Sage Monarch

Roc Glory of the Rocfolk looked at his sister Princess Saddharma and said, “Sister, look, there’s Yang Qi right there, behind Leviathan Truesoaring. He's not even moving. Considering the situation, that's something you’d expect only of Great Sages. It looks like Yan Wubing just experienced a substructural breakthrough. Yang Qi gave him something via sagelight. I'd say there’s a high likelihood it’s some move from King Immortal-Slayer’s legacy.”

Then he looked back up into the shattered sky, where Yan Wubing and Ape Heavenhelve were currently fighting.

Princess Saddharma looked at Yang Qi, but all she could see was someone of a lower level than her, sitting there watching the battle via the third eye in his forehead.

But then, Yang Qi seemed to sense her eyes on him, and he shifted his gaze to meet hers.

When their eyes met, Princess Saddharma suddenly felt like she was falling into a boundless hell, filled with a multitude of infernal deities, all of them fighting viciously with various gods, immortals, and monarchs. It was like the ultimate battle between light and darkness. Above them all was the boundless Sovereign Lord, looking down with pity. Somehow, that Sovereign Lord was none other than Yang Qi.

A moment later, Princess Saddharma awoke from her nightmarish reverie to find herself soaked in sweat, and Yang Qi looking at her with a faint smile.

Averting her gaze, she said, “Brother! Is that Yang Qi really the son of the Holy Mother?”

Roc Glory looked in surprise at his sister, and noticed the expression on her face. “I don’t see how he could be anyone else. Only the Holy Mother could give birth to a son like him. What, you think he isn’t?” 

Princess Saddharma shook her head. “The Holy Mother couldn’t possibly have given birth to him. I just locked eyes with him, and used my Heaven-Roc God Magic to try to look at his nascent divinity. But then I sensed a true will of the most awe-inspiring and righteous nature, something that must never be offended. That true will exceeds anything from the immortal worlds!”

“It must be the will of King Immortal-Slayer.”

RUMBLE!

Even as the Rocfolk settled in place, the fight between Yan Wubing and Ape Heavenhelve heated up. Ape Heavenhelve’s Bloodflow Wings were flapping madly, sending a blood-colored river surging forth. He also swung the Heaven-Propping Pillar like mad, causing primal-chaos to spread everywhere, and immortal motes to shine brightly.

Meanwhile, the youthful Yan Wubing only seemed to be building momentum. As he fought, numerous ancient images appeared behind him, featuring ghosts, gods, immortals, and spirits. Every strike of his Primal-Origin Battle God Fist made him seem like a god from heaven descended into the mortal world, capable of destroying all creation to found a new one of his own.

Even as Ape Heavenhelve lashed out again with his Heaven-Propping Pillar, Yan Wubing clenched both hands into fists and then bowed at the waist, almost as if he were offering worship to heaven.

“King of Battle Gods!” he said

Instantly, the image of the enormous king of battle gods appeared behind him, who then roared, “The Battle Gods Cometh, and Rebirth Ceases; the Dust Becomes a Dragon, the Six Movements of Heaven and Earth.”

RUMBLE!

In the blink of an eye, a chiliocosm of worlds seemed to stir with six types of motion. With Yan Wubing at the center, a flurry of heavenly flowers, golden lotuses, swords, magical devices and countless other oddities appeared, swirling like a rainstorm. Then, just as quickly, they vanished into Yan Wubing’s fist.

SNAP!

Yan Wubing punched the Heaven-Propping Pillar, which shrank in on itself. Dragon-like power entered into Ape Heavenhelve, causing a spray of blood to emerge from his mouth, and his eyes to burn with rage.

He had been seriously injured.

Yan Wubing’s expression didn’t change at all. He took in a breath that caused everything to tremble, almost as if he were about to inhale the entire sky. Even Mount Sumeru began to shake, and the golden streams of light which shone off of it began to converge on Yan Wubing.

The stars in the sky seemed to tremble as though he might even absorb them, and at the same time, millions of wormholes opened, allowing streams of power to flow into his dantian region.

All sorts of strange energies were converging on Yan Wubing, who seemed just about to explode with tempestuous violence.

“DIE!” he shouted, converging all of the destructive power into a single punch.

Instantly, everything went dark. All light vanished, even that of the stars, and the golden glow of Mount Sumeru. It was almost as if this fist strike had obliterated the mountain itself.

Ape Heavenhelve looked at the incoming attack, and his eyes shone with terror. He suddenly realized that this fist strike had both heaven and earth locked down completely, and that there was no way for him to dodge or escape.

All he could see within the darkness was Yan Wubing’s two, cold eyes, out to take his life.

This fist strike would definitely end Ape Heavenhelve’s life.

“Enough!” a voice said. As it swept the darkness and gloom away, a figure appeared on Mount Sumeru. Shockingly, he had an elephantine head and a human body, and looked like he was made from gold, as if he were a buddha or a god. Instantly, a wind swept forth that froze everything in the area, and once again ensured that Mount Sumeru was dominant in all creation.

Yan Wubing’s energy art was scattered, and he stepped back a few paces. Looking over at Mount Sumeru, he said, “August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven.”

Yang Qi slowly rose to his feet.

As he did, the God Legion Seal in his forehead stirred as if with thirst. Apparently, it wanted the blood of this entity with an elephantine head and a human body, as if it might come out on its own volition to do so.

Yang Qi even realized that he was physically shaking with the desire to go take that blood for his own.

The descendants of actual godmammoths were simply too potentially useful to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

As soon as August Patriarch Mammoth Heaven appeared, he stopped the fighting between Yan Wubing and Ape Heavenhelve. For most people, it was impossible to even make him out clearly; he was just too glorious. Whether he was a god or an immortal, it was hard for them to say. This was the might of the Demi-Immortal level, which vastly surpassed the power of Great Sages.

“Have you had enough fighting? If so, then the time has come for the immortal world to set up the ranking list, and open the passageway to hell.” Raising his voice, he announced, “All disciples who enter the training competition will receive the mark of the immortal world, which will keep track of how many fiend-devils they kill. The Immortal World Assembly will use the score to establish who the top geniuses are, and how they’ll be rewarded.”

“Sir, yes sir!” the various Demonfolk chiefs replied in loud voices.

Yan Wubing and Ape Heavenhelve didn’t say anything.

“Young Master,” Leviathan Truesoaring said, “Soon, the summoning talismans from the immortal world will descend. All of us have taken part in this type of training competition. Everyone gets the right to participate ten times, no more. We old-timers have already used all of our entrance rights, and therefore, the competition today will be among the younger disciples.”

“So, that’s how it is,” Yang Qi said, nodding. It made sense. If there weren’t limited rights of entrance, then the chiefs and eccentrics of the various demon clans could join, which would be very dangerous for people like him.

“Young Master,” Yan Wubing said, “You have to be extremely careful in there. Once you’re in that hell, don’t go around fighting with people. Find a safe place to reach the Great Sage level. Only afterward will you be out of danger. There will be a lot of competitors, including plenty from the Mammothfolk. And they’re virtually invincible in there.”

“I know,” Yang Qi said.

Even as they spoke, an enormous heavenly eye appeared high in the sky, radiating the aura of immortal planes. It was an eye that none of them could possibly resist, and even Yang Qi didn't dare to act rashly in its presence.

All of the surrounding Demonfolk remained stock still, and didn’t dare to make the slightest sound.

Immortal will erupted from the heavenly eye, and Yang Qi felt like his heart and mind were rising into the air. A moment later, he managed to calm himself.

RUMBLE!

This power vastly surpassed that of Great Sages or Demi-Immortals. As it pierced through space, it seemed to remold the cosmos, shifting aside greyspaces that existed deep within space-time. Suddenly, an enormous vortex took shape.

Then, streams of devil energy erupted from the vortex, along with the wailing of ghosts and the weeping of gods. The devil energy was so powerful, in fact, that it seemed like it might form into actual devil-spirits.

“I wonder what hell the immortal world is going to open this time.”

“That devil energy is so powerful!”

“I'm definitely going to take first place in this training competition.”

“The Holy Mother’s son is competing, but from what I could see, he’s far too weak. He's not even a Great Sage! I wonder if he’ll survive.”

“He has the legacy of King Immortal-Slayer, so everyone is going to be trying to kill him to get it.”

“If nobody else kills him, Mammoth Force will. I heard that the Mammothfolk all have it out for him. Let’s just wait and see what happens. As long as we kill enough fiend-devils to get into the top rankings, we’ll get unimaginable rewards from the immortal world.”

As everyone discussed the matter, the heavenly eye of the immortal world continued to pierce through the numerous powerful greyspaces, and destroy the devil energy. Finally, a pinging sound could be heard, which was when the eye completed the passageway to hell.

This hell was pitch black, filled with the most powerful toxic energy and devil energy.

“That’s….” Yan Wubing’s pupils constricted. “That’s the fabled Hell of Mahānata. I can't believe they opened that hell. What’s going on with the immortal world? A hell like that isn’t even suitable for training for Great Sages!”

In ancient Helltongue, Mahānata meant ‘great, grand, boundless’. [1]

The Hell of Mahānata was just that, a grand, boundless hell. It was a mysterious, powerful place that vastly surpassed the Hell of Suras. From the most ancient of times, it had been declared a forbidden region.

1. The Chinese word used here is a transliteration of the Sanskrit महा or mahā which means “great/grand”. Even if you’re not familiar at all with the cultures involved, you’ve probably heard of maharajahs, Mahayana Buddhism, or Mahatma Gandhi, all of which use the term. I originally was going to call this hell the “Hell of Mahā”. However, I couldn’t get over the fact that it would mean “Hell of Great” in English, which just seemed weird. In Chinese it’s fine, because there is no formal grammar. Anyway, I did some research to try to figure out what “greatness” would be in Sanskrit. From what I understand, it would be महानता which would transliterate into mahānata. If any of you out there would like to correct me about this, please do so, either in the comments, or by e-mailing me. That said, calling it the Hell of Mahānata should work fine. Remember that it essentially means it is “the most grand” of hells.