Sage Monarch - Chapter 108

Chapter 108

Yang Qi’s energy formation of the dao of monarchs had been constantly active this entire time .

Whizz!

Liang Dong’s aura was rapidly transforming, making him like the fish that wished to leap through the dragon gate and become a dragon itself .

“Lifeseizing level! Vital energy conversion, scorching heat immolates the body, shed the flesh and exchange the bones!” Liang Dong let loose a long howl as the true energy surged through his meridians, and the vital energy of heaven and earth coursed into him .

Shockingly, flames erupted from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, the manifestation of a tribulation of true flame energy arts . As it turned out, his energy arts were so intensely hot that he lost control of them upon entering the Lifeseizing level, and was bursting into flame himself .

The truth was that because of all the help from Yang Qi, Liang Dong’s true energy had long since reached the point of being able to enter the Lifeseizing level . However, he had been hesitating because of his flame-type energy arts; he knew that if he forced a breakthrough, he might burn out and become nothing more than ash .

Every year there were people in the Demi-Immortal Institute who burst into flames and died when trying to reach the Lifeseizing level .

But then, massive amounts of water vapor erupted from Yang Qi’s trident, subjugating the flames . Water was the ultimate core of the Sea God Institute's energy arts, just as scorching heat was the ultimate core of the Cosmic Sunflare Sword .

In the blink of an eye, fire and water juxtaposed, and the true flame that had engulfed Liang Dong transformed into a sweet dew of quintessence vitality .

His power levels rose, and deep in his sea of energy, a massive sword began to take shape, causing intense rumbling sounds to fill him .

At long last, Liang Dong had reached the Lifeseizing level .

And his version of the Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique vastly surpassed that of Chu Tiange’s .

After all, Chu Tiange’s version had never even come close to reaching its full potential . But Liang Dong had used the power of a sun gem . Furthermore, with the help provided by the spirit weapon that was the trident, his battle prowess was now at a shocking level .

Another hour passed, and Liang Dong reined in his true energy, his eyes sparkling . As of this moment, he didn’t care at all what it had taken to reach this point .

He was now a Lifeseizer!

“Congratulations!” Li He said, his voice filled with admiration and not the slightest bit of jealousy . “Another of us brothers has reached the Lifeseizing level… . ”

Shaking his head to clear it, Liang Dong said, “I got there a bit sooner than the rest of you, that’s all . Now I understand the situation . We’re cultivating the Cosmic Sunflare Sword, the intense heat of which makes the ascension to the Lifeseizing level incredibly dangerous . If you force the breakthrough without some soft and feminine treasure to help out, there’s a ninety-nine percent chance you’ll burn yourself to death . ”

“That’s right,” Yang Qi said . “With that kind of treasure, you can all succeed . It won’t be long now before you’re all Lifeseizers . Although we won’t necessarily be the most domineering force in the institute, we can at least be strong enough to keep each other safe . ” It was only after participating in Liang Dong’s breakthrough that Yang Qi realized the dangerous flaw in the Cosmic Sunflare Sword .

Apparently, Liang Dong could now sense that there was something unusual about Yang Qi . “Brother, your aura is so beyond me that I can’t even assess it . ” 

“Oh, I just reached Secondary Lifeseizing,” Yang Qi explained .

“Secondary Lifeseizing?! Already? It's only been a couple months since you first reached the Lifeseizing level . If word spread, people would pass out from shock . ” Li He, He Jili and Hua Yinhu were so astonished that their eyes nearly popped out of their skulls .

Yang Qi chuckled . “Well, you guys have known for a long time how strong I really am, right? Remember how shocked you were when I killed Chu Tiange?” At this point, his expression turned serious . “Right now, you need to get as strong as you can, as quickly as you can . Don’t delay in becoming Lifeseizers! I’ll try to find soft and feminine treasures for all of you within the month, and then I’ll personally help you with the breakthrough . We’ll all become elite students!”

“What happened, Brother? What’s the rush?” His friends could tell that something was amiss, leading them to feel somewhat nervous .

“Yun Hailan is now the apprentice of Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, and as you know she’s allied with the Crown Prince Society . In order to try to clip my wings, she’s threatened to do something to your clans, and to mine… . ” Not wanting to hide anything from his brothers, he told them everything that had played out with Holy Daughter Manyflowers, the Minorcosm, and Patriarchs Wind and Cloud .

After hearing the whole story, all of his friends sat there in mute shock .

A long moment passed, whereupon Liang Dong took a deep breath and said, “Minorcosm World? Patriarchs Wind and Cloud? They’re Legendaries… . That’s way, way beyond our level . We can’t possibly deal with people like that . If they wanted to kill us, it would be as easy as stepping on an ant . ”

“Not necessarily!” Yang Qi said, his eyes glittering . “Anybody who wants to try to kill me will have to pay the price in blood . And if anyone tries to hurt my friends, I’ll kill them even if I die in the process . ” Because of his cultivation of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he was starting to pick up some of the boundlessly domineering characteristics of the technique .

“Hold on a second… . ” Li He said . “If I remember correctly, Patriarchs Wind and Cloud are old professors . They won’t do anything to students like us . But the fact that the Crown Prince Society has it out for us is really a bit scary . All members of that society have impressive backgrounds, and it wouldn’t be impossible for their clans to do something to ours . Our top priority should be to get stronger . We’re all Masters of Energy, and are members of the younger generation . If we become Lifeseizers, and elite students, then everything would be different . At that point, people would definitely think twice before doing something to us . That said, to a colossal monster of an organization like the Crown Prince Society, we would still be nobodies . ”

“All of this is because of the grudge between me and Yun Hailan,” Yang Qi said . “I'm sorry for having dragged you into it, Brothers . ”

“Brother, you absolutely, positively must not think that way . We’re brothers for life . We live together and die together, we share honor and disgrace alike . There’s no need to say anything beyond that . We’ll overcome these difficulties together, and that’s that . On the upside, the martial arts competition is coming up . If we perform well, the institute will take us more seriously, and it will be harder for our enemies to make a move against us . ”

“Fine, the matter’s settled!” Yang Qi said . “Now we need to figure out where to get something to neutralize the Cosmic Sunflare Sword . What kind of water-type treasure can deal with the fire of that technique? Whatever it is, I’ll get it so that you can all reach the Lifeseizing level . ”

“I know!” Liang Dong said . “I know the perfect treasure to deal with the Cosmic Sunflare Sword!”

“What is it?”

“You've heard of the demon kings of the seventy-two grottos, right?" Li He said . "Well, one of those grottos is the Black Floodwyrm Grotto, which is led by King Black Floodwyrm himself . The Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique is a consummate discipline from our institute that focuses on intensely hot true energy . The perfect item to counteract that heat would be black floodwyrm demon cores from the Black Sea . The black floodwyrms from there are particularly fierce and violent . Whenever they come ashore, they cause devastation wherever they go . However, at nighttime, they absorb moonlight and store it in their demon core, where they refine and purify it . If you used that refined moonlight with the Cosmic Sunflare Sword, then it would be the perfect combination of sun and moon . Unfortunately, King Black Floodwyrm is indeed one of the demon kings of the seventy-two grottos, and his grotto ranks higher than the Blood Demon Grotto . If anyone from the orthodox institutions enter his territory, the black floodwyrms kill them on sight . It’s a very dangerous place . Even worse, our Cosmic Sunflare Sword technique came from both Chu Tiange’s animadestiny sword manifestation, as well as that sun gem . It would take demon cores from Lifeseizing level black floodwyrm to neutralize its heat . That would make the hunt even more dangerous . ” [1]

“He’s right,” Liang Dong said . “Black floodwyrm demon cores are the perfect counterpoint to fire-type techniques . Lots of top experts in the Demi-Immortal Institute use them . However, not many people actually go to the Black Sea to hunt them . ”

“The demon kings of the seventy-two grottos?” Yang Qi's heart suddenly started pounding . “I’ve heard of them . They’re subsidiaries of the Hanging Mountain, aren’t they?”

“Yeah! That's exactly right . ”

“In that case, I need to take a trip to the Black Sea . There’s no time to lose . I’ll leave now . Give me a map!”

1 . As a reminder, ‘floodwyrm’ is often translated as flood dragon . However, in this story, they are not actually dragons, which will be explained later . Thus, I’m leaving out ‘dragon’ .