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

47. 1523

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Chapter 1523: Strong Reaction

It only took a month for news of the fourth empire to spread far and wide.

Of course, it only took three days for the members of the other three dynasties to become aware of the situation.

Immediately, numerous meetings were called.

After all, none of the leaders of the other three dynasties wanted a fourth power to contend with. It signified that there was going to be even more competition for the resources and destiny to be had in the god world. As a result, all three dynasties were thinking about ways to get rid of this interloper.

That said, none of them dared to take action blithely. The Lord of the Sword Dao had presided over the ceremony, which was a shocking matter that had astonished everyone who heard of the details.

No one dared to face the wrath of the Lord of the Sword Dao. Not even the leader of the House of the Chiliocosm would dare to face up against the energy of the Lord of the Sword Dao.

The Lord of the Sword Dao hadn't been seen for billions of years, but it was a given that, now that he was back, his dao of the sword was as incisive as ever. That, coupled with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire, was enough to dominate everything around them. He would have been impressive enough on his own, but as the guardian of the empire, boosted by its destiny, he was even more formidable. In fact, the arrangement was a virtuous cycle that improved his cultivation base and made him virtually unstoppable.

That said, it also made his cultivation base dependent on Yang Qi, which gave Yang Qi even more control over him.

It had always been this way throughout history. An emperor gave his ministers power and control, but it could all be stripped away from them in an instant.

It was the same with the Lord of the Sword Dao. Everything about him was now bestowed by Yang Qi. The net of law created by destiny covered everything and was beyond compare.

For now, Yang Qi was simply waiting.

He knew that after the announcement was made, it would cause a commotion in the god world in ways that even he couldn't even predict. People were streaming to join him, even experts from confucian and buddhist schools. Individuals similar to Patriarch Deva from tiny locations would come, seeking refuge within his borders, and hoping to get their hands on some resources.

Resources were all-important.

Intentionally or otherwise, news had spread about Yang Qi having access to treasure troves from the halls of heaven, which only made him more attractive to even more people.

Of course, it was little surprise that some of the newcomers were actually spies from the other dynasties.

Sadly for them, once they entered the Everlasting Aegis, the net of law would sense them. Then the sage monarch magistrates would make special arrangements for them, using those opportunities to brainwash them and turn them into double agents. In the end, the other three dynasties were harming their own interests with their spies.

Yang Qi spent a lot of effort adjusting the structure of his dynasty, ensuring that the destiny flowed in the most perfect way possible. As a result, he was starting to unlock the deepest secrets of karmic recompense.

Karmic recompense was the highest manifestation of a system of destiny.

And now, it was appearing in the world.

For example, if someone dared to violate the moral principles or general laws of the empire, for instance by committing murder, the empire's destiny could punish them instantly, reducing them to nothing but ash. It was only karmic recompense that could lead to long-term stability. And it was only because of karmic recompense that people wouldn't dare to commit harmful acts.

In the end, destiny would seep into the hearts and minds of all the citizens, and ensure that they didn't even consider doing anything to violate the law.

That was the ultimate goal.

The destiny of the empire could ordain gods and inflict karmic recompense, leading to peaceful thoughts in the minds of all. If the people of the empire never had harmful thoughts, it would lead to the empire being invincible in any battle they fought.

Of course, right now, Yang Qi's destiny and karmic recompense hadn't reached that level. But it was on the way.

That said, none of the other empires could even come close to doing such things. Their empires were huge, and their destiny was scattered and difficult to manage.

Yang Qi looked at the destiny of his empire; it was like a white pillar of jade, supporting the four corners of the universe. At this point, his empire was clearly equal to the Invincible and Chiliocosm Dynasties. He couldn't help but nod in satisfaction. His foundation was solid, and if some situation arose in which he was backed into a corner, he could always have Yang Primal-Chaos and Dugu Sheji come join him. That would not only strengthen him, but it would also weaken the other two dynasties. And his destiny would improve as a result.

For now, he would hold back, though. With those two in their positions in the armed forces of their respective dynasties, he had a great way to get new information.

Although the other three dynasties didn't dare to make any open moves in the month that passed, countless meetings were held, and various plans were devised. Yang Qi got almost immediate reports on many of those secret meetings, although it was harder when it came to the Central Dynasty.

He had subjugated Proud Mindtravel, but unfortunately, the man wasn't even a God-Lord, so the information he had access to was limited.

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized a dramatic transformation was occurring to the flows of destiny, which seemed to indicate that the other three dynasties had joined forces. Although he had speculated that something like this would happen, it was still something of a shock.

Moments later, he received messages from both Yang Primal-Chaos and Dugu Sheji.

"Milord, Proud Central issued invitation cards to the top members of the other two dynasties, inviting them to the Central Dynasty for an assembly. It's highly likely that the Sage Monarch Empire is going to be targeted by a new alliance!"

"Milord, you have to make preparations. I'll be attending the meeting in which the patriarchs make the final decision. I won't be able to do anything to stop it from happening. Please, forgive me for that."

"Don't worry. You've done nothing wrong. In fact, quite the opposite. That said, I think I'm finally going to make my move, and head into the Central Dynasty. You two just wait for me to arrive. This chaotic moment is the perfect time to sneak in there."

How could Yang Qi not take advantage of this moment? There was no better opportunity to sneak into the Central Dynasty and look around for the Mahātmā Jade. If he could get that final piece, he could make his final major leap in power. And at that point, he wouldn't need to be afraid of anyone.

His psychic scale was already at ninety billion, which meant he could hold his own against numerous top patriarchs. But unfortunately, he couldn't come out on top of someone with a psychic scale of a hundred billion. Proud Central was just beyond him, and it was the same with the treacherous and deadly Proud Heaven.

With the three other dynasties on the move, the Sage Monarch Empire was in extreme danger, and could very easily be strangled out of existence. It was a moment to act with extreme caution.

Therefore, he simply had to get the final piece of the jade.

Of course, getting the jade didn't mean that he would simply reach a psychic scale of a hundred billion, and that was all. For all he knew, completing the jade might push him to the level of hundreds of billions. Furthermore, the mutual opposition and attraction of the Mahātmā Jade and the God Legion Seal could lead to dramatic transformations that he had no clue about right now.

Another thing to consider was that, once he was strong enough, he would be able to take full control of the halls of heaven.

A whole chain reaction of results was going to occur.

It was entirely possible that he would step into the half-Annulled level, and become a mighty entity like King Immortal-Slayer or the Sovereign Lord.

It all rested on the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade. Without that piece of jade, any sense of security or accomplishment was a sham.

Yang Qi was also aware that the final piece of the jade contained profound secrets, and possibly traps. Getting it wasn't going to be easy.

However, that didn't make him any less certain that he had to get it. If anything, it only made him more certain.

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, he blurred into motion, vanishing from sight.

Shortly thereafter, he was in the depths of the House of the Invincible. After all, he was still technically a viceroy there, and had subjugated quite a few of its people.

Slipping secretly into the armed forces, he found Dugu Sheji, upon whom he concealed himself in the form of a jade pendant.

Dugu Sheji then flew out to a location where numerous top experts were converging. All of them were elite members of the imperial house, or other old-timers. And they all had psychic scales of over thirty billion. There were about a hundred of them in total.

Whoosh.

Nine vortexes appeared overhead, and everyone dropped to their knees, joining voices to say, "Our respects, Patriarchs!"

Those nine vortexes contained the top figures of the House of the Invincible, the nine patriarchs who ran everything. No one even knew exactly where they normally stayed.

Yang Qi also spotted the emperor, whose psychic scale was at the level of eighty billion. Although he couldn't measure up to Yang Qi himself, he was still very impressive.

Yang Qi nodded. 'The collective leadership of the House of the Invincible is still a bit superior to my Sage Monarch Empire.'

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Chapter 1524: Alliance of Three Dynasties

If the power of the House of the Invincible alone was enough to surpass the leaders of the Sage Monarch Empire, what would happen if all three dynasties joined forces?

Of course, the Sage Monarch Empire had an advantage in the united hearts of its people. There were no plots or infighting sullying its destiny. Nor were there political shenanigans, ensuring that the destiny burned hot and bright.

If there really was a clash between the two empires, the Invincible Dynasty would ultimately be routed. Destiny was the determining factor in everything, so in the case of a protracted war, the chaos and disunity there would lead to its downfall.

It was the opposite with the Sage Monarch Empire. Even if they were wiped out, the people would fight to the last man, completely determined to give their lives for their empire.

There were now more than a hundred million sage monarch magistrates, and they continued proliferating every day. With each new magistrate that appeared, their ability to govern the empire improved, and the citizens felt safer.

In most empires, a protracted war would lead to situations in which some of the people became resentful, and would surrender to the enemy if they had the chance. Not so with the Sage Monarch Empire.

Everyone had their place in the system, and all of them were rewarded with resources for their services. As such, everyone was content.

One factor had to do with the fact that the sage monarch magistrates weren't human. They were thralls, almost like machines, and performed their duties with cold efficiency. And their mere nature meant that no one was jealous of them.

Furthermore, the sage monarch magistrates were completely righteous and just, and would never discriminate. They were impartial and incorruptible to the core. The end result was that they were respected and trusted. Even people who had once completely trusted in the confucians had to admit that the sage monarch magistrates were superior to even the confucian grandmasters.

That was why a conflict between the Invincible Dynasty and the Sage Monarch Empire would end in certain defeat for the former.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a matter of great importance both to our empire, and the god world as a whole," one of the nine patriarchs said. "In short order, all of our top leaders will go to the Central Dynasty, where the three dynasties will discuss the matter. For the entire existence of the three dynasties, we've abided by a general non-aggression pact. Now, a fourth empire has arisen that presents a clear threat to all of us. Soon, we will decide exactly how to deal with the situation."

There were several hundred members of the imperial house present. This group truly represented the top leaders of the dynasty. And it was only now that Yang Qi was getting a true sense of what the House of the Invincible was capable of. Sadly, almost all of Yang Qi's psychic power was focused on keeping the Lord of the Sword Dao in check, otherwise he would have tried subjugating a few of these people.

A similar meeting was taking place in the House of the Chiliocosm, and after it was over, Yang Qi sensed Yang Chiliocosm and other top experts heading in the direction of the Central Dynasty.

Neither group was afraid. Given that they both had so many top experts present, there was no way the Central Dynasty would try anything tricky. In fact, most of the time, none of the dynasties would ever agree to let so many top experts inside their borders. That was one reason they knew the Central Dynasty's invitation had been made in good faith.

It went to show how anxious the Central Dynasty was about the situation, and how much they wanted to destroy this newly-arisen fourth empire. No one knew exactly what the emperor of the Sage Monarch Empire was like. They knew little more than his name. However, the might of the Lord of the Sword Dao was something they all recognized.

Yang Qi remained hidden as the group flew along.

Several days later, the Central Dynasty appeared in front of them, like a mass of white energy, as pure as jade. A road appeared leading inside, standing in the middle of which was a mighty expert with flowing black hair and disdain in his eyes. Unexpectedly, it was Proud Heaven!

Proud Heaven himself was accepting the visitors!

He was the number two figure in the Central Dynasty, so it made sense for him to be the one to wait for the top figures of the other dynasties. Unfortunately, Yang Qi didn't have much idea what was going on in the Central Dynasty, thanks to his agents there being of such low rank.

In fact, the true secrets of the dynasty were completely beyond his purview. And right now, he very much needed to know what was going on behind the scenes there.

"Patriarchs and royals of the Invincible Dynasty, I am Proud Heaven. I've been waiting here in great anticipation of your arrival. The patriarchs from the House of the Chiliocosm are already here. Please, allow me to escort you to the Central God-Palace, so we can begin our meeting."

Proud Heaven spoke with great poise and dignity.

In response, the nine patriarchs from the House of the Invincible nodded respectfully. After all, they might consider Proud Heaven to be part of the younger generation, but his cultivation base was roughly on par with theirs. He had a psychic scale of over a hundred billion, so there was no way they would try to take advantage of their technical level of seniority.

With little fanfare, they indicated for Proud Heaven to lead the way.

Yang Qi remained hidden. Considering his cultivation base was at the level of ninety billion, he had no fear of being discovered by Proud Heaven. Only a half-Annulled expert would have any chance of doing that.

They walked down the path for some time before eventually reaching the Central God-Palace.

It was a hulking structure filled with countless seats for the guests. Interestingly, the seats were golden thrones that reminded Yang Qi of the thrones in the God Legion Seal. Apparently, the top experts of the Central Dynasty knew a bit about the God Legion Seal.

And it was no surprise that the experts from the Chiliocosm Dynasty and the Invincible Dynasty went a bit chill at the sight.

Even upon initial observation, Yang Qi could sense the tension between the three dynasties, and hoped that he could use that to sow discord, making it difficult for them to form an alliance. Every moment of time he bought now would make his empire that much stronger. In fact, if he could force the other dynasties to drag things out for a few months, he would probably be in the position to hold his own.

He spotted the Lord of the Chiliocosm, and could sense how profound his cultivation base was. It was definitely over a hundred billion. Unfortunately, being in the Central God-Palace, he couldn't make a more accurate assessment without the risk of revealing himself. That said, he could tell that Yang Chiliocosm was stronger than the Lord of the Sword Dao. After all, he was fundamentally at the level of a God-Lord, but also had a dynasty that had been around for billions of years. For all Yang Qi knew, it might have been around for more than a hundred billion years, or even longer.

Yang Chiliocosm had a lot of people with him, but Yang Qi's attention was immediately drawn to a burly young man who sat there with his eyes closed, not saying a word. To Yang Qi's immense and utter shock, that young man looked exactly like he himself during his days in the impure lands!

He looked exactly like teenage Yang Qi from back in Yanhaven!

Of course, Yang Qi had changed a lot since his fateful clash with Yun Hailan. Yet here was a person who looked exactly like he had back in those days. It was really remarkable.

He immediately realized that this person had to be Yang Voidprime, the other Fateless One.

He was no less enigmatic than Proud Heaven, and there was no doubt that he was an enemy. In fact, as soon as Proud Heaven entered, he looked over and smiled faintly.

"Where's Proud Central?" Yang Chiliocosm asked. "There's no way you're going to preside over this meeting, is there?"

After all, Proud Central was the official leader of the Central Dynasty.

Proud Heaven smiled. "Lord of the Chiliocosm. Ladies and gentlemen. Patriarch Proud Central in the middle of dealing with an invincible monster. If this monster escaped, it would wreak destruction on the whole god world. Therefore, Proud Central must devote his full concentration to the matter. In the meantime, I have the power and authority to make any decisions here. So yes, I will be presiding over the meeting. Does anyone object? If anyone believes that I'm too weak to qualify, you're welcome to submit a complaint."

"It's fine," said one of the patriarchs from the House of the Invincible. "He can sit in for Proud Central. I, for one, believe you're more than strong enough to preside, Proud Heaven. And you're more trustworthy than Proud Central anyway. So go ahead and tell us what's on your mind."

The Lord of the Chiliocosm had immediately bristled at Proud Heaven's response, and had been thinking of making a sharp comeback. But when he heard the patriarch from the House of the Invincible, he suddenly came to a realization. "You're the real emperor here in the Central Dynasty, aren't you Proud Heaven? Proud Central works from behind the scenes, but you control the armed forces and all the government officials. Fine. You really are planning to preside over the meeting."

It was obvious that the two leaders were trying to sow disharmony between Proud Heaven and Proud Central.

Proud Heaven's eyes narrowed sharply. "I wouldn't dare," he said. "Patriarch Proud Central is the one who issues the orders around here. And I follow them. Please, don't think too much of me. Now, let's get down to business. What are we going to do about this fourth dynasty, the Sage Monarch Empire?"

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Chapter 1525: Yang Voidprime

The quick responses provided by the patriarchs only served to convince Yang Qi that they were troublemakers who had all sorts of tricks up their sleeves.

Proud Heaven was also inwardly surprised.

These patriarchs were profound experts and expert schemers. That much was obvious, otherwise they wouldn't have accomplished what they had accomplished in life. Proud Heaven was wildly arrogant and immensely powerful, but not even he would dare to be anything but cautious and careful around people like this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'll keep things simple," Proud Heaven said. "This fourth dynasty, the Sage Monarch Empire, is expanding rapidly. We need to strike quickly before it siphons away too much of our destiny. If that happens, the consequences will be too horrible to contemplate. Dividing the dao of heaven in thirds is enough. If this fourth dynasty disturbs the balance we've created, we'll undergo untold hardships. That's why the patriarchs of the Central Dynasty have already agreed that we three dynasties should all send troops to crush them."

"We completely agree," said the Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu, a patriarch from the House of the Invincible. "However, the question is how exactly to do that. The Central Dynasty is the strongest of the three, so it seems to me that you should provide sixty percent of the forces, while we provide twenty percent each. And when we conquer the Sage Monarch Empire, we split any loot three ways."

"I agree with that," the Lord of the Chiliocosm said with a faint smile.

"That seems a bit excessive," Proud Heaven replied. "We invited you here to discuss things honestly and fairly. The resources taken after conquering the Sage Monarch Empire should correspond to the troops provided. Don't you agree?"

The one to respond was Yang Voidprime. "Brother Proud Heaven, how about you keep all of the resources, and just give us Yang Qi? He has the God Legion Seal, and how could that possibly be split three ways?"

RUMBLE!

A buzz arose amongst the gathered patriarchs.

"What? God Legion Seal? You're saying the God Legion Seal has appeared?"

"What's going on?"

"Don't tell me that Emperor Yang Qi has somehow acquired the most powerful legacy there is, the Sovereign Lord's God Legion Seal!"

"How could that even be possible? Isn't the God Legion Seal in the impure lands? Not only can we from the god world not go to the impure lands, but the Ancient Road to the Gods has also disappeared, which means Ascendants can't come here."

"Does he really have the God Legion Seal, Yang Voidprime? Are you sure your information is accurate?"

"If the God Legion Seal really has appeared, Yang Voidprime, then it's a major matter that affects the entire god world, and would bring countless invincible old-timers out of hiding. This is no joking matter. Forget the actual God Legion Seal. Even news about the God Legion Seal would cause a huge stir. Many God-Lords went to incredible lengths to avoid being trapped by the God Legion Seal. Some even killed themselves to be freed from it, and eventually, were born again."

Yang Voidprime rose to his feet. "Brother Proud Heaven, there's no reason for the two of us to keep any secrets. I'm not sure what power you used, but you somehow sent an expression of will into the impure lands to search for Yang Qi. But guess what? I did the same, using someone connected by destiny to the talismans of King Immortal-Slayer's legacy medallions. You clashed with Yang Qi several times, then eventually brought the Great Necropolis back here with King Immortal-Slayer imprisoned in it. That's what Proud Central is busy with, isn't it? He's keeping King Immortal-Slayer under control. He wants to assimilate him to reach the half-Annulled level. I bet Proud Central is waiting until just the right moment to jump out and get control of the God Legion Seal. You might be able to hide the truth from the masses, but not from me. If you get the God Legion Seal, your Central Dynasty will be unstoppable. You'll destroy our two dynasties, take the treasure troves of the Halls of Heaven, and accomplish your wildest ambitions."

Dead silence followed his words.

The other figures from the Central Dynasty exchanged awkward glances as they realized there were plenty of secrets that even they were unaware of. As for the experts from the Chiliocosm and Invincible Dynasties, those with psychic scales over a hundred billion, their eyes glittered at the mention of the God Legion Seal.

"What are you talking about, Brother Yang Voidprime?" Proud Heaven said, looking at Yang Voidprime with shock in his eyes. "I really just don't understand."

Yang Voidprime threw his head back and laughed. "Brother Proud Heaven, surely you've noticed something strange about me. Don't my features resemble someone you know? Aren't I Yang Qi from the impure lands? Don't I look exactly like him? You know full well that Yang Qi is a Fateless One, just like me. But according to all the old legends, there shouldn't be two Fateless One in existence at the same time. Do you know what's going on here?"

"You're very informed, Brother. You know just about everything that happened in the impure lands. Presumably you have more to say?" Proud Heaven spread his hands. "Well? Go ahead. Tell us what's going on here."

"Simple. A stream of fateless energy came to be in the god world many years ago, something that surpassed fate itself. And the Sovereign Lord took notice. He knew that the birth of the fateless energy could bring down his rulership. Therefore, he used a most boundless divine ability to lock up that fateless energy, in the hopes that he could absorb it and grow stronger as a result. Perhaps it could've even helped him break through to the true Annulled level. After all, fateless energy is key to that breakthrough. Unfortunately, he couldn't assimilate it. So he sealed it with the strongest seal imaginable, then gave it to the High Priestess to watch over. You see, when it came to the Sovereign Lord's subordinates, the King of Godmammoths was known for strength and power, but the best schemer of them all was the High Priestess."

Everyone present was hanging on Yang Voidprime's every word, as this was information most of them had never heard before.

"Sadly, the Sovereign Lord did everything wrong, and eventually the legion of gods turned on him. In the preparations for the final attack, the High Priestess unsealed the fateless energy and tried to assimilate it herself. She failed, fracturing the fateless energy in the process. One part of it was reincarnated as me, while the other part fell into the impure lands, where it disappeared. Obviously, that second bit of fateless energy became Yang Qi."

Yang Qi couldn't help but be shaken by what he was hearing. Was that really how he had come to be? Was he really an expression of fateless energy?

If so, was he really incomplete? Did he really have to devour this Yang Voidprime to become whole?

And wouldn't that mean that Yang Voidprime wanted to devour him as well?

'Is he connected to the High Priestess? No wonder! The High Priestess built the Nacrelight Sageland, and this guy went there and hooked up with one of their women, then built the Destined Marriage God Temple. Thankfully I subjugated the Nacrelight Sageland, otherwise I might have alerted him to my presence.'

Yang Qi had always been afraid of the High Priestess, as he knew that she was on roughly the same level as the King of Godmammoths. She wasn't as strong as him, but her ability to manipulate the dao of heaven had been profound and enigmatic, and she obviously wasn't someone to be taken lightly.

Legend had it the High Priestess had long since perished, but now Yang Qi couldn't help but suspect that perhaps she was similar to the Lord of the Sword Dao, and had actually gained some enlightenment of the boundless will of the dao of heaven, allowing her to remain alive.

"Is the High Priestess still alive?" Proud Heaven asked. Although he didn't completely trust Yang Voidprime's story, he was still shaken.

"That's right," Yang Voidprime replied. "She is alive. However, she's in a state of deep slumber, similar to that of the patriarch of the House of the Invincible, the Invincible Dugu." Yang Voidprime glanced over at the patriarchs from the House of the Invincible, then continued, "Everyone has secrets. As for your Central Dynasty, you've been keeping secrets regarding the Great Necropolis, King Immortal-Slayer, and the Lord of Righteous Justice. As for the House of the Chiliocosm, our secret relates to the High Priestess. And the House of the Invincible has been keeping the Invincible Dugu a secret. But now everything is out in the open. So, Proud Heaven, don't think you can take advantage of us. If you do, you'll get just as badly hurt as us. And if you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe the High Priestess's spokeswoman. Come out, Hailan."

Suddenly, chiming laughter rang out, and a figure stepped out from behind Yang Voidprime, clad in a blue cloak. She pulsed with the energy of the High Priestess, as well as an air that implied she could manipulate the dao of heaven and summon all types of energy to her.

The High Priestess had been as famous as the King of Godmammoths, and there were old-timers present who had actually laid eyes on her. So they knew that this newcomer was definitely her spokeswoman. With that, the woman pulled her hood back and revealed her face.

Shock coursed through Yang Qi as he realized this woman looked exactly like someone whose face he would never forget. 'It's Yun Hailan!'

However, his shock soon turned to icy calm. After all, it made sense. If he really was an incarnation of a stream of fateless energy, it was a given that people would have been trying to keep an eye on him.

"I wonder if my mother was some almighty transmigrated person as well. Why don't I sense her aura on Proud Heaven?" Yang Qi had another goal in coming to the Central Dynasty, and that was to search for clues regarding his mother, Greensura. So far, he hadn't come across any useful information. However, he was now certain that his mother wasn't an ordinary person, any more than Yun Hailan had been ordinary.

Giving a little salute, the young woman said, "I am your humble servant Hailan, spokeswoman for the High Priestess. Well met, Master Proud Heaven."

Yang Qi could see that this woman really did resemble Yun Hailan in every way, including her imperious disdain for others. She would do anything to anyone, as long as it resulted in her own profit. Chuckling coldly, he thought, 'It seems Yang Voidprime and this woman are both using each other. However, their plots and schemes are only going to buy time for my Sage Monarch Empire to grow. Right now, the priority is to use this opportunity to get that piece of the Mahātmā Jade!'

1. For a refresher on the story of the High Priestess, Destined Marriage God Temple, and all that, head back to .

2. Yun Hailan died in , and after that specific arc, was mentioned in precisely five chapters before now.

3. Fun Fact: the last time Greensura was mentioned by name was in , and before that, .

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Chapter 1526: Hailan

More and more experts were showing up.

The young woman named Hailan had a cultivation base of a hundred billion, but what was more terrifying was her backer. Yang Qi had absolutely no confidence in being able to fight her successfully.

The upside was that the three dynasties were still at each other's throats, and definitely weren't ready to work together.

Unfortunately, getting out of the Central God-Palace didn't seem possible right now. The place was locked down tight, and if anyone discovered his presence, he would be dead without a doubt.

Thankfully, he had patience.

Furthermore, this might be a good opportunity. Proud Heaven was presiding over the meeting, and almost all of the top leaders were present. Although Proud Central wasn't around, he would definitely be keeping an eye on what was happening, and that meant his attention would be somewhat diverted from King Immortal-Slayer and the Great Necropolis.

That might be just the chance that Yang Qi needed.

"You've done well to keep yourself well hidden, Miss Hailan, considering how powerful you are," Proud Heaven said. His tone of voice was calm and measured, but his eyes glittered as though everything was going according to plan. "Might I ask how the High Priestess fares? Will we be seeing her out in the world again soon?"

"The High Priestess was seriously injured. But there are major changes coming to the god world, and she'll recover soon enough. Don't worry. She has everything under control, and is doing everything possible to restore the glory of years past."

"That's good to hear. I have to say, if it's true that the High Priestess isn't dead, then wouldn't it be safe to assume that the King of Godmammoths is alive as well? Perhaps we'll be seeing him again soon, too."

Hailan's eyes flickered in response to his words.

Years ago, the High Priestess and the King of Godmammoths were the top subordinates of the Sovereign Lord. She had been his minister of culture, and he had been his minister of warfare. They hadn't gotten along. In fact, they clashed frequently. And although the High Priestess had always been at a disadvantage, the Sovereign Lord had always supported her in his effort to maintain balance between them.

It was similar to how, in the impure lands, a prime minister would often be at odds with the generalissimo of the armed forces. Truth be told, the Sovereign Lord hadn't wanted complete peace and harmony among his subordinates.

"We don't need to discuss that right now, Brother Proud Heaven," Yang Voidprime said. "Our top priority is discussing exactly how to deal with Yang Qi. How do we destroy his empire and take what's his? Remember, the God Legion Seal was broken into three parts, but he's obviously collected them all. Am I right?"

"That's right," Proud Heaven replied. "The God Legion Seal had been restored, and it won't be broken into pieces again. Nothing in the world is strong enough to do that."

"In that case, we have to decide who gets the God Legion Seal when this is all over."

"Wrong, wrong, wrong," Proud Heaven said with a chuckle. "First we need to figure out how to deal with Yang Qi. We don't want to be like the fools who see a goose flying by and start talking about how to cook it, only to have it escape in the meantime."

"Wrong, wrong, wrong," Yang Voidprime said. "Yang Qi isn't a flying goose. He's a duck in a cage. As long as the three of us work together, there's nowhere in the god world he can go and stay alive. That's why we need to talk about important matters first. Who gets what? If we aren't on the same page, then how will we possibly deal with Yang Qi? Remember, he's cunning and skilled, and will definitely try to turn us against each other and benefit in the process."

Proud Heaven knew that he couldn't get everyone to work together if they wouldn't profit in the process. In fact, they might even turn on him if he wasn't careful. Gritting his teeth, he said, "How about this. Yang Qi is your doppelgänger, right? Another Fateless One. So it's simple. Your share is Yang Qi. With him, you'll be able to complete your fateless energy, and likely reach the half-Annulled level. I get the God Legion Seal. And you experts from the House of the Invincible will take his empire and resources. How does that sound?"

One of the patriarchs from the Invincible Dynasty chuckled darkly. "That's a great idea, Proud Heaven! We get his resources. The House of the Chiliocosm gets the fateless energy. And you get the God Legion Seal. Isn't that a bit lopsided?" This patriarch was the Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu, and his cultivation base was roughly the same as Yang Qi's, at ninety billion. "In terms of the House of the Chiliocosm, they actually don't get much at all. Yang Voidprime is a Fateless One, so that fateless energy will be very beneficial to him. But what about everyone else? What about Yang Chiliocosm? Is he just supposed to step aside and let Yang Voidprime take over?

"And if the House of the Chiliocosm is getting a bad deal, then ours is even worse. What are we supposed to do with a bunch of people from another empire? If we try to take them into our dynasty, it'll just lead to chaos."

Proud Heaven laughed. "You're thinking about it wrong. Everyone knows the Sage Monarch Empire runs smoothly because of the sage monarch magistrates. They run nations even more smoothly than the confucians. Whoever gets those magistrates is instantly going to get a huge improvement in destiny. In some ways, that's far better than the God Legion Seal. Furthermore, it's rumored that Yang Qi has already used the God Legion Seal to amass a huge stockpile of treasure, and you'll get all that as well."

"Incorrect again, Proud Heaven," said the Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu. "If you take the God Legion Seal, the Halls of Heaven will automatically belong to you. How could any of what you're promising us measure up to that?"

"Agreed," said Yang Voidprime. "It's not really appropriate. Although it's true that I want Yang Qi's fateless energy, it won't do any good for our dynasty as a whole. Therefore, I don't really want Yang Qi. Furthermore, your proposal is a trap for the House of the Chiliocosm. We don't know exactly how Yang Qi built an empire so quickly, but we do know that he's used the God Legion Seal to control the minds of the Dragonfolk, the Spritefolk, and even the Lord of the Sword Dao. So if you get the God Legion Seal, then you'll be the one who controls his empire. In the end, the House of the Chiliocosm would get nothing."

"Nice try, Proud Heaven!" shouted someone from the Chiliocosm Dynasty. "You people from the Central Dynasty have no good faith whatsoever. In fact, what's the point of even continuing this discussion? Why don't you handle the Sage Monarch Empire yourself? In fact, maybe we should join them to deal with you!"

"Friends, friends, calm down," Proud Heaven said placatingly. "It was just a suggestion, that's all. If you have a better way to distribute everything, let's hear it. How about the Invincible Dynasty gets the God Legion Seal. Would that make you happy?"

With those words, he kicked the ball into their court.

"We don't want the God Legion Seal," said the Heaven-Immolating Dugu. "It's too big of a bone to swallow. In fact, considering all the baggage that goes with it, I don't think any of our dynasties should have it."

"Then what do we do with it?" Proud Heaven asked. "Someone has to watch over it. After all, we can't let it fall into the wrong hands."

"It's simple," Hailan said. "When we attack the Sage Monarch Empire, we create a prison and seal Yang Qi within. Leave the God Legion Seal in him while we slowly take over his empire. We split the sage monarch magistrates evenly, as well as everything else. Later, we'll figure out a way to destroy the God Legion Seal. And if we can't, we just keep him sealed up forever."

"Good idea."

The nine patriarchs of the Dugu Clan were the Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu, Heaven-Defeating Dugu, Heaven-Eclipsing Dugu, Heaven-Immolating Dugu, Heaven-Propping Dugu, Heaven-Conquering Dugu, Heaven-Rending Dugu, Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu and the Heaven-Reaching Dugu. And all of them had suddenly come to the realization that the young woman Hailan was obviously a profound and wicked schemer.

Yang Qi was also shaken. He had been hoping that these people would disagree, but Hailan had managed to easily smooth things out.

He suddenly felt an impulse to kill her.

"It's a good idea," Proud Heaven said, nodding. "We work together to create a spell formation that, in a critical moment, we use to capture Yang Qi. We don't give him any chance to escape. In fact, we can even force him to open up the Halls of Heaven to us. Now that we've resolved that issue, let's discuss how we'll deploy our people."

"We attack with full force," Hailan said. "Go at him with everything we have, and crush him. When you fight a rabbit, you still use the force of a lion. That's the way to ensure victory. Don't give him any chances. Ladies and gentlemen, don't forget that Yang Qi is a clever troublemaker. If he finds out what we're planning, he'll disappear, and we'll never find him. The god world is too big. And if he starts attacking us with guerilla tactics, what will we do? Or what if he hides in the Halls of Heaven?"

"Well said," Proud Heaven said, a note of respect in his voice.

By this point, Yang Qi was convinced that this woman had the exact same personality as the Yun Hailan from the impure lands.

If the three dynasties came to an agreement right here and now, it would make things difficult.

Scrambling to come up with a plan, Yang Qi had Yang Primal-Chaos suddenly rise to his feet. "Proud Heaven, when you were in the impure lands, you got a piece of the God Legion Seal. If we capture Yang Primal-Chaos, what if you use your understanding of the seal to snatch it out from under our noses? Mind explaining?"

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Chapter 1527: Sowing Chaos

Of course, Yang Primal-Chaos was under Yang Qi's control, and was speaking at his behest.

In response to his words, faint changes of expression could be seen on the faces of many of the experts present. If Proud Heaven really did get the God Legion Seal, and could use it easily, it would be problematic at best.

"What do you have to say to that, Proud Heaven?" The people from the Dugu Clan weren't giving Proud Heaven even an inch of wiggle room. The truth was that nobody really trusted him. In fact, nobody had ever trusted him, other than trusting that he would be deceitful and cunning.

Meanwhile, Hailan looked over at Yang Primal-Chaos with a piercing gaze, as though she suspected something strange was going on.

That gaze caused Yang Qi's heart to turn cold. This ruthless Hailan was obviously trying to speed things up as much as possible, with the goal being to kill him. Furthermore, she was obviously working together with Yang Voidprime. And if she was the woman from the Nacrelight Sageland that Yang Voidprime had pursued, it meant there was definitely a grand conspiracy afoot.

Of course, even if she was suspicious of Yang Primal-Chaos, it wouldn't do her any good. And she couldn't criticize what he had just said.

"It's true that I once had a piece of the God Legion Seal," Proud Heaven said. He made an innocent-looking gesture by spreading his hands, then continued, "But Yang Qi stole it from me way back in the impure lands. And now he's combined all three pieces. Whatever I do remember of it won't be of any help with the completed version. In any case, we're going to be working together to create a spell formation to trap Yang Qi. It's not as if I can pull any tricks under those circumstances."

"That is true," Hailan said. "We'll be working together to make the spell formation, so he won't be able to do anything tricky to take advantage of us. None of us will."

"Why are you defending Proud Heaven so much, Hailan?" Dugu Sheji said. "This is going to be a major undertaking, and if anything goes wrong, we two smaller dynasties could be wiped out. If Proud Heaven gets the God Legion Seal, he'll definitely use it against us. We have to take precautions."

Eyes flashing coldly, Hailan looked over at Dugu Sheji and said, "Who the hell are you? How dare you talk to me like that?"

"I'm a generalissimo from the House of the Invincible. Dugu Sheji. I honestly can't believe you would dare to insult me like that, floozy." Dugu Sheji was sowing chaos by being intentionally provocative. And while Yang Qi was hiding on Dugu Sheji's person, he wasn't worried about Hailan attacking. If she did, the patriarchs of the Invincible Dynasty would definitely intervene.

"What did you just call me? A floozy?! In all my years no one has ever dared to use that word on me. Alright. Considering you've used such language, you're going to die. And nobody will be able to save you!"

WHOOSH!

All of a sudden, a scepter appeared in her hand, which she swept out in his direction.

Instantly, a glittering blue stream of light shot toward Dugu Sheji, moving with such incredible speed that no one could even track its movement.

"How impudent!" the Heaven-Reaching Dugu said, flicking his sleeve to send a stream of golden light out in front of Dugu Sheji, which took the shape of a bridge that blocked the attack from the scepter. When the two lights clashed, a lamenting clang echoed out.

"I said nobody can save him, Heaven-Reaching Dugu!" Hailan said icily. Then she flicked her finger, causing the scepter to rotate rapidly, boring into the bridge amidst a shower of sparks.

The Heaven-Reaching Dugu immediately staggered backward.

"Very presumptuous, girl," the Heaven-Conquering Dugu said. He waved his finger, and a divine saber appeared, slashing down toward the scepter. When the two connected, a huge shock wave spread out through the Central God-Palace.

"Enough!" Proud Heaven growled. He swept his hand out, and all of the vital energy went still, separating the scepter and saber. After all, he was presiding over the meeting, and this was his territory.

Putting her scepter away, Hailan glared at Dugu Sheji and said, "There's something very suspicious about you, boy. I'm working hard here to smooth out the situation between the three dynasties. But with a single word, you've caused all this trouble. Could it be that you're a spy sent here by Yang Qi?!"

"Like hell I am," Dugu Sheji shouted. "Everyone in the god world knows that Proud Heaven is treacherous and can't be trusted. You're the one who keeps pressuring us to form this alliance, no matter what anyone says. Didn't Yang Voidprime say that Yang Qi is a duck in a cage, with nowhere to run to? We were still in the middle of discussing how to split the profits, but you're rushing everyone to make the final decision. That's what's suspicious. Let me ask you this: what if we do capture him, but his subordinates, who are all under the control of the God Legion Seal, decide to fight to the death? Then what? Do you have some way to control Yang Qi's thoughts? Also, how exactly are we supposed to split up the sage monarch magistrates? Even if Yang Qi is taken captive, as long as he still has the God Legion Seal, how do we control them? We need to talk all of these things over and make smart decisions. Only then can we take action.

"At least, that's my opinion. Obviously the patriarchs here can make their own decisions. But I have years of experience at war, and I can tell you that the bigger the battle, the more you need to plan things out ahead of time. You need to consider all the possibilities, and come up with contingency plans for all of them. As the saying goes, thorough planning defeats cursory planning. If it were up to me, we would draw up a formal battle plan that everyone would swear oaths to follow. Anyone who deviates from the plan will suffer the full wrath of all the patriarchs. Patriarchs, please consider this option!"

Everything Dugu Sheji said seemed to make perfect sense. Important matters shouldn't be rushed.

Even Yang Chiliocosm was nodding in agreement.

"We can't make such an important decision so quickly," said the Heaven-Extinguishing Dugu. "First let's come to an agreement of how to split the profits, and sign a contract with all the details written out. We can even swear blood oaths. That will ensure that things are binding, and nobody can cause mischief. The only way this whole venture will succeed is if we're all working together honestly. If we take the matter lightly, then trouble could result."

Swearing oaths with words meant little.

But having an oath in writing, signed with blood, would ensure that natural laws were part of the matter. Someone who violated an oath like that would find their own blood reacting against them as a result.

"I suggest we also use destiny in the oath," Yang Chiliocosm said. "That way, anyone who violates the agreement will weaken their dynasty's destiny. This tripartite agreement is going to involve all of us using our destiny to full effect. We have to take this matter very seriously! It's much more effective to spend a bit of time upfront than to tackle the matter as a disorganized mob."

"Alright! The Invincible Dynasty is completely willing to use our dynasty's destiny to swear an oath of alliance. After all, we have no intention of stabbing anyone in the back." The nine patriarchs of the Dugu Clan had been worried all along that Proud Heaven would cause mischief, so they were more than willing to go along.

Swearing an oath with destiny would be very effective. Everyone knew that breaking such an oath would cause a decline in their dynasty, which could lead to their ultimate ruin.

That, coupled with the blood aspect of the oath, would ensure that it was stable and trustworthy.

Upon hearing all of this, Yang Qi chuckled inwardly. He had bought the time he needed. These were matters of national security, and the debate over them would definitely take a long time. And by the time they finally reached an agreement, it would be too late for them.

"If we sit around negotiating, Yang Qi is just going to get stronger," Hailan said.

"So what if he does?" said one of the patriarchs from the Central Dynasty. How strong could he possibly get? Once our three dynasties have come to a formal agreement, and are truly united, we'll be strong enough that we could overthrow the old Sovereign Lord if we wanted to, much less this puny Yang Qi. Our dynasties have been around for billions of years, whereas his just popped up. How could he possibly surpass us? Miss Hailan, you really seem to be anxious. Is it that you want to foment discord between us? Or could it be that you're trying to lure us into Proud Heaven's trap? Are you out to harm our two dynasties? Regardless, we're willing to put an oath in writing. This matter is just too serious."

Virtually all the other experts present were nodding their heads in agreement.

The God Legion Seal was at stake, so nobody wanted to be careless. Forming a temporary team and just leaping into the action wasn't the right choice.

"Proud Central needs to sign the oath as well," Yang Chiliocosm said.

"Of course," Proud Heaven said, nodding. "Let's iron out all the details, then we can write up the agreement and sign it." With that, the true discussion began.

'The perfect opportunity!' Yang Qi thought as he listened to the buzz of conversation. Taking advantage of the moment Proud Heaven had unsealed the hall and made contact with Proud Central, Yang Qi turned into a blur and shot out of the meeting hall.

'Now I can finally start looking for the Mahātmā Jade. Although, if it's in Proud Central's hands, that's going to be a big problem. He might even be using it to deal with King Immortal-Slayer. Perhaps that could be an opportunity. If I can take advantage of the right moment, I might be able to free King Immortal-Slayer from the Great Necropolis.'

Now that he was outside of the hall, he cast his senses out to try to identify the location of the jade.

Soon, he had locked on to its aura. However, he didn't blindly rush toward it. After some consideration, he decided to track down the Great Necropolis. Simultaneously, he started building an expression of energy that resembled that of Proud Central.

He had never even seen the man, so it wasn't an easy task. However, Proud Central had made a fatal mistake in allowing Yang Qi to get the Heaven-Burying God Pill. His will had been inside that pill, and although it had been destroyed by the Lord of the Sword Dao, Yang Qi had taken advantage of that moment to absorb some of Proud Central's aura.

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Chapter 1528: Proud Central

The top experts of the three empires were all gathered in the Central God-Palace, wrangling over the details of the soon-to-be signed agreement between them. There was no way the discussion would be wrapped up in less than two weeks, which meant Yang Qi had plenty of time to work with.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to do much for the Sage Monarch Empire. As had just been said moments before, the three dynasties had been around for billions of years, so there was no way Yang Qi's empire could easily surpass them in a short time. The Sage Monarch Empire had reached a limit in its destiny growth, and significant gains weren't going to happen.

Yang Qi knew full well that the only way to improve his empire's destiny was by means of personal action.

Once he broke through to the level of a hundred billion, he would be incomparably powerful. Furthermore, all hundred million of his sage monarch magistrates would rise to the level of peak Paramount Gods.

At that point, his destiny would finally surpass that of the other three empires. And all of that rested on him acquiring the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

Now, he had it in his sights, and knew that it would be his shortly.

RUMBLE!

Yang Qi was making his way through the Central Dynasty as smoothly as a fish through water. The net of law gave him a slight bit of resistance, ensuring that he needed to act with caution. Thankfully, by faking the aura of Proud Central, he was able to fool the net of law.

In the past, Proud Central was untouchable as long as he was in the Central Dynasty. But then he had created a fatal weakness for himself.

Yang Qi made all the preparations in Proud Mindtravel's quarters, where he was completely safe and didn't have to worry about any interlopers.

Pulling out Proud Central's aura from his reserves, he expanded it until it was a sphere roughly the size of a human. Then he shrank it down until it took a form that resembled Proud Central. It was similar to what Yang Qi had done with the will projection from Eternal Millennium, so he was very familiar with the process.

'This is really a virtuous cycle. Proud Central plotted against me, and it's helping me plot against him. The net of law won't be able to do anything about me!'

After the husk was built, Yang Qi sent his own will inside, taking control of it. Now, he was like a second version of Proud Central.

'Time to connect to the net of law and pull off a true hoax...'

Sending out his will, he touched the net of law, resulting in a white stream of light shooting into him. It was destiny, the purest and most intense form he had ever encountered.

As of this moment, he was Emperor Proud Central.

He actually had better control of the destiny of the Central Dynasty than Proud Heaven.

Proud Heaven was a crown prince, while Proud Central was an emperor. There was a fundamental difference between what they were capable of. The effectiveness of destiny wasn't just about how much of it one could tap into, but rather the structure of control. An imperial prince would have a lot of power and influence, but there were still restricted areas that he couldn't enter. In contrast, nowhere was beyond the control of the emperor.

Although Proud Heaven could tap into the pure destiny, it wouldn't be as pure as what Yang Qi could now tap into.

Only Proud Central could access the truly deep type of destiny of the dynasty.

In the countless civilizations that had existed throughout history, there had often been preposterous situations in which an emperor was so caught up in living a life of pleasure that he found a person to stand in as his double.

If that puppet emperor eventually managed to tap into the destiny of the empire, he could kill the true emperor and actually take over his position.

That was very similar to what Yang Qi was doing right now.

As soon as he was connected to the destiny, he could send his thoughts out through the net of law, filling the entire Central Dynasty. He could see everything, including the ministers, armies, secret reserves, and even some of Proud Heaven's secrets.

The eyes of the emperor could see anything and everything in his empire. Nothing could hide from his gaze, not even Proud Heaven.

Upon connecting to the empire's destiny, Yang Qi's godpower and psychic scale skyrocketed. After reaching the level of ninety billion, further advancement had become very difficult. For instance, medicinal pills were essentially useless to him. But having made himself a fraudulent copy of Proud Central, things were different. Truth be told, this was an act that had occurred in the past, but only in lower-level civilizations, never in the god world.

Yang Qi was only pulling it off because, first, Proud Central was completely wrapped up in the effort with King Immortal-Slayer, and thus couldn't afford to be distracted. And second, Proud Heaven was presiding over the meeting, and wasn't taking time to check in on the empire's destiny.

Who would ever think that someone would do what Yang Qi was doing? It was completely unheard of.

The process went on for a few hours, during which time Yang Qi's psychic scale climbed from ninety billion to ninety-two billion. However, he knew this process wouldn't get him all the way to a hundred billion. As long as the true Proud Central existed, that would never happen. As a fake version of Proud Central, he could only siphon away a bit of the destiny.

Right now, he was like a rat that had slipped into the storehouse and was helping itself to a bit of the fine oil inside.

After reaching the level of ninety-two billion, he couldn't benefit himself any more. However, he could use some of the destiny to make a few more sage monarch magistrates. But unfortunately, the only way to get them from a hundred million to two hundred million was to improve himself.

Having done all that, his aura now resembled Proud Central's so much that the empire was essentially his. He could have walked into the Central God-Palace and not even Proud Heaven would have realized that he was a fake. He could theoretically even use that as an opportunity to try to assassinate Proud Heaven. Unfortunately, he had no way to know if he would succeed in that, so there was no way he would try.

Right now, he needed to use his command of the aura and destiny to track down Proud Central.

Chuckling, he rose to his feet in the guise of Proud Central. 'I know you have that piece of the Mahātmā Jade, Proud Central. Are you using it as bait for me? Even if you are, I'll beat you at your own game. Let's see who comes out on top. You're standing out in the open, and I'm hidden in the shadows. Plus, I'm the incarnation of fateless energy! You have no way to calculate or divine any information about me. Once I take that piece of the Mahātmā Jade, I'll kill Yang Voidprime and become whole. Then no one in the world will be a match for me."

It didn't take long for him to use his connection to the destiny and net of law to lock on to the position of the Mahātmā Jade.

With that, he opened his Lord's Eye!

RUMBLE!

His psyche connected to the Halls of Heaven, allowing him to look down on the god world as a whole.

With that view, it wasn't possible for anything to be hidden from him.

There were some low-level civilizations that had technology that allowed them to create satellites that could even see ants in full detail. To Yang Qi, the Halls of Heaven were like a satellite. They let him see everything.

As he looked at the Central Dynasty, he saw many secrets; he also realized that the aura of the Mahātmā Jade could be sensed in multiple areas.

'Hmph! Just as I thought. It's a trap. If I head to any of those locations, I'll stumble into a spell formation. Proud Central is just as cunning as you'd expect. Thankfully, I have other options at hand. Thanks to being connected to the destiny here, and having the Halls of Heaven, I can see many secrets.'

With that, he continued his inspection.

Before long, he saw a location deep in the Central Dynasty where the space-time created a complex labyrinth. And in its depths was a necropolis.

The Great Necropolis.

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Chapter 1529: Looking Down from Above

Yang Qi was looking down on everything from above. And with his connection to the destiny and net of law of the Central Dynasty, no crafty plots or machinations would work against him.

Proud Central had laid some clever traps, which went to show that he had anticipated Yang Qi coming to the Central Dynasty. And he had intentionally used the aura of the Mahātmā Jade to try to lure him into a trap.

But how could he have ever anticipated what Yang Qi was actually capable of? In fact, his machinations had actually opened doors for Yang Qi.

At the moment, Yang Qi's attention was focused on the Great Necropolis. It was hidden in the most secret location in the dynasty, still and unmoving. However, countless dhāraṇī incantations were flowing in bright white streams into it.

And they were coming from Proud Central.

He was tall and imposing, making him reminiscent of the Sovereign Lord. And the white streams of light that flowed around him were like dragons. His hand resembled the Hand of the One God as he stretched it out toward the Great Necropolis, fingers splayed.

Every breath he took caused the power of primal-chaos to flow, and big bang explosions to occur around him, causing preheaven treasures to appear.

'He knows how to create big bang explosions with primal-chaos? Did he somehow come across a batch of First Energy Primordial Chaos Pills?' Yang Qi was more than a little surprised. Furthermore, he could see that Proud Central's cultivation was far, far above his own. It was past a hundred billion, and was more likely at around two or three hundred billion.

'He's so strong! I definitely can't fight him. Something must have happened recently. He can't have always been this strong! If he'd been this strong in the past, the House of the Chiliocosm and the House of the Invincible would never have risen to power. I wonder if it's because he's absorbing the power of King Immortal-Slayer.'

There was obviously no time for delay.

Unfortunately, it seemed that the Mahātmā Jade was actually in the Great Necropolis.

Proud Central was trying to assimilate the Great Necropolis and King Immortal-Slayer, which meant it would be extremely difficult for Yang Qi to get inside safely. And if he did get inside, he would end up trapped like a turtle in a jar. Perhaps it was all a trap laid by Proud Central. Regardless, Yang Qi was prepared to break it.

"Yang Immortal-Slayer!" he said via thought projection.

Back in the Sage Monarch Empire, Yang Immortal-Slayer nodded, then looked around at Yang Qi's brethren who waited around him. "Get ready to carry out the master plan. Sacrifice!"

In the blink of an eye, countless secret channels of communication were opened in the Sage Monarch Empire.

An enormous altar appeared, surrounded by throngs of experts, all of whom slashed their wrists, causing blood to splash forth onto the altar.

Unfurling an imperial decree, Yang Immortal-Slayer raised his voice and said, "The emperor has officially ordered that King Immortal-Slayer be named the imperial preceptor of the Sage Monarch Empire!"

Instantly, the destiny of the empire surged into motion, converging on the altar. As the destiny drained, Yang Immortal-Slayer threw the imperial edict toward the altar, where it burst into flames.

In the blink of an eye, the destiny of the entire empire was catalyzed.

Then, a shadowy figure appeared on the altar, which was none other than the mighty King Immortal-Slayer.

Suddenly, he lunged into action, piercing through the void into the Central Dynasty and the Great Necropolis.

RUMBLE!

Having benefited from the boost of the sacrifice, he suddenly had the power to fight back with unprecedented strength.

King Immortal-Slayer's voice suddenly echoed from within the Great Necropolis. "And here I thought you were going to go back on your word, Yang Qi. I almost can't believe you've gotten this strong! This is far more power than could come from sacrificing the puny Second Devil General!" He laughed heartily. "Alright, Proud Central. Even if I was nothing but the shadow of a ghost, I wouldn't let scum like you profane my glory. Back when I fought the Sovereign Lord, you were a piece of trash who could do nothing but cower out in the primal-chaos. And you think you're going to assimilate me? The mere thought is criminal! Get ready to die!"

"Damn you!" Proud Central blurted in shock and surprise. However, when he realized what was happening, he shouted, "How dare you try to escape, King Immortal-Slayer! Who gave you this power? How did you get so much destiny? Is it the Sage Monarch Empire? Yes, it must be. Only the Sage Monarch Empire could provide you with this much destiny! You must've been made the imperial preceptor of the Sage Monarch Empire! But the three dynasties are preparing to attack the Sage Monarch Empire. And they're choosing to help you in such circumstances? Are they feeling suicidal or something?"

Being an imperial preceptor was no small thing. After all, such people could wield immense destiny. Generally, they had access to a fifth of the destiny of the entire empire they served.

The imperial preceptor, the crown prince, and the grand princes were all the foundation of an empire. That was why such titles couldn't be casually given out.

As for the destiny in the Sage Monarch Empire, it was so incredible that if someone from the impure lands gained access to it, the cultivation base improvement they would experience would be unimaginable.

Someone could go from the Energy Arts level through Lifeseizing, Legendary, Great Sage, Godmyth, the Deathless Heavenly Stairway, Grand Emperor... and go all the way to becoming a God-Lord.

There would be no bottlenecks, no tribulations. They would just immediately rise to an incredibly high level.

It was power. Pure, consummate power that could change fate itself. In the face of destiny, tribulations were nothing.

That was why, in many ancient civilizations, fox spirits would take the form of beautiful women to seduce emperors. It was the best way to bypass tribulations.

If the destiny of empires in the impure lands was so amazing, just what was the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire like? Even the lowliest member of the Sage Monarch Empire had access to stronger destiny than anyone from the immortal dao civilization.

Thus, when King Immortal-Slayer became the imperial preceptor, he experienced a meteoric rise.

In primeval times, King Immortal-Slayer had never founded a dynasty of any sort. So although he was powerful, he and his seventy-one brethren were little more than an unruly mob. That was also why the Sovereign Lord had called them the Seventy-Two Bandits.

One reason they never founded an empire was that they had no one skilled in governing people, nor in the act of creation. They could only destroy. In that sense, they weren't very different from devils.

As a result, destiny wasn't important to them.

Therefore, upon being conferred such an important title, King Immortal-Slayer experienced an explosive change.

In the past, Yang Qi had said he would sacrifice the Second Devil General and give his blood to King Immortal-Slayer. However, he had never done so. King Immortal-Slayer assumed that Yang Qi had changed his mind, yet there was nothing he could do about it. And the pressure on him had grown so intense recently that he couldn't even come out of the Great Necropolis in clone or projected form. Not even Yang Immortal-Slayer had been able to establish contact with him.

However, on this day, Yang Qi made good on his previous guarantee. And instead of giving him blood, he appointed him as the imperial preceptor. In fact, he was giving King Immortal-Slayer power that was a hundred times what the Second Devil General would have provided.

As King Immortal-Slayer erupted with power, Proud Central was forced to draw on ninety-nine percent of his total power, and focus all of his attention on maintaining control.

Yang Qi used that moment to transform into a stream of energy that shot into the Great Necropolis. He was taking advantage of the clash between King Immortal-Slayer and Proud Central to find the Mahātmā Jade.

"Be destroyed!" howled King Immortal-Slayer. "Let everything be destroyed. I'm going to crush the Great Necropolis and break free! Any who profane the mighty King Immortal-Slayer will perish!"

Proud Central's eyes snapped open. "Lord of Righteous Justice! Get out here, slave! Help me draw upon the righteous power of heaven!"

WHIZZZ!

Beneath the Great Necropolis, something enormous emerged. It looked like a white mammoth, part human and part demon, yet neither. It was a level of strength roughly equal to Proud Central, yet it had no attack power. Instead, it pulsed with pure righteous energy.

In fact, it was the same type of righteous energy that flowed through heaven and earth.

It was none other than the Lord of Righteous Justice, who Proud Central controlled.

Proud Central sent power crushing onto King Immortal-Slayer, ensuring that the two of them were locked in a stalemate.

"Hmph! You think you can escape from me, King Immortal-Slayer? I've been working on this plan for billions of years. You think that was all in waste?"

'Is that the Lord of Righteous Justice? A white mammoth?' Yang Qi couldn't help but wonder if it had some connection to the King of Godmammoths. Was the Lord of Righteous Justice the son of the King of Godmammoths? Yang Qi couldn't sense such blood in him. All he could tell was that the Lord of Righteous Justice wasn't adept at attacking.

Of course, he was primarily focused on the Mahātmā Jade right now.

He was already in the depths of the Great Necropolis, searching through the sprawling and complex immortal worlds there. The worlds had changed. They were now like embryonic minor god worlds. In the immortal worlds, the Great Necropolis ejected more immortal worlds. But in the god world, it had power that could do far more.

Yang Qi was visiting old haunts, and although things had changed, in many ways they were the same. Thankfully, it was similar enough that he could still make his way around, and that made it easy to follow the aura of the Mahātmā Jade.

Before long, he reached an enormous gate made of green stone, that glowed with soft light. There was a paper talisman pasted to the door that had a single character on it: devil.

This seemed to be the place where the Mahātmā Jade was sealed.

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Chapter 1530: A Sudden Developmen

The Mahātmā Jade was right in front of Yang Qi, sealed by the character 'devil'.

Within him, the existing pieces of the Mahātmā Jade trembled, and his mind pulsed as if it were boiling. The jade wanted to be complete. However, now wasn't the time to act casually. He needed to find a safe place to study the talisman and the 'devil' character, which vibrated with the energy of all the sages and mahātmās of the horde of devils.

He was fairly certain it was another trap.

It was just his intuition, but he had a feeling that if he just combined the pieces of the jade, he would fall right into that trap. There was no way Proud Central hadn't planned for this possibility, no matter how difficult it had been to provide aid to King Immortal-Slayer.

Therefore, he would wait until the fighting between King Immortal-Slayer and Proud Central heated up.

In the meantime, he tapped into the blood of the King of Godmammoths and studied the white mammoth that was the Lord of Righteous Justice. The fact that he bore the semblance of a white mammoth indicated that he must be connected to the King of Godmammoths somehow.

After some consideration, he forced out a drop of the King of Godmammoths' blood, then surreptitiously sent it shooting out to enter the body of the Lord of Righteous Justice.

Whizz!

A small-scale explosion rippled out, and a cold smile appeared on Yang Qi's face. 'I knew it was a trap. Well, it's not going to be that easy to stop me. I think I'll make a feint to the east and attack in the west. That's how I'll free the Lord of Righteous Justice.'

RUMBLE!

He sent out his will, piercing through all manners of sealing marks to reach into the will of the white mammoth.

He soon found himself in a pure white labyrinth that seemed to stretch on to infinity.

'Incredible. This is the Lord of Righteous Justice's sea of consciousness, and it's a complex maze. Any other person would likely get lost here. But with the calculations my mind can perform, I can pierce through the power of any labyrinth.' And he began doing just that.

Before long, all the secrets of the labyrinth were laid bare to him.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

His mind shot through the maze, entering the depths of the sea of consciousness, until he found a white mammoth, tightly sealed up in a crystal ball. The mammoth was constantly attacking the ball, trying to free itself, yet failing every time.

"Lord of Righteous Justice?" Yang Qi said via will projection.

The white mammoth suddenly went still. "Who are you? You're not Proud Central. How come the aura of your thoughts resembles the aura of my father?"

"Your father? Are you talking about the King of Godmammoths?"

"Yes, that's right. My father was the king of Godmammoths. Who are you? Don't tell me you're with Proud Central. Don't even think of trying to run some scam on me. Proud Central did that years ago, but I learned my lesson. You're not going to assimilate my soul. I won't let it happen. Hmph."

Yang Qi laughed. "I don't give a crap about Proud Central. You think I'd work for him? I came here today to free King Immortal-Slayer, and since you're trapped as well, I might as well help you, too."

"You can't free me," the white mammoth said. "This sealing mark is too strong."

"I can free you. Perhaps not at this moment. Right now, I want to give you a bit of energy to make you stronger. Then, with you distracting Proud Central, I'll have an opportunity to take the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade that I need. Then I can free King Immortal-Slayer, and with the two of us working together, we can take Proud Central down."

"Alright, fine. So what's your exact plan to help me?"

The white mammoth already seemed to be leaping with joy at the prospect of being freed.

"I'll give you some of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth, which contains some of the dao of the annulled. With that boost of power, you should be able to make some headway against the sealing mark. And once you do, Proud Central will be dead!" With that, Yang Qi sent some of the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth into the Lord of Righteous Justice, along with various understandings and enlightenment he had gained over the years.

Truth be told, the Lord of Righteous Justice had never cultivated the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth.

Whizz!

Never could Yang Qi have guessed that things would work out this way.

As soon as the Lord of Righteous Justice got the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth and started cultivating it, his tusks suddenly grew longer, and his body larger. Clearly, he had just gained incredible enlightenment.

Normally speaking, it wasn't possible to cultivate the Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth without the God Legion Seal. But since the Lord of Righteous Justice was directly related to the King of Godmammoths, it was possible.

Almost immediately, the Lord of Righteous Justice surged with psychic power, which slammed into the sealing barrier and caused it to tremble.

The Lord of Righteous Justice had been born in the early years of the god world, in the form of a white megamammoth. He represented the power of justice and order, which was why Proud Central had been able to use him to create the top empire in existence.

Neither the High Priestess in the Chiliocosm Dynasty nor the Invincible Dugu in the Invincible Dynasty had been able to compete.

The pure white power of justice and righteousness made the Central Dynasty's destiny beyond compare. Proud Central almost immediately sensed the development. "What?! What's going on? The Lord of Righteous Justice is slipping out of my control. Be crushed! Vast Expanse God-Fist!"

He clenched his hand into a fist and unleashed the power of the great vast expanse to crush the Lord of Righteous Justice.

'Now's my chance!' Yang Qi thought. Proud Central couldn't have been more distracted, so Yang Qi quickly reached out with his will. He was making his move on the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

Suddenly, laughter rang out from Proud Central. "So you're finally showing your face, Yang Qi! I'm not going to let you go free! Did you think that trying to distract me with King Immortal-Slayer and the Lord of Righteous Justice would really work? You're delusional!

"Central God-Fist!"

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, a hand shot out from inside the ancient stone door, headed directly toward Yang Qi's expression of divine will, and grabbed it. At the last moment, Yang Qi was incapable of laying hands on the Mahātmā Jade.

Then the door opened, and a version of Proud Central stepped out that looked exactly like the version on the outside. In fact, it was impossible to tell which of them was real.

With his hand still latched on to Yang Qi's divine will, he summoned a huge cage that dropped down and trapped Yang Qi. Meanwhile, the talisman with the 'devil' character flew up into the air, where it transformed into a chunk of jade.

"You can't escape, Yang Qi. I've captured you. Now I have half of the fateless energy and the God Legion Seal! Plus, you have the rest of the Mahātmā Jade. You're a real treasure, you know. Getting you is going to make me so strong that not even the Sovereign Lord could be my enemy. The god world is going to be mine! The High Priestess. The Invincible Dugu. They're all going to die!" He laughed again. "What you saw outside is my exterior body. This is my true self! And now you're trapped in my Central Prison. I spent blood, sweat, and tears to make it, and now I have a Fateless One as a prisoner inside. While they continue the negotiations, I'm going to use you to become a true Annulled expert! I'll be completely invincible!"

"Is that so?" Yang Qi said. All of a sudden, his projection of will transformed into a black ball of lightning, pulsing with incredibly destructive power. "I knew all along that you'd have traps within traps, Proud Central. Sadly for you, you can't out-scheme me. Your prison isn't going to do a thing to me. You see, I have a treasure from the Halls of Heaven, made from the blood of the Sovereign Lord. It's called the Universe-Origin Many-Heavens Myriad-Manifestations Transformation-Destruction God-Sphere. It's the most destructive magical treasure in existence, and little did you know that I tricked you into thinking it was me. Now that sphere is in your little cage. Have fun with it!"

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, Yang Qi's true form appeared. Reaching out, he grabbed the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

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Chapter 1531: One Step Behind

As it turned out, Proud Central had always been one step behind Yang Qi.

During Yang Qi's trip to the Halls of Heaven in which he collected numerous medicinal pills, he had picked up the Universe-Origin Many-Heavens Myriad-Manifestations Transformation-Destruction God-Sphere, which was a single-use item. However, it was incredibly mighty, and could be used to thoroughly confuse an enemy.

Thus, Yang Qi took advantage of it to win a sweeping victory.

He finally had the last piece of the Mahātmā Jade in his hands. As soon as he did, he unfurled his Tribulation Wings and shot up into the sky, where he disappeared.

Moments later, he was at the safest place he could be, high above the god world. He was in the Halls of Heaven, holding the Mahātmā Jade in front of him.

He knew it was an extremely dangerous time. He still had the High Priestess to worry about, although it was likely she hadn't fully recovered yet. He still couldn't directly fight Proud Central, and there was also the mysterious and ruthless Hailan in the picture. In addition to all of that, the King of Godmammoths wasn't dead. It was as if all of the almighty beings from the past were finally starting to resurface.

It was even likely that there were also mysterious and powerful entities lurking in the primal-chaos outside the god world.

Although the god world was constantly expanding, it would eventually reach a point where it ran out of momentum. Then, the infinite universe would experience a final Big Bang and everything would be destroyed. And the only way to survive was to be Annulled.

That would be the final tribulation, and Yang Qi planned to be ready for it.

But right now, he needed to prepare for the combined assault of the three dynasties. Thankfully, he had the last piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

RUMBLE!

As he stood in the Halls of Heaven, he looked down to where the ball of lightning was exploding.

As it turned out, it was out in the world of primal-chaos. A mighty force ripped through space-time with the power to shred chiliocosms of worlds. Primal-chaos itself was wiped out of existence.

'Impressive. Proud Central is really impressive. He reacted quickly enough, sending that prison out of the god world and into primal-chaos. At least I destroyed one of his top magical treasures. He obviously spent a lot of effort making that Central Prison of his. That was definitely a big blow to him.'

He chuckled. It wouldn't be easy to take down Proud Central. Even if the Sovereign Lord were to be born again, he wouldn't find the task easy.

Proud Central was incredibly strong. But more than that, he was full of craft and cunning. Furthermore, he had deep resources. If it weren't for King Immortal-Slayer and the Lord of Righteous Justice causing complications, Yang Qi probably would have met his end.

Of course, after assimilating the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade, everything would be different. He crushed the piece of jade, causing streams of flickering luster that twisted and turned with the energy of mahātmās and sages to shoot out. It was like countless wise ones chanting sutras. The sutras weren't from the dao of devils; rather, they were designed to bring order to the chaos that was the dao of devils.

Those sages and mahātmās sought to preserve devilishness, and use it to create order, which was a very difficult thing. Devilishness was inherently chaotic, while order was righteous. If a devil became orderly, it would be like someone from the dao of righteousness becoming evil.

It was an inherent contradiction that couldn't be rectified. But the sages and mahātmās from the dao of devils had sought to solve that problem. Unfortunately, they had never succeeded. However, all of the power and research that had gone into their efforts ended up in the Mahātmā Jade, and now Yang Qi had it.

As soon as the power of the jade was in the open, he drew on the power of the Halls of Heaven and unleashed the crushing pressure of the Hand of the One God.

When he grabbed the jade, a scream echoed out, filled with agony and fury. The screams created a massive explosion that rocked the area.

'Hmph! So Proud Central had one final trap in play. He used the rancorous energy that had built up in his empire for the past several billion years to create a bomb. Then, he put it into the Mahātmā Jade so that whoever tried to assimilate it would be destroyed.' Yang Qi laughed. 'The rancorous energy is powerful, so much so that it would destroy even me if I tried assimilating it. Thankfully, I'm not so stupid as to fall into such a trap.'

A smile appeared on Yang Qi's face.

Keeping a firm grip on the Mahātmā Jade with the Hand of the One God, he looked up at the stars and used their light to burn away the rancorous energy until it was no more.

He waved his hand and the Mahātmā Jade dropped into his palm, sparkling, translucent, and lacking in any impurities.

Then, he called on the pieces of the jade he already owned, and sent them out.

Click!

A tremor passed through the Halls of Heaven, and countless streams of vital energy thrummed as if they sensed something incredibly mighty coming into existence. It was very similar to what had occurred when the God Legion Seal became whole. Suddenly, a stream of greenish light shot out into the Halls of Heaven, piercing through everything and erupting into the primal-chaos beyond the god world.

As the green light pierced through the primal-chaos paleo-energy, it created world after world, all of them perfect.

"Be absorbed!"

Yang Qi changed into the form of King Heaven-Devourer, and as a primal-chaos elder-snake, he lunged at the completed jade and swallowed it up. Immediately, dramatic transformations occurred.

RUMBLE!

There was no tribulation. Instead, his psychic scale started climbing, bashing through the level of a hundred billion. And it kept going! A hundred and ten billion. A hundred and twenty. A hundred and thirty... a hundred and fifty... a hundred and ninety. Two hundred...

And it kept going!

Winds screamed in the depths of the Halls of Heaven, provoked by Yang Qi's aura.

Yang Qi knew full well that this was a major accomplishment. He had prepared long and hard for this moment. Struggling his way from the impure lands to the god world, he had fought every step of the way. And now he had finally succeeded.

His psychic scale climbed and climbed, eventually coming to a stop at two hundred and ninety billion, just shy of three hundred billion!

That was what resulted from getting the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

Not even he could have imagined that the result would be like this. It would be like a beggar suddenly inheriting a fortune, and turning into a young master who could eat whatever he wanted, have any beautiful women he wanted, and never run out of money.

Moments before, he had been at ninety billion, and now he was at nearly three hundred billion. It was a shocking difference. The current version of himself could kill the old version with the mere snap of a finger.

The Mahātmā Jade was now complete, and it flickered with a light that seemed to contain intelligence, thoughtfulness, and data. As it connected to his soul, he suddenly sensed the might of the True Devil.

WHOOSH!

As Yang Qi's strength erupted, the God Legion Seal reacted, becoming a golden stream of light that pierced into his sea of consciousness and connected with the Mahātmā Jade.

The God Legion Seal had been Yang Qi's invincible magical treasure ever since he had started out in the impure lands.

He had slowly unlocked its various features and functions, and now that he had a psychic scale of nearly three hundred billion, it was going to make him more formidable than ever. As the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade fused, they produced memories and thoughts that then became part of Yang Qi, similar to the way that ideas in a book would become part of the reader after the act of reading.

Yang Qi settled down cross-legged and started working on his cultivation in the ordinary fashion. His energy spread out to fill the Halls of Heaven, and he became like the Sovereign Lord himself.

Inside, he was drawing on the power of King Heaven-Devourer's talismans to devour more of the King of Godmammoths' blood. Not even he was sure what his blood really was now.

As his thoughts expanded, he stepped past the Unbounded level.

At long last, he was grasping at the half-Annulled level!

Crack!

Deep in the Sage Monarch Empire, the sage monarch magistrates started transforming. They were like butterflies coming out of cocoons as their psychic scales reached the level of a billion. They were now peak Paramount Gods, which was their ultimate limit. Henceforth, they could get stronger, but they couldn't step into the level of God-Lords.

That was an ironclad rule. They were thralls, and thralls couldn't be God-Lords.

However, they could continue proliferating. In the blink of an eye, their numbers reached two hundred million!

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Chapter 1532: A Psychic Scale of Three Hundred Billion

The sage monarch magistrates were now peak Paramount Gods with psychic scales of one billion. Not only did they have more powerful cultivation bases now, but their skills in administration had also improved.

Even viceroys from the House of the Invincible were only late Paramount Gods.

As of this point, there was absolutely nothing causing problems for the management of the various lands and peoples in the Sage Monarch Empire. After all, there were two hundred million sage monarch magistrates! That was simply a huge number.

Even if the Sage Monarch Empire doubled in size, they could still manage it all. In other words, the empire could now expand and subjugate more of the surrounding nations and peoples.

It was now obvious to anyone paying attention that the emperor of this empire had risen to an unheard-of level. As for Yang Qi's friends and family, they were all elated.

"Sorry, Lord of the Sword Dao, but you're useless to me now. Be destroyed!"

RUMBLE!

A howl of anguish could be heard as the Lord of the Sword Dao was crushed. There wasn't anything he could do to resist Yang Qi's will. After all, he only had a psychic scale of a bit over a hundred billion.

Crumbling into a stream of light, he flowed into Yang Qi's palm, where he took the shape of a sword.

Then, Yang Qi opened his mouth and devoured the sword, which became a part of him, causing his psychic scale to rise by a few billion. His psychic scale was now at over two hundred and ninety billion, while his godhood rating was still at ninety billion. Obviously, the latter needed to be increased.

As such, he turned into a primal-chaos elder-snake that shot up into the sky and started devouring the countless heavenly caliber godstones that were the stars there.

As he did, he grew larger and larger, until he had devoured over a hundred million stars. Even having taken that many, the sky was still a dazzling tableau of brilliance. That said, it was now possible to tell that there were fewer stars than before. Of course, that many godstones was something that the other three dynasties couldn't even dream of.

After all, they used perfect caliber godstones, whereas these were heaven caliber.

Yang Qi threw his head back and laughed heartily. 'This way, I should be able to get my godhood rating to equal my psychic scale. Ah, what a pity. My cultivation base still isn't high enough. If I could fully step into the half-Annulled level, I could definitely devour the Halls of Heaven.'

As a primal-chaos elder-snake, he looked at the Halls of Heaven and thought about what it would be like to swallow them up. That had always been King Heaven-Devourer's aspiration. Second to his desire to devour the Halls of Heaven had been his hope to consume the King of Godmammoths.

Yang Qi could sense that many eyes were fixed on the Halls of Heaven right now, and although they didn't know what exactly was happening, they could tell that something momentous was going on.

Before long, his godhood rating reached the same level as his psychic scale. Now both were only about a hundred million away from reaching the level of three hundred billion.

Unfortunately, that bottleneck would be difficult to pass.

That said, he was definitely strong enough to dominate the top experts in existence in combat. Of course, it wouldn't be simple to do that. Furthermore, now that Yang Qi had reached this level, he saw traces of the King of Godmammoths about, and was starting to think that the Sovereign Lord might not be dead after all.

He was now beginning to get very nervous.

'I'll just have to wait for the final battle,' he thought. 'The three dynasties are definitely going to besiege my Sage Monarch Empire, and I have to stop them. I have to force them to acknowledge my might. Once I'm the top power in the god world, I'll finally be able to tell what's really going on. People will stream to me, and stand by my side. It will prove that I am the orthodox dao.'

Yang Qi's dao could only be corroborated by defeating the combined armies of the other three empires. That was what everything came down to.

'This is working great. I've already reached a higher level. Excellent! Now that I have momentum, I need to rain fire and blood on my enemies, with my friends and family at my side! Let's do it!'

As a primal-chaos elder-snake, he sped through the Halls of Heaven with his mouth open, devouring the countless magical treasures he found. Then he sent all of them to his empire, improving its fighting prowess.

The empire was expanding, and everyone within it knew. However, they also knew that it meant terrible times were ahead. As the magical treasures flowed in, they went to the most loyal of the top experts, all of whom immediately used them to boost their cultivation bases.

All of them went into sessions of cultivation and prayer.

Their prayers weren't to a person, as Yang Qi didn't need, nor want their faith. Their prayers went to the Sage Monarch Empire as a whole, as they asked for prosperity for the nation itself.

These were the preparations for war.

A night passed during which temples were erected in numerous lands within the empire. The sage monarch magistrates led the activities as all citizens worked hard to get as strong as possible.

All production work ceased, as the constant influx of magical treasures ensured that they had more resources than they could even use. Even in a hundred million years, it wouldn't be possible to produce what Yang Qi was sending from the Halls of Heaven.

'Oh Sage Monarch Empire, I hereby pray for your prosperity. I pray that you, my empire, flourishes for all time, triumphant in every battle, victorious in every fight...' Billions of experts were gathered, and they were all praying such things.

The destiny of the nation was converging, and the people were experiencing breakthrough after breakthrough.

Crack. Crunch.

The destiny was like the root system of a tree, spreading deep into the space below as the prayers transformed it. As it spread, numerous lands in the god world became part of the empire as it grew constantly.

The growth of the destiny represented the growth of the nation.

In fact, the destiny was so incredible that it would soon surpass the civilization of the gods.

In the civilization of the gods, destiny could be used to ordain people as gods. There was nothing in all of the universe of primal-chaos that had ever surpassed the civilization of gods. After all, nothing existed above them.

'Incredible. The destiny is growing so rapidly!' Yang Qi nodded in satisfaction as his armies were sent to occupy the new lands. Many places in the god world were occupied by Demonfolk, but as his destiny spread out, they were converted, and became members of the Sage Monarch Empire.

In the impure lands, people who had lived in a place for generations, then suddenly faced an incoming army who declared their homeland part of an empire, would have no choice but to accept the new rulership. This was momentum. And it was momentum that couldn't be stopped.

Yang Qi flew into motion, heading down into his empire.

He had truly founded a new dynasty.

Thanks to the surging destiny, his friends and family were all becoming stronger, their psychic scales and godhood ratings climbing by hundreds and hundreds of millions.

Obviously, the members of the other three dynasties in the Central God-Palace noticed what was happening.

'Just what exactly is going on? Why this sudden, dramatic change?' Proud Heaven's eyes widened as he saw the Sage Monarch Empire, burning like a bright torch as it expanded rapidly.

He could even hear the prayers of its countless citizens.

The Sage Monarch Empire's destiny was expanding so rapidly that it quickly outpaced the Invincible Dynasty and the Chiliocosm Dynasty, and was soon equal to that of the Central Dynasty.

"What's this?"

Many of the other experts present were shocked. "The Sage Monarch Empire's dynasty is increasing so fast! This is terrifying. Horrifying! How is Yang Qi doing this?"

"There's no time to lose, ladies and gentlemen! Yang Qi's empire is expanding, and his people are preparing for war. His destiny is increasing, and if we just sit around here, we'll end up dead. Sign the agreement! Join our destinies and marshal the troops!"

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Chapter 1533: The War Begins

Never in anyone's wildest dreams could they have imagined that the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire would rise so rapidly. It seemed completely unimaginable to the extreme.

After Yang Qi's major breakthrough and subsequent gains, he immediately ensured that everything in his empire improved. He also rebuilt the Everlasting Aegis until it became a treasure that vastly surpassed the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart.

Meanwhile, the people prepared for war, their blood boiling with battle spirit. Everyone could see that the momentum of the Sage Monarch Empire couldn't be stopped. And the confucian experts could tell that it was being ruled properly, ensuring that more people would flock to join it.

Atop a high mountain, an old man sat in front of a group of young people. Obviously, he was a confucian teacher, and they were his students.

Further down the mountain, a confucian college could be seen.

The old man's cultivation base was mysterious and impossible to read. He was definitely a God-Lord, at the very least. As for his students, some were God-Lords, while others were simply peak Paramount Gods. These people weren't quite on the level of the Dragonfolk or the Spritefolk, but they were still powerful.

As the old man sat there, he studied the destiny quietly.

Eventually, one of his students said, "Teacher, ever since the Sovereign Lord perished, heaven and earth transformed, and the god world was split in three. The Central, Chiliocosm, and Invincible Dynasties controlled everything. That itself was in accord with the dao of heaven, as we all know the saying a nation is like a tripod standing on three legs. With three major powers in play, they can keep each other under control. It's a very stable structure. But now that this Sage Monarch Empire has come into play as a fourth empire, what will happen? Will everything fall apart?

"Throughout all the years, there have been many occasions in which people tried to challenge the might of the three major dynasties. But all such opposition was eventually crushed. For instance, the ancient buddhist schools tried to found a buddhist empire, but they were defeated. Presumably, they found some distant corner of the god world to hide in and lick their wounds. The Demonfolk had almighty experts who tried creating a demon empire. They were also smashed by the three dynasties. It seems like a foregone conclusion that the same will happen with the Sage Monarch Empire."

"It's all predestined," said the teacher. "I've been studying the destiny of this Sage Monarch Empire, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before. The governing method of this empire surpasses the civilization of gods. It seems to me it's a different type of civilization, something transcendent. Whether it will truly transcend the god civilization remains to be seen. That's something easier said than done. That said, the Sage Monarch Empire is different from any other empire. Not even the buddhists could do something like this. After all, they excel at cultivation, not governance. And the demons and devils, they're virtually the same thing. Creatures of chaos without order. Years ago, the Demon Master reached a very high level of cultivation, but he could never found a Demonfolk empire. They simply have no concept of order in their minds. It's impossible to change the fundamental nature of an entire race. But look. The Sage Monarch Empire has turned the Dragonfolk into true humans, which is nothing short of amazing. A single dragon will provide vastly more destiny than numerous humans. That's why human emperors are called True Dragon Sons of Heaven. Incredible. Simply incredible. I think this Yang Qi might have a way of governing that's superior to even we confucians."

The students then chimed in.

"Teacher, it looks like the other three dynasties are going to work together to fight the Sage Monarch Empire. Do you think this Yang Qi fellow can handle it? Do we just sit on the mountaintop and watch the tigers fight, then reap the spoils when they tire out? Or do we interfere?"

"I don't think it would do to interfere. We'd only be asking for trouble."

"We'd end up getting crushed. No, we stay out of it. After all: When you're successful, you should focus on your own cultivation. When you're unsuccessful, you should work hard to benefit all people."

"Can't you see?" the teacher continued. "The god world is changing rapidly. If we don't take advantage of this situation, it's likely it will devolve into a world of terror. You have limited foresight, and can't see the bigger picture. We confucians should be the best at seeing through to the truth of matters."

"What do we do, Teacher? Do we join the three dynasties to put down the Sage Monarch Empire?"

"Moron!" the teacher scolded. "This is a major change for the god world. Without the Sage Monarch Empire, things would continue with a tripartite balance of power. But if the Sage Monarch Empire wins, it will control all creation. It will unite the god world in the greatest revolution to ever occur. The future is going to change! We have to take advantage of this situation and become like an official who follows someone's rise from a lower rank to that of emperor. That's the only way to see true destiny, and transcend the bounds of civilization."

"What? Teacher, are you saying you prefer the Sage Monarch Empire?"

"That's right. Look at its destiny. It's amazing. It's definitely not something that an ordinary person could pull off. I've already made my decision. Before the war starts, we'll take all of our disciples to join the Sage Monarch Empire. First, we want to see how they govern their empire. And second, we want to be within their destiny when they transcend."

"But... what if the Sage Monarch Empire loses? We'll end up damned by myriad tribulations."

"It's a gamble. But everything in existence is really just a game. We're betting on who has the sharpest eyes and the best plan. Furthermore, we know what sort of morality is espoused by the Central Dynasty, and their views on governance. Besides, among all the countless civilizations that have existed, there have been many occasions in which the side with fewer numbers came out on top of a war. The decision is made. Make the preparations. We're heading to the Sage Monarch Empire."

"Yes sir!" the students said, and they rushed down to the college to make preparations.

It was a mass migration of the entire population of the college, not just a handful of people choosing to go.

As the massive confucian college made their decision, a group of God-Lord buddhas were meeting in a buddhist kingdom in the depths of space.

One of the buddhas said, "Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka, what do you think of this war? Is this our chance to rise to prominence?" The buddha he was speaking to was exceedingly fat, but at the same time, looked extremely dignified. He also bore the air of a leader.

He was Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka, and he was considered the hope for the future of the buddhist schools.

His psychic scale was at the level of a hundred billion, yet he didn't dare to establish an empire. In ancient times, there had been experts stronger than him who had tried to do so, only to end up destroyed. The descendants of those former empires had long since scuttled in the shadows of the god world, not willing to show their faces.

But now it seemed there might be an opportunity to emerge from the shadows.

"This is our chance," Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka said. "Once war breaks out, all four of the dynasties are going to experience a decline in destiny, and terrible situations in their borders. Now is our opportunity to spread the creed of the Pure Land. We'll take advantage of the situation to make sure everyone knows that giving us faith is the only true path. Furthermore, I suspect that the Sage Monarch Empire is going to be crushed. So we can take advantage of that moment to take their wealth. We must take action now. Begin our campaign of preaching. Any who refuse to be purified will be slaughtered. Send them to the True Void. The buddhist schools will rise to prominence! Now is the time for fury and vengeance, not mercy. Understand? We're going to make our comeback, and wait until the four dynasties are weak, then crush them all! It couldn't be more perfect! All creation will belong to us. The god world will no longer be called the god world. It will be the buddha world. And we'll finally be able to transcend everything."

"Yes sir!" The enormous buddhist school stirred into action.

It wasn't just the buddhist schools. There were Demonfolk, Devilfolk, wretch-gods, and experts of all sorts who took action. Some marshalled their troops, others fled into hiding. All sorts of plans were hatched.

A storm was coming, and everyone had to decide what to do.

It was going to be true war, and no one knew how it would turn out. No one could make predictions with utter certainty.

Meanwhile, in the Central God-Palace...

"We can't wait any longer! Sign the agreement! Now's the time to act, not delay! Sign it! Tell everyone in existence that we're going to war with the Sage Monarch Empire!"

1. This is a quote from .

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Chapter 1534: It's Here

The Lord of the Chiliocosm, the nine patriarchs from the House of the Invincible, and all of the other top experts had originally anticipated negotiating matters for a matter of months. Maybe even a year. But now they saw that it wasn't the time to bicker over trivialities.

Acting as quickly as possible, they signed the agreement.

All of the leaders and ministers then swore oaths.

It only took three days to handle all of the particulars. That alone went to show how anxious everyone was about the matter.

If Yang Qi had hidden the fact that he got the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade, and continued to operate in secret, they would have continued to argue and haggle. However, operating in secret wasn't particularly effective.

So he chose war.

It was a foregone conclusion that it would happen eventually, so there was no need for delay.

RUMBLE!

Dramatic transformations were occurring everywhere, and the destiny of the god world was changing. Meanwhile, the citizens of the Invincible, Chiliocosm, and Central Dynasties all heard the news that they would be going to war with the Sage Monarch Empire.

In the shortest amount of time imaginable, the god world was set abuzz.

After all, it was an official announcement, not just scuttlebutt. The leaders of the three dynasties had sworn blood oaths and signed an agreement, outlining all of the details.

The very substructure of the god world was going to change.

"We three empires shall work together to conquer the Sage Monarch Empire. All members of the empire will be slaughtered, down to the chickens and dogs. Only those who surrender before the fighting begins will be spared. Those who refuse, and proceed to fight, will be killed, and will not be allowed to surrender."

The declaration was chilling.

As word spread through the god world to all the innumerable planes of existence, the people who heard it shivered in fear.

The true intentions of the three dynasties had been made very clear.

Of course, considering all the channels of communication the Sage Monarch Empire had open, they got the news almost immediately. Yang Qi was making a similar announcement. "We'll fight to the death. When the three dynasties come, we'll wipe out their armies. The Sage Monarch Empire will unify the god world, becoming unparalleled under heaven and achieving a level of glory that only the Sovereign Lord has ever had."

The people in the god world who heard his announcement couldn't help but be impressed.

Not only was the Sage Monarch Empire going to fight back against the invasion, but they were also going to unify the god world and bring back the glory of the Sovereign Lord? It seemed crazy. What kind of statement was this? What kind of confidence backed it?

It was almost as if they weren't worried at all about the other three dynasties.

Numerous factions and peoples were watching with keen interest. Of course, many people were moved. After all, Yang Qi was a Leading One, as were all of his sage monarch magistrates. Down to their genes, they were adept at leading people and convincing them with logical arguments.

As the god world buzzed with all the news, Yang Qi released another statement.

"I am Yang Qi, bearer of the God Legion Seal. The Halls of Heaven are mine, and the resources in the Sage Monarch Empire are from there. Those who join my Sage Monarch Empire and help crush the three other dynasties will receive treasures from the Sovereign Lord. Furthermore, those who join in crushing the other three empires can also join in looting their treasure storehouses!"

Immediately, a crazed frenzy broke out.

The God Legion Seal had once belonged to the Sovereign Lord, and whoever held it commanded the mandate of heaven!

Innumerable civilizations in the god world had information about the God Legion Seal, but most people thought it would never be seen. After all, it had fallen into the impure lands.

The shockwaves created by the announcement were unprecedented. Thankfully, Yang Qi wasn't worried that he would be like an ordinary man who possessed great treasure and made himself a big target.

In the impure lands, a random farmer who found an emperor's jade seal would be considered a criminal. But if a powerful noble acquired the same thing, he could take over the empire.

Numerous powerful entities knew that he had the God Legion Seal, yet none of them even dared to think of stealing it. After all, the three main dynasties had already set their eyes on the Sage Monarch Empire. Anyone who tried to singlehandedly take on forces like that would get killed, even if they had a psychic scale of a hundred billion.

No single person would dare to take on an empire.

It was similar to how the Central Dynasty had always been the only ones to print godnotes. Although many people were completely envious over the magical treasure they possessed to do that, no one had ever attempted to steal it. It was just too dangerous.

The Sage Monarch Empire's dynasty was growing so rapidly that it finally outpaced that of the Central Dynasty.

In the Central God-Palace, Proud Heaven remained as cool as ever, as though he wasn't under any pressure at all. Standing directly in front of him were Yang Voidprime and Hailan.

Although they weren't consummate patriarchs, they were some of the most enigmatic people in the entire god world, and there was obviously more to them than met the eye. And now, they were all looking at each other with mysterious smiles on their faces.

"Proud Heaven, do you think we can win this war?" Hailan asked. "Even back in the impure lands, Yang Qi was clever and decisive. And virtually invincible. He's worked hard to reach this point, found his empire and establish order, and even create a net of law. His tentacles are spreading out everywhere. Although our three dynasties combined are stronger than his, even ocean waves won't crush a reef. Besides, he definitely has reserve powers he can call on."

Proud Heaven looked back at her. "I've always wondered, Hailan. You had a divine will projection in the impure lands. Did you have some sort of relationship with Yang Qi there?"

"I only ever got scattered bits of information from my will projection, so not even I can be sure. However, I do know that, considering Yang Qi is an expression of fateless energy, he definitely caused strange things to happen. He's different from you, Yang Voidprime, isn't he?"

"It doesn't matter who he is or what strange transformations he provoked. He's worthless, and he's going to die, no matter what. I must get his fateless energy to become a complete Fateless One. He might seem strong now, but it's a facade. Just wait until he's past his zenith and on the decline, and he'll die for sure."

"Are you that confident you can kill him?" Proud Heaven asked with a smile. "The House of the Invincible and the House of the Chiliocosm have both left to prepare their troops. Once they're ready, the Central Dynasty's army will join them and go on the warpath. We're going to destroy his empire, and there's going to be a lot of bloodshed."

"Yes, there will be blood," Hailan said. "But remember, in addition to Yang Qi, we'll also have to deal with the Lord of the Sword Dao, as well as his mob of followers. There's also the Second and Third Devil Generals, the Dragonfolk, and the others like them. They're trash who haven't accomplished anything in the past hundreds of millions of years. But what I'm truly worried about is that there might be some powerful entity lurking out there, waiting to strike at the moment we attack. For instance, there's the will of the King of Godmammoths. Furthermore, none of the seventy-two monarchs have shown up, either."

"If one such person shows up, it won't be a problem," Proud Heaven said. "And do you really think they'll be teaming up to do anything? None of them understand the power of destiny, and none of them ever established empires, not even King Immortal-Slayer. They were famous, yes, but not worth worrying about now. With the destiny we command, even an enemy with a psychic scale of a hundred billion wouldn't do anything other than die in front of us."

RUMBLE!

All of a sudden, everything started trembling.

"What's going on here?" The three experts looked around in shock.

"This is bad!" said an expert from the Central Dynasty. "Exalted Proud Heaven, it's really bad! The armies of the Invincible Dynasty and the Chiliocosm Dynasty were just preparing to leave for the rendezvous point. However, even as they did, the two marshals, Yang Primal-Chaos and Dugu Sheji, suddenly turned and left. They rebelled! They went to the Sage Monarch Empire, where they were received with open arms. This is going to be a huge blow to our destiny!"

"What did you just say?" Proud Heaven blurted, his face turning ashen.

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Chapter 1535: Striking Before the War Starts

The news was heaven-shakingly, earth-shatteringly shocking to Proud Heaven, Hailan, and Yang Voidprime.

Of course, it wasn't the actual loss of strength that was bad, but rather what it represented.

The alliance of three dynasties was planning to attack the Sage Monarch Empire and wipe them out down to the chickens and dogs, carrying out a bloodbath that would leave the stench of death behind for years to come. They had already made the public announcement, and it was tied to their destiny. It couldn't be changed!

The Sage Monarch Empire wasn't showing any sign of weakness or fear, either. They announced that they were going to crush the three dynasties and restore the glory of the Sovereign Lord. They were going to unite the god world!

The swords were drawn and the arrows were nocked. War could break out at any moment, and it would engulf the entire god world. It would be a war on the same level as the one fought in ancient times between the Sovereign Lord, King Immortal-Slayer, and the True Devil.

Of course, that war had been between individuals, whereas this one involved the destinies of massive empires.

The combined destinies of the three dynasties could even crush half-Annulled experts like King Immortal-Slayer. Although Proud Heaven's cultivation base was beyond a hundred billion, compared to the destiny of an empire, it was weak nonetheless.

That was what happened when the power of the masses was tapped into.

Of course, it was the same with the Sage Monarch Empire.

Yang Qi's psychic scale was at three hundred billion, but with the power of destiny backing him, he had nothing to fear, even from experts with a rating of six hundred billion.

Even the purrling was shocked.

"Why? Why is this happening!?" Proud Heaven shouted. "What did he do? They were two top generals! They surrendered, and took many of their officers with them. All God-Lords! This drop in destiny is going to have a huge effect on our reputation. Yet this happened right when we were about to march into battle with weapons drawn? What are all the countless people in the god world going to think of us now? Damn it all!"

"No one from the Central Dynasty turned traitor?" Hailan asked.

"There were," the army officer said, "but none that were God-Lords. Certain viceroys left, and that's going to have a big negative influence. Almost half of the God-Lord officers from the armies of the Chiliocosm and Invincible dynasties had left! This came out of nowhere! What are we supposed to do? Exalted Proud Heaven, please, issue some orders!"

The army officers were trembling in their boots. None of them had ever seen Proud Heaven this furious.

"Well this is a splash of cold water," Yang Voidprime said coldly. "We have to strike back immediately. Regardless of how much we were just hurt. It's obviously going to be a big blow, and news is going to spread fast. Before, our alliance had the upper hand, and people were laughing at the Sage Monarch Empire and their talk of unification. But with this development, people are going to start changing their minds. Everyone wants to be an official who follows someone's rise from a lower rank to that of emperor. We have to strike fast and hard. I suggest that we leave the Chiliocosm and Invincible Dynasties behind. Muster the troops of the Central Dynasty and attack right now. Catch Yang Qi completely unprepared. If we do that, we might be able to regain the upper hand."

Yang Voidprime was from the Chiliocosm Dynasty, and Yang Primal-Chaos had just betrayed him. But he didn't seem particularly worried about that, which reinforced the amazing nature of Fateless Ones.

"Hmph. You think I'm just going to run out and fight Yang Qi?" Proud Heaven laughed. "Did you think that because of my little outburst a moment ago that I'd suddenly lost my wits? Don't joke around. I'm not going to single-handedly win the war. Remember, the Central Dynasty didn't turn traitor. And the losses suffered by you two dynasties have nothing to do with me. Right now, the other two dynasties need to get their broken armies back together and prepare to attack. We suffered a big blow, but we aren't dead. And we still have the superior position."

"Aren't you impressive," Yang Voidprime said dryly, then shut his mouth.

"I knew all along that those two had been subjugated by Yang Qi," Hailan said. "I was advocating for a blitzkrieg strategy, before Yang Qi built up any momentum. But then we got bogged down in negotiating for personal gain, giving him all the time he needed. The coming war is going to be even more challenging now."

"Challenging?" Proud Heaven said. "All of the dynasties have trump cards to be played. And when they are, Yang Qi is going to be dead meat."

"You think Yang Qi doesn't have trump cards?" Hailan said. "You'd do best not to underestimate him."

"It doesn't matter. We have to make our move now. Crush him. Contact the other two emperors and tell them to mobilize their troops immediately. There's no time to lose, and we can't afford any further delays. If we waste time, we're going to end up dead."

They all sensed the impending danger.

The blow that had been struck just before fighting broke out really was severe. It turned the tables, causing all the citizens of the three dynasties to feel choked with fear.

Meanwhile, laughter echoed out as Yang Qi's friends and family saw him welcoming Yang Primal-Chaos and Dugu Sheji, as well as numerous other God-Lord officers and viceroys, providing an instant increase to their military might. Throughout the empire, hearts swelled with pride as they reveled in what was a clear victory.

The war hadn't even officially begun, and they were already winning.

What better way could there have been to boost morale?

The people had been feeling a lot of pressure regarding the impending fighting, and if it weren't for the sage Monarch Empire leading everyone in prayer, there would have been plenty of deserters. But now, no one was afraid to fight.

The armies hadn't even clashed yet, but the people of the empire knew that His Majesty Yang Qi's declaration wasn't just mere words. He really was planning to unify the god world.

If he defeated the other three dynasties, the Sage Monarch Empire really would be number one in the god world. Not even the Sovereign Lord could have done anything about it.

Of course, the way Yang Qi was welcoming them was a bit of a sham. But he still went through the motions of formally appointing them to be generalissimos of the Sage Monarch Empire.

It was a good way to show the rest of the world that he could be accepting of former enemies.

The ceremony was broadcast for everyone to see, and sent out to countless planes of existence.

Yang Qi's cultivation base was many times that of the old Lord of Radiance and Light, so it was a simple thing for him to project images in that way.

Everyone who saw it reacted with shock.

"Incredible. Completely incredible. Yang Qi is nothing short of amazing!" That was what many of the buddha-lords were saying.

"Things are changing. If Emperor Yang Qi can do things like this, it's obvious that heaven and earth are going to transform. The god world is changing. Is the civilization of the gods really going to reach a higher level?" The confucians were all abuzz, and many of them were flocking to join the Sage Monarch Empire.

Of course, during all this, Yang Qi's destiny was increasing. At first, his empire had consisted mostly of Dragonfolk and Spritefolk. But now those groups only made up about a third of the population.

That alone showed how much the empire was growing.

If the other three dynasties didn't do something quickly, he was just going to continue getting stronger. For all anyone knew, he might actually break past the half-Annulled level.

Despite everything he had been busy with, Yang Qi hadn't forgotten about the Nacrelight Sageland. Waving his hand, he pierced through space and time, pulling the Nacrelight Sageland toward him.

Instantly, he could sense the rage of the High Priestess. She was obviously slumbering in some aspect of space-time. But once she finished regenerating, she would wake up. The time had come to fight.

However, he wanted to ensure that the majority of people were still able to live in peace.

In fact, getting so many new God-Lords wasn't as important as the prestige he had earned.

The god world was huge, and nobody even had any idea of how many God-Lords there were out there. He had won the first major victory in the conflict, and the hearts of many people. Because of that, more people were streaming toward him. Many, many more times than before.

There were even people in the three dynasties that were considering defecting. After all, the three dynasties didn't have sage monarch magistrates to help calm the hearts of the people.

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Chapter 1536: Army Pressure

The hearts of the people had been won by Yang Qi.

Before the war had even started, the Sage Monarch Empire made a deadly move. Under normal circumstances, it might not have been so dramatic. But for it to happen just as the two sides had swords drawn and arrows nocked and were about to fight to the death ensured that it was deadly to the extreme.

As a result, the Sage Monarch Empire's destiny completely and utterly surpassed that of the Central Dynasty.

The pieces of Yang Qi's plan were slowly clicking into place. He was truly full of craft and cunning. Even Proud Central, who had survived the Sovereign Lord's schemes, had been played like a fiddle by Yang Qi.

Overnight, his destiny was growing like an inflating balloon. And of course, his borders were expanding. The Everlasting Aegis was growing as well, keeping everything inside completely safe.

None of the other three dynasties had nets of law as sturdy as this, nor anything like an aegis to protect them. They had spell formations, big ones too, but none that could cover an entire empire.

Treasures like the Myriad Dragons Lair and the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart were few and far between.

After all, the aegis grew stronger along with Yang Qi.

Creak. Crack!

As destiny flowed into Yang Qi, the sage monarch magistrates proliferated, their numbers climbing from two hundred million to two hundred ten, two hundred twenty... As the destiny of the empire grew, so did they.

Most empires had problems with destiny, because as new people joined the empire, they came along with spies and profiteers, people who weren't truly loyal.

But Yang Qi wasn't worried about that.

Given the strength and numbers of his sage monarch magistrates, they could get rid of any such people. The people who joined the empire and became part of the system were sent through a system of education that involved training, cultivation, classes, propaganda and the like. Their spirits were cleansed, and they were taught how to pray to the empire.

Praying to an empire was different than praying to an individual, just as faith in an empire was different than faith in an individual.

Empires couldn't be infected by the karma of those who prayed to them. An empire was made up of all the living beings in it. In some ways, the people were the empire. From a certain point of view, when people prayed to the empire, they were praying to themselves.

Yang Qi was waiting for the big battle to begin.

He sat on his imperial throne, watching as his sage monarch magistrates handled everything and led the experts in prayer.

It was actually a very unique thing; among all the civilizations that had ever existed, only Yang Qi had ever thought to do it. Temples were erected for the people to pray, not to the emperor, but to the empire; thus, the people were praying to the people.

The empire was Yang Qi's home. His property. And he would protect it with his life against any enemy. It took a lot of work to build an empire, and it was just as important as personal cultivation.

So he sat and watched from outside the circle of karma.

As he continued gazing out over his empire, he felt like a thought was growing within him, and suddenly remembered the ocean of faith back in the Halls of Heaven.

It had been huge, being composed of the faith given to the Sovereign Lord by the legion of gods. The Sovereign Lord hadn't taken it into himself, but stored it as an enormous ocean.

All of a sudden, Yang Qi realized that it was a major weak spot for the Sovereign Lord.

The Sovereign Lord had been forcing people to worship himself! He had hoped that by putting it in the ocean, he would free himself from its downsides. But in the end, he was infected by karma, then killed.

'Now I understand!' Yang Qi thought. 'Transcendence isn't a purely personal matter. It's about leading the entire god civilization to transcend. The god civilization is the highest of civilizations. The lesser martial civilizations. The middle martial civilizations. The greater martial civilizations. The truth cultivation civilizations. The immortal dao civilization. And the god civilization. That's it. There are no further types of civilization. But if someone could lead that most ultimate civilization into transcendence, then all people in it would succeed. That's the grandest aspiration there could be. If all people open their hearts, and the god civilization transcends, reaching a higher level of civilization, that's what it means to be Annulled...'

At that moment, Yang Qi realized what he needed to do.

He would remain free of karma. The karma belonged to the people, and they would have to deal with it. He would unify the god world, make it one enormous empire, and lead it into transcendence. Raise the legion of gods to a higher level.

Of course, he was a long way from even being able to talk about doing such a thing.

But now that he had achieved this enlightenment, he had a great dao to follow. His ideal. His ideal of transcendence. He would surpass the Sovereign Lord. His temples wouldn't contain divine likenesses of himself, but would guide people to pray to the empire instead.

Having a goal was essential in making progress, otherwise one would wander aimlessly into ruin. And now he had a goal.

The Sovereign Lord had walked the wrong path. So had King Immortal-Slayer. But Yang Qi knew the correct way. He had a direction.

'Now that I know all of this, does it mean I should absorb that ocean of faith? Or rather, absorb it into my empire? It's full of so much raw power that if an individual absorbed it, thereby accepting all the karma of the people who had offered the faith, then he would surely perish. But if a nation were to absorb it, for instance, into its net of law... The karma of a people will be accepted by a people. It seems doable. Unfortunately, it obviously comes with the caveat that if the empire can't sustain the karma, it will perish.'

Yang Qi had his great dao. And considering the vast potential of that ocean of faith in the Halls of Heaven, he couldn't help but start wondering about using it. And of course, there was also the broken Ancient Road to the Gods at the bottom of it.

Maybe if he drained the ocean of faith, he would be able to repair the Ancient Road to the Gods.

Of course, it was all just wishful thinking right now.

For now, he had to lead his army to crush the advance of the three dynasties. Once he defeated them, he would truly be invincible. Then he would have time to do more research, and likely take everything in the Halls of Heaven for himself.

RUMBLE!

Looking over, he saw something that looked like a black cloud that could blot out the sun rumbling in the direction of his empire.

The destiny of the three dynasties had reached the Everlasting Aegis, and was clashing with the destiny of his Sage Monarch Empire. When the two destinies clashed, massive shockwaves rolled out through the god world, destroying and creating entire continents.

The power being unleashed here went beyond anything the Sovereign Lord could have done.

"The war is starting," Yang Qi said, rising to his feet. "Warriors of the empire. Citizens. Prepare for war. The Sage Monarch Empire will triumph in every battle. Soldiers. Magistrates. Get ready to fight!"

RUMBLE!

His people flew out, ready to fight for their empire.

Yang Qi led them, including all of his friends and family, backed by destiny. When they reached the Everlasting Aegis, they looked out into the big bang explosions that were occurring everywhere, and saw that the aegis was teetering.

Farther out were hordes of troops filling space like the eternal sands, who had come to destroy the Sage Monarch Empire.

Among them were Proud Heaven, the nine Dugu patriarchs, Yang Chiliocosm, Hailan, Yang Voidprime, and other experts. There were numerous individuals with psychic scales of a hundred billion, and they had come to fight.

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Chapter 1537: War, the Empire is Everlasting

The war had started with a clash of destinies.

Destructive shockwaves rolled out in all directions, slamming into the Everlasting Aegis with such force that cracks started spreading out across its surface.

Such was the immense power of national destiny.

In facing the three dynasties, Yang Qi was up against a force that not even a psychic scale of three hundred billion could stand against. If he hadn't created his Sage Monarch Empire, and grown its destiny to surpass that of the Central Dynasty, then he would never have been able to do this. He would have been crushed like a chicken or dog.

Of course, the combined destiny of the other three dynasties was more than even the Sage Monarch Empire could handle. Thankfully, every expert in the Sage Monarch Empire who was capable of fighting was ready to do battle.

The other three dynasties couldn't bring every single member of their respective empires to battle. First of all, they needed a constant flow of resources, so they couldn't take people away from production centers. If they did, it would lead to catastrophic disaster. Because of that, they only had about a third of their total populace in the army.

As the destinies clashed, everything trembled violently.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi was guiding some of the destiny to bolster the Everlasting Aegis.

As the battle between destinies played out, Yang Qi led his brethren, government officials, and sage monarch magistrates to form an immense spell formation behind the Everlasting Aegis.

The three opposing dynasties also had their people in formation, waiting in combat readiness. Neither side was willing to take action blithely. Without having a very well-thought-out strategy beforehand, doing so would lead to a major defeat.

"Pull back!" Proud Heaven shouted.

He could see that, because of the sage monarch magistrates and the Everlasting Aegis, the Sage Monarch Empire's destiny was flowing as strong as ever. Obviously, leading a direct charge would be suicidal. Even someone with a cultivation base ten times as strong as anyone present wouldn't survive the raging destiny on display.

Furthermore, a dip in morale would cause the destiny to decline, then that side would be easily wiped out. And right now, the only people who seemed like they might suffer a loss in morale were the three dynasties. After all, they were only in a temporary alliance, and the hearts of their people weren't united.

That was the first downside.

Second, they had just experienced the defection of some of their top army leaders, which had resulted in an immediate decline in destiny.

Third, they suffered from political instability. They didn't have sage monarch magistrates to keep everything operating smoothly.

Because of all those things, their destiny was inferior to that of the Sage Monarch Empire.

Not even Proud Heaven could do anything about those three things, not even if his cultivation base had been on par with that of the Sovereign Lord. Political savvy was something that had nothing to do with cultivation. Controlling a nation, moving the hearts of the people, enticing them, stirring up their emotions, and using that all to improve destiny, was something that, if Yang Qi were considered second best, would have no one occupying the top spot.

That said, despite all their downsides, the alliance was still in the superior position. They had sheer numbers on their side.

But they still didn't dare to try fighting their way past the Everlasting Aegis, especially not with Yang Qi waiting in formation. They had to just chip away slowly but surely.

War drums pounded, yet the two armies still hadn't charged into battle. Yang Qi wouldn't lead his people out of the Everlasting Aegis, and the three dynasties didn't dare to attempt breaking inside.

It was a standoff.

The true battle was yet to begin.

If Yang Qi managed to survive, his reputation in the god world would soar.

If he couldn't hold out, then he would die.

Raising his voice so that it echoed out across the battlefield, Yang Qi said, "I never would've guessed that I'd see you again under these circumstances. I'm actually thrilled! It's wonderful that you three dynasties have come to offer me your heads. Do you really think you can take down my Sage Monarch Empire?"

Proud Heaven, Yang Voidprime, and Hailan were all out there, and Yang Qi knew that he couldn't afford to take them lightly. There was also Yang Chiliocosm and the nine Dugu patriarchs to worry about.

In the Sage Monarch Empire, only he had a psychic scale above a hundred billion, while the three dynasties had more than ten who had reached such heights. That said, Yang Qi was like one man guarding a mountain pass, preventing ten thousand men from breaking through.

He was actually a bit disappointed that they hadn't just charged forth in a big attack. Then he could have had his sage monarch magistrates fire their Tribulation Monarch Cannons, and it would have devastated the enemy. And he could have followed up with an attack via destiny to wipe them out.

However, Proud Heaven and his compatriots were capable strategists, and knew that they needed to have a solid foundation before pressing the attack.

Right now, they were too orderly. If Yang Qi unleashed a bombardment with the Tribulation Monarch Cannons, they could use their formation to easily defend themselves.

Tribulation Monarch Cannons were terrifying weapons, but were useless against national destiny guided by formation.

For now, it was a battle of attrition.

In response to Yang Qi's provocation, Proud Heaven threw his head back and laughed. "I never could've guessed that a piece of trash from the impure lands would reach this point. It's definitely unexpected. That said, your honor and glory have reached their zenith, and will soon crumble. Nothing in the god world can stand up to the alliance of our three dynasties. Our armies are going to crush you and turn the people of your empire into a river of blood."

"Yang Primal-Chaos!" the Lord of the Chiliocosm shouted. "Get the hell out here!"

Yang Primal-Chaos had a psychic scale of more than fifty billion, which was obviously a major accomplishment that could come only with significant enlightenment. And the Lord of the Chiliocosm had put a lot of effort into grooming him. The fact that he had defected to Yang Qi, and right on the eve of battle at that, had caused the Lord of the Chiliocosm to nearly cough up a mouthful of blood. And it had only been with bloody countermeasures that he stopped more of his people from fleeing because of it.

Furthermore, even if they won this war, it was still highly possible that it would end with his empire being swallowed up by the Central Dynasty.

In fact, the Lord of the Chiliocosm wasn't really sure of what steps he should be taking now.

That was how empires were. Sometimes, once they started going down a certain path, there was no way to go back.

But the Lord of the Chiliocosm had one big asset.

The High Priestess.

Laughing heartily, Yang Primal-Chaos rose to his feet and said, "Lord of the Chiliocosm, even if I hadn't defected, you'd still be in a bad situation. Remember, your name is Yang Chiliocosm. And the leader of the Sage Monarch Empire is named Yang Qi. He's the true leader of the Yang Clan, and you're technically his subordinate. You should be hurrying over here to pay your respects."

"Yeah, that's right, Yang Chiliocosm. His Majesty Yang Qi is the ultimate leader of the Yang Clan, so you should be on your knees in front of him!"

"This is preposterous! Yang Chiliocosm doesn't even acknowledge his own patriarch! That's the worst kind of treason!"

"Get on your knees, Yang Chiliocosm. His Majesty Yang Qi is your patriarch! Besides, he also has the God Legion Seal. And since you were a government official in the service of the Sovereign Lord, it's high treason for you to refuse to respect him."

"Bahahahaha! Yang Chiliocosm? Lord of the Chiliocosm? More like Lord of the Clowns!"

Sneering laughter rang out from the officers of the Chiliocosm Dynasty who had defected to the Sage Monarch Empire. They were all God-Lords and important people, and right now, they were mocking their former emperor without the slightest scruple.

"Looking to die?!" the Lord of the Chiliocosm shouted angrily.

Many members of the Chiliocosm Dynasty were so angry they weren't thinking clearly, and could hardly hold back from charging forth to slaughter Yang Qi and his empire, cleansing the humiliation that was being heaped on them.

"Shut your damn trap, Yang Qi!" Yang Voidprime growled. "If our two armies really clash, a lot of people are going to die horrible deaths. We don't want to see that, do we? How about we do things differently? Our four empires can send out champions to fight each other. We'll have nine matches, and whoever comes out on top will be the winner of the war. How about that?"

He was clearly trying to take advantage of the Sage Monarch Empire. After all, Yang Qi was really the only person strong enough to compete in that way. In the past, the Lord of the Sword Dao might have counted, but he had been devoured.

The Second and Third Devil Generals were getting stronger, and Yang Qi had helped them with treasure from the Halls of Heaven, as well as secrets from the Mahātmā Jade. But they still hadn't passed the level of sixty billion. That meant that they weren't even close to being on the level of Yang Voidprime, Proud Heaven, Hailan, the Lord of the Chiliocosm, and others like them.

Of course, there wasn't even any need to mention Yang Qi's other friends and family. Some had psychic scales of over ten billion. But at their current rate, they wouldn't match up to the Lord of the Chiliocosm even if they worked hard at cultivation for hundreds of millions of years.

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Chapter 1538: Fighting Before the Army

In the Halls of Heaven, there were medicinal pills that could raise people to the level of God-Lords. There were even preheaven nascent divinities that could be unlocked and used to force preheaven spirit bodies.

That said, the resources there couldn't easily be used to reach levels beyond that of God-Lord. And going past thirty billion could only be achieved by years of hard work, as well as psychic baptisms that couldn't be provided by medicinal pills or magical treasure.

The strongest of Yang Qi's subordinates were Dugu Sheji and Yang Primal-Chaos. After them were his brethren from the impure lands, and some of the Dragonfolk experts.

Although they were all strong, and getting stronger, they simply weren't in a position to fight on the battlefield.

However, a challenge had been issued.

They were obviously trying to embarrass Yang Qi, yet he didn't care.

"Don't tell me you're too scared to accept the challenge, Yang Qi," Yang Voidprime said. "If our armies clash, the casualties will be too immense. I heard that you don't like to see your people die. If that's true, the best thing would be to resolve our conflict before the armies assembled here."

"Who said I was scared, Yang Voidprime?" Yang Qi said. "I'm the emperor of the Sage Monarch Empire, so I'm responsible for its fate. I'm its protector, and I'm standing right here. Anyone who wants to cause problems for my empire has to get past me, first. I heard that you're formed from fateless energy, Yang Voidprime. So how about the two of us fight first? I'm curious to see what you're all about, and whether you qualify to fight me. Or is your challenge nothing more than attempted suicide?"

WHOOSH!

Yang Qi flew out and stood between the two armies.

The shockwaves caused by the clashing destinies were so intense that anyone weaker than a God-Lord would instantly be wiped out of existence.

Normally speaking, an emperor wouldn't be the first one out onto the battlefield. But Yang Qi knew that if he wasn't, his entire empire would collapse. None of his subordinates could serve as a champion. The best they could do was pray to the empire and provide destiny for him to fight with.

Taking his place up front, Yang Qi produced a long sword that seemed magical in nature, whose most casual movement caused everything around it to shake.

Many of the old-timers reacted with open shock. "Is that the Lord of the Sword Dao? He refined the Lord of the Sword Dao into a weapon?"

"That's right," Yang Qi said, "I refined the Lord of the Sword Dao into a weapon. So what do you fools count for in comparison? Considering all the noise you're making, Yang Voidprime, why don't you come fight me?" Yang Qi extended the sword and pointed it at him in a clear challenge.

"The Sage Monarch Empire really doesn't have anyone worth mentioning in it." Yang Voidprime wanted nothing more than to kill Yang Qi, but at the same time, he knew he couldn't do it himself.

If he could have, there wouldn't have been a need for this war.

But Yang Qi had a psychic scale of three hundred billion, which was far beyond Yang Voidprime. Neither could Proud Heaven, the Lord of the Chiliocosm, or any of the other old-timers pull it off.

"Hailan," Yang Voidprime said, giving her a look that indicated he wanted her to join him. However, not even the two of them working together would be strong enough. "He's the only person in the Sage Monarch Empire who can really fight us. Considering we have so many experts on our side, we shouldn't let them go to waste. Brother Proud Heaven, why don't you join us? Let's kill him and put an end to the Sage Monarch Empire."

"Grand Generalissimo. Prime Minister. Imperial Preceptor. You three join us. I'll probe him to find his weakness, and once I do, I'll use the destiny to strike like lightning. Once we break open his defenses, we can send our forces in and wipe out his people. Lord of the Chiliocosm. Heaven-Defeating Dugu. You lead the army in when the time comes."

The forces of the three dynasties were ready to spring into motion.

"Oh? Teaming up on me?" Yang Qi looked at the assembled forces and laughed. "I guess that means I really am the top figure in the god world. Ever since the Sovereign Lord and King Immortal-Slayer fell, there hasn't been someone who could get all of you to work together against."

"Today is the showdown between our great nations. And even if we're just killing a rabbit, we still need to use the force of a lion. Look, enough jabbering. We're not here to bully you, so go ahead and have some of your subordinates join you. This isn't just going to be a contest of destiny. We have ten times as many top experts as you, but there's still time to surrender. If you want to, just get on your knees."

"We'll see who gets on their knees," Yang Qi said. "Alright, come at me, all of you. I'm curious to see who the strongest expert in the god world really is."

He was currently completely confident, no matter how many enemies he faced. Furthermore, this action would instill faith in his followers. And he had to defend them. If they lost heart, his destiny would plummet and the results would be too horrible to contemplate.

Besides, he knew that his enemies were just trying to intimidate him. There were obviously higher-level experts who were just waiting to see how things would play out before stepping in for the final battle.

If his empire was destroyed, the god world would continue with a tripartite balance of power. But if he came out victorious, then Yang Qi would be the ultimate figure, and the High Priestess and the King of Godmammoths would never be resurrected.

"We're going to kill you today, Yang Qi," Yang Voidprime said as he and Hailan walked out. "And we're going to take over your empire and enslave your people."

The grand generalissimo, prime minister, and imperial preceptor from the Central Dynasty joined them, as did Heaven-Reaching Dugu, Heaven-Immolating Dugu, and Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu.

In total, there were eight. All of them had psychic scales of a hundred billion or more. And Yang Voidprime and Hailan were above the level of the old Lord of the Sword Dao. As for the others, they were all elite experts who had managed to escape the wrath of the Sovereign Lord, and were apex entities in the god world.

They fanned out to face Yang Qi, with Hailan and Yang Voidprime taking the centermost positions.

"Void Slash!"

Yang Voidprime was the first to attack.

He was empty handed, yet as he lunged forward, he was like a sword, spear, saber, and whip, all combined.

Swish!

Yang Qi didn't even bother looking up. He simply thrust his hand out, causing a surge of power as he unleashed the Fist of the Halls of Heaven.

BAM!

Yang Qi hardly moved, while Yang Voidprime was sent spinning backward like a bird being knocked out of the sky.

"You think you can fight me alone?" Yang Qi said. Taking advantage of the moment, he launched another attack at Yang Voidprime, trying to slash him apart and take his fateless power. With it, he knew he would have a very good chance of reaching the half-Annulled level.

However, Yang Voidprime proved to be quite impressive. Yang Qi hit him with immense power that should have been enough to destroy him, yet he managed to negate it.

Obviously, completely vanquishing him would be difficult. And that wasn't to mention that Yang Qi had to be careful about attacks from the other opponents, or that Proud Heaven had the ability to attack him with destiny.

"Die!" Hailan jumped forward with a whip that was some sort of preheaven magical treasure, bright blue and filled with streams of faith.

Yang Qi could faintly see that ancient figure who had officiated sacrifices for the Sovereign Lord.

She was the High Priestess, and when she took action, any opponent she faced would be damned by myriad tribulations.

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Chapter 1539: Besieged

Hailan's cultivation base was very mysterious. The whip in her hand seemed like a spirit snake, and at the same time was a convergence of faith so powerful that Yang Qi didn't dare allow it to hit him. If he got infected by that faith power, he would be able to extrude it, but it would put him in a bad position that Proud Heaven would surely take advantage of to launch a fatal blow.

And there were definitely other almighty entities who were waiting to step in, and would be more than happy to have a share in splitting up Yang Qi's corpse.

Swish!

Yang Qi didn't hesitate to dodge to the side, then struck out with his sword. Of course, that sword contained the will, energy, light, and divinity of the Lord of the Sword Dao.

A sword nimbus flared to life, slashing right toward Hailan's neck.

It was a strike with such speed and magnificence that it actually surpassed anything the Lord of the Sword Dao had been capable of.

Shocked, Hailan shrank down into a point of blue light that sped away in the opposite direction.

However, she was slow enough that he managed to slash off a strand of hair, which he reached out and grabbed, then scanned to assess her life force and substructure.

'This woman is very strange,' he thought, surprised. Within her genes, he found something like a spiraling river of stars, and other bizarre things unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was almost as if she were connected in communication to the dao of heaven.

The genes seemed similar to those of the King of Godmammoths. 'Don't tell me they're the genes of the High Priestess!'

If they were, he knew he had to be particularly careful.

"Die!" Heaven-Reaching Dugu, Heaven-Immolating Dugu, and Heaven-Sacrificing Dugu combined their power and unleashed a strike from the Invincible God-Fist.

The Dugu Clan hated Yang Qi with a passion. After all, he had stolen roughly a third of their top experts when Generalissimo Dugu Sheji defected. And that had left the clan leaderless and badly weakened.

"Complete crap!" Yang Qi said, chopping his hand out to destroy the fist strike. Then he slashed out with his sword again, sending sword energy rumbling toward the three Dugu patriarchs, who were forced to leap away in terror.

"Central Tempest!"

The grand generalissimo, prime minister, and imperial preceptor from the Central Dynasty had also joined forces, sending godpower out that formed a spectacular tempest and slammed into the sword energy of the Unbounded Sword River.

RUMBLE!

The three experts staggered backward, while Yang Qi simply remained in place, unfazed.

"If this is all the eight of you can do, I'd say the time has come to wipe you out, one by one!" He spun into motion, first sending a fist toward Yang Voidprime that sent him flying. Then he slashed his sword at Hailan, removing another strand of hair. Another sword move devastated the three Dugu patriarchs, and caused blood to flow from the three leaders from the Central Dynasty.

It was with ease that he shoved all eight opponents into very bad positions.

"So incredible!"

Everyone in the Sage Monarch Empire watched with awe. Then, the sage monarch magistrates took advantage of the scene and began chanting, "Sage Monarch Empire, Triumphant in Every Battle! Victorious in Every Fight! Unifiers of the God World!"

As their voices joined together, their wild shouts caused the destiny of the empire to surge. As a result, the Everlasting Aegis slowly started expanding into something even more colossally large.

"This is bad!" Proud Heaven said. "He used only three moves to gain the upper hand against eight people, and that's got his side even more stirred up. If he defeats those eight, or kills one of them, it's going to cause a dangerous decline in destiny!"

Transformations to morale and destiny could have a major effect on a battle. It was the case in the impure lands, so it would obviously apply just as well in the god world, or even more so, considering how destiny functioned.

'Impossible!' Proud Heaven thought. 'How could Yang Qi have gotten this strong? I had no idea the treasure troves in the Halls of Heaven were this incredible.'

"Surprised, Proud Heaven?" Yang Qi said. "You're probably wondering how I got this strong. It's simple. I pulled a fast one on Proud Central. I got the last piece of the Mahātmā Jade, giving me the full, combined version. King Immortal-Slayer is going to break free soon, and the Lord of Righteous Justice is waking up. Once you lose your ability to negate the rancorous energy of your dynasty, you're finished!

"Of course, now would be the perfect time to seize control, Proud Heaven. Proud Central has no idea what's going on, so if you just go back and attack him when he's not expecting it, you could devour him and get your cultivation base to the same level as mine. We don't have any true grudge between the two of us. Why don't we split the god world between us? If we join forces, we could take the Invincible Dynasty and the Chiliocosm Dynasty for our own. What do you say?"

His words caused anxiety to well up in the hearts of numerous individuals.

"Don't try playing mind games on me, Yang Qi," Proud Heaven said with a sinister chuckle. "Our three dynasties signed a formal agreement, bound with a blood oath. We have no choice but to work together. Besides, do you really think your jabbering would have any effect on me? Kill him! Then kill him again! Get out here, Star Swordlife!"

Whizz!

Dazzling light flashed in everyone's eyes as a sword shot out from the depths of the Central Dynasty, accompanied by a surging energy of life force. This was the very same person from the impure lands who had invented a dao of the sword based on life force, then clashed with Yang Qi on numerous occasions. Star Swordlife!

After Proud Heaven took him to the god world, Yang Qi had never seen him again, or even sensed his energy. Therefore, it was something of a surprise to see him here.

His energy was different now. Apparently, he had acquired the legacy of some top expert, or perhaps found a source of immense life force in the god world. Even more interesting, his cultivation base and dao of the sword surpassed those of the old Lord of the Sword Dao. Furthermore, he had obviously gained far more enlightenment into the mysteries of life force.

With Star Swordlife added to the mix, there were now nine enemies facing Yang Qi.

"I can't believe it's you, Star Swordlife," Yang Qi said. "You just won't go away, will you? I let you live, down in the impure lands, yet you dare to show your face here and now. Do you really think you can't die?"

"I don't kill people," Star Swordlife replied. "And because of that, karma ensures that I can't die. Haven't you come to understand that yet, Yang Qi? Whether in the immortal worlds or the god world, it doesn't matter how many times you try to kill me, you won't succeed. Those who kill often end up getting killed. It's an eternal truth. Because you're a killer, you have a killing will, and that ensures that eventually you'll be killed. As for me, I don't kill; therefore, I'll exist for all eternity. If you don't gain enlightenment on this, you'll never transcend."

Star Swordlife was the same old person spouting the same old words.

His facial features were the same, which went to indicate that he hadn't changed in any way. Apparently, no one could change his mind about anything. However, Yang Qi didn't care. And even if Star Swordlife were stronger than he was, he still couldn't match up to Yang Qi.

Yang Qi had reached a point in which destiny mattered more than personal strength. And because of that, Star Swordlife was like little more than one of the crowd ganging up on him.

However, he was curious how Star Swordlife had grown so much stronger so quickly. It wasn't Proud Heaven's doing. And most likely, it wasn't Proud Central's doing, either. Had Star Swordlife come across some sort of good fortune?

"Look at my empire, Star Swordlife. And look at my destiny. This is the true dao of life. Rulership. You've walked down a wretched path and become a wretch-god. You don't even know yourself anymore. My empire is upright and just, and you have nothing that can even compare to it. Even if you were stronger, as strong as the Sovereign Lord for instance, you would still perish. After grasping at the true dao, you went down the wretched path. How tragic. I guess I have no other choice than to bury you."

He didn't have to fear Star Swordlife any more than the commander of an army needed to fear a random bandit.

Looking very grim, Yang Voidprime said, "Impressive, Yang Qi. Very impressive. So it turns out you got the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade. You combined the legacies of the Sovereign Lord and the True Devil. That's how you've reached this level. If we don't kill you, then you're going to turn into another Sovereign Lord. And we can't have that."

Their earlier clash had confirmed to him that he wasn't strong enough to beat Yang Qi on his own.

"You have a lot of treasures, Yang Qi," Hailan said. "Sadly, you don't know how to keep a low profile. You established an empire that all heroes under heaven want. And the essence of the god world won't let you succeed. You are a threat to the very nature of the god world!"

1. The last time we saw Star Swordlife "on screen" was in . It never really said what happened to him after the fight between Yang Qi and Proud Heaven. Now we know.

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Chapter 1540: Holding the Line

"That's a load of garbage," Yang Qi said to Hailan. "I'm not even half-Annulled yet. How could I be a threat to the essence of the god world?"

Yun Hailan from the impure lands had been a will projection of this woman. Of course, Yang Qi killed her after she had nearly damned him to myriad tribulations.

"You think you have to be half-Annulled to be a threat to the essence of the god world? The God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade are destructive items that can build things more powerful than the god world can produce. Furthermore, the God Legion Seal can absorb the power of the god world and turn it into godnotes and godstones. If you don't deserve to die for stealing from the god world, who does? But in the end, although the God Legion Seal and the Mahātmā Jade are impressive, the god world itself is what's the most impressive. It continues expanding in the world of primal-chaos, and has long since become the most colossal thing in existence. It surpasses all magical treasures and all other entities. And your mere existence is a threat to it. You see, we've come here today backed by the might of the god world's essence, with the purpose of destroying you. And you will die beyond the shadow of a doubt."

A pleased smile could be seen on Hailan's face, although to Yang Qi, it looked like the most disgusting thing imaginable.

"The essence of the god world..." Yang Qi knew that Hailan wasn't just saying random things. It was entirely likely that some of her words were true. However, the essence of the god world couldn't converge into a manifestation of power that would oppose Yang Qi. Instead, it would use other manifestations to oppose him.

For instance, whatever good fortune Star Swordlife had come across might be connected to the essence of the god world. The Sovereign Lord's fall in years past was also likely due in part to some mysterious connection to the essence of the god world.

If the essence of the god world was actively opposing him, it could mean he was in real danger. That said, he wasn't worried. He would kill anyone who dared to oppose him and stop him from transcending.

"Cut the crap," he said. "You have nine on your side now, but you're still as weak as chickens and dogs. I'm going to bury all of you!"

Suddenly, the sword in his hand vanished.

Going forward, he wasn't going to fight with sword techniques.

Although his sword technique was advanced, it wasn't his most impressive asset. His greatest weapons to use for attacking were the Sage Monarch Grand Magic and the Hand of the One God.

"Get ready, everyone," Star Swordlife said. "You can't afford to underestimate him. He's like a convergence of baleful energy, and his Hand of the One God and Sage Monarch Grand Magic are terrifying. Back in the impure lands, I tried to handle him alone and failed. We have to work together. Destroy his energy. Of course, he won't repent even if you kill him, so we have to capture and seal him." Star Swordlife was still spouting the same words he had been since back in the impure lands.

"I won't take pity on you this time, Yang Qi," he continued. "I'm going to seal you in the depths of the essence of the god world for all eternity. Understand?" Under his direction, the other experts got into formation, causing them to look like nine shining stars.

A swirling vortex of power surged toward Yang Qi. All of his opponents were top experts, and they knew that without working together, they weren't a match for him.

They had learned their lesson moments before, and were now working together in unison.

"Nine Combined as One!"

The formation they were in caused nine shadowy figures to appear, like snakes, dragons, whips, or bolts of electricity, all of them extremely deadly and powerful.

"Unmovable as a Mountain!"

Yang Qi stood strong, causing the explosive energy and sounds of megamammoths to erupt from him, allowing to stand as firm as a mountain. At the same time, primal-chaos paleo-energy surged around him.

He almost seemed like the King of Godmammoths, powering up to his peak.

"You nine are like nothing to me. Screw the hell off!" The primal-chaos paleo-energy surged out like meteors as big as mountains, creating a hand that could stir the god world itself, and cause the creation of countless civilizations.

It was a hand of creation, a hand of heaven on high.

And it was the hand that could manipulate the civilizations of people from behind the scenes.

RUMBLE!

A massive explosion occurred as Yang Qi's single hand slammed into the nine experts. Instantly, the nine shadowy figures exploded. Yet again, Yang Qi was one man guarding a mountain pass, preventing ten thousand men from breaking through.

SPLAT!

Heaven-Immolating Dugu coughed up a mouthful of blood, his face pale as he stared in shock at Yang Qi.

"Dao of Life!"

Star Swordlife thrust his sword out, causing sword light that pulsed with life force to enter Heaven-Immolating Dugu, healing his wounds and leaving him feeling invigorated.

"This kid seems like the incarnation of the life force of heaven and earth!" Heaven-Immolating Dugu said in shock.

Yang Qi had been just about to press the attack when he saw the turn of events.

Not even Yang Qi could penetrate the depths of the god world to reach its core, which contained its life force. That was what gave birth to the jungles, ores, and living beings that inhabited the god world. Later, the living beings eventually became the demonlings and humans that filled the lands.

Now Star Swordlife was using that life force, which made it seem likely that he was actually part of the life force of the god world. In other words, unless the god world died, he couldn't be destroyed.

He could even restore lost life force to his comrades, bringing them back to life in any circumstance in which they weren't completely destroyed.

The mighty power of resurrection was terrifying.

It was a blessing to his allies, but a nightmare for Yang Qi. Now, Yang Qi understood what Hailan had meant about the essence of the god world opposing him. Star Swordlife had been created by the life force of the god world itself; no wonder he could achieve such freakish progress.

"See, Yang Qi?" Hailan said. Although she had been shoved back by Yang Qi, she wasn't hurt. "Star Swordlife is an incarnation of the life force of the god world. He can save any of us, even from death. So it doesn't matter how you harm us, you won't be able to kill us unless you destroy the entire god world. Now do you understand how horrifying an enemy you're facing?"

"Very bombastic!" Yang Qi said, taking a few measured steps forward. "Son of Heaven Subdues the Border Regions!"

It was with explosive force that he unleashed the Nation-Fate Godfist. He had long since extrapolated more moves than it contained, and it was incredibly mighty when backed with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. In fact, it was even superior to the Hand of the One God.

After all, the Hand of the One God was the hand of the Creator, not anything human.

But the Nation-Fate Godfist was a manifestation of power.

Right now, Yang Qi wasn't interested in Hailan, the nine Dugu patriarchs, or the high officials from the Central Dynasty. In fact, he didn't even care about Star Swordlife. Instead, he targeted Yang Voidprime.

"Watch out!" Star Swordlife shouted. "Everyone defend Yang Voidprime! He's an expression of fateless energy. If Yang Qi kills him, he'll take all of that energy and become unstoppable!"

"Since when did I become a person who needs to be saved?" Yang Voidprime said angrily. "Yang Qi! I'm not going to let you get away with this. You think I'm that useless? Just wait to see how strong I really am. Fateless Seal: Open!"

RUMBLE!

Yang Voidprime suddenly unsealed something inside of himself. It was like his sealing mark had been shackled with ancient chains, but now they were falling away.

Instantly, Yang Voidprime's strength rose. His psychic scale climbed from the level of a hundred and thirty billion all the way to two hundred and fifty billion. The shockwaves from his powerup were causing the other experts to be violently pushed away from him.

Ding!

His fist met Yang Qi's, and a vicious smile appeared on his face. "You forced me to undo my Fateless Seal, Yang Qi. And for that, you deserve to die ten thousand times over. I was going to eventually use that power to reach the half-Annulled level, and now you've forced me to waste it. Damn you!"

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Chapter 1541: Fateless Seal

Yang Voidprime had been keeping some reserve power ready to go.

He had a Fateless Seal filled with power that he had originally intended for use reaching the half-Annulled level. But sadly for him, Yang Qi had forced his hand, and he had to undo the seal to even the odds. Obviously, his hatred for Yang Qi had reached an even higher level.

He was now going all out to strike a blow.

As of this moment, Star Swordlife had become secondary in importance.

Yang Voidprime was an incarnation of fateless energy, just like Yang Qi, and now he was the top figure among those who were ganging up. Even Hailan sensed that she should follow his lead.

Unexpectedly, she also seemed taken aback that Yang Voidprime had been keeping power sealed within himself.

"I'm going to kill you, Yang Qi, and take your fateless power!" Yang Voidprime shouted.

"I don't think so," Yang Qi replied. "You fell right into my trap." The attack he had sent toward Yang Voidprime suddenly veered to the side and headed toward the three old-timers from the Central Dynasty, the grand generalissimo, prime minister, and imperial preceptor.

The imperial preceptor wore a daoist robe and pulsed with a sensation of yin and yang. The grand generalissimo wore a battle garment and held a dual-crescent-bladed halberd. As for the prime minister, he was a wise confucian who manipulated national destiny according to righteousness and orthodoxy.

However, they had just been blasted back by the power of Yang Voidprime's powerup, and now they were subject to an attack from Yang Qi.

It was all part of his plan. His first move had been using the Nation-Fate Godfist on Yang Voidprime.

Yang Voidprime didn't trust anyone, therefore, he was forced to draw on his secret weapon to make sure he came out alive. That was the second step.

Immediately, the alliance of nine enemies was thrown into chaos, which was when Yang Qi seized the moment. That was step three.

Not even Star Swordlife could do anything to react. Even he had been blasted aside, thanks to Yang Voidprime.

"Eternal Peace and Security for the Living! Nation-Fate Godfist!"

Yang Qi became like an ancient divine mountain rumbling toward the three leaders from the Central Dynasty, moving with unthinkable speed.

The move was called Eternal Peace and Security for the Living, and it was filled with an aura of security and peace. The three experts weren't even able to think about how to fight back, as their minds were filled with peacefulness, a state in which all weapons were put into storage and no one wanted to do battle.

POP!

The grand generalissimo was hit first, and blood sprayed out of his mouth as he was flung backward, his energy draining rapidly.

Crack! Snap!

Then, Yang Qi sent a golden stream of light into his soul, which wrapped around him like golden chains.

"One Energy, Three Vitalities!" Yang Qi suddenly split into three parts, with the other two heading toward the imperial preceptor and the prime minister.

Within moments, all three had been defeated and sealed. He moved with such exquisite speed that no one could possibly have guessed what he was planning.

"Preheaven Mystery and Wonder; Devil-God Seal; Mahātmā Jade; Unspoiled Body; God Legion Seal; Drastic Subjugation!"

In the blink of an eye, the three experts were wrapped up like cocoons.

Crack. Crunch!

The imperial preceptor and the generalissimo were subjugated, but the prime minister was still fighting.

He was the only confucian in the group, and he possessed a staunch will that made him difficult to subjugate.

Yang Qi wasn't worried. He unfurled his Tribulation Wings and unleashed a maelstrom of destiny onto the prime minister.

Cracking sounds could be heard as the prime minister was subjugated.

Three major figures from the Central Dynasty had been turned into government officials of the Sage Monarch Empire.

"Proud Nineheavens, grand generalissimo of the armed forces in the Central Dynasty, offers respects, Your Majesty!"

"Proud Ancestor, prime minister of the Central Dynasty, offers respects, Your Majesty!"

"Proud Cultidao, imperial preceptor of the Central Dynasty, offers respects, Your Majesty!"

Everyone stared with wide eyes as the three leaders took a knee and swore, "We hereby leave the Central Dynasty and join the Sage Monarch Empire to help unify the god world and conquer everything under heaven!"

RUMBLE!

The moment they swore their oaths, destiny shifted, and everyone in the Sage Monarch Empire cheered wildly.

Then, the destiny shot toward that of the alliance of three dynasties.

The people from the Central Dynasty couldn't believe what they had just seen. Those three officials were extremely important, and most people in the dynasty would follow their orders to the death.

But now they were on their knees, a massive humiliation to their former dynasty.

Everyone knew that this would likely be the death knell for the Central Dynasty. After all, the grand generalissimo was the leader of all their armies, and was nearly as important as Proud Heaven.

The prime minister was the leader of all the confucians, in other words, all of the countless government officials.

The imperial preceptor was similarly important. He was similar to the leader of the destinors in the Invincible Dynasty.

The three of them were also important leaders in the alliance of three dynasties. But they had surrendered. It was obviously a major blow to the Central Dynasty.

Then, the three newly-defected experts raised their voices and said, "All disciples of the Central Dynasty will immediately join the Sage Monarch Empire. The Central Dynasty is ending. Henceforth, nothing can stand in the way of the Sage Monarch Empire. Its destiny will grow, and all living beings in it will transcend, forming a civilization that exists beyond the god world."

All of the subordinates of the three experts were thrown into complete chaos. And it was going to be hard for the rest of the leaders to recover from this.

Proud Heaven had obviously suffered a big blow because of this, but he was an invincible expert. When he saw the damage being done to his destiny, he shouted, "Those three have been subjugated by the God Legion Seal. They're puppets. Don't believe anything they say! Remember how terrifying the God Legion Seal is. Anyone who falls under its control becomes like the walking dead, completely unable to have freedom of thought. Join forces and resist the urge to panic, otherwise you'll be trapped by the God Legion Seal as well!"

His words managed to stabilize his destiny for the moment, but the damage had already been done.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi laughed heartily and said, "Many thanks, Yang Voidprime. Unsealing yourself was just the opportunity I needed to get three experts from the Central Dynasty on my side. Well, what do you think? Still interested in fighting me and my empire? Your dynasties are losing so much destiny you'll never be able to stand against me."

"Damn you!" Yang Voidprime howled. He wanted to charge forth and fight, but didn't dare. He knew that if he did, he would likely be trapped and killed.

"We have to kill him, Proud Heaven! Destroy his empire right now! With those three experts he captured, our destiny is dropping like a rock. If we don't do something now to kill him and his experts, the Central Dynasty will fall completely. We can't afford to delay! Attack now!"

"He's right. We can't wait!" The nine Dugu patriarchs all knew how grave the situation was.

And even though Yang Qi wasn't going to bring his entire army onto the battlefield, retreat wasn't a viable option for the alliance of dynasties. They had suffered a grievous loss, and would definitely suffer from infighting. Yang Qi's empire continued growing in strength, and everyone could see that it was gaining dominance in the god world.

If things kept going like this, the three dynasties would reach a point where they couldn't even fight back.

A very grim expression could be seen on Proud Heaven's face. He knew that retreat wasn't a good option, which meant the only thing they could do was go all out. Morale was already horrible, so if they didn't win some sort of victory, they were done for.

It didn't matter if they suddenly got an ally like the Sovereign Lord, there would be no coming back from this position.

If you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off. They were indeed trapped in an impossible situation.

Retreat, and they would end up dead.

Advance, and they would die even quicker.

Of course, it was still possible that they could somehow win, although the hope was faint. And it would probably result in something along the lines of eighty percent casualties, which would be hard to deal with. Afterward, the other groups like the Demonfolk or the buddhist schools would surely pounce on them.

"I know what you're thinking, Proud Heaven," Hailan said. "That we're trapped in an impossible situation. We have no options here. We have to break the cauldrons and sink the boats. Don't even consider going back. I can reach out to the High Priestess and awaken her true body. I highly doubt that Yang Qi could deal with an attack from her."

"What? Wake up the High Priestess?" Proud Heaven said. "If you can do that, we might actually have a chance here."

Even as they were talking about this, the sound of shocking war bugles echoed out.

"What? The Sage Monarch Empire is advancing?!" Everyone was shocked as they saw troops pouring out from the depths of the Sage Monarch Empire.

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Chapter 1542: Everything on the Line

"Kill 'em all!"

"Attack! Attack!"

"Show them what we've got!"

Just when Proud Heaven and his compatriots were getting ready to make their final stand, the forces of the Sage Monarch Empire charged forth in a terrifying show of force. The sage monarch magistrates all erupted with the energy of the Eternal Heavenly Aria, which spread out to every last citizen of the empire. Halos sprang up on each of them, pushing them to the ultimate limits of their potential and making them ten times stronger than normal.

Of course, the Eternal Heavenly Aria could also cast halos of damnification. Unfortunately, they couldn't pierce through the destiny to reach the enemies from the three dynasties, so the sage monarch magistrates didn't bother with them.

If both types of halos had been usable at the same time, the three dynasties would have already been crushed.

Still, the pressure on the three dynasties was so great that many of their experts were shaking at the knees.

Many of their government officials had never participated in any sort of large-scale war. They normally lived like royalty, and at most, would discuss warfare as a matter of theory. Such people were pissing their pants in terror, having come to the realization that the Sage Monarch Empire was on the rise, and the billions of years of glory their own dynasties had experienced was coming to an end.

Once confidence was lost, it wasn't an easy thing to gain back. Proud Heaven and his fellows were full of craft and cunning, and were all hoping to rely on crafty plots to come out on top. Meanwhile, Yang Qi's upright and straightforward way of handling things gave him incredible momentum, making him nearly invincible.

Meanwhile, the Sage Monarch Empire's Everlasting Aegis continued to expand threateningly.

The armies and the people relied on the aegis for safety, and the sage monarch magistrates were in charge of maintaining and expanding it. It was like a city wall made of iron, but at the same time, a living thing made of flesh and blood, with a will of its own. And right now, it was a stronghold too powerful for any enemy to breach.

The sage monarch magistrates shone like living lighthouses as they led the people forward. And as they advanced, they glowed brighter and brighter, which was a sign that they were readying their Tribulation Monarch Cannons to fire.

Of course, no outsider knew anything about that weapon. From the establishment of the empire until now, not a single Tribulation Monarch Cannon had been fired. But now, there were nearly three hundred million sage monarch magistrates, all ready to unleash a bombardment. It was a trump card Yang Qi had been keeping in his back pocket.

Proud Heaven hadn't even formulated his plan of attack, only to find Yang Qi's forces going on the offensive. They simply couldn't allow the enemy to break through their front lines, so he shouted, "Fall back! FALL BACK!"

As soon as the command left his lips, the people from the three dynasties started backing up in panic. After all, they weren't sure if Proud Heaven was planning to have them retreat from the battlefield, or simply back up and reform their lines.

"No, we can't fall back!" Yang Voidprime shouted. "Stabilize the battle formations! Wait until you see the whites of their eyes! There's no way they can get through our defenses. They're just trying to get us to panic. If we panic, we'll be in big trouble. We have the advantage here. We haven't suffered any real casualties, and those three traitors can't do anything to our destiny."

"You damn morons! When I said 'fall back' I meant to build up for a major counteroffensive. What the hell are you getting all anxious for!?" Proud Heaven was actually surprised by the chaos among the troops. Sadly for him, after the generalissimo, imperial preceptor and prime minister defected, it was harder to give commands to the armed forces. When the primary leaders of the army turned traitor, how could the masses be kept in line?

Some wanted to fall back, and some wanted to shore up their defenses. Nobody really knew what to do.

One of the worst things that could happen on the battlefield was for the army to devolve into chaos.

"Hold the line! Stay where you are!" The nine Dugu patriarchs, Yang Chiliocosm, and the other leaders could all sense the hearts of their people wavering.

This was the moment Yang Qi had been waiting for.

"Advance!"

BUZZ!

Roars of rage could be heard from the sage monarch magistrates as they unleashed an invincible white light that seemed to originate in hell and target the Halls of Heaven. The sun and moon declined, the lands split apart, space shattered, and tribulation descended.

The Tribulation Monarch Cannons had been unleashed.

Yang Qi had also been powering up his own Tribulation Monarch Cannon. It was his first time using it in a long time, and now he was unleashing it to rip a hole in the defense provided by the enemy's destiny. With the enemy in chaos, and his own forces possessing incredible momentum, he was essentially unstoppable.

As the bright light shot forward, furious rumbling sounds could be heard, like millions upon millions of lightning bolts. And when it hit the defenses put up by the spell formations and destiny of the enemy, the layered defenses shattered.

Screams rang out as countless government officials were turned to ash by the white light, and numerous spell formations were completely destroyed.

Enemies who weren't killed immediately started scrambling for safety. Even Proud Heaven, Yang Voidprime, and their compatriots scattered, showing not a scrap of interest in the other members of their respective dynasties.

RUMBLE!

The white light continued on relentlessly, wiping out numerous government officials, soldiers, and the like.

That said, although the white light was devastating the ranks of the three dynasties, it couldn't pierce all the way to their base.

'So strong!' Yang Qi thought. When the assault of the Tribulation Monarch Cannons reached the primary spell formation of the alliance, it fought back relentlessly until the white light faded away.

That said, the cannon fire had thrown the enemy forces into complete and utter disarray.

"Warriors, the time has come to establish our might and glory!" Yang Qi said loudly. "After this battle, our empire will never be forgotten. We will shake the god world by wiping out these three dynasties. And your names will live forever! Epic sagas will be written about your actions, and they'll be sung for all time!"

The true attack was now beginning. The Sage Monarch Empire was on the move en masse!

The cry of bugles and booms of war drums joined the rumble of spell formations being activated. The entire empire was like a massive weapon thrusting forward with deadly momentum.

"Fall back. FALL BACK! Retreat to the dynasty!" Proud Heaven could see that there was no way they would recover from this. Yang Qi's empire had achieved a momentum that was essentially unstoppable.

No single person could do anything to shift the tide of battle, except perhaps a half-Annulled expert.

The only thing they could do now was pray to the essence of the god world in hopes that it could resist Yang Qi and his empire.

However, even Proud Heaven thought of prayer as ridiculous.

As Yang Qi and his armies charged forth, the sky suddenly split open, and an enormous monument appeared, crashing down to land right in front of them.

"Monument of Power..." a voice echoed.

It was inscribed with the epic sagas of millions upon millions of gods, and their warfare accomplishments. This obviously wasn't some sort of magical treasure, but rather, a mighty expression of the will and psyche of an almighty entity.

As soon as the monument landed, it was clear that it was blocking the path of the army.

"Hmm?" Yang Qi thought, looking over. The monument was almost like a wall right there in front of him, and he could sense that it had been sent from afar by some extremely powerful entity. Raising his voice, he said, "Warriors, not even the most almighty entity can block our path. We are invincible! If mountains are in our way, we'll tear them down. If oceans block us, we'll dry them up. People will tremble at our passing! ATTACK!"

Rumble. Rumble...

One attack after another was unleashed on the monument.

It was clearly sturdy, but under the assault of destiny, it started to crack, and after only a few dozen breaths of time passed, it exploded into countless fragments.

"The High Priestess is taking action!" Hailan shouted. "This is her most powerful god item, the Deathless Monument! The Sovereign Lord had her use the noble spirits of countless members of the legion of gods to create it, then used it to perform sacrifices day and night. This is going to buy us the time we need! Everybody, reform the battle lines!

"Her power won't last for long under the assault of that destiny. However, now we can at least hold them off for a bit longer. And once they run out of steam, we can fight back! Hurry! Get in formation! Get ready to strike back the moment the Deathless Monument collapses."

"Strike back! Strike back! All citizens of the three dynasties, get in formation. This is the chance we've been waiting for. The High Priestess has taken action. The Sage Monarch Empire is doomed to failure!"

Yang Chiliocosm, Proud Heaven, the nine Dugu patriarchs, and countless other top experts were all shouting similar things.

As a result, the scrambling forces of the three dynasties finally started regrouping. After all, the name of the High Priestess was profoundly moving.

When the Deathless Monument collapsed, Proud Heaven saw that while the forces of the Sage Monarch Empire were still rushing forward, they had lost the unstoppable momentum from before.

Waving his hand, he sent the alliance troops forward. At long last, the real fighting would begin.

And this time, everything was truly on the line.

If the Sage Monarch Empire could come through the fire and seize victory, it would rise to complete prominence. But if it failed, it would be defeated for all time.

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Chapter 1543: Everything on the Line Part 2

"Ah, what a real pity..." Yang Qi sighed.

He had built up immense momentum, throwing the three dynasties into chaos. In the process, he had gained three more experts with psychic scales of a hundred billion. And he had struck a major blow, blasting through the enemy's front lines.

Unfortunately, the Deathless Monument had come and stopped him in his tracks.

It had taken the High Priestess to throw an obstacle in his empire's path. Although she hadn't done anything to stop them for long, only a few dozen breaths of time, that gave the three dynasties enough breathing room to regroup.

After all, the High Priestess was as famous as the King of Godmammoths. Having her on the side of the three dynasties gave their people a big boost, right at the moment when they had been feeling completely shaken.

When the Deathless Monument shattered, the High Priestess' voice could be heard ringing out.

"I am the High Priestess, officiator of sacrifices for the ancient court of the Sovereign Lord. People of the three dynasties, there is no need for panic. I will awaken soon, and come to help you. Fight, warriors! This Sage Monarch Empire is a cancer on the god world, and must be excised. All of you must fight for the glory of the god world! Fight for heaven and earth. Your righteousness, your power, your glory, and your spirits will bolster you. Eradicate the Sage Monarch Empire. If you do, the essence of the god world will finally transcend. Fight, warriors! I, the High Priestess, will be here backing you. You won't be alone. Your heroism will be forever inscribed on my monument for all generations to come. Even if you die, you will continue to exist forever..."

All of a sudden, the warriors of the three dynasties felt their blood boiling as they were convinced that they were fighting for the god world itself, ensuring that its essence was with them.

It was like electricity sparking through their hearts and souls.

After all, the High Priestess had officiated over countless sacrifices, and was beyond the compare of just about anything and everything. Her voice alone could catalyze the morale of her people. Of course, she didn't actually dare to come as her true self, because if she did, Yang Qi would slaughter her.

Even if she were stronger than she was, the best she could do was provide moral support.

"Kill! Destroy the Sage Monarch Empire!"

Destiny surged as the warriors charged forward with slaughter on their minds.

BAM!

The soldiers of the three dynasties, backed by immense destiny, clashed with the Sage Monarch Empire, causing the god world to be truly shaken.

No military clash in history could compare to this.

The god world was physically shaking, and countless beings in all aspects of existence sensed impending doom and calamity. Innumerable almighty entities were looking on, knowing full well that their personal strength was like nothing compared to the forces clashing.

Whooooooosh!

The fighting was incredibly fierce.

Yang Qi watched as the Dragonfolk experts and Spritefolk formed immense formations. The sage monarch magistrates led countless top experts, many of whom were reduced to piles of ash or puddles of blood in the initial clash.

In the blink of an eye, he lost ten million sage monarch magistrates and a hundred billion citizens!

The casualties were staggering, but he didn't care. He was already prepared to lose his own life if necessary. His brethren were all at their peak fighting capacity, but they were by his side, waiting. As for the purrling, it was resting in Jadefall's arms, sleeping quietly.

Even if the fighting got worse, Yang Qi knew the purrling wouldn't take part. The karmic ramifications were simply too immense.

This battle would determine the future of the entire god world. The winner would decide the fate of countless people, and it didn't matter if the purrling were stronger than it was, it didn't want to be stained by that much karma.

Blood flowed and lives were lost. Vanished. Yang Qi even saw God-Lords from the Dragonfolk being slaughtered.

However, the three dynasties were suffering even greater casualties.

In fact, they were losing ten times as many people as the Sage Monarch Empire!

They had already lost more than ten God-Lords, who had been exterminated so thoroughly it was as if they hadn't existed to begin with.

Over a trillion troops were wiped out of existence just like that, causing cries of anguish to reach all corners of the world.

A battle this intense had never been seen before.

Of course, even a trillion troops was like one hair on nine trillion oxen to the three dynasties. They were just too huge.

For instance, in the House of the Invincible, a single land would be populated by tens of trillions of people. So what did it matter to them if trillions died? Although it wasn't necessarily a good thing, it was hardly something to even blink at.

Even to the Sage Monarch Empire, a trillion wasn't a huge number. That said, to lose ten million sage monarch magistrates was definitely noteworthy. The only consolation was that, among the forces of the three dynasties, numerous peak Paramount Gods with psychic scales in the billions had already died.

For most dynasties, God-Lords were the ultimate leaders, and losing even one would be a major disaster. And peak Paramount Gods with psychic scales in the billions were where God-Lords came from.

"Eternal Heavenly Aria!"

Yang Qi could sense immense karma brewing, but he didn't care. He had started this war, and it had reached a moment of life or death.

Opening his mouth, he sent halos of damnification out over the forces of the three dynasties. In terms of numbers, he simply couldn't match up. The troops of the three dynasties outnumbered him by at least a hundred to one.

RUMBLE!

There was another major clash, and Yang Qi lost twenty thousand sage monarch magistrates and a trillion citizens. Several of his friends and family nearly coughed up blood at the sight. Thankfully, he had already bolstered their souls, otherwise they might have died.

The viciousness caused Yang Chiliocosm to cough up blood, and Proud Heaven to go pale in the face. Even Hailan seemed on the verge of collapse. Yang Voidprime had it better off than the others, and simply looked to be in pain. As for the nine Dugu patriarchs, one of them had died!

The one who died was Heaven-Rending Dugu, whose cultivation base was still a few billion short of the level of a hundred billion. During the massive clash of destiny, he got unlucky, and was transformed into ash.

"Fuck! We have to go all out! I've never led a battle this intense before!" Proud Heaven had lived for a long time, yet had never seen anything like this before. Even the fight between the Sovereign Lord and King Immortal-Slayer hadn't been on this scale. After all, King Immortal-Slayer had never founded his own empire.

In this type of fighting, anyone could lose their life, be they leaders or commoners. Proud Heaven knew that included himself as well.

However, he couldn't run. He had to stake everything on this battle.

"Die!"

Drawing on the destiny under his control, he sent countless government officials forth to attack, backing them with spell formations.

Another round of fierce fighting played out.

"Triumph in Every Battle! Triumph in Every Battle!" Yang Qi shouted, throwing caution to the wind as he catalyzed the battle spirit of his people, hoping to fuel as many enemy casualties as possible.

"Everlasting Aegis, Battlefield Advancement!"

The enormous Everlasting Aegis started moving forward, giving people a place to retreat to if necessary, and imbuing the battlefield with power.

No longer holding back any power, Yang Qi shouted, "You're all going to die. And you're no exception, Yang Voidprime! Let the Halls of Heaven Come!"

The clouds parted and the Halls of Heaven became visible overhead, causing endless power to pour into Yang Qi. At the same time, millions of mountains, seas, suns, moons, and worlds appeared behind him.

"Devour All Under Heaven!"

Among them was an enormous primal-chaos elder-snake, which sucked in countless enemy spell formations.

Then he waved his hand.

RUMBLE!

Space, fate, impermanence... countless such things shot toward Proud Heaven, Yang Voidprime, Hailan, Yang Chiliocosm, and the other leaders of the three dynasties.

Yang Voidprime was shocked. He had previously thought that he and Yang Qi were both putting everything on the line. But unexpectedly, he found that Yang Qi was now fighting everyone at the same time.

'Just how strong is Yang Qi? He wasn't fighting with full force before? He's only now showing his true, terrifying power? My god!' Yang Voidprime felt completely helpless.

"Everyone join forces," Proud Heaven said. "He's staking everything on this one attack!" All of a sudden, he exhaled, and a piece of the Great Necropolis shot out, a stone cloud designed to protect Proud Heaven.

"All government officials, attack Yang Qi and kill him. Use the spell formations. Draw on destiny!" Yang Chiliocosm shouted.

Everything was going to come down to this one clash.

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Chapter 1544: The Saddest of Dirges

"You scum! If I hadn't shown my true strength, you wouldn't know what it means to 'be killed beyond the shadow of a doubt'!"

Yang Qi was finally showing what he was truly capable of as he resorted to the full fury of the Nation-Fate Godfist. And he mixed it in with the Hand of the One God, the Fist of the Halls of Heaven, and the Sage Monarch Grand Magic.

The Nation-Fate Godfist fit perfectly into the ten daos of the Sage Monarch Grand Magic, specifically the aspects of Emperor and Sovereign.

All of his opponents staggered backward.

Neither Yang Voidprime, Yang Chiliocosm, Proud Heaven, Hailan, nor the Dugu patriarchs were a match for him.

Yang Qi knew that his empire's population was low compared to the others, and that he couldn't sustain such heavy casualties. Furthermore, if it weren't for the help from the High Priestess, the three dynasties' forces would have already been vanquished.

But she had interfered, and it had led to a very unfavorable development for Yang Qi.

It was going to be a tough battle, and there was no room for playing games. Yang Qi needed to use his most deadly moves to take out some of the enemy's leaders, such as Proud Heaven or Yang Chiliocosm. If he could do that, it would lead to a chain reaction that would greatly weaken the enemy forces. When an emperor fell in battle, his people would be leaderless, and they would eventually be defeated.

RUMBLE!

Proud Heaven, Yang Voidprime, Yang Chiliocosm, the Dugu patriarchs, and Hailan were now being forced to defend personally against Yang Qi, and were scrambling to stay alive. Luckily for them, they were backed by trillions upon trillions of troops in spell formations, which made their cultivation bases a hundred times more powerful than normal.

Proud Heaven had a tight grip on his dynasty's destiny, and was unleashing power that even a half-Annulled expert would shy away from.

Continents were being wiped from existence, and subterranean worlds were being destroyed. The god world was shaking violently as its essence was damaged.

Countless almighty entities were trembling in fear, and even the most colossal sects were terrified.

Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam! Bam!!

Yang Qi was drawing deeply on the Nation-Fate Godfist, unleashing moves like Son of Heaven Subdues the Border Regions, Sovereign and State Die Together, Blood Stains Spring and Autumn, and Eternal Peace and Security for the Living.

His attacks contained such immense convergences of destiny that even if the Sovereign Lord had come, he would have been swept off his feet by it.

"Pray for the Blessing of Destiny!" Yang Qi howled as he led the fighting on the front lines, battering the armies of the three dynasties with incomparable might that surpassed that of the King of Godmammoths.

People were dying left and right in the most brutal fighting the god world had ever seen.

"I pray that my Sage Monarch Empire be in good health for all time..."

"I pray that my Sage Monarch Empire is triumphant in every battle..."

"I pray that my Sage Monarch Empire lasts forever..."

The sage monarch magistrates led their troops in prayer. Soon, everyone was risking life and limb to send their prayers to the empire, causing its destiny to surge.

Even the Second and Third Devil Generals were praying in all piety, ensuring that their fates were tied to that of the empire.

As a result, the fighting prowess and morale of the troops surged.

"Take these medicinal pills!" Yang Qi said, sending out a host of extremely precious pills from the Halls of Heaven, healing wounds and bringing his people back to full energy.

It was a big loss in terms of wealth, but what good would wealth do if he lost the battle? And if he won, he could always get more wealth. After all, at that point, the god world would be his.

Yang Qi was a burning sun in the middle of the battlefield, his attacks vaporizing countless enemy experts. Not even Proud Heaven and his compatriots could do anything to stop him.

SPLAT!

Yang Qi landed a major blow on Yang Voidprime, who coughed up a mouthful of blood. Behind him, a squad of thirty billion soldiers was turned into ash. Not that thirty billion was much. In this battle, numbers like hundred million, trillion, or even quadrillion could be considered trifling.

Truth be told, no one present really knew how many people they had within their various empires.

The war playing out today was going to significantly change the face of the god world. And if it went on for much longer, the god world might very well split in two.

"We can't let this go on," Hailan said. "Yang Qi is too strong. Even if he suffers major casualties, our casualties will surpass his." She was spattered with blood, having killed too many people to count. However, she had also lost too many people to count, making her feel like singing the saddest of dirges.

"Die!" she howled, lashing her whip at a host of Dragonfolk experts from the Sage Monarch Empire. Her whip happened to find a crack in the protective destiny, and...

BAM!

A Dragonfolk expert was hit, and he screamed, his body twisting and distorting into death. Shockingly, it was one of the God-Lords from the Dragonfolk.

Of the original group of twenty-eight, eighteen had been killed, leaving only ten alive. The Spritefolk had also seen numerous God-Lords killed.

Of the God-Lords who had recently defected, sixty were dead! Yang Qi had suffered about thirty percent casualties so far. There were even close calls in which Yang Susu, Brahma, and the Second and Third Devil Generals had nearly died.

Luckily, the prime minister, imperial preceptor, and grand generalissimo had been there to save them. Roughly half of Yang Qi's closest friends were dead. It was brutal, but none of them feared death.

"This is the grandest war that's ever played out. Even if we all die, we can die proud!"

The Shepherd, Yang Proudworld, Yang Manifestation, Yang Memory, Sword Seventeen and many others like them were filled with zealous faith. Their cultivation bases had constantly improved, and they had gained enlightenment that most people would never experience in a lifetime.

And it was all thanks to Yang Qi.

"Come forth, power of the Halls of Heaven! Become one with me. I am the Halls of Heaven, and I shine down upon the entire god world!" Everyone watched as boundless radiance and light descended from above, as if God himself were on patrol.

"Be destroyed! Halls of Heaven! Become part of me!"

As Yang Qi's voice echoed out, the Halls of Heaven surged with numerous streams of power that descended into him in an explosion of dazzling starlight. As they did, a destructive shockwave spread out all around him, killing countless enemies.

"Proud Heaven. Yang Voidprime. Your doomsday has arrived. Prepare to fight. Your foolish alliance is about to be ended. Your worlds. Your kingdoms. They will all be destroyed!" In order to seize victory, Yang Qi had assimilated all of the stars and treasures in the Halls of Heaven. Of course, he hadn't taken the ocean of faith, as he didn't want to be infected by the karma of so many individuals.

"Oh great Sovereign Lord, you singlehandedly collected the faith of so many people, and it caused you to perish. But my empire, and my people, will benefit from that faith!"

RUMBLE!

The ocean of faith spasmed, then shot out from the Halls of Heaven and into the net of law and destiny that surrounded the Sage Monarch Empire.

The destiny and net of law moaned as the faith of the ancient legion of gods filled it. Any individual, even a half-Annulled expert, who tried to accept this faith would collapse. But the destiny of an empire was different.

Yang Qi was taking the faith of one group of living beings and giving it to another.

Crunch. Crack!

The destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire suddenly increased dramatically. At the same time, explosions occurred throughout the net of law as it both expanded and crystallized. In the blink of an eye, the destiny of the empire increased by tenfold! Meanwhile, individual members of the empire were growing stronger rapidly.

"Everyone, power up!" Yang Qi roared, his voice echoing like thunder. "I hereby ordain all citizens in the empire as nobility!"

The net of law descended, and every person it touched experienced a dramatic and rapid upgrade. Normally speaking, it would have been impossible. The Sage Monarch Empire just hadn't had destiny to support that.

But with the ocean of faith from the Halls of Heaven, it was a different story. The Sage Monarch Empire was now mighty enough that it could ordain Quasi-Gods to the level of Paramount Gods. Of course, it couldn't do it for everyone.

Even still, it was an unimaginable thing.

If the Central Dynasty had tried to do that, it would have collapsed immediately.

Nobody could have predicted that Yang Qi would do something this crazy. However, doing something crazy had been in his plans all along.

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Chapter 1545: All Citizens Ordained

In the impure lands, a nation couldn't simply say that all the citizens were nobility. It would quickly go bankrupt, then be destroyed.

In the civilization of gods, ordaining someone as nobility involved tapping into the quintessence and destiny of the nation. Although it would give an immediate boost in strength, the harm to the destiny would be irreversible.

Without taking the ocean of faith from the Halls of Heaven, Yang Qi could never have done this. His empire's destiny would have collapsed, which would mean that the individual strength of his citizens didn't matter.

However, with the ocean of faith, not only did his destiny and net of law not suffer any damage, they actually expanded.

Faith and destiny could both be considered types of wealth. But while individuals couldn't really use faith, nations could. Yang Qi had long since gained enlightenment of this point. With that ocean of faith pouring into his net of law, it was as if he was receiving the destiny of the ancient legion of gods, plus that of the Sovereign Lord.

Because of that, when his people were ordained, they didn't have to deal with tribulations, bottlenecks, or any of the negative aspects to growing stronger quickly. And the people could accept the karma of the original living beings who had created it. People as a whole could accept the faith of other peoples. As a result, individuals could benefit.

The strength of the people rose, not just by a single level, but by many. In many instances, Quasi-Gods rose through the ranks, becoming Lesser Gods, Common Gods, or Greater Gods. And there were many Greater Gods who became Paramount Gods.

There were even numerous individuals becoming peak Paramount Gods.

Meanwhile, Yang Qi's closest friends and family experienced boosts in cultivation base, with some of them reaching psychic scales of fifty billion.

Yang Qi could well be said to be taking all the wealth of the ancient Sovereign Lord.

Unfortunately, the Sovereign Lord's kingdom had never contained destiny, as he had been too focused on faith. Sadly for him, faith came from the people, and belonged to the people.

Yang Qi was like a bandit who plundered a huge treasure trove, then redistributed the loot to the common people. The illicitly taken treasure was thus given back to those who it had been taken from.

As a result, everyone benefited. Everyone was ordained.

Everyone transcended.

This was Yang Qi's ultimate trump card. Without it, he would never have started a war with the three dynasties. Although he had impressive destiny, he just didn't have the population to stand up to them. But with this major upgrade, he could definitely break through their front lines.

Destiny surged, and mountain-crushing, sea-shattering force swelled out in all directions, causing everyone to get stronger, and as a result, making the spell formations many times stronger. In some cases, a hundred times stronger.

"Warriors of the empire," Yang Qi howled, "YOU are the mightiest of all. You can seize victory and destroy the three dynasties!"

In the fierce fighting leading up to this point, many people had died, and as a result, the empire's destiny had waned. But now, not only had it recovered, but it had reached a much higher level than before.

RUMBLE!

Everyone in the empire was at their ultimate personal peak.

"This is bad. Retreat! Everybody retreat!"

Proud Heaven knew that they couldn't stand up to this enemy. This final trump card had been too crushing to their morale. Yang Qi was like an unbeatable fiend-devil, a domineering figure backed by an empire nobody could stop.

Right now, the only option left was to run. Return home and hope to find some way to turn the situation around.

After all, the army Proud Heaven had brought wasn't made up of all the members of the Central Dynasty. Seventy percent of the citizens had remained at home to defend it. And obviously, the Sage Monarch Empire couldn't take on that many people.

They might have an advantage right now, but facing numbers like that, they would be crushed.

Unfortunately, a full-scale retreat wasn't really possible right now.

"High Priestess, hurry up and help," Proud Heaven shouted. "We need time to escape!"

The enormous monument once again descended from the sky to block Yang Qi, but this time, it collapsed in only a few breaths of time.

However, that was all the time the three dynasties needed to stabilize their situation.

"I, the High Priestess, will protect ye peoples who are fleeing to your homes!" All of a sudden, immense power flowed out and encompassed the forces of the three dynasties.

Whooosh!

At the same time, numerous copies of the Deathless Monument fell, blocking Yang Qi and his armies.

"My Deathless Monument won't hold out against them for long," the High Priestess continued. "Ladies and gentlemen from the three dynasties, why don't you temporarily allow me to be your leader? Then, I can wield your destiny. What do you say?"

Yang Chiliocosm and the Dugu patriarchs all knew that if something didn't immediately happen to change the situation, they were going to die.

"We name you our leader, High Priestess!"

As soon as they agreed to the suggestion, the destinies of their dynasties shifted, gathering on the High Priestess.

Waving her hands, she sent the various projections of the Deathless Monument rumbling toward Yang Qi and his army.

"Get into formation!" Yang Qi shouted, and countless formations appeared. Then, the Tribulation Monarch Cannons were unleashed, slamming into the monuments. At that point, he caught a glimpse of the High Priestess' true form. She wore a long priestess' robe. She had facial features that seemed to come from an older time, and her hair was bound up with a long hairpin. She also had a dot of red on her forehead, and it looked like blood. In fact, it emanated a sound like that of a flowing river of blood, which was either righteous or evil. It was hard to say.

Furthermore, she emanated the energy of a half-Annulled expert!

It was a terrifying thought.

However, Yang Qi wasn't afraid. What did he have to fear from the half-Annulled level? Not even someone like that could halt the progress of his empire. His destiny was powerful enough to force even the High Priestess into retreat.

Glaring viciously at Yang Qi, the High Priestess said, "Warriors of the three dynasties, I, the High Priestess, am now your leader. Hear my commands. Retreat immediately, but maintain order. Your homelands are there behind you, filled with countless citizens who support you. They are what make us strong. We have to stop fighting now, lest we be routed. We're thousands of times more numerous than the people of the Sage Monarch Empire, so as long as we remain united, they can't do anything to us!"

Her words calmed the hearts of the people, and numerous spell formations popped up as people began calmly retreating.

"Do we chase them, Yang Qi?" Yang Susu said.

"No. It won't do any good. We won today, but we also sustained heavy losses. That said, we made a name for ourselves, and solidified our destiny. With the addition of faith to the net of law, we'll be fine. However, we need to sort out the details of the newly appointed nobility, and get more people to join us, replenishing our ranks. Fall back, everyone. Return to the empire."

It wasn't a complete victory, by any stretch of the imagination. And now that the three dynasties were returning home, it would be difficult to strike at them. Worse, they had the High Priestess on their side, a half-Annulled expert that surpassed the level of anyone currently in the god world.

She was like the King of Godmammoths, so Yang Qi was certain that if he pressed the attack in full force, he would still lose. But he was already pleased with the results of this battle. At least he had forced the three dynasties into retreat, and established his name in the god world.

"Do you think the High Priestess will help them recover?" Jadefall asked. "Maybe even form a new dynasty? If they truly become united, it's going to be difficult to stand up to them, considering their population."

If nothing else, the battle had shown that the Sage Monarch Empire's true weakness was its low population. They just couldn't sustain heavy losses.

"What a pity," Jadefall replied. "If only we could open the Ancient Road to the Gods and call everyone up from the lower worlds. Then we would really have a population explosion. And with that many Ascendants on our side, things would be different. Sadly, the Ancient Road to the Gods isn't accessible. And it's going to be hard to grow our population just from the denizens of the god world. After all, the three dynasties still have big reputations, and now they even have the High Priestess."

"Don't worry about it. I'm going to gain enlightenment of the half-Annulled level soon. And I'm already strong enough that I might be able to rebuild the Ancient Road to the Gods. Maybe I won't be able to do it permanently, but I should be able to open a way to the lower worlds for at least a few hours. That should be enough. If we can do that, I can use the divine abilities of King Heaven-Devourer to quickly bring up a huge group of people from the lower worlds. Our empire's population would increase dramatically, and our destiny would rise. For now, everyone needs to focus on stabilizing your strength and getting the empire back in order. I'm going to go up to the Halls of Heaven to take control of the entire place. I'll also send every last bit of that ocean of faith into our net of law."

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Chapter 1546: Both Sides Rest and Recuperate

Because of the meddling of the High Priestess, the battle had come to an end.

She was a half-Annulled expert, with an incredibly high psychic scale that was probably twice Yang Qi's level or more. Of course, she couldn't stand up to the Sage Monarch Empire as a whole. But she effectively organized the three dynasties' retreat, giving them a chance to recover and make new plans.

Right now, the three dynasties had a lot of problems. For instance, their peoples weren't united, which would make recovery difficult. However, given enough time, they would be back to full strength.

As for Yang Qi, he had a low population, but an incredible destiny. If he could deal with the population problem, he would reach even more unheard-of heights.

The three dynasties had the upper hand in numbers, while Yang Qi and the Sage Monarch Empire had the advantage in quality.

For now, the fighting was over. But it would only be temporary. There would be an even bigger battle to come, and the winner would take control of the god world and start the wheel of time turning in a way that couldn't be stopped.

Yang Qi took his people back to the kingdom to rest and lick their wounds.

The empire had lost a fifth of its population in the fighting, with a heavy blow being struck to the Dragonfolk God-Lords. The Dragonfolk in general were now a small and pitifully weak force, and other people with God-Lords were in similarly bad condition. As for the sage monarch magistrates, there were only about a hundred million left.

How profoundly tragic!

Everyone in the empire wept at the knowledge that they had just been through an extremely brutal fight. However, the survivors had experienced the baptism of war, and would grow because of it. In the coming days, the empire would become stronger than ever.

Yang Qi knew that his people had experienced a major catastrophe. However, they had passed through the fire, just like a cultivator passing through tribulation. Now the empire needed to grow rapidly.

Once he finished pouring the ocean of faith into his net of law and destiny, his empire's destiny would be vastly beyond that of the three dynasties.

That ocean of faith wasn't a normal resource, like magical treasures or medicinal pills. It was pure faith that could be converted into destiny.

Medicinal pills and the like could be stockpiled, but not turned into destiny. Thus, the ocean of faith was better than any sort of resource. And when he finished absorbing the entire thing, the sage monarch magistrates would once again begin proliferating.

There were just far too few of them now. After all, if he had had a few billion of them, the High Priestess would never have succeeded.

Yang Qi made some arrangements in his empire, assigning the surviving sage monarch magistrates to various tasks. He also had his friends and family help out. When everything was settled, he headed out to improve his cultivation base and repair the Ancient Road to the Gods.

WHOOSH!

A short moment passed, and he was in the Halls of Heaven.

He had gained a lot during the fighting. In fact, as long as he could get enough power and destiny, he knew that he could easily reach the half-Annulled level.

The High Priestess was mighty, but she was nothing more than a guard right now. She wouldn't dare to come pick a fight.

Yang Qi's first destination was the ocean of faith, where he set up a huge teleportation portal to absorb the power and send it to the net of law in the Sage Monarch Empire.

Whizzz...

The net of law became even more crystalline as it expanded, causing the empire to slowly shift in the direction of another location that wasn't in the god world. It was slowly developing into an even higher type of civilization.

The 'water' level in the ocean slowly started lowering, and in the Sage Monarch Empire, people's positions as nobility stabilized as a result.

At the same time, the empire's destiny grew, and slowly started transforming into something like a greyspace.

Destiny was invincible.

All citizens had been ordained as nobility, which had resulted in a huge drop in destiny. But now that was being made up for.

In fact, there was so much destiny now that, even if Yang Qi did the same thing again, it wouldn't have any bad result. Once he opened the Ancient Road to the Gods, and saved all his people from below, he could ordain them as well. Then he would really be able to crush the alliance of the three dynasties.

With the ocean of faith handled, Yang Qi turned his attention to the Ancient Road to the Gods.

"God Legion Seal. Mahātmā Jade. Halls of Heaven. Passageway Creation. Ancient Road to the Gods, REFORM!"

BUZZ!

Almost instantly, hissing and popping sounds could be heard from the depths of the god world, like the sound of burning.

Yang Qi was melting the essence of the god world to rebuild the Ancient Road to the Gods. However, the process would take many hours.

A passageway began taking shape, like an enormous ancient road, right beneath the Halls of Heaven.

Yang Qi's immensely powerful psyche, as well as his wildly strong destiny, was helping him accomplish the most shocking of deeds. Reestablishing the Ancient Road to the Gods was only the first step in his plan.

Meanwhile...

There was a very depressing atmosphere in the Central God-Temple.

The three dynasties had suffered a major defeat. They had failed to defeat the Sage Monarch Empire, and only escaped with their lives thanks to the High Priestess. Without that last-minute save, their armies would have been wiped out of existence. Then, mass desertions would have followed.

They had been routed, and the Sage Monarch Empire had established a reputation of might and glory that was unrivaled. After all, if the Sage Monarch Empire could vanquish their three dynasties, what existed in the god world that they couldn't destroy?

"We lost," Proud Heaven said gravely. "Badly. Thoroughly. The prestige of the god world is at an all-time low. And there were plenty of old-timers out there, watching the whole thing. During this period of rest and recuperation, there's no doubt that many empires, organizations, and individual old-timers will join Yang Qi. They're going to get stronger and stronger, while we get weaker and weaker. We should be happy we haven't had more people defecting. Do we just sit around and wait to die? Do any of you have any good ideas?"

"We have to bring more people into our alliance," Hailan said. "Either that, or merge our three dynasties into a single empire. The Sage Monarch Empire doesn't have anywhere close to our population. Maybe ten percent, at most. And they lost a lot of people. It's not going to be easy to come back from that. Our downside is that we aren't united. We lack a true leader. If our dynasties accept the leadership of the High Priestess, then given her cultivation base, we should be capable of great things."

As Hailan spoke, everyone turned to the High Priestess.

She sat unmoving in the seat of honor, looking almost like a statue. It was almost as if she hadn't heard Hailan mention her becoming the leader of a new empire.

However, her lack of response didn't make anyone present feel any less repulsed by the idea.

Whether it was Yang Chiliocosm, Proud Heaven, or the Dugu patriarchs, they were all people who had been working for tens of billions of years to become top figures in the god world. They had all suffered big defeats. However, an emaciated camel is still bigger than a horse, and most of them would rather go back and work hard to rebuild their forces.

If they combined their dynasties, they would become like government officials, and the destiny they had once commanded would belong to someone else. How could any of them just accept an arrangement like that?

The High Priestess was simply the leader of their alliance, and although she could benefit from its destiny, she couldn't make major decisions. That had to be decided by the three dynasties together.

A league-lord and an emperor were two different things.

The Dugu patriarchs were all thinking roughly the same thing. 'That Hailan is a real plague. Fuck. If the High Priestess had stepped in earlier, we wouldn't be in this position. She only showed up when we were about to be destroyed!'

They were old-timers who excelled at intrigue, so how could they not realize what was going on?

The High Priestess had obviously planned this all along. She set things up so that she could steal the fruit of other people's labor without spending any effort of her own. And if she ended up combining the three dynasties under her leadership, it would be a perfect outcome for her.

The old-timers knew that she could have struck at the Sage Monarch Empire at any time. If she did it when the three dynasties were at their peak, the Sage Monarch Empire would have been done for.

Instead, she waited until just the right moment, so that she could be a savior and seize some power in the process.

None of these old-timers wanted to give up everything they had worked so hard for over the years. Even Proud Heaven's eyes glittered with hatred for Hailan.

There was no way he would let an emperor rise up and take control over him.

"The idea of combining our dynasties into an empire is no trivial matter," Proud Heaven said. "We need to discuss this in detail. Right now, Yang Qi is strong, but not strong enough to invade our empires. He has to focus on defense, and that means we have the upper hand. As long as we can get our troops in order, we may yet be able to seize victory. What do you say, Lord of the Chiliocosm? Don't you agree that our current alliance is enough? We don't want to complicate things and cause further chaos."

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Chapter 1547: Internal Conflic

None of the dynasties that made up the alliance were interested in combining to form a larger empire. It would involve their emperors being demoted, and as mere government officials, their lives would be in the hands of another. No one would willingly debase themselves in such a way.

"Are you people really willing to just stand around and watch Yang Qi destroy you?" Hailan asked, looking around at everyone present. "It's not as though we've never encountered someone as strong as Yang Qi before. He's not in the half-Annulled level, but he's close. At the moment, only the High Priestess can keep him in check. The rest of us are useless in that regard. He's definitely gone to assimilate the Halls of Heaven, and if he succeeds, we're all dead. The only shot we have is if we work together. Unite the three dynasties and act as one. We don't have a second option."

"You want us to take the result of billions of years of effort and just give it to someone else?" Heaven-Defeating Dugu asked. "You think you're very clever, don't you, Hailan? If we give all of our hard work to the High Priestess, and she becomes the empress, she'll use the destiny to finally surpass the Sovereign Lord."

"It's the only option we have," Hailan replied, her eyes glittering with killing intent. "If we remain divided, our fate will be horrific. The High Priestess is already in the half-Annulled level, the same as the old Sovereign Lord. She's the only one who can gain the support of the people, and then command the destiny."

"Our current alliance is more than enough," Yang Chiliocosm said. "The Chiliocosm Dynasty is an independent entity, but we support the High Priestess as our league-lord. That's more than enough respect. If she wants to become an empress, forget it. In fact, don't even bring it up again. The Chiliocosm Dynasty would rather be destroyed than let someone take advantage of our billions of years of effort."

"I completely agree," Proud Heaven said. "An alliance of three dynasties is more than sufficient. What we need to do now is analyze exactly what happened, and where we went wrong. We also need to train in formations. Going forward, there can be no bickering between our three dynasties. We'll work together in good faith. Considering that, there's no need for any sort of empire. We take things one step at a time, and make sure our alliance is unified. Considering our combined destiny and population, there's no way Yang Qi can match up, not even if he makes some progress. In the end, population is the most important thing. When a dynasty lacks people, they can only develop so far. Destiny comes from the masses and is intrinsically connected to the living beings of a dynasty."

"Alright," the High Priestess said. "There's no need to muddy the waters by talking about an empire, Hailan. Besides, I have no interest in being an empress. I just want to prevent Yang Qi from getting too powerful. If that happens, we'll end up in the same mess we were in during the Sovereign Lord's Age. We'd be enslaved by the God Legion Seal. I have no plans to interfere in the affairs of the emperors of the three dynasties. For now, we need to go our separate ways and make all the preparations necessary. Gather whatever resources are necessary, train the troops, prepare the formations. I won't participate in such matters. As the league-lord, I'll oversee things and make sure the people remain calm and orderly. Incidentally, in short order I plan to head out into the primal-chaos outside the god world and make contact with some old friends from years past, people who weren't killed by the Sovereign Lord. Although I don't have any plans to found an empire, I do intend to make this alliance even bigger and stronger than any of your empires could dream of."

Quite a few people were astonished by her words.

"You're nothing less than incredible, High Priestess," Heaven-Defeating Dugu said. "We'll head back to our dynasties to calm the hearts of the people and revitalize our destiny. Once all of us have taken care of our various responsibilities, we'll meet back to plan the next step."

"I'll be taking my leave now," Yang Chiliocosm said.

"And I'll go talk things over with our emperor," Proud Heaven said, leaving.

Before long, the only people left in the Central God-Temple were the High Priestess, Hailan, and Yang Voidprime.

Seeing that they were alone, Hailan said, "Master, these people don't know what's good for them! I can't believe they rejected the suggestion of unification. What do we do now? Why didn't you just strike a few of them dead? For instance, that one Dugu patriarch, or Yang Chiliocosm. I can't believe Proud Heaven will yield to force but not coercion."

"Enough with the melodrama," the High Priestess said. "It was worth a shot, but we can't force it. At least I'm the league-lord. If we push things too far, it could cause the alliance to fall apart. Remember, although I'm in the half-Annulled level, the emperors of the dynasties all have access to boundless destiny, which means that not even I can deal with them easily. That is the power that comes with being an emperor."

"High Priestess," Yang Voidprime said, "although this has nothing to do with me, I'm happy to support you. I'll head back to my dynasty now. Remember, I have no desire for destiny. I just want that fateless energy from Yang Qi. I need it to become complete and transcend. I already have a cultivation base of two hundred and sixty billion, and no amount of destiny is going to help me get stronger easily. And that damned Yang Qi forced me to open my Fateless Seal, which means that reaching the half-Annulled level is going to be difficult."

"Don't worry," the High Priestess said. "When I promise to do something, I do it. Your cultivation base is impressive, but insufficient. Go back and seize rulership from Yang Chiliocosm, then start advocating for the unification of the three dynasties."

"No problem. Yang Chiliocosm isn't a match for me at this point. However, it's going to take careful planning to seize full power of the Chiliocosm Dynasty."

"Go," she said, waving her hand dismissively. Yang Voidprime flew away, then the High Priestess vanished with Hailan in tow.

Outside in the primal-chaos beyond the god world, she raised her voice and said, "King of Godmammoths, you've been hiding for long enough. Show your face. That Yang Qi has become a threat to your existence. You should know that raising a tiger is inviting calamity, and if I were you, I'd avoid inviting the wolf into your house. Aren't you recovered yet? I'm already back in business, what about you? If not, then maybe I'll take your blood and send the rest of you to hell! I have some good destiny now as a league-lord. Maybe I'm not an empress, but I'm still strong enough to crush you."

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Central Dynasty, in an odd fold of space-time, white energy pulsed everywhere, and Proud Heaven could sense the fluctuations of the Lord of Righteous Justice.

'Yang Qi was right,' he thought. 'The Lord of Righteous Justice is fighting back, and that's helping King Immortal-Slayer.' Then he saw Proud Central, wreathed in flames, struggling mightily.

'No wonder Proud Central didn't update me on the situation. He didn't want me to know what a bad situation he's in.' All of a sudden, a wicked smile appeared on Proud Heaven's face.

"My respects, Father!" he said, bowing. "Our Central Dynasty suffered a big loss. The alliance of three dynasties was completely defeated by Yang Qi. It was brutal, Father. Now the High Priestess has shown up, and she wants to combine the three dynasties into an empire. You have to take advantage of this crisis to assimilate the Great Necropolis and King Immortal-Slayer, then reach the Half-Annulled level. That's the only way you can kill all of our enemies."

"It's you, Proud Heaven?" Proud Heaven said. "Get out of here! You don't need to worry about my affairs. It doesn't matter what happens out there, as long as you keep the situation under control."

Proud Central didn't seem to care at all about the latest turn of events, and in fact, didn't even seem surprised to hear what had played out.

"You already know about what happened, Father?" Much of this is your fault. You fell for Yang Qi's trickery, and ended up giving him the final piece of the Mahātmā Jade. Now he's combined it with the God Legion Seal, and is immensely powerful. You really screwed up, Father. Ai."

"Get the fuck out of here, Proud Heaven! What are you complaining about? I don't need advice from you. Leave. Now!" Even as the words left Proud Central's mouth, a huge ball of white lightning suddenly appeared and rumbled toward him like a gigantic mountain.

Proud Heaven chuckled. "Old codger. You've been pinned into a corner!"

CRACK!

Suddenly, Proud Heaven unsealed something inside himself. Unexpectedly, he was similar to Yang Voidprime in that he was hiding his full capabilities. However, unlike Yang Voidprime, he didn't have fateless power within him, but rather the power of ten different universes.

Ten enormous universes appeared behind him, each of which was like an embryonic god world. In the blink of an eye, Proud Heaven reached a level of power vastly superior to Yang Voidprime.

Laughing heartily, he said, "I finally have the chance I've been seeking. Ten Universes!" Bursting with power, he shattered the white ball of lightning, then grinned viciously and said, "Proud Central, you scum. You piece of trash! I'm going to devour you right here and now. I'm going to digest every bit of you, and you're going to make me a true emperor! I'll devour you, then King Immortal-Slayer, the Great Necropolis, the Lord of Righteous Justice, and finally, I'll secretly strike the High Priestess as well. This is my ultimate power, the Ten Universes. Understand? Back during the original Big Bang in primal-chaos, there were ten unique universes that struggled for control. The god world was only one of those universes, but it devoured the other nine. However, I found them and turned them into magical treasures, which became my personal dao. With the Ten Universes, I have a consummate art equivalent to ten god worlds! In other words, it represents ten different ways the god world could've ended up. Now, Proud Central, prepare to die!"

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Chapter 1548: Devouring Proud Central

"Proud Heaven, you vicious wolf! If I'd have realized you'd do this, I would've taken care of you a long time ago. You're my son! I raised you! How could you possibly betray me like this? Are you even human?!" Previously, Proud Central hadn't been scared at all of Proud Heaven. But seeing Proud Heaven reveal his Ten Universes made it clear that he had been hiding his true strength. And now... Proud Central was afraid.

"Maybe I'm your son, Proud Central, but that doesn't matter. Do you think I don't know the truth about your plans? You know the amazing potential I have, so you've been grooming me with the goal of eventually devouring me to improve your cultivation base. Thankfully, Yang Qi has given me the perfect opportunity to kill you." He threw his head back and laughed loudly. "To be honest, I should thank Yang Qi. Without him, I never would've been a match for you. But now, the time has come for you to die!"

The ten universes behind Proud Heaven started rotating, making them look like enormous suns that cast out rippling strands of light, which shot toward Proud Central at top speed.

"Central Grand Tempest!" Proud Central shouted, unleashing the most powerful psychic tempest there was.

"Dark Universe!" Proud Heaven shot back, unleashing a pitch-black universe that instantly devoured the psychic tempest.

BAMMMM!

Proud Heaven viciously struck Proud Central, and without the slightest scruple, started absorbing his power. As for Proud Central, there was nothing he could do but watch as the energy of the Dark Universe infected him, turning him into a pitch-black mass covered with pinpoints of light that resembled stars.

"Proud Heaven, you animal!"

Although Proud Central fought back viciously, he was too distracted by King Immortal-Slayer and the Lord of Righteous Justice. And that wasn't to mention how Yang Qi had used the Sovereign Lord's lightning attack to wound him. Given all that, how could he possibly defend against this sudden ambush by Proud Heaven?

"You beast! I'll make sure you die with me!"

He suddenly abandoned his work with the Great Necropolis and unleashed all the power he could muster.

"Die together? Nice idea. God World Essence!"

Proud Heaven smiled oddly as the essence of the god world sprang up beneath him, pouring into his Ten Universes, causing each and every one to swell dramatically. As a result, Proud Central's stream of power was shattered, and Proud Heaven's Ten Universes shot into him like a parasite.

Then, all ten of them began absorbing Proud Central's power.

"What's going on, Proud Heaven? You've been approved by the essence of the god world?" Proud Central suddenly felt as though fighting against Proud Heaven was the same as fighting against the entire god world, and it caused him to shiver with terror, fury, and helplessness.

"That's right, Proud Central. I have the approval of the god world. Little do you know that, when I was in the impure lands, I met a girl named Greensura. Not only was she Yang Qi's mother, which means she had fateless energy inside of her, but she was also closely connected to the essence of the god world. The essence of the god world knows that it couldn't have any greater enemy than a Fateless One. After all, the god world will eventually devour all of the primal-chaos out there. And we're nothing more than parasites living inside of it.

"However, Fateless Ones are different. And so is the Great Necropolis. I control Greensura, therefore I can connect with the essence of the god world. The god world has long since taken Greensura back, thus becoming an enormous, unified living thing. And it's completely different from us. I'm helping the god world get rid of Yang Qi, so it's helping me. Of course, once I use its essence to devour you, I'll move on to the Great Necropolis. After that, I'll devour Yang Qi, and ultimately, the god world itself. The god world is going to be mine! I'm going to reach the Annulled level. Not the half-Annulled level. The full Annulled level!"

Even after hearing all of these secrets, Proud Central was powerless to do a thing. He was already being devoured, and all he could do was wail, "Raising a tiger is inviting calamity. Raising a tiger is inviting calamity... You beast! I should never have taken care of you. Agghhhhhh!"

Moments later he was dead, completely absorbed by Proud Heaven's Ten Universes. Considering Proud Heaven had the help of the essence of the god world, what could Proud Heaven have done to fight him?

Having assimilated Proud Central, Proud Heaven waved his hand, and it thrummed with power. As a result, the Great Necropolis suddenly went completely still. Then King Immortal-Slayer's voice could be heard, "Well played, boy. Very ruthless of you. You even went so far as to devour your own father. Unfortunately for you, you still won't be able to do anything to me."

"You're going to be the next to die, King Immortal-Slayer," Proud Heaven said. "I'm going to turn the Great Necropolis into an out-of-body incarnation. An animadestiny magical treasure. Lord of Righteous Justice, you should stop struggling as well. I'm going to absorb you as well."

RUMBLE!

Proud Heaven's divine will shot into the white mammoth that was the Lord of Righteous Justice, provoking an agonized shriek.

Proud Heaven's cultivation base skyrocketed, breaking into the half-Annulled level and bringing a cold smile to his face. "High Priestess, I bet you couldn't have guessed in your wildest dreams that my plan would succeed. You want to be the empress of the three dynasties? I think you'll serve better as food. Next, I'm going to go deal with Yang Voidprime. Not munching him down would be a big waste!"

Opening his mouth, he sucked the Great Necropolis inside of him and sent the Lord of Righteous Justice into his Ten Universes.

Then he turned and vanished.

Countless people in the three dynasties were on the move, forming alliances and making plans. Proud Heaven was no exception. Everyone wanted to take advantage of the chaos, or at the very least, take precautions to stay safe.

Meanwhile, the Sage Monarch Empire was expanding rapidly.

At the moment, a huge teleportation portal had been opened, and Yang Susu, Jadefall, Yang Doom, Yang Proudworld, and others of Yang Qi's brethren were leading an army through it. On the other side was an immense golden buddhist kingdom.

It was what remained of the ancient buddhist kingdoms, and its leader was Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka. When Yang Qi had been fighting the alliance of dynasties, he had been marshaling the various troops of the buddhist schools in the hopes of taking advantage of the situation.

However, the Sage Monarch Empire had come out on top, and now it was planning to bring the buddhist kingdom into the fold.

The buddhist kingdom was like a viper lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. Obviously, they were a dangerous threat that needed to be handled.

Yang Susu, Jadefall, and many of the others had psychic scales of more than ninety billion. Because of the great ordainment that had occurred on the battlefield, everyone had reached psychic scales of fifty billion at a minimum. Then the ocean of faith was fully tapped into, causing even further breakthroughs.

Although the empire had lost a fifth of its population, its destiny was many times greater than before. That was why the High Priestess wouldn't dare to attack, for fear of being slaughtered.

Also in the group heading to the buddhist kingdom were the grand generalissimo, imperial preceptor, and prime minister, whose psychic scales were all above a hundred and fifty billion.

The sage monarch magistrates had all recovered from their injuries, and were now proliferating like mad. In fact, they had already reached four hundred million, which was a hundred million more than when they had first gone into battle.

A hundred million sage monarch magistrates had come along on this expeditionary force, as well as other top experts.

"This is the Buddhist Empire," Yang Susu said coldly. "You can see how rapidly it's been growing. They're obviously quite ambitious."

"Not bad," the prime minister said. "This place really does have high ambitions. They finally managed to unite most of the scattered buddhist schools. If we and the three dynasties had both been injured badly enough, they could have jumped in and taken advantage of the situation. They have some good destiny as well. That said, they're not quite in the position to compare with our armies."

It was only natural that the prime minister would look down on the buddhist schools, considering he was a confucian.

"We can still try peaceful measures before using force," Jadefall said.

"Alright!" the Shepherd said with a smile. Raising his voice, he said, "Sage monarch magistrates, join your voices!"

RUMBLE!

The entire force of sage monarch magistrates spoke out in exactly the same tone and volume. "Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka, and any other buddhas! Listen well. The Sage Monarch Empire has sent an army here to accept your surrender. We defeated the alliance of three dynasties, and we won't approve of any other major powers. If you don't surrender, we'll crush you into dust."

Almost immediately, there was a huge commotion as numerous buddhas flew out in a panic.

As it turned out, there was no military response at all. The armies of the Buddhist Empire couldn't compare at all to the forces of the Sage Monarch Empire. And they had no High Priestess to jump in and help them.

"Leaders of the Sage Monarch Empire, I am Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka. Our buddhist schools are pure, and stand aloof from worldly affairs. We only want to focus on cultivation. Why would you attack us? Aren't you people who emphasize morality? Don't you espouse the saying sage inside, monarch outside? Why do you want to make us your enemy?"

All of a sudden, they caught sight of a golden buddha, floating up into the air.

However, what was telling was that he didn't leave his buddhist land, and was obviously staying within the defenses of his destiny.

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Chapter 1549: Conquering the Buddhist Empire

Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka had appeared, surrounded by magnificent golden light and zen chanting. Buddhist dragons swirled around him, and the convergence of faith and destiny around him caused flowers to rain down constantly. He was surrounded by dazzling white light and made everyone want to look at him.

Sadly, to the people from the Sage Monarch Empire, he seemed as laughable as a child playing house.

They had all been born again through fire recently, reaching a level that made Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka seem like little more than a toy.

"Buddha-Lord," Yang Susu said, "we didn't bring the armies of the Sage Monarch Empire here to listen to bullshit. So enough of your games. We want more experts to strengthen our empire, so don't even think of trying to take advantage of us. Did you think we didn't know how many Demonfolk, Devilfolk, and wretch-gods you've purified? That's how you expanded your destiny and prestige. Sadly, the Sage Monarch Empire can't permit you to grow any further. So I'm going to count to three. If you haven't surrendered by then, we'll grind you into powder."

"Oh Boundless Buddha. You people are really pushing things too far. Our buddhist kingdom is no threat to you. We've pledged our life to spiritual pursuits!"

"We've pledged to spiritual pursuits! We've pledged to spiritual pursuits! We've pledged to spiritual pursuits!"

"We've pledged to spiritual pursuits!"

Countless buddhist believers all started chanting, creating a thunderous roar.

Destiny surged, making it obvious they weren't going to back down.

"Well, I guess we have no choice, then," Jadefall said, shaking her head. "You people really are just too stubborn. I can't believe you'd profane the majesty of the Sage Monarch Empire this way. We defeated the three dynasties and shook the god world! Our armies defeat anyone they face. It seems we're really going to have to wipe you out of existence. Prepare the Tribulation Monarch Cannons!"

BUZZ!

The sage monarch magistrates revealed their cannons, then massive waves of white light rumbled forth, slamming into the golden destiny of the Buddhist Empire and shattering their defenses.

Shouts of rage rose from the buddhist believers.

"Kill them!" Yang Susu said coldly, and the army flooded forth.

From high above, the Buddhist Empire looked like an enormous golden egg, while the army of the Sage Monarch Empire was like a long sword slashing toward it.

"You people are being intolerable bullies! Compassion cometh from Buddha, but we also know how to slaughter devils!" Expression twisting viciously, Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka extended his arm and shouted, "Disciples, get into the Mandala Formation. Summon the aegis!"

As they got into various formations, flower petals appeared, forming together into the shape of an enormous lotus flower. Then, countless buddhas appeared on the flower, shining with golden light as they muttered enchantments that flowed forth to meet the incoming army.

"Flowers Bloom to Reveal Buddha; Buddha Chants Dhāraṇī Incantations!"

"What kind of crap is this supposed to be?" Expressions of disdain could be seen on the faces of Jadefall, Yang Susu, the Shepherd, and others. This was far less than they had dealt with when fighting the three dynasties.

"Sword of the Dao of Heaven; Exact Punishment!"

Whizz!

Backed by destiny, the army took the shape of a huge sword, which slashed into the dhāraṇī incantations, destroying them. Then, the sword changed into the shape of a boat that looked exactly like the Halls of Heaven.

It was yet another formation.

The Halls of Heaven could conquer every obstacle!

As the army slashed into the lotus flower, wreaking destruction along the way, countless buddhas were sucked into the boat and were taken captive.

"Hand of the One God!"

By using the formations, the soldiers in the boat were able to summon a huge hand that could grasp universes, much less this Buddhist Kingdom. Wherever the hand went, the buddhas became streams of golden light that were sucked inside and bound captive.

"Damn you!" Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka shouted. "How could this be happening?! We can't even stand up to a single charge? Is my Buddhist Empire that inferior to the Sage Monarch Empire? I refuse to believe it! The buddhist schools are foreordained to conquer the god world! Even the essence of the god world trusted in us!"

Sadly for him, he couldn't stop the Hand of the One God from grabbing him.

He struggled, but it was completely useless, and he immediately felt like everything around him was spinning dizzyingly. He had a psychic scale of a hundred billion, yet it didn't do him any good. Not even the half-Annulled High Priestess had dared to risk tangling with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. And now that the destiny had been bolstered by the Sovereign Lord's ocean of faith, it was vastly beyond anything an ordinary empire could handle.

As of now, the three dynasties couldn't do anything but hunker down and wait. They couldn't attack, and the High Priestess couldn't risk going out and being ambushed. If she got captured or killed, it would be a huge disaster.

Twenty hours later, the Buddhist Empire was completely conquered.

Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka was tightly bound, his face a mass of despair. Even after being dragged before Yang Susu for an audience, he still couldn't believe what was happening. "Twenty hours? It only took twenty hours for my entire Buddhist Empire to be taken over? There wasn't even a bloodsoaked last stand? Why? Is the Sage Monarch Empire really that strong? What happened to the High Priestess? She should've shown up to do something! I can't believe you weren't worried about her."

As it turned out, he thought his empire was as safe and stable as Mount Tai. He had assumed that because the High Priestess and the three dynasties had clashed with Yang Qi and the Sage Monarch Empire, there would be time to develop while everyone licked their wounds.

But now this had happened.

"The High Priestess?" Jadefall said. "You think she's omnipotent or something? Our Emperor Yang Qi controls the Halls of Heaven, from where he can look down on the whole god world. Even the almighty entities of ancient times are nothing compared to him. In fact, we can use the teleportation portals in the Halls of Heaven to go to any location in the god world! Not even the High Priestess can deal with the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire. If she tried, she would only end up dead and buried."

"I submit. I submit!" Buddha-Lord Pārisuddhi Outstanding Vaiḍūrya Saddharma Puṇḍarīka shrieked. He knew had no other choice than to accept his fate.

"Go. Take the buddhist captives back to the Sage Monarch Empire." With the command given, the army took the captive buddhas and left. The Buddhist Kingdom had disappeared just like that. However, there were now new kingdoms popping up in the Sage Monarch Empire.

Everything had proceeded very smoothly.

The Sage Monarch Empire was now truly on the path of conquering the god world. They needed a bigger population, and they were going to take it by force. After all, they needed more destiny. With more destiny came more nobility.

In fact, the nobility represented the destiny, and no one could face the nobility of the Sage Monarch Empire without their hearts pounding. Even the top old-timers knew that this was probably the best time to join the Sage Monarch Empire.

In the past, they had been waiting to see how things played out with the three dynasties. But now it seemed obvious. They all wanted to be an official who follows someone's rise from a lower rank to that of an emperor, so they needed to act before it was too late.

Yang Qi's friends and family were in the middle of discussing what to do now that the Buddhist Empire was taken care of when people came with a report.

"We have news! A large number of confucian colleges have come to join us. They are all groups that have lived in seclusion for many years. Now they're coming in waves. They have a population of roughly five quadrillion. Should we ordain them as nobility, or do something else?"

"Five quadrillion confucians?" Yang Susu said. "And they're all powerful old-timers? I wonder how many God-Lords they have? You take care of the details. We'll wait for His Majesty to return and make a decision. Tell them that he's in the Halls of Heaven, breaking through to the half-Annulled level. Once he succeeds, not even the Sovereign Lord would be a match for him. The nobility are like weapons, and we don't have the right to make decisions in that regard. Besides, we can't just appoint newcomers as nobility. They'll understand. Just give them some gifts in the meantime."

"Why don't we go meet them personally," Jadefall said. "You know, treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. If we give them some gifts from the Halls of Heaven, it'll earn their trust and loyalty."

"That's fine. But first we need to see how many God-Lords they have. How many are there?"

"They have a total of eight hundred, as well as three with psychic scales of a hundred billion."

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Chapter 1550: The Confucians Join

"What? Eight hundred God-Lords? That many?"

Yang Susu, Jadefall, and everyone else were shocked. The fact that the confucian colleges were this powerful was nothing less than terrifying. As it turned out, they really did believe the saying: When you're unsuccessful, you should focus on your own cultivation. When you're successful, you should work hard to benefit all people.

Apparently, throughout the past hundred million years, there had been a lot of these people who had erred on the side of when you're unsuccessful, you should focus on your own cultivation.

As for people with psychic scales of a hundred billion, they were the type who would provoke a double-take from anyone.

Jadefall and Yang Susu would have been happy with just a population increase of five quadrillion. Although some people might think that was a huge number, to the Sage Monarch Empire, it wasn't.

Truth be told, it was normal to see a daily increase of five quadrillion.

In other words, it merely doubled the daily normal.

However, eight hundred God-Lords, including three with psychic scales of a hundred billion, were rare. That would be a big boost for the Sage Monarch Empire.

Before the war, the Sage Monarch Empire had boasted a large group of God-Lords. Unfortunately, more than half of them had been killed in the fighting, which was a brutal loss. Later, the ordainment of the nobility had resulted in a few people becoming God-Lords. But unfortunately, they still didn't have anything close to their previous numbers.

Peak Paramount Gods with a psychic scale in the billions could be created easily. But God-Lords were another story. They generally required a lot of hard work, as well as significant destiny.

If they were really going to get eight hundred new God-Lords, it was going to be a significant change.

However, Jadefall and Yang Susu knew full well that plenty of old-timers were profound schemers. For all they knew, some or all of these people might be like the turtledove trying to occupy the magpie's nest.

If a single God-Lord had shown up, or even ten, they would still have been suspicious, let alone eight hundred.

"Let's go see what's going on."

Everyone present rose to their feet.

"Exalted superiors, the people from the confucian colleges are waiting outside of the Everlasting Aegis. They set up camp there, and have already drawn up the formal papers of surrender. We invited them inside, but they refused. If you want to visit them, you'll have to leave the Everlasting Aegis."

"Oh," Yang Susu said. "So it seems they're wary of us."

She waved a finger, and a screen appeared, upon which was depicted the space outside the Sage Monarch Empire. There, a white aegis had been set up that resembled a college, and as it rotated, it pulsed with the righteousness of the confucians.

"It's hard to believe that such an enormous and powerful force has come to surrender," Yang Doom said. "This has got to be a trick."

"There can never be too much deception in war," the Shepherd said. "It's to be expected. If they've come here to surrender, we can't very well force them to stay away. After all, with a juicy morsel like this, how could we do anything other than swallow them whole? Besides, the buddhists we just crushed were about as fifth as powerful as the confucians. If we really do assimilate them, our foundation will become much stronger. I say, let's devour them now and report the matter to Yang Qi later."

"You go handle them," a voice said. It was Yang Qi. "These are the confucian colleges that have been hiding out in primal-chaos. They were sent by the High Priestess to be spies, although not all of them intend to follow her instructions. Let them inside. It doesn't matter how strong they are, they'll submit to our destiny."

From his vantage point in the Halls of Heaven, Yang Qi could see everything that was happening.

"Alright, let's go out and meet them."

The destiny of the empire stirred as the Everlasting Aegis appeared, and a road opened up, allowing them to walk outside.

The confucian college that had been set up wasn't corporeal, but rather formed from a righteous and noble energy. And there were a host of people who were holding a meeting, all of whom were God-Lords.

Three had psychic scales of over a hundred billion, but actually, they seemed closer to two hundred billion, although they were trying to keep that secret. As for their appearances, one was an old man, one looked middle-aged, and the third looked young.

The old one looked like a saint, a person of virtue and prestige who understood everything in heaven and earth. The middle-aged man looked like someone used to wielding authority, and the young scholar seemed high-spirited and full of mettle.

They were the leaders of the confucian colleges.

Beneath them were eight hundred ordinary God-Lords, who pulsed with the righteous energy of the confucians.

Beyond them were the five quadrillion confucian students, who were busy reading books, reciting information, and the like. It was knowledge that could dispel the haze and propagate civilization and culture.

What was righteousness and justice?

It was the dissemination of civilization. It was making the world a better, more beautiful place. Everything other than that was wicked and heretical. Confucians were considered righteous and just because they spread knowledge and understanding.

It was the true dao of heaven.

After all, even heaven could be improved.

In the impure lands, landmasses would become planets only by virtue of the countless empires and the civilizations they represented.

Eventually, planets would become planetary systems in the same way.

Planetary systems would become immortal worlds, and those immortal worlds would grow to higher and higher quality.

Later, the highest-level immortal worlds would have a chance to break into the god world.

Now, the god world was preparing to break into another level of higher civilization. When heaven and earth went to a higher level, the impetus had to come from the living beings. And what was the foundation of forward progress among living beings? Civilization. Knowledge. Study. Wisdom.

For many years, the confucians had taken responsibility for the spread of knowledge; thus, they represented righteousness. They did everything in accord with the natural rules of heaven and earth.

That was what the confucians excelled at.

As Yang Qi looked down on them, he knew that the High Priestess had urged the leaders of the confucians to infiltrate his empire and spread their ideals. Their aim was to cause conflict with this sage monarch magistrates, hopefully sowing enough chaos that it would lead to a major collapse.

Sadly for them, that wasn't going to happen.

Most empires collapsed because the scholar-officials ended up at odds with the emperor. And when the emperor wasn't strong enough to fight back, they would threaten him into relinquishing his power. Eventually, that would lead to the downfall of the empire.

"Chancellor Vicissitude, do you really think they'll just let us join the Sage Monarch Empire?" a God-Lord asked. "Will they appoint us as nobility? Will they have us apply our confucian principles to the governing of the people?"

The old man to whom he spoke was one of the leaders of the confucians, and his name was Confucian Vicissitude.

His given name was a reference to the phrase vicissitudes of literature.

The middle-aged man was named Confucian Meaning, and the younger was Confucian Script.

"It's all part of our master plan," Confucian Vicissitude said. "It won't be possible to gain power immediately after joining the Sage Monarch Empire. Yang Qi is no fool. If he was, he wouldn't have been able to establish such an amazing empire."

"That's true," said Confucian Meaning. "I heard he uses some things called sage monarch magistrates to keep order and make sure everything is done fairly. It's not going to be easy to seize power. Most importantly, we don't know if we can do a better job of ruling."

"The sage monarch magistrates run things too robotically," said Confucian Script. "They lack human feelings. I'm curious to see exactly how they work. Regardless, assuming we're accepted into the Sage Monarch Empire, they'll definitely appoint us as nobility. Then we can start working our way into the various political circles, and slowly gather power. Before long, we'll be on equal footing with the emperor. After all the years that have passed, there hasn't been a single empire worth infiltrating until now. None of them had good enough destiny. But now we have a good opportunity on our hands. As long as we run things well, and can tap into the destiny, we'll eventually be able to take over."

"That's how we confucians have always operated," said one of the God-Lords. "But what about the alliance? They have a huge population, and it seems like a good opportunity to do something. The High Priestess wants to unify them into an empire. It should be easy to get the best government positions there. And taking control of a place like that would be a lot easier than the Sage Monarch Empire."

"The three dynasties are declining on a daily basis," Confucian Vicissitude said, "and their destiny is flawed. It's nowhere near that of the Sage Monarch Empire. Besides, the High Priestess is half-Annulled, and would probably try to use us as pawns."

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Chapter 1551: No Immediate Ordainmen

"Furthermore," Confucian Meaning said, "the Sage Monarch Empire currently has amazing destiny, and will likely end up ruling the god world. On the other hand, we have no way of knowing whether the three dynasties will combine into an empire.

"Besides, the High Priestess isn't truly in control. Based on the information I got, her apprentice suggested combining the three dynasties, but was fiercely rejected. There are even some old-timers from the dynasties who want to have her killed. There's simply no way that the High Priestess can control such a wide range of factors."

The God-Lords present all quickly agreed. "Well, that's a given. The empires that make up that alliance are all extremely famous, and they've been building their reputations for billions of years. How could they possibly give that up? And how could their emperors possibly agree to become government officials? The High Priestess wants to steal the fruit of other people's labor. Meanwhile, neither the Invincible Dugu nor Proud Central have made a move yet."

"She won't succeed in her plan. However, she's been recruiting old-timers from out in primal-chaos to join the alliance, all for the purpose of sowing chaos and gathering power. Sadly, the situation is hopeless, and her efforts aren't going to do any good."

"That's right. If the High Priestess wants the destiny of the three dynasties, she'll have to completely take them over by force. Unfortunately, that's not a viable option. She's skilled at demagoguery, but no good when it comes to ruling. Even if she did become the empress, there are too many interest groups at play. She can't just kill everyone, nor can she completely replace the officialdom. And she doesn't have the God Legion Seal, so she can't control their thinking. She also doesn't have the sage monarch magistrates, who are cautious and conscientious in their governing. Whatever empire she formed would be as disunited as a dish of loose sand."

All of the confucian God-Lords could see how difficult the matter of ruling was; not even the Sovereign Lord had been able to keep his empire united.

Good governments didn't result from the application of raw power alone. Other assets were required, such as wisdom, technique, skill, and adaptability.

Truth be told, the confucians were shocked by Yang Qi's governing techniques, not his strength. And it came down to how he could use the God Legion Seal to subjugate the top government officials, and control their thinking, then use his sage monarch magistrates to run everything smoothly.

The God Legion Seal and the sage monarch magistrates were his most deadly tools.

"The key to this will be negating the God Legion Seal and the sage monarch magistrates," Confucian Vicissitude said. "That's how we'll bring the Sage Monarch Empire under control. We've been watching things since ancient times, and we know that the God Legion Seal was the Sovereign Lord's attempt to rule his empire and control the competing interest groups. But the Sovereign Lord had the wrong idea. He tried to focus all of the glory on himself, and as a result, he perished. Yang Qi used the God Legion Seal as the basis to create his sage monarch magistrates, but unlike the Sovereign Lord, he uses the faith of the people to bolster the people themselves. That way, they accept the karma, not him. A very smart move, and very impressive."

"I wonder what rewards we'll get for surrendering. Let's not ask for positions as nobility or officials. But we definitely have to be allowed to open colleges and establish confucian ideals. Then, as we slowly gain more disciples, we can get more influence. Once people start having confidence in our confucian way of thinking, we can change their hearts and get rid of the sage monarch magistrates."

"That's right. Changing the way of thinking of the masses is the key to transforming everything. The bureaucracy of the Sage Monarch Empire is too mechanical. In contrast, our way of thinking is people-oriented. We need to spread word that we care about people, and that they're the foundation of everything. If we can convince everyone that the government officials should be human, then we confucians can take control easily."

"But if we set up a bunch of schools and try to change the minds of the people, will Yang Qi interfere?"

"It's possible. He's definitely very clever and ruthless. He might see through our plan."

"It doesn't matter. The sage monarch magistrates are lacking in human qualities, while we offer a more mainstream approach. Besides, when people lose their freedom and independence, how can the empire get stronger?"

"Let's first get a feel for things, especially regarding the current leaders."

Although the confucians present at the meeting had different ideas and goals, all of them wanted to get into the Sage Monarch Empire and establish colleges and schools there. They thought that if they could influence the thinking of the populace as a whole, they could overthrow the sage monarch magistrates and establish a confucian officialdom.

With an officialdom powerful enough, not even an emperor could deal with it.

Throughout history, there had been many civilizations in which the confucians grew so powerful the emperor couldn't do anything about them. In fact, there were some situations in which the scholar-officials would make the decisions about which prince would end up inheriting the throne. In places like that, the scholar-officials ran everything, while the emperor was a figurehead who simply enjoyed a life of luxury in the palace.

In the end, they sometimes seized complete control and got rid of the emperor.

As the meeting was reaching an end, a voice rang into their ears. "Our dear confucian friends, we leaders of the Sage Monarch Empire would like to invite you to a chat."

RUMBLE!

An enormous bridge had appeared outside, provoking expressions of praise from many of the students in the college. All of a sudden, everyone in the college felt immense pressure coming from outside, something strong enough to crush them all. They were five quadrillion strong, and the plan was for them to enter this new empire, become teachers, spread schools, and influence the masses.

But in the end, a population of five quadrillion just wasn't very large.

"Come, let's go offer formal greetings!"

The confucian God-Lords rushed out to see the leaders of the empire, who were of course Yang Susu, Jadefall, and the others. These leaders were backed by destiny so immense that the confucians would be damned by myriad tribulations if they opposed it.

The High Priestess didn't dare to cross the Sage Monarch Empire, so how could a few quadrillion confucian scholars do so?

"You confucians have come to join the Sage Monarch Empire, correct?" Yang Susu said. "Impressed by our power, I suppose? Well, congratulations, you've made the right decision."

She was obviously seizing control of the situation with her words.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Sage Monarch Empire," Confucian Vicissitude said, "it's true that we've come here to surrender. However, we have some conditions. Surely you wish to treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. Therefore, please allow us to—"

"There's no need for that. Since you've come to surrender, of course we'll treat the virtuous men courteously and the scholars with respect. You want to open colleges in our empire, correct? That's simple. We'll support you, and even allow you to spread the ideals of confucian civilization. Hopefully, you can turn out plenty of talented people. Furthermore, we're even willing to ordain you all as nobility, although that'll have to wait until the emperor himself returns. He's the one that does such ordaining. However many of you there are, we'll keep a record and reward you for it. His Majesty Yang Qi is currently in the Halls of Heaven, breaking through to the half-Annulled level. He should be back soon."

"Men. Bring out the gifts we've prepared from the Sovereign Lord's Halls of Heaven. There are plenty of items our confucian friends will love to have."

Even as the words left her mouth, piles of ancient records and other things were brought forward as gifts.

"What? These are confucian records from the Halls of Heaven?" The confucians' faces were fairly glowing with anticipation. They had never forgotten how the Sovereign Lord persecuted them long ago, and killed so many of them. Many of their top figures in the past had been just on the verge of reaching the half-Annulled level when the Sovereign Lord executed them. It had been nothing short of a disaster.

And of course, numerous ancient records had been lost in that time.

The confucians had long dreamed of somehow getting those records back. But now, the Sage Monarch Empire was giving them out as a gift. It seemed like a gift from heaven itself. All of a sudden, many of them felt gratitude for the empire welling up in their hearts.

"Praise heaven!" many of their God-Lords said, dropping to their knees, their eyes filling with tears.

Yang Susu and the others smiled as they saw that their plan was working. The confucians had planned to worm their way into the hearts of the people, but Yang Qi's people were planning to do the same to them. And this was only the first step.

Once the confucians were part of the empire, the next parts of the plan would be accomplished easily.

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Chapter 1552: Important Debates

How could Yang Qi not realize what the confucians were really up to? In order to create his government, he'd carefully studied innumerable civilizations that had existed throughout history. Considering how huge the god world was, and the countless nations that existed within it, it begged the question of exactly how many civilizations that included. And that was taking in billions upon billions of years of history.

Yang Qi had studied them all carefully.

Only then did he set his targets on the confucians.

They were the best at running governments, so much so that it was pointless to mention them in the same breath as devils or demons. The latter didn't care about order at all. With them, the law of the jungle prevailed, and the weak were the prey of the strong. Chaos reigned. The daoists and buddhists were slightly better, but not much, and they were always plagued by corruption.

The confucians were the only ones who espoused knowledge, and constantly maintained the spark of civilization. However, no matter how well they ran things, they could never avoid the maxim that all things start to crumble after reaching the zenith.

Yang Qi's sage monarch magistrates possessed the quintessence of the confucians, but at the same time, had removed any last bit of rubbish that their teachings contained. The infiltrating confucians had a simple plan: spread knowledge, then stir up public sentiment with falsehoods. Seize power, then usurp the Son of Heaven and turn him into nothing but a tool to be manipulated. Then they could seize the destiny of the nation and form a truly confucian empire.

That was how confucians had done things in all of the countless civilizations in which they existed. And the empires in which they operated were helpless to do anything about them.

Any truly mighty emperor who wanted to control his empire would have to call on the help of the confucians. And they would surreptitiously infiltrate every aspect of the government, until they controlled the emperor himself.

Even the Sovereign Lord had fallen victim to their scheme.

He had used numerous confucians in his government, and they had eventually tried to seize power. Sadly for them, he had, in his fury, executed almost all of them. Unfortunately, the removal of the confucians created a huge power vacuum, and in the end, the entire thing was destroyed.

It had really been a lose-lose situation.

The reason Yang Qi was allowing the confucians into his empire, and was even going so far as to encourage them to establish schools of learning, was that the more order they created, the more sage monarch magistrates he would get. In the end, he would force them to accept his rulership and do away with confucian thinking, or at least the negative aspects. For instance, there would be no cliques or interest groups, and there would be no sharing of imperial power.

He would let them spread knowledge as long as it benefited him, but he wouldn't let them have any true influence.

When the confucians finally entered his empire, it was to their shock that they found things were very different than they had imagined. There were already countless schools of learning, in which instruction was given in reading, writing, language, daoist techniques, divine abilities, magical laws, machinery, culture, cultivation, godhood, and even business.

Even more astonishing to the confucians was that the students had the option to study whatever interested them.

They had originally envisioned marching into the empire, setting up schools, and getting masses of students to flock to them for learning. Then they could use those schools to propagate their philosophy and subtly promote their own way of doing things. However, contrary to expectation, there were already a host of schools in existence. And everyone in the empire had the option to attend classes.

When the confucians set up their schools, people would flock to them to learn divine abilities and magical techniques. But when they tried spreading their unique way of thinking, not a single student would attend their classes.

The reason was that Yang Qi's way of thinking had long since permeated the land, and everyone was used to giving their faith to the empire. In fact, they didn't even give faith to their emperor. In this empire, even the emperor was beholden to the law.

And of course, the sage monarch magistrates saw to it that everything ran according to the law.

Soon, the confucians and their existing students started protesting. They complained that the sage monarch magistrates didn't run things properly, and were too strict, taking away the freedom of the people in the empire.

The leaders of the empire quickly sent this news to Yang Qi.

Of course, he had simply been waiting for this to happen, and had already prepared a response. Thus, it was announced that there would be debate competitions in every college in the empire! And the debates would be held between the sage monarch magistrates and the confucian disciples!

They would talk about politics, national identity, issues among the citizens, history, civilization, and a host of other topics. Everyone in the empire was invited to attend, and they were encouraged to listen to whoever made the most sense. It was a fair arrangement, and the confucian disciples had to admit that it made sense. If the empire had tried to suppress them, they would have incited further unrest, but instead, they were given a chance to speak their mind in the open, in front of the eyes of all.

Soon, the debates were underway everywhere.

Almost immediately, the confucians were flabbergasted by how ineffective their arguments were. There was no way that they could call themselves sages of any sort. As it turned out, even the average citizens in the empire were extremely knowledgeable, and would often ask questions that were so difficult the confucians found themselves tongue-tied and unable to respond.

When the sage monarch magistrates taught classes, they would encourage debate, regardless of the topic at hand. And they taught classes in a witty and interesting manner, constantly quoting the classics and teaching in a way that surpassed any of the confucians.

After all, the sage monarch magistrates were a collective that contained knowledge from innumerable civilizations. Their understanding of everything from mathematical calculations to daoist techniques actually surpassed that of the God-Lords.

Each sage monarch magistrate was like an embodiment of the heavenly workings calculations systems, and they could perform functions that would normally take hosts of photonic computers working together to do. The sage monarch magistrates were good at everything. For example, when common citizens had problems with their cultivation, or had personal disputes, they could always seek answers from the magistrates.

They weren't just administrators, they were also all-knowing teachers. In fact, most people in the empire didn't view the sage monarch magistrate as government officials, but rather as tools, or expressions of the law.

The confucians' entire plan had revolved around getting people to think of the sage monarch magistrates as cold-hearted, inhuman machines that weren't fit to serve as officials. Simultaneously, they would set themselves up as all-knowing sages who were worthy of respect and even worship. By slowly changing the hearts of the people, they would then be able to seize power.

But now, they realized that wouldn't be possible. In fact, the truth was that they couldn't match up to many of the common citizens, let alone the sage monarch magistrates.

As the debate competitions continued, the confucians lost over and over again.

"Ai! Another confucian lost a debate. They're always struck speechless by the sage monarch magistrates."

"Those confucians want to be teachers? They can't even hold their own in a debate. They're completely useless. They probably ought to study history a bit more."

"That's right. It's really a pity. We haven't even been alive that long, yet we've been taught so much by the sage monarch magistrates. We know of the downsides of all sorts of civilizations, and we've identified our own dao. We're actually superior to those pedantic confucians. And they want to be in charge of us?"

"What? The confucians want to be in charge? You've got to be kidding me!"

Such talk could even be heard among children in the empire who were only a few years old.

The Sage Monarch Empire hadn't existed for long, but time passed differently in the Everlasting Aegis. There had already been several generations of children born.

"It would be better to have pigs in charge than them. Even we can beat them in a debate, and they want to run things? Yeah right. Our sage monarch magistrates are trillions of times superior to them. Ai. What a ridiculous situation."

"Maybe if they put in a few more years of study, they might reach the same level as us ordinary citizens of the Sage Monarch Empire."

The debates went so poorly for the confucians that many were coughing up blood in shock. Of course, the failure of the debates shook the foundations of many of the confucians.

With this one move, Yang Qi had broken their dao hearts.

A few months went by, and while the confucians continued teaching classes, they hadn't made any progress in establishing a power base. In fact, most people just made fun of them for their lack of knowledge.

The sage monarch magistrates were like mountains that absolutely crushed the confidence of the confucians. Confucians didn't fear military conflict, nor did they fear death.

Yet when it came to debate, they were flummoxed. And that went to show how deeply they were shaken internally. In fact, because of the debates, Yang Qi was actually learning more about the governing of nations.

Deep in his heart, radiance and light shone, and he felt as though he was just on the verge of grasping at the half-Annulled.

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Chapter 1553: Convincing People with Virtue

"Absurd! Preposterous!"

Three months later, the leaders of the confucians, the eight hundred God-Lords, and the three top experts Confucian Vicissitude, Confucian Meaning, and Confucian Script, were holding a big meeting. All of them were flustered and exasperated as, in the months that had passed, none of them had recruited a single loyal disciple.

Their effort had resulted in a major defeat. Never could they have guessed that the civilization of the Sage Monarch Empire was so advanced. In fact, because of the debates that had been held, many confucian students had been influenced by the empire, and begun changing their ideals and way of thinking.

After all, everyone wanted to be a part of an advanced and progressive civilization. The civilization of Yang Qi's empire surpassed anything the confucians could ever have brought to realization. As the students of confucianism learned this, they realized that they were pursuing an incorrect path, and that Yang Qi's way was the right one.

"Who could have guessed that the people in the Sage Monarch Empire would be so stubborn?" Confucian Vicissitude said, sounding utterly discomfited. "Why? Every single one of us is an amazing confucian scholar, a great sage with vast experience in education. People will claw over each other tooth and nail to get us to teach them, but here they just laugh at us. It seems we've underestimated the capabilities of the sage monarch magistrates. They aren't government officials, they're part of the natural laws of the dao of heaven. And they're constantly transforming. We need to come up with a new plan. Changing the hearts of the people isn't going to work."

"But what do you suggest we do now?" Confucian Meaning said angrily. "In the debates over the past three months, we confucians have been completely trounced over and over again. We've become a complete laughingstock in this empire. Damnation! We should've realized that the debate proposition was a trap. I'm honestly shocked that we've lost so badly, even though we held back from using force!"

When confucians tried to take over a government, they always faced opposition, and the main way they overcame it was to hold public debates to sway the general public. Generally speaking, they could crush buddhists in debates.

But when debating the sage monarch magistrates, they were completely routed.

There had been some occasions in which the confucian students openly accused the sage monarch magistrates of being unfit to serve as government officials.

The magistrates didn't lose their temper, nor did they resort to force. They just discussed the matter publicly, even asking for suggestions from the confucians, which they would subsequently debunk.

The confucians were crushed completely.

Even Confucian Vicissitude and Confucian Meaning had been defeated in debate, causing a huge loss of face for the confucians in general. They were even thinking of leaving the Sage Monarch Empire.

However, they knew that if they defected, the empire would never forgive them, and they would likely be killed. And they had no doubt that Yang Qi was controlling all of this.

Yang Qi was just waiting for them to try to try to defect, whereupon he would punish them severely.

"Teachers, if things keep going on like this, we're going to be in extreme danger," one of the confucian God-Lords said. "Our plan failed. There's no way we'll depose or recruit the sage monarch magistrates. In fact, it's going to be difficult to maintain the reputation of confucianism. Of the five quadrillion students we brought with us, one percent have already left confucianism. The sage monarch magistrates are experts at government, and in fact, they seem to understand more about culture and civilization than we do. They're creating a new path that will be used to transcend everything, and reach the Annulled level. At this rate, it will only take four or five years for us to lose all of our students!"

"Come on, let's get out of here!" another God-Lord said through gritted teeth. "There's no benefit to us if we stay here. In fact, we're just giving more destiny to the empire. Let's go to the alliance of three dynasties. We'll have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of there. We can use the power of the High Priestess to quickly reach high levels of authority, which just isn't going to be possible here in the Sage Monarch Empire. Nothing we've done in the past three months has helped, and we've lost every debate we participated in. This has been an unmitigated disaster."

"Defect? You think Yang Qi doesn't know we might try that?" Confucian Vicissitude sighed. "We completely failed. If you ride a tiger, it's hard to get off, and now we're in the position where we can't go forward, and we can't go back. The only thing we can do now is hunker down and hope that we can slowly make some headway."

"But if we do nothing, more and more of our people are going to become ordinary citizens of the empire. When we're the only ones left, then what?"

"Don't worry," Confucian Meaning said, a vicious smile on his face. "We'll find a way to get a message to the High Priestess. A coordinated effort from inside and out will definitely result in the destruction of the Sage Monarch Empire."

"Destroy the Sage Monarch Empire?" Confucian Script said. "I'm afraid that's not going to happen. Furthermore, destroying it wouldn't do any good. The High Priestess will treat us like cannon fodder. Besides, we know definitively that the sage monarch magistrates are superior to us in the ways of governing nations. Otherwise, how could we have lost every single debate over the last three months? The only explanation is that we really aren't as knowledgeable as them. We have to change, that much is obvious. The only option is to acknowledge that we lost, then work on improving ourselves. Bring forth new ideas, and blaze new trails. When our confucian theories have been made more perfect, we can have a new round of debates."

"Moron!" Confucian Vicissitude barked. "You're not thinking straight, Script! We came to the Sage Monarch Empire to take control, not the other way around! Don't tell me you've been deluded by the debates, too! If we really can't take control, our only option is to make a surreptitious escape. We can't stay here."

"But how do we leave?" Confucian Script said coldly. "You yourself said we can move neither forward nor backward. And if we stay, we'll eventually lose ourselves and be homogenized into the empire."

"Simple," Confucian Meaning said. "We coordinate both an internal and an external assault. On the one hand, we can pretend that we've decided to convert to the Sage Monarch Empire's way of thinking. But in reality, we'll secretly make contact with the High Priestess! The Sage Monarch Empire is going to belong to us confucians eventually. Nothing can change that inevitability. And if we can't persuade them with words, we'll just conquer them."

"Conquer them?" a voice said. "I thought you confucians were focused on loyalty. I thought you cared about peace and security the most. But here you are, planning a revolt. I gave you many chances. I gave you the debates. You had the chance to win out over the sage monarch magistrates. If you had, you could've earned a lot of power and authority. But instead, you're forsaking your own path. What a pity. Thanks to losing those debates, even the common citizens think of you as trash. In your hearts, you know that we represent the advancement of civilization, yet you still want to defect? That's simply unforgivable."

A shadowy figure stepped out into the open, and it was Yang Qi!

"What?!"

The three confucian leaders shot to their feet in astonishment, and the eight hundred God-Lords instantly prepared to start fighting.

"What. Planning on attacking me?" Yang Qi glanced around at them. "This is my empire. Do you people really want to throw yourselves at me like an egg thrown at a boulder?"

He wasn't afraid of them at all. This was his empire, and here, not even the High Priestess could attack him without getting killed. With destiny at his back and the dao of heaven on his side, he was impervious to attack.

Furthermore, thanks to his effort to repair the Ancient Road to the Gods, and because of what he had learned from the three months of debates, he was just on the verge of the half-Annulled level. At that point, he wouldn't even need national destiny to defeat the confucians.

"Yang Qi!" Confucian Vicissitude said. He sounded nervous. He knew that even with numbers on their side, they wouldn't be able to do anything to this opponent.

After all, if it was possible to kill Yang Qi like that, the High Priestess would have already made a move on him.

"What. You confucians really don't understand proper etiquette? You're supposed to kneel in the presence of the emperor."

RUMBLE!

As the words left his mouth, waves of vital energy crushed down, causing creaking sounds to echo out as the God-Lords were forced down.

"On your knees!"

Only the three leaders remained standing, although their joints creaked and their backs were bent as they struggled against the force.

"Still not going to kneel?" Yang Qi barked, whereupon destiny suddenly rushed in, and the three experts dropped to the floor.

"This is my empire, and not even the High Priestess, a half-Annulled expert, can defy the destiny here. You three confucians really hid your true motives well, but in the end, you can't defy me. When you became citizens of the empire, you agreed to my rules. But here you are, holding a secret meeting in which you're opposing the interests of the empire. How exactly should I react?

"I gave you the chance to prove yourselves through debate, but you lost. And now you're talking about colluding with outsiders? You've violated the mortal integrity of confucianism! But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. However, I'm going to tell everyone in existence what you've done. All common citizens will see exactly what kind of people you are. And I'm sure you can imagine how they'll want you punished."

"No!" Confucian Meaning blurted. "If that happens, confucianism will become infamous for all time!"

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Chapter 1554: Connecting the Ancient Road

The confucians often talked about mortal integrity. They claimed that they would rather die than lose it. Yet in response to losing in the debates, the confucian leaders were hatching a conspiracy, which couldn't have been more of a humiliation of confucian ideals.

If word leaked of this, then the ordinary confucian students would feel ashamed to the core. After all, many such students had already been attracted by the sage monarch magistrates' way of doing things, and enjoyed the general environment of the empire.

Their leaders were more than willing to engage in double-dealing and backstabbing to further their own interests, and would even go so far as to abandon the righteousness of confucianism. They were stern and awe-inspiring people who stood high above others, telling everyone what to do. If the truth was exposed, they would fall from grace so badly that they would never recover.

"What do you think? It's not too late to devote yourself to my empire. I can give you official posts as teachers, as long as you wholeheartedly espouse my ways. I won't make you nobility, but you'll have a chance to rise up even further once war breaks out with the three dynasties. You know, I could've forcibly subjugated you, but frankly speaking, I wasn't interested in using the God Legion Seal in that way. My empire is bringing the civilization of the god world to a higher level, and if you come along, you'll benefit personally. Refuse to cooperate, and you won't. People who live in an advanced civilization can't accept reverting to barbarism, and that's exactly what the people from the three dynasties are like."

Some of the leaders immediately gave in.

"We're willing to surrender!"

"We'll serve you, especially if it means we can become nobility eventually."

They understood the hidden meaning of Yang Qi's words. They would be required to fight the three dynasties to earn merit and have their criminal record wiped clean. And if they performed well enough, they might be ordained as nobles.

At this point, the confucian experts were having a hard time refusing. They knew that they had lost in the debates, and as such, if they wanted to become true sages, leading the people of the empire in some sort of revolt wasn't the right thing to do.

"That's good," Yang Qi said. "You can't afford to take this situation lightly. Granted, you were only discussing revolt, and never took any action, so I won't enforce the death penalty. Instead, you'll go to the mightiest of the temples in the dynasty, where you'll pray to the empire for forgiveness. You'll also pray for the empire itself, imploring its destiny to improve and for the empire to shine like a blazing sun. If you're insincere, the destiny will be blackened, and everyone will see it clearly." Raising his voice, he said, "Sage monarch magistrates!"

"Sir!" Swarms of magistrates converged on the college where the meeting had been taking place.

The confucian leaders were herded to an enormous temple where hosts of government officials and magistrates were in the process of offering prayers.

"Sage monarch magistrates," Yang Qi said, "lead the confucian leaders in prayers for forgiveness. When their sincere prayers lead to improved destiny, they can leave, their crimes forgiven."

It was a vicious move.

He was forcing them into this action, and if they didn't pray sincerely, it would stain the destiny, and they would be wiped out by it.

Yang Qi wasn't worried that they might fight back. By forcing them to pray for forgiveness, he had completely shattered their faith. Normally speaking, confucians focused on righteousness and status, and would rather die than submit. But by his careful plan, he had destroyed their dao hearts and forced them to do exactly that.

Having accomplished this, Yang Qi headed back to the Halls of Heaven. Looking down, he could see the destiny of his empire climbing higher, which confirmed that the confucians had been subjugated. They had hoped to infiltrate his empire and take the destiny for their own. Instead, they ended up sincerely praying to the empire, and increasing its destiny.

The influx of leaders was going to be a boon for the empire. They needed human leaders in general, and what was more, Confucian Vicissitude, Confucian Meaning, and Confucian Script all had psychic scales of two hundred billion. With them praying to the empire, the place would be stronger than ever.

That wasn't to mention the five quadrillion students they had brought with them. They were now inextricably linked to his empire, and would live or die with it. That was the attitude that all citizens had. Without the empire, they were nothing.

In this regard, they were the same as Yang Qi.

'The destiny is going to expand even more now. The ocean of faith is almost completely integrated with my empire, so now, the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire is vastly superior to the hodgepodge of the three dynasties. The only thing I lack now is population. I'm way behind in population!'

Although he had superior destiny, when it came to outright war, he would still be in a very dangerous situation. The three dynasties just had too many people. And if the High Priestess managed to truly unite them, by using confucians to help in governing, for example, then their destiny would rise to a level higher than that of the Sage Monarch Empire.

An alliance like theirs hadn't even existed in the Sovereign Lord's time.

Furthermore, Yang Qi could see powerful streams of energy entering the alliance from the primal-chaos on the outside. Obviously, the High Priestess had roused numerous top experts who would be more than happy to take advantage of the chaos in the alliance to benefit themselves.

Normally speaking, they wouldn't do such a thing, for fear of being found out, captured, and ultimately enslaved.

'What's this...?' Yang Qi looked over at the Central Dynasty to find that King Immortal-Slayer's aura had vanished, as had that of Proud Central. And the energy of the Lord of Righteous Justice was nowhere to be found.

King Immortal-Slayer had previously been connected to the destiny of the Sage Monarch Empire, as he had been ordained as the imperial preceptor. But now his aura was gone. Did that mean he was dead? Or had he been captured?

'Don't tell me Proud Heaven has made a move,' Yang Qi thought. Looking closer, he realized that Proud Heaven's aura was nowhere to be found either. Given his vantage point over the god world as a whole, that was very strange. He couldn't find the High Priestess either, but she was a Half-Annulled expert. Proud Heaven wasn't. Yang Qi should have been able to see him as easily as Yang Voidprime.

But that simply wasn't the case.

'He must have killed his father. Don't tell me my plan succeeded already. Perhaps they wounded each other. If it's the former, then the plan is progressing beyond what I'd intended. I wanted the two of them to injure each other. I hadn't planned for Proud Heaven to devour Proud Central. This seems to indicate that Proud Heaven has some immensely powerful ally...'

Yang Qi performed some calculations, and came to the conclusion that the essence of the god world had to be helping Proud Heaven. It had helped him improve his Ten Universe by tenfold, which was how he had devoured Proud Central.

Yang Qi's plan had worked, it was just that he hadn't anticipated the essence of the god world supporting Proud Heaven.

In any case, nothing had really changed. He still needed to open the Ancient Road to the Gods and rescue all of his friends and family from the impure lands. With the right boost in population, his empire would reach the ultimate peak. And that was even more the case, considering his people would all be Ascendants. He had already adjusted the Everlasting Aegis to accommodate everyone from the lower worlds, and ensure that they became gods.

And those who couldn't reach that level would still be Quasi-Gods, which would ensure that they could at least survive in the god world.

"Destiny Improvement. Ancient Road to the Gods. Juncture Creation!"

Drawing on his divine abilities, Yang Qi summoned a gold and jade bridge, drawing on the destiny of his empire to reach levels of power that surpassed that of the High Priestess.

Creak. Crack.

Beneath the Halls of Heaven, the essence of the god world retreated, and slowly but surely, the lower worlds came into view.

Yang Qi drew on another powerful divine ability, thrusting his palm out as he used the Hand of the One God to span space-time and create a new bridge.

He instantly felt the opposition of the essence of the god world.

'Now I understand why the Ancient Road to the Gods disappeared. It was the only path from the lower worlds to the god world. The lower worlds have natural laws that are different from the god world, which is why Ascendants are so powerful. To the god world, such people are foreign parasites. The more Ascendants, the more parasites! And that's bad for the god world! The god world is essentially alive, and those people who are born in it are subject to its magical law. That's why they're easier to control. As the god world grows, it gains awareness. It's waking up. And it's just doing whatever it can to reduce the number of parasites within it. Well, I'm going to reopen the Ancient Road to the Gods and bring all of my friends and family up here, along with all their people. It will violate the taboos of the god world, but that's what I have to do. Besides, the essence of the god world is already opposing me. I bet Proud Heaven gobbling up Proud Central was just the god world trying to cause trouble for me.'

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