Sage Monarch

'I finally accomplished something big. Six hundred and sixty-six of King Heaven-Devourer's talismans!'

Yang Qi took a deep breath and the Heaven-Devouring True Energy in him surged, first crystallizing, then liquefying, and finally solidifying again into a śarīra inside of him.

He could now make Heaven-Devouring śarīras, each of which would contain immense power, like a precious treasure that could be crushed to release a wave of destructive power.

Or he could give them to other people, who could use them to extrude heterogeneous true energy and become incomparably pure, thus significantly advancing their cultivation.

Heaven-Devouring śarīras could also become worlds with impenetrable defenses that could provide safe havens for cultivation. And any heart-devils or heaven-devils that assailed the cultivator while using such a śarīra would be immediately absorbed and assimilated.

BUZZ!

The Heaven-Devouring śarīra took shape in his palm, a tiny white vortex that constantly consumed the immortal world essence, strengthening itself by means of the devouring. Bright light shone out in all directions, as well as spatial fluctuations, the combination of which produced a small world in the area.

'Excellent. Truly excellent. In the future, I can install Heaven-Devouring śarīras in my kingdom in hell for use by important disciples. By fusing them with their nascent divinity, they'll be able to unleash the will of King Heaven-Devourer and boost their fighting prowess by many times over.' Yang Qi looked around, trying to find a suitable location to make his breakthrough to the Demolishing level.

Considering how many imperial snakecharms he had now, he wasn't afraid of anyone who might try causing problems for him.

Yet he hadn't forgotten that immortal worlds were dangerous places, and that he should never let his guard down. It would be impossible to say how many people throughout history had been ambushed in the middle of a tribulation and killed. Whether it was the horde of devils, the host of immortals, or the throngs of buddhas, there were always plenty of jealous individuals out there who would not tolerate a rise of power among others.

'First let me fully fuse with all eight hundred and fifty-one talismans and use them to make a few more Heaven-Devouring śarīras. With those śarīras as a spell formation, I can have multiple minor worlds set up around me to keep me safe. Then I can work on my breakthrough.'

He exhaled, and his internal pellet appeared, which contained the essences of the Hell of Mahānata, the Hell of Gloom and Darkness, and the Tusita Heaven. There was also plenty of deathless godliness. All of that power combined would actually rival the will which had descended into the Endless Forest some time back.

Now, Yang Qi was adding the Heaven-Devouring śarīra to the mix.

At the same time, he prepared to create more of the Heaven-Devouring śarīras to add to his internal pellet and create a spell formation for defensive purposes during his breakthrough.

WHOOSH!

As King Heaven-Devourer's talismans continued absorbing energy, he turned and headed back toward the imperial city, curious to see how the Heaven's Net Consortium would respond to the developments.

This 'lord' who ruled the consortium was definitely a very mysterious figure. Considering the vicious blow Yang Qi had struck, he would obviously try to get revenge. So there was no way Yang Qi would enter a critical breakthrough tribulation right at that moment.

That would only be asking for trouble.

He would wait patiently and watch how the situation developed before taking any action. With the talismans he had now, he could probably fight to a draw with Immortal Paragon Night-Kṣetra if he had to.

In other words, he was now as strong as a sixth stage Abstrusity-Demolisher.

Once he stepped into the boundless dao of Demolishing, he would definitely be able to handle seventh, and even eighth stage opponents. At that point, he would essentially be invincible within the Titan Emperor Heaven, able to rain down fury wherever he went.

Right now, he would go back to work on his cultivation, and at the same time dig for information about Proud Warpatience. Eventually, he planned to capture the man and force him to reveal information about Proud Heaven.

Before long, he was back in the Special Reconnaissance Division, where he found General Yuan Kuohai pacing back and forth nervously. Upon catching sight of Yang Qi, he said, "Captain, something really big just happened. Someone robbed the Heaven's Net Consortium! They suffered a huge loss!"

"Oh? What did they lose?" Yang Qi asked coolly.

"We're not sure. We just know that the consortium reported the theft to the Imperial Guard, who is already running an investigation. Captain, didn't you mention that you had a business deal going with the Heaven's Net Consortium? And then you disappeared for a while. Wait… are you the one who robbed them?"

"Yes I did," Yang Qi replied coolly. "Do you know what they were doing? They set up a demonic spell formation to steal the essence of the Titan Emperor Heaven. They were subverting the imperial dynasty and trying to destroy this entire immortal world, all by using the talismans of King Heaven-Devourer. Thankfully, I have the talismans now. I'm stronger than ever before, and when I achieve my next breakthrough I'll be able to dominate seventh and eighth stage Demolishers. In fact, it won't be long before I can even defeat a ninth stage sovereign of heaven!"

With that he extended his arm and revealed the primal-chaos elder-snake wrapped around his wrist, biting its tail to make it like a bracelet.

The sight of it caused Yuan Kuohai to shiver. As the general of the Special Reconnaissance Division, he was an important person in the immortal world, someone who had seen many things and was considered very experienced. He could instantly tell that the primal-chaos elder-snake was powerful enough to destroy the entire military plane, and likely consume the imperial city itself.

After all, in yesteryear, King Heaven-Devourer had been known for devouring countless immortal worlds.

Now that Yang Qi had roughly a quarter of the total talismans, it begged the question of how powerful he would be if he unleashed their power.

"King Heaven-Devourer's talismans! They form a god item! An unbeatable god item! Captain, did you already fuse with them?"

"Yes, I'm completely at one with them. This is going to be a secret weapon of ours; if we get in a really bad situation, I can release power to rival that of King Heaven-Devourer himself. Okay, I have a new mission for you: I want you to look into Proud Warpatience. I need to know his background, how strong he is, who he has working for him, and everything else that's relevant."

Yuan Kuohai shivered again. "Captain, you want to take on Proud Warpatience? He's a very important person. As generalissimo of the armed forces, not even the imperial court can tell him what to do. He has a very powerful intelligence-gathering wing, the Ninja Division, which specializes in assassination. Compared to them, our Special Reconnaissance Division is like a group of ants. They could wipe us all out with a mere sneeze."

"We'll be fine. I don't want you to make any open moves against them, just dig around for some information, that's all. Right now, you're a fourth stage Origin-Demolisher. But you won't be stuck there for long. I can cleanse you with Heaven-Devouring True Energy, which will make your next breakthrough much easier. Understand?"

The primal-chaos elder-snake flew out and bored into Yuan Kuohai, causing him to physically tremble. As the Heaven-Devouring True Energy coursed through him, his heterogeneous true energy was cleansed in a way that he could never have done himself.

"Aaaiiiieee!"

He let loose a long cry as his true energy levels rose higher, and he rapidly underwent the most thorough of temperings.

"Tusita Heaven magical laws: immortal body refinement!"

Wham!

Yuan Kuohai exploded into a cloud of flesh and blood that fused with the magical laws of the Tusita Heaven, then stitched back together into an embryonic form.

A moment later, the embryo exploded and Yuan Kuohai reappeared. Except he was now much stronger than before, to the point where a single fist strike could punch holes in the fabric of the universe.

WHIZZZ!

He took a step forward, and everything in the area trembled. Laughing heartily, he said, "I finally started to break through! I've been stuck in that level for years! Once I succeed, I'll be in fifth stage Demolishing. I'll be an immortal marquis! I'll finally be able to get a promotion! Many thanks, Captain. Many thanks!"

"That was nothing. As long as you serve me loyally, I can give you even greater responsibilities later on. Perhaps you can even lead an immortal world. You need to do more work before you achieve your breakthrough. But first, get to work on that information I need. I'm going to focus on my cultivation."

"Yes, yes of course," Yuan Kuohai said. "I'll personally make sure you get everything you need to know."

"As expected. You're dismissed." Yang Qi then waved his hand and opened a wormhole, out of which emerged Titan Duelbringer.

"What can I do for you, Milord?"

"Nothing. I'm just going to make you a bit stronger." He sent a stream of bright light into Titan Duelbringer, filled with Heaven-Devouring True Energy. A moment later, Titan Duelbringer began shining brightly.

"I now have over eight hundred imperial snakecharms. There are plenty of truths hidden within them that can be unlocked. Why don't you join me for a session of cultivation? I can sense that, with enough true energy, information about the legacy of King Heaven-Devourer can be revealed. He definitely had a godly-class energy art, perhaps in the consummate level. Imagine the possibilities."

He sent some true energy into the primal-chaos elder-snake, which twitched and began releasing an expression of will.