Sage Monarch

POP!

Another pillar collapsed, and as the Godmyth heaven-devil emerged, Yang Qi devoured it. He was getting stronger and stronger with every moment that passed. With two thousand imperial snakecharms, he could devour immortal worlds, much less some Seer God patriarchs.

Furthermore, each heaven-devil that he devoured helped push his Eight Tribes Godfist to a higher level. In turn, that made it easier and easier for him to fight the heaven-devils. It helped a lot that they were sealed, and thus weakened and more susceptible to being injured.

Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit almost wondered if she were dreaming.

"Here, take this weapon I just got," Yang Qi said. "It's not a god item, but it looks like the devil that created it spent a lot of effort turning it into an animadestiny magical treasure."

He sent a stream of devil light over, which contained a devil sword. It looked like it was made from either bone or metal, although it was difficult to say for sure. It thrummed with devil energy, was as white as frost, and was inscribed with all sorts of magical symbols related to swords.

"What?" Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit said, looking visibly surprised. "This is a preheaven vital energy sword from the Heaven-Devil Unrestrained Sword Technique. It requires mixing a nascent divinity with preheaven origin metal, then refining it with five phases energy. Only then can you produce this ultimate expression of the dao of the sword. If I meditate using this sword, my own dao of the sword will dramatically improve!"

"You're right. The Heaven-Devil Unrestrained Sword Technique is full of many profound secrets. Considering your cultivation involves using the sword to reach godly ascension, you have to avoid other kinds of energy arts. I have a good friend who also cultivates the dao of the sword, but has never found the proper legacy to help him. Perhaps in the future I can send him to the Sage Sword Heaven to continue his studies. What do you think?"

Yang Qi couldn't help but think of how hard Sword Seventeen worked at his cultivation. Unfortunately, he didn't have anyone to direct him and was thus stuck around the third or fourth stage of the Demolishing level. Considering that the Sage Sword Heaven was focused specifically on sword cultivation, and had Godmyth patriarchs, it seemed like the perfect place for him.

The thought of Sword Seventeen reminded Yang Qi of his Master, the Invincible Dugu.

'It's too bad I have no idea where Master is. He obviously ascended to the Titan Emperor Heaven, but even after I conquered the place he was nowhere to be found. How come it seems like people who are close to me always end up disappearing? Is there some conspiracy afoot? Not even my Wheel of Fate can give me answers. Aunt Susu. Master. Mother. Could it be that Proud Heaven absconded with all of them!?'

All of a sudden, his heart sank.

"No problem at all," said Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. "Considering the level of your cultivation base, Daoist Brother, I would guess that you could easily master the dao of the swords if you wanted, and give some advice to your friend. Although, if he wants to come to the Sage Sword Heaven to learn of our dao of the sword, then we would welcome him. And we would treat him like an honored guest." Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit obviously wanted to develop a good relationship with Yang Qi.

Yang Qi nodded. "That would be perfect."

At this point, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit hesitated, then cautiously said, "By the way, Brother Yellow, I was wondering if you could help me out with something regarding the dao of the sword."

Pausing from his work of destroying the god-devil pillars, Yang Qi said, "Help you out? How?"

"Hundreds of years ago, there was a matriarch of the Sage Sword Heaven who reached the second division of the Godmyth level. She was entrusted with some precious treasures of our immortal world: the seven sage swords of King Life-Killer. Unfortunately, she lost her life in the depths of Castle Heaven-Devil, and I was hoping you could help me find her remains. If we succeed, you would be considered a major benefactor of the Sage Sword Heaven. And we would owe you a favor, too."

"The sage swords of King Life-Killer?" Yang Qi said, looking surprised.

King Life-Killer was another of the numerous sworn brothers that included King Immortal-Slayer, King Heaven-Devourer, King Mourn-Parting, and King Wilds-Horn. In fact, he ranked very highly in that group, albeit beneath King Immortal-Slayer, King Heaven-Devourer, and King Mourn-Parting. According to the stories, King Life-Killer wasn't a person, but rather a consummate god item. He was a sword that eventually gained a spirit and rose to a level of power high enough to rival the legion of gods.

Rumor had it that he forged seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven sage swords. Just like the Mourn-Parting Heaven-Palace or the imperial snakecharms, each of those swords contained immense killing energy, and were extremely destructive in nature. As it turned out, the Sage Sword Heaven had seven of them. They were precious treasures that were considered the signature weapons of that immortal world, and had been entrusted to a top master who went on to use them against vicious monsters. Yet, contrary to expectation, that master was killed in the fighting and the sage swords were lost.

Many experts from the Sage Sword Heaven had attempted to retrieve them in the past, but unfortunately none had succeeded. If Yang Qi could do so, he would definitely be something of a hero.

'This could be worth it,' Yang Qi thought. 'The Sage Sword Heaven's dao of the sword makes them very formidable in battle. If they owed me a favor, then maybe I could pit them against the Brahman Immortal World. Right now, my cultivation base is too low to be of any advantage against the Brahman Immortal World. I definitely need to increase a few levels before I'm in that position. Besides, the Brahman Immortal World surely has some secret weapons, as well as former patriarchs like Proud Heaven who would return to defend the place. It's not going to be easy to take over the place. But if I did, I would have access to the faith power of thirty-six thousand immortal worlds and my cultivation base would advance by leaps and bounds.

'Yes, the safest bet on my part is to use the Sage Sword Heaven as a defense against the Brahman Immortal World.' Having reached the conclusion that this was definitely the best idea, he nodded decisively.

"Fine, I agree. However, I really need to perfect my Eight Tribes Godfist first. Then we can head deeper in and look for King Life-Killer's sage swords. Don't worry, we'll get those treasures back to the Sage Sword Heaven."

"Alright!" Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit said, visibly pleased. "If we get them back, I promise that we'll go through hell or high water to pay you back in any way you wish."

It was at this point that she suddenly registered what he had just said. "Hold on. You're going to push the Eight Tribes Godfist to perfection? How is that even possible? According to the rumors, only masters from eight specific dragon tribes can cultivate that energy art. And all of the ancient daoist texts say that it's impossible to cultivate them to the perfect level."

"Are you kidding me?" Yang Qi scoffed. "Just because no one has done it before doesn't mean it can't be done. Besides, I've already cultivated five of them to the consummate level. Watch."

POP!

He punched the nearest god-devil pillar, sending his fist inside to grab the Godmyth heaven-devil sealed within. Before it could even react, it was crushed into a bloody paste. Yang Qi quickly absorbed its energy and began glowing with boundless godlight as a result.

The heaven-devil also had an animadestiny precious treasure, a Devil-Asura śarīra, which he tossed over to Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit.

"I don't really need this Devil-Asura śarīra," she said, "but I can use it to create an incredible magical treasure. Add a true-spirit to it, and it will serve as the perfect guard for my mansion grotto. It will be a devil-spirit as strong as a Godmyth."

There were thousands upon thousands of the pillars, and Yang Qi moved back and forth like a dragon among them, smashing them with impunity.

At a certain point, he struck out with both hands, hitting two pillars at the same time and dragging out two heaven-devils, which he then destroyed. He used Sagely Sacrifice to absorb their vital energy and souls, causing his own energy to rise to new heights. And of course, he tossed two new magical treasures over to Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit.

She couldn't have been more delighted. Standing guard over this place on her own was no casual matter, and the fights with the heaven-devils were always dangerous and difficult. Never could she have hoped to slaughter them like chickens the way Yang Qi was doing.

Over the course of the next several hours, he destroyed more than a dozen pillars, netting him that same amount of heaven-devils, plus plenty of Godmyth-level treasures for Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit.

With them, she would be able to reach even greater levels of strength. In fact, she was fairly certain that, after it was all over, she would easily be able to reach the second division of the Godmyth level, making her a Tempered God.

"Destroy them all!" she suddenly said, ready to fight a huge battle with Yang Qi. In that moment, he let out a blast of destructive wind that slammed into numerous pillars, causing many of their seals to begin crumbling.

Suddenly, cackling laughter rang out. "I finally broke through the seal! Are you crazy, boy? You really think you can kill all of us?"

A host of devils shot out into the open, causing immense devil energy to suddenly fill all of Castle Heaven-Devil.

Terror gripped Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit's heart. 'This is bad! He's gone crazy! He's broken all the seals of the first level. All of the heaven-devil patriarchs are coming out!'