They escorted Su Nu into the mountain col. In the center of the col stood a weathered stele. The stone was mottled and looked perfectly ordinary, as if it had been here for countless years. Around the stele lay rough piled rocks; the place was desolate.

Strangely, there were no graves nearby and the stele bore no inscription, only the marks of long weathering. It was a blank stele.

They halted before the stone, then set up a concealed barrier above the col. After a brief hesitation they formed hand seals, and wave after wave of true essence surged into their palms.

To their shock, their true essence carried traces of true devilish qi, and behind each of them a three-headed, six-armed devilish shadow had formed. Su Nu was intimately familiar with true devilish qi; her face registered astonishment.

On the surface the three alliance leaders had no overt ties to the devilish path and were even regarded as thorns in the Devil Lord’s side. Yet all three were versed in devilish arts and could command true devilish qi.

Swoosh! Three sets of seals coalesced and were cast toward the stele.

A black light rippled across the mottled stone, then the surface settled back as before. A faint, almost imperceptible sigh issued from within the stele.

"Sigh... I have waited for centuries. You have finally come..." the voice whispered.

His tone was weak, yet paradoxically harsh and rasping, like two pieces of iron scraping together, sharp and grating.

Su Nu’s pupils widened and her eyes went blank; the last thread of hope snapped. The stele sealed a great devil.

Thin wisps of black qi seeped from the stele’s base, but some mysterious force held them down, preventing the qi from breaking out. It flattened against the stele’s bottom and took the form of a twisted, grotesque face.

The face’s features were contorted and not human. When his two hollow eyes fixed on them, a chill seized their hearts.

"You are all peak middle-stage Spiritual Infant cultivators. Not bad! You have not disappointed me. It was not in vain that I personally taught you the sacred race’s peerless art... Why are there only three of you?" the voice said.

The three alliance leaders exchanged glances. The Dongji Alliance's leader stepped forward and bowed. "Sacred Lord, after we received your guidance in the outer hall, we followed your orders to build our forces and gather resources. We secretly unsealed the sacrificial platform. Regrettably, at the time our cultivation was still shallow. The two senior brothers mistakenly provoked strong enemies and perished. We could only bide our time and pave our own way." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Inside the stele sat the Devil Monarch!

The devil sneered at the mention of the two disciples’ deaths. "Merchant alliance? I recall you saying that in this age one could not even find a Divine Transformation cultivator among immortal cultivators. In such a declining era, you claim to be my true disciples, yet you could not become overlords. You formed a merchant alliance and expect to lord it over others?"

In Canglang Sea the three merchant alliances were second only to the righteous and devilish forces. The ancient devil’s tone had been laced with disdain. The three alliance leaders had never been treated with such scorn.

The Xiyou Alliance's leader's eyebrows rose and anger colored her face. "If you had not secretly tampered with us and caused our true essence to surge until we nearly exploded from within, we would have become great cultivators and ruled the immortal cultivation world. Why would we need to be so cautious?"

The Dongji and Beichen Alliances' leaders felt a pang of shame. They had sunk deep into devilish cultivation and could not turn back.

"Did you sense it?" the ancient devil asked with a wicked smile.

"It was not my doing. You are mortal humans who cultivated the sacred race's peerless art. When one reached a certain level without my guidance to adjust it, misalignment was inevitable. When I backtracked the sealing to the outer hall, I was already on my last strength and could not fix you. Still, without the sacred race's art, given your talents you would have capped at the Spiritual Infant Realm. Are you not satisfied with what you have achieved?"

The three alliance leaders felt embarrassed. The ancient devil’s words were true. Without that strange outer-hall encounter their fates would have been ordinary indeed.

"Besides, if there were no hidden injuries, would you have come to see me now?" The ancient devil spoke in a calm tone yet the three felt their heart tense.

"We swore on our heart devils and would never disobey," the Xiyou Alliance's leader answered, her face unsettled.

The ancient devil waved off the objection. "Do not worry. Being trapped here bored me long ago. I have already thoroughly worked through the art and can easily fix the hidden injury. Even if you cultivated past the Void Refinement Realm, there would be no later trouble."

Void Refinement Realm was a level none of them had dared to imagine, much less surpass, and the ancient devil’s words sounded enormous to them.

"Is this the body you prepared for me?" the grotesque face wriggled. His empty eye sockets swivelled toward Su Nu.

The Dongji Alliance's leader had placed Su Nu before the stele. She trembled.

The ancient devil’s voice suddenly turned ice-cold. "Have you utterly forgotten my command?"

The three men felt a jolt. The Dongji Alliance's leader tried to steady himself and hurried to explain, "Forgive us, Sacred Lord. The Nine-Turn Beauty Yin Body you requested and other rare spiritual bodies are scarcely found. They are even rarer than a Heavenly Spiritual Root. We mobilized the merchant alliance and searched diligently, but we could only find a few disciples with yin-based bodies.

"This woman was found by chance decades ago when she was only at the Foundation Building Realm. We spared no effort to help her get to the late stage of the Core Formation Realm. Unfortunately, she failed at the Spiritual Infant Realm's threshold. Still, she is a Five-Yin Mystic Body, second only to the Nine-Turn Beauty Yin Body. Even if her cultivation is lacking, her body far surpasses those with mere yin-based bodies."

The ancient devil was silent for a moment, then said coolly, "Fine! This body is barely usable. Have you arranged the rest of the matters?"

The three alliance leaders breathed a secret sigh of relief. The ancient devil’s anger had been at Su Nu’s insufficient cultivation; he had not noticed the countermeasures they had left behind.

"The auxiliary altars in the outer hall have been inserted with True Devilish Malevolent Talismans. Because the merchant alliance is seen by others as a thorn, we used Core Formation disciples to infiltrate and avoid attention.

"We completed the set up when Seven-Kill Hall was last opened. The three main sacrificial altars were also tampered with as you commanded. Once triggered they will suppress the altar's lightning chains and destabilize the sealing array, enabling you to break free..." He briefly recounted the arrangements and the other two also summarized their parts.

"Well done," the ancient devil said with satisfaction, a malicious smile curling his contorted face. "What are you waiting for? Help me break the seal."

"Uhh..." The three hesitated and exchanged uneasy looks.

"We are concerned about the hidden injuries..." the Beichen Alliance's leader said cautiously.

"Help me break the seal and I will teach you the corrected art. You will become my generals, marching with me to conquer and rule the immortal cultivation world. What benefit would it be to me if you exploded to death?" The ancient devil snorted. "Do you want me to swear on my heart devils?"

The three alliance leaders considered it. None spoke aloud, but their expressions shifted. The ancient devil did not press. He made a prompt oath.

Their faces relaxed slightly as they placed Su Nu before the stele, then arranged themselves around it in three directions. Their fingers moved like spinning wheels as they quickly formed seals.