Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

“Don't get angry, Senior!” Yang Qi blurted, intentionally making himself look nervous. “You’ve truly reached an invincible level in which reality and illusion mix. The truth is that heaven and earth are nothing but an enormous illusion. There isn’t even a need to distinguish what reality is. We’re not interested in causing problems for you, we really just want to open that seal. However, we have to have insurance that you won’t hurt us afterward.”

This sudden change of tone was obviously a surprise to Doom, who wasn't sure exactly what Yang Qi was up to.

As for the masked face, it seemed to calm down a bit.

“Are you being serious?” the face asked. Obviously, it really did want Yang Qi and the others to help unseal it.

“Of course I’m being serious!” Yang Qi said, nodding vigorously. “We just want to live through this, not cause problems for you. As long as you promise not to hurt us after you’re free, it would be our honor to unseal you, Senior. Besides, you’ll surely reward us handsomely, so there’s no way we would foolishly treat you like an enemy.”

The masked face seemed to calm down even more. “Excellent. I'm already feeling much better about this. Fine, I hereby swear not to harm you, and should I violate this oath, let me be executed by a myriad of gods. Is that better? You see, I just want to get back to the god world, and the truth is that my prison here is actually one of the exits of the Great Necropolis. In other words, it leads to the Ancient Road to the Gods. Enter here, and you can benefit greatly. Of course, there will be dangers, and it will be a big challenge. Are you willing to give it a shot?”

“Danger is exactly what we were looking for!” Doom said. By now, he realized that Yang Qi was conning the masked face, and decided to go along. After all, none of them had any idea what deal the thing had struck with Proud Heaven. And what exactly was sealed within that coffin? Upon being freed, would it attack them? There were many more questions, but unfortunately, the only thing they could do right now was take a bit of a risk. And perhaps they could even figure out a way to free themselves, the same as Proud Heaven had done.

“Very well then,” the masked face said. “Come over here and step into my coffin. The sealing mark is at the bottom.”

Grating sounds rang out as the coffin expanded, and a red whirlpool appeared inside of it, which tugged Yang Qi and his companions into it.

At that point, Yang Qi realized just how terrifying the masked face really was.

It was impossible to see what the mask covered, such as the facial features. However, it was possible to see that there was skin underneath it. It was a very horrifying sight overall.

Soon, they were right over the coffin. Looking down, they could only see a hazy mist that faded into complete darkness. It seemed like a very wretched and evil place, and they could hear the howling of ghosts inside. And the power that pulsed inside left them feeling very uneasy.

Suddenly, a godly wind blew out of the coffin, and as it passed along Yang Qi and his companions, they shivered down to their bones.

“What kind of wind is that?” Proud World said, wrapping his arms around himself to ward off the cold.

“It’s a netherdrift nightgale!” the masked face said, chuckling coldly. “It’s designed to corrode the bodies of gods, and ultimately disperse their spiritual and physical souls. The fact that you, who aren’t even gods, can stand up to it, just goes to show how useful the God Legion Seal and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth can be. Imagine, I've been imprisoned in this coffin, constantly battered by the netherdrift nightgale. Now you can truly understand the vicious nature of my imprisoner.”

“Senior,” Yang Qi said, “how exactly did you end up here?”

The face chuckled again, causing their skin to crawl. “You want to know how I ended up here? Sadly, not even I know. I only know that when the Great Necropolis appeared in the god world, it caused a huge commotion. A lot of god-spirits went inside to explore, but they died, one after another. That’s where all the godhood inside the necropolis comes from. What did you think? That some archenemy of mine sealed me in here? That I came in here to explore, was plotted against, and ended up stuck? That I want revenge, and want to open up the Ancient Road to the Gods to get back to the god world?”

Although his words were full of lies, Yang Qi had at least picked up some new information. The Great Necropolis had appeared without warning in the god world, and no one knew why. Not even the gods knew what the necropolis was, so who had sent it?

“Boy, those bubbles of yours are really amazing. Definitely on par with the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Although, I'm curious why, despite being a bearer of the God Legion Seal, you don’t actually have the seal with you.” The masked face exhaled deeply, temporarily suppressing the netherdrift nightgale, and relieving some of the corrosive pressure. “Why not just bring out your God Legion Seal and use it to defend against the wind? If you don’t, you’re going to have a rough time.”

“I'm in no hurry,” he replied calmly. “When the time comes that I need the seal, then I’ll use it.” With the Purrfect God Art bubble surrounding the four of them, they headed into the coffin. "Alright, Senior, we’re going to undo this sealing mark.”

Upon entering the coffin, they instantly felt as though they were in a different heaven and earth. Everything around them was misty and hazy, and the blowing netherdrift nightgale was constantly corroding the bubble. However, Yang Qi wasn’t worried. He simply exhaled some true energy, causing the bubble to build back up around them.

Something was just barely visible up ahead, so Yang Qi opened his Lord's Eye, revealing a wide plain littered with corpses. They were gods, but under the effects of the netherdrift nightgale, they were now little more than patchy skin draped over bleached bones.

CRACK!

One of the corpses finally completely succumbed to the netherdrift nightgale and collapsed into dust.

“Head further in,” echoed the voice of the masked face. “Do you see the sealing mark yet? It’s right in the very middle, atop an altar.”

Yang Qi spotted the altar. It was impossible to tell what it was crafted from, but it seemed completely unaffected by the blowing winds. And it was bright red, just like the coffin itself. It was covered with paper talismans, as well as a golden streak that seemed to have been left behind after someone had struck the altar with a mighty blow that weakened the altar to the point where it was still and silent.

It almost looked like a writhing golden dragon, and it smacked of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

It must have been left there by Proud Heaven.

“Good, you found the altar,” the masked face said excitedly. “Hurry up and use your Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth on it. Once you break the sealing mark, I’ll be free. Then I can help you reach the Ancient Road to the Gods.”

“What do we do?” Doom asked Yang Qi via will projection. “Do we use our techniques, or not?”

He knew it was a critical moment of life or death. If they broke the sealing mark, it would probably spell disaster for them. But if you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off, and right now they didn’t seem to have many options to pick from. Since Yang Qi was taking the lead, Doom wanted to know what his plan was.

“Simple, we help him unravel the sealing mark,” Yang Qi replied. “Come, Brother Doom. We’ll do it together. When our versions of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth combine with Proud Heaven’s, it will open the sealing mark and free the masked face. We need to make sure to absorb the power of Proud Heaven’s version. Right now, we have our two versions combined, but if we can get more of its quintessence, we’ll definitely get a lot stronger.”

Without any further ado, he launched a palm strike right at the sealing mark.

As his blow closed in, winds screamed around him and the paper talismans tried to fight back. He didn't care. The trumpeting of godmammoths surrounded him as he held nothing back.

When Doom saw Yang Qi going all out with his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he joined him, using his most powerful attack.

The two versions of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth combined, slamming into the altar and causing golden light to flare. The altar shuddered, then cracked open, causing an ice-cold energy to erupt out that threw the netherdrift nightgale into chaos.

Almost immediately, the altar began tugging at the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, pulling it in. The Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the most domineering power in all heaven and earth, thus, Yang Qi could immediately see how strong this altar was. It could suck in any and all kinds of power.