Sage Monarch

Yuan Kuohai was beyond enraged. The fact that Yang Qi had accused him of having brain damage right in front of a host of other soldiers was a humiliation he simply couldn't accept.

When he shouted for Yang Qi and the Obliterators to be arrested, soldiers rushed in from the outside, tall, burly, clad in armor, with sabers in hand. Some of them held rope that was obviously used for binding captives.

"Immortal-Trussing Rope!"

Whooosh!

The soldiers with the ropes threw them out, causing them to become like dragons that shot toward Yang Qi and his followers.

"What's that supposed to be?" Yang Qi said. He flicked his finger and a spark shot out, burning all the ropes into nothing.

"What incredible gall!" the soldiers shouted, rushing forward with weapons bared.

"Drop!" Yang Qi said, and the God Legion Paradise suddenly popped into being, sending out a shock wave that slammed into the soldiers.

A few shrieks rang out, but then the soldiers dropped to the ground, silent and unconscious.

"You!" Yuan Kuohai growled, leaping to his feet along with the other officers. Apparently, they were about to charge forward and deal with Yang Qi personally.

"Yuan Kuohai," Yang Qi said. "I killed General Goldrhino as easily as slaughtering a dog. And then you people go and demand that I hand my god item over? Are you feeling suicidal or something? Listen well. All of you are going to do exactly what I say. Not a single one of you can leave the base without my permission, as my domain has the entire place locked down. You couldn't break free even if you all joined forces."

"What?" Yuan Kuohai said. Clearly unconvinced, he looked up and launched a fist strike up into the sky, only to see a flash of light as the attack was negated.

"Immortal Detonates Nine Planets!"

Without any warning, he launched an attack on Yang Qi, moving with blinding speed as he summoned nine enormous planets, each and every one filled with countless planes of existence and immortal cultivators. As the planets neared Yang Qi, the immortals all used energy arts of self-detonation to create a devastating shock wave that seemed capable of destroying anything.

Yuan Kuohai clearly wanted to take Yang Qi down.

However, when the destructive power reached Yang Qi it simply faded away. Yuan Kuohai felt like he had just punched the air or dropped a pebble into the ocean.

RUMBLE!

Before Yuan Kuohai could do anything else, Yang Qi stepped forward and reached out, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up like a captive duck. A look of immense terror filled Yuan Kuohai's face as he realized that his life was completely in Yang Qi's hands.

Struggling, he shouted, "Don't you know who I am?! I'm a general! This is a serious crime! This is rebellion! It doesn't matter if you're an imperial clansman, you'll still be held accountable!"

"I'm not going to kill you," Yang Qi replied. "I just want to make sure you understand what you're allowed to do, and what you're not allowed to do." Suddenly, a pitch black devil seed appeared in his other hand, which transformed into a vicious ghost head that he sent flying into Yuan Kuohai's head.

Immediately, Yuan Kuohai sensed something like a devil-ghost in his sea of consciousness, something he couldn't drive out. It was almost like a nightmare.

"What… what kind of devil-ghost did you implant me with?" he said, his voice trembling. "What is that thing?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Yang Qi replied coolly. "Just something from the ancient dao of devils. It's just an infernal king seed. It won't hurt you. But if you don't do everything I say, or if you even think of plotting against me, I'll activate the seed and you'll experience so much pain you'll wish you could die. Henceforth, you're under my control."

Thump.

Yang Qi tossed Yuan Kuohai back into his chair, where he sat, various expressions flashing across his face as he tried to wrap his mind around what had happened.

Instantly, the entire room went crazy.

The captains of the Tuskers and the Rampagers were both shouting at the tops of their lungs. "You disgraceful rebel! You're breaking military law! You need to be executed immediately! You think you can take on the whole army?"

"Pig-headed fools," Yang Qi said, sending out a stream of power that picked them up and slammed them down into the ground.

"Evil creature! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do!" howled the captain of the Tuskers. Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he growled, "Divine Tusks; No Stronghold Too Powerful; Cycles of the Sun and Moon; True Empyrean Domination!"

WHIZZZ!

The blood he had just spit out turned into an enormous mouth with huge tusks that lunged toward Yang Qi.

"I'll go for broke too!" shouted the captain of the Rampagers. Leaping up into the air, he said, "Rampage in Heaven and Earth; Wherever I Roam, Everyone Exults; Grand Sun Radiance!"

WHIZZZ!

A huge sun appeared and sent burning light out like a river, sweeping forth to shatter everything in its path.

Both of these captains were going all out in their attempt to crush Yang Qi.

POP!

Yet Yang Qi didn't move a muscle. He simply exhaled, which caused a vast mist to rise up that obscured everything and negated any energy art or immortal skill that touched it.

Then the mist wrapped around the two captains, swirling about until they looked like two cocoons, leaving only their heads visible as they flopped to the ground.

All the other people in the room were leaders in the Special Reconnaissance Division, and all of them were completely stunned.

"This…."

"We weren't plotting against you, Titan Dragonguard. Please, spare us."

"Yeah. We won't say a word about any of this. Our lips are sealed."

"Please, let us go. We'll keep this a secret. Right, everyone?"

"You're not going to lock us up or something, are you? The higher-ups will look into the situation eventually, and you'll be found out. The Special Reconnaissance Division is very important in the army. We're a part of all of the major operations."

"Are you trying to take control of the Special Reconnaissance Division or something?"

All of the various leaders were clamoring to be heard, some begging for mercy, some trying to be reasonable, and some attempting to entice Yang Qi with clever words. However, Yang Qi wasn't interested in any of them or their words.

He simply waved his hand, sending devil seeds into all of them. Screams rang out and everyone dissolved into panic. However, they were powerless to do anything. Within moments, all of them had devil seeds in their seas of consciousness.

"Do you have a death wish, Titan Dragonguard?" one of the relatively impatient captains shouted angrily. "I can't believe you put devil seeds into all of us!"

Yang Qi looked at him, and suddenly he heard the sound of countless devil-ghosts howling within his sea of energy.

"AAAAAIIIIIIIEEEEE!" he screamed, dropping to the ground and grabbing his head with both hands. Then he started beating his chest with his own fists. The screams that escaped his lips were horrifying; no one had ever seen an immortal degraded in such a way.

Thus were the effects of the devil seeds.

"I beg of you, stop!" he shrieked. "Stop the devil seed. I was wrong! I admit defeat! I'll work for you. I'll do anything you'll say! I'll be your servant. Just stop the devil seed. Hurry! AIIIEEEE!"

"Fine, go kill the captain of the Tuskers," Yang Qi said. He waved his finger, deactivating the devil seed. The impatient captain struggled to his feet, his face flickering between a variety of expressions.

"Well?" Yang Qi said.

"Fine. I'll kill him. Just don't activate that devil seed again." Cold sweat dripping down his neck, he walked over to the captain of the Tuskers. Looking down, he said, "You can only blame your own incompetence for this. You pissed off someone you shouldn't have, and now he wants me to kill you. Why don't you just surrender?"

"Bah! You're not gonna live much longer either. Don't you know what it means to die rather than submit? You're breaking military law, which is treason!"

"Treason? He's an imperial clansman and we're all ordinary citizens. How could he be committing treason? I was trying to help you, and you just cursed me? Fine. Die!" With that, he stomped his foot down onto the face of the captain of the Tuskers.

Crack!

Blood spurted out in all directions as the man's head was crushed.

"Well done," Yang Qi said. Waving his hand dismissively, he pulled the corpse into his Heaven and Earth Furnace, where it began to sizzle and pop.

Now the captain of the Rampagers was alone.

Pointing at Yuan Kuohai, Yang Qi said, "General, kill the captain of the Rampagers. Consider it a blood tribute to me. And don't even think of crossing me. As you can see, the devil seed will make you wish you could die. Even if you were ten times stronger than you are now, you wouldn't be able to deal with the torment. Live. Or die. The choice is yours."

"You monstrosity…." Yuan Kuohai said. Never in his wildest dreams could he have guessed that Yang Qi would be this ambitious and ruthless. He, a mere new recruit, was making a huge scene in the Special Reconnaissance Division and was clearly willing to slaughter anyone who got in his way.

"Monstrosity? If you people hadn't tried to strong-arm my god item away from me, I wouldn't have had to do this. Stupid fools. Little do you know that your fate is yours to set now. You just picked the wrong direction. Alright, hurry up. Do the deed. I have more plans for you once you've done it."

"Oh, how far I've fallen," Yuan Kuohai said. "Fine. Whatever. Sorry, Captain. Don't blame me for this, I'm just going with the flow."

RIP!

Yuan Kuohai unleashed a fist strike, and the captain's head exploded.