Sage Monarch

Yang Qi had given Emperor Heart-Celestial the authority to handle daily affairs, and help groom talented individuals.

Unfortunately, there were still some parts of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect that weren't yet under Yang Qi's complete control. For instance, the sect had some disciples who were Inheritors, who had long since gone into the depths of the necropolis to search for treasure.

When they finally returned, hopefully they would accept the changes to the sect. Besides, Yang Qi was almost an Inheritor himself. After capturing Profound Valor, he had spent a lot of time studying him to learn his secrets. Before long, he would crack his Inheritor's godseed and learn even more secrets of the Great Necropolis.

The necropolis was a precious treasure that surpassed the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, so it was a given that Yang Qi needed to figure out a way to take control of it. That would be a major asset in his attempt to reach the god world.

The god world was his ultimate destination. As a bearer of the God Legion Seal, he had to eventually go there.

Right now, though, the most pressing issue at hand was how to deal with his greatest enemy, Proud Heaven, as well as whoever had rescued Empress Joyflower from him at the last minute.

From the sword energy that had entered him, he knew that the mysterious savior cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. Furthermore, his cultivation base was pure, and not the result of him being blessed by another. No, he cultivated the technique himself, which meant he had a God Legion Seal. If Yang Qi didn't cultivate the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations, then he definitely would have been killed during their clash.

Right now, he wasn't a match for whoever that mysterious person was.

One thing he was sure of was that it wasn't Proud Heaven, which would seem to indicate that he was likely an expert from the Primeval Age. Although it was unnerving that a person like that was obviously out to get him, there was an upside: it proved that Proud Heaven didn't have two God Legion Seals. There was still a tripartite balance of power. And although Proud Heaven had the most powerful cultivation base of them all, as long as one person acquired two parts of the God Legion Seal, that person would still be able to come out on top. Adding the pieces of the seal together wouldn't just provide a linear increase in power, but would instead provide an exponential boost, similar to what Yang Qi had achieved by combining the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth with the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body.

The more Yang Qi thought about it, the more he wondered who this mysterious person was. He must have saved Empress Joyflower to get information about Proud Heaven. For example, Proud Heaven had the final of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, and one had to wonder what he planned to do with it. Right now, Yang Qi's immortal-slaying clone had the other medallions combined into a shape that was missing something in the middle, like a heart. That was obviously where the final medallion was intended to fit into.

It seemed to indicate that the final medallion was made from King Immortal-Slayer's heart, and it was likely the key to ultimate control over the combined medallion. In that regard, it was sort of like how the Engine of the One God related to the Cruiser of Civilization.

Although Yang Qi and the clone had eight of the medallions, they were still in great danger without that final medallion, as it caused instability in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

On the other hand, even if he had all nine pieces, it would be too dangerous to combine them, lest King Immortal-Slayer's will be resurrected and try to possess his clone.

Right now, his best option was to use the God Legion Seal to keep the medallions suppressed.

Ever since Yang Qi had successfully vanquished his dependency-devils, he didn't need to fully rely on the God Legion Seal, and had taken to leaving it in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Unfortunately, because of that, he felt that his connection with the seal was growing weaker. He even sensed that, if things went on this way, it might eventually fly away on its own to find another host. And if that happened, he might lose his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

The God Legion Seal was like King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. They were both the remnants of boundless entities from long ago, and would spare no effort to ensure their own survival. They had to be attached to a successor, and would stop at nothing to have one.

It was the same with the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body.

The mysteries of that technique were contained in the sheepskin scroll, which was required to cultivate it.

Thankfully, Yang Qi was able to find balance by means of his imperial-heaven pre-beginning powers, so even if he lost his God Legion Seal, he would hopefully be able to continue cultivating the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

He was almost like a mortal emperor who would intentionally pit his subordinates against each other with the intention of helping them grow stronger. And in the end, that would help keep him safe.

But he had to exercise perfect control over everything.

In some ways, it was like playing with fire. If he failed, he would lose everything. But if he succeeded, he would break through all possible constraints and truly become a Fateless One.

As he contemplated the matter, he watched the three flows of true energy interacting, competing, and fighting. It was a constant cycle that led to constant improvement.

What kept it all working was Yang Qi's psychic power and Sovereign Lord True Energy.

'My psychic power still has major room for growth,' Yang Qi thought. 'There are still many more levels to go through. And once I become a Grand Emperor, my power will become even more terrifyingly strong. That said, I can't rush matters. I need to find the Mahātmā Jade before I can really unleash what I've built up.'

Swish!

He left the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and headed straight toward the planes of hell.

Eventually, he was in the void that existed around the various hells, with sinister winds touching his face, and darkness and gloom filled with devil energy. If he reached out, his hand would instantly be enveloped in so much darkness that it would become impossible to see it.

If the immortal worlds were the "yang" side of the universe, then the planes of hell were the "yin" side. Thankfully, his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth made it possible for him to see through the darkness. There were hells scattered about almost like stars in a starry sky. Hells could be very large, and in fact, back when he first came to the Hell of Mahānata, it had seemed so large he couldn't even wrap his mind around it. But now, it wasn't nearly as impressive. The Hell of Mahānata was about as large as a fiftieth ranked immortal world. Its greyspace was actually riddled with holes and marks that allowed vital energy to seep out of it. Its magical laws were actually incomplete. In the end, there was no way that truly powerful experts could ever come from here.

It looked as though a big battle had played out there.

Looking around, he saw that many of the other hells were similarly damaged, and some had even been reduced to ruins.

In the past, he had been too inexperienced to notice things like this, but now it was obvious. Clearly, many hells had been attacked by the legion of gods, killing innumerable fiend-devils.

Unfortunately, there were still some hells that his vision couldn't pierce. After all, he only had one-third of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and twenty-four tribulations from the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body. One of those techniques had been born in hell, and the other had been born to be the bane of hell.

Their combination made him virtually invincible here.

Thankfully, he had learned from the Wretch-God Apostle that Mahātmā Jade originally came from the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās. Although it was rare and elusive, he now intended to search that hell for the jade. Of course, the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās was considered a king among hells, and was even stronger than the Hell of Mahānata.

Unfortunately, he didn't know the exact location of the place.

Therefore, he flew through the darkness and gloom, passing thousands upon thousands of other hells. He saw that there were immortals present who had traveled here to fight the fiend-devils and gain valuable combat experience.

Thanks to the amazing changes to the Immortal Dao Age, the hells were under constant attack, as they were the optimal place for training. Fiend-devils were merciless and brutal, and fighting them was the best way to improve the psyche and will.

Eventually, Yang Qi's traveling led him to a place where he didn't recognize any of the hells. Looking around at the devil energy, he realized that his understanding of hell was actually somewhat superficial.

After three days of travel, he sensed an aura that, up to this point, he hadn't sensed.

Stopping, he opened his Lord's Eye. With that, he could see that there was an area of radiance and light far in the depths of the devil energy, an enormous hell that illuminated everything around it.

It was the Hell of Sages and Mahātmās.

It pulsed with a devil energy that seemed to contain the aura of history, of mythology, of sages and mahātmās.

I will sacrifice myself and go to hell before I let anyone else do so. He remembered those words, and as they echoed in his mind, he looked at the spectacular Hell of Sages and Mahātmās and mused that the devils there would definitely not be ordinary devils.