Translator: Deathblade
Editor: Chesire Phoenix
âAaarrrgghh!â
As the essences of various hells were poured into the whip, it eventually reached the point where there were over a hundred, and not even Green Merchant could handle the pain.
He screamed and howled, and although he was generally a tough person who didnât fear pain, eventually he longed to simply die.
It was a terrifying torment that would strike fear into the hearts of any who heard of it.
âHow dare you do this to me, Green Blaze!â Green Merchant shouted frenziedly. âDonât you remember that I'm the next leader of the clan?! You're going to be punished for this!â
âPunished by the clan?â Green Blaze laughed. âSeems youâre still not thinking clearly, brother. You think I care about our clan? Not even Leaf Dao-Denier could save you from this, let alone the clan. Iâll be running the clan soon, so hurry up and submit. Open up your soul and release your faith. Pray to Young Sir Yang Qi, and your torment will end. Once you do, youâll be illuminated by his glory.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âBah!â Green Merchant growled stubbornly.
âLight of Clarity!â Yang Qi said, causing a halo to appear on Green Merchant that instantly gave him further clarity of thought. And of course, that intensified the painâand also ensured that he wouldnât pass out.
âArrggh! I'm not going to let you off the hook for this, you fiend-devil! Why are you tormenting me like this! Young Master Leaf! Young Master Leaf! Help me! Iâm your loyal little bro! Donât tell me you donât care about my pain!â Green Merchant was still unwilling to give up. He clearly believed that Young Master Leaf was omniscient and would soon come to rescue him.
âYour Young Master Leaf is in seclusion right now. You think heâs paying attention to you? Besides, even if he wasnât in seclusion, itâs not like heâs keeping an eye on you at all times. And I can hoodwink the dao of heaven itself! Even here in the Tusita Heaven, Young Master Leaf canât find me unless I want him to. Youâve really underestimated me. I might be just a Godmyth, but Iâm trillions of times stronger than even those of you with special constitutions! Well, since you refuse to give in, I guess I have no choice but to add more hellish essences. This one is from the Hell of Frigid Ice, which will freeze you to the core. And the Hell of Humiliation, which can force you to be reincarnated into the lowliest of individuals and experience horrific humiliation.â
Hundreds more hellish essences were added to the whips.
As Green Blaze continued to lash Green Merchant, he eventually began tensing up, and finally a look of terror appeared on his face as he looked at something only he could see. âNo... no... heâs foaming at the mouth. Donât come over here. Stop! You canât humiliate me, I'm a man!â
Thanks to the essence of the Hell of Humiliation, he became a weakling that the male fiend-devils could violate with impunity. The humiliation he felt made him feel like he was simply going to die, except he wasnât allowed to.
He was a Berserk One, one of the lofty seventy-two patriarchs, yet that only made the pain and humiliation worse.
âI... Iâll submit! Iâll betray Young Master Leaf. Iâll give you my faith and my soul. You will be my Sovereign Lord! Just let me go. I canât take this humiliation!â
âStop!â Yang Qi said, and Green Blaze took a step back.
In that moment, Green Merchant felt as if he had just ascended to the halls of heaven. Relaxation flowed through him, except when he looked into Yang Qiâs eyes he was struck with the most profound terror at the thought of having to experience further torment.
âOpen your soul and take me as your Sovereign Lord,â Yang Qi said coldly. âGive me your faith. I advise you to not try to resist. If you do, the consequences will be brutal. A thousand times more horrific than what you just experienced.â
As the words left his mouth, he sent a stream of sagelight into Green Merchantâs sea of consciousness.
It was a transmission of faith and had to be accepted fully, without the least bit of resistance.
Green Merchant knew that if he fought back, the torment would be horrific. And of course, he didnât dare to do that. He would do anything to avoid the Hell Scourge.
As Yang Qiâs sagelight flowed through him, his consciousness and soul fully submitted to Yang Qi.
At long last, Yang Qi had gained access to the seventy-two patriarchs. He now had a trump card he could use to set a deadly trap for Young Master Leaf. However, one trump card wasn't going to be enough. Green Merchant could be the foundation, but Yang Qi would need to turn more of the other seventy patriarchs against Young Master Leaf. The ultimate goal was to make sure Young Master Leaf was a general with no troops under his command.
When those who he thought were his most faithful disciples were actually traitors, Yang Qi would launch a surprise attack that would hopefully kill Young Master Leaf.
Having forced Green Merchant to submit, Yang Qi was now confident in dealing with the other patriarchs. By forcing others to submit, he would, by extension, be gaining control of many of the aristocratic clans in the Tusita Heaven.
And that would make the next step of his plan go even more smoothly.
Obviously, the Tusita Dynasty wouldnât just let him do anything he wanted here. They had plenty of Chaos Gods and demigods, and if they all joined forces against Yang Qi, he would be in big trouble. Right now, the only way he could deal with them would be to take them out one at a time. Back during his big heist, the only reason the old-timers didnât show up was that they were in seclusion and had been too busy to go down to the Dao Defense League to handle matters. But if Yang Qi started causing bigger problems, they would definitely interfere.
âOn your knees, Green Merchant!â
âYes sir! Milord!â
Green Merchant dropped to the ground, looking just as pious as Green Blaze. His soul now belonged to Yang Qi and he had been converted into a faithful believer. Yang Qiâs immortal-slaying clone in the Heaven Beyond Heaven immediately sensed the influx of faith, and it improved his cultivation speed.
âWhat an incredible constitution and sea of consciousness,â Yang Qi thought. âIf heâd held strong, it would have been difficult to force him to submit. I wouldâve had to kill him. And unfortunately, the seventy-two patriarchs are bound together in spirit and action, so his death would have been immediately noticed by Young Master Leaf. And thereâs no way I can beat Young Master Leaf in a single shot right now. But if I slowly force his disciples to turn on him, then when he comes out of seclusion it will be to his doom.â
âTell me, Green Merchant. What exactly is Young Master Leaf up to right now? And when is he coming out of seclusion?â
Kowtowing, Green Merchant replied, âMilord, Young Master Leaf sent word three days ago that he was entering a state of deep meditation. He wanted us seventy-one patriarchs to work with the Tusita Dynasty to go and enslave everyone from the Dao Defense League. The ultimate goal was to take you out, Milord. However, I myself just came out of meditation, so I'm not sure of all the details. All I know is that you stole the Tusita dynastyâs path to godly ascension, erââ
SMACK!
Green Merchant slapped himself. âI mean took, not stole. I was careless with my wording, Milord, please punish me!â
âItâs fine. Look, I want to force all of the other seventy patriarchs to submit. Can you think of any way to lure them into an ambush? Of course, I canât face them all at the same time. That would be too dangerous.â
âYour humble servant will think of a way. A few of my companions are currently in seclusion. For instance, thereâs the Courageous One, Huang Yunwu, and the Warrior One, Crooked Soul. Also the Devil-Crushing One, Ling Ding. I can send messages to them asking them to meet. You simply wait for them to show up, Milord, then jump out and capture them.â
âExcellent. By the way, Iâll reward you well for your service. As long as I manage to kill Young Master Leaf, Iâll bestow some of his riches on you. Send the word to those friends of yours.â
âYes, Milord!â Green Merchant immediately sent the messages.
Before long, he shivered. âMilord, theyâre all out of seclusion and on their way. There are five of them, and they think I want to discuss an important matter with them before connecting up with the rest of our brethren to head to the Tusita Dynasty. At the moment, there are thirty-six of our brethren in talks with the old-timers there. The rest are all in their various clans, working on their cultivation.â
âThatâs fine. Weâll take care of them all one by one.â
Nodding, Yang Qi surreptitiously sent some divine will out.
âTheyâre here!â Five streaks of light could be seen, all of them Measureless Gods with fighting prowess no lower than Chaos Gods. All of them were pulsing with seventy-two unique auras, giving them such a resonance with the magical laws of the universe that even Chaos Gods would find it hard to kill them.
Yang Qi didnât go into hiding. He just stood there.
âMilord, theyâre almost here,â Green Merchant said anxiously. âHurry up and hide!â
âThereâs no need,â Yang Qi said calmly. âThere are only five of them, after all. Iâll take them captive the moment they enter.â