Yang Qi’s attack with the Infernal Deity Spear seemed to be a deadly blow designed to kill Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. In fact, he spun the spear in a way that ensured it filled all parallel universes, and thrummed with the ultimate dao of universal destruction.

In that moment, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven felt the shadow of death looming over him. The power of hell seeped into his head and forced out his most powerful magical treasure, the śarīra of the Rage God.

The tip of the Infernal Deity Spear stabbed into the śarīra, which immediately began belching burning ragefire. The spear began trembling, but Yang Qi was ready, and sent the power of the God Legion Seal coursing through it. The śarīra then dropped into Yang Qi’s hand, and the spear continued onward, stabbing into Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s head and filling his sea of consciousness with the deadly power of hell.

The Grand Emperor was instantly wracked with intense pain, his soul assailed with intense force that would turn him into nothing but a zombie-like puppet within moments.

When the Grand Emperor realized he had no hope of surviving, he shouted, “Take revenge for me! The rest of you sacrifice your beast kings and get out of here!”

BOOM!

His two beast king clones appeared and began thrumming with power.

“Hurry!” Eldest Brother Secundus shouted anxiously, his hands flashing an incantation as he summoned his three beast king clones and sent them to join the two from Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven.

By this point, everyone was convinced that retreat was their only option, so they threw their own clones into the mix. Even Leaf Dao-Denier sacrificed his remaining clones.

Eleven clones merged together to form an enormous, roaring beast king that thrummed with the wild nature of the ancient god world as it unleashed a devastating attack toward the spell formation locking down the temple.

Upon seeing this, Yang Qi summoned a primal-chaos elder-snake to deal with the beast king.

With the formation having been broken, Eldest Brother Secundus led the others to become a blur of light that shot out through the resulting gap. Patriarch Annalist and the four suzerains could do nothing to stop them.

Meanwhile, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was left behind, with no hope whatsoever of defeating Yang Qi.

“What a pity,” Yang Qi murmured. He was too wrapped up in dealing with the beast king and Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven to do anything to interfere.

“Be crushed, beast king!” Yang Qi said, summoning the Many Heavens God Seal, which handily sealed the beast king and sucked it into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

The beast king was as strong as numerous Grand Emperors, and also had some of the blood of an Eternal One and a Fortuned One. Assimilating it would be of immense benefit to Yang Qi. In fact, it might provide enough power to get Yang Qi onto the first minor stair of the Deathless Heavenly Stairway.

Crack!

Yang Qi pushed the Infernal Deity Spear deeper into Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, causing the grand emperor to slowly start stiffening up.

“

Infernal Deity Spear: Imprison the Sea of Consciousness!

”

The Devil-God Seal flowed out of the Infernal Deity Spear and into Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s mind, locking it down. For now, Yang Qi didn’t want to kill him. After all, he was still the official league-lord that had been accepted by all the old-timers.

Deng! Dong! Ding!

Yang Qi sat down on the league-lord’s throne and rang the bells, summoning everyone back to the temple.

Raising his voice, he said, “Elders, god-generals, and dharmarajas of the Dao Defense League, I have quelled the rebellion. Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven is no longer fit to serve as league-lord, and as you can see, I have taken him captive. The time has come to restructure our alliance to ensure that we remain the strongest organization in existence, with complete control over the age in which we live.”

The old-timers present all trembled in fear. The battle that had just been fought would be considered rare even in the Primeval Age. How could one person fight against so many top experts? But Yang Qi had done it, and had defeated them all. It was something the likes of which you would expect from gods, not immortals.

Some of the more treacherous old-timers, and those who had been simply waiting on the sidelines to see which way the wind blew, were completely won over. There was definitely no one who would ever challenge Yang Qi for his spot now.

That was especially true considering that he had Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven captive at his side.

“Oh exalted Emissary of Radiance and Light,” one of the god-generals said, stepping forward, “we can now clearly see how stubborn Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven was. He actually wanted to revive the core teachings and doctrines of the Heavenly Court and slaughter us immortals like livestock. There’s no way we can forgive such behavior. And now, I would like to be the first to suggest you step in as the new league-lord!”

Other old-timers immediately joined the god-general in supporting Yang Qi, and some even began kowtowing. 

“I agree. I also nominate the emissary to be the new league-lord.”

“Let’s kowtow to the new league-lord! May he live for ten thousand autumns and rule for all eternity!”

Some of them were secretly cursing themselves for not voicing support for Yang Qi earlier. Obviously, those who were on his good side would receive plenty of benefits.

“Excellent!” Yang Qi said. “Now bring forth all of Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s henchmen, as well as the Deathless Corps, to be executed. Suzerains of hell, you take the lead in this!”

“Yes sir!” the four suzerains said, leaping into motion. Soon, shouting and yelling could be heard as people such as Daoist Great Void were dragged into the middle of the Heaven-Dao Operation God-Temple.

The suzerains executed them all, burning them with devilfire. Their dying screams only went to further reinforce how brutal the league-lord was, and how crossing him was a very bad idea.

After it was done, Yang Qi said, “If you wish me to serve as league-lord, then I will. Henceforth, the new Emissary of Radiance and Light will be Patriarch Annalist. There will no longer be an Emissary of Darkness and Gloom. The Dao Defense League is an alliance of righteousness, and we will not tolerate pure evil. Starting today, the Emissary of Darkness and Gloom will become the Emissary of Righteousness. Obviously, the devilwitch Wave Charm cannot serve in that capacity, so I will appoint someone to replace her. From now on, cultivators of the dao of devils will be required to train with the Emissary of Righteousness.”

Suddenly, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven burst out into maniacal laughter. “See? All of you, look! Your new league-lord is nothing short of a dictator! When I was in charge, I followed the normal process to select the emissaries, but he's going to make arbitrary rulings! Dictatorships are always brutal affairs! Your end days have come! A vicious and merciless person like this will only bring you persecution and misery.”

SMACK!

Yang Qi slapped him across his face, which immediately began swelling up. Of course, because he was sealed, he couldn’t use even a scrap of his energy arts.

“On your knees!” Yang Qi said. 

Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven had no choice but to comply, although he was so angry he was about to pass out. “You dirty little swine! How dare you torment me! I'm one of the Grand Emperors of the Heavenly Court! Kill me if you want, but how dare you insult me!”

“You’re the one being insulting!” one of the god-generals shouted, stepping forward. “This Grand Emperor needs to be executed on the spot! Only that will ease the hatred in our hearts. Oh exalted League-Lord, we implore you to put him to death immediately; under no circumstances can he be left alive.”

Everyone was shocked to see the previously high and mighty Grand Emperor being so easily pushed around by Yang Qi, and it only served to further reinforce his majesty.

CRACK!

The Hell Scourge appeared in Yang Qi’s hands, and he waved the god-general away. “It’s only natural that I’ll beat Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven to death. However, before I do, I want to make it very clear what will happen going forward. Those who follow me without resistance will receive untold benefits, and might even have a chance at godly ascension. But those like Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven who defy and rebel against me will suffer a dismal fate.  This is the Hell Scourge, each lash of which brings the torment of countless hells. Perhaps if you can endure the lashings of this whip, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven, I’ll allow you to experience a quick death afterward.”

“Bring it on, you swine!” Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven shouted. “Bring it on!” 

SMACK!

As soon as the whip hit him, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven’s face twitched, and it looked like he was about to scream. Instead, he bit his tongue so hard it began bleeding.

One lash turned into two. Then three. Then ten. Eventually, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven couldn’t take it any longer, and started squealing like a dying pig. “Stop! I can’t take this anymore. Just kill me. Let it end!”

He was now twitching and writhing so much that he didn’t look anything at all like a Grand Emperor.

Those in the audience exchanged awkward glances. The sight of Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven acting in this way caused goosebumps to crawl up their spines.

However, Yang Qi didn’t stop. “You have no choice but to endure, Grand Emperor Ragefire Broilheaven. No choice at all.”

After a few dozen more lashes, the Grand Emperor finally began begging. “Yang Qi… League-Lord… mercy! Spare me! I’ll work for you like an animal. I’ll be your slave. Just stop the lashing! I’ll give you my faith. I’ll become a believer!”

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