Sage Monarch

The old devil Jade-in-Stone watched as Yang Qi absorbed the finger and passed his tribulations. Then he smiled, looking very pleased. "You're already much stronger. If you assimilate the entire arm, you'll definitely reach the level of an eighth stage Antiquity-Demolisher, at the very least. Well, what do you think? That was a nice gift I gave you, don't you agree? Don't tell me you're going to back out of our agreement now."

With decisiveness that could sever nails and chop iron, Yang Qi said, "Don't worry. I always honor my promises. Besides, there's nothing in heaven and earth that could be more useful to me than that arm. The benefits I got from a mere finger were incredible."

Waving his hand, he pulled Sword Matriarch Ice Spirit over and put her into his God Legion Paradise. If fighting broke out, he didn't want her getting hurt or killed by any of the shockwaves.

Unfazed, Jade-in-Stone waved his hand and an opening appeared in the surface of the jade tomb. "Please come in, Daoist Brother. Welcome to my tomb. The sealed arm is just inside."

"Of course." Yang Qi stepped inside looking completely and utterly confident in himself. The truth was that he was actually quite nervous. He was taking a very big risk here and was convinced that this Jade-in-Stone was out to harm him. Most likely it would be in the moment he tried to take the arm of the god; Jade-in-Stone would then try to break free, kill Yang Qi, and take all of his belongings.

The Wheel of Fate spun madly above his head; it was telling him that he was indeed in a very dangerous situation, but that there was the potential for immense gain. He just had to stay in control. After all, he was a Fateless One, therefore, natural laws and the dao of heaven couldn't control his future. He was the one who would determine how things played out.

The inside of the jade-colored tomb was an immense minor world. There were numerous paper talismans visible, all of them inscribed with sauvastika characters perfectly suited to suppress wretch-devils. Unexpectedly, they were the work of some ancient buddhist school.

So far, Yang Qi had never met a single cultivator from an actual buddhist school. Supposedly, such organizations were extremely rare, existing only in very high-level heavenly locations. And yet, here in Castle Heaven-Devil, the devil Jade-in-Stone had been imprisoned by buddhist sealing magic.

For some reason, Yang Qi had a very strange feeling about all of this.

Half-mumbling, Jade-in-Stone said, "Those talismans were put in place by that damned, er—" he looked over at Yang Qi "—monk. That damned monk. He used some sort of buddhist zen art to seal me and I ended up stuck here for a hundred million years!"

"Don't worry, I know a bit about the buddhist schools, including their techniques and mental dharmas. I can take care of these talismans."

As Yang Qi walked further into the tomb, he sensed increasingly powerful godpower, which pushed away the devil energy and threatened to dispel Jade-in-Stone's projected form.

"Dammit, that's the arm right there." Jade-in-Stone pointed, and Yang Qi continued walking forward until he saw an enormous arm. Despite missing a finger, it held a nation of heaven-devils in its hand, gripping down tight as if to crush it. The arm was covered with the images of countless golden buddhas. Apparently, those buddhas were what gave the arm the power to suppress Jade-in-Stone.

"Incredible," Yang Qi said. He was now certain that if he took this arm he would advance by leaps and bounds, possibly even leaping directly into the Godmyth level. Flying over, he raised his voice and said, "I'm going to assimilate it, Jade-in-Stone. You stand as my dharmic guard. And give me some of your devil energy; I'll need it to properly work with the arm."

Yang Qi was still plotting to make a move against Jade-in-Stone. He had known all along that Jade-in-Stone was planning to wait until the most critical moment to attack him.

"Alright!" Jade-in-Stone smiled in delight, then waved his arm, sending a stream of devil light into Yang Qi.

As a result, Yang Qi felt his true energy surging mightily.

"I've been cultivating that Heaven-Devil Unrestrained True Energy for a hundred million years," Jade-in-Stone said. "It will improve any true energy it touches, and contains both the magical laws of an Incarnated God, as well as virtual godhood. Use it carefully. With it and your God Legion Seal, you shouldn't have any trouble assimilating that god arm."

"No problem at all!" Yang Qi said. But he didn't let the energy actually touch any part of him. Instead, he sent it into a passageway hidden in his sea of energy, which led directly into the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

As Yang Qi's cultivation base improved, so did his clone's. And after all the time the clone had spent in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, his command over King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions had reached the point of perfection.

Yang Qi had no doubt that the energy he had just been given was haunted in some way. There was no way Jade-in-Stone would just hand over true energy out of the goodness of his heart. Most likely, he planned to use it to possess Yang Qi. But Yang Qi was using his scheming against him; in the moment that he actually tried to carry out the possession, Yang Qi would send him to the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart and continue working on his own cultivation in peace and quiet.

Thrummmm!

Yang Qi activated the power of the God Legion Seal and sent it into the arm, instantly creating a resonance with the countless golden buddhas. At first, the power of the buddhas put up resistance, but the God Legion Seal easily dispelled it.

The power of the God Legion Seal was specifically designed to deal with entities that possessed godliness.

The arm soon began to twitch and wriggle—even emitting popping and cracking noises—as though it might break free and fly off on its own.

Yang Qi drew on the Blood of the One God, causing boundless light to shine out of the God Legion Seal. As a result, the twitching of the arm began turning rhythmic and godliness began seeping out of it. This godliness was so powerful that it surpassed anything he could have acquired from god items by hundreds of thousands of times.

His first inhalation was like absorbing over a hundred god items. After all, a single drop of blood from an ancient god would be virtually invincible, much less an entire arm.

'This is amazing,' Yang Qi thought, sighing contentedly. 'At this rate, I can probably reach the Godmyth level in a year and a half!' As the Wheel of Fate and the God Legion Seal worked together, he tapped into the mysterious genes within the god arm. Those genes contained the secrets and memories of the god the arm had belonged to, and would normally be completely inaccessible. However, Yang Qi was different. As he absorbed the godliness, he analyzed the genes and gained immense benefits to his cultivation base, continually inching toward the Godmyth level.

POP!

Rumbling sounds filled his mind as his level of enlightenment reached that of an immortal paragon. Although his true self didn't face a tribulation to increase his level, in the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, his clone did. Fire dragons swirled around the clone and the soul of King Immortal-Slayer appeared. He inhaled the tribulation, passing it easily—another manifestation of the mysterious immortal-slaying power he possessed.

Considering the incredible level of control the clone now had over the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart, he was completely confident in being able to keep Jade-in-Stone under control later.

'Time to form my Sage Child!'

The godliness he was absorbing turned into the true energy of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, which he used to form his Sage Child. The Sage Child began to breathe, and sagelight fell like rain, pulsing with the power to suppress devils. In fact, as it touched Jade-in-Stone's clone, an expression of revulsion and even pain appeared on his face.

'Damnation! I have to get rid of this guy. This is going to be great. He's a Fateless One with a God Legion Seal, and has all sorts of treasures. I can't believe he actually trusted me. Once he's assimilated about a third of that god's arm, my deathless will can break free and possess him. My physical form has long since wasted away, so what I need right now is a good body. And what could be more perfect than a Fateless One! This is like a dream come true!'

Jade-in-Stone waited patiently, watching Yang Qi assimilate the god's arm and anticipating the moment that he could break free.

Thus, days began passing. Godliness swirled into Yang Qi, refining his abilities and pushing him into a state of enlightenment that could only be considered extremely rare.

'Almost there. Just a bit more….' Jade-in-Stone was starting to get nervous as the moment approached in which he knew he could finally break free.

Yang Qi inhaled, then exhaled, causing golden light to spread out and cover the arm. The arm began to tremble, and in that moment the devil will inside broke free. In the blink of an eye, the entire area became a devil world unto its own.

Laughing maniacally, Jade-in-Stone said, "Freeing me was the worst mistake you'll ever make! I'm going to take your blood and soul for my own!"