Sage Monarch

To this young woman, Yang Qi was profoundly mysterious. He popped on the scene, then quickly and efficiently captured two Godmyth heaven-devils, who he then claimed he would assimilate. Yet she could sense that he was only a Demolisher, a cultivation level that she would normally completely dismiss. But considering how he had handled the two heaven-devils, she was definitely not looking down on him now.

At the moment, her assumption was that he must be hiding the true level of his cultivation base and was actually an incredibly powerful patriarch of some sort. There didn't seem any other explanation for how someone so weak could take out two Godmyths.

Truth be told, this young woman was herself a high-ranking matriarch from the Sage Sword Heaven. As someone tasked with guarding Castle Heaven-Devil, she was the type of person who few people could beat in a fight.

Yang Qi could sense her suspicions, but didn't go into any explanation about his cultivation level. At the moment, he preferred to keep things a bit of a mystery. "Miss, did I hear them call you Immortal Maid Ice Spirit?"

As he spoke, he allowed a bit of August Patriarch Fire Dragon's aura to seep out to reinforce her conjectures that he was really a Godmyth patriarch.

"You overheard those two monsters, Daoist Brother?" She smiled. "Yes, you can call me Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. Many thanks for your help here. Unfortunately, the vital energy of heaven and earth has changed recently, and the seals here in Castle Heaven-Devil have been weakening. In a few decades, they'll likely break completely and allow hordes of fiend-devils to emerge. If that happens, my immortal world is going to be in great danger, and blood and carnage will reign."

"Oh?" Yang Qi thought for a moment. "Would I be right in speculating that Castle Heaven-Devil has a passageway leading to a boundless heaven-devil world, the Unrestrained Heaven?"

"That's right," she said with a nod. "A member of the legion of gods created Castle Heaven-Devil countless years in the past to lock down that passageway. You see, hells number as many as the eternal sands of the universe, and the Unrestrained Heaven is unique among them all. It is where countless devil kings gathered, and if the way to that hell is opened by means of this castle, it would be the springboard for a hellish invasion that will lead to the destruction of countless immortal worlds. In fact, even just the heaven-devils sealed in the castle would be a disaster beyond imagination. In the end, it would take intervention from a thirty-third ranked immortal world to defeat the invasion. Senior, could it be that you have a method to strengthen those seals?"

At this point, Yang Qi couldn't help but ask, "Are you telling me the Sage Sword Heaven has entrusted a matter this important to only one person?"

"Daoist Brother, are you saying my sword technique is deficient?" she asked dryly. "I'm one of the Eighteen Sectlords from the Sage Sword Heaven, and there is no one more qualified than me to stand guard here, and also, no one stronger."

"You misunderstand me, miss," Yang Qi said. Obviously, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit was a proud individual, and a top leader of her immortal world. "What I meant was that considering this is a passageway to the Unrestrained Heaven, you would think that it would be guarded by a hundred Godmyth patriarchs, not just one."

"Well, that's true," she replied, her expression softening a bit. "Actually, we Eighteen Sectlords take turns keeping watch here. The heaven-devils that occasionally get free from the seals make for good training. Right now, I'm at the peak of the first division of the Godmyth level, the Seer God level. Soon, I'll reach the second division, the Tempered God level. You see, if a heaven-devil breaks free, it could be the perfect opportunity to push toward another breakthrough. Unfortunately, it was to my complete surprise when two heaven-devils came out."

"I understand," Yang Qi said. "Well, Castle Heaven-Devil is a godrelic, so it shouldn't be taken lightly. Look, how about this. Why don't we let a few more heaven-devils out? My technique is specifically designed to crush all kinds of devils and monsters. And if I can get enough heaven-devils, I can fully cultivate my Devil-Suppression True Body! Afterward, I'll help you secure Castle Heaven-Devil from the outside, or perhaps join you in entering to explore a bit."

"That sounds splendid," Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit replied. "I was thinking the same thing, I just didn't want to be presumptuous. Although, you do realize that Castle Heaven-Devil is a very dangerous place, right? There are multiple levels, and the deeper you go, the more powerful the sealed heaven-devils are. I'm only strong enough to train on the first level, as the heaven-devils there are all Seer Gods. But if you go deeper, you can find Tempered Gods, or sometimes even terrifying Incarnated Gods."

"Sounds like a good opportunity for me," Yang Qi said, and he wasn't exaggerating at all. Each Godmyth heaven-devil that he acquired would be incredibly beneficial, and would help during his future breakthroughs.

Although Yang Qi could enter hell at any time to try hunting Godmyth fiend-devils, it was easier said than done. Getting a solitary fiend-devil of the right level would be difficult, and if he were to be mobbed it could quickly turn into a disaster. However, here in Castle Heaven-Devil, it would be possible to unseal individual fiend-devils, which would be much more manageable.

Besides, if he could absorb some of the energy of the Unrestrained Heaven, it could lead to some very impressive power stones. They would likely be superior to Tusita Heaven power stones.

Yang Qi's current goal was to reach the Godmyth level as quickly as possible. If he succeeded, the endless immortal worlds would be his to subjugate. His Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth would reach a higher level, and he might even be able to take the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart as a magical treasure.

At that point, he would also be a lot more confident in handling Proud Heaven, assuming he hadn't reached the Deathless Throne by then.

"There's no time to lose. Let's get going." Yang Qi waved his sleeve, sending out a stream of energy that entered Castle Heaven-Devil and suppressed much of the devil energy inside. Before, the castle had been twitching and vibrating almost as if it were alive, but now, it settled down. Considering the place was merely planet-sized, it was only natural that Yang Qi could envelop the whole thing with his energy.

'That really is an impressive devil-subduing magic,' thought Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. She had stood watch over Castle Heaven-Devil for many years, and knew the terrifying nature of the devil energy inside. That energy had only been growing stronger in recent years, leading to the sealing marks getting weak. For years, the castle had actually been considered a holy land of cultivation, a place the Eighteen Sectlords took turns training in.

Now, though, it was a place where life-and-death battles were often fought.

Yet Yang Qi had sent out a soft energy flow and almost immediately dispelled that dangerous devil energy. It was also possible to hear heaven-devils inside, howling in agony.

Smiling faintly, Yang Qi said, "Come on, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. Let's get inside. I've negated the devil energy, which should stop the seals from weakening. Now we can go in and slaughter some fiend-devils."

"Quite the domineering one, eh?" she replied. "Alright, but I'd better benefit as well. Some of those sealed fiend-devils have magical treasures and even god items."

"That's fine. How about this. When we kill a heaven-devil, I get the corpse, and you get whatever magical treasures or medicinal pills they have."

"Alright," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "Besides, I'm not interested in trying to assimilate the corpses. The risk of backlash from the devil energy would be too severe. Actually, beating them in a fight isn't the hard part—killing them is. You see, heaven-devils have infinite shapeshifting abilities, and that's especially true of those in the Godmyth level. They can even turn invisible. As for me, it would take about ninety-nine percent of my true energy to completely wipe a heaven-devil out of existence. But you can do it with almost no effort, so this arrangement couldn't be better."

With that, the two of them entered Castle Heaven-Devil.

The inside was a sinister and dark place, in which streams of devil energy still wafted to and fro. One might have expected the place to smell acrid and vile, but it was actually the opposite; a fragrant aroma filled the air, sickly sweet like countless flowers.

Yang Qi extended his arm and pulled streams of devil energy into his hand, where it eventually formed a conglomeration the size of a sesame seed. Shockingly, it was a power stone that was vastly stronger than those from the Tusita Heaven.

'This thing is incredible!'

With that, he began absorbing more of the devil energy and sending it right into his God Legion Paradise to be devoured by the primal-chaos elder-snake there. The snake dissolved the devilishness, then started producing a pile of stones.

Slowly but surely, the surrounding area within the castle began to brighten up.

Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit watched in shock as it all happened. 'Who is this guy? And how can he absorb that devil energy like that? I have to recruit him. He would be a huge asset to the Sage Sword Heaven.'