The ocean floor teemed with godlings, demonlings, and devillings of all sorts. Their population surpassed that of the humans on the surface. And not even the demonling population in the mountains and forests could compare.
It was easier to survive under the surface, where it wasn’t necessary to deal with the vile climate of the god world.
Of course, if you were swept up by the current and smashed into one of the enormous underwater mountains that existed below, you could easily die. But once familiar with life underwater, most creatures found survival much easier.
The Dragonfolk were a majorly domineering force underwater.
It was hard to say how far down the ocean went. It was as dark as night down there, far beyond the reach of light. However, one thing was certain: this part of the ocean floor was a hundred times larger than the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty and Nacrelight Sageland put together.
There were countless buildings, palaces, and castles to be seen, and teleportation portals that were active day and night. There were all sorts of undersea denizens who practiced cultivation that would travel through this area.
Furthermore, this area was surrounded by a tyrannical destiny that pushed away the dark and dangerous ocean currents.
This was where the Nine Dragons Court held sway, the location of centralized power that the Dragonfolk used to control the surrounding oceans.
And the central palace was a huge network of immense crystalline structures.
‘It’s huge,’ Yang Qi thought, ‘and the destiny is incredible. It almost turns the water solid! Ordinary people who came here wouldn’t even be able to swim.’ He almost felt like he was dreaming.
Mountains jutted up like massive clams, except the pearls they spat out were like suns that cast light in all directions.
Some of the cities were built on immense, slumbering sea turtles, each of them as large as a continent. Although they were still and unmoving, they pulsed with immense power.
If he could take the destiny of the Nine Dragons Court, he was convinced he wouldn’t even need the Mahātmā Jade to break through to a higher psychic level.
His Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and Unspoiled Body could both use destiny to further cultivation. And in his Sage Monarch Grand Magic, the Ruler and Emperor aspects were similar.
With strong enough destiny, it was definitely possible to break through previous psychic limitations.
He was already coming up with a plan. He would work with the Deva Dynasty for as long as it took to start taking the destiny he needed. He already had a devil embryo in Patriarch Deva, although there was absolutely no way he could use it to take control of him now.
The only reason he was able to work with him now was by relying on his status as the Second Devil General’s clone. If the truth leaked, he would be in trouble.
**
“Damn it all!” spat Buddha Tyrant from within one of the crystalline palaces. He was in a meeting with Buddha Lawtongue and the others. “Who exactly is that Mister Second? His cultivation base isn’t very high, only in the early Paramount God level. But he sure talks big. And he used a really vicious sneak attack on me. And even Paramount Gods and the other old-timers treat him with a lot of respect.”
“You absolutely, positively mustn’t do anything rash, Buddha Tyrant,” said Buddha Lawtongue. “I suspect he has some sort of profound and ancient energy in him. He might even be some ancient entity who was injured and is still in the process of recovery. Otherwise, why would Patriarch Deva be so polite to him? Patriarch Deva ranks as high as our own leader! He doesn’t go around being polite to early Paramount Gods!” Remember, the destiny of the Deva Dynasty increased by a shocking thirty percent recently, and it’s all because of him. He must have an endless sea of wealth, otherwise he couldn’t just throw out millions of perfect caliber godstones without batting an eye. Soon enough, the destiny of the Deva Dynasty is going to surpass that of the Nine Dragons Court, and when it does, Patriarch Deva is going to attack us. He’s a vicious and merciless old bastard who won’t show mercy or pity to anyone. When the time comes, he won’t hesitate to wipe us out.”
“Damnation!” Buddha Tyrant raged. “The Deva Dynasty is the one that needs to be wiped out!”
“Our top priority right now is to tell His Majesty the emperor about all this. It’s not as though we’re completely out of options. We already made the agreement with the Deva Dynasty to go to the Bastille of the One God. Once we’re there, maybe we can capture this Mister Second and force his secrets out of him.”
The other experts of the Dragonfolk approved of the idea.
“True, that’s a good idea.”
“That said, his cultivation base is very strong. What if we can’t keep him under control? And he’s going to be with other people from the Deva Dynasty. They’ll definitely protect him! Are we going to wipe out everyone from the Deva Dynasty?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Buddha Lawtongue said. “Based on the information I have about the Sumeru Temple, they’re already planning on dealing with Mister Second. With us working toward the same goal, how could we possibly fail to crush him? Besides, we can also call on our king of fighters and lord of destroyers! With his help, it definitely won’t be impossible to destroy this mysterious Mister Second.”
“What?” Buddha Tyrant said, a look of fear flitting across his face. “Uncle Lawtongue, are you sure we need the help of that freak? He might be the king of fighters, the lord of destroyers, and the master of fear, but he was imprisoned years ago by the patriarchs! They locked him up in the Eye of the Myriad Seas, ensuring that he’ll remain immobile for all eternity. I even heard that his cultivation base is almost on the same level as the patriarch’s. What if releasing him causes trouble?”
All of a sudden, a new voice echoed out. “The Deva Dynasty has already broken all the rules. We can’t keep playing the game in the same way.”
They looked over and saw a majestic man approaching, clad in an imperial dragon robe. The other Dragonfolk quickly dropped to their knees and chorused, “Greetings, Your Majesty!”
“Rise, everyone,” said the emperor, sitting down on his throne. “I’m already aware of everything that’s happened, and I’ve discussed matters with the patriarch. We’re going to take advantage of the upcoming mission to the Bastille of the One God to kidnap Mister Second. Unfortunately, although the patriarch has his differences with Patriarch Deva, he can’t take action directly. Both of them are late Paramount Gods with late Unbounded will convergences, and both are on the verge of a breakthrough. However, we Dragonfolk have a trump card in the form of Buddha Testimony. He’s my younger brother, and although he was imprisoned in the Eye of Myriad Seas, he’s already been brought in line by the patriarch. All he has to do is crush Mister Second, and he’ll earn his freedom. Cooperate with him in all sincerity. He is the most deadly secret weapon we have in the Nine Dragons Court.”
“Yes sir,” the Dragonfolk chorused.
Yang Qi slowly retracted his view. ‘Very impressive. I’m barely on par with the emperor of the Dragonfolk. He’s already in the mid Unbounded level, and is a mid Paramount God. Furthermore, he has unique godhood in him and not even I can tell what it is. In fact, it’s more like a nest of godhood, filled with billions upon trillions of immense dragons.”
Thanks to his eavesdropping, Yang Qi now knew that there was an elite expert among the Dragonfolk, called the king of fighters, lord of destroyers. His name was Buddha Testimony, and he was actually stronger than their emperor.
If he was going to be lurking within their forces, Yang Qi had to be very careful.
He had also learned that the Sumeru Temple planned to make a move against him. Sadly, the monks’ buddhist bodies made it impossible for him to insert devil embryos into them.
It had only been in the moment he injured Buddha Tyrant that he managed to infect him.
‘There’s danger everywhere,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘That said, all I have to do is get to the Bastille of the One God and find that piece of the Mahātmā Jade. Then I can assimilate it and improve my cultivation base dramatically. Then none of them will be a match for me. I can subjugate the experts from all three factions, and when I head back, no one from the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty or the Nacrelight Sageland will pose a threat to me.’
The Mahātmā Jade was the key to it all.
Most people had to spend huge amounts of time in contemplation and training to make any progress as Paramount God. Even the most spectacular treasures couldn’t really change that.
In fact, even Yang Immortal-Slayer had only reached the Unbounded level thanks to the incredible hard work of King Immortal-Slayer and the Purrling. And he still had yet to become a Paramount God.
Drawing on his cultivation base, Yang Qi established a connection to the House of God Ordainment.
The destiny there raged like a burning fire as it rapidly approached the same level as the Eternal-Life God-Dynasty and Nacrelight Sageland.
A small portion of it was being funneled into Eternal Millennium’s Harvestland, causing the martial-god soldier-kings to stir in anticipation.
Meanwhile, Yang Qi had seven agents inserted into the League of the Devil-Dao, all of them Paramount Gods with Unbounded will. With them, he would be able to recruit even more devils into his forces.
‘The time has come,’ he thought. ‘The Bastille of the One God is going to be dangerous, but I have to take the risk. Once I get stronger, I’ll finish Eternal Millennium’s martial-god soldier-kings and seize them for my own!’
