Sage Monarch

by Stayrr

Yang Qi was the son of the patriarch of a wealthy family from a small town. Believing himself to be in love, he stole a pill for his lover, only to have the girl betray him, by taking the pill and leaving him behind. Caught, his dantian was crippled and left to die under the lightning. This lightning helped him to recover his lost martial arts and also helped him gain a new, divi

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Chapter 1161: Altar Destruction

Hell-Breaking Church was a huge devil church from the other side of the ocean. They had people with very powerful cultivation bases and boundlessly profound ghost-god techniques. Their disciples could use a variety of devil techniques, and their ranks were filled with wretch-gods and devil-gods, including everything from Lesser Gods to Common Gods to Greater Gods.

They offered support to wretch-gods in all parts of the god world, helping them carry out gory acts of terror.

And now the Bloodcorpse God was working with the Hell-Breaking Church in an attempt to destroy the Lightningbolt Continent. Although the Lightningbolt Continent might be considered an insignificant place in the god world as a whole, it still had a huge population, which made it an enticing source of food for wretch-gods.

All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized it made sense that the endless numbers of fiend-devils of hell were so dead-set on eventually coming to the god world.

The common people in the god world had mid Terrifying cultivation bases, so if fiend-devils consumed them, it was a given that their own cultivation bases would skyrocket.

Upon hearing Wang Juan's exclamation, Yang Qi smiled and said, "Run? I'd say these Hell-Breaking Church disciples showed up at just the right time. Since they like sacrificing people and killing captives, we don't need to show them the slightest mercy. That's the cycle of karma: let justice be served."

The Proud Clan disciples didn't turn and run. Seeing how confident Yang Qi was acting, they were too embarrassed to flee. Besides, their mission to destroy the altars hadn't been completed yet, and without the wretch-god weakened, the destruction of the Lightningbolt Continent was all but assured.

RUMBLE!

Ghostfire swirled, resolving into numerous figures who initially didn't seem at all like people from a devil church. They wore beautiful clothing, had lofty demeanors, and seemed to be looking at the invaders like they were cattle about to be slaughtered.

One of the disciples stepped forward and said, "Are you from the so-called aristocratic clans that rule the Lightningbolt Continent? Sadly for you, to people like us from the Hell-Breaking Church, you're nothing but trash." He was tall and well-built, and looked to be only about twenty-six or -seven years old. However, emerald flames flickered deep in his eyes, making it seem like he was made from ghostfire inside and out.

"Who are you?" asked a disciple standing behind Proud Radiance. "The Hell-Breaking Church has a lot of guts to call us trash. Do you really dare to insult the Proud Clan like that?"

"Proud Clan?" The Hell-Breaking Church disciple glanced over the group from the Proud Clan. "Oh, I see. You're from the Proud Clan, a very large organization. Unfortunately, people from the Proud Clan are split up into all sorts of grades and ranks. How much actual Proud Clan blood do you have? I doubt you have what it takes to compare to even the weakest auxiliary bloodline."

"Who exactly are you?" Proud Radiance barked. "Tell us your name! Then we'll see if the Proud Clan is willing to tolerate talk like this."

"I'm Ghost Infernis," the disciple replied. "And no, the Hell-Breaking Church isn't scared of the Proud Clan. In fact, I highly doubt the Proud Clan would even notice if we slaughter the lot of you. And if they did cause problems for us, it would be the perfect excuse for the Thirteen Devil Churches Alliance to declare outright war!"

A female disciple from the Hell-Breaking Church then spoke up. "Eldest Brother Ghost Infernis, why waste your breath on them? The Bloodcorpse God's plan is about to come to fruition. We'll soon have complete control of the Lightningbolt Continent, and then we can sacrifice everyone there to unseal the Hammer of the Lightning God, the animadestiny god item of the original creator of the continent, the Lightning God So let's just enjoy ourselves by stomping these fools out of existence."

"That's fine," said Ghost Infernis. "Just wipe them out. Attack!"

Swish. Rustle.

The robes of the Hell-Breaking Church disciples flapped as they lunged forward and started fighting. Ghost Infernis joined in, launching a casual palm strike that caused the wailing of ghosts and weeping of gods to echo, and surrounded him with flickering stars of ghostfire that seemed to come from the depths of hell.

When that ghostfire hit the disciples of the Wang, Lightning, and Proud Clans, they screamed as their flesh burned. And quite a few of them just directly dropped dead.

"This is bad!" Wang Juan shouted. "He's using the Ghostfire Strike of the Devil-King! That's a toxic energy art unique to the Hell-Breaking Church! They extract ghostfire from the corpses of fallen gods, then catalyze it with the will of a devil-king. If you get hit by those ghostfire stars, you'll die no matter what!"

"Very observant, girl!" Ghost Infernis chuckled. "You recognized my Ghostfire Strike of the Devil-King!" He struck out again, sending stars flying and forcing numerous disciples to scatter in every direction trying to get out of the way.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi blurred forward, interposing himself between Wang Juan and Ghost Infernis, where he launched his own palm toward the incoming stars of ghostfire.

"No!" Wang Juan blurted in alarm. "Don't let it touch you! The Ghostfire Strike of the Devil-King will burn even the bravest warrior to death!"

"Since when?" Yang Qi said, and his palm made contact with the ghostfire.

"Looking to die, boy?" Ghost Infernis said, smiling cruelly. He poured more power into his ability, causing what sounded like the language of ghosts to surround him with howls and screams. More ghostfire erupted from inside of him, ghostfire that originated in the corpses of gods, which then bored directly into Yang Qi's meridians, wreathing him in flames.

But then Yang Qi took a deep breath, causing him to physically expand as a vortex of godpower sprang up inside him. Then he clenched his fist and let loose an explosive blow of mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

"Aaaiiiieee!" screamed Ghost Infernis, jerking backward but moving too slowly. The explosive force slammed into him, making it seem like the water of an entire ocean was suddenly filling his abdomen. Before he could do anything else, a bang rang out as he exploded!

BOOOM!

Blood and gore rained down. A single clash with Yang Qi had turned a top expert into nothing but a cloud of mangled flesh and body parts!

"W-what...?" Wang Juan stammered, backing up with an expression of disbelief on her face.

Yang Qi didn't say anything in response. Instead, he flew straight toward Egret Island, where he subsequently vanished without a trace as he began searching for the main altar.

In the moment he had dispatched Ghost Infernis, Yang Qi had sensed a mysterious surge of power on the island and knew that he had to find it before that power erupted with a catastrophic effect.

Even as Yang Qi left, the Shepherd, Doom, the immortal-slaying clone, Yang Zhan, Patriarch Annalist, and Yang Qi's other people all attacked the disciples of the Hell-Breaking Church with full force. Although the disciples were powerful, and were roughly on the same level as the experts from the Proud, Wang, and Lightning Clans, they simply weren't a match for Yang Qi's people. As soon as the fighting began, miserable screams began ringing out.

The disciples of the Hell-Breaking Church were crushed like ice cubes that had been hit with a hammer.

Wang Juan, Proud Radiance, and Lightning Dragonriser looked on in shock as the Hell-Breaking Church disciples fell one after another, most after only a single blow!

"I..." said Proud Radiance, gripping his weapon tightly, "I'm supposedly the top fucking fighter in this continent?! Yeah right! I'm a frog in a well! A real frog in a well! This guy could kill me without even trying. He could slaughter me a hundred times over! How could a freak like this even exist? Our Lightningbolt Continent is too small of a place for a big fish like this. We need them gone! Sooner rather than later!"

By this point, Proud Radiance didn't harbor even the tiniest inclination to fight Yang Qi. It was more than obvious that Yang Qi was far too strong.

After all, Ghost Infernis had been powerful, but he hadn't even been able to stand up to a single blow before being ripped to shreds.

'It was the right move to recruit these people!' Lightning Dragonriser thought rejoicingly. 'This is going to benefit me immensely in the House of God Ordainment...'

Yang Qi was already on Egret Island, and whatever experts got in his way, he crushed out of existence.

Not a single one could stand up to him.

Before long, he reached the middle of the island, where an enormous altar had been set up in what appeared to be a lake of blood, filled with corpses and bones. The altar was made of stone, begging the question of how many Quasi-Gods it must have taken to move it here. And the entire thing was simmering with power.

"Lord's Eye!"

Examining the altar, Yang Qi spotted streams of blood-colored true energy swirling toward the area beneath the altar, where there was what appeared to be a blood-colored infant. It was only the size of a hand, but it was constantly growing and had a wretched energy that seemed connected to some distant location.

"A blood infant?" Yang Qi murmured. "Amazing. This wretch-god must have gone through countless trials and tribulations, and sacrificed innumerable living beings to create this thing. It would be a real windfall if I could take it. The power that exists in it can't be underestimated. In fact, if I assimilated it with King Heaven-Devourer's talismans and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, it would probably give some of my people the full strength of gods!"

Yang Qi flew forward and chopped his hand out toward the altar.

Instantly, the weeping of ghosts and wailing of gods echoed out from the altar as blood-colored shadows lunged to intercept him.

"Screw off, foolish monsters. How dare you get in my way!" Dazzling golden light shone off of Yang Qi, dispelling the shadows.

Then he reached out with splayed fingers and pushed his hand down into the lake of blood, his godpower thrumming. "Godly Telekinesis!"

RUUUUMBLE!

The gigantic altar began to rise up into the air, causing some of the experts from the Hell-Breaking Church off in the distance to nearly pass out from shock.

"Dear lord!" one of them blurted. "It took thousands of us Quasi-Gods to bring that altar here, and we needed a huge spell formation! But this guy is lifting it single-handedly? Is he a god?"

"A god is here? Everybody, run!"

Terrified, the disciples from the Hell-Breaking Church turned to flee.

Then Yang Qi simply swept his arm through the air, hurling the enormous altar far out into the ocean.

At this point, he was finally showing the true extent of his godpower.

Shockingly, in the depths of the lake, the blood infant's eyes had opened and it was looking at Yang Qi.

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Chapter 1162: Blood Infan

The blood infant was alive, its eyes open, smiling evilly at Yang Qi. At the same time, there was something bewitchingly charming about it, as though it was destined to grow into a beautiful person.

"Trying to enchant me?" Yang Qi said. "Well that's a joke if I ever heard one. Smashing of the Mighty Heaven-Dragon!" A massive roar erupted from his mouth, like the voices of millions upon millions of dragons all calling out at the same time. As the devil-subduing sound wave rolled out, the blood in the lake evaporated and the blood infant shot out into the open, transforming into a shadowy, blood-colored fiend-devil, pulsing with the power of a wretch-god.

The voice of a wretch-god then echoed out. "Who are you, boy? Why did you destroy my altar and try to take my blood infant?"

"Are you the will-clone of a wretch-god?" Yang Qi said, a serious expression overtaking his face. However, upon looking back in the direction of the Lightningbolt Continent, he saw that the wretch-god was there fighting the gods of the continent. And that meant that he couldn't afford to split off a clone at the moment. At the same time, it went to show how valuable this blood infant was.

And even if it was a god, Yang Qi wasn't going to be scared of it.

He reached out with an empty palm that seemed like it could seize hold of everything in the cosmos. Then he closed his hand into a fist and thrust it out with such deadly force that the entire island shook violently.

RIP!

The fist landed on the blood infant, but to Yang Qi it almost felt like he had hit an airbag. His godpower simply dispersed as if it were nothing.

"Nice energy art," the blood infant said, sounding surprised. "You're not even a god yet, but you're already quite formidable. Once you become a Lesser God, you're going to be shockingly powerful even with a godhood rating of only one. Why don't we turn weapons of war into gifts of jade and silk? Just let my blood altar keep functioning, and we can share the Lightningbolt Continent!"

"You, a puny wretch-god, want to negotiate with me?" He threw his hands out, drawing on the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, summoning an illusory flag into his hands that was none other than the Banner of Monarchs. The flag instantly stretched out, flames burning on its surface as it wrapped around the blood infant.

"Blood Corpses Destroy Heaven!" the blood infant growled, and blood-colored lightning shot out and slashed into the banner, causing huge booming noises to echo out.

Eyes narrowing, Yang Qi sent immense amounts of godpower forth, giving mountain-crushing weight to the banner.

But then the blood infant said, "Heaven-Piercing God Ability!"

The infant began spinning like a drill, unleashing immense godpower that pierced right through the banner, which finally exploded. "You just wait until my true self gets here, boy. Then I'll show you a thing or two."

"Where do you think you're going?" Yang Qi said with a smile. Flicking his finger, he sent out a miraculous bubble that instantly contained the blood infant. It was the Purrfect God Art!

Swish!

The bubble shrank down and flew over to Yang Qi, settling down onto his palm. Inside, the blood infant bashed back and forth, trying to escape, but it was all to no avail.

"Let's go!" Yang Qi said, flying up into the air.

In response, the Shepherd, Jadefall, and everyone else flew over to join him.

"I acquired a blood infant," Yang Qi explained. "Everything went very smoothly. Our cultivation is going to lead to godpower at least a hundred times greater than that of any ordinary Quasi-Gods." With that, he raised his voice and said, "Ladies and gentlemen from Lightningbolt City, the wretch-god altar has been destroyed. I'll take the lead from here. Follow after me as you can."

The experts from the Wang, Lightning, and Proud Clans slaughtered what remained of the wretch-god believers, then flew up into the air as well. They knew that their mission had been accomplished, and that it was all thanks to Yang Qi.

Yang Qi and his people surreptitiously made their way back to the Lightningbolt Continent, where they eventually landed on a remote beach.

Rustling sounds could be heard as nearby wild animals detected their presence. Some of the animals rushed forward to attack them, but they were no longer the helpless individuals they had been when they first arrived in the god world. In short order, the wild animals were wiped out. Next, they cleared out a space in the forest to sit down and have a discussion. Yang Qi waved his hand and set up a spell formation, then summoned a bubble around them.

"The mission to destroy the altar netted us a blood infant!" he said, bringing it out and showing it to them. "Let's join together to assimilate it. Afterward, we'll be so strong that no one will be able to stand in our way."

Looking at Yang Qi, Brahma said, "Tell us the truth, Yang Qi. None of us are really sure of how strong you are. If a Lesser God came, how confident are you that you could come out on top?"

"A Lesser God couldn't kill me," he replied coolly. "In fact, I could easily kill such a god, assuming it had a godhood rating of one."

"Great," Brahma said. "Then you should be the one to assimilate the blood infant. It'll bolster you with significant god vitality and help you reach the Lesser God level even sooner than normal."

"No need," Yang Qi replied. "I'd rather enjoy blessings and endure misfortune together with you. And I'm definitely not interested in being selfish. Besides, here in the god world, I don't need medicinal pills, because the God Legion Seal is constantly absorbing the surrounding essence and using it to bolster me. You really have no idea how powerful the complete God Legion Seal is."

Everyone nodded, fully aware that the God Legion Seal was proving more powerful and useful than ever, now that they were in the god world.

"Everyone settle down. I'll break down the blood infant and make you all stronger than ever." Yang Qi released the blood infant from the Purrfect God Art, and everyone unleashed their animadestiny true flame, surrounding it with fire. The blood infant shrieked, but was locked down and couldn't do anything.

Next, Yang Qi drew on the God Legion Seal, sending a stream of golden light out from his finger to destroy the blood infant.

Innumerable blood-colored projections flew this way and that, and while normal spell formations couldn't have stopped them, Yang Qi's Purrfect God Art could! Immense streams of godpower then poured into everyone present, causing them to slowly float up into the air as they went through their breathing exercises.

"Quickly assimilate it," Yang Qi said in a voice that echoed in their souls. "Transform your bodies, stimulate the dao of gods. Seek enlightenment of god. As you do, begin forming godhood within you..."

The immortal-slaying clone took the lead, reaching out again to connect with the will of King Immortal-Slayer, which caused a projection of King Immortal-Slayer to appear above him.

"Where are you, King Immortal-Slayer?!" he said in a booming voice. "I know you want my help to turn the Great Necropolis into your new body. Let's make a deal!"

"What deal?" the projection replied. "You're the bearer of the God Legion Seal. The two of us are the ultimate enemies. Why would you want to work out a deal?"

"Only profit is eternal," Yang Qi replied. "Enemies are not. Surely you understand that, King Immortal-Slayer. Give us power, and we'll help you!"

"Power? I'm trapped in the Great Necropolis! I can talk with you and your immortal-slaying clone, but you're crazy if I'm going to transfer power to you. I'm not going to waste resources like that."

"Well never mind then," Yang Qi replied. "I guess we'll expel your will for all time. God Legion Seal!" Even as the words left his mouth, he began to activate the power of the seal.

"Slow down," King Immortal-Slayer said. "Considering your cultivation base, you shouldn't be able to compare to gods at all, much less be qualified to talk about making a deal with me. But since you're the bearer of the God Legion Seal, it's a given that you'll be a god eventually. How about I give you some advice about how to reach godly ascension?"

"Advice about godly ascension?" Yang Qi laughed. "I know of ten thousand ways to achieve godly ascension. Why would I need any advice from you?"

"You have your own dao, so of course you don't need advice from others. But what about all your friends? In all fairness, your Sage Monarch Grand Magic really is spectacular. I almost can't believe you merged the Unspoiled Body and the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. But you've only reached a superficial level of accomplishment. Besides, everyone should have their own dao. If your people cultivate your dao, it will lead to problems."

"So what do you want them to do, cultivate your dao instead?"

Yang Qi knew that King Immortal-Slayer had left some of his will on the immortal-slaying clone in the hopes of controlling him. Not even the clone was aware of it. However, there was no way Yang Qi would let that happen. However, because of that, it was entirely likely that King Immortal-Slayer not only knew about his Sage Monarch Grand Magic, but had actually mastered it. To someone like him, it wouldn't have been hard at all.

"King Immortal-Slayer, you're famous and invincible, a god from ancient times who actually fought the Sovereign Lord of the many heavens. So I'm very curious about your thoughts on my Sage Monarch Grand Magic." Clasping his hands behind his back, he stared straight at the projection of King Immortal-Slayer. "Is it good enough to be on the same level as the Sovereign Lord's technique? Is it enough to break through to the Annulled level?"

"It's a bit early to say," the projection replied. "Not even the Sovereign Lord achieved Annulled will convergence. He surpassed the Unbounded level, but was only half-Annulled. Then he perished. The framework you've built for your technique is impressive. Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, Nothing. The ten daos of the many heavens, with humans as the foundation. All ten daos are ways for humans to reach the peak. Unfortunately, despite how marvelous it is, there are huge gaps in it. You obviously can't use its most refined aspects. For example, that Banner of Monarchs. Do you know what a monarch really is? The true dao of monarchs isn't an expression of rage, backed by a million corpses, and used to conquer men. Instead, it's a way to convince people to follow you by means of morality. Your version of the dao of monarchs has no morality, which means you don't understand what it truly means to be a monarch. Your dao of monarchs is actually the dao of tyranny. The true dao of monarchs is governed by morality, while the dao of tyranny is governed by killing."

1. The Banner of Monarchs was mentioned once before in .

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Chapter 1163: A Chat with King Immortal-Slayer

King Immortal-Slayer's words instantly illuminated Yang Qi's heart and mind.

The dao of monarchs was one of morality.

And it was true that his version of the dao involved waging war, killing, and waving the banners of conquest. Where his flag was unfurled, heads rolled and blood fell like rain. Where was the morality in that?

The dao of monarchs used morality, while the dao of tyranny used killing. Apparently he had confused the difference between a monarch and a tyrant, and King Immortal-Slayer, being as formidable as he was, had instantly identified that weakness.

That said, Yang Qi still burst out laughing. "The high and mighty King Immortal-Slayer is talking to me about morality? You're a monarch too, the fabled Immortal-Slayer, filled with killing intent. Where's the morality in that? You spilled so much blood in the god world that no one can even quantify it. Just how many ancient gods fell to you? Was that an expression of morality? You're more like the origin of chaos! The root of all evil!"

"How could you possibly understand the suffering I endured?" King Immortal-Slayer said coldly. "Besides, how much do you know of the chaos I wrought on the god world? Brahma, you know a bit of it. Would you care to explain?"

Brahma nodded. "Exalted King Immortal-Slayer, I still admire you for what you did back then. The boundless Sovereign Lord sought to wreak tribulation on the gods, with the goal of wiping them out. He wanted heaven and earth to be free of us gods. There was only one among us who dared to stand up to him, and in fact, the only reason that the gods are free and independent now... is because of you. Yang Qi, the truth is that the Sovereign Lord wanted to kill all the gods. That was his plan, and that was why he brought tribulation to the god world. It was called Operation Godless. Truth be told, it would probably take a thousand years to explain all of the complicated aspects of the situation."

'So that's what happened,' Yang Qi thought. That said, in the end, it didn't really matter what happened in ancient times. The main thing he was concerned with was the cultivation of his Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Thanks to King Immortal-Slayer, he now understood the difference between the dao of monarchs and the dao of tyranny. All of a sudden, his Banner of Monarchs transformed, filling up with benevolence and righteousness, and the concept of uniting everything under heaven.

The dao of tyranny vanished from the banner and was replaced by a faint sensation of morality. Although it reduced its attack power, it now seemed like a gentle spring rain shower, soft and unbreakable, a dao of monarchs based on morality, that was invincible wherever it went.

Of course, it would take time to grow that morality, and it wasn't currently enough to push the Sage Monarch Grand Magic to greater heights.

"See?" said King Immortal-Slayer. "My advice about the dao of monarchs helped you. So perhaps we can talk about a deal of some sort. If you're interested, your immortal-slaying clone can lead you to me. Unfortunately, I have a matter to attend to right now, I can't—"

King Immortal-Slayer's voice vanished, as though he had suddenly come under attack.

The clone opened his eyes. "I didn't realize King Immortal-Slayer left something behind in my sea of consciousness. And I can't get rid of it. That means he could theoretically take control of me at some point. This is a problem. What are we going to do about it?"

"It should be fine," Yang Qi said. "It seems he needs our help to get out of his current predicament. I'm sure we'll figure out a way to deal with the situation."

Meanwhile, everyone else was slowly absorbing the power of the blood infant and using it to vastly improve their godpower.

"Cruiser of Civilization. Engine of the One God!"

Yang Qi's fragments of the Cruiser of Civilization flew out from the clone. Right now, he had most of the cruiser, and was only missing the godhood manufacturing systems. When he got that piece, the ship would finally be able to show its truly amazing capabilities.

"Let's assess our power indexes," Yang Qi said.

[Beep-beep-beep...] the photonic computers said. [In the god world, the assessment criteria is different. Assessing anyone who is not a god is pointless...]

"Well that's disappointing," Yang Qi said, shaking his head. "The Cruiser of Civilization's power assessment systems don't work here." With that, he sent the cruiser back to the clone and decided to just stick to using the God Legion Seal.

The seal had essentially the same functions as the cruiser, but was more powerful.

"We're many times stronger than before," Doom said. "Even if a god came, we'd be unstoppable. It's too bad King Immortal-Slayer didn't explain how to make godhood. We're going to have to figure that out on our own."

"It'll be fine," Yang Qi said. "And we'll still have more chances to talk to King Immortal-Slayer. Besides, gaining enlightenment of your own dao is a much better option."

Everyone rose to their feet amidst creaking and cracking sounds. Their godpower reserves were immense, and their virtual godhood was already starting to crystallize.

The weakest of the group was currently Patriarch Annalist, yet he and everyone else could easily kill dozens, or even a hundred Proud Radiances put together.

All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized that his lightning amulet was vibrating. It was Lightning Dragonriser, trying to send him a message.

"Brother Yang Qi, are you around here? Where are you?"

Yang Qi could tell that Lightning Dragonriser was trying to pinpoint his location by using the amulet. But could such a tiny amulet really compare to Yang Qi's Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning?

Obviously not.

"We're in the forest off the beach," Yang Qi said, "just finishing a session of cultivation. Hurry over."

"Forest off the beach?" Lightning Dragonriser said. "There's a banquet being thrown in the city right now to celebrate the destruction of the altar. You played the biggest role in that, so you've got to attend! The gods of Lightningbolt City drove away the wretch-god, which means that this was a major victory. Furthermore, the gods of the city have summoned you and your people."

"They've summoned us?" Yang Qi said. He chuckled coldly. "Nah, we're not interested. We were in this for ourselves anyway. Lightning Dragonriser, why don't you just meet up with us and then head to the House of God Ordainment?"

"What? The gods are summoning you and you're refusing? That's going to put me in a bad position. Look, I'll come over there to talk this out in person."

A moment later, Lightning Dragonriser appeared, flying through the air with his windsail. When he saw how much stronger Yang Qi and his people were, he shivered. "The patriarch gods have summoned you. You should really go see them."

"Forget it." Yang Qi replied in a cold voice. "There's no way being summoned by patriarch gods is going to turn out well. I'll pass. Do they really think they can just kill us now that we aren't of use, or possibly steal our spoils of war? If so, they're crazy. I could destroy gods like them if I had to."

A rather forced expression overtook Lightning Dragonriser's face. "Er... well, if that's how you feel, Brother Yang Qi, then I won't force you. I can handle any fallout from the gods regarding your refusal."

"You don't need to handle anything," Yang Qi said. "Look, I want you to take us to the House of God Ordainment. After the Bloodgore Trials, when we all become official disciples, all of this will be worth it. And then I'll truly trust you. What do you think?"

"You want to go now?" Lightning Dragonriser said.

"Now," Yang Qi said coolly. "Of course, if you don't want to, we can just part ways, and I'll figure out another way to get into the House of God Ordainment."

"Of course I want to! Why wouldn't I? I'd be a first-class fool to refuse someone like you. Truth be told, I've already moved on from Lightningbolt City. It's far, far too small. How could anyone make a name around a bunch of frogs in a well like those bickering Lesser Gods?"

"Then let's go!" Yang Qi said. By now it was obvious who was calling the shots, and Lightning Dragonriser realized that. Little did the man know that Yang Qi could kill him with a thought if he wanted to.

"Take flight!" Everyone flew up with their windsails and had soon disappeared over the ocean.

As they flew along, Lightning Dragonriser explained, "We're going to have to cross the Blackmare Ocean, our destination being another continent. The truth is that although the Lightningbolt Continent is called a continent, it's really nothing more than an island. The real continents are far larger. The place we're headed to is called the Primal-Chaos Continent. It's a true hodgepodge of good and bad people, and is thousands of times more dangerous than the Lightningbolt Continent. You can find murderous bandits, wretch-god believers, and even powerful devil-gods. Of course, there's also the royal court."

"How long will it take?" Jadefall asked.

"A year at the least. If we were gods, perhaps it would only take three days. But considering how slow we fly, a year."

"That's so long," the Shepherd said. "Are we going to miss the Bloodgore Trials?" The mere thought of those trials filled the Shepherd with excitement, as he knew it would be an opportunity to kill people right out in the open.

"We won't. But even if we did, the Bloodgore Trials are held every few years, so it's not a huge deal. This is going to be a dangerous journey. The demonlings in the ocean won't be easy to deal with."

"Will we have opportunities to rest?" Yang Qi asked. Even top experts would need to stop to eat and drink in the god world. Although he could make do with the God Legion Seal, his people couldn't.

In fact, if he were alone, he was confident he could make the trip in a month, not a year.

"Of course," Lightning Dragonriser said. "There will be plenty of islands to stop on along the way. Someone who doesn't know the way might get lost and end up dead. After all, running into a lair of demonlings or godlings can turn tragic very quickly. But you have me to lead you, so things are different."

Below them, there was nothing but endless blue water, with occasional waves reflecting the sunlight back up to them.

After flying for a day, and just before darkness fell, they spotted an uninhabited island where they could land to rest.

According to Lightning Dragonriser, it wasn't safe to fly over the deep ocean without light, lest they get lost and fall prey to demonlings.

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Chapter 1164: Flying over the Ocean

Out in the deep ocean, there were a plethora of demonlings that haunted the pitch-black night.

On the deserted island they had chosen to spend the night, the travelers lit a roaring fire. As they sat there, they could hear howls of rage from the water, apparently from various wild beasts fighting each other in deadly fashion. The waves crashed loudly, mixing with the sound of combat.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, something in the distance noticed their fire, and a shadowy figure blurred in their direction. A bird the size of a human became visible, with the face of an old woman. Its withered skin was covered with complex designs, and it had sharp claws that pulsed with godpower.

Apparently, it was at the level of a Quasi-God!

"Watch out!" Lightning Dragonriser said. "That's a crone harpy! They're very strong and fierce, just as bad as wretch-god witches!"

However, even as the words left his mouth, a beam of sword energy shot out and cut the crone harpy in half.

Sword Seventeen snorted disdainfully. "How dare a wimpy bird such as that attack us. Was it suicidal?"

Walking forward, he probed at the harpy with his sword until he managed to pull out something that looked like a pearl. 'A godpower pearl! Not bad. Not bad at all. In the lands of mortals, demonlings have internal pellets, and it's the same with godlings in the god world.'

There was no way Sword Seventeen would speak his final thoughts aloud, lest Lightning Dragonriser guess that they were from the lands of mortals.

Lightning Dragonriser sighed.

"What are you sighing for, old pal Lightning?" the Shepherd said. "We just killed a daemon, and you're acting like we killed your mother."

"You have no way of knowing, but the crone harpies usually travel in groups. They're a powerful group on the high seas, and when you kill one, its daemon energy will infect you. Afterward, it'll be hard to stay safe. These daemons are the type who seek revenge over the smallest grievance, which means they'll definitely come after us."

He sighed again. "When we come across beasts like this, the best thing is to drive them away. Once they realize how strong we are, they'll leave us alone. That's how these creatures work. But when you break that rule, they won't rest until you're dead."

"So that's how things work?" As far as Yang Qi was concerned, rules like this made sense. It was better to give a warning that would prevent people from causing problems.

But what was done couldn't be undone, and Yang Qi felt no fear.

"Most pertinent, some of the crone harpies are Lesser Gods," Lightning Dragonriser continued. "If we keep killing the harpies, their demon-gods are eventually going to come after us. And the question is whether or not we can escape from pursuit like that."

"I'm not worried about some demon-gods," Yang Qi said, chuckling coldly. "They aren't anything impressive. Even Lesser Gods with a godhood rating of one, two, or possibly even three won't stand a chance if we work together. In fact, they'll find out exactly what it means to 'murder gods'."

The Shepherd laughed heartily. "I love murdering gods. In fact, I was just wondering when I would have a chance to get some practice at that. If a god comes, let's surround it and assimilate its blood. It will definitely help us to advance our energy arts and cultivation base."

'My god, who are these people?' Lightning Dragonriser thought. All of a sudden, he wondered if he had misjudged them, and if bringing them to the Bloodgore Trials would be a mistake.

That night, while everyone rested on the deserted island, Yang Qi stayed awake and kept watch. With the God Legion Seal to help him, all he had to do was close his eyes for a brief moment and he would get as much rest as an ordinary person would get in a whole day.

There were no demonlings on the island itself, but there were plenty out in the darkness of the night. And when such creatures tried to crawl on land, Yang Qi would use a bubble to keep everyone safe.

Yang Qi was finally starting to realize how many creatures there were in the ocean. There were octopus-like creatures who crawled on eight legs, half-fish half-human creatures, and many more. Overall, the situation seemed generally dangerous, despite the fact that they were on an island.

Yang Qi wasn't interested in slaughtering them all.

There was no point in killing animals, and he couldn't strengthen himself with their corpses, nor could his people. And after his conversation with King Immortal-Slayer about the morality of the dao of monarchs, his desire to kill had lessened.

Although his own sense of morality seemed superficial at the moment, it was growing. As such, he simply drove the sea creatures back into the water instead of killing them.

Eventually, it was daylight.

Yet again, the ocean was illuminated with radiant light. However, Yang Qi could sense that there were faint strands of coldness seeping through the air, seemingly coming from one specific location.

"What's going on? Is winter coming or something?"

Everyone got the sense that the seasons were changing. However, it was strange, as the recent thunderstorms were clearly the hallmark of summer. And since the god world had no sun, how could there be changes in season?

"We absolutely, positively must not step out into the open," Brahma transmitted into their minds. "The weather in the god world changes unpredictably. In fact, there really aren't four seasons. The years are measured by the number of days, which is how things have worked for a long time. In terms of the weather, it could be hot like summer one day, then cold like winter the next, freezing everything in sight."

"What a world..." Yang Qi said. The god world was seemingly unfathomable, yet that was just a representation of how mighty it was.

"Crap," Lightning Dragonriser said. "I can't believe winter is falling so quickly. In fact, I bet it'll snow soon. It's impossible to fly in a blizzard, and for all we know, a storm could last for months. What happens if we get seriously delayed?"

Even as they spoke, the howling of the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. Fist-sized snowflakes started falling, turning the sky white and making it impossible to get any sense of direction.

Whoosh!

Almost immediately, the wind grew so intense that they felt like they were going to be blown off their feet.

"Snowflakes..." Yang Qi said, reaching out to let one land on his palm. It had six sides and radiated a sharp chill that seemed more intense than anything from the immortal worlds.

In fact, just one of these snowflakes could probably freeze an immortal world solid.

Yang Qi's people wouldn't have been able to endure such temperatures before, and would have instantly been turned into corpses.

Thankfully, they had furthered their cultivation and were getting used to the god world. With their godpower, they could create coverings to prevent the snow from hitting them.

In this weather, the windsails weren't going to be of any help. Using them in such intense winds could easily turn out to be deadly. Besides, if they flew out over the ocean and couldn't find another island to rest on because of the storm, they could easily tire and end up dead.

"It seems we have no choice but to rest," Lightning Dragonriser said, sounding worried. "Once the snow passes, we can hurry on our way. Hopefully this doesn't last for months, otherwise we might freeze to death."

"Ah, what're you scared of?" Yang Qi laughed. "You think a bit of snow like this is going to stop us from traveling? You're kidding, right? Let's go!"

With that, he flew right up into the wind.

Unleashing his godpower and energy arts, he cleared a path through the snow. Given his current level, it was something he could do without much effort.

"This..." Lightning Dragonriser's face fell. "But how do we fly? We can't use the windsails! It'll be suicide!"

"Think of flying as a type of cultivation," Brahma said. "And don't worry about your godpower running out. Yang Qi will help you when you run low. You want to survive the Bloodgore Trials, right? Then think of this as a bit of a test." With that, he flew up to join Yang Qi.

Seeing he had no choice in the matter, Lightning Dragonriser followed.

Despite the protection of their godpower and energy arts, it was still freezing cold as they flew over the water. Below them, the waves still surged, which was somewhat frightening.

If the water had frozen, they could have dropped down to recover their energy when flying became impossible. But the ocean water in the god world couldn't be easily frozen. On the ocean floor were countless volcanoes that heated up the water, making it very warm. It would probably take thousands of years of endless snowfall to cause the surface to freeze.

That was nothing particularly miraculous. The history of the god world stretched back for so many trillions of years it was impossible to count. And there were points in history where snow fell for thousands of years, freezing numerous cultivators. During such ice ages, the commoners were forced to find refuge in the god legion kingdoms.

There was no rhyme or reason to the weather in the god world. Luckily, Yang Qi and his people hadn't arrived in an ice age, otherwise he would have been the only one to survive the arrival.

Of course, as there were ice ages, there were also 'fire ages', in which the entire god world was so hot that everything dried up and died.

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Chapter 1165: Chaotic Weather

They flew for a month, which was when Yang Qi truly came to understand what the weather was like in the god world.

Snow was constantly falling, making everything a somber white. Eventually, the demonlings stopped coming out, preferring to hide in the deeper, warmer water, where they weren't in danger of freezing to death. No more crone harpies appeared. Apparently, even they had to fear the wind and snow.

During that entire month, it never stopped snowing.

When there wasn't snow falling, there was snow deluging.

It got colder and colder, to the point where they had to keep moving to prevent from freezing up. Patches of ice were now visible on the water, although the heat from below was slowly melting it.

It was Yang Qi's first time seeing a freakish storm like this.

The month of travel often had Lightning Dragonriser feeling tired to the point of death. It required every ounce of godpower he had to keep flying along. And sometimes he was so exhausted he nearly fell out of the sky to be eaten by ravenous demonlings. However, Yang Qi would catch up and infuse him with energy. After a very short meditative rest, they would then continue on their way.

Thanks to this method of travel through the snowstorms, Lightning Dragonriser's energy arts were actually improving.

They proceeded through the snow, never bothering to find islands upon which to rest. When they tired, Yang Qi would summon a Purrfect God Art bubble for them to meditate and rest in. He never gave them godpower, preferring to let them develop it on their own.

They had consumed numerous medicinal pills and assimilated the blood infant, giving them very impressive godpower. But there were still things within them that were holding them back. Thankfully, it was very helpful to go through this process of putting every ounce of effort into flying, then recovering their energy and repeating the process.

It was a session of tempering that was producing amazing results.

In fact, it was superior to anything they could have possibly experienced in the immortal worlds, except perhaps for their time in the Great Necropolis. That said, not even the Great Necropolis could truly compare to the god world.

"Yang Qi... I need to rest," said Sword Seventeen, and with a yelp, he plummeted out of the air, spiraling down toward the water. Apparently, he was so exhausted that he had completely run out of godpower, down to the last scrap.

Before he could hit the water, Yang Qi flicked his finger, causing a bubble to spring into being around him, protecting him from the falling snow.

"I can't do it!" Yang Zhan said, and he started falling as well, until Yang Qi summoned a bubble for him.

Lightning Dragonriser had made big progress lately, but it was an extreme form of cultivation that he never could have accomplished without Yang Qi's help. And now, he was only starting to realize that Yang Qi never seemed to rest. He had been flying nonstop the entire time, heading in the same direction, using bubbles to help everyone else rest.

"What's going on Yang Qi?" he asked. "Don't you need to rest?"

"Of course not," Brahma answered, flying over. "Why else do you think he was so quick to decline the invitation from the gods of the Lightningbolt Continent? He's already become one with heaven and earth, and can go on and on without rest. You have no way of even guessing what his true level is."

"But that's impossible!" Lightning Dragonriser said. "Even the patriarch gods from Lightningbolt Continent couldn't fly for a month in a snowstorm without stopping. Are you even stronger than the gods?"

"You'll understand once we reach the House of God Ordainment," Yang Qi said coolly. "Eventually, we'll all get high standings, including you. Tell me, how has this month of tempering improved your cultivation base?"

There was no need for Lightning Dragonriser to even answer the question. He was already twice as strong as when he had left Lightningbolt City. He could obviously deal with the Bloodgore Trials without any problem now. That said, he wasn't going to just let his guard down. The Lightningbolt Continent might as well have been a tiny village. In the wider world outside of it, it was impossible to predict what kind of people they would run into. More than ever, he was convinced that sticking with Yang Qi was the best thing.

"It's been snowing for a month," Jadefall said. "When is it going to stop? Don't tell me we're entering an ice age."

"A month of snow?" Lightning Dragonriser said. "That's nothing. Even if it snowed for fifteen or twenty years, it still wouldn't count as an ice age. It would need to go for a thousand years or more for that. I'm going to guess this snow won't last for more than a few years. And it wouldn't surprise me if, afterward, things get so hot and dry it becomes unbearable. Then we might have to seek refuge in the kingdoms of gods."

"Let's just keep flying," Brahma said. "My only regret is that there aren't any demonlings to kill along the way."

"With snowfall this heavy, the demonlings are all in hiding. Think about it, even we're only able to fly because of Yang Qi helping us with his Purrfect God Art. If the demonlings tried to fly around right now, they would die. You're right, let's keep going. At this rate, we should reach our destination in half a year or so."

Thus, their journey continued, with Yang Qi not resting at all, and everyone else only taking short breaks when they became completely exhausted.

One day, Yang Qi realized that a new continent had appeared up ahead.

He had to use his Lord's Eye to see it, whereas the others couldn't see it at all thanks to the sheets of snow.

It was a sprawling land that was obviously bigger than the Lightningbolt Continent. The snow was still heavily falling there, but there was a busy harbor visible. Apparently, the people there weren't worried about the snow, as there were all sorts of merchant ships going to and fro.

The city that surrounded the harbor was protected by a huge spell formation that kept the snow at bay.

It had obviously been built by gods.

Only the gods would have the resources to build such places. When the gods couldn't afford to build kingdoms, but had enough believers, they would create cities to provide defenses against the evils that existed around them.

Both the harbor and the city were far larger than Lightningbolt City, and the mere fact that they were protected by spell formations was very telling. After all, Lightningbolt City didn't even have any spell formations.

Yang Qi saw mountains on this continent, places that surely had godstone mines.

In a place with as much business and wealth as this, there were certainly major consortiums full of all sorts of dubious characters.

"That's the Primal-Chaos Continent," Lightning Dragonriser said, sounding more than a little excited. "I can't believe we got here so quickly. It hardly seemed like half a year of travel. Hopefully we can still make it to the Bloodgore Trials."

With that, they flew into the harbor.

When the locals saw people flying in from the open ocean, many of them gasped in surprise.

"I can't believe there are people flying around in weather like this! Apparently there are a lot of people who don't fear death."

"I didn't notice. Are they experts of some sort? They must be here for the House of God Ordainment's Bloodgore Trials. I really don't understand why so many people show up for the trials. Out of ten thousand participants, only one survives."

"People have grand aspirations. It's little wonder. Most of the participants are nobodies who live horrible lives. They would do anything for a chance to rise up in life."

"Quit dreaming if you think that's going to happen. Just live your life. Work. Earn some godstones. Buy some medicinal pills to get stronger. Look, it's snowing so badly that we would die without the right pills."

"Do you know how expensive medicinal pills are? Those shysters are making it impossible for us to live. We should revolt!"

"Revolt? How? People like them could slaughter ten thousand of you with the flick of a finger."

When Yang Qi landed on the pier, the crowds parted for him. They were all commoners and Despots, people who worked like porters and kept their heads down, struggling to survive.

How very miserable.

"This city is called Triopolis," Lightning Dragonriser explained. "The House of God Ordainment has a sect hall here. I can help you become novice disciples there, and join the Bloodgore Trials. We arrived just in time. Remember, a lot of Quasi-Gods are going to be here to join the trials." With that, he led them into the city.

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Chapter 1166: Bloodgore Trials

As they approached the gate, a guard said, "Pay up! It's ten godstones per person to get into the city."

However, when the man saw Yang Qi and his group, he realized that their dignified and imposing air identified them as being something other than common Despots and suddenly became a lot more courteous. Obviously, they were Quasi-Gods who could release godpower externally, and also seasoned killers.

Of course, this city was administered by gods, and Yang Qi knew that it wouldn't be a good idea to cause problems by trying to force his way in without paying the tax. So he handed over the godstones and was given an identity medallion in return. With that, they entered the city.

As soon as they stepped inside the city, they felt a lot more relaxed. Snow was blowing around in the sky, but the spell formation prevented it from getting into the city.

Of course, not everyone in the area lived in the city. There were villages and houses around the outskirts, and in bad weather like this, the residents had no choice but to come to the city for refuge.

The local residents weren't required to pay a tax to enter the city. However, they had to follow the rules of the city. For instance, they had to live in the emergency housing set up in one corner of the place.

The city was huge, and as a result, it wasn't crowded, not even with the influx from the snowstorm or the numerous Quasi-God experts converging on the city. In fact, business was booming.

Lightning Dragonriser knew that Yang Qi wanted to avoid any delays, so he hurried through the city toward a particularly large building, where they caught sight of a line of Quasi-Gods waiting outside.

There were also guards, clad in green garments, bristling with killing intent and immense cultivation base fluctuations. Although they weren't full gods, they were obviously extremely dangerous.

When one of the green-clad guards saw that Yang Qi's group was bypassing the line, he shouted, "If you're here for the Bloodgore Trials, then get in line! Pay your godstones, otherwise we'll cut you down without asking any questions!"

"It's me," Lightning Dragonriser said, handing out his novice disciple's identification plaque. "I'm here on orders from Elder Sun, so I'll just go in through the back. Alright?"

"Oh, it's you, Lightning Dragonriser," one of the disciples said, smiling. "So these people are with you? Well, that makes things easier. You're welcome to skip the line. Go ahead into the main hall to register."

With that, they went inside.

Although the other Quasi-Gods waiting in line were furious, they couldn't say a word. They knew that the House of God Ordainment would punish them severely if they did. Not even gods would dare to defy the House of God Ordainment.

"Who are they? And why do they get to cut in line? Well, they're obviously weaklings. If I run into them during the Bloodgore Trials, I'll just slaughter all of them."

Quite a few people were saying such things.

However, other people were saying things like, "They must be really strong, especially their leader. Look at how he walks! He's as majestic as a dragon or tiger. Terrifying!"

Of course, the 'leader' they noticed wasn't Yang Qi, it was Lightning Dragonriser. Yang Qi and his people were so powerful that they were one with their surroundings, and didn't reveal anything about their cultivation bases.

Inside the hall, Yang Qi and his group caught sight of several old men presiding over the registration process. When they saw Lightning Dragonriser lead a group inside, they nodded in greeting. "Are you here to join the Bloodgore Trials, Lightning Dragonriser?"

"That's right. And these are some friends of mine who would also like to join. Elders, do you mind putting them into different groups so that we don't end up fighting and killing each other?"

He accompanied his words with a large bag of godstones.

One of the elders took the bag, hefted it to get a sense of what was inside, then said, "Excellent. Come, use your energy to inscribe your name on this jade amulet. That's all you need to do to register. Don't worry, we'll put you in separate groups. Now take these identity medallions and head back out into the city. Rest up, enjoy yourselves, and don't go anywhere. You'll be notified when the trials begin."

Upon inscribing their names and taking their identity medallions, they left. The registration process was as simple as that.

With that, they found a tavern in the city where they secured lodgings and settled down to wait for news. Thanks to the spell formations in the tavern, its interior was as warm and cozy as a spring day. However, it cost quite a few godstones. In this city, the hard currency was the godstone, as godnotes were simply too valuable. Generally, godnotes were reserved for use in auctions and similar situations.

"Well, we're all registered," said Lightning Dragonriser. "As you all already know, the Bloodgore Trials have groups of ten thousand people all fighting each other. Those who survive become official disciples of the House of God Ordainment. I'm a novice disciple right now. Although I already have some measure of authority, once I enter the Bloodgore Trials, all of that goes away. Right now, we have a week or two before the trials begin, so is there anything in particular you need to do ahead of time?"

After what had played out so far, it was finally dawning on Lightning Dragonriser that Yang Qi seemed to have an unending supply of godstones.

'If this guy is so rich, what was he doing in a tiny place like the Lightningbolt Continent?' he thought.

Glancing at Lightning Dragonriser, Yang Qi said, "We don't have anything important to do right now. Let's just stay here and work on our cultivation. After the training of flying over the ocean through the snow, we're all a lot stronger. We could slaughter gods if necessary, so what do we have to fear from these Bloodgore Trials?"

"As they say, preparedness averts peril," Lightning Dragonriser said. "I have an idea. Why don't we go to one of the big auctions they have here in Triopolis? We might find something useful. With the right magical treasures or medicinal pills, wouldn't we be even more confident?" He sighed. "There are going to be countless experts participating in the Bloodgore Trials. And Triopolis is located near a few dozen other harbor cities. The business consortiums all trade with each other, stocking up on good magical treasures that the Quasi-Gods could use in the fighting. We could definitely make ourselves into a much bigger threat."

"I really don't understand," said Patriarch Annalist, shaking his head. "The Bloodgore Trials are obviously a huge massacre. Out of ten thousand people, only one survives, and the others all die? I can't believe people will scramble like a flock of wild ducks to join a competition like that. Do they all think they'll survive?"

"People are motivated by profit. Do you know how much you can benefit from being an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment? At the very least, you can reach godly ascension! Become deathless! Even Quasi-Gods eventually die of old age, and most of those who join the contest have no hope of making further breakthroughs. Some already have one foot in the grave, while others are just wildly ambitious and willing to take the risk. Others are from aristocratic clans, where the competition to reach godly ascension is even fiercer. The possibility of becoming a god in the House of God Ordainment is just too enticing. Official disciples from the House of God Ordainment only need to practice a bit of cultivation, and they're guaranteed to reach godly ascension."

"Well that's a good reason," Yang Qi said. "Where are these auctions? Which company runs the biggest one?"

"That would be the Archaean Trading Company," Lightning Dragonriser replied. "I'm not sure how many godstones you have, but you're obviously very rich. It seems like it would be a big waste not to buy some god items and medicinal pills to boost our fighting prowess. The more prepared we are, the more likely we'll all become official disciples."

"Alright," Yang Qi replied. However, he didn't rise to his feet. "We'll go tomorrow. Right now won't do, we've all been flying for days on end. Let's relax and clear our minds first. Remember, it's important to balance work and leisure."

"Okay." Of course, Yang Qi's followers knew what he really meant. He needed time to study godstones, and possibly gain more understanding regarding godnotes.

Everyone retired to their rooms to rest. They had just spent half a year working extremely hard under intense pressure, so they welcomed the chance to relax and recover.

Lightning Dragonriser could sense that there was more to the story than what he understood, so he also retired.

Once he was alone, Yang Qi waved his hand, sending out a mist that filled the room and protected him from any prying eyes. Then he examined the transformations within him and saw that his godpower was already crystallizing. The crystals resembled very small taiji symbols, constantly spinning and turning. However, as they converged in his sea of energy, they entered his virtual godhood and slowly began turning it into something true and real.

"God Legion Seal!"

The seal emerged from his forehead, becoming a golden stream of vital energy that surrounded him and started drawing on the essence of the god world. No one in Triopolis could sense what he was doing. After all, he wasn't drawing on the vital energy of the god world, but instead, essence godpower.

Essence godpower and god world vital energy were as different as a person's blood and nascent divinity. The vital energy of the god world was everywhere, and was like blood. The essence was like the nascent divinity of the god world.

Only someone at an extremely high level could sense the essence of the god world. Normally speaking, not even Lesser, Common, or Greater Gods could do so.

Yang Qi hadn't rested at all during the half-year of cultivation and travel. He had worked harder than any of his companions, and had gained valuable experience as a result. He was now completely different than when he had first arrived in the god world. In fact, it would be impossible to find anyone else in the god world who had an aura like his. He was so closely tied to the god world now that no one could break that connection.

"Godstones!"

He extended his hand and a godstone appeared on his palm, glittering and solid, obviously of good quality. However, he wasn't content. He exhaled, causing scorching fire to envelop the stone and melt it, slowly transforming it into what looked like a banknote covered with complex designs. It looked exactly like a godnote! He had only just recently come to the realization that godnotes were transformed godstones. They were convergences of power, which was why they could create such dramatic explosions when destroyed.

He was already exploring the possibility of forging his own godnotes!

1. The saying it's important to balance work and leisure is actually quite complicated in the original form. The direct translation would be: the dao/path of Wen (culture/literature) and Wu (martial/war) is that of drawing and relaxing. The "Wen" is actually referring to King Wen of Zhou, and the Wu is referring to King Wu of Zhou (a father and son, both of whom were famous rulers of the Western Zhou dynasty in the 1100's BC (about 3,000 years ago). Both of them are considered heroes and model leaders. The "drawing and relaxing" is referring to drawing a bow (in preparation to shoot), and relaxing the tension on a bow (so as not to shoot). The more full explanation of the idiom is that these two rulers knew how to be both strict and lax in their rule, as circumstances required. Nowadays, the expression basically refers to being able to balance work and pleasure.

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Chapter 1167: Forging Godnotes

Yang Qi had started making his own godnotes.

He started by forming godstones, which were an expression of the power of the god world. Normally, they were formed after being compressed by the earth's crust over millions upon millions of years, until they became rocks filled with energy.

But with the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi could take vital energy and directly crush it into the shape of a godstone. Truth be told, the power assessment systems of the Cruiser of Civilization could do the same thing, as long as they were backed by enough strength. But of course, it was much easier with the God Legion Seal.

The profundities of the Cruiser of Civilization were beneath the level of the God Legion Seal, especially the complete version, which was completely heaven-defying and confounded the dao of gods.

Next, Yang Qi compressed the godstones into godnotes by crushing them over and over again with immense pressure, filling them with magical laws.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi still needed to develop better control of the process.

Crack!

A godnote appeared on his palm, but it only lasted for a moment before crumbling into pieces. Obviously, it was a far cry from an actual godnote.

Even now, he wasn't sure exactly how the real godnotes were made.

Pulling out a real godnote, he encased it in a Purrfect God Art bubble and opened his Lord's Eye, which was extremely powerful now that he had the complete God Legion Seal. Blinding light shot out from his forehead, allowing him to peer into the structure of the godnote and examine all of its exquisite aspects.

He instantly identified some of the extraordinary elements of the note. The most difficult aspect was that the notes contained the will and energy of Paramount Gods. However, once he figured out how to deal with that aspect, everything else would fall into place relatively easily. The exquisite internal structure of the godnote contained magical laws formed from god vitality. That was one reason why, if ignited, they would create a destructive explosion.

The truth was that there were some formations so powerful that they had to be powered by godnotes.

'The godnotes have a very complex structure,' Yang Qi thought. 'The god vitality creates countless shackles which represent the ultimate expression of wealth in the world...' To him, the godnote almost looked like its own profound heaven and earth, with the vital energy inside making up the smallest particles. And those particles were nothing short of miraculous, with round exteriors and square interiors. In that respect, they were almost like copper coins.

These coin-like particles weren't true particles. Instead, they represented all the wealth in heaven and earth. In other words, by converging the will of wealth into a single point, it was possible to create godnotes.

'These things are incredible!' Yang Qi said, his eyes widening. It was only thanks to the improvement in his godhood because of the trip over the ocean that he was finally coming to understand the profundities of godnotes.

'The meaning of wealth. Amazing...' All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized that his study of godnotes was actually helping refine his Sage Monarch Grand Magic. And if he could gain full enlightenment, it would have a more profound understanding of the ten levels of Sage, Monarch, Ruler, Emperor, Sovereign, Lord, Hero, Hegemon, God, and Nothing.

After all, sages, monarchs, emperors, and sovereigns all required wealth to establish authority. And it wasn't possible to become a ruler without funds to back it. If one wanted to enlighten the masses, bring morality to the world, and establish peace, they had to have wealth. Wealth was an integral part of the journey of any person in life.

After acquiring the God Legion Seal, Yang Qi basically didn't need medicinal pills to advance his cultivation base. To him, the god world itself was like an enormous medicinal pill, larger than it was possible to even imagine. Considering he could assimilate the medicinal strength of that gigantic pill, what need did he have of lesser pills?

If other gods realized that he viewed the god world as a medicinal pill, they would likely go completely crazy.

Yang Qi produced another godstone and crushed it into something that looked like a curved heaven and flat earth. It was money that represented the essence of wealth, and as it continued shrinking, it eventually became so small that it couldn't be seen with the naked eye. Yet there it was, floating above his palm.

Yang Qi summoned more godstones and did the same with them, using the God Legion Seal to crush them into tiny particles. Then he started pushing the particles together.

"Heaven and earth. Flat and round. Form the foundation of wealth!" Within his mind, his understanding of wealth combined with his Sage Monarch Grand Magic, and as that happened, he came to realize that the rotation of heaven and earth contained profound truths, great daos that could benefit his cultivation base.

His original goal had been to forge godnotes so that he could have wealth to spend in the god world. But after coming to understand the true meaning of wealth, it opened a path for his cultivation base, a path that would lead to forming godhood. This was something that ordinary experts could never do. Perhaps Brahma and his other friends would be able to reach godly ascension the normal way, but now that Yang Qi had gained this new enlightenment, he knew that his own chances of succeeding had increased.

He reached out, and vital energy trembled as something that looked exactly like a godnote formed in his hand.

It pulsed with the power of gods, although it lacked the mark of a Paramount God.

Yang Qi burst out laughing. "I did it! The wealth of the god world is going to be mine. Although... I need to inscribe it with the aura of a Paramount God from the God Legion Seal."

Drawing on the God Legion Seal, he sent out a massive force that somehow resembled a stamp, which touched the surface of the note, marking it with the aura of a Paramount God. Without that mark, it wasn't a true godnote, thus, anyone who used it would be sentenced to death.

Unfortunately, as soon as the mark appeared on the note... crack! The godnote collapsed, incapable of sustaining the mark. Instantly, Yang Qi's hopes were dashed.

"What's going on?"

He settled back down cross-legged, and although he was disappointed, he wasn't completely crestfallen. Instead, he sat there calmly thinking about the situation. 'I must not have sufficient enlightenment of the profundities of wealth, so I can't produce the shackles of magical law that are required. Because of that, the note can't sustain the will of a Paramount God.'

The notes he could create right now weren't stable.

Drawing on more godpower and the God Legion Seal, he created another godnote, but this time he didn't inscribe it with the aura of a Paramount God. Instead, he just watched it. After some time passed, it collapsed, the vital energy melting like ice until it was nothing but air.

'The structure isn't stable. What I can create right now won't last more than about ten breaths of time. What good is that?' He shook his head and continued seeking enlightenment.

At a certain point, his nascent divinity shivered as he succeeded, gaining new understanding.

Obviously, the internal structure of real godnotes couldn't be easily mimicked, otherwise there would be lots of counterfeit godnotes in the god world. There would definitely be plenty of people in the god world who studied godnotes in the hopes of duplicating them, even Consummate Gods. Yet, to date, no one had ever succeeded.

The more Yang Qi contemplated the mysterious nature of godnotes, the more he was convinced that he would benefit immensely if he could forge his own versions.

Behind Yang Qi, his enlightenment of the dao of wealth had caused projections to appear, along with magical devices and humanoid figures. There was even a sage-like figure whose facial features matched his own.

His Sage Monarch Grand Magic was now at the point of being able to produce three dharma clones, representing the hero, the hegemon, and the monarch. Of course, they were only shells at the moment. However, thanks to what he had learned from King Immortal-Slayer, he knew more about morality, and was now focused on developing it. Although the dharma clones he could form were currently only empty frames, they represented the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, and would slowly become more complete.

By way of analogy, the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was like a blueprint to a house that didn't contain specific information about how to go about the construction.

But as he made his dharma clones, he gained the foundation to go about that construction. And as the actual construction took form, it surpassed what the blueprint could describe. That was how Yang Qi could build his foundation for godly ascension.

Within the hand of the sage was a magical device that resembled a round coin with a square hole in the middle. It represented wealth, and the sage could teach the common people how to safely conduct business. When people acquired wealth, they were happy; that was the point of wealth.

That was what wealth represented to most commoners: happiness, contentment, and joy.

People who helped others to become wealthy were called sages. Meanwhile, Yang Qi's process of enlightenment was causing the other dharma clones, those of the hegemon, monarch, and hero, to grow more complete.

Money could confound heroes, but without it, they would be in a very tough situation.

As Yang Qi gained enlightenment, his nascent divinity grew even more perfect, and his sea of consciousness filled with understanding of the meaning of the world.

At the same time, his virtual godhood creaked as it crystallized, and the God Legion Seal shone with incisive golden light.

He was now stronger than before, such that he would definitely be able to kill an ordinary god who came to fight him. However, he didn't have full enlightenment of the mysteries of wealth, otherwise he could have directly become a Lesser God.

Again he tried to make a godnote, and this time it lasted for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. From that it could be seen how much his cultivation base had advanced.

Unfortunately, it still wasn't stable, and eventually collapsed. He still needed to further his cultivation.

1. Ancient Chinese coins were usually round with square holes in the middle. .

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Chapter 1168: Primeval Pavilion

As he experimented with creating godnotes, Yang Qi's cultivation base improved. Eventually, he could create notes that would last for a full hour before disappearing. However, he still couldn't affix them with the seal of a Paramount God.

Doing so would cause the note to immediately collapse. It seemed he would have to wait until after godly ascension to actually produce godnotes.

That said, the enlightenment he was receiving because of the process was making him much stronger.

Plus, the godstones he could produce were increasing in quality.

Obviously, there were different grades of godstones, and the top experts could very easily assess their quality. The main measure to assess them was the strength of the godpower.

Yang Qi's palm contained a collection of soybean-sized godstones, all of them pulsing with terrifyingly intense godpower; they were quite different from the godstones he had created before.

Producing a box, he put the godstones inside, musing that he would definitely have enough to purchase whatever interesting items might come up at auction. The godstones weren't forgeries; they were real, and wouldn't fade away for as long as heaven and earth existed.

The truth was that Yang Qi could actually make them even more powerful by shrinking them down even smaller, to the size of sesame seeds. But that would likely arouse suspicion, so he decided to work with what he had first to see how it went.

If he turned his godstones into 'godsand', even a tiny bag would be worth as much as a city. For now, he was content to have something bean-sized.

When everyone emerged from their night of rest, they found that, oddly, it had stopped snowing. Yang Qi walked out of the inn to find the light shining on his face and the temperature rising. He had previously assumed that the snowfall would last for years, only to be proven wrong.

The light was so bright and hot that it hurt his skin, making him feel like he was being slowly baked. Obviously, if he stayed out in this sunlight for too long, he would be dangerously burned. 'What the fuck. How did the weather change this quickly? The snow outside is already melting away.'

Jadefall and the others emerged as well. Sure enough, off in the distance, it was possible to see the snow melting into water, which formed rivulets and streams that flowed into the bay. Not even immortals could stand such drastic changes in temperature, and if it weren't for how strong this group was, they likely would have fallen ill from it.

There was no sun in the sky, but it was still blindingly bright. It begged the question of where exactly the light came from. It was almost as if there were some immense power overhead causing the light to shine down. Yang Qi looked up and opened his Lord's Eye, but he could only see the light streaming down. It was almost as if there was some enormous furnace burning on the other side of the sky.

The miraculous nature of the god world was simply impossible to gain easy enlightenment of.

In the end, heat was heat. By now, the streets were literally smoking, as if this were a city of fire. Thankfully, there were spell formations to deal with this, and clouds soon covered the city, blocking the burning light.

Looking outside, Yang Qi saw that the area beyond was not as lucky as the interior. Water was evaporating into steam everywhere, with the heat being so intense that it could even kill people. Yang Qi couldn't help but muse that the god world seemed to be a place of constant catastrophe. And he wondered how many demonlings must die because of the weather. Yang Qi could see the bodies of various god world creatures in the water that resulted from the melting snow, yet it was already possible to see various birds and demonlings that didn't fear the heat, pouncing on the corpses and devouring them.

There were fire-type birds in the god world that were particularly active when the weather got hot like this. And of course, they would go into hiding when it snowed.

'Life is hard in the god world,' Yang Qi mused. 'How do the common people even survive? It's not as if they can stay in hiding all the time. And how could they possibly know how the weather will change from day to day? The people here have to constantly try to improve their cultivation bases. It's like they're fighting a war against heaven and earth. No wonder everyone is so hell-bent on getting stronger.' Everyone was thinking similar thoughts.

The previous night, it had been snowing so hard that people could freeze to death almost instantly. The next day, it was so hot that one could be baked to death.

"Who knows how long this weather will last," Lightning Dragonriser said. Even he was sighing. "Over the past few years, the weather has been particularly unpredictable, almost as if some catastrophe is approaching. Ever since the disasters of ancient times, the weather has been fairly good. But things are changing. And whenever tribulation is on the way, the first signs are always in the weather."

"You think these are signs?" Brahma said. "The true signs of impending tribulation would be for fire to rain down, mixed with swords with the power to destroy the world. In the depths of the god world, there are floods and fiery winds that not even the god kingdoms can defend against. That is the stuff I would consider terrifying. This weather is pretty tame by comparison."

'He's serious, isn't he?' Yang Qi thought. 'The god world really is a dangerous place. The only option is to cultivate, cultivate, and keep on cultivating. I have to get stronger.' Clearing his thoughts, he said, "Let's go check out the Primeval Pavilion's auction."

As they walked along, Jadefall slid up next to Yang Qi, touched his arm and whispered, "Did you manage to make some godnotes? If so, then we're definitely rich."

"I didn't," he replied just as quietly. "It's not going to be easy to produce counterfeit godnotes. My cultivation base just isn't high enough. That said, I did learn a lot about them through the night, and it will help me reach godly ascension even sooner. And I produced some godstones the size of beans. They're valuable enough that we should be able to purchase some useful items."

He pulled out a sack to show her. Right now, none of them had spatial bags, dimensional storage items, or anything else like that. Such items required the power of gods. It wasn't that they didn't exist. For instance, Proud Radiance had a storage ring given to him by one of the patriarch gods of his branch of the Proud Clan. But such things were difficult to use without the help of a god, as they required immense amounts of godpower to open.

As such, Quasi-Gods generally didn't use them.

Of course, Yang Qi had the Cruiser of Civilization and its spatial powers, but unfortunately, his cultivation base wasn't quite strong enough to use them here.

Instead, he had to operate like a human in the lands of mortals, by using an actual bag to carry things.

"Is that what you're planning to use at the auction?" Lightning Dragonriser asked, his eyes betraying some disappointment at the sight of the sack. "You can buy things at auction with godstones, but it's usually best to use godnotes. If you do use godstones, you have to use ones of extremely high quality."

"What do you think of the quality of these godstones?" Yang Qi asked, opening the sack for him to look inside.

As soon as Lightning Dragonriser saw the contents, his eyes went wide. Reaching inside, he pulled out one of the glittering, bean-sized godstones, which weighed heavily on his hand because of the godpower swirling inside. "Th-this... this... Where did you get godstones of this quality? Only the top sects in existence would have access to ore deposits that produce godstones like this. And they would only distribute them internally. Did you discover a mine or something? You're completely rich!"

"Don't think too much into it," Yang Qi replied. "Suffice it to say that I can get high-quality godstones. So tell me. How many godnotes do you think this bag is worth? And what would happen if I could get my hands on even finer quality stones?"

"That bag is probably worth a few dozen godnotes," Lightning Dragonriser said. "And if you had better quality stones, you could obviously buy even more things. The higher the quality of the godstones, the better the spell formations and magical treasures you can power. Lower quality stones either won't work, or will even destroy the magical items in question. That's one reason why high-quality godstones are so popular. After all, it would be a big waste to use godnotes to power ordinary spell formations."

"In that case, everything will work out fine," Yang Qi said. "We'll just use godstones to purchase whatever we want from the auction. I don't have a lot of godnotes, but I have plenty of godstones."

Everyone excitedly hurried in the direction of the Primeval Pavilion.

The Primeval Pavilion was actually a sprawling palace that stretched for several kilometers from end to end, filled with towering pagodas and surrounded by a sturdy wall. It was already packed with people. Obviously, there were a lot of travelers here hoping to get items that would help them in the Bloodgore Trials.

Yang Qi and his people didn't make a splash at all, and no one paid them any attention.

Looking around, Yang Qi didn't spot any gods in attendance. Everyone was a Quasi-God, with Despot attendants. Generally speaking, the gods of the god world didn't have dealings with the commoners.

Although there were a lot of people present, everything was in order. Disciples of the Primeval Pavilion directed everyone in an organized fashion. When Yang Qi spotted one of the disciples in charge, he slipped him a godstone. Smiling at the generosity, the disciple led Yang Qi and his group to the back to a private room.

They were obviously very happy to have some privacy, and to be away from the crowded, sweaty general floor.

"Are you here for the Bloodgore Trials?" the disciple asked. "Our Primeval Pavilion has a few very powerful magical treasures to be auctioned, as well as some amazing medicinal pills. You don't want to miss out."

"What exactly are these items?" Yang Qi asked. "Do you mind explaining?" He offered another bean-sized godstone, but the disciple waved his hands to reject it. "I actually don't know. The objects to be auctioned are always kept top secret. Everyone will find out at the same time, when the objects are revealed. And even those few disciples who do know would never reveal that information, otherwise we would be executed."

"So those are the rules? Fine. Still, take the godstone as a reward for your information. Yes, we're here for the Bloodgore Trials. And we're one hundred percent certain that we'll end up as members of the House of God Ordainment. The main reason we're here is to see what our competition will be using against us. As the saying goes, know yourself, know your enemy. And if something truly powerful comes along, we'll want to keep it out of our enemies' hands!"

1. The saying know yourself, know your enemy comes from .

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Chapter 1169: Godsand

"Many thanks, many thanks! Well, please enjoy the auction, and feel free to bid on any item that attracts your attention. I'll be just outside; call for me if you need anything."

Accepting the godstone, the disciple offered a salute and then left them in the silence they obviously desired.

Once outside, he smiled broadly as he examined the godstone. Meanwhile, a robed figure approached and, seeing the look on his face, asked, "What's that in your hand, Yu Guo?"

"What?" Yu Guo said. Looking up, he suddenly said, "Oh, it's you, Eighth Elder!" He gave a deep bow. "The customers in this private room tipped me with two godstones."

"Let me see them," Eighth Elder said. Yu Guo didn't dare to object, and quickly handed over the two bean-sized godstones, keeping his head down.

This Eighth Elder was a powerfully built old man, clad in a voluminous robe. His ruddy face was beardless, and he had a pair of eagle eyes that seemed capable of seeing anything and everything. Upon examining the two godstones, his eyes widened. "Amazing craftsmanship. And the vital power inside is incredible. I wonder which mine produced quality stones like this. It's as strong as an ordinary godstone the size of a person, which means it's perfect for use in spell formations. What kind of an individual would give something as precious as this as a reward to an ordinary disciple?"

"Elder," Yu Guo replied quickly, "they're aristocratic disciples here to participate in the Bloodgore Trials."

Eighth Elder returned the two godstones to Yu Guo. "I recognize the look on your face. You thought I was going to keep the godstones, didn't you?"

"I wouldn't dare to think that, not ever!" Yu Guo replied, beads of sweat visible on his forehead. "How could I possibly think something like that? If you want them, Elder, just take them."

Eighth Elder snorted. "I don't just want one or two. I want a lot! Stones of that quality are rare, and given how bad the weather has been, we need high-quality fuel for the spell formations. Take me in to see these people, I want to discuss business. If I can get a large quantity of those godstones from them, I'll count it as service on your part. You'll definitely get a reward from headquarters."

"Many thanks, Elder!" Yu Guo said. Heart pounding with anticipation, he led the way into the room.

Inside, Yang Qi and his companions were watching the activity on the auction floor. A host of magical treasures were visible on the auction stage, although all of them were covered with red cloth that made it impossible to lay eyes on the actual items. Yang Qi wasn't feeling inclined to use his Lord's Eye to identify the items. Considering he had the God Legion Seal, ordinary magical treasures didn't interest him much, with the exception being the items of the seventy-two monarchs.

If any of those items showed up, he would definitely get them for his immortal-slaying clone.

"This is our first time attending an auction in the god world," the Shepherd said via thought projection. "I wonder what kind of things we'll see."

Yang Qi suddenly waved his hand. "Someone's coming in."

Only about ten breaths of time later, the door opened, and Yu Guo appeared, leading Eighth Elder. "This is Eighth Elder of the Primeval Pavilion," he announced. "He's here to talk with you about a business deal."

"Business?" Yang Qi said. Looking at Eighth Elder, he saw that he was a Quasi-God. Although he had a high cultivation base, he wasn't anyone Yang Qi needed to be worried about. "Eighth Elder, might I respectfully ask for your name? And could it be that you're here to ask about my godstones?"

"That's right, I'm here about the godstones," Eighth Elder said. "My surname is Xu and my given name is Huadong. However, I'd prefer if you just call me Eighth Elder. I'm a member of the Primeval Pavilion, and Eighth Elder is what people call me."

"That's fine," Yang Qi said. "Names are just ways to identify people, after all. Eighth Elder, could it be that you and the Primeval Pavilion are interested in my godstones?"

"The quality of those stones is incredible," Eighth Elder said. "I'll take however many you can offer. The higher the quality, the better."

"And what might the Primeval Pavilion be offering in return? Godnotes?" Yang Qi shook his head. "Godnotes are amazing things, but I have plenty of them on hand. As you probably know, I'm preparing to participate in the Bloodgore Trials, and I want to be completely prepared. One mistake could lead to death. If your Primeval Pavilion has anything that could help with the Bloodgore Trials, or perhaps items which can help with godly ascension, then I'd be more than happy to work out a deal."

Eighth Elder laughed heartily. "You certainly set the mark high, Brother! It's not as though godly ascension is a simple matter. If we had ways to achieve that so easily, I would already be a god. That said, I can definitely get you magical treasures to make you stronger. Such things are expensive, though, too much to hand over for only a few godstones. We sell things like that for godnotes."

"Oh?" Yang Qi said with a smile. "If godstones won't work, what about this?"

He extended his hand and something like fragments of starlight appeared, which floated in the direction of Eighth Elder.

Eighth Elder reached out, using his godpower to form an enormous hand to grab it. Still, he was physically shaken. 'This guy's energy arts seem as deep as the ocean. Just a casual movement from him nearly paralyzed me. I didn't even realize there were Quasi-Gods as powerful as this!'

Eighth Elder was immediately struck by the realization that there was no way he could fight Yang Qi. As such, he didn't even consider treating Yang Qi as an enemy. They were just too far apart in power.

And because of that, he also didn't consider resorting to any trickery.

"Eighth Elder, why don't you appraise that godsand I just sent you?" Yang Qi said. From the expression he had just observed on Eighth Elder's face, he could tell that he had been shaken to the core, removing any treacherous thoughts he might have harbored.

"Godsand?" Eighth Elder quickly looked down at his hand and saw that there were three grains of godsand, all the size of sesame seeds. Despite their size, they were immensely heavy and radiated sun-like brightness. They were clearly a hundred times as powerful as the godstones he had seen earlier, and just as valuable as an entire storehouse full of regular stones.

"Dear lord..." Eighth Elder said, visibly shocked. "Is this really the product of an ore? It must have taken millions upon millions of years to compress it down to this level. How old is it?"

"Well, what do you think? That godsand can operate some powerful god items. Just imagine how easy it would be to deal with the weather if you used it in some of your spell formations." Yang Qi had already been in the god world for the better part of a year. Although much of that time had been spent flying over the ocean, he was still becoming more familiar with his surroundings. He understood many of the mysteries of the god world, for instance, how despite the fact that godstones were considered wealth to ordinary people, they were also used to operate spell formations.

Without godstones to power the formations, life in the god world would ultimately be impossible.

"How many grains of godsand do you have?" Eighth Elder asked, his heart pounding in his chest. After all, the power he could get from sand like this would definitely be enough to boost his cultivation base.

If nothing else, they could be used to power spell formations that would be particularly helpful in cultivation. And if he could push his godpower high enough, he might be able to gain enlightenment of godly ascension.

There were plenty of spell formations in the god world, but not necessarily the energy sources to power them. There were plenty of ordinary godstones, but they could only be used to power ordinary formations. High-level formations required high-level godstones. Unfortunately, high-level godstones took a lot of time to form. They needed to be compacted by the earth's crust for hundreds of millions, billions, or even tens of billions of years. And after the destruction that had been unleashed in ancient times, such stones were very rare.

Because of that, high-level godstones were very valuable. And Yang Qi's godsand was basically an extremely high-level type of godstone.

"I don't have much of that type of godsand on me," Yang Qi said. "But if you want more, I can get it. As long as you can pay for it. Right now, I'm not interested in magical treasures or medicinal pills. I'm very close to reaching godly ascension on my own, as I'm sure you can sense." When Yang Qi spoke, his words fairly thrummed with indisputable confidence.

There actually wasn't a need for him to even explain, as Eighth Elder could sense his terrifying cultivation base. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if he became a god right here and now. And obviously, it made no sense to offend people like that.

Furthermore, Eighth Elder was one hundred percent sure that this person would end up as an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment, which would make him extremely important. And that was the type of person to recruit, not plot against.

"Well, Brother, you might not need medicinal pills or magical treasures, but what about your companions? We've prepared especially to do business with people attending the Bloodgore Trials, and have brought some magical flags here for just that purpose. I think they might be of interest to you."

"What do you mean 'magical flags'?" Yang Qi asked quietly.

"They can help you gather immense godpower, and ultimately, reach godly ascension." Waving his hand, he said, "Go bring in a set of the flags."

"Yes sir!" Yu Guo said, hurrying away. A moment later he returned with two other disciples, bearing an enormous chest between them. It was made from godsteel and secured with an enormous lock that Eighth Elder opened with a silver key.

Inside were ten magical flags.

Although it was impossible to tell what they were made from, they were spectacularly beautiful.

"These are not intended to be used in fighting," Eighth Elder explained, "but to make a formation for cultivation. They're Ten Directions God Convergence Flags. With high-quality godstones to power the formation they create, your godpower will soar. If you couldn't normally push your godpower to the limit, you could definitely do so with these flags."

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Chapter 1170: Ten Directions God Convergence Flags

Yang Qi waved his hand toward the box, and the ten flags inside flapped into motion, creating a circular spell formation. And the magical symbols on the flags began to flicker and glow.

WOOOOSH!

His fingers flashed as he counted out ten grains of godsand and sent them flying toward the flags, which resulted in a massive outflow of vital energy.

Next, Yang Qi reached out, grabbed Yu Guo, and threw him into the middle of the formation. Instantly, streams of energy pierced into Yu Guo, whereupon a look of exultation appeared on his face. "Godpower! Godpower is forming inside of me. It's crystallizing so quickly!"

Crack. Crunch.

"Return!" said Yang Qi. He beckoned, and the ten flags flew back into the box. A look of disappointment overtook Yu Guo's face; he knew full well that if he had been able to spend more time in that formation, he would definitely have achieved a breakthrough. Even the short moment he had just spent had saved him a few dozen years of ordinary cultivation.

The general process to reach godly ascension involved building up godpower, then exerting immense pressure on it, over and over again, until it turned into true godhood. It was a very exhaustive process that also involved the development of the psyche and the will.

Ordinary people, even those who had the potential to reach godly ascension, would have a very tough time exerting enough pressure on the godpower. And a mistake in the process could result in the godpower going out of control and detonating!

Godhood was essentially a conglomeration of condensed power, or as some people referred to it, the Great Dao of the Gold Core.

The formation created by the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags could adjust one's godpower and assist in the process of crushing it into submission.

It was similar to how, in the impure lands, people couldn't simply use their hands to crush corn into meal. It required a grindstone. And the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags served the same purpose as that grindstone.

Yang Qi immediately understood the profound complexities of the flags. The Cruiser of Civilization had a similar function, except the ship wasn't currently functional. He would need to reach godly ascension before he could use it, which meant that, for the time being, the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags were his best bet to achieve the same results.

"You certainly got lucky, brat," Eighth Elder murmured as he glared with open envy at Yu Guo. It didn't matter how amazing the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags formation was, without high-quality godstones to power it, it wouldn't do any good. And although Yu Guo hadn't experienced an overall increase in godpower, his substructure had transformed in a significant way.

It was like the difference between a pound of cotton and a pound of iron; both weighed a pound, but their structure was completely different.

Before, Yu Guo's godpower had been like cotton, but now it was as hard as iron. Whether in terms of attack or defense, he was far beyond his previous level.

After all, being hit with a pound of cotton would be a lot less painful than being hit with a pound of iron.

Of course, Yang Qi didn't need the formation, but Brahma and the others could definitely benefit from it. As long as there were enough godstones to power it, they would easily be able to reach the Lesser God level.

Right now, their godpower was immense but unstable, extensive but not refined.

In fact, because their godpower was so intense, it was difficult to shape it properly. By way of analogy, a puddle could easily freeze in cold temperature, but a mighty flowing river, not so much.

Godpower was like water, which meant that if it was too mighty and forceful, it could take forever for it to 'freeze'.

Yang Qi's people needed to 'freeze' their godpower, taking that mighty river and turning it into ice. And that was no easy task. But if they succeeded, their godhood would surpass that of ordinary Lesser Gods.

"How much godsand do you want for the formation?" Yang Qi said. "Name your price."

Eighth Elder thought for a moment, then extended his index finger.

"A hundred?" Yang Qi asked quietly.

"Oh, no, not a hundred. That's far too little. I made this god formation myself, and I spent blood, sweat, and tears to get it done. You definitely need to add a zero to that number."

"A thousand?" Lightning Dragonriser blurted. "Are you trying to rip us off, Eighth Elder? Do you know how valuable that godsand is? A thousand should be enough to buy multiple formations."

"You think making formations like that is some sort of game?" Eighth Elder said with a grim frown. "That formation inverts yin and yang, and contains the mysteries necessary to crystallize godpower. The flags themselves were filled with quintessence energy by the god patriarchs of the Primeval Pavilion. Although it can't be used to attack or defend, it's extremely powerful. It's clearly the best option for your group. Besides, none of the other magical treasures up for auction can compare to it. If you want to condense your godpower into godhood, there is no better item to use than the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags."

"Maybe it's the best," said Brahma, "but for most people, it would be useless. Who could possibly have enough godsand to actually make it operational? And of course, using that method to operate it would be an insult to the wills of Paramount Gods in godnotes."

Eighth Elder laughed. "As the saying goes, bestow a valuable sword on a skilled swordsman, and provide beautiful women to accompany heroes. Only you deserve to use these flags, Brother Yang Qi."

"Fine. If you want a thousand, that's what you'll get." Yang Qi wasn't interested in haggling, so he waved his hand and sent out a stream of glittering godsand.

Eighth Elder quickly produced a box and used it to carefully capture all of the sand. He had to marvel at how casually Yang Qi seemed to produce the sand, and came to the conclusion that he must be using some sort of spatial god item to do it.

"So I get the flags now?" Yang Qi said, making a grasping gesture that caused them to fly toward him.

"Yes. They're yours. Here at the Primeval Pavilion, doing business is simple, and we never cheat or swindle. By the way, Brother, if you have more godsand, we'd be happy to do more business." Eighth Elder was actually very pleased to have inked such a good deal. "By the way, the formation works best if you use God-Convergence Pills or Vitality-Strengthening Pills."

"Oh?" Brahma said. "Presumably you have such pills for sale?"

When it came to increased cultivation speed, none of them wanted to hold back anything.

"Of course." Eighth Elder gave a meaningful look to Yu Guo, who hurried off.

Around that time, they heard voices from the auction floor.

Looking out, Yang Qi and his companions saw a sea of people clamoring loudly at a charming young woman who was presiding over the formalities. Apparently, the auction was finally starting.

"Lot one is a divine treasure known as the Cyclical Cauldron. If you practice cultivation inside the cauldron, you can instantly achieve nine thousand cycles of godpower. In addition, the cauldron can absorb both frigid and burning energies, then combine them. By using the power of yin and yang, the cycle of reincarnation is imitated and the person in the cauldron can benefit from the ultimate protection. No evil could possibly harm them!"

As she spoke, the cauldron appeared in the open.

Although it was exquisitely crafted, Yang Qi could tell that it was the work of a Common God. In other words, it was useless to him. However, the auction floor exploded into a frenzy and it ended up selling for quite a few godnotes.

The winner was a woman in one of the private rooms, whose high-pitched voice seemed to indicate that she was changing her voice by means of a spell formation.

Yang Qi watched as the auction continued. Unfortunately, compared to the Great Necropolis, the god items and medicinal pills on sale were pitiful. The only downside was that because it had been tainted by the mortal world, the Great Necropolis wouldn't be useful for years to come.

After about two hours, a few cases were delivered to their private room that contained medicinal pills designed to increase godpower and strengthen the psyche. They were very expensive.

But Yang Qi didn't care. He bought them for about a thousand grains of godsand.

After all, as long as he had the God Legion Seal, he could produce as many godstones as he wanted.

Eventually, the auction was reaching an end and the final lot appeared on the stage. It pulsed with immense godpower, and when the red cloth was removed, Yang Qi saw that it was some sort of god tree.

"According to the rumors," the auctioneer said, "this god tree was planted by a Consummate God, who carefully nurtured it into a sapling. It can refine godpower, and if it's assimilated into the sea of energy, it will sprout, providing a never-ending flow of godpower."

The crowd erupted into a buzz.

The worst fear for anyone involved in a fight was running out of godpower. In fact, unless someone had some way to flee from a fight in that situation, they would have no choice but to just lay down and be slaughtered. It could only be imagined how much of an advantage it would be to have an endless supply of godpower.

In fact, the main reason they had to stop and rest on their journey over the ocean was that Yang Qi's companions would eventually run out of power and fall down.

The god world was filled with a variety of heterogeneous vital energies, but the God Legion Seal could absorb them all. Although this tree wasn't at the same level, it could provide a similar function and was thus incredibly valuable.

Many eyes began shining with anticipation. Whoever got that tree would definitely have a much better chance of winning in the Bloodgore Trials.

1. This appears to be a twist on a more common expression: sell a valuable sword to a skilled swordsman, give makeup to a top beauty, with another version I found being give a valuable sword to a skilled swordsman, let a good doctor handle an uncommon prescription.

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Chapter 1171: Consummate God Tree

"You should buy that god tree, Yang Qi," Jadefall said. "Assimilating it would provide a huge boost in godpower, making it much easier to interact with the vital energy of heaven and earth here."

"My own path of cultivation is superior," Yang Qi replied. "Assimilate something like that, and I would end up parasitized, which wouldn't be of any help at all." The tree looked lush and alive, and its trunk was covered with knobby protrusions that were evidence of the work of whatever Consummate God expert had created it. Obviously, that god had been attempting to use this tree to connect with heaven and earth, which was fine. But for Yang Qi to assimilate it into his sea of energy would be a mistake.

That said, other Quasi-Gods could probably make use of it.

"The bidding for this Consummate-level god tree will start at a hundred godnotes!" When Yang Qi heard the price that was being asked, he squashed any thoughts of trying to buy it. Although he could hand over enough godsand to match the price in godnotes, it would attract too much attention. Furthermore, it was a given that people would have designs on the tree, and would cause problems for him because of it.

"What's wrong, Brother?" asked Eighth Elder. "You're not interested in that god tree? It's the best item we're offering for sale at this auction. If you don't get it, one of your competitors will."

"I'm not worried about that," Yang Qi replied. "That thing is a disaster in the making. Whoever wins it will never have any peace. The business we've already done can remain confidential, but buying that treasure with everyone watching is just asking for trouble. An ordinary man who possesses great treasure makes himself a big target."

"Trying to avoid trouble, Brother?" Eighth Elder asked probingly.

"I'm trying to avoid annoying side-issues," Yang Qi replied, giving Eighth Elder a level stare. "The business we've done so far is more than satisfactory. After I'm an official student of the House of God Ordainment, I'm sure there will be plenty of chances to work out even better deals with your Primeval Pavilion."

"That sounds wonderful. The Primeval Pavilion can't compare to the House of God Ordainment, but we do have a very powerful patriarch god, as well as many years' worth of resources. As long as you can produce the wealth and godsand, we can find whatever it is you need."

"What about secrets?" Yang Qi said. "Do you traffic in those?"

"Secrets?" Eighth Elder thought for a moment. "You want to buy information? If so, you couldn't have come to a better place than the Primeval Pavilion. Yes, we sell information. What exactly do you want to know?"

"Have you heard of the Proud Clan?" Yang Qi asked quietly.

"Of course. They have branches on many continents and are extremely powerful. What. Are you an enemy of the Proud Clan?" Eighth Elder's expression flickered. "The Primeval Pavilion isn't in the position to be able to offend the Proud Clan, so information about them is going to be extremely expensive."

"I wouldn't say that we're enemies. Nor do I have any interest in you doing anything to offend them. But I am interested in their secrets."

"Well that's good to hear. In that case, just tell me what secrets you're interested in, and I can tell you how much it will cost." Suddenly shifting his gaze to the auction floor, he said, "Would you look at that. Someone is actually buying the god tree!"

Down below, the auctioneer said, "Three thousand godnotes. Going once. Going twice. Any further bids? In that case, sold! For three thousand godnotes."

Within moments, the god tree was taken away.

As Yang Qi watched it being taken into private room #9, he opened his Lord's Eye. Inside the room, several people were gathered. One of them was a young man who was sitting cross-legged, with a handful of old men and burly fellows standing around who were obviously his attendants.

"We won the Consummate-level god tree?" the young man said, smiling. "I'm sure that's painted a target on our back. What do you think, Stewards?"

One of the old men in the group replied, "If anyone tries to make a move, we'll kill them. I can't believe that animals like this have come to participate in the Bloodgore Trials. They're obviously looking to get killed."

Another old man said, "Young Master, that god tree was raised from one of the ninety-nine seeds created by the boundless Sovereign Lord. If you can collect the rest of the trees that came from those seeds, you can use them to track down the location of the Sovereign Lord's palace of operations. The halls of heaven! I can't believe the fools from the Primeval Pavilion just sold an item as priceless as this!"

"The halls of heaven? I must have them! Whatever secrets this god tree contains, I'll acquire them when I assimilate it into my sea of energy. Eventually, I'll collect all ninety-nine of the trees and use them to summon the halls of heaven, which I'll also assimilate!" The young man burst out laughing.

Looking concerned, one of the burly men asked, "In that case, Young Master, are you saying you plan to push back godly ascension? Your godpower is so mighty, sir, that it'll be difficult to form it into godhood. Are you really going to participate in the Bloodgore Trials and become a disciple of the House of God Ordainment?"

"That's right," the young man said. "Little Huan is in the House of God Ordainment, and I must have her. So joining the House of God Ordainment myself is the only option."

"Why bother? Young Master, joining the House of God Ordainment will be a big embarrassment for you. Our clan is no weaker than the House of God Ordainment! When people hear that a young master of the Cloudsoaring Mansion has done something like that, we'll be a laughingstock."

"It doesn't matter," the young man said. "I'll conceal my identity. And who out there could possibly pierce that illusion? After I'm in the House of God Ordainment, I'll advance by leaps and bounds, quickly becoming so powerful that the rest of the people in the Cloudsoaring Mansion will be forced to give me more respect."

"If that's your plan, Young Master, we'll simply wait for the good news." His attendants all offered respectful salutes.

With that, the young master inhaled deeply, causing the god tree to burst into flames, shrink down into an expression of power, and fly into his sea of energy. There, cracking sounds could be heard as godpower flowed through him like a mighty river.

"Come on, let's get out of here! I'm already on the cusp of godly ascension! Those fools in the Primeval Pavilion clearly had no idea what they had on their hands with this god tree. I can't believe they gave it to me for a mere three thousand godnotes. Before, I was a bit lacking in godpower, but not any more. I can reach godly ascension with a mere thought, any time I wish!"

With that, their entire group vanished into thin air.

'He's obviously a top expert,' Yang Qi thought. 'The god world really is filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Even among Quasi-Gods, there'll be some dangerous people. I have to be careful. For example, this guy seems to be just on the verge of reaching godly ascension.'

With that, he led his people out of the auction house as well.

Back at the tavern, they split up the medicinal pills they had acquired and started another session of cultivation. They also activated the Ten Directions God Convergence Flags.

When the power of the ten directions began to flow, it was as if they were wrapped up in an enormous bag made of godpower. As they performed their breathing exercises and worked with their various techniques, their godpower grew, and at the same time, they exerted pressure to shrink it down.

Before long, the medicinal pills had all been assimilated.

Before, Lightning Dragonriser had been under the impression that his godpower had reached a peak level, and that he was right on the verge of a breakthrough. Never could he have guessed that he actually had a lot more progress to make; becoming a god was obviously no easy task.

That said, it was a good thing for him to know the truth, and it made him realize how backward the Lightningbolt Continent was.

Of course, now he was becoming truly powerful.

They had so many medicinal pills that, normally speaking, even if they had a larger group, it should have taken them years to assimilate them properly.

God pills simply weren't designed to be taken in large quantities. But Yang Qi's God Legion Seal changed everything. He could easily use burning sagefire to remove any impurities.

As the days passed, everyone experienced a dramatic improvement and advancement in their godpower.

As for Yang Qi, he furthered his enlightenment of godnotes. Now, it wasn't just a matter of wanting to be able to create his own, but he also wanted to unlock the mysterious knowledge they could provide.

When he reached the point of being able to produce godnotes, he would be able to push his Sage Monarch Grand Magic to an even higher level.

"Use the god vitality of heaven and earth to produce godnotes!"

A tremor passed through him and a host of projected godnotes appeared above his head, making it seem like it was about to start raining money.

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Chapter 1172: The Trial Begins

"What is this? Why did it suddenly start raining godnotes? Am I seeing things?" Lightning Dragonriser walked out of the spell formation and looked back to see Yang Qi sitting there in the middle, godnotes raining down around him. However, before the godnotes could reach the ground, they would vanish. Then new ones would appear above and start the process over again.

It almost seemed like a scene from a dream.

He reached out and grabbed one of the godnotes, but as soon as he did it exploded in his hand, flinging him backward with blood spraying out of his mouth until he landed on his back, unconscious.

Shocked, everyone else exited the formation and looked back to see Yang Qi slowly reining in his energy, causing the godnotes to vanish.

"What's going on?" Brahma asked. "What's this all about?"

"I provoked a godnote transformation," Yang Qi said, "using the power of wealth to create a killing move called Magnanimity to the Masses. Something new from my Sage Monarch Grand Magic. Lightning Dragonriser must have thought the godnotes were real, and when he tried to grab them, he suffered a big shock. Thankfully, he was only knocked unconscious, and will recover shortly."

He waved his finger and sent a soft stream of energy into Lightning Dragonriser, who twitched in response.

Moments later, he opened his eyes and sat up.

"What were you cultivating just now?" he asked. "Why were there so many godnotes?"

"I gained some enlightenment of a new technique called Magnanimity to the Masses. What you experienced just now was a small test. If I used the real move, it would cause godnotes to rain down for dozens of kilometers in every direction. It would be a destructive, explosive rain that could kill even gods. It's truly an unprecedented energy art. What do you think?"

Lightning Dragonriser shook his head. "It's simply... unbelievable! You're using godnotes as a means to attack your enemy? How extravagant. I've never heard of anyone doing anything like this before. Does it mean you'll eventually be able to produce real godnotes?"

"It depends on my cultivation base," Yang Qi replied. At the same time, he cast his vision deep into Lightning Dragonriser, where he saw something that almost looked like a sealing mark on his soul.

Lightning Dragonriser had been following Yang Qi for some time now, and seemed hell-bent on ingratiating himself. He really did seem to be treating Yang Qi as if he were some sort of omnipotent leader. Of course, some of that was a result of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, which let Yang Qi become a sage or a monarch with a mere thought.

Magnanimity to the Masses was a truly powerful move. It would fill the air with a rain of godnotes that were so realistic it would be hard to identify them as anything but that. And while he had just caused them to gently flutter downward, he would eventually be able to use it to have them come crashing down like a true deluge.

The move was so named because it would cause wealth to appear in heaven and earth, providing endless blessings to the masses. With enough wealth, no one would be poor or hungry, and would instead live fruitful and happy lives. In fact, it hearkened to the teachings of the buddhist schools, and the dāna giving, which involved donating the treasures of chiliocosms of worlds.

Thus, it was called Magnanimity to the Masses.

Getting to his feet, Lightning Dragonriser assessed himself internally, and was relieved to find that there were no injuries or impediments. He was increasingly realizing that ever since he had met Yang Qi, his energy arts were advancing nonstop.

All of a sudden, everyone realized that the medallions they had been given were vibrating. Taking them out, they all heard the same announcement spoken in a cold voice. "The Bloodgore Trials of the House of God Ordainment are set to begin. All participants will come to the Hall of God Ordainment to be put into groups. The teleportation portal will then take them to the trials. Any who are late will be refused entry and will not be allowed to register for future trials."

Yang Qi rose to his feet, eager to finally get a look at the top sects that existed in the god world. Perhaps he would even get a glimpse of some real gods.

To date, he had not yet seen any true gods. Not even the blood infant he had fought on Egret Island was really a god.

"Be careful, everyone," Yang Qi said. "And if any of you run into a young master from the Cloudsoaring Mansion, be especially careful. Remember, I've placed true energy in all of you that you can use in the case of emergency, although success or failure will depend on how skillfully you use it."

"If some arrogant and conceited young master manages to kill us, it would mean our years of hard work would be in vain." That was what Doom and everyone else was thinking.

People were already gathering in the immense hall in the middle of the city and heading into the teleportation portal therein. It was Yang Qi's first time seeing a teleportation portal in the god world, and when he and his group stepped onto it, dazzling light shone and everything seemed to tilt as spatial power wrapped them up.

They felt something like a blast of heat, then they were elsewhere.

Looking around, they realized they were in a huge, deep valley that was vaguely bottle gourd-shaped. The cliffs on either side of the valley were lined with individuals who pulsed with shocking auras.

"Gods! They're all gods!"

Cries of shock rang out, although Yang Qi and his followers just quietly looked around. They were only one small part of the huge group of people that was being teleported in.

Considering how many people would be participating in the Bloodgore Trials, it was clear that they wouldn't be held in the Primal-Chaos Continent. The House of God Ordainment had obviously arranged for the event to be held on another, larger continent.

Looking around, Yang Qi could see that there were millions upon millions of people present, a real hodgepodge of good and bad people.

The figures up on the cliffs all seemed to be Lesser Gods, but they were more than enough to keep control, especially considering they could join forces if necessary.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." one of the gods said, and as he looked over the crowd, Yang Qi felt the pain caused by the man's gaze. Shockingly, he was a Common God!

The weather was still extremely hot, requiring everyone to use their godpower to protect themselves lest they be burned out of existence. It was an effect from the god world itself, not the House of God Ordainment. The heat Yang Qi had experienced in Triopolis wasn't the true heat that could be experienced in the god world. This was.

"Presumably all of you are familiar with the rules of the Bloodgore Trials. You will be put into groups of ten thousand and be sent into the mountains. The pathways there are the locations where you will fight. The medallions you were given will indicate which group you will join. Understand?"

Even as the god's words were still echoing out, Yang Qi felt his medallion vibrating, indicating that he was in the first group. Without any hesitation, he flew up into the air, along with many other people in the crowd.

The atmosphere was tense, as would be expected considering that only one person would survive.

As they flew further into the valley, everyone was thinking about the fact that nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine people were about to die.

BOOM!

Someone passed out from fear!

However, it didn't do them any good, as one of the gods above waved a hand, awakening them. They now had no choice but to participate.

It wasn't permitted to back out of the Bloodgore Trials, and although that person had been awakened, it was obvious that they were so weak they would die. There was no way someone like that would survive a trial like this.

Thankfully, Lightning Dragonriser had ensured that Yang Qi and his people weren't to be placed in the same group.

Although cheating wasn't allowed in the Bloodgore Trials, a bit of flexibility was allowed during the initial arrangements.

'This is going to be intense,' Yang Qi thought.

A few kilometers further into the valley, it was possible to see a host of paths snaking into the mountains, only one of which was opened.

The others were sealed tight for other groups.

The god spoke again. "You are participating in the Bloodgore Trials, so be prepared to die with no regrets. Whether or not you become an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment will depend on your performance. Kill everyone else, and you'll survive. We don't want people who are like flowers from a greenhouse. Only the strong will come out on top, as the arrangement has been for millions upon millions of years. Enter, and let the killing begin!"

Yang Qi flew along, and upon entering the path, found himself in what seemed like a never-ending jungle.

1. Dāna is a real thing from various eastern religions. .

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Chapter 1173: Brutal Fighting

The immense trees in the jungle were leafless and seemingly made of metal, blanketing what was otherwise a completely barren landscape. What was worse, the trees were dripping with viscous blood, making them seem like they were made from red jade. And the intense heat weighing down only intensified the aroma of gore.

Metal and blood.

Metal trees, dripping with blood.

This was the location in which the Bloodgore Trials were held.

Yang Qi looked around and wondered if the blood here had been left behind after the Bloodgore Trials of years past. How many Quasi-Gods had died during the trials throughout the years?

The god world was huge, so what did a few billions of trial-takers count for? A group such as that was like one hair from a collection of nine googol oxen. That was why there was never any shortage of people willing to join the trials.

A horrifying atmosphere filled this area of bloody trees, to the point where no one dared to start fighting at first. Everyone knew that whoever took the initiative would be ganged up on by others; therefore, no one wanted to be the first in line.

Furthermore, the jungle was more than large enough to accommodate ten thousand people.

Some of the people began fanning out into the trees, in order to hide and prepare to launch sneak attacks. No one was forming groups. After all, even if the best of friends entered the Bloodgore Trials together, only one would come out alive in the end. Therefore, no one wanted to have their back to anyone, be they friend, sibling, or parent.

Only one person would survive.

It wasn't a good feeling, even for Yang Qi. But he needed to get into the House of God Ordainment, so he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who tried to kill him.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

As the trial-takers disappeared into the trees, one of them attracted Yang Qi's attention, a burly looking man who seemed to sense his gaze, and glanced back. The man's face fell and he scurried into the forked branches of the nearest tree, giving him an excellent defensive position.

The man was a mass of muscle that looked ready to explode with unending power, yet he was as limber as a monkey as he slipped among the branches.

The trees were huge, with their branches easily filling a sixty-square-meter area. And the branches were so sharp that few people would be willing to hide within them.

But this burly man was using the area as a defensive position.

"Hey," the man said. "Who are you, kid? Interested in joining forces?"

"Join forces?" Yang Qi said. Inside, he was chuckling coldly. There was no way this man really wanted to team up. What would be the point, considering that only one person would survive the trial? Teaming up would be nothing but courting an early death. Asking a tiger for its skin. "How exactly do you envision that working?"

"We agree to a temporary truce between the two of us, and work to defend each other. Then, when everyone else is dead, we duel it out between the two of us. It's the safest way to make sure we last to the end."

"Sorry, not interested," Yang Qi said coolly. "Truces in the Bloodgore Trials are complete hogwash. Did you really think I would trust you like that?"

The burly man shrugged. "Well then, I guess you'll have to die. But you could have a fifty percent chance of surviving, considering all of the untold hardships I suffered to get some behind-the-scenes information. You see, I spent ten years cultivating the Iron-Blood Grand Divine Ability, which gives me profound enlightenment regarding these trees. If you work with me, we can hide in the branches and use them to attack unsuspecting opponents."

The more Yang Qi heard from this man, the less he trusted him. "Well, congratulations. Maybe you really will pass the trial and become an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment."

"You moron!" the man growled, furious that Yang Qi wasn't falling for any of his tricks.

WHOOSH!

All of a sudden, a sword pierced through the air right toward Yang Qi, except no one had been standing there a moment before!

"An invisibility talisman?" Yang Qi said. Chuckling, he reached out and clamped his index and middle finger onto the sword, which shivered for a moment before snapping. Then a young woman appeared, who scrambled backward in shock and fear at the realization that Yang Qi was obviously far stronger than her.

"Leave. I'm not interested in killing women." Flicking his finger, he summoned a translucent bubble of defensive empyrean energy around himself, then waved his sleeve to send the woman flying in the opposite direction.

After snorting coldly, she exhaled, sending out a stream of green energy that surrounded her and caused her to turn invisible. Of course, it did nothing to conceal the footprints she left in the ground.

Yang Qi's Lord's Eye had revealed her to him despite the profundities of her ability.

As she crept away, invisible, the ground beneath her feet suddenly shone with silver light, causing blood to spray out of her as she toppled over.

A pit appeared, within which was a shadowy figure that grabbed the woman and sent fire out to envelop her. She screamed, but it didn't do any good, and she was quickly assimilated, leaving nothing behind except her clothing.

'What a powerful devil technique,' Yang Qi thought, watching in pity but doing nothing to save her.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam!

All of a sudden, a host of swords, sabers, spears, and lances appeared, stabbing into his defensive empyrean energy. Of course, his defenses were the product of the Purrfect God Art and couldn't be vanquished by a random ambush.

Crick! Crack!

As the weapons shattered, eight figures appeared, all of whom had been using invisibility talismans. Such talismans were extremely expensive in the god world, but the people participating in the Bloodgore Trials didn't hesitate to use them. Remaining invisible was one of the primary ways people tried to stay alive. As for Yang Qi, he was instead surrounding himself with a defensive barrier that would waste a lot of godpower. What person that came along wouldn't try to kill him?

After all, anyone who killed him could then absorb his godpower.

Many of the trial-takers would use such tactics, trying to kill their competitors and absorb their godpower before unleashing their truly dangerous techniques.

"How can this guy be so strong?" said one of the members of the group. There were men and women, a few of them being older, but all of them were shocked that he had stood up to their attack. One of the old men suddenly exhaled, causing a thunderclap to echo out. The others in the group were caught completely unprepared. Some were dismembered by the sudden attack, and others were blasted out of existence.

"That was the Cosmic Righteous-Noble Lightning Blaster!" cried one of the men who had been dismembered. "Where did you get it? It's a precious treasure from the Confucian Academy! It releases immense power that can slaughter demons and devils in the blink of an eye."

"You really know what's what," the old man said. "But did you really think I'm going to tell you about where I got this treasure?" He inhaled, then released more lightning energy, using it to create a white ball of lightning in front of his chest. Then he produced a jade bottle and crushed it, releasing a red mist that shot out and killed all of the survivors of his original attack, transforming them into blood that he then sucked back into the bottle.

"Blood Conglomeration Mist: Blood-Devil Refinement! Boundless Clone Creation!" Seven streams of blood energy swirled out, then formed into a huge blood-devil with razor-sharp claws. Clearly, it was an out-of-body incarnation, and that bottle was a precious treasure among blood-devils.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was shaking his head. This group had not only failed to kill him with a sneak attack, but they had also left themselves open for this old man to kill them all.

After finishing with his grisly work, the old man looked over at Yang Qi and was visibly surprised. "Y-y-you... you didn't die from my lightning attack?"

"Your lightning is powerful, but it can't do anything to me. That was pretty ruthless to kill those other seven people and use them to create a blood-devil incarnation. Very impressive."

The man grinned cruelly. "Since you realize how impressive I am, you might as well just get on your knees and prepare to die! My Blood Conglomeration Mist, coupled with my Blood-Hell God-Bottle, are enough to kill anyone who stands in my way, and then take their quintessence energy to get stronger. Do you really think you can stand up to the combined energy of the seven people I just killed? My blood-devil incarnation will only function for about two hours, but that's more than enough time to use the combined power of those seven to kill all the other trial-takers!"

1. I used the number "googol" here because in Chinese it combines the characters for ten thousand, one hundred million, and trillion, to create a number that I'm not even sure how to parse. The point is that it's insanely large. And incidentally, this is a play on the common phrase one hair from nine oxen.

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Chapter 1174: All Kinds of Characters

As the words left his mouth, he walked toward Yang Qi, the immense blood-devil right behind him. Clearly, he wasn't worried about anyone launching a sneak attack. He had a blood-devil formed from the life force power of seven enemies, people who had survived for hundreds of years in the god world. And the fact that the thing would only last for two hours only went to show how much of that life force was being burned to sustain it, thus, the incredible levels of power it was capable of.

Obviously, he really believed that two hours would be plenty of time to find more victims to kill and keep the blood-devil powered.

The man could see how strong Yang Qi was. He had just defended against something that had killed seven others, so adding him to the blood-devil would obviously lead to incredible results.

"Die!" the man shouted, his eyes flickering with blood-colored light as he sent the blood-devil rushing toward Yang Qi. The blood-devil sent a massive stream of energy slamming into Yang Qi's defensive empyrean energy, yet the sphere surrounding him didn't even show so much as a crack.

"What? Blood-devil, add more power!"

The blood-devil attacked with greater speed, yet it seemed like an ant trying to shake a big tree.

"Lightning!" He yet again summoned the ball of white lightning, which exploded, sending crackling lightning bolts in all directions. There were a few people in the vicinity who had been hiding and waiting to launch surprise attacks, but they were instantly killed.

Unfortunately, the old man was again disappointed when his lightning didn't do a single thing to Yang Qi.

"Impossible!" he said, backing up and preparing to call back his blood-devil.

However, that was when Yang Qi made his move. He reached out, and the blood-devil shrieked miserably as it was wiped out of existence. Then Yang Qi held his palm out as all of the white lightning in the area converged atop it.

"You can leave," Yang Qi said. "But I'm keeping your lightning and your blood-devil, that way you can't carry out any more evil deeds."

With that, he waved his hand, causing a wind to spring up that sent the old man tumbling off into the distance. There, he fell on the ground, a vicious expression on his face as he considered heading back to recover his lost items. Before he could, a blast of dazzling light erupted from the ground and he screamed as he died.

It was the same person who had just killed the woman from earlier, who attacked from underground, and apparently had a technique to make quick getaways.

"You're good at sneak attacks aren't you?" Yang Qi said, clasping his hands behind his back. "And you like attacking from underground. So why haven't you attacked me yet?"

Thump! Dirt exploded up as a figure shot out of the ground and landed a short distance away from Yang Qi. It was a young man dressed in yellow garments, with a mischievous smile on his face. "I, Tu Longzhen, might not be good at much, but I have a lot of ways to stay alive. And killing a person here or there is par for the course. How could I have guessed that an expert like you would show up in the Bloodgore Trials? People attack you, and you let them go free. It's almost like you want to become some benevolent buddhist expert. Or could it be that you really are from one of the buddhist schools, and not allowed to kill people?"

As he spoke, Tu Longzhen swayed back and forth, making him seem very unstable.

SNICK!

All of a sudden, a few dozen meters behind Tu Longzhen, a host of spikes shot up out of the ground.

Then a scream rang out, and blood flowed as someone was killed who had just been trying to sneak up and stab him in the back.

"I'll be keeping this bottle," Tu Longzhen said, holding up the bottle he had just taken from the old man he'd killed. Apparently, he was planning to use it to make his own blood-devil.

Yang Qi simply stood there quietly, neither interfering, nor doing anything to kill anyone else.

After Tu Longzhen used the bottle to assimilate the person he had just killed, he looked over and said, "You're a real weirdo. Are you really not planning to kill anyone? Don't tell me you're trying to conserve godpower and wait until everyone else has killed each other before making your move."

"Whether or not I kill anyone is my business," Yang Qi said with a smile. "I didn't feel like doing any killing a moment ago, but I will soon enough."

"Are you saying you're going to try to kill me?"

The two of them were talking to each other more as if they were friends than enemies.

"It'll depend on my mood." Yang Qi could see that this Tu Longzhen was vicious and merciless, and definitely wouldn't let anyone off the hook. And he was obviously looking for weaknesses he could take advantage of.

"In that case, I suppose I'll make my move." Apparently, he had identified the weakness he was looking for and was taking action. The ground beneath Yang Qi's feet collapsed, forming an enormous crater.

However, instead of falling inside, Yang Qi just hovered in place, surrounded by a bubble that had appeared out of nowhere.

"What? My sneak attack failed?" Tu Longzhen's smile returned, more mischievous than ever. "Ferocious. Very formidable. Well, I'll take my leave. I'll kill a few others, then come back for you. After all, you're not killing anyone, and there is virtue in sparing animal life." With that, he burst into laughter and turned to leave.

However, that was when a plopping sound could be heard as he saw his body fall over onto the ground.

And that was when he realized that his head wasn't attached to his body! His head was now in Yang Qi's hands!

"I thought... you didn't kill people!?"

"When did I say that? I told you, 'whether or not I kill anyone is my business'. And when I feel like killing someone, that's what I do." He shook his head. "Considering you were planning to come back and attack me later, the only fate you deserve is death."

RUMBLE!

Tu Longzhen's head exploded into fire, and his corpse flew over to Yang Qi, crumbling into ash along the way.

Afterward, Yang Qi began strolling through the trees, watching the slaughter around him. Almost immediately, he noticed that as people died, their destiny was being absorbed into the ground. It reminded him of his time in the thirty-third ranked Tusita Heaven, and its Live Forever God Tree with the god dao seeds. The dynasty there would invite geniuses from all over the immortal worlds to participate in a trial, in which they almost all participants died and their destiny was absorbed.

Apparently, the Bloodgore Trials were similar. The only difference from the Tusita Dynasty's trials was that everyone knew ahead of time that only one person would survive the Bloodgore Trials, and that people who feared death shouldn't participate. Furthermore, becoming an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment really was a worthy prize. In fact, it was so enticing that countless people were willing to throw their lives away for the mere chance of winning it.

'I can't believe this brat is so strong. Is he really just going for a walk?' The burly man in the trees was completely astonished. Drawing on his special energy arts, he was fused with the tree, causing the branches to shrink around him, and even causing his own skin to turn the same color as the tree. At this point, it would be almost impossible to detect his presence.

At a certain point, an expert wandered over and sat down beneath the trees. He was covered with wounds, and as he leaned up against the trunk, he pulled out some medicinal pills to heal himself. But before he could, his eyes went wide as numerous branches shot out, wrapped him up, and dragged him into a hollow in the tree.

A short while later, the burly man was slicing the man to pieces.

Meanwhile, the gods on the outside were observing what was happening on the labyrinthine battlefield.

"What low quality Quasi-Gods this time," one of them said. "Their destiny isn't impressive at all. The fighting is fierce, though. It's always a guess how much destiny our House of God Ordainment will get during the Bloodgore Trials."

"Ah, this is nothing," another god said. "Remember, we all started out just like those people down there, one person among ten thousand. We rose up through the blood and gore, and in the end, it was a big help. I wonder if there's an Ascendant out there. It would be great to have someone like that in the mix."

"An Ascendant? In your dreams, maybe. People are saying that the Ancient Road to the Gods has disappeared from the lower worlds, although no one knows exactly why. In any case, that just means there won't be any Ascendants anymore. Of course, we'll also be incapable of using the Ancient Road to the Gods to go down into the impure lands. What a pity. I heard there was a lot of treasure to be had there. But I guess it's sealed off to us now. A truly different world."

"That's too bad. If the Ancient Road to the Gods is gone, then heaven and men are forever separated. It's a pity we can't go down there, but it's even worse that people from the impure lands can't ascend and become gods."

"Perhaps. Ascending is extremely difficult, but it's much better to be a nobody in the god world than some tyrant in the impure lands." A thoughtful expression overtook his face. "Although, Ascendants are truly formidable. We have a few in the House of God Ordainment, and they always advance by leaps and bounds. In fact, they're always quick to surpass people like us. To them, the Bloodgore Trials would be like children's games."

"They're real people. They advance step by step, slaughtering their way to the heights of power. They're truly invincible geniuses. Unfortunately, I don't see anyone in the trial slaughtering everyone else with ease. A true Ascendant would probably kill everyone else within an hour."

Of course, Yang Qi and his people were all Ascendants. However, they didn't want to make too big of a splash by killing everyone too quickly. In fact, the truth was that they wouldn't need an hour. Each and every one of them could slaughter the other trial-takers in their groups in the time it took to drink half a cup of tea.

The real reason that Yang Qi had been acting so benevolent, and holding back from killing people, was that he didn't want to draw too much attention.

1. Tu Longzhen: Tu is a surname which also means "earth, soil". Long means "dragon" and Zhen means "true". Although it might seem at first to be contrived, this is actually a very plausible Chinese name, so I'm treating it as such. Of course, his yellow clothing is a reference to "earth/soil" and he attacks from under the ground, so the name matches him perfectly.

2. The arc with the Live Forever God Tree started in .

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Chapter 1175: Encountering an Exper

Yang Qi strolled through the forest, holding back from unleashing any major slaughter. Occasionally people would attack him from the shadows, and he would kill them. But other than that, he wasn't doing much. Instead, he was employing the tactic of not showing the mountain and not revealing the water.

After all, he knew that the gods above were keeping a close eye on the competition.

All of a sudden, wild laughter met his ear. "You scum! How dare you try to fight me! I'm going to slaughter every last one of you. Being in the Bloodgore Trials with trash like you is no challenge at all. Can't some real experts show their faces?"

Whack. Whack. Whack!

Off in the distance, Yang Qi saw a group of a dozen or so people surrounding a young man. In fact, 'young man' almost didn't seem like the right description. He was so small that he looked more like a little boy.

Despite having the stature of a child, he wore adult clothing that dragged on the ground behind him when he walked. It was splattered with blood, although he didn't seem to care.

His voice didn't match his appearance at all. Instead of sounding like a child, he sounded more like an old man; perhaps he was someone who had reverted to a youthful appearance after consuming some sort of spirit medicine.

The boy unleashed a consummate palm technique that caused buddhist light to shine brightly as a flurry of golden hands appeared, which shot out in all directions.

As they flew out, they emitted an intense sound that weighed down heavily on everything, filled with godpower that seemed to be just shy of the legion of gods.

All the people surrounding the boy were sent flying.

"Buddhas Pierce the Cosmos! Buddhas Shake Mountains and Rivers! Buddhas Destroy Heaven and Earth! Buddhas Command Chiliocosms! Buddhas Rage at the Universe! Buddhas Destroy the World of Men!" He unleashed a host of explosive palm strikes, and not a single one contained the mercy and kindness one might expect of the buddhist schools. Instead, they were like the wrath of a furious buddha out to punish the wicked and exterminate evil.

Every person that was hit by one of those palms was first ripped to shreds, then collapsed into ashes. It took only a single volley to slaughter over a dozen people, a feat so impressive that, afterward, no one would possibly dare to launch another sneak attack.

After the dust settled, the boy happened to notice Yang Qi strolling along. A malicious expression appeared on his face, and his fingers curled into claws. "What are you doing walking along so casually, boy? Don't you know that this isn't a place for children's games? This is a battlefield of slaughter! Get over here!"

"Children's games?" Yang Qi said. He chuckled. "You're right, this isn't a place for children's games. In that case, why don't you head home to suck on your mother's teat?"

The boy's face turned bright red and he howled in rage. "How dare you! Do you know who you're talking to? I'm the Child of the Buddhist Lamp! I used to practice cultivation in a buddhist school, but in the end, I just slaughtered all of those damned monks. Then I left the sect to do some more killing. Nobody is a match for me, yet you dare to talk to me like that? You have no idea how much older than you I am! Although, it looks like your cultivation is respectable. In that case, if you get on your knees and beg for mercy, I'll spare your life."

"You really are a child, aren't you?" Yang Qi said. "In the Bloodgore Trials, only one person will walk out alive. So why exactly would you waste your breath talking about sparing me?"

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp suddenly went green with fury. However, a moment later, he let out a stream of maniacal laughter. "You have a very sharp tongue, boy. I think I'll cut your head off and remove your tongue! Then we'll see what witty things you try to say. Buddhas Furious at Hell!"

He thrust his palm out, and fire raged into the shape of an enormous hand, which pierced through the air right toward Yang Qi, instantly surrounding him.

"Nice energy art," Yang Qi said. Then he casually thrust his own hand out, sending out three waves of energy that instantly shattered the fiery hand.

The boy lunged forward with an enraged roar, unleashing more consummate buddhist palm techniques, each of them filled with the wrath of buddhas.

"Buddhas' Rampaging Godfist!"

This time it was a fist strike, but Yang Qi easily met it. Then the boy unleashed a series of deadly kicks, filled with such shocking killing intent that Yang Qi had to float backward to avoid it. As a result, the boy's feet slammed into one of the iron trees, uprooting it and sending it flying off to the side. This level of power clearly was beyond that of a Quasi-God.

That said, Yang Qi was still able to negate the power of the attacks.

However, the boy only continued to attack with increasing speed and ferocity. "Psychotic-Devil Lokapāla Constraint!"

A host of projections appeared, wildly spinning around to create an invincible preheaven spell formation. It was like the energy art of a boundless lokapāla from a buddhist school, designed to restrain devils, and it quickly circled around to trap Yang Qi.

Yang Qi waved his finger, as casually as if he were writing words in the middle of the air, and as a result, the Psychotic-Devil Lokapāla Constraint started falling apart.

That said, this boy was the strongest opponent Yang Qi had faced so far, and was very close to becoming a god. And he wasn't done fighting. Without pausing, he took a deep breath, causing a dharma idol of a lokapāla to appear behind him.

"Grand Lokapāla God-King!"

RUMBLE!

This was the energy art of a god-king. After all, the Grand Lokapāla God-King was a majestic protector of the buddhist schools who specialized in slaughtering wretch-devils.

This additional technique strengthened the Psychotic-Devil Lokapāla Constraint, boosting it by several times over.

Seeing this, Yang Qi reached out, sending energy arts and daoist techniques streaming out of all five of his fingers. It was as though a sage had descended into the world of men, bursting with indescribable strength.

SNICK!

He grabbed the lokapāla god-king, then crushed it into a śarīra that was actually a high-quality piece of godhood.

"Damnation! You destroyed my Grand Lokapāla God-King!" At this point, the boy realized that Yang Qi was truly a formidable enemy. "Who would've thought that an expert of this level would be in the Bloodgore Trials? That's fine. I'll just have to unleash my full power. Soon you'll realize exactly how domineering I can be!"

Even as the words left his mouth, he unraveled a sealing mark within him.

"God from Heaven; Godhood Convergence; Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp! Join the Legion of Gods! Lesser Godhood, Form!" Wild streams of energy surrounded the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, as well as numerous bolts of dragon-like lightning. Everything in the area was shaking so violently that, unexpectedly, even Yang Qi's defensive empyrean energy began trembling.

The meteorological phenomena on display were so intense that other experts in the trial noticed what was happening.

Numerous experts in the forest now had expressions of despair on their faces.

'Why did we get so unlucky? I can't believe someone is reaching godly ascension! They held their power in check, joined the Bloodgore Trials, and intentionally waited to become a god here!' That was what many people were thinking.

Although the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was only aiming to become a Lesser God, it was still godly ascension. Already, he was surrounded by god tribulation, which despite being dangerous, was actually a safety measure, as no one dared to get too close to him.

A lamp suddenly appeared above his head, burning with intense fire as it absorbed the power of the god tribulation. Generally speaking, the tribulation of godly ascension involved numerous different tribulations that were incredibly difficult to pass. However, this Child of the Buddhist Lamp had somehow found a buddhist lamp that could deal with tribulations like that.

As such, he wasn't in a weak position at all. In fact, he was getting stronger by the moment, and his godpower was surging, causing his eyes to flicker with immense fighting prowess.

Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.

His eyes were like vortexes of lightning, emitting electric light to slam into Yang Qi's defensive empyrean energy.

The gods on the cliffs noticed what was happening. "Very impressive. This is the first person to reach godly ascension in these Bloodgore Trials. Even in past trials, godly ascension is a rarity."

"Rarity yes, impossibility no. He's known as the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, a former genius from a buddhist school. However, after stealing and secretly mastering a consummate art known as the Ageless Longevity Divine Art, he returned to the state of being a child. They tried imprisoning him and crippling his energy arts, but he escaped, and even managed to steal the Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp from his school, which can be used to absorb tribulations. Although it can only use buddhist mental dharmas to operate, he obviously knows them. It was a given all along that he would become a god. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if he ends up being the one to walk out of the valley of iron trees alive."

RUMBLE!

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp burst out laughing. "I didn't want to reach godly ascension so early, but you forced my hand. And because of that, there's no way I'll let you off the hook. You have a death wish, right? In that case, I'll just kill you."

Meanwhile, others in the forest were coming to realize what was happening.

"Someone is reaching godly ascension?!"

"We can't let him succeed. If he becomes a god, we're all dead for sure. Let's kill him!"

"Heaven-Slaughtering God Fist!"

"Grand Dragon's Hand of Capturing!"

"Fist of the God-Tiger's Roar!"

Numerous experts were now converging on the location, and joining forces to wipe out the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

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Chapter 1176: Not Even Godly Ascension will Help

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp was in the middle of god tribulation, which should have meant that he was weak and vulnerable. Instead, he had the Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp, which allowed him to simply absorb the power of the tribulation. With every moment that passed, he got stronger, thanks to that freakish treasure. Meanwhile, god lightning crashed around him, and destructive vital energy swirled.

Off to the side, Yang Qi was just watching, hoping to learn a thing or two.

He wasn't worried at all about the results. Even if this Child of the Buddhist Lamp passed the tribulation, Yang Qi knew he could still kill him. In contrast, there were many other experts present who were by no means just going to let him pass the tribulation.

Numerous attacks were being unleashed, some targeting only the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, but others that included Yang Qi as well. Godpower and brilliant light flared as dirt exploded everywhere. After all, what else would happen when thousands of attacks hit the same target?

Yang Qi didn't care. He simply flitted about, avoiding the attacks and even absorbing the power of some of them. He moved so quickly that some people even assumed their attacks had destroyed him. At a certain point he headed to a more distant location where he used a godly-class energy art to make himself invisible so he could watch the fighting.

Wild streams of godpower shot back and forth as everyone went all out to kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. Everyone was clearly enraged at the idea of him reaching godly ascension.

No one was willing to let him live, and the combination of thousands of people all fighting desperately led to a completely chaotic scene. At a certain point, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was hit so hard that he staggered backward and coughed up a mouthful of blood.

"You ants! How dare you attack me! I'm going to become a god and slaughter all of you!" His Golden Apex Buddhist Lamp continued sending out preheaven buddhist light which eventually converged into the shape of a fiery dragon.

Howling, the dragon swept forth, incinerating a dozen nearby experts and transforming them into ash. Then the Child of the Buddhist Lamp leaped up and mounted the fire dragon! No one could touch him!

Godhood was solidifying within him, and every person he killed was aiding the process. He was definitely going to reach godly ascension!

Techniques that devoured the vital energy and godpower of other people were considered to be from the dao of devils. That said, they were still very popular in the god world. In fact, just about everyone knew a technique like that, and although they often came with dangerous side-effects, they could be incredibly useful if they were used at the right time. The truth was that it wasn't unheard of to use godly ascension as a tactic in the Bloodgore Trials. After all, the process required a huge amount of power, and what better place could there be to get that power than a battlefield where everyone was expected to kill each other.

"Myriad Buddhas Face the Sect! Myriad Buddhas Destroy the World! Myriad Buddhas Nirvanic Rebirth! Myriad Buddhas in Secret Dhyāna! Myriad Buddhas Infuriated! Myriad Buddhas Create the World! Myriad Buddhas Imprison Gods! Myriad Buddhas Ultimate Glory!" He unleashed a host of buddhist fist techniques, revealing how insanely powerful he was. He was really an old-timer from a major buddhist school, who was several hundred years old. In the god world, that was a lot. In fact, it was because he was running out of longevity that he had stolen the Ageless Longevity Divine Art, bolstering his longevity and returning him to the state of being a child.

He had acquired power that surpassed ordinary Quasi-Gods, so now that he was reaching godly ascension, it could only be imagined how incredible he would be. He would surely be able to crush immense armies single-handedly.

Blood was flowing in rivers as dozens of experts died at his hands.

"Heavenly Buddha Astral Projection!

"Longevity and Agelessness!"

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp erupted with energy flows that bubbled like boiling water, rising to fuse with the sky. It was almost as if his energy were somehow connecting to the god world itself as the godhood within him finally became complete.

He had succeeded in becoming a god.

He had a godhood rating of one.

As the godpower erupted from him, he burst out laughing. "I'll kill all of you! I've reached godly ascension! I'll wipe you out to strengthen my godhood!"

The fire dragon instantly became ten times as large, and in the blink of an eye, over a hundred people were reduced to ashes!

'At this rate, he's definitely going to kill everyone else,' Yang Qi thought. 'And although I could kill him, doing so right now would reveal too much. I'd still rather someone else start fighting him, giving me a chance to swoop in at the last minute and take both of them out.' He knew that the gods on the cliffs were watching, and that if he showed off too much by simply slaughtering the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, it would attract attention and even investigation.

"Get down here! Did you really think you could get the edge on me with that iron and blood ability?"

Flying up, Yang Qi grabbed the burly man who was still hidden in the tree, grabbing him as firmly as if he were a child.

A look of terror filled the man's face. "Y-you... you're a god too?! How did you break through my divine ability? I couldn't even fight back!"

Yang Qi snorted coldly. "What, still trying to convince me you want to work together?" It wasn't lost on him that this man had remained hidden in the shadows, picking off numerous competitors. It was obvious that he wasn't some kind of soft-hearted individual, and was just waiting until more people killed each other off before trying to take advantage of the situation.

"W-what... what do you want?" the burly man said, shivering.

"I want you to go kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp!" With that, he touched the man's head with his palm, sending a burst of energy arts into him. Of course, everyone else was so focused on the Child of the Buddhist Lamp that they weren't paying any attention at all to Yang Qi and the burly man.

The energy Yang Qi had just sent into the burly man contained profundities of the Purrfect God Art, which encased him in a bubble and sent him flying through the air surrounded by a whistling scream. And before anyone knew what was happening, he had slammed into the defensive empyrean energy of the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

RIP!

The fire dragon exploded, filling the area with a rain of fire as the burly man laid hands directly on the Child of the Buddhist Lamp in a double-handed strike.

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp let out a shriek, accompanied by a mouthful of blood. How could he ever have guessed that someone would hit him with a blow like this?

"Dammit! How could you be so strong?!" The Child of the Buddhist Lamp looked like a cornered animal as he glared at the burly man. Reaching out, he grabbed him in claw-like hands and ripped him apart! In the moment before death, though, the burly man howled and self-detonated, soaking the Child of the Buddhist Lamp in blood.

'Perfect!' Yang Qi thought, smiling broadly. He had successfully used the burly man to strike a blow against the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, all without revealing his own power.

Having sustained a serious injury, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was overwhelmed with rage. "I can't believe someone hurt me this badly. Everyone here must pay the price for his actions!"

Coughing up blood like mad, he unleashed further slaughter, killing hundreds of people in the blink of an eye. They might as well have been straw men compared to his godly might, and they fell instantly.

Compared to someone who had reached godly ascension, those who hadn't reached that level almost weren't worth mentioning.

"RUN!" people began screaming. They had hoped that ganging up would keep them temporarily safe, and weren't interested in just throwing their lives away.

It was a very lopsided fight now, with the Child of the Buddhist Lamp mowing people down left and right. Roughly an hour passed in which he slaughtered everyone he could find around him. Eventually, there were only a few hundred people left in the trial.

Despite how resilient they were, even their arts of invisibility could be seen through by the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

This was the moment Yang Qi had been waiting for.

Reaching out, he grabbed an expert hidden nearby, a youngster who was an expert in the dao of the sword, who reeked of blood, making it impossible to tell how many people he had killed. Before the young man knew what was happening, Yang Qi had sent some quintessence energy into him, then vanished.

The sword-wielding young man didn't even notice Yang Qi. However he did notice that something odd had just happened. To his surprise, he felt power flowing through him, which then erupted into the open and attracted the attention of the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

"Vicious Tactics in Buddha's Heart!"

The youngster lashed out with his sword, only to suddenly realize that his godpower wasn't under his own control as a deadly stream of sword energy slashed out toward the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp was injured so badly that he couldn't even speak.

However, the young man with the sword had just unleashed so much godpower that he almost fell to his knees.

"How dare you hurt me, boy!" The Child of the Buddhist Lamp lunged forward, launching a palm strike that crushed the young man into a smear of gore on the ground. He then went on to unleash more attacks on other people he could find. Meanwhile, Yang Qi was secretly sending his energy arts through the ground to the various people who were either chasing, or hiding from the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

As a result, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was receiving more and more grievous injuries.

Another hour passed and there were only a few dozen people left alive. They were all gathered in a far corner of the valley, hiding from the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. Exchanging glances, they finally shouted, "Let's go for broke!"

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Chapter 1177: Killing a God

The dozens of surviving experts were about to put everything on the line in the fight against the Child of the Buddhist Lamp! Yang Qi could hide, but the others couldn't. He had used his energy arts to manipulate all of the survivors into gathering in the same location. Now, they were like caged animals, and they definitely wouldn't hold anything back as they fought for their lives.

RUMBLE!

"Buddha King Unbounded!" howled the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. "Heaven and Earth Sink to Oblivion!"

A massive divine ability was unleashed, slamming into the remaining experts. A moment later, a huge mushroom cloud rose up into the sky.

Other massive divine abilities were also on display, causing tempests of vital energy to sweep about everywhere, uprooting the iron trees and sending both dirt and blood flying high into the sky.

As it fell back down, a blood-colored mist filled the area, mixed with dust.

All of the gods were completely focused on the shockwaves rippling out.

Everyone who had been struck by the Child of the Buddhist Lamp were either ripped to shreds or flattened into streaks of gore.

Meanwhile, the Child of the Buddhist Lamp was also so badly injured that he flopped onto the ground, his skin torn and bleeding. A disbelieving expression on his face, he murmured, "How did they get so strong all of a sudden? I can't believe they hurt me. It doesn't make sense. Although... I guess I killed them all in the end. I formed my godhood, only to be badly injured, which is going to cause some problems for my cultivation base. But as long as I get into the House of God Ordainment, it'll all be worth it. I'll be invincible! Maybe I'm weak right now, so much so that an ordinary person who doesn't know any martial arts would be able to kill me right here and now. But it doesn't matter! Everyone else is dead!"

He suddenly burst out laughing.

However, a moment later, his eyes went wide. "Wait. No! Once you kill everyone else in the Bloodgore Trials, you're supposed to be automatically teleported out to rest up and meet the gods. Why am I still here?"

"Because, so am I," Yang Qi said, walking out into the open. "Did I just hear you mention that an ordinary person who doesn't know any martial arts would be able to kill you? Well, my energy arts are average at best, but I guess they'll be enough to take you out."

"You... y-y-y-you..." stammered the Child of the Buddhist Lamp. "How could this be happening? How come my magical eye wasn't able to spot you? I definitely killed everybody!"

"I just have a good invisibility technique, that's all," Yang Qi replied. "Alright. You've killed enough people for today. The time has come to send you to hell."

SHUNK!

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp's head flew into the air, and the godhood he had just formed shattered.

Just like that, Yang Qi casually killed a newly ascended god. It was a tragic thing, even for the numerous observing gods from the House of God Ordainment.

Whoosh!

The moment Yang Qi killed the Child of the Buddhist Lamp, streams of vital energy converged on him, and his identity medallion flickered with radiant light. Apparently, the medallion was drawing in the vital energy of all the other dead competitors and turning it into a power that pulled him to meet with the gods above.

"You did it, boy," one of the gods said. "The Child of the Buddhist Lamp reached godly ascension, but you killed him. And it doesn't seem you took unfair advantage of the situation. How exactly was your invisibility talisman able to keep you hidden?"

There were a few dozen Lesser Gods there, all of them eying Yang Qi. They looked surprised, and were clearly wondering how Yang Qi managed to kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp.

It seemed clear that he had just taken advantage of the moment to kill the Child of the Buddhist Lamp after he was badly injured. Although it was a strange way for the trial to end, what could they say? It was no strange thing for Quasi-Gods to have trump cards and other secrets.

The Child of the Buddhist Lamp was dead, and Yang Qi was the sole survivor, which meant he was now an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment.

"Patriarch gods, the truth is that I have an ancient invisibility talisman that works for only two hours. After it runs out of power, it ceases to exist. It took me years of saving up godnotes to be able to afford to buy it, but in the end, it was worth it. Who could've guessed that it would serve me as it did today?" Yang Qi was just making up a random story that obviously couldn't be verified.

"You definitely got lucky," another god said. "But luck is another type of power. By the way, you don't need to call us patriarch gods now. According to the rules, you're now an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment. Therefore, you may address us as Elder Brothers. That said, your cultivation base is a bit low right now. Your first task as a disciple is going to be godly ascension." Raising his voice, he said, "Give him his uniform and identity medallion. And take a blood sample for registry purposes. Henceforth, he's an official disciple!"

"Yes sir!"

A handful of novice disciples hurried forward respectfully to follow through on the orders. Although these disciples were involved with some of the inner workings of the organization, they couldn't compare to the official disciples.

Considering the extreme death rate in the Bloodgore Trials, it was little wonder that some people didn't have the guts to join.

Usually, the only disciples who would dare to do so would be the ones running out of longevity. Unfortunately for people like that, it required incredible willpower to survive the Bloodgore Trials. And people who held back out of fear generally weren't the type who could form godhood anyway. As for those who reached godly ascension without participating in something like the Bloodgore Trials, it was usually because they had gone through similar experiences, or had perhaps encountered some incredible good fortune.

After donning his new attire, Yang Qi looked like a transcendent being, and at the same time, very dangerous. Of course, his God Legion Battle Robe was far more impressive, but he couldn't reveal it right now without drawing unwanted attention. Therefore, he stuck to more ordinary clothing.

"Well, our very lucky little Junior Brother, why don't we go to one of the altars in the House of God Ordainment and wait for the other disciples to finish with their trials? There are some rites and ceremonies to go through, plus you need to pay respects to the august patriarch. After you memorize all the rules and settle down, you'll be a true member of the House of God Ordainment."

Yang Qi had hoped to watch the performances of Jadefall and the others, but unfortunately he was already being whisked toward a teleportation portal.

The portal whirred to life and he was sent to a distant location, some sort of hall carved out of stone.

There were people seated in on the main floor, as well as a group of gods in positions of honor. One of them said, "All of you are elite cultivators who are now official disciples of the House of God Ordainment. This is our headquarters in the Primal-Chaos Continent! After everyone is gathered here, we'll explain the history and rules of our organization. Understand? Please wait silently and avoid any hubbub. We know that you're excited to be official disciples, but this one simple test is only the beginning of many more tests to come."

Hearing this, Yang Qi quietly settled down into a cross-legged position. Looking around, he saw several hundred people gathered, all of them in high spirits. Some had clearly just reached godly ascension and had unstable godhood, similar to how the Child of the Buddhist Lamp had been.

'I wonder if father and the others have passed their trials yet. They should be fine. Considering what they're capable of, they should all come out on top.'

As Yang Qi thought more about the matter, he heard another teleportation portal whir to life, and some more people entered the hall and sat down cross-legged.

Suddenly, the aura of a god weighed down on the room. Yang Qi looked over and saw that it was the young master from the Cloudsoaring Mansion, the one who had purchased the Consummate God Tree. He was obviously a god now.

'I wonder if this guy fought one of my people. If he did, does that mean one of them died?' The thought was shocking to Yang Qi. 'Probably not. It wouldn't have been easy for him to beat any of them. He would definitely have come out licking his wounds.'

"You passed already, Yang Qi?" someone said. He looked over and saw Jadefall, holding the snoring purrling in her arms. Anyone who looked at the thing would think it was nothing but an ordinary pet.

To date, Yang Qi hadn't noticed any growth in the purrling's cultivation base. In fact, he wondered if it even had a cultivation base.

Regardless, it was obviously capable of dealing with any opponent it ran across.

"Keep it down," Yang Qi said. "Come, sit down over here."

"Alright," she replied, sitting down and lowering her voice. "The Bloodgore Trials were interesting. There were some tough characters, but they all lacked fighting experience. None of them have experienced the ferocity of the impure lands."

"I know. Fighting ten thousand opponents is like nothing compared to when dramatic things happen in the impure lands. That said, we can't afford to let our guard down..." Even as the words left his mouth, a teleportation portal whirred and a group of people emerged, including the Shepherd, Doom, Brahma, and Patriarch Annalist.

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Chapter 1178: Official Disciples

'Hmm. Why isn't father out yet?' Yang Qi thought. In addition to the Shepherd and Doom, he also saw Eldest Brother and Elder Second Brother from the Invincible Society. All of them had slaughtered their way through ten thousand opponents and come out on top.

Truth be told, it wasn't really anything spectacular. After all, weren't these people the kind who had slaughtered their way through ten thousand times ten thousand experts in the mortal world?

But as people continued to teleport into the hall, and Yang Qi's father Yang Zhan wasn't among them, he started to worry. Yang Zhan was probably the weakest of the entire group, although Yang Qi had imparted immense battle experience into him, including information from the God Legion Seal.

'If someone killed him, I'll slaughter them in revenge,' Yang Qi thought angrily. 'Thankfully, I sealed some energy in father with the God Legion Seal. Later on, when my cultivation base is high enough and I can draw on the heavenly workings of the god world, I'll be able to resurrect him if he's dead.'

Yang Qi was always planning for the worst case scenario.

However, even as he formulated specific plans for how to get revenge, a nearby teleportation portal activated and Yang Zhan stepped out.

He wore a new uniform, but his face was pale, making it obvious that he had fought a very draining fight. In the end, though, he had come out on top of ten thousand other opponents.

Yang Qi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Father, come over," he said. "Let me heal you. What exactly happened in there?"

"Something unexpected," Yang Zhan replied with a wry grin. "Someone reached godly ascension and started slaughtering everyone. But in the end, I killed him. Don't worry, I'm not exactly easy to kill. Besides, I'm dead set on finding Greensura, and I won't rest until it happens. There's no way a god is going to stop me."

"You're injured down to your essence. But you did kill a god, which is a very shocking accomplishment." As Yang Qi spoke, he sent a gentle stream of energy into his father, causing him to shiver.

Yang Qi's true energy flowed through Yang Zhan, soothing his muscles and bones, and causing popping sounds to ring out as his wounds were stitched. It was obvious that he had fought a very dangerous battle, leaving his meridians badly damaged and his sea of energy in a complete mess. In fact, if he hadn't possessed some energy from the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, he would likely have died.

Most denizens of the god world would be dead if they had experienced the same thing. It was so bad that Yang Zhan's heart was shattered into pieces. His nascent divinity was only in one piece because of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Most likely, it was only because his opponent had underestimated him that Yang Zhan could come out on top.

After the healing process was over, Yang Zhan offered further details. "After reaching godly ascension, he started slaughtering everyone. So everyone teamed up against him. He hit me with a fist that shattered my heart, and assumed that the blow killed me. Little did he know that I had a bit of power left to unleash a move called No Heaven Beyond Heaven. That was how I killed him."

"No Heaven Beyond Heaven?" Yang Qi asked quietly. "What's that?"

"It's a technique I created specifically to kill Proud Heaven," Yang Zhan said proudly. "Even if he hides beyond heaven, I'll make sure that he ceases to exist. He won't be able to hide anywhere. The chiliocosm of worlds is immense, but it's not big enough to conceal him."

"Is that so?" Yang Qi said. Although there were others in the group who had more fighting experience than Yang Zhan, he was apparently following Yang Qi's footsteps and forming his own dao.

"None of us encountered anyone reaching godly ascension," said Sectlord Will Manifestation, who was flanked by Peaklords Celestial and Memory. They all sat down. "In all fairness, the Bloodgore Trials are probably very difficult for the natives, but in the end, they're simply too inexperienced. For people like us who have truly experienced dramatic fights in our lives, it wasn't much to worry about."

"Alright, we're all here," Yang Qi said. "We all got into the House of God Ordainment." He was very pleased with how things had turned out. Now that they were all in the House of God Ordainment, they were definitely going to benefit greatly.

After they had sat there for almost a full twenty-four hours, one of the gods raised his voice. "Very well, ladies and gentlemen. You're now members of the House of God Ordainment. The first thing you all need to do is accept our rules, which are very strictly enforced. We're not a disunited organization; anyone who causes problems will be arrested by the law enforcement team. That said, you have the right to demand an audience before the parliament of elders to argue your case. But as long as you follow the rules, nothing like that will happen."

Everyone in the hall joined voices and replied, "We understand!"

"What exactly do you understand!?" snapped another of the gods. "You haven't even heard all the rules yet!"

"Cut them some slack," another god said, waving his hand dismissively. "They just became members of the House of God Ordainment, so why not wait a bit before rebuking them?" Turning his attention to the crowd, he continued, "The House of God Ordainment was founded by a Paramount God named Patriarch God Ordainment. Even in the days when the Sovereign Lord controlled the god world, we were an independent entity. We didn't participate in the struggles of the court, and although we paid fealty to the Sovereign Lord, we didn't need to follow his every command. And we certainly weren't members of the halls of heaven.

"Now, you are all official disciples of the House of God Ordainment. If the organization is strong, you'll be strong. But if it weakens, you weaken. Understand? You can't survive outside of this organization. Henceforth, your destinies, and your lives, are connected to the House of God Ordainment. Perhaps you don't truly understand the gravity of my words now. But eventually, as your cultivation deepens, you will. In a word, those who join the House of God Ordainment must do everything for the sect. You live for it. You die for it. No one has ever betrayed the sect and escaped punishment. We hunt such people down... and kill them."

His words were met with silence.

"What's wrong with you people? Did you go mute or something?"

"Er, yes!"

"Yes sir!"

There wasn't a unified response, but the disciples did voice their acknowledgment.

"And now, the almighty figures of the House of God Ordainment will select disciples they favor to serve as apprentices. Those who are selected will rise rapidly through the ranks. Those who aren't selected need not feel resentment. You will be assigned important tasks on the outside, and as you further your cultivation, eventually reaching godly ascension, you will also rise through the ranks. First, would the disciples who reached godly ascension please step forward!"

As it turned out, the Bloodgore Trials were only the first part of the process.

There were roughly a dozen disciples who had become gods during the trials, and they were all holding their heads high. They knew they would almost certainly be looked on with favor. After all, only the disciples who could reach godly ascension would truly be accepted.

Bells tolled as immense energy flows filled the hall. At the same time, eight figures appeared, who were shocking even to Yang Qi. They were all Greater Gods!

The difference between Lesser Gods and Greater Gods was obviously greater than the difference between heaven and earth!

"Greetings, Elders," one of the Greater Gods said. Seeing that he wasn't seating himself, the disciples all scrambled to their feet out of respect.

"So these are the disciples who passed the trials here in the Primal-Chaos Continent," said a female Greater God. "We held trials on thousands of continents, which begs the question of what this set of disciples is like."

"Grand Elder," one of the Lesser Gods said, "some of the disciples reached godly ascension during their trial. Might they be pleasing to your eye?" Glancing back, he said, "You disciples listen up. This is a Greater God and grand elder of the House of God Ordainment, Goddess Idlecloud. As the supervisor of the Idlecloud Pavilion, she's very important."

"That's enough," said Goddess Idlecloud. "We're here to select apprentices, not the other way around. And considering that all of the disciples who reached godly ascension are men, I'll pass on selecting any. I'd rather see if there are any formidable women in the crowd."

She waved her hand, sending out a stream of light that filled the hall and made everyone feel like this female god was looking into their souls.

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Chapter 1179: Mysterious Mine

With the wave of a hand, Goddess Idlecloud sent godpower out to fill the room, and all of the female disciples immediately sensed her inspecting them. A moment later, it was to Jadefall's shock that she felt herself fly up into the air.

"Excellent aptitude! I'll take this girl. The rest, you can have."

With a beckoning gesture, Goddess Idlecloud pulled Jadefall to her side. "And with that, I'll take my leave."

One of the other Greater Gods chuckled. "Oh? You're only taking a single apprentice this time, Goddess Idlecloud?"

"That's right. Quality over quantity." Looking at Jadefall, she said, "Come, let's go. With my help, you'll reach godly ascension sooner rather than later. Afterward, you'll truly be able to reach new heights of glory."

Jadefall gave Yang Qi a meaningful look and he nodded in return. Obviously, Jadefall would achieve a rapid rise through the ranks under the tutelage of a Greater God. And Yang Qi could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that she wouldn't be unfairly bullied by anyone.

Taking hold of Jadefall, Goddess Idlecloud sent out a stream of godpower that wrapped the both of them up, whereupon they vanished via some spatial jumping technique. It was something that Greater Gods could do in the god world, but not Lesser Gods.

Lesser Gods could pierce through space to launch attacks, but only understood some of the profundities of space-time in the god world. Only Common Gods or higher could understand the transformations of space-time.

With that, the Greater Gods went on to select various apprentices. Of Yang Qi's group, Brahma became an apprentice, as did Eldest Brother, Sword Seventeen, Patriarch Annalist, Doom, and the Shepherd... The Greater Gods were clearly very perceptive, and could sense that they had particularly amazing aptitude.

Yang Qi was keeping his own substructure tightly under wraps, as he wasn't interested in taking a Master. He had too many secrets, including the fact that he was the bearer of the God Legion Seal. If word of that leaked, it would cause tumult.

In the end, all of his followers attained high positions, which he was very happy about. Not only would they become very powerful, but he trusted that they wouldn't reveal his secrets.

As for Lightning Dragonriser, he wasn't privy to any of their true secrets.

Furthermore, none of the almighty beings took him as an apprentice.

After the selection of apprentices ended, the people left behind were the disciples with average talent who would be given various missions and assignments outside the sect. Not only would they be rewarded with resources for accomplishing those missions, but they could also further their cultivation. And if they reached godly ascension, it could change everything for them.

Of course, Yang Qi was in that group.

"Those of you who weren't selected to be apprentices, losing the chance to immediately rise through the ranks, are still going to be very powerful people. You'll be given tasks to accomplish for the House of God Ordainment and will be well-rewarded for success. Also, you can advance your cultivation bases. Now, all of you will be given a copy of the Great Classic of God Ordainment, which contains the history of the sect, as well as its rules. Afterward, you'll be assigned your specific tasks."

Yang Qi got his copy of the Great Classic of God Ordainment, which was a huge book filled with enough information that it couldn't be perused in a short time.

"You, stand off to the side," one of the Lesser Gods said. "You three, come over here. The rest of you..."

Yang Qi followed the instructions that were given and found himself in a small team standing in front of one of the Lesser Gods. "Your mission is to go to a mountainous mining district controlled by the House of God Ordainment. The Guardian Mines. Got it?"

"Guardian Mines?" said one of the other disciples. "Are we supposed to stand guard there, Elder?"

"Cut the chatter," the elder snapped. "You'll understand when you get there. You disciples might be Quasi-Gods, but you're still frogs in a well. You have no idea about the true profundities of the god world. The House of God Ordainment has plenty of mines where we harvest godstones. That means we have miners in our employ. Of course, you're not being sent to be miners, but foremen. Remember, it's not easy to work as a foreman. A lot of the miners are vicious characters, criminals, and even monsters that we've captured and forced into labor. You'll be in charge of managing them. You'll learn the rest of the details when you get to the mines."

"Yes sir," everyone replied. Including Yang Qi, there were a few dozen members in the group.

With that, they hurried over to one of the teleportation portals and stepped inside. When they emerged, they could instantly tell they were out in the wilds.

Ancient, towering mountains stretched up all around them, covered with primeval jungles and filled with wild demonlings. In fact, intermittent roars reached their ears from the creatures. There were mines visible everywhere, with miners streaming in and out of them like ants.

The god that had led them through the teleportation portal said, "This is only one of the mining districts operated by the House of God Ordainment. And these wild mountain ranges stretch on without end."

There were quite a few novice disciples waiting to meet them, who immediately knelt and said, "Greetings, Elder, Elder Brothers."

"Rise," the god said. "You've done well, considering that your previous superiors are either dead or have become gods. We've heard your repeated requests for assistance and have assigned these official disciples to be your new superiors. Understand?"

"Understood!" the novice disciples said respectfully.

"Good. Now let's make the specific assignments. There are fifty-six mountains being mined, which is why we brought fifty-six disciples. Each disciple will be a foreman for one of the mountains."

With that, Yang Qi and the other disciples stood there waiting to hear their assignment.

"Yue Tianlin, you're assigned to Mine One. Meng Long, you're at Mine Two." One by one, the god went through all the disciples. "Yang Qi, Mine Thirteen... Ouyang Xin, Mine Fifty-Six."

When all the mines were assigned, the god said, "All of the various mines have assigned production rates that must be strictly maintained. If any of you can surpass the assigned production rate, you'll be rewarded. And anyone who discovers high-quality godstones will also be rewarded. However, don't say that I didn't warn you about the bad news. If large numbers of miners die in a given mine, whether from insurrection or demonling invasion, or if you don't meet your assigned quota, you'll be severely punished, possibly even executed! Understand?"

His voice thrummed with killing intent that caused everyone's hearts to grow cold.

"Every year, inspectors will come to check the circumstances of your mines. You have the authority to kill any miners you see fit, even en masse. But all of that is under the assumption that you continue meeting your quotas. The more godstones you produce, the more seriously the sect will take you. You'll be able to request more resources, or even apply to have female novice disciples come to serve you. And if you earn enough merit points due to your service, you could even use them to pay your way out of a death sentence! Understand?"

"We understand!"

In the end, the rules seemed simple. They had to meet the godstone quotas every year. If they failed, they would be punished; if they succeeded, they would be rewarded.

"Good." The elder stepped back to the teleportation portal. "If you have any other questions about the sect, you can find the answers in the Great Classic of God Ordainment."

"Yes sir! Farewell, Elder!" After the elder left, the fifty-six disciples breathed sighs of relief.

"Let's head to our mines and check them out," someone said. "When we have the time, we can get back together to compare notes. And if any demonlings invade, we definitely have to help each other."

The person who spoke the words was a fair-faced young man who looked like he was a young master from some aristocratic clan.

Although he spoke with a voice of command, it wasn't as if the fifty-six disciples present were the kind of people who would simply accept orders from anyone. Most of them ignored him and flew off before he finished speaking. Yang Qi was one of them. It seemed to him that this assignment was going to be an easy one, and that was especially the case considering he could fabricate high-quality godstones.

'I wonder what assignment Lightning Dragonriser got,' Yang Qi thought. 'Father and the rest were taken in by Greater Gods, so they won't have assignments like this. They'll be given the best resources and plenty of opportunities to work on their cultivation and reach godly ascension.'

Of course, although they had been taken away by Greater Gods, Yang Qi was still their ultimate protector. He was far stronger than any ordinary god could imagine. And once he reached godly ascension, he would surely understand more secrets of the God Legion Seal.

Only a real god could truly use that seal.

Right now, Yang Qi was like a child with a sledgehammer. But once he was strong enough to wield that sledgehammer, he could use it in a very destructive fashion.

Before long, he was at his assigned mine.

It was a huge mountain filled with all sorts of caves and tunnels, almost like an anthill. He had a mansion grotto of his own, located atop a high cliff, from which position he could oversee and issue orders to the entire mine.

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Chapter 1180: Administration

"Foreman, sir, here's the work roster. It contains the names of all the disciples who work here in the mines. Of course, they're all novice disciples. Incidentally, congratulations on your promotion, Elder Brother."

Yang Qi's mansion grotto was essentially a cave, and in front of it was a vast platform of about six hundred acres. At the opposite end of the platform from the grotto, there was a towering cliff so steep that anyone who fell off of it would be smashed to bits at the bottom. At the same time, it provided amazing views of the scenery, including the entire exterior of the mine. The mountains were vast, making it impossible to determine how many demonlings lurked about, or what other secrets might be hidden there. Yang Qi opened his Lord's Eye, and immediately caught hints of the aura of demonlings.

These mountains were clearly dangerous; there were demonlings here that were on the same level as gods.

Demon-gods.

As could be expected, in the god world, Demonfolk and humans were always fighting each other. And because of the horrible climate in the god world, the demons were particularly powerful. A good example were the fish that nearly injured Yang Qi when he first arrived in the god world.

There were a host of novice disciples arrayed on the platform, all of them Quasi-Gods capable of unleashing immense power, especially if they joined forces. Normally, they were fiendish individuals who kept the miners under control.

But right now they were kneeling in front of Yang Qi. Although he was also a Quasi-God, he was an official disciple, and the ranking system was strictly observed in the House of God Ordainment. Novice disciples didn't count for anything, only official disciples who had survived the Bloodgore Trials were considered worthy of respect.

That was especially true out in a place like this. Yang Qi was now the foreman of Mine Thirteen, and had authority over life and death. As long as he met his yearly quota, he could do anything he wanted, including executing novice disciples.

The leaders among the novice disciples were all very attentive, and clearly wanted to make a good impression.

"Foreman, sir, we have three thousand novice disciples here in Mine Thirteen, but at the moment, only two thousand nine hundred and ninety are present at the mine. All the names are written here, Elder Brother. Please, take a look."

The novice disciple leaders were powerfully built and had very impressive godpower and energy arts. When they spoke, their voices rumbled like thunder, revealing that they were definitely adept fighters.

Yang Qi flipped through the roster, which contained all the details of the various tasks assigned to the different disciples. Furthermore, he found that the miners were split into groups of a hundred, each managed by an individual novice disciple.

There were fully two hundred thousand miners, with two thousand novice disciples in charge of them. The remaining roughly one thousand novice disciples had jobs related to food preparation, logistics, guard duty, law enforcement, and security. For example, they had to watch very carefully to make sure that none of the miners stole any godstones.

The mine was almost like a small nation, complete with all of the various necessary parts. It was just like the saying the sparrow may be small, but all its vital organs are there.

After perusing the roster, Yang Qi was starting to get a much better idea of how the mine worked.

With that, he handed it back to one of the leaders, a burly fellow with a hairy birthmark on his face that made him look extremely fierce, obstinate, and unruly.

Although these people wouldn't dare to defy Yang Qi's authority, they were obviously used to lining their pockets thanks to their position. They were like local thugs, while Yang Qi was the gang boss.

"What's your name?" Yang Qi asked.

"I'm Huang Weilong," the disciple replied, his birthmark quivering along with the hairs that poked out of it. He didn't just look fearsome; the other disciples didn't utter a peep, which seemed to indicate that he was the top figure of authority under Yang Qi.

"Huang Weilong," Yang Qi murmured thoughtfully. "You said there are three thousand names on the roster, but only two thousand nine hundred and ninety present. Where are the other ten disciples? And why aren't they here to receive me?"

"They left yesterday for patrol duty in the mountains, Elder Brother," Huang Weilong replied. "Unfortunately, they were ambushed by some powerful demonlings and killed. Not even their bones were left behind. That's why they aren't here."

Nodding, Yang Qi said, "I see. And what happened to the Elder Brother who previously ran this mine?"

"He was killed in a riot, Elder Brother. You see, he was a violent person who routinely beat the miners. He even executed a lot of them to help with the devil art he cultivated, in the hopes of reaching godly ascension sooner. Eventually, the miners ran out of patience and rose up in revolt. We weren't able to keep control, and the foreman was killed. As a result, the sect had to step in and slaughter a full ten thousand miners before they regained control. We also lost a few hundred novice disciples during that time."

"So it was an insurrection. Well tell me, what sorts of problems do I need to watch out for in managing the mine?"

"Yes sir!" Huang Weilong exchanged a glance with some of the other powerful disciples flanking him. "First, you have to guard against riots. As everyone knows, the miners are mostly career criminals sent here by the sect, some of whom have very powerful energy arts. There are even murderers and escaped slaves. When they get organized and riot, they can do a lot of damage. Sometimes they even manage to coordinate with the other mines, which is why we have to keep them under strict control. Of course, if worse comes to worst, gods from the House of God Ordainment will come to kill any rioters. But we prefer to avoid that."

"Okay, what's your second bit of advice," Yang Qi asked.

"There's a second and a third," Huang Weilong said. "Second, you have to prepare for invasions. The mountains are filled with demonlings, and every so often they mount large scale attacks, both to steal godstones and to kill and eat miners. If they break through our defenses and slaughter a lot of people, you'll be held responsible, Elder Brother, and the sect will definitely punish you. About ten years ago, an invasion of demonlings broke through the defenses of Mine Fifty-Six and slaughtered a whole bunch of miners. Because of that, they weren't able to meet their quota, which led to the foreman being stripped of his position and demoted to miner. It was really tragic. As for the third point, you have to be on guard for cultivators from the dao of devils. There are some big devil organizations that oppose the House of God Ordainment, and they sometimes try to come to steal godstones or damage the mines. If we're not careful, we could lose an entire year's worth of stock, in which case you'll definitely be severely punished."

"That was a very thorough explanation," Yang Qi said. From Huang Weilong's description, it sounded like being a foreman was a dismal assignment. Whether it was riots or invasions, it was easy to fail in one's duties and be punished. However, there was an unspoken message in Huang Weilong's words: he wanted Yang Qi to back off and not interfere with the status quo. To focus on cultivation and be a figurehead leader, nothing more.

If Yang Qi were a god, these disciples wouldn't dare to talk to him in this way. But he was only a Quasi-God, as were they. They were the ones who truly controlled the miners, and they didn't want him interfering with their personal profit margins.

Of course, he had once been the leader of the Dao Defense League, an alliance of billions of trillions of immortal worlds, with a structure vastly more complicated than this mine. Back then, he had to worry about the 'profit margins' of various factions as well. If he had to guess, he would say that at least half of the godstones taken from the mines went into the hands of the novice disciples, who would then use them for cultivation purposes.

If he could somehow put an end to the embezzlement, he would obviously surpass the yearly quota.

Unfortunately, the only person who would benefit in that circumstance would be the foreman, which meant that the novice disciples obviously wouldn't be happy about it. Why should they support the foreman in such an endeavor?

In the end, Yang Qi knew that he was in an important position, but at the same time, was relatively powerless. And although the novice disciples were being respectful, there was no way they would just hand over their power.

It was very similar to the games that were often played between mortal emperors and their court ministers.

Despite all of these realizations, Yang Qi remained completely calm and collected. He didn't need these people to accomplish the tasks assigned to him, especially considering that he could create his own high-level godstones. In fact, a simple bag of godsand would be worth more than the entire yearly quota, earning him the praise of the sect. Nodding, he said, "You've all done very well here. As long as you stay on task, it seems I don't need to directly manage things. For now, I'm going into seclusion to seek enlightenment of a technique I'm working on. In a few days, I'll come out for an inspection. Understand?"

Eyes flickering with delight, Huang Weilong said, "Congratulations on going into seclusion, Elder Brother! We'll head back down to the mines now, and make sure all the miners know you'll be coming for an inspection soon. By the way, Elder Brother, there's a bell at the entrance of your mansion grotto. Just ring it, and we'll rush up here to accept any orders you give."

Flicking his sleeve, Yang Qi walked into his mansion grotto and closed the door. The first thing he planned to do was study the Great Classic of God Ordainment, which went into detail about the structure of the House of God Ordainment and its rules. At the same time, he would prepare to push his energy arts to the next level and become a god.

The interior of the mansion grotto glowed with soft light from the spell formation set into the walls. In addition to providing light, the formations kept the temperature pleasant.

He also saw a spring of fresh water, a bed, an empty bookshelf, and a pill furnace. The pill furnace was nothing special, and was in fact so ordinary that no one had even bothered to take it away after the old foreman died. Obviously, his other belongings had been cleared out by the novice disciples.

Of course, Yang Qi didn't need a pill furnace. His sea of energy contained the Heaven and Earth Furnace, which was the best kind of furnace that could ever exist.

Sitting on the stone bed, he began flipping through the Great Classic of God Ordainment.

Meanwhile, outside, Huang Weilong and the other novice disciples were walking down the mountain. "Elder Brother," one of the disciples said, "that new official disciple is really a piece of trash. I can't believe he was too scared to exert his own authority. Everyone knows that someone assuming a new position should make some changes to impress people. At the very least, he should have checked into the godstone deficits. I bet the new leaders of the other mines are causing big scenes."

Huang Weilong chuckled coldly. "Actually, he's smart. He knows that if he pisses us off, things will go badly for him."

1. It's been nearly forty chapters since Yang Qi arrived in the god world and was bitten by a fangfish. .

2. Huang Weilong: Huang is a common surname which also means "yellow". Wei means "power, might, prestige" and Long means "dragon".

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Chapter 1181: Local Thugs

"You're right, Elder Brother," one of the novice disciples said ingratiatingly. "These people aren't gods. They're basically on the same level as us, they just got lucky along the way by passing the Bloodgore Trials. Out here, we fight demonlings and disciples from the dao of devils. We also have to keep the vicious miners under control. We have to use wits and strength alike, and that's worth a lot more than the Bloodgore Trials."

"That's right," another disciple said. "The people who make a big fuss over these official disciples are really idiots. We're all Quasi-Gods, nothing more, nothing less. And it's not as if the gods are actually going to come out here to do anything. We actually have great lives here, and it's all thanks to you, Elder Brother."

"True," Huang Weilong said, "but we still don't want to offend the foreman. He is an official disciple, after all. In the end, we still have to follow the rules, and we have to treat him politely. If he plays nice, we'll share a bit of our loot with him. But if he doesn't... we'll teach him a lesson!"

"If he doesn't play nice, we'll make sure he ends up dead!" another disciple growled. "Elder Brother, haven't experts from the Ghost King Church been trying to work out a deal with you? They want a cut of our share of godstones, right?"

"Yes. As long as it benefits us, there's no harm in doing business with them. And if the foreman causes any problems, we can have him killed by the Ghost King Church. If we lend someone a knife and have them do our dirty work, we won't be implicated..." At this point they reached the foot of the mountain, whereupon a host of young women hurried over and clustered around Huang Weilong.

"You're back, honey! We've been waiting for you!"

Huang Weilong burst out laughing, causing the hairs on his birthmark to quiver. "The new foreman is very reasonable. He's basically gonna let us do whatever we want. He's mostly worried about us teaming up against him. Hmph! My cultivation base is already at the peak of the Quasi-God level, which means I could very well become a god soon. And I make a lot of godstones in my position here. With the resources I can get, I'll definitely break through soon. What's the point of the Bloodgore Trials for a person like myself? Look at the foreman—he went to the Bloodgore Trials, but he ended up here just like me!"

"Yes, that's right, honey," one of the charming young women said. "You're definitely amazing. Even the foreman dispatched by the sect has to listen to you. Either that, or he'll die! We've prepared food and alcohol to celebrate your successful return."

"You're too kind!" Huang Weilong said. "Lead the way!"

"Of course!"

The other disciples respectfully watched Huang Weilong and the woman walk away and then began talking amongst themselves.

"Elder Brother really has it good. Whenever they send new women to be miners, he picks the prettiest ones and we just get the leftovers."

"A few days ago, a new woman got sent and Elder Brother took a fancy to her. But I heard she refused him. I wonder what happened in the end."

"She refused him? How dare she! Have you forgotten what happened last year? Remember that rich girl whose sect got wiped out by our House of God Ordainment? She got sent here to be a miner, and Elder Brother grabbed her and tried to have his way with her. But she fought back and tried to kill him. Remember what he did?"

"Ai! That was tragic. Elder Brother tied her up and gave her to the miners. They took turns with her for seven days and seven nights until she finally died. I can still hear her screams echoing in my mind."

"Tragic. Very tragic."

"Well, it's only natural that people like us are vicious and merciless. And in the end, as long as we follow Elder Brother, we'll be fine. We all know how he does things. He has his fingers in everything. He's connected to the Ghost King Church, and some of the disciples there even call him daoist brother. And he's friends with the leaders of the demonlings..."

"Although, all the mines have gang leaders like him. And in a few days, they're going to meet to size each other up. I wonder how Elder Brother will end up ranking."

"Who knows? In the meeting last year, Long Dehai from Mine One took the top spot, which is why we've been forced to pay him tribute ever since. Ai. I hope that this time Elder Brother can come out on top and share some of the spoils with us."

"Come on, let's head back to our own caves and enjoy the night with our women. We can worry about everything else later. We've been so worried the past few days about the new foreman that we came up with all sorts of plans of how to deal with him. But in the end, he turned out to be a worthless loser."

With that, the novice disciples went their separate ways.

As for Huang Weilong, his mansion grotto was luxuriantly decorated and seemed almost like the residence of a king or emperor. He had rugs made from the hides of icefire demonlings that were so soft that walking on them felt like walking on clouds. And because of the icefire energy, it didn't matter what the temperature was outside, it always felt comfortable inside. That rug alone would be worth a lot of godstones on the outside. In fact, most experts would have turned it into a garment, yet here, Huang Weilong was using it as a rug.

"Did the new girl finally give in?" Huang Weilong said, haughtily sitting down and looking around at his collection of concubines. They were all women who had been sentenced to work in the mines, which meant that by sticking with him, they could have relatively nice lives.

The alternative was to have a miserable existence in the mines, which none of them could accept.

"Not yet," one of the women said. "She refuses to eat and mostly just sits around crying." This particular woman pulsed with devil energy, which indicated that she was a disciple of the dao of devils. The god world was huge, with too many continents to count, far more than the number of immortal worlds in the Immortal Dao Age. Not even the boundless Sovereign Lord had actually known how large the god world was. Because of that, it was a given that it was a hodgepodge of good and bad people. And when a powerful organization like the House of God Ordainment went on the warpath, it went without saying that they would take all sorts of people captive, men and women alike.

It was even said that the House of God Ordainment's mines had gods who had been enslaved and forced to be miners.

Slapping the table angrily, Huang Weilong said, "Hmph! If she refuses to do things the easy way, we'll do them the hard way! Take me to her immediately."

Soon they reached an extravagantly decorated back room in the mansion grotto. Inside was a bed, atop which a beautiful woman was bound. She was as delicate as a peach flower and had clearly led a pampered life. She had a beauty mark on her forehead and was weeping profusely, her tears falling down like raindrops.

As soon as she saw Huang Weilong walk in, she said, "Let me go, Your Majesty! I'm just a weak woman. My family was all killed by the House of God Ordainment, and I'm the only one left. Please, have pity on me..."

Huang Weilong chuckled darkly as the killing intent within him transformed into a licentious smile. "I like your cute look, darling, which is why I didn't just force myself on you right from the beginning. Why exactly are you refusing to give in? Your life is in my hands. With me, you can have nice meals and live in comfort. If I throw you down into the mines, it's only a matter of time before you get raped to death. It's hard to say how many women suffer that fate every year. Do you think you'll be any exception?"

"Just let me go!" she cried. "If you show some grace and mercy, I'll remember it for all eternity! Please, have mercy!"

Eyes gleaming viciously, he said, "If you refuse to do things the easy way, we'll do them the hard way! If you don't give in willingly, I'll just rape you! Listen, do you know what happened to the last girl who refused me? The other concubines can tell you. If you don't hurry up and give me what I want, I'll send you down to the mines, and those deviant miners will make sure you die in torment!"

The young woman was so terrified that she was weeping.

"Nobody's going to save you! Your only choice is to follow me." He suddenly burst out laughing. "I'm the most important person in this mine! Even the new official disciple is a useless weakling who plans to give me everything I want. Before long, I'll take over as foreman, and if he doesn't go along, he'll die! I can think of a hundred ways to make sure that happens."

With that, Huang Weilong prepared to pounce on the young woman.

"Oh really?" someone said, and a figure stepped forward to stand between Huang Weilong and the woman. It was none other than Yang Qi! Smiling, he said, "I was just doing some meditating when I sensed some rancorous energy, so I came to see what was happening. Imagine my surprise to find this. Ah, Huang Weilong, I never imagined you would talk about me like that, or do things like this behind my back. You're embezzling godstones to use in business deals with disciples from the dao of devils? And you even claimed that if I didn't do what you say, you'd have me killed? Do you really care so little for the rules of the House of God Ordainment?"

"Yang Qi?!" he blurted, leaping backward. "You're a godpower incarnation, aren't you? And you snuck into my mansion grotto?! You've got a lot of guts to do that."

"I've got guts? I think you're the one with the guts. I'm an official disciple of the House of God Ordainment, and you're nothing but a novice disciple. The difference between us is like the difference between night and day. You oppress the common people just like a local thug, and even dare to act impudently in my presence. Get on your knees!"

Huang Weilong's expression flickered, then settled into a vicious smile. "You might be an official disciple, Yang Qi, but you know the rules of this mine. Yeah, I'm a thug. But even a mighty dragon won't attack a snake in its own haunts! If you stick to your place, I won't bother you. Otherwise, you'll die a miserable death." His eyes narrowed. "Oh, I see what's going on. You took a fancy to this girl, right? Fine, you can have her."

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Chapter 1182: Purging the Degenerates

"If I wanted this woman, I wouldn't ask for your permission," Yang Qi's incarnation replied, looking at Huang Weilong as if he were already a dead man. "I run this mine, and you're only a novice disciple. If I want to kill you, I'll kill you. Are you really so bold as to directly oppose me?"

Huang Weilong burst out into maniacal laughter. "You think way too much of yourself, Yang Qi. You really believe you're the end-all and be-all here? Listen up. The person who runs this mine is me. I'm in charge! I'm the overlord here! Maybe if you become a god you might have what it takes to boss me around. But somehow, I doubt that you're going to be achieving that breakthrough anytime soon. And that means that you're mine! You do what I tell you! It's like the old saying, the barracks are as permanent as iron, the soldiers are as temporary as water. You would do well to understand that you are the temporary water, and I'm the permanent iron!"

Shaking his head, Yang Qi's incarnation waved his hand, and the young woman's metal manacles collapsed.

The sight of it caused Huang Weilong to shiver slightly.

Those were godsteel manacles, which meant it would take incredible force to break them. Yet a mere incarnation of Yang Qi had actually destroyed them with ease.

"You might be strong, but do you really think I don't have contingencies in place? Hmph! I've placed spell formations and traps throughout this entire mountain, including your mansion grotto. If you move a muscle, all it'll take is a single word from me and all the disciples in this mine will revolt. Then, all of the ore that you have to deliver at the end of the year will disappear. And how will you explain that? If you defy me today, then tomorrow you'll be demoted and forced to work in the mines like an ordinary miner. You see, the novice disciples here aren't loyal to the House of God Ordainment. We can leave this place any time we want to, and simply disappear. They don't care about us. But you... you're an official disciple. If you make any mistakes, you'll be punished, and running away won't do any good."

Huang Weilong wasn't just making idle threats. As he spoke, he sent some godpower out, connecting to a spell formation in the middle of his residence. "I'll make it very simple for you, Yang Qi. Just walk away. Leave the girl, and I'll pretend none of this happened. I'll mind my business, you mind yours. And by the way, one more word of warning: the gang leaders from all fifty-six mines will be meeting soon, so if you cause any problems, you'll be facing all of their wrath. Do you really think you can deal with both internal and external strife? Would you really dare to kill people from the other mines?"

Huang Weilong's threats would have probably worked very well on other people. But to Yang Qi, they weren't particularly moving.

"You clearly don't understand what I'm capable of," he said casually. "Why don't you go ahead and activate one of those spell formations and see what happens. See if it affects my mansion grotto. Go ahead."

"Fine, you asked for it!" Huang Weilong slapped his hand on the wall, causing one section to sink in and reveal a hidden recess. Then he shoved a relatively high quality godstone into it, which caused the wall to start thrumming and sent a tremor through the whole mountain.

However, after about two or three breaths of time passed, a grinding sound could be heard within the recess and the godstone shot back out into Huang Weilong's face, accompanied by a mass of destroyed mechanical parts.

"My machine!?" Huang Weilong blurted, his face falling. "It's broken? How? Not even a god should be capable of that. How could you break it?"

"Simple," Yang Qi replied coolly. "Because I'm as strong as a god. In fact, I could easily kill a mere Lesser God. You have no way of knowing it, but I actually killed a god during the Bloodgore Trials."

"Y-y-you..." Huang Weilong stammered. "But why didn't you get selected as an apprentice? If you're really that strong, one of the almighty entities should've selected you. You should've been promoted! Only the weak disciples get sent here to the mines."

This was the entire reason Huang Weilong had been acting so haughty. The impressive disciples, including those who became gods, were always selected to be the apprentices of important people. They wouldn't be sent to the mines. Only the weaklings were sent to the mines, and even though they were generally strong, when people like Huang Weilong ganged up on them, they would have no choice but to act as puppets.

"I won't accept this. I'm going to kill you or die trying!" Huang Weilong spun and prepared to rush out and activate the traps in his mansion. Sadly for him, before he could get anywhere, a huge golden hand appeared and clamped down onto him, making it impossible for him to move.

"You're coming with me," Yang Qi said, then a popping sound could be heard as he burst out into the open, destroying any warding spells that got in his way. A moment later, he was atop the mountain, where he exhaled sharply, causing the enormous bell to loudly ring, summoning all of the novice disciples.

The disciples had only just returned to their mansion grottos and were preparing to settle down with their concubines, only to be summoned back for a meeting.

"What's going on here? We just came down from the mountain, and now the foreman is summoning us back up? Can't he just leave us be?"

"Come on, let's go and see what it's all about. Fuck. Unless there's some big problem, the foreman shouldn't be calling us out like this."

Obviously, quite a few of the disciples were grumbling.

"Let's see what Elder Brother has to say about it."

"What? Elder Brother is up there already?"

"Come on, hurry up. If Elder Brother is already up there, we can't afford to tarry. Whatever the issue is, we have to follow his lead. He's in charge, and we have to stick to him."

Two thousand nine hundred and eighty-nine disciples raced up the mountain, where a nearly unbelievable sight met their eyes. They saw their Elder Brother, trussed up and kneeling in front of the entrance to Yang Qi's mansion grotto. As for Yang Qi, he sat cross-legged off to the side, seemingly lost in thought.

Huang Weilong's staunchest supporters were the first to the top.

"What's wrong, Elder Brother?"

"What happened to you?"

"Hurry up!" Huang Weilong shrieked. "This Yang Qi is being completely unreasonable. He ambushed me and tied me up! Free me and kill him! Today, either the fish dies, or the net splits! I'll take responsibility for everything."

"What?!" the disciples growled, surrounding Huang Weilong and simultaneously casting enraged glares at Yang Qi.

"How dare you, Yang Qi!" one of them shouted. "I can't believe you would violate the rules like this."

"Are you saying you're planning to defy me?" Yang Qi said coldly. "You're a bunch of novice disciples, and I'm an official disciple blessed by the House of God Ordainment. You think you can just do anything you want? You're disrespecting the chain of command! Back down!"

"Don't listen to him!" Huang Weilong said. Grinning viciously, he continued, "He just wants to intimidate you. Don't give him the chance. Yang Qi, you punk, do you think you're a god now or something? I can't believe you'd dare to violate our rules. Kill him! Grab him and throw him to the demonlings!"

SNICK!

Even as he gushed on in this fashion, a blood-colored light flashed and his head flew up in the air. "Everyone join forces and kill him. Kill him! Kill—er... what? What's going on? How come I can see my neck but not my head? Am I dying?"

Thump! A shriek rang out that only ended when his head landed on the ground.

"What?!"

Everyone backed up in fear. Not a single one of them had seen exactly what Yang Qi did. He had moved with such incredible speed that all they saw was the head dropping to the ground.

"Any who disrespect the chain of command will be killed!" Yang Qi said coolly. "What. Does anyone else want to step forward and make a move against me? Did you really think I'd be scared of a disorderly mob like this?"

"Attack! Kill him! Wipe him out! He's only capable of so much. He can't stop us if we gang up on him!" A few dozen of Huang Weilong's most loyal supporters reached for the weapons hanging at their waists, which were of course powerful magical treasures.

However, before they could do anything with them, a host of ripping sounds rang out, and blood sprayed everywhere as a few dozen heads flew into the air.

The other disciples present were shaken to the core and edged away from Yang Qi, eying him fearfully. How could any of them have ever guessed that he would be this formidable?

"Did you moronic idiots really think you could do anything to me? Anyone who defies me today will die. I'll kill you and promote people to replace you from among the miners. And don't even think of trying to start a riot among the miners. Anyone who opposes me... dies."

"There's nothing to fear if we stick together!" shouted another of Huang Weilong's supporters. "If he kills us all, the miners will rebel! There's no way he could handle a situation like that. Besides, we've hidden a lot of the minerals we've mined. If he kills us, he'll never get them!"

"Minerals?" Yang Qi said. "You're trying to threaten me with rocks? Very funny." He snapped his fingers, and to everyone's astonishment an enormous stone appeared, glittering as if with lightning and rumbling as if with thunder.

"That's... that's an imperial caliber godstone! And those are godstone thunderclaps! How could this be possible? Only the most ancient mines in the god world can produce stuff like that!"

"Where did he get it? It's huge! If you put that up for auction, it would sell for multiple godnotes."

"Hand in an imperial caliber godstone like that to the sect and the rewards would be unimaginable!"

Yang Qi laughed. "You're right. It's an imperial caliber godstone. So what do you think? If I handed this in to the sect, how many years' worth of quotas would it cover?"

"Ten years!"

"Thirteen years!"

"Twenty years!"

Everyone was stunned to find that Yang Qi was actually incredibly rich. He had a single godstone that was worth upwards of ten years of production from the mine. In fact, it was virtually priceless.

Swish!

Yang Qi waved his hand and the godstone vanished. No one had any idea where it went or how he had made it disappear.

"In other words, I can personally meet the quota of this mine for ten or twenty years. And you think I'm worried about you revolting? That's a joke if ever I've heard one. In ten years, I could easily replace every single one of you novice disciples!"

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Chapter 1183: Seizing Control

By producing an imperial caliber godstone, Yang Qi had immediately seized control of the situation. Worst case scenario, he could just kill everyone who opposed him and replace them.

The disciples present all exchanged awkward glances. They realized that they had miscalculated. Yang Qi wasn't worried at all about the output of the mine, which meant their threats were completely empty.

Things had gone from bad to worse for them.

They had no trump cards, and thus, what were they to do? Even worse, Yang Qi was obviously so strong that not a single one of them was a match for him. He could clearly kill anyone who opposed him.

So what needed to be done next?

No one had any confidence in their ability to control the situation.

After a long moment, one of the disciples dropped to his knees and said, "Oh exalted Yang Qi, foreman of Mine Thirteen, a person of great moral stature such as yourself will surely overlook the crimes of a scoundrel like me. Please forgive me. I would love to atone for my crimes by performing meritorious acts!"

"Hmph! You fickle bastard!"

One of the nearby disciples, obviously a friend of Huang Weilong, immediately raised his saber overhead to kill the kneeling disciple. Considering how many years Huang Weilong had run things in this mine, it was a given that he had a lot of friends.

However, before the disciple could even finish raising his saber, his head flew off his shoulders.

"Good choice," Yang Qi said. "Considering you've chosen to be loyal to me, there's no way I'll let anyone hurt you. The situation here is simple. Follow me and live. Oppose me and die." He made a beckoning gesture, pulling the disciple toward him. Then he placed his hand on his back, sending a burst of godpower into him that immediately increased his energy levels and pushed his cultivation base to new heights.

The disciple burst out laughing. "My energy arts! I've achieved a breakthrough! Many thanks, Elder Brother, many thanks!" Suddenly baring his teeth, he spun to face two disciples who usually bullied him. "Huo Qin. Lin Sen. You two always pick on me, but now the time has come for me to teach you a lesson! Prepare to die!"

Crash!

An enormous hand of godpower shot forth, crushing the two disciples to death.

"Whoever dares to oppose me and Elder Brother will be killed by me! Elder Brother's godpower is unmatchable, and he can kill anyone he wants to! What prospects did you have following Huang Weilong? Following Elder Brother Yang Qi is the proper path. All of you need to surrender. Did you see how easily he helped me? He instantly cleared my blocked meridians and restructured my sea of energy. My interior is like a furnace of godpower now, constantly absorbing the vital energy of the godpower for my own use. It's like I have a never-ending supply of energy! Any of you who refuse to surrender are going to die!"

More clanging sounds could be heard as more disciples dropped their weapons and got on their knees. "Spare us, Elder Brother. Spare us! We deserve to die for our crimes. It was all because of Huang Weilong!"

Huang Weilong's severed head still had a bit of life left in it. "Spare me, Elder Brother!" he blabbered. "Spare my life! I was possessed. I can work with you! I can—"

RIP!

Yang Qi waved his hand, wiping Huang Weilong's body out of existence.

"You can't do this, Yang Qi! Things won't end well for you if—" Then he screamed as Yang Qi mercilessly set his head on fire and watched as it burned out of existence.

"You're unparalleled under heaven, Elder Brother!" the other disciples called.

"Hmph! Over the years you embezzled resources and made deals with the disciples of the dao of devils. But that stops now. We're going to work hard to get this mine working at top efficiency, understand? If that doesn't happen, I'll execute all of you. Henceforth, everything the mine produces comes to me. I'm going to personally check every bit. I'll inspect the mine tomorrow. Henceforth, fighting isn't allowed, and anyone who treats the women badly will be instantly executed. Your concubines and female slaves will all be sent up here to serve as handmaidens. From now on, everyone follows the rules. Got it?"

"Yes, yes of course," the disciples said. "We'll send any good looking women to you, Elder Brother."

Yang Qi declined to comment on that. "Presumably you know where Huang Weilong hid most of the minerals? Hand them over. Now!"

"I know where he hid them," said the disciple who had been first to surrender. "They're off in a cave guarded by demonlings he hired. But considering you helped me get stronger, Elder Brother, I should be able to go get them myself."

"Alright, what's your name?" Yang Qi asked.

"I'm your humble servant Zhang Jufang," the disciple replied respectfully.

"Do it," Yang Qi said. "Now that Huang Weilong is dead, you're in charge. You represent me, and bear my authority to issue orders. Your first task is to go retrieve Huang Weilong's stash of minerals. If you succeed, I'll make sure you're well rewarded."

"Yes sir! Many thanks for your patronage, Elder Brother!" Turning to some of the other disciples, he raised his voice and said, "On your feet, you lot. We all know that you were close friends of Huang Weilong, so you know his secrets. Take me to the stash and maybe you can atone for the error of your ways. Otherwise, I'll inflict strict punishment right away."

Everyone knew that Zhang Jufang was like a dog relying on the influence of its master. But there was no question that he represented a power that no one could defy, so no one dared to defy him.

With that, Zhang Jufang led the group away.

Afterward, the rest of the disciples headed back down the mountain to put the mine in order. Already, Yang Qi could sense the destiny in the mine shifting in his favor.

The destiny here surpassed anything from the mortal world, such as the destiny of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect, or even the Sage Monarch League. But that was little wonder. Destiny in the god world was true destiny, whereas that from the mortal world was vague and illusory. It was only when experts became Quasi-Gods that their destiny became truly powerful.

Although there were mid Terrifying experts who were sent to the mines, they generally died fairly quickly, leaving behind only the Quasi-Gods. The mines were simply too dangerous, whether because of demonlings or the environment itself.

Only Quasi-Gods were truly cut out to survive in these mines, and although their lives were miserable, it was better than being dead.

As Yang Qi stood atop the cliff looking down at the mine, he decided he wasn't interested in making any changes to the overall situation for the miners. They had earned their karma. Some were vicious monsters and criminals, and some were probably innocent. But if he were to just start freeing people, it would likely cause problems of such a large scale that the House of God Ordainment wouldn't tolerate it.

He was part of a larger system, and the first rule in situations like that was to play the game according to the rules, at least until you were strong enough to dismantle the system and its rules without getting hurt in the process.

Huang Weilong and his people had acted without the slightest scruple, and had broken all sorts of rules. Truth be told, the House of God Ordainment wouldn't do much about people who challenged their superiors. In fact, if an inferior killed a superior, they would probably praise that person. No one would care if an official disciple killed even ten thousand novice disciples. But if a hundred thousand novice disciples managed to kill even one official disciple, they would pay with their life.

Three days passed, and Zhang Jufang returned triumphantly. He had infiltrated the demonling lair and brought back Huang Weilong's treasure trove, which contained all sorts of amazing items from the mines.

Generally speaking, fighting was prohibited in the mines, and any who violated such rules were executed. Because of the brutally strict laws, fighting wasn't common. But miners would still occasionally get killed in private duels. The society of the miners was a complicated and brutal one in which people hardly viewed each other as humans. The powerful miners would lord it over the weaker ones, stealing and robbing from them, and occasionally murdering others for profit.

But after Yang Qi took charge, he put an end to such things.

After making all the necessary arrangements, he went back into seclusion.

He was mostly finished reading the Great Classic of God Ordainment. He had studied the rules and regulations of the House of God Ordainment, as well as its history and notable members. It also gave him a deeper understanding of the thousands of continents in the god world. As it turned out, the House of God Ordainment was in a group of the largest several thousand continents. Yet that was just the tip of the iceberg, as far as the god world went. The Great Classic of God Ordainment also contained information about the allies and enemies of the sect, and Yang Qi committed all that to memory. It even mentioned the Proud Clan.

According to the information, it was a very mysterious clan.

'Supposedly, the original founder of the Proud Clan emerged from the void, and was born out of a shapeless universe. He was a follower of the Sovereign Lord, and was his most mysterious official. When the Sovereign Lord perished, the Proud Clan's founder went missing. However, his blood ran strong and the clan prospered. The current clan lord is a Consummate God, and will likely break through to become a Paramount God. The Proud Clan has outposts on two thousand continents, but their headquarters is hidden in a mysterious location.'

There was more information that Yang Qi studied, ensuring that he had a very good foundational understanding of the Proud Clan. However, he didn't see any mention of Proud Heaven.

The Great Classic of God Ordainment contained details about what rewards would come if the foreman surpassed the assigned production quota. If he could hand over high-quality godstones to the sect, he could receive mysterious martial arts manuals, medicinal pills, spell formation techniques, or pill formulas.

'This is basically the same as in the mortal world. The rewards you get are based on what services you provide.' From what Yang Qi could tell, sects were the same wherever you went. Whether you were dealing with gods or immortals, the basic rules still tended to be the same.

1. Zhang Jufang: Zhang is a common surname. Ju means "giant, large, enormous" and Fang means "house, room".

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Chapter 1184: Assimilating the Mahatma Jade

Yang Qi had already learned a lot about the god world, thanks to reading the Great Classic of God Ordainment. The book didn't contain cultivation techniques. But of all the things he lacked at the moment, cultivation techniques were at the very bottom of the list. He had the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, Purrfect God Art, Sage Monarch Grand Magic, Secret-Ensconcing All-World Anything-Everything Fundamental-Law Magic, and the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body, all of which were boundless techniques even in the god world.

Having finished reading the Great Classic of God Ordainment, he began a session of secluded cultivation.

The God Legion Seal was in his forehead, constantly drawing in the essence of the god world, making it so that he didn't need medicinal pills of any sort. And by passing that essence through the Heaven and Earth Furnace to be refined and cleansed, it turned into extremely powerful godpower.

Yang Qi was wreathed in burning sagefire, melting everything else that existed in his mansion grotto. At the same time, godnotes appeared, which fluttered down ceaselessly almost like snowflakes. As Yang Qi furthered his cultivation, his Sage Monarch Grand Magic grew more refined and his virtual godhood was gradually crystallizing and turning into true godhood.

"Sheepskin scroll! Mahātmā Jade! The time has come to reveal your true grandeur. We're in the god world now, and my cultivation base is vastly beyond what it was before. I know that you two are both boundless treasures, and the time has come to completely assimilate you!"

Yang Qi pulled out the scroll and the jade.

They were diametrically opposed to the God Legion Seal, but Yang Qi had used the Purrfect God Art and the Sage Monarch Grand Magic to use them together. And if he could literally combine the sheepskin scroll, Mahātmā Jade, and God Legion Seal, it would definitely lead to some sort of incredible divine ability, something he could use to conquer the dome of heaven and be unparalleled in all creation.

Yang Qi didn't care about any of the treasures to be had in the god world.

He was now just on the verge of being a god; therefore, it seemed like the perfect time to use the sheepskin scroll and the fragment of Mahātmā Jade. By now, he had realized the truth; they weren't technically treasures, but rather expressions of mighty will. And ever since he had come to the god world, he had been constantly baptizing them with his energy arts. Now was the time to reveal their secrets, especially the Mahātmā Jade. The only downside was that he didn't have the complete jade. If he did, the combined jade and scroll really would be on the same level as the God Legion Seal.

Yang Qi exhaled a stream of vital energy as he used his peak Terrifying will and the true energy of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic to wrap the two items up and start assimilating them.

He had performed innumerable tests on the Mahātmā Jade back in the Great Necropolis, using the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. However, he had never fully succeeded. But things were different now that his cultivation base was so much higher.

He was now strong enough to kill gods.

And gods didn't even exist in the immortal worlds.

The will of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic entered the Mahātmā Jade, which immediately unleashed an incredible force of pressure. Almost immediately, Yang Qi felt like his soul was being dragged into the jade.

Shifting his concentration, he started fighting back. It was almost as if the jade were a boundless black hole that could devour any psychic power that got close to it.

The process was actually helping him increase his psychic power. Of course, he was already at the peak of the Terrifying level, and couldn't achieve any minor breakthroughs. The next major step was the Paramount level, which was for mid-level gods.

Normal gods, the Lesser Gods with a godhood rating of ten or less, would be at the peak Terrifying level.

Unfortunately, Yang Qi had previously reached the point where his psychic power couldn't increase, at least not without immense difficulty. But now, with the Mahātmā Jade tugging at him, it was growing.

As it turned out, the jade could be used to improve psychic power!

Normal. Stupendous. Destabilizing. Terrifying. Paramount. Unbounded. Annulled. Those were the levels that governed one's psyche and will, and each step was an immense increase. Back when Yang Qi had first fought the Terrifying Empress Joyflower, he was forced to flee with his tail between his legs.

Of course, the rise from Terrifying to Paramount would be one of even greater invincibility. It was theoretically possible for some Quasi-Gods to kill actual gods, but there was no way that a Terrifying expert could ever possibly fight a Paramount expert.

Lesser Gods with a godhood rating of one were definitely weak enough that Quasi-Gods could kill them. But even someone who had only just stepped into the Paramount level could, with a mere glance, slaughter Terrifying opponents.

Paramount will described that which was boundlessly paramount.

Thanks to the sheepskin scroll and Mahātmā Jade, Yang Qi was now developing Paramount will.

Compared to one's will, everything else was false and unreal. Even godhood. Without the will, godhood could crumble. A deathless and everlasting body could fall apart without will to sustain it. People required will, lest they become like the walking dead.

During his time in the god world, Yang Qi had often thought of these magical treasures and had come to understand how and why the True Devil fought the Sovereign Lord.

The truth was that Yang Qi had come to suspect some things about the identity of the True Devil.

Generally speaking, the Mahātmā Jade was impossible to assimilate, except for one specific person, that being the bearer of the God Legion Seal. Throughout all of history, only two people had ever possessed the complete God Legion Seal.

One was the boundless Sovereign Lord, and the other was Yang Qi.

During the half-year he had spent flying over the ocean, cultivating both the Purrfect God Art and the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, he had done some further study of the sheepskin scroll and the Mahātmā Jade.

And now he was finally starting to pierce some of their secrets.

As the Mahātmā Jade tried to devour his power, he unleashed his consummate skills to defend himself. At the same time, he sent his godpower into the sheepskin scroll, which suddenly exploded, becoming a mass of ten thousand characters that swirled around him.

He opened his mouth and inhaled, breathing in the stream of characters and sending them to his sea of energy where they formed sutras, each of which contained countless expressions of will.

Intense rumbling sounds echoed out of Yang Qi, and the piece of the Mahātmā Jade suddenly erupted with immense power. At the same time, he sent the complete God Legion Seal flying toward the jade with the wave of his finger.

The light of the God Legion Seal enveloped the Mahātmā Jade and it turned into a flow of energy that shot into Yang Qi.

There in his sea of energy, a piece of the Mahātmā Jade could now be seen.

As he breathed, his psychic power swelled, and he suddenly caught sight of what looked like a paramount door within his sea of consciousness. All he had to do was open that door, and he would have Paramount will convergence.

Suddenly, he started shaking physically as though his body might fall to pieces. He immediately knew what was happening. His godpower had not yet been turned into godhood, which meant that he couldn't actually break into the Paramount level.

Not even Yang Qi could do that without becoming a god first.

"What? I've subjugated the sheepskin scroll and the Mahātmā Jade and improved my psychic scale, but my godhood hasn't completely formed yet, which means I can't reach godly ascension. It makes sense that I can't break through, but I really want to break through these shackles and reach the most invincible level of cultivation possible! If I could reach the Paramount level before forming my godhood, I would definitely be incomparably powerful!"

Yang Qi reined in his energy arts and inspected himself. His godpower and psyche were stronger than before, probably by three times. And that meant that right now he was in the mood to test out his fighting prowess.

Thrusting his palm out, he launched a stream of godpower that contained a host of characters that formed the same body of text that had existed on the sheepskin scroll. He clenched his hand into a fist, and Terrifying energy erupted, the kind that could consume the psyches of others.

It was exactly the same thing the Mahātmā Jade could do. It was different from any sort of devil technique. With devil techniques, the amount of psychic power that one could absorb was dependent on one's specific capacity. Once that capacity was reached, one couldn't absorb any more, unless it was into some sort of magical storage treasure, or an out-of-body incarnation.

But all such outside aspects could cause problems for one's individual cultivation base.

Yang Qi rose to his feet and sent out a character that transformed into a clone surrounded by swirling tribulations. More characters flew out, until there were a total of ten thousand of them.

"Amazing. Amazing!" Yang Qi could help but laugh with delight. "It's too bad I only have one piece of the Mahātmā Jade. If I could find more pieces, and use more of my Sage Monarch Grand Magic and Purrfect God Art, I could push this fusion to a higher level. It could be a boundless precious treasure that would definitely give me hope of reaching the Annulled level."

No one actually knew how strong the Annulled level was. Supposedly, it could be used to transcend the limits of the god world and reach a state that was heretofore unknown.

Was there another world beyond the god world? No one knew for sure, although the general belief was that there was no such a world, and the god world was the ultimate world among all the other worlds that existed.

1. The fight with Empress Joyflower that's referenced here is in

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Chapter 1185: Secrets of the Mine

After assimilating the sheepskin scroll and the Mahātmā Jade, Yang Qi's cultivation and godpower had improved dramatically. In fact, his godpower was almost at the point of being able to fuel a breakthrough to the Paramount level of will convergence.

Hopefully, he would soon be able to get his hands on more pieces of the Mahātmā Jade. He was certain that they were somewhere to be found in the god world. After all, he was the ultimate ruler of the immortal worlds now. The past world and the future world had both been sacrificed by Proud Heaven, and no pieces of the jade had turned up during that time. It seemed to indicate that there were no more pieces in the immortal worlds.

And that meant that they had to be in the god world.

As soon as he walked out into the open, he saw a young woman waiting respectfully outside.

"Young Sir," she said, "do you need anything to eat? You were in seclusion for more than a month." She was the very same young woman he had saved from being raped by Huang Weilong.

She was a delicate beauty who called herself Cherry. Clearly she wanted to keep her true surname and given name a secret, and Yang Qi wasn't inclined to press the issue. He hadn't harbored any ulterior motives in rescuing her, and in fact, after gaining new understanding into the value of morality, he had been attempting to add more moral actions into his behavior.

"I don't need anything to eat," he said. "From here on out, I want you to be in charge of this entire mountain. Keep an eye on all the other young women and concubines, as well as the female miners. We're going to have new rules around here to make sure the women don't get raped or killed. In fact, I want the men and women kept apart. Can you handle that?"

"I've already started doing it, Young Sir," she replied. "There are quite a few related matters I wanted to report to you about, but you've been in seclusion, so I had no way to do so. Now that you're out, I can catch you up. Young Sir, I truly hope you reach godly ascension soon!"

"I'm not in any hurry. By the way, we have a few more months before we reach the end of the year and need to turn in the year's production results. How are we doing in that regard?"

"Considering Zhang Jufang recovered Huang Weilong's private stash, we have enough reserves that we can meet our quota for three years without doing any mining for a single day." Cherry had already fallen into her role as Yang Qi's stewardess.

"Wonderful. Please call in Zhang Jufang. I want to take a look at the mineral storehouses and inspect the mine itself. I'm interested to see how deep the ore deposits run." With that, he waved his hand dismissively.

Cherry hurried away, then returned with Zhang Jufang and a handful of other disciples who were his loyal followers.

"We kowtow in salute, Elder Brother!" Zhang Jufang said, dropping to his knees and kowtowing deeply. He had quickly become very important, and now no one in the mine dared to defy his authority. He could essentially do whatever he wanted, although he was fully aware that all of it was thanks to Yang Qi. And he knew that Yang Qi could take everything away from him at a moment's notice.

Because of that, he hadn't done anything rash in the month Yang Qi was in seclusion, such as using his authority for personal gain. Instead, he had been cautious and conscientious. Already, the mine was operating much more smoothly, with fewer miners engaging in embezzling operations, and many of the old ringleaders having been brought in line.

"Take me to the storehouse."

"Yes sir!"

Zhang Jufang led him off the mountain and to the mine itself. The entire mine had an area of only a few hundred kilometers, and was constantly expanding, with tunnels being dug in every direction.

There were actually a few storehouses, which were constructed from rock and looked like enormous castles.

Upon entering the first of the storehouses, they saw piles of godstones, most of which were of low or middling quality and needed to be refined before they could be of use.

In another location in the mine, there were furnaces that could be used for just that purpose. By heating the ore, it was possible to extrude the impurities within it, which would result in the larger clumps being reduced to something the size of a walnut. That was the final product which would be handed in to the sect.

Every year when the time came to hand over the year's production, someone from the sect would come to inspect the godstones and make an official record of the results.

And of course, the storehouses were kept under strict guard by both men and spell formations.

However, upon seeing it all, Yang Qi shook his head. "Spell formations like this wouldn't stop a true expert. I bet the storehouses get stolen from all the time. Am I right?"

"Yes. In the past, disciples from the dao of devils, and also certain demonling experts, would sneak in and steal godstones. Occasionally, the culprits are even people from other mines. We suffer losses every year because of theft."

"What? People from the other mines rob us?" Yang Qi frowned. "Why would they do that?"

"Because the other mines are our enemies. True, we're all members of the House of God Ordainment, but in the end, we have to meet our quota to the sect, and if we don't, we get punished. Thus, there's constant infighting with the neighboring mines. In just the past month, we've had a number of fights with other miners we caught sneaking in to steal from us. They even have the support of their foremen."

"I had no idea that was happening. Fellow disciples fighting and killing each other?" He smiled coldly. "What about us? Have we snuck into other mines to steal from them? Pay them back tooth for tooth?"

"In the past we would do that, but ever since you took control, Elder Brother, things changed. Huang Weilong had a deal worked out with the disciples from the dao of devils and the demonlings, and used them to strike at the other mines. He made quite a profit from that, but the arrangement is null and void now. Furthermore, we didn't participate in the big meeting of gang leaders, which has made us the main enemy of the other fifty-five mines."

As they walked out of the castle, Zhang Jufang went on to explain how the gang leaders from all the mines would occasionally meet to decide who was strongest among them. Whoever took the top spot would not only be immune from robbery, but would be given tribute. Of course, since Huang Weilong was dead and Mine Thirteen didn't send anyone to the meeting of gang leaders, everyone assumed that they were weaklings who could easily be trampled on.

"Furthermore," another disciple said, "word has spread that we confiscated Huang Weilong's personal stash, and a lot of people would love to get their hands on it. With your remarkable abilities, Elder Brother, we hope you can strengthen our spell formations to defend us against outside incursions."

"That goes without saying," Yang Qi replied. He waved his finger, and cracking sounds could be heard as all of the existing spell formations collapsed. Then, the resulting vital energy swirled into the shape of new spell formations, which sank into the ground and faded to invisibility.

"Killing Intent of Heaven and Earth: Astral Redirection!" Yang Qi clenched his hands into fists, summoning the power of the one origin, two polarities, three powers, four divisions, five phases, six directions, seven stars, eight trigrams, nine palaces, and ten preeminences. He had created ten spell formations that were now secretly operating underneath the enormous castle. However, none of the disciples present could see what had happened.

One of the disciples looked around and said, "What happened? Elder Brother, did you just remove the spell formations? Won't that leave the castle defenseless?"

Yang Qi smiled. "Why don't you perform a little test? See if there are any spell formations in there."

The disciple cautiously drew a saber, took a step forward, and lunged toward the castle. However, before he could get close, a field of bright light rose up and his saber collapsed into dust.

The other disciples immediately started sweating.

"Elder Brother, how do we get back inside?" Zhang Jufang asked.

"With these," Yang Qi said. Waving his hand, he sent a paper talisman flying over to Zhang Jufang. "With that talisman, you can take an entire group inside. Understand?"

"Yes sir!" Zhang Jufang replied. "So if people come to rob us, do we kill them?"

"Just drive them away. They won't be able to break through that formation, and if they insist on trying, they'll die."

"Aaaiiiieee!"

Turning, everyone saw someone working with one of the furnaces off in the distance being engulfed in a burst of flame. In the blink of an eye, he was turned into ashes.

"Another death at the furnaces," one of the disciples said, shaking his head. "That fire is deadly. With the weather so hot, the heat of the furnaces is even worse than normal. It kills in an instant."

Yang Qi looked up at the deadly light falling from the sky.

"There's already been a month of this intense, deadly heat, and the miners don't have anything to protect against it. It's a given that there will be deaths in these conditions. Even Quasi-Gods who stay out in the sun long enough will run out of godpower and eventually die." Yang Qi shook his head. "Go buy some medicinal items to protect against the heat."

"But such things are very expensive," Zhang Jufang said. "If we draw on our reserves, it'll be difficult to meet the quota. Besides, Elder Brother, we have most of that set aside to make sure you make a good impression on the sect. Look, a few dead miners aren't anything to worry about. They die all the time."

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Chapter 1186: Secrets of the Mine Part 2

"Matters of cost aren't anything you need to consider," Yang Qi said. "The miners are people, and godstones are just rocks. Sparing life is a heavenly ideal, so get whatever medicinal items we need to keep those miners alive." Yang Qi was attempting to govern with morality and benevolence, and it continued providing benefits for his Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Of course, no one dared to defy his orders.

The disciples immediately headed out with resources from the mines to purchase medicinal items. Purchasing hundreds of thousands of medicines was a huge expense that could very well have thrown the entire mine into dire financial straits. However, Yang Qi wasn't worried about that.

With the wave of a hand, he could produce godsand and high-quality godstones.

"Let's go. I want to see exactly what kind of living conditions these miners have to deal with."

"You really don't need to do that, Elder Brother," Zhang Jufang said. "The actual mines are very dangerous. Not only are cave-ins a constant concern, but a lot of the miners are angry over Huang Weilong's death. Everything is peaceful now, and they're scared to do anything, but a riot could break out at any moment. You're far too important to put yourself in danger, Elder Brother."

"I'll be fine," Yang Qi said. "If I don't impress the miners with a show of force, they'll definitely riot eventually." Yang Qi knew that governing with morality and benevolence was crucial to preventing riots. However, he also needed to make it clear that there was a threat of military force to back it all up. Besides, he really did want to see what the miners' lives were like, and assess the state of the mineral deposits. Although he could create godsand and godstones, it would definitely benefit his cultivation to see how the ores developed in their natural state. And that would surely help him in his efforts to make godnotes.

"Your remarkable abilities are unrivaled and matchless, Elder Brother," one of the disciples fawned. "The miners won't dare to lift a finger against you."

With that, they headed deeper into the mine.

They saw quite a few miners along the way, most of them struggling with heavy loads of ore. Some looked over at Yang Qi with ingratiating expressions, while others barely hid the hatred that flickered in their eyes.

There was quite a contrast between Yang Qi and his group, who were walking around casually and uninhibited, and the miners, who carried such heavy loads on their backs.

The further down they went, the more miners they saw. As for the tunnels, they were like enormous caves stretching off in all directions.

"Get on your knees, you scum miners!" one of the disciples shouted. "The foreman is here!"

Some of the miners slowly got to their knees, but others just disappeared into the tunnels, seemingly numb to the presence of Yang Qi and the disciples.

"What the fuck!?" another disciple said. "These miners really did think of Huang Weilong as their leader. With him dead, they aren't listening to us! And they're even complaining constantly. I think we should just kill them all and get some new blood in here!"

"No, they'll fall in line," Zhang Jufang said. He already could tell how Yang Qi was planning to handle things.

Just when he was about to call all the miners together, a deep rumbling sound reached their ears, and the ground beneath their feet began to shake. At the same time, something like a gravitational force rose up from below.

"Cave-in! It's a cave-in!"

The miners immediately scattered in all directions, looks of terror on their faces.

The gravitational force was so immense that even gods would be incapable of escaping it. In the blink of an eye, Yang Qi and the disciples seemed to be in danger of being sucked in.

However, Yang Qi simply chuckled coldly.

He thrust his palm out and used his godpower to stop the cave-in. The ground instantly stabilized. In the mortal world, a move like that might not have been impressive, but in the god world, it would require a huge amount of godpower to pull off successfully.

"Cave-in?" Yang Qi said. "More like a trap. Get over here!" He made a grasping gesture, which resulted in a shriek from down below as something enormous was dragged up. It looked almost like a pangolin, except it was as large as an elephant.

RUMBLE!

As it shrieked, the miners looked on in shock. "That's a delvebrute, a powerful type of demonling. I can't believe one of them is here in our mine. They burrow tunnels through the earth and use subterranean baleful energy to create vortexes to capture prey!"

It was a demonling in the Quasi-God level, with pulsing demon-god power that made it capable of cutting down even dozens of human Quasi-Gods. It was obviously a leader among the Demonfolk, and had been lying in wait to kill Yang Qi and his subordinates.

"Put me down immediately, boy!" the delvebrute shouted as it struggled. "I'm a subordinate of the Flame Phoenix, an important general. According to our deal with Foreman Huang Weilong, you're supposed to give us a tribute of ore every month, but you reneged! If you don't let me go, then we'll raze Mine Thirteen to the ground during the next demonling invasion!"

A burly man stepped forward from the nearby miners and said, "Foreman, this means there's going to be a demonling invasion in the near future. You absolutely, positively must not take the situation lightly. Delvebrutes are generals among the demonlings, and if we pay them off they'll prevent the invasion. Please, Foreman, sir, you have to take this seriously."

"Elder Brother," said Zhang Jufang, "that's one of the bosses among the miners. He's an obstinate and unruly fellow named Ba Tianxiong. He has a lot of clout among the miners, and had a good relationship with Huang Weilong. He's been here in the mines for more than twenty years, before which he was a fierce bandit. He's very strong, even beyond the level of most of the novice disciples."

"Ba Tianxiong?" Yang Qi looked at the man and all the miners flanking him, and could tell that they were itching to start a riot. Smiling coldly, he said, "You get over here as well!"

He made a grasping motion, sending out a huge flow of godpower.

"Hmph!" Contrary to expectation, Ba Tianxiong actually resisted! Then he clenched his hands into fists and shouted, "Let's kill 'em all! We already work for the Demon Emperor. He calls the shots in this mine, which means we can do whatever we want. Who cares about the House of God Ordainment? The Demonfolk are the truly powerful ones!"

RUMBLE!

He launched a punch, causing godpower to swell, transforming into a lifelike phoenix that flew directly toward Yang Qi with claws bared.

"Flight of the Phoenix!"

It was a formidable energy art of the Demonfolk.

"Is that supposed to be impressive?" Yang Qi said, hardly looking at it. "Be broken!" He flicked his finger and the godpower manifestation of the phoenix exploded. At the same time, a thump was heard as a bloody hole appeared in Ba Tianxiong's chest. Even as a scream escaped his lips, Yang Qi reached out and grabbed his arm.

"You conspired against me with that delvebrute, didn't you?" he said. "It takes a lot of guts for a scummy miner to plot against the foreman himself."

"Attack!" Ba Tianxiong screamed. "Everyone, join forces! It's time to riot!"

"Whoever riots will be executed immediately!" Zhang Jufang shouted, rushing forward and slaughtering a dozen miners who had just been about to start fighting.

Looking around, Yang Qi saw that more miners were starting to go crazy, some of them calling out slogans and catchphrases. Smiling faintly, he let out a cold harrumph.

The noise was like an explosive soundwave that rolled out and sent the miners flying backward. Not a single one could even get close. Many of the miners were powerful Quasi-Gods, and some of them even had weapons. But the sound shattered the weapons and knocked many of the miners unconscious.

"What?!"

Other miners who had been rushing to the scene were terrified by the sight that met their eyes. It was almost like they were in the presence of a god. After all, a single snort had rendered hundreds of powerful Quasi-Gods completely unconscious. How could anyone there deal with force like that?

"Take the unconscious ones and toss them into the furnaces," Yang Qi said. "They're about to become sacrifices."

"What?!" Zhang Jufang said, visibly astonished. "What did you just say, Elder Brother?"

"Weren't you listening? I said to round up the unconscious ones and throw them into the furnaces!" Yang Qi flicked his sleeve. "That's what happens to rebels and traitors."

"Yes sir!"

Without further hesitation, the disciples walked forward and began rounding up the unconscious miners.

However, Yang Qi snorted coldly. "You're far too slow. Forget those orders." He waved his sleeve, and a godwind sprang up that grabbed all of the unconscious miners, then carried them out of the mine and into the furnaces.

Screams immediately rang out as they began to burn. However, the screams eventually faded away. The rest of the miners were shocked, and quickly began dropping to their knees.

"That's what happens to scum who refuse to accept my authority." It was obvious that Yang Qi also understood the dao of tyranny and could use it whenever he wanted. The quintessence of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was the ability to become a monarch, emperor, sovereign, or sage, all with the same thought.

1. Ba Tianxiong: Ba is a surname which also means "tyrant, bully, hegemon, dominate". Tian means "heaven, sky" and Xiong means "bear". This name is pretty over-the-top, but it still comes across as a legitimate name.

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Chapter 1187: Demonling Invasion

Yang Qi was using bloody tactics to deal with the surviving members of Huang Weilong's faction. When Ba Tianxiong saw hundreds of his followers thrown into furnaces to burn alive, he nearly fainted from terror.

Yang Qi had no intention of being merciful with traitors. He still planned to provide medical supplies to the miners in general, but his willingness to be moral and benevolent in that regard didn't mean that he would be kind in everything he did. He was fully aware that good people were often taken advantage of.

These were rebels who had allied themselves with demonlings and fomented rebellion. Without dealing harshly with them, how could Yang Qi keep the rest in line?

In a world of chaos, a ruler had to use severe punishment to establish their authority. Decisive action was required, including executions to crush rebellions. That was how an emperor had to act. After all, if the uprising turned into a large-scale rebellion, people would easily give in to their devilish nature, and far more would die as a result. It was a truth Yang Qi knew about after becoming familiar with the histories of countless civilizations. Over and over again, when rulers showed too much kindness, the end result would be even more slaughter and death.

Many miners, and even many of the disciples, were only now coming to realize that the new foreman was capable of shedding blood without hesitation. In fact, he was even more willing to slaughter the miners than Huang Weilong had been.

"Starting right now," Yang Qi said loudly, "I hope I never see any miners rioting again. Ba Tianxiong will have his godpower removed and be thrown out into the light until he's baked to death. As for the demonling, skin it and chop it up. We'll boil it into a soup for everyone to enjoy for dinner!"

Two screams rang out as both Ba Tianxiong and the delvebrute felt Yang Qi extracting their godpower until they could do nothing but grovel on the ground. Ba Tianxiong was then thrown out into the burning light, where he began to smoke and burn as he was strung up on a pillar.

For several hours, his screams filled the mine, piercing into the ears of hundreds of thousands of miners, leaving them cold, shaken, and terrified.

The miners had been afraid of Huang Weilong, but could defy him on certain occasions. In contrast, Yang Qi had single-handedly executed hundreds of powerful miners and crippled Ba Tianxiong, all with casual ease. The other miners were struck with fear down to the core of their being thanks to that. In fact, most of them already realized that even if hundreds of thousands of miners rioted at the same time, it would be easy for him to wipe them out.

"Aaaiiiieee!"

The delvebrute screamed as a disciple hacked it apart with a saber, pouring its blood into an enormous wok, then cutting the meat off its bones. The aroma of boiling meat soon wafted out as they slowly turned it into a soup.

Normally speaking, the fare offered at the mine was rustic and not particularly delicious. It was usually coarse grain and cereals, with only occasional morsels of demonling meat thrown in. Therefore, this meal was met with much rejoicing.

Night fell as abruptly as ever, and the light disappeared, to be replaced by pitch black and biting cold. The chill that came with night was a stark contrast to the biting heat of the day. However, torches were lit, illuminating the entire mine and making it easy to see. There was no rest for the miners. At the most, they could take short breaks in which they would nap for an hour or two, then continue working.

It was extremely tough manual labor, the kind that only Quasi-Gods could handle. Weaker people would die from it fairly quickly.

More than ever, Yang Qi was curious about how day and night worked in the god world. The impure lands and the immortal worlds had suns and moons, which was what created the cycle of night and day. But the god world had no sun or moon, nor even stars, with nights so dark it was impossible to see your own hand if it was held out in front of your face. He had put a lot of thought into the subject, and had searched the Great Classic of God Ordainment for clues, but still had no idea why the god world was like this.

The god world's seasons were completely chaotic as well. Sometimes, the day was burning hot and the night was freezing. Other times, the day was freezing and the night was even more freezing.

The only thing that was even slightly normal was the rainy season, which Yang Qi had only experienced a bit of when he first arrived.

The disciples weren't holding anything back in trying to get on Yang Qi's good side.

"Elder Brother," Zhang Jufang said, "thanks to your swift and decisive actions earlier today, the entire mine has turned over a new leaf. The miners are working harder than ever, and none of them dare to do anything out of line. I'd say we'll definitely surpass the quota this year."

Meanwhile, Yang Qi had his Lord's Eye open as he attempted to learn more about the ore veins in the mines. His gaze pierced into the ground, then, backed by his immense godpower, flowed through the subterranean veins like a fish swimming through water.

Right now, he didn't have any divine abilities that were specifically designed for drilling through the earth. And of course, the lands of the god world weren't ordinary in any way. Not even ordinary gods could dig through the ground using physical might alone. Only demonlings with special physiology could do that.

That said, his observations had already revealed some interesting things to him. He knew that this mine had existed for over a hundred years, and that the ores on the surface had long since been extracted, making it necessary to dig deeper and deeper to get any results.

'This vein of ore goes down so far,' he thought. From what he could tell, the ground went down for thousands of meters, and the vein snaked back and forth through it like an enormous dragon. It was only in the deepest parts of the god world that the truly high-quality godstones were located, which meant it would be virtually impossible to reach them. If the miners were gods, perhaps they could dig down that far. But Quasi-Gods simply couldn't.

In the impure lands, Yang Qi could break apart continents with a simple chop of his hand. But here, not even Greater Gods could accomplish something like that. That was the realm of Consummate and Perfect Gods.

However, even just casting his vision down so far was very beneficial for Yang Qi. He saw how the power of heaven and earth sank into the depths of the land, where it was crushed with immense pressure that eventually crystallized it, although the process took a lot of time.

As years passed, and more pressure weighed down on that crystallized power, the quality of the ore would improve. At the same time, the immense pressure in those depths made it very, very difficult to extract those ores.

'Now I understand how it all works,' Yang Qi thought. 'This has been very helpful.'

The wind had picked up, making it even colder, and forcing the miners to use more godpower to protect themselves and avoid freezing to death.

Soon, it was possible to hear what sounded like weeping or wailing in the wind, making it seem like something powerful and dangerous was coming.

'Is there a big storm on the way?' he thought. Suddenly, he whistled, and the sound was filled with such explosive godpower that everyone present was shaken. It was almost like a thunderclap, and after it shot out, the winds seemed to die down a bit.

Yang Qi's godpower was so incredible that he could affect meteorological phenomena, which was really the realm of the gods.

'This mine really is a nasty place. And I have to keep the miners alive, otherwise production will slow down too much. Just to extract some ore, I have to put together a huge spell formation. Unfortunately, I need a formation the likes of which only a god could produce. If I did it myself, it would attract too much attention.'

Looking around at the mine, he began formulating a plan.

"Aaaiiiieee!"

Suddenly, a shrill scream echoed out from deep within the mine.

"What happened?" one of the disciples shouted. "Why are they causing such a fuss? Can't they see the foreman is in the middle of seeking enlightenment!? Anyone who interrupts him is just asking to be executed!"

"Go see what happened," Yang Qi said, waving his finger.

As the disciple was about to head into the mine, a group of miners tumbled out screaming and yelling. Then some of them fell to the ground, their mouths frothing and their skin turning dark. It looked like they had been poisoned.

"Snakes... snakes... in the tunnels. They started crawling out of the cracks and biting us. They've got deadly venom!" The miner then dropped dead.

"Snakes?" Yang Qi said, visibly surprised. "Where'd they come from? Hmph! Did that miner just die? Well in that case, I'll bring his soul back and extrude the poisons. Stand!"

Waving his hand, he sent out some godpower that entered the dead miner, filling him with life force. Then the poison was extruded and he opened his eyes.

"Is it some sort of snake attack?" Zhang Jufang said, looking around. However, there were no snakes outside, only in the mine tunnels.

"Foreman, there are definitely a lot of snakes in there," one of the miners said, "and they're in the tunnels with the highest quality ore. What are they doing in there?"

"Take me to them," Yang Qi said, flicking his sleeve. Soon they were in a tunnel as tall as four or five people and wide enough for multiple horse carts to ride through. It was lit with numerous torches, but their light couldn't dispel the sinister air which filled the place.

Whoosh!

All of a sudden, a viper lunged out at Yang Qi.

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Chapter 1188: Demonling Invasion Part 2

SNICK!

A black snake as thin as a metal wire shot through the air like an arrow loosed from a bow. It was clearly the venomous type whose bite would kill rapidly.

Sadly for it, before it could get close to Yang Qi it burst into flame. Thanks to his Unspoiled Body, he was able to summon the power of fire tribulations at any time.

Having seen the black snake, Zhang Jufang's face fell and he said, "Elder Brother, that's a black ironwire viper. They're very venomous, and especially dangerous when in groups. But they shouldn't be here in the mine. We cleared the trees for miles in every direction, which is where they usually make their home. So what exactly are they doing here? They're so venomous that they even scar the trees and the rocks they slither across."

"Let's keep going deeper and see if we can figure out what's going on. The snakes aren't coming from outside, they're entering from the depths of the mine." There were black ironwire vipers in every nook and cranny of the enormous tunnel. Despite their size, they were so dangerous that even people with profound energy arts might not be able to defend against them. But with Yang Qi there, any vipers that showed up were instantly reduced to ashes.

Despite that, the people at Yang Qi's side didn't feel even a bit of heat from the fire.

After all, he wasn't using ordinary fire, but rather the flame of tribulation.

Considering how amazing he was, everyone present was coming to think of him as a god. Eventually, they were deep in the tunnel.

"Watch out!" Zhang Jufang said. "Elder Brother, this has got to be the beginnings of a demonling invasion, and a big one at that. What happens if there's a cave-in here? Wouldn't we be buried alive?"

"We'll be fine," Yang Qi said. "I can send my godpower into the stone around us to strengthen it, if I have to. Did you really think I'd come down here if I couldn't do that?"

The deeper they got, the more black ironwire vipers they saw. Sadly for them, they were dealing with Yang Qi, an enemy the likes of which they had never seen before.

They collapsed into dust, without even leaving behind their corpses. Meanwhile, Yang Qi sped up, moving so fast he was almost flying, and killing the vipers the entire way. It was almost as if he had a destination in mind as he went through all sorts of twists and turns until finally reaching a dead end. This was obviously a huge vein of ore, with crystallized godstones sticking out of the wall, thrumming with power.

Of course, the godstones couldn't be taken for use in cultivation like this; in this state they could only be used to power formations.

Visible directly ahead of the group was a large hole in the wall, out of which poured black ironwire vipers, almost like a flood of water. It was a flood of snakes that not even Quasi-Gods could stand up to. And if nothing happened to stop it, then by daytime, Mine Thirteen would be completely overrun.

That said, Yang Qi was standing there now, destroying all of the snakes that got close.

However, no matter how many he killed, more came out, as if they were hoping to wear down his godpower. Sadly for them, the phrase "run out of godpower" didn't exist in Yang Qi's vocabulary. Smiling, he sent out a stream of energy that vanished into the hole as if it were a black hole.

Then, a shrill voice echoed out, "What brat is out there killing my snake children and grandchildren!?" As the voice washed over them, everyone in Yang Qi's presence felt their souls shrinking away in response.

"A god! It's a god!" Zhang Jufang shrieked, backing up. "Elder Brother, this is bad. We have to get out of here! There's a god controlling the black ironwire vipers. We can't deal with something of this level. We have to report it to the sect!"

"What are you getting flustered for?" Yang Qi said, waving his hand dismissively. "It's only a Lesser God with a godhood rating of one. What can something like that do in the end?"

"You're not a god, boy, so you might as well be an ant to me. That said, you're obviously strong." Along with the words, an enormous, pitch-black snake appeared.

It pulsed with black energy and had a long horn on its head, as well as horns on its abdomen, which was the telltale sign of a dragon in the making. Yang Qi had encountered plenty of Dragonfolk in the mortal world and had eventually subjugated them. But the dragons in the god world were true dragons, making the ones in the mortal world seem like nothing more than loaches.

'This is a godpower incarnation,' Yang Qi thought as he looked at the huge snake. Instead of backing up, he merely smiled and said, "A Snakefolk god? What exactly are you doing here? Are you instigating a demonling invasion to provoke the House of God Ordainment?"

"Are you trying to scare me by bringing up the House of God Ordainment?" The snake god incarnation laughed. "You killed a lot of my snake children and grandchildren, boy. And that pisses me off. Considering you know I'm a god, I'm surprised you still have what it takes to smile."

"Why shouldn't I smile?" Yang Qi replied. "And I couldn't care less whether you're a clone or a real god. I'll kill either version. So cut the crap and prepare to die. Sage Monarch Grand Magic!"

Because the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was Yang Qi's unique divine ability, no one in the god world would recognize it. He had used it to kill the Bloodcorpse God that attacked the Lightningbolt Continent, and he was much weaker at the time. So there was little question as to whether or not he could deal with this snake god incarnation.

With a wave of his hand, he unleashed the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, sending out a wave of power that surrounded the snake.

The pitch-black snake's face fell. "Impossible! How could this be happening? How are you so strong? And what energy art is that? Clone Retreat!"

"It's too late for that!" Yang Qi said, thrusting out his palm with full power, backing it with the Mahātmā Jade and his Heaven-Devouring abilities. When they hit the snake, it crumpled down and flew over, landing on his palm. A moment later, it was sucked inside him.

"Be sealed!" he said, waving his hand to send a stream of power to the hole in the wall, causing it to fade away and return to its original state.

As it vanished, a voice cried out as if from a great distance away, "You'll pay for this, boy! How could I have guessed you were this strong? What's someone like you doing fooling around in a backwater place like this? I'm not going to let you off the hook for this..."

Yang Qi turned around as if he hadn't heard the voice speaking. "Let's go. There's definitely a demonling invasion about to happen. We need to head back and put together a strategy. My main question is why a god is involved. What about the Guardian Mines is worth this level of demonling activity?"

The miners were already buzzing about in activity. After all, a demonling invasion wasn't something to take lightly, and any who weren't fully prepared could end up being eaten.

'It seems I need to set up a spell formation to protect the entire mine. It'll take a lot of godpower, but I should be able to defend against a Lesser God. Having assimilated the sheepskin scroll and the Mahātmā Jade, my energy arts have advanced a lot. It should be enough.'

Raising his voice, he said, "Gather the miners. For the next few days, work is on hold."

Back on the ground level, he chopped his hand out, hewing out a huge ditch with a rampart of earth on the interior.

As soon as it had formed, complex designs were visible on the rampart. Next, he exhaled, and fire filled the designs as the formation powered up.

Then he walked the perimeter, doing the same thing over and over, wrenching up piles of earth and stone to create two sets of seven watchtowers each, for a total of fourteen. Afterward, he summoned a host of swords, all of them crafted from stone and filled with the godpower of the Great Necropolis. Considering their origin, there was no way anyone here would have any idea what they were.

"Step forward," he said to the disciples. "Everyone take a sword and head to a watchtower. If you see any demonlings coming, attack them with the sword. The towers have spell formations with godstones already set into them, so they'll automatically activate when necessary. We should be fine. However, remain in combat readiness at all times. Everyone else, keep an eye on the miners. If any of them try taking advantage of the attack to flee, kill them."

"Yes sir!" the disciples replied in loud voices.

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Chapter 1189: Demonling Invasion Part 3

Yang Qi had just set up a Seven-Seven Reincarnation Formation, and had also created stone swords using his godpower. It was an imitation of the Lord of the Sword Dao and his Unbounded Sword River. Once unleashed, it would send out waves of sword energy that would cut down anything they touched. And the power of stone was connected to the earth in a way that would make the defenses impervious to assault.

They really were the perfect defenses.

'I'm curious to see how strong these demonlings are!' he thought.

Before long, they heard the pounding of drums and the piercing cry of bugles. "What's that?" Yang Qi asked. Don't tell me the demonlings are organized into an actual army."

"Those aren't demonlings," Zhang Jufang replied. "Those are the other fifty-five mines, calling a meeting among the foremen. The call is coming from Mine One, which is where the foremen will gather. Considering a demonling invasion is expected, the foreman of Mine One wants to have everyone united in defense of the mines."

"I see," Yang Qi replied. "Now that I think about it, the god that brought us here from the sect mentioned something about this. That said, although Mine One might have the authority to call a meeting, they don't have the right to order us around. Our mine is already completely secure, and there's no way any demonlings will make it inside. But if the other foremen are expecting trouble, I suppose I can help them out. You stay on guard here. The formation I've set up won't fall, and you can use it to kill hordes of enemies without being in danger."

"Understood," the disciples replied. "We won't let you down!"

With a flick of his sleeve, Yang Qi flew up into the air.

In the darkness of night, the mines shone like torches, making it very easy to see them. Although they were separated, they were close enough that travel was possible without the use of teleportation portals.

Yang Qi flew toward the largest of the mines, Mine One, which was fully three times as big as his Mine Thirteen. It had over a million miners, making it even more difficult to govern. However, from what he had heard, the foreman of Mine One had a good relationship with an important elder from the House of God Ordainment, making his job a lot easier.

And it gave Mine One a lot more authority in general.

Drums pounded and bugles called out into the night.

Eventually, Yang Qi touched down in Mine One and saw a group of over fifty official disciples sitting in a square on a mountain peak. A glimmering shield protected the area from the cold wind. It would surely take a lot of godstones to keep a shield like that operational, but Mine One could afford it.

The gathered disciples noticed Yang Qi's arrival, and most of them nodded in greeting.

"Yang Qi," one of them said, "you're the foreman of Mine Thirteen, right? We heard that you killed Huang Weilong right before the meeting of gang leaders. That bastard had it coming. Amazing!"

"You flatter me," Yang Qi said, finding a seat. "We're all official disciples, after all. How could we let ourselves be pushed around by some novice disciples?"

"But I heard that you had some rebels in your mine," another disciple said. "If you go around killing them too readily, they'll be difficult to control. All of the mines have gang leaders who cause problems. Some of them even have deals worked out with people from the dao of devils. In other words, if you handle them wrong it can easily lead to violent riots. And anyone who doesn't meet the yearly quota will be severely punished."

"Alright, everyone, quiet down," someone said. Everyone looked over and saw a handsome, well-built young man walking out of the nearby mansion grotto. He was clearly an extraordinary individual and seemed to radiate the air of a leader. He had obviously done well for himself after becoming an official disciple.

"Elder Brother Yue, did finally succeed in cultivating your Myriad-Hills God-Mountain Subjugation? Congratulations! You must be just on the verge of becoming a god!"

"You're exactly right. The Yue Clan has elders in the House of God Ordainment, and they're very powerful. Of course, I'm only an official student, so they can't be too brazen in helping me. But after passing the Bloodgore Trials, things changed. I benefited a lot last time I went to the sect, and it won't be long now before I reach godly ascension. If you people stick with me, I'll make sure to take good care of you."

This Elder Brother Yue seemed to fairly pulse with a powerful aura.

'His energy arts are profound,' Yang Qi thought. 'He's benefited a lot in the last month, and he seems to have put Mine One in order. Whatever elder supports him back in the sect, it seems they might not be just a Lesser God. Perhaps it was with that elder's help that he took care of the gang leader in his mine. It seems to me he called this meeting because he wants to take advantage of the situation to benefit himself.'

"Elder Brother Yue, why did you call this meeting?" asked a female disciple. "Is it because of the demonling invasion?"

She was the foreman of Mine Thirty-Six. However, from the expression on her face, Yang Qi could tell that she was working with Elder Brother Yue.

"Yes, it's because of the demonling invasion," Elder Brother Yue replied. "As you've all probably noticed, over the past few days there have been many more demonlings in the area than there used to be. And here and there some will pop up that are particularly powerful. That's a sign of an upcoming invasion. Considering how your mines are so spread out, it's going to be impossible to simply repel the invasion. So we need to work together. We disciples of the Guardian Mines need to be united and focus our strength. The miners as well. If we don't, we won't be able to stand up to this invasion."

"A demonling invasion. How terrifying..."

"You're right. We haven't even been here for a month, and there's already going to be an invasion. I guess we just have really bad luck. They say that there are always casualties during demonling invasions. Even foremen can die. What are we supposed to do?"

"Just listen to Elder Brother Yue. He has the backing of an elder, which means that if things get really bad, a god will probably come help out."

"But he said we need to focus our strength. How? If we try to join the forces of all fifty-six mines, I doubt it would be very orderly. It'd be pure chaos."

After the disciples discussed the matter amongst themselves for a moment, Elder Brother Yue chuckled. "There's no need to worry, I've already taken care of everything. All of you will be fine. I've prepared plenty of spell formations here in Mine One. Plus, there's plenty of open space for the rest of you and I've also stockpiled resources. Therefore, over the next two days, you need to bring as much of your ores and godstones over here as you can. The invasion will begin at any moment, so there's no time to lose."

"Er..." The other disciples exchanged awkward glances. Only complete fools wouldn't realize by now what Elder Brother Yue was getting at. Obviously, he was trying to take advantage of the situation to seize complete control of all of the mines! He wanted control of all the resources!

Some of the disciples were inclined to leave, but when they saw Elder Brother Yue's cold eyes, they reconsidered. The House of God Ordainment had strict rules, so Elder Brother Yue couldn't just kill them. But he could lend someone a knife and have them do his dirty work for him. Besides, if they went out on their own, they would have to deal with the demonling invasion on their own. And a mistake in that regard could lead to a quick death. Obviously, fleeing wasn't an option either, as the punishment for that was even more severe.

"That's a great idea, Elder Brother Yue," said the foreman of Mine Thirty-Six. "It's simple. We combine the resources of all fifty-six mines, and follow your orders. You can hand everything over to the sect for us. I was just thinking recently about how difficult it would be to actually meet the quota. But with you in charge of all the resources, you can easily make up for any deficit. Then we'll all end the year successfully. It's a really good idea."

It was obvious what Elder Brother Yue wanted. The mines actually produced a lot more ore than the quotas demanded, which was why everyone who worked there could benefit to some extent.

But Elder Brother Yue wanted all the resources to go to him, which would mean that he could keep all the extra. Either that, or he could hand in the extra and receive amazing rewards from the sect.

If Yang Qi understood this, then how could the others not?

They had all passed the Bloodgore Trials, which meant they were all formidable figures. And none of them were fools.

"I agree with this proposal, Elder Brother," another disciple said, the foreman of Mine Fifty. Considering how quick he was to speak, it seemed obvious that he and Elder Brother Yue had come to an agreement earlier. "After all, we're all just simple cultivators. Who wants to worry about all the complicated aspects of running a mine? If you can make up for any deficit on our part, we'll be eternally grateful to you."

"I also agree. This will be the best for everyone. From now on, we don't need to worry about meeting the yearly quota." It was the foreman of Mine Forty. After him, another foreman spoke up, then another, and all of them were siding with Elder Brother Yue.

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Chapter 1190: Elder Brother Yue

There were a total of fifty-six foremen, and a dozen or so were already loudly agreeing to go along with Elder Brother Yue's plan. They only made up about a quarter of the total number of foremen. However, those who hadn't yet voiced agreement weren't united in their opposition. In fact, most of them were considering the veiled threats and promises, and would likely side with Elder Brother Yue.

"Elder Brother Yue, if we do entrust all of the resources of all the mines to you, will you really ensure that everyone meets their quota?" one disciple asked. "If so, I'll agree to go along with the arrangement."

"Of course I will," Elder Brother Yue replied with a smile. "You're all Junior Brothers of mine, so who else do you expect me to watch out for? Don't worry, I'll make sure all of this is worth your while."

"Elder Brother Yue," said another disciple, "do you think the sect will mind if we make a deal like this? It's obviously related to personal profit."

"Why would they possibly care? According to the rules, we have to hand over a certain amount of ore. Not meeting the quota is a violation of the rules. In that case, they could slaughter everyone in a given mine and no one would say a thing. When it comes time to hand in the yearly production, just send it to me here. It'll save you a lot of worry and allow all of you to simply focus on improving your cultivation."

There were still quite a few disciples who weren't inclined to agree. After all, handing the resources over to Elder Brother Yue would enable him to profit handsomely. Furthermore, he would essentially have their lives in his control.

For example, what if he just didn't hand over the resources of a given mine at the end of the year? The sect wouldn't care at all about any personal deals that had been made and would just execute everyone who had failed to meet the quota.

Despite the fact that many people didn't want to go along with such an arrangement, there was also the complication of the impending demonling invasion. Furthermore, Elder Brother Yue seemed very threatening, and already had a lot of people on his side. Whoever chose to speak up would surely be made an example of. He probably wouldn't do it openly, but it wouldn't be difficult to have some gang leaders mount an invasion on the mines of anyone who refused to fall in line. Or he could use disciples from the dao of devils to cause endless trouble.

Everyone here was a clever and astute person, so there was no way they were ignorant of just what Elder Brother Yue was capable of.

"In that case, I agree too," said another disciple. "I'll give you all the resources, Elder Brother Yue. From now on, I'm your man. Whatever orders you give, I'll follow."

Elder Brother Yue laughed heartily. "Excellent. Wonderful! You really know how to take the big picture into consideration. I won't let you down."

"I'm in. I want your protection, Elder Brother Yue." By this point, many of the disciples were worried about chiming in too late, thus angering Elder Brother Yue. It seemed obvious how things were going to end, so jumping in at the head of the line seemed to make the most sense.

Elder Brother Yue was already savoring the new power he was accumulating. Thanks to the demonling invasion, he was consolidating the forces of the fifty-six mines. Furthermore, he would also soon be lining his pockets with ore. In turn, that would allow him to acquire all kinds of resources from the sect, making it that much easier to advance his cultivation base.

A lot of disciples were thinking that it wouldn't be worth it to stand up to Elder Brother Yue. As long as they could further their cultivation and reach godly ascension, then they could eventually leave these accursed mines behind forever.

Things went on in this way until Elder Brother Yue had fifty-four of the foremen on his side.

There was only one left: Yang Qi.

Rising to his feet, he looked around coldly.

"What," Elder Brother Yue said, brow furrowed. "Yang Qi, you're the foreman of Mine Thirteen, right? Are you saying you refuse to go along? Are you really going to stick your head out like this?" He was making no attempt to be polite. He had the power now, and everyone else had acknowledged allegiance to him. As far as he was concerned, if Yang Qi refused to see the light, there was no reason to beat around the bush with him.

"Of course I refuse, Mr. Yue. This idea of yours is nothing more than robbery. You're just taking our resources for your own. Why would I possibly agree to that? Hmph! We're all official disciples of the House of God Ordainment. As foremen, it's easy for us to skim some profit off the top. Or, if we manage our mines well, and crush the gang leaders, we can surpass the quota and be rewarded by the sect. With more resources from the sect, our cultivation speed will improve and we'll reach godly ascension that much sooner. If, instead, we work for you, how would we be any different from the novice disciples? You've got to be kidding me if you think I risked my life to pass the Bloodgore Trials only to agree to be your flunky."

Many of the other disciples present were thinking the same thing, but hadn't dared to speak the words aloud. And now they were very interested in seeing how Yang Qi handled the situation.

In response, Elder Brother Yue clapped softly. "Well said. Very well said. You've got a lot of guts, Yang Qi, and I admire that. But aren't you worried that being the only dissenting voice here will get you killed?"

Yang Qi chuckled coldly. "You're saying you have enough guts to try and kill me? Not even elders in the House of God Ordainment would dare to violate the rules by killing an official disciple. Besides, you don't have what it takes to kill me. In any case, this discussion is over. I'm leaving. I'm strong enough to deal with this demonling invasion without you. If any of the rest of you have problems, just let me know. I can help you. And my help will come free of charge; I won't ask for payment of any kind. In the meantime, you ought to spend some time thinking about whether you really want to be a flunky to Elder Brother Yue."

With his words hanging in the air, Yang Qi turned to leave.

Many people felt their hearts stirring in response to Yang Qi's words, especially when he mentioned helping them with the demonling invasion. If he could do that, then why did they need to be flunkies of Elder Brother Yue?

"You think you can just leave? Sorry, it won't be that easy! Maybe I can't kill you, but I can teach you a good lesson. I run the Guardian Mines!" Elder Brother Yue was well aware that if Yang Qi got away after making a big scene like this, it would be a big blow to the morale of his new followers.

"Myriad-Hills God-Mountain Subjugation!

"First stance: One Thousand Mountains!"

RUMBLE!

Clenching his hand into a fist, he shot toward Yang Qi, his godpower causing the image of a thousand mountains to be projected behind him. It was almost as if the power of a thousand mountains were about to crush Yang Qi, causing the entire area to rumble as if from thunder.

"Screw the hell off!" Yang Qi said, not even bothering to look at him. He flicked his sleeve, and a massive wind sprang up, shattering the incoming attack and continuing on toward Elder Brother Yue himself. When it struck, he was sent flying backward like a bullet, then slammed into the door of the mansion grotto, where he coughed up several huge mouthfuls of blood.

He struggled to rise, glaring at Yang Qi as he prepared to speak. Then he coughed up more blood and slumped back down. "You... you're so strong..."

"There's no way a piece of trash like you can run all fifty-six mines." Without even bothering to look at him, Yang Qi flew up into the air and disappeared in a streak of prismatic light.

"What?!" Everyone knew that Elder Brother Yue was just about to reach godly ascension, but they had all just witnessed him being defeated with a single move. Only now were they starting to realize how strong Yang Qi truly was.

"Since when did Yang Qi get such amazing energy arts? Elder Brother Yue just used the move One Thousand Mountains, which is one of the top moves for Quasi-Gods, yet he was defeated so easily!"

"Well, it doesn't matter. It seems to me that Elder Brother Yue doesn't have what it takes to keep us safe. Let's get out of here and ask Yang Qi for help."

"Yeah, exactly! Considering how strong Elder Brother Yang Qi is, there's no way any of us are a match for him. Look what bad shape Elder Brother Yue is in."

Even the disciples who were previously loyal to Elder Brother Yue were now reconsidering everything.

One of the disciples raised his voice and said, "Elder Brother Yue, it looks like you have a battle of wills on your hand. Since it doesn't involve us, we'll leave for now. After all, we have to make preparations for the demonling invasion."

"I have to go, too. I'll come back later to offer my respects, Elder Brother Yue..."

Before long, everyone had left, even the previously staunch supporters of Elder Brother Yue. He was completely alone.

After some time, he managed to struggle to his feet and pull out a jade bottle from inside the fold of his garment. After gobbling up the medicinal pills inside, he slowly recovered his godpower and vital energy.

Crack!

The bottle shattered. "Yang Qi... you just wait. I won't let you get away with this. How dare you offend me! My clan has a lot of influence in the House of God Ordainment. You obviously have no idea who the Yue Clan is!"

Yang Qi returned to his mountain peak, a serious expression on his face. He knew that defeating Elder Brother Yue might cause complications, but in the end, he wasn't very worried about it. He was an official disciple, so according to the rules of the sect, he should be fine. The main thing he needed to worry about would be subterfuge.

Of course, he didn't fear subterfuge either.

The night passed.

The next morning, a large group of foremen flocked to Yang Qi's mountain.

"Elder Brother Yang Qi, considering how Elder Brother Yue threatened us so openly, we hope you can provide us with protection." There were over twenty foremen present. As for the rest, they didn't want to throw their lot in with either Elder Brother Yue or Yang Qi.

After all, switching loyalties to Yang Qi would obviously enrage Elder Brother Yue.

Although he was only a disciple like the rest of them, he had the support of an elder who was also a god. As for those who chose to join Yang Qi, they decided there would be plenty of time to worry about such things later. The most pressing matter at hand was to avoid being a flunky of Elder Brother Yue.

"We're all fellow disciples, so it's only natural that I help you," Yang Qi said. "I've already set up a huge spell formation here in Mine Thirteen. You can always find protection here. And if you have gang leaders in your own mines who're causing problems, I'll help you get rid of them. For all we know, they might be in league with the demonlings."

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Chapter 1191: Demonlings

Quite a few disciples were seeking help from Yang Qi because of how he had offered it with no strings attached.

Whether or not people sided with him wasn't extremely important to him. However, he wanted to take advantage of the situation to win some hearts. As for the potential retribution on the part of Elder Brother Yue, he wasn't worried. Even if a god came to cause problems, he could handle the situation.

Furthermore, he didn't let it affect his cultivation.

He continued with his daily routine, seeking enlightenment from the sheepskin scroll and Mahātmā Jade, and learning profound things by studying the essence of the god world.

His daoist techniques were becoming more refined, especially his Civilization Founding Grand Magic and imperial-heaven pre-beginning powers. He was now able to assess the psychic scales of others, and even see their godpower as it flowed through them.

And he could now confirm that his own psychic scale was in the thousands. He wasn't sure what ordinary gods had for psychic scales, but he was sure that they couldn't compare to him.

His enlightenment of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic was growing more refined. He could now make godnotes that lasted for much longer periods of time, and the quality of the godstones he could create was increasing by the day.

He waved his hand and a fist-sized godstone appeared, glittering with bright light, it almost looked as if it contained a growing world of lightning. Godstones of this quality were considered a rarity.

In fact, he was almost in the position of being able to create godstones that contained god embryos. That was a mark of the Paramount level.

He was just on the verge of breaking through to a level of will that could devastate almost all other types of gods.

Long ago, Yang Qi's immortal-slaying clone had started out as an immortal embryo in a godly-grade spirit stone.

However, godly-grade spirit stones were still just spirit stones. Spirit stones were very different from immortal stones, which were in turn very different from godstones.

The highest quality godstones could only be produced from mines in the god world and were never seen in the impure lands. And the power within them was the only thing that could activate and operate god formations. Godstones of the highest quality would eventually produce god embryos, which were expressions of god vitality and life force. Such things were very rarely seen in mines.

Taking a deep breath, Yang Qi opened the Great Classic of God Ordainment and flipped to the section about services rendered to the sect.

'If you turn in an imperial caliber godstone, you get ten merit points. Hand in a godstone with a god embryo, and you can get five hundred!' From that it was obvious how rare god embryos were.

In the House of God Ordainment, even just one merit point could be exchanged for many things. In fact, the foremen of the mines would generally be rewarded with a single merit point for meeting their yearly quota.

In the impure lands, spirit stones and immortal stones were classified as such: low-, mid-, high-, supreme-, royal-, imperial-, sovereign-, sagely-, heavenly-, and godly-grade.

But in the god world, godstones were described differently.

Considering that the Great Classic of God Ordainment contained all sorts of information about the god world, it was a given that it described godstones. The ranking went as followed: shoddy, normal, greater, noble, imperial, holy, and perfect.

As for the stones Yang Qi had originally created, they were greater godstones.

His godsands were worth a single noble caliber godstone each, which was why the Primeval Pavilion had been so interested in them. The stones he could create now, with the rumbling of thunder in them, were imperial caliber godstones, which his mine couldn't even produce.

The type that had god embryos were holy caliber godstones, which Yang Qi still couldn't produce.

As for a perfect caliber godstone, he had no idea what they were like. They were things that Paramount Gods would use to fuel their god kingdoms.

The Great Classic of God Ordainment didn't contain information about cultivation techniques. However, it had a lot of general information about the god world, describing its geography, the demonlings and fiend-devils that could be found there, and even details about the climate and weather. It also listed the rare types of treasures and medicinal ingredients that existed.

It was essentially an encyclopedia.

Most of the information wouldn't be useful to ordinary disciples. However, Yang Qi was a veritable dictionary of martial arts, and of all the things he lacked, techniques weren't even on the list. Therefore, information about the god world was very valuable to him, and it even helped with the God Legion Seal and his Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

Because of that, he spent a lot of time studying the Great Classic of God Ordainment.

Three months passed in a flash.

Of the fifty-five other foremen, about thirty had allied themselves with Yang Qi. And for safety's sake, they had already moved all of their godstone reserves, as well as their miners and disciples, over to Mine Thirteen. As for their own mines, they had ceased operations.

Demonling attacks had become a daily problem. They would appear out of nowhere, kill some miners, then unpredictably disappear. Although it wasn't hard to kill the invading demonlings, they never seemed to stop coming. And there were some demonlings who could tunnel through the ground and launch attacks in the deeper parts of the mines, making things even worse. There were also fierce bird-like demonlings that would attack from above and whose claws could easily crush the heads of humans into nothing. Miners were dying on a daily basis.

The demonlings in the god world had to be extremely fierce to survive, and thus attacked viciously, even using invincible divine abilities.

The repeated incursions seemed to confirm that there would be a large-scale invasion soon. It was with great fanfare that all of the foremen went around making preparations for defense.

Yang Qi was continuously bolstering his own defensive spell formations. As for the disciples under his protection, they could see the demonlings rushing forth in attack. But when they got to within about three thousand meters of the shield, streams of sword energy would fly out and slash them to bits. More often than not, their blood would evaporate before it even hit the ground.

There were no subterranean attacks.

The ground was so strong thanks to the spell formation that the tunneling demonlings had no way to break through, making the ground a very safe place to be.

Occasionally, smaller demonlings would try attacking on foot, but the sword energy would slash them to pieces before they could get close. In short, it was impossible for any demonlings to get close to Mine Thirteen.

Unfortunately, the demonlings didn't fear death, and their numbers only grew as time went by.

Elder Brother Yue sat in a hall in Mine One. Behind him stood an elder with a long beard, flowing hair, and skin that glowed like gold. Obviously, he was a Lesser God.

"Boundless Gods Defend the Body; Overturn the Cosmos and Invert the Sun and Moon; Boundless Will of the Preheaven Dragon. Nine-Dragons Water-Breathing Heavenly-Doctor God Art!"

Crash!

Nine dragons appeared from behind him, spitting out water that became misty clouds. An intense medicinal aroma filled the area as the clouds entered Elder Brother Yue's meridians and sea of energy, healing him completely.

Cracking sounds rang out as Elder Brother Yue began to thrum with a powerful aura.

"I'll never forgive you for hurting me so badly, Yang Qi!" he growled, hands clenched into fists as he shot to his feet.

"What exactly happened here?" the elder asked, his expression grim and full of killing intent. "You were obviously beaten very badly. I heard about the demonling invasion, so I snuck over here to help you. You're a member of the Yue Clan, so we can't have you dying out here. But if word were to spread about this, it would make things difficult for you in the future. You would never become the next patriarch of the clan if everyone knew I was helping you. That's why I can't take action myself."

"It's like this, Uncle," Elder Brother Yue said, then went into a detailed explanation. When he was finished, he said, "I can't believe Yang Qi is that strong. He beat me with one move! In fact, I suspect he's actually stronger than he's letting on."

"What? There's a foreman of that level here?" The elder was clearly shocked. "I'll look into it and see if it's as you say."

A mirror formed of godpower appeared in his hand, into which he sent a pearl of energy. Instantly, a scene appeared in the mirror.

He saw all the mines, many of which were empty, other than the roaming demonlings in them.

As for Mine Thirteen, it was surrounded by a rampart of swords, and even the air above it was covered by an energy shield.

Any demonlings who got close, even the crawling type that resembled spiders, centipedes, or scorpions, would all die.

"What a powerful spell formation!" the elder said, visibly shocked. "Not even I could create something like that."

1. I think is the best reference for the information about the clone starting out as an immortal embryo.

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Chapter 1192: Demonlings Part 2

Upon seeing the serious expression on the face of this god uncle of his, Elder Brother Yue said, "Uncle, don't tell me that even gods need to fear this Yang Qi?"

The elder snorted coldly. "I never said that. If there was a Quasi-God strong enough to stand up to a god, the sect would have noticed him much earlier. Why would they possibly force him to be a foreman here? Exalted figures like that are rarities, even in our House of God Ordainment. I did hear of a few people like that making a show in the recent Bloodgore Trials, although they were all taken away as apprentices by top figures in the sect."

"In any case, Uncle, I'm not a match for him."

Elder Brother Yue was doing his best to emphasize that part.

"That formation of his is extraordinary to say the least. I don't think I could break through those defenses easily, but I doubt he was the one who set it up. He probably has the support of an important person from the sect, similar to how I support you. After all, that's the reason why Mine One has such a powerful formation protecting it. I'm very curious to see what this Yang Qi's cultivation base is like. Psychic Mightiness: Void Infiltration!"

A powerful stream of psychic power flowed out of the elder and surreptitiously headed toward Yang Qi's formation. Once there, the elder used an ingenious magical method to pierce the formation.

He chuckled. "It's a strong formation, but considering I've mastered the Nine Flexures Psychic Concealment art, I can come and go without being detected by anyone, including this Yang Qi. And if I can raise my cultivation base to a slightly higher level, pushing me even closer to the Paramount level, I could probably take control of him and turn him into a puppet."

"Uncle," Elder Brother Yue asked, "my will convergence is currently at peak Terrifying, just a step away from the Paramount level. Do you think I have a chance of breaking through?"

The elder laughed heartily. Studying his nephew for a moment, he said, "You want to reach the Paramount level? I advise you to stop thinking about it. You probably think that, given your talent, all you need is some help from us to become a Lesser God. But breaking through to the Paramount level is nothing to take lightly. For you, it's essentially a pipe dream. The difference between Terrifying and Paramount isn't just a difference of a level. They're as far apart as heaven and earth. Not even I can achieve that breakthrough without coming across some very good fortune. For example, if you have enough merit points, you can hand them in to the sect to get a first-class treasure and slowly work toward a breakthrough. But for you, it's not possible. You'd do better to focus on solidifying your godhood and becoming a Lesser God. Even with a godhood rating of only one, you can still accomplish a lot. Afterward, you can worry about trying to reach the Paramount level. And even then, don't forget that your chances will be slim. To step from the Terrifying level to the Paramount level requires passing all kinds of hurdles and tribulations. You have to overcome heart-devils, illusion-devils, will-devils, self-devils, faith-devils, and all sorts of devilish tests. They're devil tribulations that involve fighting, not ordinary monsters, but fiend-devils that arise from within yourself. I've seen a lot of Common Gods who tried to reach the Paramount level, but ultimately went insane and then died within a few days."

"It's that bad?" Elder Brother Yue said, his face ashen. "Many thanks for your advice, Uncle. I guess I had my sights set too high. I'll just go forward slowly but surely. Oh, by the way, Uncle. What level is Yang Qi's cultivation base?"

"He's reading the Great Classic of God Ordainment," the elder chuckled coldly. "I'll send some more psychic power in to get an idea of exactly what's going on with him. In fact, maybe I'll infect him with my God-Ordaining Towering-Heaven Magic. If I implant one of those seeds into him, it will spread through his blood, nascent divinity, sea of consciousness, and psyche. He'll have no idea what's going on, and will probably even think that heaven is helping him further his cultivation!"

Waving both of his hands out in front of him, he sent out a stream of psychic energy.

Meanwhile, in Yang Qi's mansion grotto, Yang Qi opened his eyes and locked his gaze onto the Yue Clan elder. The truth was that, given Yang Qi's cultivation base, his psychic power was vastly superior to this elder's. While the elder was on the verge of being able to start a Paramount breakthrough, Yang Qi had already begun the process. In fact, the only reason he hadn't completed the process yet was that he wasn't in the ideal circumstance.

Invisible psychic power flowed toward Yang Qi, but he didn't react at all, as if he didn't notice what was happening. He simply focused on the book he was reading. The truth was that he wasn't there as his true self. It was a godpower incarnation that was so realistic that no one could possibly tell that it wasn't real.

As the Yue Clan elder sent his psychic power in to implant the seed, the clone shivered and his cultivation base seemed to rise to a higher level.

An ordinary Quasi-God who experienced something like this would think that they were breaking through, and would simply accept what was happening. And of course, that would result in them falling for the trick.

But Yang Qi just chuckled darkly. 'These people from the Yue Clan are really shameless. They're actually plotting against me in complete disregard for the rules of the House of God Ordainment. Unfortunately, I don't have any solid proof. That seed could've come about as a side effect of regular cultivation. Although, it's impolite not to reciprocate! I think I'll implant him with a devil embryo! Heaven-God Hell-Exterminating Devil Embryo!"

A virtual devil embryo appeared, which flew up into the air toward what appeared to be a golden eye hovering there, quietly observing everything.

Of course, it was a manifestation of the Yue Clan elder's technique. Moments later, as the elder chuckled madly, he retracted the godpower eye, bringing the devil embryo along with it. That, in turn, made it possible for Yang Qi to instantly know everything about the elder. He saw one piece of godhood floating in his sea of energy, which meant that his godhood rating was one, albeit close to reaching the level of two.

Godhood was often described as the Great Dao of the Gold Core, and even having one piece made one deathless.

Already, the devil embryo had taken up residence within that piece of godhood like a parasite. All it would take would be a thought on Yang Qi's part and the devil embryo would flare to life, either turning the elder into a puppet or completely draining his godpower.

It was definitely against the rules to kill an elder in the sect, and anyone who did would be severely punished. That said, Yang Qi hadn't even met this elder yet, so there was no way anyone could link the two of them together. If Yang Qi wanted, he could wait until the elder returned to the sect and kill him during a session of cultivation, ensuring that no one would suspect foul play. Or he could wait until the man got into a fight with someone else, and do it then.

He now had control over a god.

"Very well, I've already helped you deal with your enemy," the elder said. "Now that he has that seed in him, whenever he practices cultivation, the godpower he develops will be transferred to you. All you need to do is assimilate this paper talisman, got it?" He produced a paper talisman which Elder Brother Yue immediately devoured.

Almost immediately, Elder Brother Yue felt godpower flowing into him, which meant that for all intents and purposes, he didn't need to practice his own cultivation. He burst out laughing. "How will you fight with me now, Yang Qi? Your cultivation is my cultivation. Your reserves of energy will be my reserves!"

Yang Qi watched all of this happen from his own mountain. He saw the godpower flowing from the clone into Elder Brother Yue, yet what Elder Brother Yue didn't know was that he had also been infected with a devil embryo, putting him under Yang Qi's control as well.

"I can't kill this Yang Qi with my own hands," the elder said. "He's an official disciple, so if the truth were to leak, the sect would never let me off the hook. Remember, you absolutely, positively must not actually kill any official disciples. Even if you were the son of the sect leader, as long as there was evidence incriminating you, no one would be able to keep you safe. However, if you can have him disposed secretly, then no one will be the wiser."

"I know," Elder Brother Yue said, nodding his head grimly.

It was around that time that day suddenly turned into night.

Howls echoed out in the night, like the screeching of monkeys. Clearly, there were hordes of demonlings approaching! The ground shook, and the mountains trembled.

"The demonling invasion!" the elder said, his expression turning serious. "Hurry up and get ready, I'll keep the spell formation going. You lead your followers into combat against the demonlings. It'll be dangerous, but will also be good training for them. Remember, you have to seize control of the Guardian Mines. Our clan needs them! And you have to do this on your own, without anyone realizing that I'm helping you."

"I understand all that. I know it took a lot of resources on the part of the clan to make me an official disciple, all for the purpose of taking control of these fifty-six mines. Seizing control will be the ultimate service to the clan." Elder Brother Yue shivered. Although it felt good to have the support of his clan, he knew that if he didn't make himself useful, he would eventually be discarded. The clan rules were very strict.

The House of God Ordainment was a huge organization that contained many clans within it. It was just like how mortal empires would have aristocratic families in positions of power.

Back in Mine Thirteen, the disciples heard the sound of the incoming armies of demonlings. They couldn't see them yet, but they could hear the sound, and feel the ground shaking.

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