Sage Monarch

Warmonger giant-devils were experts of warfare and geniuses of battle. In that respect, they were similar to asuras. However, they were physically superior, and had deeper reserves of power.

On the battlefield, they were considered superior to asuras, but in terms of numbers, they were few. They were one of the rarer of the denizens of hell, whereas asuras were plentiful.

The Hell of Mahānata was a mish-mash of sorts, with all sorts of monsters present, especially the powerful sort.

Because Yang Qi had access to the memories of primeval infernal deities, he had a lot of hellish knowledge, and knew that rarer species such as this could produce elite warriors who were particularly difficult to deal with.

And on top of all of that, warmonger giant-devils had the blood of the Infernalfolk in them. Infernals were extremely rare among the denizens of hell, and also, extremely powerful, far more so than asuras. And because they were the descendants of infernal deities, they were sometimes referred to as the Infernal Deity Children.

Yang Qi had never personally encountered any of the Infernalfolk, but he could already sense that one of them lurked among these warmonger giant-devils. Most likely, he was the leader of this band, and possibly even their progenitor, although it was difficult to say. His infernal blood was already causing Yang Qi's Infernal Deity Spear to itch restlessly.

That was the main reason why he was approaching them, as risky and dangerous as that was.

The infernal expert here was far stronger than Lion Hightower, most likely a sixth step Heavenly Workings Sage. Each step within the Great Sage level led to shocking transformations; generally speaking, one could expect a tenfold increase in strength, and a similar improvement to true energy.

Yang Qi was obviously strong enough to kill Lion Hightower, but at the moment, he wasn't confident in coming out on top in a protracted battle with a sixth step opponent. The only way he could do so would be to break through again, and become either a Half Sage or a Great Sage.

Once he was a Great Sage, his God Legion Paradise, Angel Wings, God Legion Battle Robe, Infernal Deity Spear, Hellfire Crucible and Devil-God Seal would transform significantly. Furthermore, his Hand of the One God would put him in the position to deal with seventh step Great Sages, much less the sixth step.

Yang Qi's hope was that because this was an infernal, if he attacked quickly, and killed the thing in one shot, he might succeed. After all, the Infernalfolk were strong, but Yang Qi had a very particular set of skills that were perfectly designed for dealing with them.

Normally speaking, even ten human Great Sages in the sixth step would have difficulty dealing with a single sixth step infernal. But Yang Qi was in a unique position; while he could single-handedly go up against a sixth step Infernalfolk, he actually couldn't handle a single sixth step human.

After all, the denizens of hell were weak and paltry in the face of the energy of the legion of gods.

Roar!

Down in the devil grass, he could see numerous warmonger giant-devils going through martial arts forms. Even the young ones were extremely large; these fiend-devils were born with unique personal domains designed for fighting and warfare.

Of course, infernals were even stronger; they were actually born as Great Sages. They had Netherworld Sage Domains from the moment they came into existence, which meant that even infants among them could wreak havoc and destruction, and cause rivers of blood to flow among human cultivators. They could even cause chaos among the host of immortals.

Unfortunately, the infernal here was hiding in the depths of the camp, out of sight.

This particular tribe had many Great Sages, including several in the fifth step. Of course, Yang Qi wasn't worried about those. Although they were far stronger than Lion Hightower, he was the bane of their true energy, and thus, in the end, were actually like nothing to him.

The only one he was worried about was the hidden infernal.

Technically speaking, this was actually a very weak infernal, which was no surprise considering that this location was on the border of the Hell of Mahānata.

Yang Qi simply walked into the camp and began winding his way through the tents and totem poles. Before long, he was in the very middle of the camp.

The tribe was savage to the core; the warmonger giant-devils would hunt down other hellish fiend-devils, then bring them back to the camp and devour them. Some of the giant-devils would extract ores from the ground to further their cultivation. Others would train in the wide-open square set aside for that purpose.

So far, none of them had noticed Yang Qi. For one thing, he was keeping his energy reined in. Also, he was already deeply connected to the Hell of Mahānata, and was essentially part of it.

Eventually, he focused on one particular tent that was larger than the others. It was stitched together from skins and hides of powerful devillings, and was obviously the work of an equipment forger. It was clearly an ancient thing, but at the same time, incredibly tough and durable. The tent was enormous, being thousands of meters high, and hundreds of kilometers from side to side.

Upon nearing the tent, Yang Qi saw the infernal expert inside, meditating.

It was huge, fully three thousand meters tall, with golden skin that made him seem noble and grand. In fact, he was the exact same color that the Infernal Deity Spear had been in the past.

At long last, Yang Qi was getting his first look at a true infernal. He had long, spiraling horns that resembled a dragon's, except bifurcated at the end. The thing's body bulged with muscles, and his skin was covered with veiny striae. They were none other than devil striae, which were very similar to sage motes. Of course, when used offensively, they were far stronger than sage motes.

The Infernalfolk expert seemed like a huge golden mountain sitting in the middle of the tent, unmoving, an ultimate expert of martial arts that no one could possibly do anything to.

Upon approaching, Yang Qi shrank himself and the God Legion Paradise down to the size of a speck of invisible dust. Then, he floated along with the currents of devil energy, heading closer and closer to the Infernalfolk expert. As he did, he could see how similar the true energy of his Infernal Deity Spear was to this thing. And he knew that if he could get its quintessence-blood and add it to his spear, and gain a bit more enlightenment of the 'hell' element of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, then he would definitely be in the position to become a Great Sage.

'Killing this thing is my ticket to the Great Sage level. And once I'm a Great Sage, nobody in the Hanging Mountain will be able to do a thing to me. Considering my current position, I need either Infernalfolk blood, or Mammothfolk blood.'

Killing intent was bubbling in Yang Qi's heart, and yet, he managed to keep his cool. Obviously, this infernal was not something he could take lightly.

Thankfully, he had mastered the dao of the quick strike a long time ago, and also had abundant combat experience. Therefore, he simply waited and got closer to the meditating infernal.

Apparently, the thing was cultivating some supreme energy art, and currently had his mind cast out into the hell around him to contemplate the workings of heaven.

At one point, he took in a huge breath, and Yang Qi shivered.

'It's go time,' he thought.

The God Legion Paradise popped out, revealing Yang Qi in the middle of it, looking every bit like a primeval infernal deity. Hefting his spear, he leaped directly toward the infernal's head, hoping to trick him into believing that he was experiencing cultivation enlightenment from ancient infernal deities.

Whoosh!

The Infernal Deity Spear stabbed into the Infernalfolk, causing a waterfall of golden blood to spill out, turning the God Legion Paradise the same color.

He had long since combined the true energy of the Hellfire Crucible with the Infernal Deity Spear, and therefore, as soon as the spear entered the infernal's sea of consciousness, enlightenment of the ultimate meaning of hell poured into Yang Qi. In the blink of an eye, he understood many things that he had never understood, and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth grew even clearer to him.

However, the intense pain aroused up the infernal; there could be no worse weapon to him than this spear, and the attack had already damaged his fundamental structure and life force.

He threw his head back and howled, and the soundwaves alone caused many of the surrounding warmonger giant-devils to explode into clouds of blood and gore. Many of the tents were also shredded to pieces.

'Not good!' Yang Qi thought, quickly putting the Infernal Deity Spear away. Thankfully, he had already collected plenty of blood quintessence.

Endless rage erupted from within the infernal, and Yang Qi even glimpsed something like a crucible inside of him, which sent fire spewing out, a flood that shoved Yang Qi backward like a leaf in a windstorm.

'I underestimated how strong the Infernalfolk are. And I underestimated the Heavenly Workings Step.' As of this moment, Yang Qi was convinced that this creature was beyond his ability to deal with.

His Angel Wings unfurled, although, thanks to the devil energy in the area, they were pitch black. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

He had plenty of Infernalfolk blood quintessence, enough for significant enlightenment and cultivation advancement.

Of course, the infernal was not going to just let him go. Howling, he leapt to his feet, quickly transforming into what looked like a golden human of ordinary size. His wound had already stopped bleeding, leaving him free to chase after Yang Qi. As for the warmonger giant-devils around him, all of them were confused about what was happening.

"Who was it!? Who sullied the glory of the Infernalfolk!? Who took my blood!? Who has the Infernal Deity Spear, and used it to pierce my flesh?!"

Yang Qi could hear his cries. Furthermore, in the depths of the God Legion Paradise, the golden blood he had taken was wriggling as though it might come to life.

Without any hesitation, he sent sagelight crashing into it to refine it.

Chuckling, he thought, 'Yep. These Infernalfolk are way too strong. Even the immortal worlds are afraid of them. If I could kill one, it would be better than killing a thousand fiend-devils of the same cultivation level. In fact, if I killed the one back there, I would definitely take first place in the competition.'

In hell, the Infernalfolk were grand and noble, and their blood was considered that of emperors.

Yang Qi was extremely lucky to have even encountered one. And he knew that if word spread about this one, all of the top experts in the competition would gather just to see it.