Sage Monarch

It almost looked like an enormous, crystal turtle. In terms of size, it actually didn't measure up to the Deva Dynasty. However, its destiny was fully ten times that of the Deva Dynasty. Although it was far beneath the level of the Land of Flowerhill, it was a perfect location for business out on the ocean.

Yang Qi could see that the interior of the headquarters was its own minor world, complete with a sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, plants and vegetation. By the standards of the impure lands, this would count as an immortal world with a rank of more than three thousand.

As for the roiling destiny here, it wasn't that of the House of the Invincible, but the destiny of some other sovereign power.

It was obviously being used by an individual for off-the-books business.

Truth be told, it was very common for people in the Invincible Dynasty to have slush funds like this. They would use them to do business with foreign powers, and to build up personal destiny. In the House of the Invincible, the destiny ultimately belonged to the sect; who wouldn't want to have their own private locations where they could have complete control of the destiny?

Nodding in admiration, Yang Qi said, "That crystal is made from the quintessence of divine water, solidified to make a god kingdom. It alone can be considered a treasure. Not only can it provide protection from the Wild Ocean, but it can also absorb vital energy from its surroundings."

"It's a magical treasure created by the ancient Water God," the Second Devil General said. "I wouldn't call it amazing, but it gets the job done. It's called the Crystalline Turtle Shell Kingdom."

He waved his hand to reveal the true state of the island, which was a turtle, flickering with bright light as it absorbed the surrounding vital energy. It was actually the center of an enormous tempest that drew power from the ocean and stored it inside.

"There's incredible godly might in the depths of the Wild Ocean," said Dugu Hong. "And it's perfect for use in forging magical treasures. That's why lots of top experts have kingdoms out here. Kill the demonlings in the ocean, and they can be brought to places like this to be harvested. Their meat is incredible, and they also have explosive power in them that can be put into medicinal pills that make thralls vastly more effective in battle.

"Milord, do we just attack right away? Destroy the crystalline kingdom and then capture those people from the House of the Chiliocosm?"

"Not yet. Dugu Nimou does business with these people, but it's not going to do us any good to capture some small fries. That won't be enough to take down Dugu Nimou. We need someone important from the House of the Chiliocosm. Someone that ranks roughly the same as you. Who was it from there that injured you so badly? Do you have a name? I can go fight them personally."

"His name is Chiliocosm Hegemon, and he's very strong. He's a peak Paramount God, but he's on the very cusp of a breakthrough, with a psychic scale and godhood rating of more than nine hundred million. You have to be careful, Milord. If I hadn't used an ancient talisman to escape him, I would've been captured. He would have then forced me to make a confession of treason against the House of the Invincible, which would have been my ultimate downfall."

"When does Chiliocosm Hegemon come here?" the Second Demon General asked. "You're going to have to handle this on your own, Yang Qi. I can't help you. The founder of the Chiliocosm Dynasty is someone that not even I can take lightly. If this Chiliocosm Hegemon summons him, then all our plans will be ruined. In fact, I'm going to use my Devil-World Nine-Transformations Three-Myriads Divine Ability to hide my aura. The task of capturing Chiliocosm Hegemon is yours alone."

"No problem at all!" Yang Qi said. He knew the Second Devil General was just being lazy, but didn't care. He was fully capable of handling the situation alone.

The entire group went into hiding, and night eventually fell.

At a certain point, a fierce wind kicked up over the sea. And at the same time, Yang Qi sensed an immense power piercing in their direction. Obviously, its destination was the crystalline turtle.

'Chiliocosm Hegemon is here.'

Opening his Lord's Eye, he looked out and saw that a unique teleportation tunnel had sprung up, almost like a wormhole. And there was a group of people in it.

They were all dignified, imposing, and they were led by a man who wore a royal crown and was impressive in both bearing and cultivation level.

Obviously, he was a peak Paramount God.

The Second Devil General's eyes widened. "What? What's a peak Paramount God doing here?"

"A peak Paramount God?!" Dugu Hong said, shivering. "Crap. He's an important person from the House of the Chiliocosm! His name is Chiliocosm Kingnorth! He's actually a marquis in the Chiliocosm Dynasty, where he's known as Marquis Three Realms. His magic can pierce through the three realms of truth, illusion, and that which is neither truth nor illusion. His divine abilities are boundless, and he's incredibly domineering."

"Marquis Three Realms?" Yang Qi knew that in the god world, the 'three realms' were different than what people generally viewed the three realms to be. Normally, those three realms were the impure lands, immortal worlds, and god world. But in the god realm, things were different. The three realms referred to: the true realm; the illusory realm; and the realm that was neither true nor illusory. They were three realms that essentially represented reality, imagination, and Nevasaññānāsaññāyatana, that which was neither perception nor non-perception.

This Marquis Three Realms had magic that could encompass all three of those realms.

Looking over, Yang Qi saw that this newcomer's godhood rating and psychic scale was somewhere between one and one point one billion. Although he might be able to fight someone like that, it wouldn't be possible to crush him. The level of one billion was a major threshold, and reaching that point involved heaven-shaking, earth-toppling transformations. People like that were like the God-Lords of old, and generally had a name that conformed to the convention Lord of Such-and-Such.

Truth be told, the 'Lord of the True Void' from the House of God Ordainment didn't actually qualify to have a name like that. In ancient times, he would have been hunted down and killed for being so disrespectful. But nowadays, the Sovereign Lord had perished, and the old rules regarding status weren't enforced. So when people started calling him the Lord of the True Void, he didn't really care. And there wasn't anyone around who would cause him trouble because of it.

"Perfect timing," Yang Qi said. "Second Devil General, you handle this Marquis Three Realms. I want him captured alive. If I infect him with a devil embryo, we'll have a pawn in the Chiliocosm Dynasty, and will also be able to tap into its destiny. What do you think? We can split it seventy-thirty."

"Seventy-thirty?" The Second Devil General said. "Sure. Me seventy, you thirty!"

"Fine, we can do fifty-fifty. Look, it's not the time for haggling. Remember, even though you can beat this Marquis Three Realms in a fight, without the God Legion Seal, you can't control him. So let's make sure we both benefit here. What do you say?"

"Fine. I'll do it. Intercept the incoming teleportation. Use the Cruiser of Civilization to take that crystalline kingdom. You shouldn't have any trouble doing that, right? Back during your relocation effort, you took the Deva Dynasty without any trouble. And now you have a hundred and fifty thousand sage monarch magistrates, all of them Paramount Gods, plus an additional piece of Mahātmā Jade from the halls of heaven. How strong are you now? You should be able to do that within a few breaths of time."

"Intercepting a teleportation would be too dangerous. I'd rather wait until they're in that crystalline kingdom, then secretly use the Cruiser of Civilization to take the whole thing. It's just too bad we don't have the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. It's much better at this kind of thing than the cruiser. In any case, they'll be trapped like turtles in a jar, which will make things very easy. Besides, if you make a move now, and one of them escapes, you'll be beating the grass and startling the snake."

The Second Devil General nodded. "Okay, that'll do. You really think things through, don't you, boy?" Let's trap them in the Crystalline Turtle Shell Kingdom, that way none of them can escape."

With that, they watched as the group proceeded through the teleportation tunnel until they were in the crystalline kingdom. Then, the Second Devil General exhaled a stream of devil light that covered them and made them as transparent as water.

"The Arūpa Nirābhāsa Heaven-Devil Battle Magic?" Yang Qi said. "Impressive. Not a bad way to hide yourself. Although, as a Fateless One, no one can divine any information about me."

Having been rendered impossible to detect, they summoned the Cruiser of Civilization and shot up into the air.

With numerous heavenly caliber godstones to power it, Yang Qi could unleash aspects of the cruiser far beyond anything he had been capable of in the past.

Next, the power of the Arūpa Nirābhāsa Heaven-Devil Battle Magic spread out to cover the Crystalline Turtle Shell Kingdom, ensuring that no clues would spread as to what they were doing.

The Second Devil General was obviously being very careful.