Sage Monarch

The ruins were actually an enormous castle that hung in the starry sky, surrounded by spatial tempests. It was so large that it was nearly a planet unto itself. Thanks to the baptism provided by the tempests, its exterior was pitted and mottled, making it seem profoundly ancient. It was considered a very dangerous location in this part of the universe; even Demi-Immortals who traveled here risked being ripped to shreds by the tempests.

Inside the castle, the tempests grew even more severe. Even Universal and Paragon Demi-Immortals would have to be careful. However, to a person like Yang Qi, there was little to fear. The tempests couldn't even ruffle the hair on his head. As for the other deadly aspects of the castles, such as void pitfalls and space-time shrapnel, none of it could pierce the God Legion Paradise.

Sword Seventeen was also kept safe within its defenses.

Above the main gate of the castle was a sign that read: Castle God-Slaughter. Unfortunately, any godpower that had once existed within the castle was long gone.

WOOOOSH!

Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen flew in through the gate to find themselves on a winding staircase, cut from raw stone.

"I've heard about this Castle God-Slaughter," Sword Seventeen said. "It's a dangerous location in which spectral souls lurk, remnants of perished immortals from the most ancient era. Anyone who falls prey to one of those spectral souls will die, beyond the shadow of a doubt. There are also all sorts of deadly spell formations here. The entire castle is essentially a magical treasure of immense proportions, something so large that not even an immortal could take possession of it. I heard that, some time back, a hundred thousand top experts from the Incarnated God Collegium went inside to try to move the castle back to their collegium, only to be swarmed by spectral souls and killed. There were even half-Demolisher society chiefs in that group. Ever since then, everyone has been terrified of the place. The Incarnated God Heaven even issued orders forbidding students of any collegium from entering."

"Sounds pretty dangerous," Yang Qi said. Reaching out, he grabbed a nearby tornado, which swirled down into the shape of a vicious snake that lunged toward him with a gaping maw.

BAM!

The snake shattered, revealing a spectral spirit that howled in rage and grief, causing the surrounding space to shatter.

"Come on, let's go," Yang Qi said. Waving his hand, he shrank the God Legion Paradise down to the size of a mote of dust, then vanished into the depths of Castle God-Slaughter.

As they proceeded along, they realized that the interior of the castle was a labyrinth so complex and confusing that even immortals would likely get lost inside. Thankfully, Yang Qi's Wheel of Fate had already locked on to the aura of the young man in yellow. As the wheel spun, they continued into the depths of the castle.

At a certain point, Sword Seventeen clicked his tongue. "This Castle God-Slaughter is huge. What's it made of, anyway? I've never seen anything like it. Is it some sort of godstone?"

"It's actually something called heaven-demon soul stone," Yang Qi replied, "which comes from the depths of hell. If you fully refine them, heaven-demon soul stones unleash something called Heaven-Demon God-Slaughtering Magic, which was created by the ancient primal-chaos demon-devils to fight the legion of gods. It can absorb souls, which is why this castle has all of these spectral souls."

"I wonder if this castle was actually built by one of King Immortal-Slayer's sworn brothers, King Heaven-Demon," Sword Seventeen said.

"Be careful," Yang Qi said. "That kid in yellow is somewhere ahead working with a powerful divine ability. We don't want to alert him to our presence."

"Right." Keeping their auras concealed, they proceeded onward. With the Wheel of Fate in action, both of their fates were separated from the world and could not be detected by anyone.

They eventually reached the depths of Castle God-Slaughter, where an enormous altar, dozens of kilometers from end to end, had been erected, apparently constructed from bleached bones. The bones were enormous, and were covered with magical symbols that radiated the most profound of powers. There were also a host of flags built into it.

The young man in yellow stood in the middle of the altar, a śarīra in his hand that pulsed with a demon energy so strong it would demonize any ordinary person it touched. It was none other than the śarīra of a white-bone heaven-demon.

'That's a śarīra from a primeval demon-immortal,' Yang Qi thought. 'It's no less impressive than the śarīra of the Preheaven Magnetic King. Who would have guessed that the kid in yellow would have stuff like that in his treasure trove? Is that just the luck that comes with being a Future One? Or is it just that the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is full of wealth?'

Off to the side, Chief Beastmaster said, "Chancellor Demi-Immortal, this Castle God-Slaughter is a magical treasure of its own, something that no one in the mortal world can take possession of. Brother Future One, do you think you have what it takes to seize control of it?"

"You want Castle God-Slaughter?" replied the young man in yellow. "Unless you're an Origin-Demolisher, or perhaps a Space-Demolisher, you might as well forget about it. You see, it's only because of the power of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallion that I can turn these ruins into a world junction. That's how we'll get into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. Using the legacy medallion on its own to get inside is too much of a waste of power. But with this altar here, we can go inside without such wastage."

"Incredible!" Chancellor Demi-Immortal said. "We didn't get much treasure last time we went into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, so we can't hold anything back this time. We have to get some precious treasures that we can use to turn the tables on Yang Qi and kill him."

"Don't forget, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart is huge," said the young man. "It doesn't just have immortal items, but also god items. Immortal items are classified as low, common, high, supreme, kingly, imperial, and sovereign. Then come god items, which are grouped into lesser, common, greater, consummate, perfect, paramount, and lordly. If we could get a god item, we would definitely be able to dominate the immortal worlds. Of course, such items need a complementary godly-class energy art, otherwise they can be deadly to try to use.

"According to the stories, the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart's strongest magical treasure is a paramount god item! King Immortal-Slayer and his sworn siblings underwent immense tribulations in order to acquire building materials imbued with paramount godly laws. After shedding blood, sweat, and tears, and absorbing the true will of the mortal world for a million years, they transformed it into a god item. Once I get all nine of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions, I'll take complete control of the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and get that god item!"

At this point, the altar began rotating and the power of the legacy medallion shot out to create a mysterious world junction.

"Let's go!" the young man said, and he leaped into the world junction, followed by Chancellor Demi-Immortal and Liege Beast.

Almost immediately, the world junction began to shrink down. However, Yang Qi and Sword Seventeen blurred into motion and entered it before it closed as well.

Last time they had gone into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart they had benefited a bit, but not in great measure. This time, they hoped to gain ten thousand times as much as before.

As soon as they were inside, they again felt the increased toughness of space-time. The will of monarchs pushed onto their hearts and minds, making it impossible to connect with the vital energy of the outside world. In fact, Yang Qi was even cut off from the faith power of the Sage Monarch planetary system. Thankfully, his clone was still outside and could benefit from the power of faith.

They were surrounded by mountains, forests, and other beautiful scenery. As for the ground, it wasn't ordinary soil, but rather a porcelain-colored jade, immensely strong and impossible to dig into. The yellow-garbed young man was nowhere to be seen, although that was no surprise, considering how huge the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart was.

Thankfully, Yang Qi's Wheel of Fate had kept Sword Seventeen close to him after the teleportation finished.

"Junior Brother, now that we're inside I can send out a message and see if we can reach Eldest Brother and the others. That said, how are we going to get back outside once we track him down?"

"We'll be fine," Yang Qi said. "We can track down that kid in yellow and use him to get out, if we have to. Besides, we're in no hurry to leave just yet. Let's see what treasure we can find. Maybe we can get an immortal, patriarch-level godworm. Or maybe some more parts of the Mourn-Parting Heaven-Palace, or some imperial snakecharms."

Nodding, Sword Seventeen produced a paper talisman inscribed with the word 'invincible'. It was a messaging talisman created by the Invincible Dugu, which the other disciples would sense once it was burned.