Sage Monarch

Yang Qi began heading directly toward the jade-colored tomb.

The devil energy wasn't a problem; he simply absorbed any of it that got close to him, strengthening himself. Eventually, he sensed that, if he wanted to, he could provoke the tribulation of a fifth stage World-Demolisher and become an immortal marquis.

As he slowly but surely assimilated the devil energy of the second stage Tempered God he had killed, as well as the virtual godhood of the bloodsea heaven-devil, the particles within him were stirring, as though they might soon advance from protomammoths to godmammoths.

He also drew on the godhood power of the over one hundred Seer Gods that he had taken, refining and sending it deep into himself.

In the depths of this dantian region, there was a consummate god embryo forming, which was apparently the beginnings of the next state of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

The most current state to have been revealed was the Sagely Sacrifice. The next step was to use his animadestiny quintessence energy to form a Sage Child in his dantian region. This animadestiny Sage Child was essentially a copy of the golden imp in the God Legion Seal, and once completed, it would allow him to absorb the godpower of the halls of heaven at a speed of ten, one hundred, or even one thousand times normal.

At that point, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth would undergo even more dramatic transformations. Thus, Yang Qi feared devil energy less and less. From what he could tell, the entity sealed in this tomb was likely a leader of this group of Incarnated Gods, and he was very curious to see what it was like.

Using his Angel Wings, he moved like lightning, heading closer and closer to the jade tomb. However, the jade-colored devil energy that surrounded it seemed very difficult to pass through.

Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit became a stream of sword light that slammed into the devil energy, and although sparks showered out, she didn't even dent it. Ignoring her, Yang Qi threw his hands wide and began spinning, turning into a spiraling blur as he tried to bore his way through. Unfortunately, it did no good.

WHIZZZ!

A jade-colored magical symbol flew out, a character from the script of the devils that was pulsing with devilishness. In the blink of an eye, Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit felt her true energy being drained away and saw scales spreading out over her skin. Her teeth extended into fangs and her hair began turning white. This was obviously some sort of devilization! As she scrambled to expunge the devilishness, Yang Qi waved his finger and she returned to her normal state.

'This devil energy is incredibly strong,' he thought. 'I love it! My Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth is really benefiting!' He felt like he was bathing in a hot spring. Inhaling, he sucked the devil symbol into him and the golden imp detonated it, turning it into raw power.

At this point, he reached the tomb.

There were bones scattered everywhere, as well as magical treasures of all sorts. Clearly, many people had met dismal ends here.

"King Life-Killer's sage swords!" He reached out and grabbed the seven swords from the corpses, and as they connected together, they unleashed bubbling killing intent. The Greedy Wolf, the Star of Destruction, the Seven Killings, and other ancient, fiendish zodiac stars appeared. The swords were as cold as autumn frosts and winter winds, and the will of King Life-Killer within them seemed impossible to comprehend.

As soon as Yang Qi laid hand on the swords, one word filled his mind: KILL!

'What incredible swords,' he thought. With a wave of his hand, he sent them flying over to Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit. Of course, she had worried all along that he wouldn't live up to his word and would keep the swords for himself instead of giving them to her. Therefore, she accepted them with the most profound gratitude.

After all, without him, she wouldn't even have been able to get past the first level of the castle.

As soon as she got the swords she began fusing with them, branding them with her sealing mark and mental dharma. As she did, the swords transformed into seven beams of godlight that hovered behind her. Her sword technique had already improved by an entire level.

Next, she looked over at the sword case, which obviously contained more of King Life-Killer's holy swords. Obviously, she would love to add more to her collection, yet she was a bit nervous to try taking advantage of Yang Qi.

"What a nice sword case!" Yang Qi said, reaching through the jade-colored devil energy to grab it. It trembled, emitting a sound like the roar of a dragon or tiger, or countless fighters shouting "kill" at the same time.

He opened the box and a burst of sword energy emerged, mysterious and deadly.

Shockingly, there were a full forty-nine beams of sword light inside!

"My god! Forty-nine of King Life-Killer's holy swords!? This…." Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit very nearly passed out right then and there. Just seven of the swords had been an incredible boost, probably enough to reach the Tempered God level. But to have forty-nine would be so beneficial it was almost impossible to comprehend.

"Take them!" Yang Qi said, and the forty-nine swords became silver streaks of light that shot into him. A moment later, he exhaled and forty-nine swords shot out, dazzling and scintillating. "They had very nearly been corroded into nothing by the devil energy. But I've expelled the devil energy, which will make them much easier to fuse with. And they should do a lot to help you reach the Tempered God level. Once you get back to your Sage Sword Heaven, you'll be able to seize control immediately."

"Many thanks! If I can do that, I'll definitely do everything in my power to repay this debt to you." Considering how much it had taken to reach her current level of cultivation, she was no fool. She knew that Yang Qi was helping her because he expected a favor in return.

"Don't worry, I won't ask you to do anything outrageous," he said. 'Just eliminate an immortal world weaker than your own.'

With that, she sat down to fuse with the forty-nine holy swords. She now had a total of fifty-six, and once she had them all under control she was certain she could attempt a breakthrough.

However, that was when something completely unexpected happened. Without any warning whatsoever, she let out an agonized shriek and collapsed into unconsciousness.

Yang Qi reacted with complete astonishment. There had been no warning or indication of any amount of danger, and he hadn't had even a moment to react.

Without any hesitation, he unleashed the God Legion Paradise in preparation to fight a host of fiend-devils.

But then a voice rang out. "There's no need for alarm, young friend. I just want to have a little chat with you, so I knocked out that clown to have some privacy. I'm aware of the secrets you keep, and surely you don't want her to know the truth, do you? You're only an immortal general, a piteously low level. However, you have the combined constitutions of a Fateless One, a Future One, and a Reincarnated One."

"And you are…?" Yang Qi said, his heart shivering with fear.

A jade-colored figure appeared within the devil energy, an old man in a billowy robe, who had the demeanor of a transcendent being.

"I am your humble servant, Jade-in-Stone. You really are incredible, young man."

"Jade-in-Stone?" Yang Qi said. He chuckled coldly. "So, you're the devil sealed inside this tomb. You disguised yourself as some sort of transcendent being in the hopes of fooling me? Since you know my cultivation base makes me an immortal general, then you must also know that I could break through to the next level at any time. Then I would be an immortal marquis, or possibly even an immortal paragon or an immortal ancestor. Whatever trick you have that you think you can use to beat me, I'll remind you that, although your true form is formidable, your will projection isn't nearly strong enough to beat me."

"I'm aware that you're strong," the old man said coolly. "That's why I didn't attack you. Instead, I came to talk. Can't you tell I've come in good faith?"

"You want to talk? Alright. Talk." Yang Qi didn't trust this fiend-devil at all. Every creature in this place was one that had climbed mountains of corpses and swam through seas of blood to reach their current level of power.

"I've been a monster for hundreds of millions of years," Jade-in-Stone said, "but this is the first time I've ever encountered someone with a legendary God Legion Seal. Of course, it's incomplete, but still formidable. Considering you have such a seal, you know the truth: gods and devils were once the same. People like me started out as angels of war created by the legion of gods, only to be transformed later on.

"Listen, young man, why don't we work out a deal? You help free me, and I'll help you reach the Godmyth level. What do you say? I think it's a fair trade. I know that you're a Demolisher, and that every rise in level is a big struggle that requires a huge amount of vital energy. Unfortunately, your set of imperial snakecharms is incomplete, which means that you can't just go around devouring immortal worlds to become a Godmyth. Without help from me, I doubt you'll succeed."

"Free you?" Yang Qi laughed. "You've got a good imagination. Monsters like yourself are completely untrustworthy and will go back on their word in the blink of an eye. If I set you free, the first thing you would do is kill me. You might look like some transcendent being, but that's just a disguise. You're a killer to the core. I cultivate the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, so I know all about hell-born creatures like you. The best rule of all is to never make deals with fiend-devils!"