Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

As soon as the Euphoria Godstone was unsealed, it began to pulse like a devil embryo, almost like a living thing, not a simple rock. However, Yang Qi had been prepared for something like this. He knew it was a godstone from antiquity, something stained with the blood quintessence of a god-devil. Some such creatures were so incredibly powerful that a single drop of their blood, combined with enough vital energy, could fuel a complete rebirth.

Considering how long this thing had been resting sealed, it was no surprise this was happening.

Throughout history, it was not unheard-of for Euphoria Godstones that had been sealed by Legendaries to eventually be freed because of the corrosive nefarious energy.

The devil embryos inside, which had been slowly absorbing Legendary true energy for years on end, would be very difficult to control or reseal. They could shake the heavens and topple the earth, and bring destruction to the world of men. It was for this exact reason that Grand Elder Feat-Virtue had felt that he was killing two birds with one stone. Not only was he getting rid of the volatile Euphoria Godstone, he was also striking a deadly blow at Yang Qi.

Of course, it was the exact opposite. It was a big help to Yang Qi.

Right now, the devil embryo was undergoing rapid, constant transformations. Black energy swirled everywhere, destroying the Nine-Yang Immortal Energy, accompanied by a shrill cry that seemed capable of extracting the souls from humans. Apparently, some wretch-god or similar creature was on the verge of appearing.

In fact, it even spoke to Yang Qi. “Exercise faith in me, and acquire endless euphoria. Spurn me, and acquire endless pain….”

Apparently, the devil embryo contained the incomplete will of some wretch-god of ancient times, whose devilish will would attempt to force anyone it encountered to acknowledge allegiance.

It was a mighty entity, much more powerful than any Nonary Lifeseizer, and even stronger than many Legendary grand elders. The wretch energy it contained was strong enough to be the bane of any righteous technique, and even worse, when this wretch-god actually emerged from the god stone, it would open a mysterious passageway within the stone itself, a link to the Hell of Euphoria from which enormous amounts of wretch energy would belch forth.

Generally speaking, Euphoria Godstones weren’t connected to the power of space-time; they only contained a wretched and fiendish life force quintessence. However, the quintessence-blood in this stone did contain the power of space, which was further influenced by the magical laws that were part of the sealing marks. The long-term influence of that combination ensured that the wretch-god would indeed have some command over the godly power of space-time.

Just like the Gate of the Great Void or the Pearl of the Thousand Illusions World, it could break through powerful shackles to reach an alternate space-time from which it could extract the vital energy and power of the universe itself.

As Yang Qi watched the wretch-god taking shape and becoming more powerful, he immediately took action.

“You will acknowledge allegiance to me, wretch-god!” he said. Obviously, if he let the thing get any more powerful, and truly break free, it would not only affect him, it would affect the Rich-Lush Continent as a whole. And he would be powerless to stop it.

His Infernal Deity Plate Armor spread out, the color of porcelain, burning with bright fire that made him look like a god from heaven, capable of purifying anything he encountered. His Infernal Deity Spear appeared in his hand, a glorious weapon designed by the legion of gods to cast judgement on the fiend-devils of hell, and to subjugate all forms of wretch energy. His Fiend-Devil Wings spread out behind him, burning with the Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World. And his Hellfire Crucible focused all of his power to attack the wretch-god.

“Nightfall Symphony!” he said, thrusting his spear out with all of the enlightenment he had gained regarding the technique to use it. Night fell, encompassing the wretch-god, and at the same time, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, which was the bane of wretch energy, caused the creature to collapse into smoke, and start fading away.

“No!” it screamed defiantly in the voice of ancient devils. Reaching out with vicious claws, it tried to grab the Infernal Deity Spear.

Whoosshhhh!

The spear stabbed through its claws, and the Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World raged, burning away the wretch energy, cleansing the fiendishness. The Hellfire Crucible grew larger, causing the Euphoria Godstone to hiss, and the flesh and blood sealed within it to slowly collapse into green smoke.

The wretch-god embryo was being damaged on the level of its essence, and was beginning to fade into nothing.

But then, the Euphoria Godstone suddenly twitched, causing spatial cracks to appear around it, from which poured wretch energy of an immensely powerful nature.

“Have faith in me, gain endless euphoria….” its voice echoed. Its eyes were fixed on Yang Qi as it fought to control his heart and mind, drawing upon the devil arts of wretch-gods to suppress him. Suddenly, some sort of weapon appeared in its hand, a blood-red sickle with a long haft, an energy weapon that seemed designed to harvest souls.

It was a god weapon from hell, apparently related to the Infernal Deity Spear in some way. Not bothering with any true energy, the wretch-god hefted the sickle and then slashed it toward Yang Qi’s neck, hoping to remove his head and take his soul.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi’s soul was the bane of hell. The Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was already a fundamental part of him; he was the godmammoth, and the godmammoth was him. Not only could he stand up to this powerful wretch-god, he would come out on top, and learn more about the true meaning of hell from the experience.

“Nightfall Symphony!”

As his spear slashed through the air, musical notes drifted about, filling the air with music that could shake the mind and heart.

However, even as the wretch-god’s sickle was eaten away at by the Nightfall Symphony, it began to emanate a baleful, grievous tune of its own.

“Soul-Quelling Sonata!”

It was a wretched, ancient song designed to drag the souls of humans into the Hell of Nine Serenities.

Two hellish weapons were clashing, causing enormous booming sounds to echo out everywhere.

This wretch-god was incredibly powerful.

It was stronger than an ordinary Legendary, while Yang Qi himself was still only a Septenary Lifeseizer. Although he was invincible to all other Lifeseizers, and on top of that, cultivated a godly-class energy art, he was still having trouble handling this wretch-god.

Luckily, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was a bane to creatures like this; every stab of his spear sucked away some of the wretch-god’s wretch energy, and weakened the Euphoria Godstone. As that happened and the sealing mark of blood was weakened further, massive amounts of life force quintessence rushed out.

The Nine-Yang Immortal Energy that made up the spell formation around Yang Qi writhed and churned as the battle raged on. As time passed, Yang Qi grew stronger; each attack he made seemed capable of destroying anything wretched and evil, until eventually, it was impossible to see him. He was surrounded by mysterious true energy that looked like an enormous god with an elephantine head and a human body, whose massive trunk inhaled all of the wretch-god’s wretch energy, and turned it into nourishment.

The longer Yang Qi fought, the stronger he got.

And the wretch-god grew weaker and weaker, albeit, more and more fierce.

“Give me your soul!” it growled in Helltongue. Its blood-red sickle slashed back and forth through the air, following a deadly path of prescribed motion that closed in around Yang Qi.

‘The perfect opportunity!’ he thought. He suddenly vanished, and the sickle slashed through nothing but air. When he reappeared, he was atop the wretch-god's head, seated cross-legged in the form of a godmammoth.

The wretch-god let out a bloodcurdling scream as it was sucked back into the Hellfire Crucible, which erupted with massive flames. The Euphoria Godstone completely broke open, causing black-gold energy to spill out. At the same time, the power of space spilled out of the stone, combined with wretched, evil energy that filled Yang Qi.

‘Hell Portal, form!’

Without even taking time to think about it, he drew upon the true meaning of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth to cultivate the technique of the Hell Portal. Behind him, a gateway appeared, complete with a swirling vortex of death, evil, and destruction….

This portal really did lead to hell. To the Hell of Euphoria!

The Hell Portal required the power of space to operate, which was normally the thing of Legendaries. Yang Qi was no Legendary, so he shouldn’t have been able to gain enlightenment of the portal. But with the Euphoria Godstone, complete with the blood of an ancient devil-god, blood that contained the power of space, and the aura of the Hell of Euphoria, Yang Qi succeeded. He had personally made contact with a most wretched and evil place!

The Euphoria Godstone was now melting away.

The wretch-god was also fading away into the Hellfire Crucible, becoming the building blocks for the Hell Portal. Yang Qi felt himself trembling along with the surrounding area as masses of wretch energy exploded from the Hell Portal, which was filled with the wretched, powerful life force quintessence of hell.

Just like the Pearl of the Thousand Illusions World or the Gate of the Great Void, the Hell Portal could be used to harvest true energy from alternate dimensions, the type that vastly surpassed the spirit energy of heaven and earth. In this case, Yang Qi was able to harvest the true energy of the Hell of Euphoria.

To ordinary cultivators, and even to demon-devils, this type of energy would be fatal. But to Yang Qi, it was essentially life force quintessence.

The things that lived in hell had to deal with the most horrid environment, which was why only those with powerful life force could exist there.