Sage Monarch

Regardless of the era, the kingdom, or the continent, myths and stories of hell existed everywhere. No person actually knew what hell looked like, and yet, it was widely accepted that it consisted of many levels, each of which was filled with millions and millions of fiend-devils and devil-gods.

No energy artists, not even the students in the Demi-Immortal Institute with their ancient historical records, knew exactly how many levels existed in hell.

In fact, the most powerful person to have ever existed in the Demi-Immortal Institute, its founder, didn’t even have access to that information. It was known only to the legion of gods in heaven.

However, the ancient records of the Demi-Immortal Institute did speak of an alternate dimension of devil-gods, who, long ago in primeval times, had invaded one of the continents above them, bringing it to catastrophe. It was none other than the fabled God-Devil Apocalypse.

The continent in question was the Yore-Wilds continent. At the time, the Rich-Lush Continent was a tiny part of that ancient continent, as insignificant as a drop of water in the ocean. As for the Quake-Dawn Continent that Ghost Emperor Yama had spoken of, it was another part of the former Yore-Wilds Continent. However, it was much larger than the Rich-Lush Continent, and had much more abundant resources. The living beings from there were unbelievably powerful.

The God-Devil Apocalypse started when certain Great Sages of the time, who had been traveling in a mysterious and ancient alternate dimension, found what they thought was a sealed magical treasure. By combining their secret magics, and by spending an inordinate amount of time, they managed to break the seal.

Unfortunately, that seal had been protecting, not a treasure, but rather, a passageway. And as soon as it was opened, disaster arrived in the form of hordes of fiend-devils, devil-gods, and ghost-gods, who erupted onto the continent and brought with them a reign of terror and a rain of blood.

Because of the war between the ancient cultivators and the devil-gods, the Yore-Wilds Continent was shattered, and transformed into countless smaller continents and locations. And the powerful groups that had once filled those lands became countless smaller organizations.

The sealed dimension which the monsters came from was called the Hell of Euphoria. And the devil-gods which had poured forth from it called themselves the Generals of Euphoria.

Each one of those devil-gods was strong enough to prop up mountains and seas, and to destroy the mightiest of rivers. Some of them could rip entire continents to shreds.

During the course of the war, the people of the lands came to realize that the Hell of Euphoria wasn’t the only hell. There were many others, such as the Hell of Never-Ending and the Hell of Mud Tilling…. All of them were ancient, boundless places that existed in the depths of space-time, far away in the universe from the Yore-Wilds Continent. [1]

Such myths were recorded in the ancient records of the Demi-Immortal Institute, and considering how long Yang Qi had been a student there, he had read through many of them.

Unfortunately, now that he was in direct conflict with the Crown Prince, it was doubtful that he would have much time for reading and study. The Crown Prince Society was simply too large and powerful.

As for the Euphoria Godstone that Yang Qi now possessed, it was an artifact from that ancient time, created in the Hell of Euphoria itself, and filled with profound wretch energy. Because it had been present in the endless and bitter fighting of the war, it was also imbued with much information about the devil-gods of hell. And thus, Yang Qi, who cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, could understand and benefit from that information.

In the Hell of Euphoria, devil-gods used Euphoria Godstones as part of their cultivation. The stones contained an evil and fiendish life force quintessence that was impossible to control, and was thus unsuitable for usage in cultivation by human cultivators.

But Yang Qi was different. He absolutely could use this stone.

The Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the most powerful technique created in the distant past by the legion of gods. It was designed to subdue the millions upon millions of hells that existed, as well as the countless powerful gods that existed throughout space-time. Not only did Yang Qi have the power to control the wretch energy of the Hell of Euphoria, he also had the ability to refine it for his own use.

In fact, it would be possible for him to use the stone to grasp the ultimate core of the Hell of Euphoria. And if he did, and was able to break through any intervening obstacles, then he would theoretically be able to form his Hell Portal even before he reached the Legendary level.

The wretch energy of the Euphoria Godstone was incomprehensibly powerful, and the sealing mark on it was already loosened, and could break at any moment. Once it did, it would erupt with incredible devil energy, enough to cause a huge disaster in the Rich-Lush Continent in general.

Even Grand Elder Feat-Virtue was somewhat nervous about that fact, and had only given the stone to Yang Qi to help the Crown Prince. In the end, the Euphoria Godstone was far, far more important to Yang Qi than the Gate of the Great Void could ever have been, and as such, he was very pleased.

“What are you so happy about, Brother?” Li He asked, confused.

Eyes shining with vicious light, Yang Qi said, “That Grand Elder Feat-Virtue has no idea what kind of technique I cultivate. He thought that giving me this stone would be damaging to me, but the truth is that it will be extremely helpful. Anyway, there’s no need to waste words. I'm going to set up a spell formation in this valley, after which I’ll absorb the Euphoria Godstone.”

“What?” Liang Dong said, visibly shocked, “Brother, can you really absorb it? That thing is extremely dangerous! It was sealed by Legendary power, and if you open it, we could all be devilized! Grand Elder Feat-Virtue definitely gave it to you with ill intentions.”

“It's fine. Trust me. If I succeed, it will benefit all of us, as I’ll be much more capable of standing up to the Crown Prince. All I’ll need to do is reach the Legendary level, and then he’ll have a much tougher time dealing with me.”

“Alright, brother, we trust you!” Hua Yinhu said. “We’ll set up the spell formation according to the feng shui of the terrain here.” [2]

With Yang Qi’s help, his four sworn brothers were all either Tertiary or Quaternary Lifeseizers, and were adept at creating spell formations. They knew how to draw out the spirit energy from the surrounding terrain, and call upon the true flame of the sun, moon, and stars. They could even use the magnetic powers of the earth to create magical treasures, and to refine their nascent divinities.

“No, there’s no need,” Yang Qi said. “I’ll set up the spell formation. I need the four of you to stand guard and keep the true energy flowing. If anything happens, don't move. I absorbed enough Nine-Yang Immortal Energy from the Minorcosm World that I can create a spell formation here that can never be broken.”

“Oh?” Hua Yinhu said. “If that’s the case, Brother, why not go back to Yanhaven and make the formation there? Wouldn’t it be a big help to your clan?”

Yang Qi shook his head. “I've thought about it, and although that would be somewhat helpful, I think it would be too dangerous. If for some reason I fail in my effort, everything for thousands of kilometers will be filled with hordes of monsters. A force like that would turn Yanhaven into a sea of blood, and that’s just too much of a risk.”

“In that case, never mind.” 

Li He and the others looked at the Euphoria Godstone in Yang Qi’s hands, and felt goosebumps prickling their skin.

Even people with stronger energy arts than they would feel terrified when looking at a Euphoria Godstone. In fact, people who weren’t Lifeseizers who looked at one would be so overwhelmed by the evil that they would vomit and then pass out. Not even Masters of Energy would be an exception.

“Nine-Yang Immortal Energy; Nine-Yang World!”

Yang Qi exhaled a stream of colorful Nine-Yang Immortal Energy, which made a shield that encompassed the entire valley. Then, he built a Nine-Yang Immortal Energy palace, surrounded by a city, and filled with people. In the blink of an eye, the place looked like a world of god-immortals.

Li He, He Jili, Hua Yinhu and Liang Dong sat within the Nine-Yang Immortal Energy, and marveled at the comfort they felt. It was almost like being able to practice cultivation in the Minorcosm World itself. Although they couldn't actually absorb the Nine-Yang Immortal Energy through breathing exercises, its mere presence created a resonance with their flesh and blood, and caused profound transformations therein.

Next, Yang Qi sat down in his world of energy and sent the true energy of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth into the Euphoria Godstone. Instantly, an image of his Hellfire Crucible appeared above his head, transparent and filled with the Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World, which caused the surrounding Nine-Yang Immortal Energy to twist and distort madly.

It was enough power that it could have burned a Nonary Lifeseizer alive; it was the most pure and ultimate expression of vital energy.

Yang Qi was now a Septenary Lifeseizer. And back in the competition, when he had only been a Senary Lifeseizer, he had dominated Nonary Lifeseizer geniuses, and that was without even using the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

With his current level of power, he could slaughter any Nonary Lifeseizer he encountered.

In fact, he would probably be able to cut down some Legendaries as well.

However, his goal was to keep rising, to reach Octonary or possibly even Nonary Lifeseizing. Before, that would have been nothing more than lunatic ravings, even if he had been able to practice cultivation long-term in the Minorcosm World. But now, with this Euphoria Godstone, everything was different. There was nothing else he could have acquired that would be more beneficial to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

‘Let’s open this seal and take a look. How evil are you, little Euphoria Godstone? You were sealed by a team of Legendaries, so will the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth be enough to suppress you?’ Without any further hesitation, he threw the stone into the Hellfire Crucible.

The flames of the crucible surged, burning away at the sealing talismans.

The nefarious energy of the stone had been eating away at the talismans already, weakening them. As such, the Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World couldn’t have been more destructive.

Booms rang out as one sealing talisman after another was destroyed, and the true energy of Legendaries erupted out. Yang Qi inhaled, absorbing the energy and allowing it to flow through him, pushing his own energy to heaven-shaking, earth-toppling levels. All of a sudden, he felt strong enough to lift mountains on his shoulders.

He almost wondered if he was going to transform into an enormous god with an elephantine head and a human body, and a true energy trunk that could lift mountains.

There were a total of eighty-one seals on the Euphoria Godstone, and when the last of them shattered, the devil embryo that was the stone seemed to be on the verge of exploding.

A piercing scream erupted out, filling the air around the Hellfire Crucible. Then the godstone began to twitch and wriggle, almost as if the life force quintessence inside of it was about to give birth to a real devil.

1. Before the grammar police start raking me over the coals, let me say that I’m aware that “Hell of Never-Ending” sounds weird and is incorrect in terms of grammar. However, all of the hells need to conform to the structure “Hell of XYZ”. Furthermore, the name of this hell is involved in some wordplay later on that requires it to be called “Never-Ending”. In this translation, I am leaning a lot more toward the direct and literal translation of many terms, because there is simply too much wordplay involving specific Chinese characters and terms.

2. I think a lot of Westerners think of “feng shui” as a silly fad relating to how you arrange your furniture. It’s much more than that. Here is a quote from Wikipedia with some additional comments by me in brackets: “Feng shui is one of the Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics, classified as physiognomy (observation of appearances through formulas and calculations). The feng shui practice discusses architecture [and topography] in terms of “invisible forces” that bind the universe, earth, and humanity together…. Historically, feng shui was widely used to orient buildings—often spiritually significant structures such as tombs, but also dwellings and other structures [such as spell formations]—in an auspicious manner….” Even nowadays, Chinese people take it very seriously. The direction a building faces, or the way a room is set up, is believed by some people to be very important. On my first trip to China, the tour guide told a story of her friend, who was supposedly possessed by a demon that caused him to be sick. By adjusting the feng shui of his house, he was able to get rid of the problem.