Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

There were roughly a dozen fiend-devils here, and considering that ordinary fiend-devils couldn’t even enter this location, it was obvious they were all top experts. It only took them a brief moment to fan out and create a spell formation around Yang Qi.

Yet Yang Qi simply clasped his hands behind his back and casually said, “Are you all fiend-devils from the Ancient Road to the Gods? Aren’t you the least bit worried that causing problems for me will bring reprisals from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect? We’re one of the top sects from the Ancient Road to the Gods, and everyone knows us. I suggest you don’t bring trouble down on yourselves.”

One of the fiend-devils cackled and said, “The Will Manifestation Heaven Sect does have an impressive reputation, but we couldn't care less about that. Besides, you people hunt and kill fiend-devils regardless of whether we kill you or let you go free. This is the Land of God Extermination! You people kill fiend-devils here for training purposes, and even use our corpses to forge magical treasures. The enmity between you and us is as deep as a sea!”

“There’s no point in wasting words on this brat.”

“Yeah, just activate the formation and kill him.”

“Be careful, everyone. This punk obviously has a high cultivation base. The fact that he made it through the blood river proves that he’s definitely strong. Stay united and kill him as quickly as possible. Who knows how many useful treasures we might be able to get from him. Remember, our main goal here is to unravel those sealing marks. And considering how many other fiend-devils have been assigned to this task, we need to take advantage of every possible opportunity, here. In fact, why don’t we turn this guy into a zombie puppet?”

“That’s a good idea! Come on, kill him!”

After communicating via divine will, the fiend-devils reached an agreement and began pulsing with devil energy. Because of the intensity of the magical laws in the area, even the combined might of these fiend-devils was only enough to create a spell formation that was roughly ten thousand square meters in diameter. However, the formation was filled with a fog of pure devil energy.

“Constrict!”

The leader of the fiend-devils was an asura, who pulsed with an aura of battle and whose skin was covered with a multitude of scars that bore witness to his ample experience. Not only was he physically imposing, but he also had a power index of over three thousand, and the energy flows he released with his attacks were no weaker than any of the chief disciples.

RUMBLE!

The attack he sent toward Yang Qi seemed like one of the most deadly killing moves from the Hell of Suras, the fabled Asura Devil-Crushing Fist.

Purplish-blue light shot from his fingernails, filled with toxicity so deadly it could kill the most elite experts. In fact, even a tiny scratch from it could be fatal.

However, Yang Qi hardly even looked at it. Thrusting his hand out, he used the most powerful move that he had picked up from Emperor Heart-Celestial’s suite of attacks, the Monarch Hegemony. It was a devastating move that resembled a monarch campaigning throughout the lands, and it contained millions of different types of forces, all of which interlocked and spread out like an army, conquering anything in its path.

The attack hit the asura, who was sent flying backward to slam into a wall before dropping to the ground, where he tried to struggle to his feet, but failed. Clearly, he had suffered severe internal injuries.

“You think a bit too much of yourself,” Yang Qi said in a cool voice. He took a step forward, and the vibration of his footfalls completely shattered the devil formation and sent the fiend-devils flying.

Some of the fiend-devils immediately turned to flee, but Yang Qi was too fast. He grabbed them and slapped the Devil-God Seal on them, then shrank them down into tiny pearls.

Before long, all of the fiend-devils had been converted into pearls, the largest of which was that of the asura leader. The fiend-devil energy pulsing from the pearls pierced into Yang Qi with deadly intent, but he easily neutralized it, then used it to strengthen the sealing marks he had created.

He now had a bracelet of roughly twenty pearls that used to be fiend-devils, the weakest of which had a power index of about two thousand. Together, they formed a magical treasure of such terrifying power that it could easily destroy a top-tier sect in the Great Necropolis. That said, if the fiend-devils were released, the first thing they would try to do would be to kill whoever controlled the pearls. Therefore, Yang Qi planned to keep them around and eventually convert them into angels. Then, when the pearls were holy in nature, this thing would be a truly formidable magical treasure.

After handling the fiend-devils, Yang Qi passed through the square to a temple beyond it, within which was a huge altar. Approaching the altar, he saw that it was covered with sealing marks formed from god talismans. He also sensed the energy of godhood.

However, even as he walked toward the altar, he suddenly shivered in shock as he realized that there were hordes of fiend-devils in the temple. Most were gathered in groups of three to five, and it almost looked like they were having a meeting of some sort.

Many of the fiend-devils were locked in conversation, causing a buzz to fill the air. Yang Qi’s mind nearly spun from the chaotic convergence of voices and divine wills.

Without hesitation, he backed up and left the temple hall.

Yang Qi was generally brave and fierce, but the sight of such a host of fiend-devils caused even him to shiver. After all, even he had his limits.

Besides, based on what he could sense, there were a few of the fiend-devils who warped the magical laws around them so intensely that he suspected they were at the Terrifying level. And if they weren’t, they were so close to that level that they definitely surpassed Empress Joyflower by several times over.

Although Yang Qi had nothing to fear from Empress Joyflower, and could even defend himself against her, killing her wouldn’t be an easy task.

Besides, some of these fiend-devils were definitely stronger than her. And if they joined forces, then even if he were a bit stronger, he would still meet a grisly end. The only way to even think about facing a group like this would be to have Terrifying will.

Sadly, his attempt to back out of the temple hall came too late. The cold, wretched gazes of several of the fiend-devils immediately locked on to him, whereupon those fiend-devils rose to their feet.

WHOOSH!

Before Yang Qi could get out, the door slammed shut and a clanking sound could be heard as it locked. As of this moment, Yang Qi was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

All of a sudden, the voice of a woman echoed out. “If you can’t do anything about the situation, you might as well sit back and enjoy it. There’s really no reason for you to run.”

The owner of the voice was both elegant and bewitchingly charming. In fact, she was so enticing that an average man who looked at her would be hard-pressed to suppress his desire. That said, her voice caused many of the surrounding fiend-devils to shrink back in fear. Obviously, she was considered one of their top experts.

‘She's a devil of dreams from the Hell of Nightmares.’ Yang Qi thought. Back in the mortal world, he had once subjugated a dream-devil, so he knew something about the kinds of monsters that came from the Hell of Nightmares.

The only upside to being surrounded by so many fiend-devils was that the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the bane of such creatures, and that would obviously be of some help to him.

Interestingly, the fiend-devils didn’t immediately attack him. Clearly, there were different factions and alliances present, each with different motives and goals.

If they had all pounced on him, he wouldn’t even have a chance to open the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and try to get to the God Legion Seal.

As for the dream-devil, Yang Qi ignored her incredible good looks and tried to get a sense of her power index, but failed. It was almost as if she were a spirit body with no power at all. Of course, that just went to indicate that she was someone of incredible power, connected to heaven, earth, and the essence of all things.

Even if he had the Cruiser of Civilization with him, he still wouldn’t be able to get a sense of her power index, much less her psychic scale.

“Miss, I’m just a common disciple from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. I really had no intention of interrupting your meeting here. Please, I hope you can accept my apology. What say we simply keep out of each other’s affairs?” He kept his tone light and frivolous, but the truth was that, inside, he was ready to strike with deadly force at a moment's notice.

The dream-devil laughed. “How quaint, boy. I have to say, I'm really surprised that a lowly disciple like you would dare to run your mouth like that in front of me. Even a Terrifying expert from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect would be completely on guard in a situation like this. But instead, you’re trying to seize the initiative. When did the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect get a disciple like you?”

“I'm not quite sure what you mean, Miss. Carry on with your meeting, I’ll take my leave.”

“You won’t find it that easy to just leave,” another fiend-devil said. “You might as well have stumbled right into hell, boy. Even if the legion of gods showed up here, they would probably still end up dead.”

This particular fiend-devil was so old that he almost seemed covered with the dust of history. He had a long white beard and a stooped frame, and looked like he was on death’s door. However, from the way the surrounding fiend-devils prostrated themselves before him, it made him seem almost like a revered sage.

‘A fiend-devil from the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās!?’ Yang Qi thought, shocked. Never in his wildest imaginations could he have guessed that he would run into a fiend-devil like this. According to the stories, the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās was actually stronger than the Hell of Mahānata, and was a place that was literally inhabited by sages and mahātmās who espoused the saying I will sacrifice myself and go to hell before I let anyone else do so. It had once been the foremost leader among all the other hells, but had later vanished, to the point where even Yang Qi’s Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth couldn’t sense its existence.

Of course, considering that he only had one third of the full Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, that meant he could only sense one third of the hells that existed. And some of those hells were immense places that existed in the very depths of the universe.

1. I usually try to keep the unique Chinese metaphors and sayings, but in this case, what I'm translating as “even he had his limits” is just too off-the-wall, even for me. It literally says, “his whole body was made from metal, but how many nails could he actually make (become)?” The point is that there are limits to what he can do, in this case, fight or defend himself.

2. He met Queen Dream-Devil from the Hell of Nightmares in .