Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The devil disciples had been completely obliterated, leaving behind nothing but some scattered magical treasures mixed in amongst the blood and gore.

Yang Qi absorbed their quintessence energy into something that looked like a pearl, which he then used the Mahātmā Jade to turn into an aspect of his own psyche and will. It didn’t do much in terms of helping him reach the mid Paramount level of will convergence, but it was better than nothing.

The most pressing matter at hand was reaching the next higher level. And to do that, he needed a second piece of the Mahātmā Jade. That was the only way he could reach the Unbounded level.

“You wiped them out, Milord,” said Zhang Jufang. “There is nothing more gratifying than punishing evildoers. What do we do about the servant girl?”

“Deliver her corpse to her family, and compensate them well. Explain that she was killed by disciples from the dao of devils. Take some of the treasures that belonged to the devil disciples and let the family pick some of the best ones. They can serve as both evidence of what happened, and also compensation.”

Although the magical treasures could count as a huge mass of wealth, Yang Qi didn’t need them, so he left them in Zhang Jufang’s care.

Next, Yang Qi knew he would have to deal with reprisals from Lone King Heavenbane from the Emptyhell Throne. Therefore, he simply sat down and waited for the man to come.

Consummate Gods were all incredibly important people in the god world, and Lone King Heavenbane wasn't someone who had only just become a Consummate God.

The Emptyhell Throne was a huge devil church that was no weaker than the House of God Ordainment. That said, they were headquartered a huge distance away, past many continents. Without the use of teleportation portals, it was so far away that it could take decades to fly over from there.

The fact that Lone King Heavenbane’s apprentices had been active in this area indicated that he was also nearby. And that Yang Qi had killed his Greater God apprentices, the man obviously wouldn’t rest until he got revenge.

The loss of four Greater Gods was no small matter. Even in the House of God Ordainment, it would be considered a huge blow. In fact, even just three Greater Gods being killed would be enough for the sect to go all out to exterminate whatever organization the culprit came from.

That said, even the top figures from the Emptyhell Throne couldn’t just waltz right into the territory of the House of God Ordainment. They would need to sneak in carefully to avoid causing an all-out war.

Yang Qi sat waiting for half a month, but the patriarch never showed up. That said, Yang Qi didn't let his guard down. He just sat there cross-legged, meditating and working on his cultivation until the psychic fluctuations caused snow to slowly fall around him.

One evening, as he was working on his cultivation, a strange amalgamation of sounds reached his ears. It was like an invasion of all six senses, sometimes like the buzz of insects, sometimes like the moan of desire. It would change, sometimes being the cry of a child, sometimes being the sigh of a mother. It was like senseless mumblings of mortals, slowly penetrating the heart and mind, and seeking to take control of the sea of consciousness.

“Six Senses Devil Reverberation,” Yang Qi said, opening his eyes. “I'm impressed. Why not show your face, Lone King Heavenbane?”

“So, you're a real expert. Who exactly are you? And how did you detect my presence? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that my favored apprentices were killed by you.” A shadowy figure appeared in the meeting hall, tall and imposing, with a fleshy mass on his forehead that seemed to be a horn of some sort. Other than that, though, he seemed completely ordinary in nature, the type of individual who could easily melt into a crowd.

The fleshy horn was the only strange thing about him.

“I'm sorry, Lone King Heavenbane,” Yang Qi said, “but unfortunately I don’t have any refreshments prepared to entertain you with. I hope you aren’t offended.” As he spoke, Yang Qi assessed the man, confirming that he was a Consummate God.

“Considering you killed my apprentices, we obviously have an irreconcilable enmity between us. So what’s the point of talking about entertaining me? Why did you kill my four apprentices? Do you know what would happen if four Greater Gods from the House of God Ordainment were killed? Do you know what the consequences would be?”

“The sect would send numerous experts to exterminate the culprit,” Yang Qi said.

“That's right,” Lone King Heavenbane replied. “And the Emptyhell Throne will do exactly the same thing. It doesn’t matter how impressive you are, you won’t escape death. That said, before I kill you, I'm curious to know who you are. I don’t recall the House of God Ordainment having a Consummate God like you before. Our Emptyhell Throne still has good sources of information about your sect.”

“I'm not a Consummate God,” Yang Qi replied. “I'm just your run-of-the-mill Lesser God.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Lone King Heavenbane said. “Am I supposed to believe a Lesser God could kill four Greater Gods, and even resist my Six Senses Devil Reverberation? Anyone who isn’t a Consummate God would be destroyed by that technique.”

“Believe what you want. You came here today, alone, to a city controlled by the House of God Ordainment, all because you didn’t want to make a scene. You're worried that if you do, you might not make it out alive. Unfortunately, that wasn't a very wise decision.”

“I don’t care. True confidence stems from superb skill. That said, if I fight you here, then it’s true I won’t be able to get away easily. So how about we select a good location for a duel? It’s obvious that fighting right here isn’t an option. The mere shockwaves would destroy everything around us, including your business.”

“You’re right about that. This is my place of business, so I don't want to do any fighting here. It's nice to have a worthy opponent like you. Those apprentices of yours really were useless. I slaughtered them with hardly any effort at all.”

“Please, come with me. If you don’t, I’ll have no choice but to slaughter your subordinates.” As the words left his mouth, Lone King Heavenbane vanished into thin air.

Yang Qi also vanished, following Lone King Heavenbane out of the city to a mountain region many tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Soon, they were surrounded by endless jungle. At a certain point, Lone King Heavenbane stopped, perching on the branch of a towering tree and waiting for Yang Qi to catch up. “I'm honestly surprised that you could keep up.”

“So this is the place?” Yang Qi said, looking around. “Beautiful mountains. Flowing rivers. This place has great scenery. It’s the perfect place to fight. Oh, by the way, you might as well call out the hidden forces you have waiting here in ambush.”

“What?” said Lone King Heavenbane, looking visibly surprised. “If you knew I set an ambush, why did you come here?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Yang Qi replied, clasping his hands behind his back.

“The ignorant never fear death, do they, boy? You sound very impressive and heroic, but in the end, you're going to die here.” Lone King Heavenbane shook his head. “Devil-Lord Jubilation. Exalted Celestial Exultation. You can come out. I thought we would be dealing with some impressive person from the House of God Ordainment, but as it turns out, my apprentices were killed by this brat.”

“You're right, it's definitely a surprise,” spoke two voices, both of them thrumming with immense devil energy that marked them as boundless patriarchs from the dao of devils.

They had pallid faces, and one wore black while the other wore white. They almost looked like the legendary Heibai Wuchang. As for their energy arts, they were clearly in the Consummate God level, which meant they were very important in the dao of devils. And they were here to ambush and kill Yang Qi. [1]

Three Consummate Gods were working together to take Yang Qi out.

“Three Consummate Gods?” Yang Qi said, his expression flickering. “Lone King Heavenbane, I almost can’t believe that a grand and mighty person like you, a potentate from the dao of devils, would actually ask for help from people like these. Aren’t you worried about your reputation?”

The white-clothed Exalted Celestial Exultation looked Yang Qi up and down and said, “Reputation? Do you think I lived this long worrying about reputation? I'm not like you people from the dao of righteousness, who spend so much time worrying about standing and prestige. In the god world, you either live or you die. What does reputation count for? Once you walk the dao of devils, you walk it your entire life. And people from the dao of devils value survival and profit, nothing else. So, you’re a Consummate God pretending to be a Lesser God? It’s hard for me to tell for sure one way or the other. If you’re really a Lesser God, you must harbor some heaven-shaking, earth-shattering secret. And if you’re a Consummate God, the fact that you killed some disciples from the Emptyhell Throne means you’ve earned the death sentence.”

Yang Qi laughed. “It sounds like you’re saying that it doesn’t matter who I am, I'm going to die one way or the other.”

“That’s right,” said the black-robed Devil-Lord Jubilation “It doesn’t matter who you are, you’re going to die shortly. Even if you’re really just some Lesser God from the junior generation, we’ll use our most ruthless tactics, and won’t show any mercy. Reputation be damned.”

“Why are you so convinced that I’ll be the one dying, and not you?” Yang Qi asked. “You shouldn’t overestimate yourselves. Alright, let’s get started. I haven't had a fight like this since my latest breakthrough. I'm really curious to see what it’s like to fight three Consummate Gods. Will you three be unable to deal with me, or will my cultivation base be insufficient to kill the three of you?”

“Summon the formation!” Lone King Heavenbane said. He, Devil-Lord Jubilation, and Exalted Celestial Exultation weren’t taking Yang Qi lightly at all. They weren’t the type to be swayed by random things, and definitely weren’t lulled by Yang Qi’s seemingly low cultivation base. Even if he looked like nothing but a pig, they would still go all out to make sure that he died, and there weren't any accidents.

As a result, a huge devil formation popped into being above them, almost like a gigantic turtle shell, covered with countless underworld inscriptions. It looked like some sort of magical device that the infernal deities of hell would use when they waged war against the halls of heaven.

“The Hellfire Reincarnation Disc!” Yang Qi murmured, looking surprised.

1. Heibai Wuchang are two deities from Chinese folk religion. They’re underworld deities who work for Yama, the ruler of the underworld. More info here.