I AM GOD!

Their physiques are imposing, second out of the four races and their temperaments are cunning and vicious; constantly warring with the other three races, they conquer, enslave and devour entire worlds just to satiate their innate desires.

Their strengths grow rapidly with every battle and their numbers are easily replenished unlike the beast race and spirit race.

They could be said to be the perfect race for war and battle but their domain is smallest out of the four, the reason? Because of internal struggles which plague them, as a consequence they are hardly ever united.

Even with all their strengths, their mistrust and suspicion of each other is their biggest downfall. Only those with high cultivations are exempt from their flawed racial traits.

//Excerpt from Mu Kang"s observations of the four transcendent races, vol 2.~//

...

High above the devil continent Nraka, there floated an ancient temple built into the shattered remains of a moon, it was made from black dagger-like stone that gave it a primal appearance as if it had been standing since the mythic era.

With the endless stars above and the pitch black continent below it was quite the sight, one few would ever witness.

On the stairs leading towards the ancient temple, an elderly man with a hunched back appeared.

He had a simple grey robe and a long white beard which dragged along on the ground behind him. Wrinkles covered his face making him look like a dried prune, from the extreme age of his face it showed that the vicissitudes of time had worn upon his body like the waves on a sh.o.r.e rock.

Although he was old, there was still hidden spirit deep within his dull yellow eyes.

This was the man who captured Rong Xiaoman, Celestial Yi.

Walking up the stairs, Celestial Yi disappeared into the darkness of the ancient temple gate.

After pa.s.sing through a dark tunnel, light appeared as Celestial Yi entered an wide area. The inside of the temple was a desolate open courtyard, a large hole in the roof allowed the vast stars overhead to shine their gentle light in.

At the center of the courtyard was a four meter tall withered tree, blackened like obsidian as if it had been burnt to a crisp.

Beneath the tree was a simple stone table circle in shape, sitting at the table were four men and three women with the obvious traits of the devil race, all had unfathomable auras.

They were all silent, some meditating while others had a vacant gaze as they sipped from tea cups that never seemed to empty.

Celestial Yi walked to a vacant seat and sat down, letting out a breath, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.

Beside him, a beautiful woman in a violet dress snapped out of her daze and put her teacup down on the flat stone table which looked to have been cut from a mountain with peerless precision.

"Celestial Yi...what did the little prince want?" Her speech was very eloquent and soft like a spring breeze.

Celestial Yi slowly opened his eyes and stared at the woman before him called Celestial Lingqi.

A substantial beauty with graceful features, long purple hair held in place by beautiful ornaments, a distinctive cinnabar dot at the center of her brow added to her mysterious beauty and a body which could tempt the most pious man; yet Celestial Yi was unmoved.

Just like him and everyone else at the table, Celestial Lingqi was here guarding Nraka not by choice.

A woman such as her should be living lavishly in the celestial realm waited upon by countless others but after offending a prince, she was sent here to the lowest realm to wither away.

Due to various circ.u.mstances, it was generally the same for everyone else. Either they didn"t pose enough of a threat or the enmity between them and the higher powers was not enough for them to be imprisoned beneath Nraka"s surface.

No matter how one tried to sugar coat it, they were all nothing more than prison guards.

"That child brought back a powerful enemy from the human realms so I had to personally deal with him, he was... unusual." Celestial Yi replied after a bit of thought.

Celestial Lingqi gave a small gasp. "You had to step in? Was he a half-step celestial?"

Several others sitting at the table perked their ears, clearly interested.

Celestial Yi shook his head. "That child was merely at foundation establishment yet he had powers that could kill half-step Celestials and lightly injure Celestials, it was truly baffling...but I could not sense anything different about him."

Celestial Linqi sighed. "Such excitement...it"s been so long since anything worthy of talking about happened.." Her eyes shined as she thought. [Maybe I"ll go have a look at this human child.]

Celestial Yi saw through her thoughts as he remarked in a dull tone. "I wouldn"t do that if I were you Celestial Linqi, you don"t want to offend another prince."

Celestial Linqi harrumphed. "No fun at all." Before picking up her teacup again and taking a sip.

A young man across the table opened his bright yellow eyes, there was a deep curiosity within them. He wore a white robe and had a scholarly appearance, his face was sharp and handsome. "Celestial Yi is this true! How could you let that barbarian prince take him away?! My precious research subject..." He lamented as he stared at Celestial Yi with disappointment.

Celestial Yi quickly ignored the young man and closed his eyes in the hope that the young man would stop speaking.

The young man didn"t seem to notice and continued saying. "I the intellectual and reliable Qiao shall go have an audience with the little prince, surely he can see that I am a man of progress and lend me that interesting child for a small bit of...experimentation."

The moment Celestial Qiao mentioned "experimentation", there were several groans and sighs from those sitting at the table including Celestial Lingqi and Celestial Yi

"The last time you experimented you blew a hole in the roof.." Celestial Lingqi mumbled as she gave a brief glance towards the large hole in the roof.

"I"ll be back in just a moment." Celestial Qiao smiled before walking towards the exit.

"Please... don"t come back." A stern female voice said in a somewhat pleading tone.

"Don"t fear Celestial Xue, I won"t be gone long. I have yet to return that spare sword of yours I melted." Celestial Qiao chuckled as he waved his hand.

The sound of grinding teeth could be heard in reply.

Just as Celestial Qiao reached the exit, he stopped and frowned. Looking up with a solemn expression, he said. "Oh my.."

Those sitting at the table seemed to sense something before turning their gazes towards the starry sky. High above, claws of darkness quickly covered the sky until not a star could be seen.

Everyone felt a touch of dread, their long lives and experience told them this was no ordinary event.

"Celestial Bing, what do you see with your minds eye?" Celestial Yi asked with an alertness in his expression.

Celestial Bing was a middle aged woman with a forgetful appearance that seemed illusionary if one looked to long, her purple hair was tied into a neat bun, her pure white eyes stood out the most.

She was once a powerful seer and diviner. Once she saw something she shouldn"t have and was blinded and sent to Nraka. Although she was blind, she cultivated her minds eye and regained her abilities; even becoming stronger than she was before.

Celestial Bing focused as her brow glowed with a bright blue light. A mysterious eye appeared which then slowly opened. "I see seas of blood and mountains of corpses, creatures from the beyond inflicting untold suffering and a woman! AHH!!" She screamed as blood began to pour from her every orifice.

"...We are lost, we are doomed.." Celestial Bing murmured weakly before fainting.

Alarm and a subtle fear pervaded the room as the various Celestials looked at each other speechlessly.

Celestial Yi stood up and quickly said. "We must inform the Lord of imminent danger. Where is he?"

Celestial Linqi"s eyes flickered mysteriously as she replied. "Where else would he be but that orphanage he founded."

Lord Zhao was a Celestial Throne expert, the strongest being in Nraka.

Celestial Yi nodded as he looked towards young woman across from the table who was clutching a greatsword twice her height. She had a stern expression, short purple hair, defined features and wore a simple blue robe. "Celestial Xue, you"re the fastest."

Celestial Xue nodded before standing up lifting the huge sword as if it were as light as a feather, with a flick of her sword a tear in s.p.a.ce appeared. She leapt into the tear and quickly disappeared.