Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The enormous crab-like fiend-devil had eight claws, each of them sharp enough to snap mountains in half. He also had a disgusting human face, with triangular eyes that glittered with light that could pierce deep into one’s heart and mind.

Anyone who looked into such eyes would experience the terrifying sensation of their soul being tugged at.

That was the power that fiend-devil viscounts had at their command, especially one at the Nonary level.

One by one, the other fiend-devils surrounded Yang Qi. Considering how much taller they were than him, they stared down at him the same way that wolves would stare down at a bunny.

Besides the fiend-devil close to being a Legendary, the sheep-headed fiend-devil was at the Octonary level, and the other three were just below it, in the Septenary level. Each and every one of them was savage, ruthless, malicious, evil and cruel.

As for the energy field they generated in their formation of five, it was strong enough to literally crush anyone in Quinary Lifeseizing or lower out of existence. However, it was nothing particularly threatening to Yang Qi.

The sheep-headed fiend-devil that he had stabbed was already fully healed thanks to the help provided by the crab-like fiend-devil.

Were it not for that outside assistance, he wouldn’t have escaped from the Infernal Deity Spear with its life.

And without the powerful nefarious energy in the Preheaven Devil-Eye, there was no way he would have recovered so quickly.

Despite not having managed to take the thing’s life, Yang Qi had put on an impressive enough showing to shock all of the fiend-devils present. He was a mere Quinary Lifeseizer student, and yet had charged into the Preheaven Devil-Eye and stabbed a fiend-devil viscount through the heart. They could hardly imagine what that implied regarding his cultivation base.

Considering he was surrounded by five fiend-devils, Yang Qi wasn’t going to hold anything back. Drawing on all of the power he could muster, he brandished his spear; the wails of ghosts and howls of gods rang out, and the Cleansing Flame of the Heavenly World raged around him.

“Fiend-devils from hell, you should be on your knees in front of me, trembling at the sight of my spear. I represent the legion of gods who dominate hell. I am the sovereign lord who reigns supreme over all wretched entities of the underworld….”

With that, he unleashed five more spear attacks. As he did, the image of a god appeared behind him, porcelain in color, with an elephantine head and a human body. It stretched out its hands and splayed its five fingers wide, causing all of the wretch energy in the area to sweep toward the Hellfire Crucible inside Yang Qi.

In fact, the five fiend-devils realized to their terror they had lost control over the wretch energy of their own Preheaven Devil-Eye.

WHOOOOOOOOSH!

Five spear projections sped directly toward the hearts of the five fiend-devils, who already felt their wretch energy being pulled away from them. Thanks to this spear, their devil arts were acting like government officials in the presence of the emperor. There was virtually nothing they could do to fight back.

This was the typical reaction of evil techniques to the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Whether it was fiend-devils, devil-ghosts, or zombies, as long as they carried the characteristics of hell, the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth was the bane of their existence.

Roar!

The crab-like fiend-devil howled as its eight arms shot forward and formed an ancient sealing mark. Instantly, a burst of energy fluctuations shot out.

“Grand Palms of the Wretch-Emperor!”

Eight enormous palms appeared, wicked, dripping with blood, and bursting with so much energy that everything in the area distorted.

Those eight hands quickly vanquished the five spear projections.

And yet, Yang Qi didn’t seem fazed at all. He slipped from stance to stance using his spear, stabbing at the palm projections in quick succession, destroying one after another.

Suddenly, the crab-like fiend-devil grinned in sinister fashion and began to shrink down in size until he was as tall as an ordinary person. However, that only seemed to concentrate his power and make it more potent. Furthermore, it also summoned a manifestation of Humanoid True Energy, a wretched emperor dressed in black clothing, bursting with the most evil of auras.

Yang Qi recognized this energy art as being a secret legacy of fiend-devils, Wretch-Emperor Energy. If that power fully coalesced in the wretch energy of the Preheaven Devil-Eye, then it would likely make the battle too difficult for Yang Qi.

Quickly summoning his Fiend-Devil Wings, he circulated his true energy and before the wretched emperor could fully form, resorted to the dao of the quick strike.

RUUUUMBLE!

He vanished, moving so quickly that he appeared right in front of the fiend-devil, where he thrust out his spear with the power of ninety-nine ancient megamammoths to back it.

‘Strike like a thunderstorm!’

This quick strike really was like a thunderstorm, like a manifestation of the rage of the heavens.

Instantly, the wretched emperor that the crab-like fiend-devil had been summoning was stabbed through, making it impossible for it to fully form.

In response, the crab-like fiend-devil spun in place and fled. Yang Qi’s quick strike was like the rage of a god from heaven, and despite being in the Nonary Lifeseizing level, he knew that if he kept fighting, he would end up dead.

Before anything else could happen, Yang Qi vanished again, then reappeared in front of a wolf-headed fiend-devil.

These creatures were weaklings as far as Yang Qi was concerned. Back when he was in Quaternary Lifeseizing, he had consumed a devil-ghost who was an even stronger Septenary Lifeseizer. Considering how much stronger he was now, he could easily kill them with a single strike from his spear.

Whack. Whack. Whack!

Three explosions rang out as the three wolf-headed fiend-devils exploded, and their demon cores flew into Yang Qi’s Hellfire Crucible.

Then, blue light shone out as he put their bodies into his Heart of the Sea thumb-ring. After all, their corpses were full of treasured parts that could be used to forge magical items, or handed in to the institute for a hefty reward of merit points.

With that, he turned and began to fly away. He had no desire to try to track down the crab-like fiend-devil. After all, he wasn’t completely certain that he would actually be able to beat it in a fight. More pertinent, the Preheaven Devil-Eye had already lost much of its gravitational force.

Also, he could sense that the Flameking Cauldron was gone, which indicated that the other students had managed to escape the devil formation.

**

Meanwhile, outside of Fiend-Devil Island, Flame Clearspring, Hua Fengfeng, Jun Tianchou, and the others all hovered in the air, looking back at the island and the lesser fiend-devils that flew about on it. Thanks to the help Yang Qi had provided in weakening the Preheaven Devil Formation, they had finally managed to break out and escape. It was impossible to say how many lesser fiend-devils they killed as they did.

“I wonder how Brother Yang is doing. It was difficult enough to escape, let alone pay attention to what was happening in the Preheaven Devil-Eye. That thing is nothing to take lightly. I hope he’s alright.”

“Flame Clearspring. Jun Tianchou. Quickly notify the elders at your institutes. Tell them to send help immediately. We absolutely, positively must not let anything happen to Brother Yang.”

“We need to call for the Legendary elders. I’ll send a message immediately with my command medallion.” One of the conclave students pulled out a very valuable command medallion and prepared to send the urgent message.

But just as the student was about to send the message, a whistling sound reached their ears, and a blur could be seen. Then, a voice echoed out. “Brother Tianchou, there’s no need to send any messages. I broke free. Let’s get out of here.”

“It's Brother Yang Qi!”

“Brother Yang….”

“Brother Yang didn’t die? He succeeded! He's a genius favored by the heavens! A role model for a generation!”

“So strong!”

Everyone rushed over and surrounded Yang Qi, and could sense from the intensity of his true energy fluctuations that he had just fought a heaven-shaking, earth-shattering battle.

“It’s not the time and place to talk. Let’s put some distance between us and Fiend-Devil Island. Once we find a safe place, we can talk a bit.” With that, the group flew along for a few tens of thousands of kilometers over the sea until they found an island covered with blossoming peach trees.

They were now so far away from Fiend-Devil Island that they couldn’t sense even a scrap of wretch energy. Even the demonlings in the nearby sea were docile and peaceful.

As they landed, the entire group immediately began to offer more praise. “Brother Yang Qi, I almost can’t believe that you escaped from the Preheaven Devil-Eye! Without you, we would have been killed by those viscounts.”

Yang Qi smiled. “Ah, you’re definitely exaggerating. Besides, I just happened to get lucky, and don’t need to fear devil energy. As friends of Brother Tianchou, you’re friends of mine. And I'm the type of person who will go through hell and high water for my friends.”

Suddenly, Zhao Wuhun from the House of Martial Saints said, “Listen, everyone. We barely escaped certain disaster thanks to the help of Brother Yang Qi. I suggest that we all become sworn siblings right here and now. Henceforth, we will live and die together, and share glory and misfortune alike. What do you say?”

He was a hot-blooded fellow, the same one who had suggested that they all join Yang Qi in a fight to the death with the fiend-devils.