Chapter 234: Becoming a Holy Neophyte
Considering what the chancellor had just said, Yang Qi knew that the moment of danger had pa.s.sed.
Not only would he be a holy neophyte, he would be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Crown Prince. In fact, the chancellor would consider him as a possible successor.
Of course, Yang Qi only half-trusted the man at best. He always worded things so vaguely that it was impossible to tell exactly what he was up to.
But there was one thing that was for sure. The G.o.d Legion Seal and its mysterious power ensured that the chancellor viewed Yang Qi as being of a similar level of power as himself. In fact, he feared him. And to forestall a major event that could shake the Demi-Immortal Inst.i.tute as a whole, he was simply letting him do what he wanted.
Although it was impossible to tell what his long term plans were, Yang Qi was confident that his own immediate future in the Demi-Immortal Inst.i.tute was secure, at least until the Crown Prince emerged from seclusion. And there was still the chance that Young Master Shroud-Heaven and Hua Tianxiong would succeed in their effort to kill him.
Unfortunately, Yang Qi had the sneaking suspicion that the a.s.sa.s.sination effort would fail.
There was some mysterious fate or destiny that the Crown Prince was part of, something that connected him with heaven itself, something that would make killing him very, very difficult.
‘That’s fine! If they fail, I’ll kill him myself. Besides, he blasphemed the legion of G.o.ds, and profaned the light of the Lord. It should be me who exacts punishment anyway.’ The boundless thinking of the G.o.dmammoths had already begun to overtake Yang Qi, to the point where he felt like he was an incarnation of the Sovereign Lord.
“Yang Qi,” the chancellor said.
“Yes?” Yang Qi replied, in a somewhat more respectful tone of voice than before. Considering that the chancellor was backing down, it was only appropriate to refrain from impudence.
Besides, he didn’t have complete control over the G.o.d Legion Seal. For all he knew, he could find himself in a dangerous situation, only to get no help from it. If that happened, he would end up dead. Right now, the best thing to do was quit while ahead.
“I’ll issue the decree right now naming you a holy neophyte, in front of all these witnesses.” The glowing incarnation of the chancellor waved his hand, causing the color to return to the world, and allowing everyone to move again.
“The chancellor’s here!”
“Did he come to put Yang Qi in his place?”
“Quiet down and listen to the chancellor.” Once again, silence filled the area, although this time it was the mere sight of the chancellor, and the sensation of his aura.
Eyes burning with rage, Master Jadecrux shouted, “Chancellor, you have to take charge here. This heretical wretch-devil Yang Qi started attacking the grand elders! Grab him and execute him! That"s the only way to maintain the dignity and authority of the inst.i.tute!”
Several of the Seven Preheaven Masters had been hit so badly by Yang Qi that they were lying motionless in pools of their own blood. They usually acted like high-and-mighty experts, but now, they had been thoroughly vanquished.
The fact that the Seven Preheaven Masters, Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, Three Pure Yang Elders and Grand Elder Feat-Virtue had all joined forces to try to kill Yang Qi left many of the bystanders completely shocked. To them, he seemed both mysterious and vicious, almost like the Crown Prince himself.
Some of them had been thinking about joining in on the attack, but now, such thoughts were gone.
A mere Blood-Form Legendary had just fought back against a whole host of top experts, making him less a person and more like a devil-G.o.d emerged from the distant past. Most telling of all, he had the Grand Emperor"s PaG.o.da.
In the end, it was the chancellor who would have to make the final decision about what to do.
Grand Elder Feat-Virtue had been one of the very first to begin opposing Yang Qi. Now, he raised his voice and shrieked, “That’s right, Chancellor! This h.e.l.lion Yang Qi is a complete wretch-devil. He was just using a devil art, rife with wretch energy. He’s not even human! You must kill him, immediately! Announce to everyone under heaven that his clan will be executed, and anyone close to him will be exterminated. Friends, family, everyone with even the slightest connection to him will be eradicated!”
Grand Elder Feat-Virtue was really trying to provoke a slaughter.
When he realized that Yang Qi was just staring at him menacingly, he continued to shout, “With the chancellor here, brat, your hysterics are over! Go ahead! Go crazy again and see what happens. Chancellor, his most powerful a.s.set is a magical treasure, the Grand Emperor"s PaG.o.da. If you take that away from him, we can handle the rest. The Grand Emperor"s PaG.o.da belongs to the Crown Prince, so for this kid to have it is a travesty of heavenly proportion.”
“Everybody shut your mouths!” the chancellor said, immediately silencing the area. “I"m fully aware of everything about Yang Qi. You think you can just throw around some false charges and then kill him? Downright outrageous! If everyone went around acting like you, how could any talent ever arise in the inst.i.tute?”
RUUUUMBLE! The chancellor"s voice shook the entire area like thunder, leaving the crowd literally stunned. As of this moment, everyone knew that the chancellor was siding with Yang Qi.
Grand Elder Feat-Virtue was still not ready to give up.
“Chancellor!” he shouted. “You said with your own mouth that the Crown Prince was your successor.”
“That’s right, I said the Crown Prince will succeed me. But according to the rules of the Demi-Immortal Inst.i.tute, until he is actually the chancellor, he is nothing more than that: a successor. And there can be other possible successors, all of whom will struggle for dominance. There’s no need for any more from you Grand Elder Feat-Virtue, got it?” Suddenly, the chancellor’s gaze turned sharp, striking into Grand Elder Feat-Virtue like a bolt of lightning. Obviously, there was nothing he could do to fight back, considering that the chancellor was a Great Sage.
Seeing that everyone was remaining silent, the chancellor said, “Hear my command.”
“Yes sir!” the grand elders all said, bowing formally. “We will abide by your edicts, Chancellor!”
“Promote Yang Qi to holy neophyte. Reward him with five thousand supreme-grade spirit stones, and grant him land in the Minorcosm World. Record the matter immediately, and follow through with all the rewards post haste. Understand?”
“Yes sir!”
“I’ll take the grand elders he injured with me, to treat them in the Soul Rejuvenation Cistern. Whether or not they recover will be up to their own luck and fortune.” The chancellor flicked his sleeve, and a whooshing sound could be heard as he vanished with the injured from the Seven Preheaven Masters.
Yang Qi floated back to the ground. Wherever he looked, people averted their gazes, clearly fearful of provoking this fiendish monster.
Everyone knew that Yang Qi had come out the victor in the conflict.
No one in the inst.i.tute would ever dare to countermand the words of the chancellor. Not even the Crown Prince could do such a thing.
However, many people in the crowd were truly confused about why the chancellor was being so charitable. The only person who knew the truth was Yang Qi. The chancellor had outright said that as long has he was strong enough, he could break the rules. Without the G.o.d Legion Seal, it would be a very different story, and the chancellor would definitely have killed him.
“Let’s go!”
Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, Grand Elder Feat-Virtue, the remaining Seven Preheaven Masters, and the Three Pure Yang Elders all knew that they couldn’t remain in the Academy of Sage Studies.
Patriarchs Wind and Cloud had the highest energy arts of the group, and were the quickest to leave.
However, Grand Elder Feat-Virtue seemed to be taking his time. After flying up into the air, he turned to look at Yang Qi with a vicious expression. “You just wait, Yang Qi. Once the Crown Prince is back, you’re dead!”
“Yeah right. Get down here!”
Yang Qi suddenly made a grasping motion, unleashing an energy flow like a dragon. The energy wrapped around Grand Elder Feat-Virtue and dragged him back down to the ground.
“What are you doing, Yang Qi!?” he blurted in shock. All of a sudden, he felt restrictions falling into place all around him, making it impossible for him to flee.
“What am I doing?” Yang Qi said, walking toward him. “Killing you, of course. The enmity between us has not been resolved. I"m a holy neophyte now, and to put things plainly, I need to make a blood sacrifice to commemorate the occasion. You’re it. Thanks to you, everyone in the Demi-Immortal Inst.i.tute will know not to cross me!”
“Yang Qi! You arrogant dog!” Up in the air, the remaining Seven Preheaven Masters, along with the Three Pure Yang Elders and Patriarchs Wind and Cloud all started cursing Yang Qi again. “The chancellor already resolved things, but you"re still acting like a lunatic!? Don’t tell me you really think of the Demi-Immortal Inst.i.tute as powerless? Aren’t you worried about everyone joining forces to kill you? Do you really want to p.i.s.s off the chancellor and the grand elders of law enforcement?!”
“Trash, all of you,” Yang Qi said. His Infernal Deity Spear suddenly appeared in his hand. “The Crown Prince completely defied all the rules back in the Inter-Inst.i.tutional Martial Arts Compet.i.tion. You know why? Power. And do you know why the chancellor didn’t punish me, and in fact, promoted me to holy neophyte? You think it"s because he likes me? No. It"s because I have a backer that could trounce the chancellor in a second! With strength like that, I’m just like the Crown Prince. I can completely ignore the rules.”
“What? You have the backing of a Great Sage?” Patriarchs Wind and Cloud, the Seven Preheaven Masters, and the Three Pure Yang Elders were visibly taken aback by this news.
If it was true that Yang Qi had the backing of a Great Sage, he could easily ignore the rules, just like the Crown Prince.
“Impossible!” Patriarch Cloud said.
“If you don’t believe me, do as you see fit.” Ignoring the other grand elders, Yang Qi took another step toward the trembling Grand Elder Feat-Virtue. All of the people Grand Elder Feat-Virtue had hoped would help him were just looking on, and the result was that pure terror filled his eyes.
The matter had been concluded. Yang Qi was a holy neophyte. However, he was clearly not content with how things had turned out. Unexpectedly, he was going to kill Grand Elder Feat-Virtue in front of all the onlookers. It was an outrageous act that crossed the bottom line for many of the grand elders present.
As of this moment, Yang Qi had become a public enemy that everyone felt they had the right to punish.
But the fact that he was backed by a Great Sage, a person that not even the chancellor dared to defy, meant that the grand elders could do nothing more than look on with hearts pounding. After all, they were all like ants compared to a Great Sage.
Some people present had been planning to notify Personal-Domain Legendaries, in the hopes that they would come to crush Yang Qi.
But then they thought back to what had just occurred with the chancellor. Everyone knew how the chancellor did things, and his actions filled them with fear. The truth was obvious: Yang Qi was backed by someone n.o.body could afford to provoke.