Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)
chapter-563

The five Obliterators all stood together. The situation had developed so quickly that it almost seemed like a dream to them. However, considering Yang Qi’s powerful aura, they all knew that it was no dream. It was very, very real.

“What, not willing to accept me as your captain?” Yang Qi asked, his voice pulsing with killing intent.

“We’re willing,” Savage Dragon said. “We Obliterators respect strength above everything, so we can acknowledge allegiance to someone stronger than us. Sir, considering we have someone as invincible as you in our ranks now, we’ll definitely surpass all the other teams like us. Hopefully, you can make us the strongest squad in the entire Special Reconnaissance Division.”

“Well, that's a given,” Yang Qi said. “In fact, that’s my exact plan. We’ll become the top team in the Special Reconnaissance Division, and from there, reach even greater heights. Alright, starting now, you take orders from me. Also, I have a few questions for you.”

“What questions do you have, Captain, sir?” Savage Dragon was fully convinced that Yang Qi was stronger than him, and not just by a little bit. Therefore, he didn’t harbor even the hint of a thought of scheming against him.

To him, strength was everything, and anything else was just an illusion.

“I want to know about the Heaven’s Net Consortium. Who are they? What are their connections to the imperial court?” Yang Qi was still thinking about those six hundred and sixty-six imperial snakecharms that the Heaven’s Net Consortium had, which were crucial to him passing the tribulation of the Demolishing level.

Army scouts were well-informed and had access to lots of information, even more so than the well-connected Titan Duelbringer.

“What?” Savage Dragon said in surprise. “Captain, how did you know the Heaven’s Net Consortium is connected to our mission in the Endless Forest?”

Inwardly, Yang Qi was shocked, but he didn’t let it show on his face, ‘Our mission is to go to the Endless Forest and to destroy the magical altar set up by the Demonfolk sorcery of the Hanging Heaven,’ he thought. ‘Don’t tell me the Heaven’s Net Consortium is also wrapped up in the whole thing.’

“It’s like this, Captain,” Vicious Vulture said. “The Heaven’s Net Consortium has a lot of connections to the imperial court. But their biggest backer is actually an almighty figure from the Hanging Heaven, who has been plotting to overthrow the imperial court for who knows how long. Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to turn up any hard evidence to prove it. Worse, the Heaven’s Net Consortium has been seeding the court with infiltrators. It’s a big problem that’s been getting worse and worse over the years, but nobody can do anything about it.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Yang Qi said. “No wonder I sensed the aura of Demonfolk when I visited the Heaven’s Net Consortium earlier.” After all, the original creator of the imperial snakecharms, King Heaven-Devourer—who was himself a primal-chaos elder-snake—had been an august patriarch of the Demonfolk.

No wonder the Hanging Heaven had so many snakecharms.

“Let’s go!” Yang Qi said. “The Endless Forest is just up ahead. Let’s start by dismantling that altar, then we can look into the secrets of the Heaven’s Net Consortium. If they’re plotting against the imperial clan, then it’s my duty as a clansman to see them destroyed.”

He flew into the air and waved his hand, causing space to bend as a wormhole opened up. This wormhole was almost crystalline and was obviously much more stable than the broken wormhole they had traveled through earlier.

The Obliterators were all shocked.

“This wormhole….”

“Captain, do you have a primeval godworm?”

“Indeed I do,” Yang Qi replied coolly. “That makes it very easy for me to make stable wormholes. As long as the five of you are loyal to me, I can eventually get you your own godworms.”

“Many thanks, Captain! We’ll work for you to our dying day! We won’t flinch even if you ask us to climb mountains of blades or cross seas of fire!”

The five Obliterators were completely and utterly convinced of Yang Qi’s strength and superiority.

They entered the wormhole and sped along until they sensed some sort of demon power up ahead, blocking the wormhole. At that point, they dropped back down into the open and Yang Qi waved his hand, causing the wormhole to fade from view.

They were no longer in a huge desert, but a region of towering mountains covered with dense vegetation. It looked like a primeval forest, with trees that stretched high into the sky and vines stretching between trees and limbs. The foliage was so dense that, once inside the forest, it was impossible to see the sky.

“Captain, this is the Endless Forest,” Savage Dragon said. “Nobody even knows the full extent of its borders, and it’s filled with demonlings of all sorts. Some of them are very dangerous and have had lairs here since ancient times. Not even the armies of the imperial court have been able to subjugate this region. Some of the trees have demon souls and will attack immortals who fly too close to them. We definitely can’t just go right in. We have to be very careful as we search for that altar, and—”

Whoosh!

Before he could finish speaking, a screaming sound filled the air and a vine shot toward the group of six.

Swish!

Brutal Tiger leaped forward, a vicious Tiger King Battle Saber in his hand that he used to slash the vine apart. However, the vine didn’t die. Instead, the two halves began extending, looking even more vicious than before. Apparently, cutting them in half only made them stronger!

But then a blast of searing heat shot out from the Tiger King Battle Saber and burned the two vines out of existence.

“Nice,” Yang Qi said with a nod. “Excellent saber technique. Each strike is fatal and contains an immortal skill built into it. Unfortunately, your true energy flows are imbalanced, and haven’t combined the dao with reality.”

Suddenly, more vines shot toward them, yet Yang Qi didn’t even look in their direction. He waved his hand, causing Brutal Tiger’s saber to fly over to him. Grasping it by the hilt, he unleashed a blade nimbus that shredded all of the vines to pieces in a single move.

RIP!

Then he thrust the saber forward, provoking an agonized shriek from the main trunk of the vine.

“Amazing saber technique!” Brutal Tiger said in admiration. “That one move released a flowing blade light that could end all life and even destroy souls. You didn’t even need to use flames to wipe those vines out of existence. I couldn’t reach that level if I practiced for a hundred years!”

“You wouldn’t need to. It's a secret move I know that I can teach you. Practice it for a couple years and you’ll reach a much higher level.” Yang Qi dropped back down onto the ground. The surface of the forest was a bed of dead leaves, and looking up, the only thing visible was dense vegetation.

Occasionally, snakes or bugs would appear in nearby trees and would lunge out to attack them. However, Yang Qi had the God Legion Paradise out, which protected everyone.

Whack. Bam!

When the snakes and bugs hit the God Legion Paradise, it sounded like metal spears hitting metal shields.

‘They’re so strong and fierce!’ Yang Qi thought, sighing in admiration. Suddenly, a buzzing sound rose up and a cloud of mosquitos appeared.

They were the size of grains of rice, yet they seemed to be made of metal. And they were vicious and bloodthirsty. When they slammed into the defensive empyrean energy of the God Legion Paradise, it trembled and blasts of fire rose up.

“Those mosquitos are incredible.”

“Captain, those are the Endless Forest’s obsidian mosquitos,” Savage Dragon said. “When they come in groups, they're almost like locusts. They could turn an ordinary immortal into a desiccated corpse in no time at all. They even absorb true energy. The fact that your personal domain can keep them at bay like this is really incredible.”

“What would you use to deal with them?” Yang Qi asked.

“We have something called Covert Heavenly Incense. With the aura of that incense, pests and vermin of all types will avoid you. Most people wouldn't be willing to waste their own true energy defending against things in the Endless Forest.”

“In my case, I'm not worried,” Yang Qi said. “I once cultivated something from the dao of devils, a divine ability from primeval infernal deities in hell. With it, I can create all sorts of toxic magical treasures. For instance, these Devil-Louse Godrot Banners!”

All of a sudden, a stream of devil energy shot out of Yang Qi’s hand.

As it converged on itself, it turned into five banners, each of which depicted a horned fiend-devil holding a trident. Devil energy then began pouring out of their mouths and formed a roiling vortex.

He handed one banner to each of the other Obliterators. Almost immediately, any immortal pests and vermin in the area who got too close were sucked into the banners, and their quintessence-blood and toxic energy absorbed.

“These Devil-Louse Godrot Banners are magical treasure from primeval devil-gods,” Yang Qi said coolly. “They can absorb endless venomous insects, force them to devour each other, then use them to create godrot lice! Or you can store the venomous insects inside the banners and unleash them like weapons later!”

“What amazing treasures!” All five of the Obliterators were delighted.

In the lower world, Yang Qi had been unable to produce banners like these. After all, there were no venomous pests down there like there were in the immortal world.

But in this situation, they were the perfect tool.