Sage Monarch

Upon entering Demon Master Valley, Yang Qi looked around at the jade discs and saw that every single one had text inscribed on it using a demon energy secret magic. Some were sword techniques, some were energy arts charts, and some were even methods of using godpower to become Demonfolk. The energy arts were all extremely profound and advanced, and not the type that could be easily understood or mastered.

These were energy arts that would be on the third floor of the House of God Ordainment's Scripture Pavilion, or even higher than that.

The only difference was that they were all out in the open for anyone present to study. Clearly, the legendary Demon Master had grand aspirations for the Demonfolk, and wanted his people to understand his most secret techniques.

The Demon Master was truly a boundlessly mighty figure, similar to the Sovereign Lord or the True Devil. He was the god of the Demonfolk and the master of myriad worlds. No one knew whether or not he had perished, but what was known was that he had established versions of his valley in different parts of the god world. Each of them were unique, and each was the subject of much anticipation on the part of the Demonfolk when it came time to open them.

In the past, there had been humans who did what Yang Qi was doing now. They had entered one of the Demon Master Valleys to study, but in the end, they always met with inauspicious events.

In other words, they had all died.

Yang Qi knew that, and was aware that humans who entered Demon Master Valley would generally meet bad ends. However, to him, it was simply a challenge, one that would hopefully improve his cultivation base and substructure.

Of course, the ghostface monkey-god and the snake goddess knew full well that humans who entered the valley would die, but there was no way they would give that information to Yang Qi. They wanted him to suffer the consequences of his actions.

Thump. Swish. Rustle.

Sword energy swirled on the surface of one of the jade discs as a group of demon-gods closely studied it. It was obviously a profound sword technique that could be used to slaughter one's enemies.

There were also jade discs with fist techniques, leg techniques, movement techniques, and internal energy circulation diagrams.

Yang Qi skipped all of those and headed deeper into the valley to look for the Psychic Devil-Raising Demon-Sacrificing Heaven-Defying Grand Magic. He was very curious to see what it was like.

When the other demon-gods saw where he was going, they shook their heads.

"So someone is feeling really suicidal today. The jade discs in that area have taboo arts passed down by the Demon Master. You have to stand head and shoulders above all other Demonfolk to seek enlightenment there, otherwise you'll die."

"Maybe he thinks he's an exception. Every year there are people like this. The Demon Master dominated all creation, and even led the Demonfolk to fight against the boundless Sovereign Lord. He also had his own share of the destiny of the god world, so who wouldn't want to have his best secret magics?"

"That's right. Supposedly, the Demon Master left behind one billion eight hundred million taboo arts, and the one in this valley is the Psychic Devil-Raising Demon-Sacrificing Heaven-Defying Grand Magic. But cultivating that is only good for getting yourself killed."

"Forget about this guy. People die every year here. Let's just focus on this particular martial arts fist technique." Everyone knew that there was a time limit of three days, and that those who got stuck inside would die.

Eventually, Yang Qi reached what appeared to be the end of the valley, where he caught sight of a jade disc whose surface flickered with numerous devilish specters.

At first, it looked like complete chaos. But as he focused his mind, he could tell that heart-devils were flourishing within his soul and sea of consciousness.

And they weren't illusions. They were very real.

Suddenly, he heard a voice speaking in his ears. "Heart-devils are born to feed on the psyche. The stronger the person, the stronger the heart-devils inside them. You truly have no idea how powerful the evil inside you could be. Stimulate it, then defeat it, and you can gain the eternal. Afterward, both the evil you and the righteous you will vanish and become nothing. And that is the strongest state you can enter, in which you can grasp at Annulled will convergence...."

It was none other than the voice of the Demon Master.

'Wait, how come that voice sounds familiar?' Yang Qi thought. To his shock, that voice sounded extremely familiar to him, as if it had been accompanying him throughout his entire life.

'Is it just my imagination?' Remaining fully on guard, he continued looking at the jade disc. As he did, he saw countless streams of devilishness swirling together into the form of a person, who demonstrated how to unleash the evil version of oneself.

The devil will in his sea of consciousness was getting so abundant he could hardly control it.

Devilish specters danced on the Demon Master's jade disc, howling and shrieking to stimulate devilishness. Yang Qi reached the point where he felt like he couldn't endure it all and howled, his voice thrumming with wretched evil and ruthless violence. Not even he had any idea what was happening.

He felt as though his psyche had split into two versions of himself. One was cold, empty, and in control of everything. The other was a howling mass of destruction and insanity.

Crack. Crunch.

A dramatic transformation was occurring within him. The structure of his godpower spun as a faint figure split off of him. It wasn't a psychic projection, but an actual split in his humanity and godhood.

His vital energy, flesh, blood, and all the particles that made him were transforming according to what he was seeing on the Demon Master's jade disc. The new version was filled with wretched evil, and his true self's vital energy was growing weak as a result.

Two versions of himself were taking shape.

'Is it really this bad? I was just looking at the technique, and didn't even try cultivating it. But my nascent divinity and sea of consciousness have already split, and my true energy doesn't seem to be responding to my thoughts.'

The truth was that the psychic split that was happening was being caused by his wretched, evil side. The "Psychic Devil-Raising" aspect operated upon merely seeing the technique, which would cause devilishness to appear, take over the body, then split it apart and ultimately devour it.

Yang Qi was now looking at another version of himself, a version that resembled him in every way and contained all of his energy arts and power.

The evil version had black hair that whipped around his head, making him look like a devil-god. "This is the real me, Yang Qi! I'm you, and you're me. But sadly, you're too weak. I'm the only one who can unite heaven and earth, not a piece of trash like you. Even with the God Legion Seal, you run around scared all the time. You even joined that so-called House of God Ordainment. It seems to me you don't deserve the God Legion Seal. In fact, I'm going to kill you and take it for my own."

However, the God Legion Seal still remained within Yang Qi. He couldn't use it on the evil version of himself, because after all, that version was still part of him.

"The evil version of me," he murmured. "You split off from me, and you think you can beat me? Very funny!"

"I'm just as strong as you, but more ruthless," the evil version replied. "So how could you possibly compare to me? All I have to do is kill you to become completely wretched and evil. Then I can become the True Devil, conquer the world, and become unparalleled under heaven."

"Bring it on! Let's fight!" Yang Qi clenched his hands into fists. "I'm curious to see how strong the evil version of me is."

"And I'm curious how strong the calm version of me is!" Chuckling in sinister fashion, the evil version of Yang Qi flicked his finger, unleashing the unmatchable Purrfect God Art.

Yang Qi did exactly the same thing in response!

"Die!"

The evil version stretched out his hand to use the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. He held nothing back, and the shock wave of vital energy caused the entire valley to tremble violently.

In fact, some of the demon-gods were caught off guard and were sent tumbling in the opposite direction.

"What just happened?" A demon-god who had cultivated up from the form of an eagle, and had a godhood rating of eight, couldn't stand up to the force and was flung backward.

"It's that kid who went in there. He actually split his psyche and created two versions of himself. Now they're fighting. Fuck! He's screwing with our enlightenment! We only have three days in here, and he's ruining things. Join forces and kill him!" It was a burly man from the Horsefolk, who rushed forward and unleashed a palm strike backed by a godhood rating of five.

Crack!

Even as the attack rumbled into the depths of the valley, a mountain-toppling, sea-draining force shot out from therein. The burly horse demon-god was caught completely unprepared and was ripped to shreds, causing gore to fill the air. His godhood appeared, but before it could do anything, a blood-red mouth appeared and gobbled it up.

Just like that, a demon-god was killed.

"Dear lord!" another demon-god shouted. "That kid hasn't even reached godly ascension, but he's already this strong? Considering he's split in two, shouldn't he be weak right now?"

"Everyone join forces and crush him!" another demon-god said. "We can't let his fighting ruin our own enlightenment."

"Alright!"

Several dozen demon-gods joined forces, sending out incredible waves of godpower to create a sealing mark that shot toward the depths of the valley.

However, an even greater energy art met it, composed of countless golden hands which crushed everything in their path.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam!

All of the demon-gods had godhood ratings of five, yet they screamed horribly as they died.