detect the boundless power in his soul.

'Maybe I should just forget about it. I can't reveal the true extent of my powers, so perhaps the best thing would be to wait until I can fully seal my own true energy before revealing that I'm a Lifeseizer. Like the old saying goes, the tallest tree in the forest will be battered by the strongest winds. Besides, Yun Hailan is backed by the Crown Prince. Attracting his attention would definitely be a mistake.'

Eventually, Yang Qi rose to his feet.

As he rose through the cultivation levels, he knew that his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth would only get stronger and stronger. Eventually, it would surely come with an ability to fully seal his powerful life force and true energy.

All of a sudden, he felt the urge to check on the golden imp in his forehead.

That was when he realized that, at long last, his increase in cultivation level had apparently prompted a change in the imp.

After all, his soul, mind, and senses had all been improved by ten times. As of this moment, he could make out the golden imp's facial features, and could see that its body was covered with complex designs.

It was wearing a radiant suit of armor that seemed suitable for fighting gods. Although the imp seemed very, very small, it was actually indescribably powerful.

As for the designs on the armor, they were lines of script that formed the description of some sort of technique.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi couldn't read them. However, he was fairly certain that they described the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Mammoth.

Back when he had been struck by lightning, the imp entered his forehead and imparted the technique to him. However, it wasn't complete. He only knew the cultivation aspects pertaining to what came before the Lifeseizing level.

But now that he was a Lifeseizer, he would need to practice the cultivation described on the golden imp.

Unfortunately, he couldn't make out the text clearly enough to read it. To do that, he would have to improve his cultivation base.

After examining the text, he found one part that he could make out relatively clearly. The words were written in ancient, flowing characters that were difficult to read, but not impossible. They read: God-Devil Seal.

In addition to that, there was another technique called the Hell Portal.

By summoning a Hell Portal, he could call out to the powerful devil-gods in hell, and perhaps even use their power to crush his enemy.