Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

Houselord God Bastard stood on the fighting platform, pulsing with energy. Everyone could sense his killing intent and knew that it could shake the heavens and topple the earth. Not a single expert in the audience would have dared to get in his way. Furthermore, this event had long since gone from being a contest for the position of league-lord to an uncharacteristically deadly conflict that would change the face of the Ancient Road to the Gods.

No one present had any doubts about how strong Houselord God Bastard was.

His every move and action could cause blood to rain, and it was impossible to say how many of the Executors of the Ancient Road he had killed over the years. Now that his junior houselord had been killed, it would have been inappropriate if he wasn’t thoroughly enraged.

Despite that, Yang Qi just stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. “What exactly are you up to, Houselord God Bastard? On this fighting platform, lives can be lost in the blink of an eye. Your junior houselord wanted to be the league-lord, but got killed in the end. If I hadn’t done the deed, it would’ve been someone else.”

“Very malicious of you, boy,” Houselord God Bastard said coldly. “Are you really not worried about the House of God Bastards coming at you with full force? We could easily wipe out your Will Manifestation Heaven Sect.”

“Wipe us out? You think you’re qualified to do that?” Yang Qi was obviously making no effort to sound polite. “Thanks to our little clash just now, I know exactly how strong you are, and I can tell you that you’re far, far from being in a position to do anything to me. Presumably, you noticed that I'm on the fifth stair of the Deathless Heavenly Stairway. If I have to, I can go all the way to the ninth and become a Grand Emperor. Would you still be able to fight me then?”

Houselord God Bastard smiled coldly. “Is that supposed to be a threat? Do you really think you can scare me out of killing you? I could fight the emperor of the executors, much less a puny Terrifying expert like you from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect. You're nobody. So go ahead and attack me. I want to see how strong you really are.”

“Attack you?” Yang Qi smiled. “I’d rather not. Today is an important day for all the sects present. Furthermore, I want to be the league-lord. Are you, a mid Terrifying expert, saying that you want to join the competition for that spot? Sadly for you, you don’t qualify. Only people under the mid Terrifying level are allowed to compete.”

Turning to look at Su Xin, Mu Renwang, and Huangfu Genesis, he said, “I’ll defer to the three of you here. There are rules that govern this assembly, and they can't be ignored. Someone is causing a scene here, so what do you suggest we do?”

The three experts exchanged frowning glances, fully aware that they were in a very odd predicament. On the one hand, it wouldn’t be worth it to start fighting because of a conflict between Yang Qi and the House of God Bastards. On the other hand, if Houselord God Bastard didn’t back down, it would ruin their plans.

After a moment, the junior pontiff from the Genesis Sanctum said, “It’s true that mid Terrifying experts aren’t allowed to compete for the position of league-lord. Houselord God Bastard, if you want to join the assembly, you’ll be counted as one of the old-timers and will be able to give orders to the league-lord. You see, our new alliance isn’t about giving power into the hands of a single person; that would be a dictatorship. Instead, the league-lord will follow the lead of the old-timers.”

Everyone looked on with glittering eyes. The junior pontiff had hit the nail on the head. As for Huangfu Genesis, he was quite pleased, being aware that this was the best way to resolve the situation. Besides, if Houselord God Bastard joined their alliance, it would be another measure to ensure their control of Yang Qi.

“He’s exactly right,” Su Xin said.

Mu Renwang nodded. “We’re honored by your presence, Houselord God Bastard, and you bring glory to our humble facilities. All of us are interested in opposing the Executors of the Ancient Road, and that’s what we need to keep in mind here. Houselord, there’s no need for you to squabble with someone of the younger generation. Besides, if this boy becomes the league-lord, we’re still the ones who’ll be calling the shots. Don’t you agree that joining us would be the best way to get the justice you seek?”

Houselord God Bastard could see what was going on, and it caused a fierce expression to appear on his face. Staring murderously at Yang Qi for a moment, he said, “It’s a good suggestion. You see, the whole reason I came here to begin with is because I wanted to be part of this alliance. The third major faction! If you have no objections, I’ll join the fight against the executors. I don’t think anyone has as much experience in that regard as I do.”

“Wonderful, get a throne!” Huangfu Genesis said.

RUMBLE!

Instantly, an enormous throne rose up out of nowhere.

Houselord God Bastard walked over and sat on the throne, then snapped his finger. “Reveal yourselves. Let the rest of these sects see what the House of God Bastards is all about!”

Instantly, two hundred figures flew over and flanked the newly erected throne, all of them with psychic scales of ninety or more, placing them very close to the mid Terrifying level. The members of the two major sects were stunned. It had never even occurred to them that the House of God Bastards would have this many top experts.

After all, the Woodfern Couple Palace had a bit over a hundred chief elders, and they were considered a major faction. The Genesis Sanctum had over a hundred and fifty. But the House of God Bastards had two hundred!?

It was now completely obvious that the House of God Bastards was far and away the leader of the pack. What was even more telling was that everyone got the feeling they weren’t showing their full forces. After all, although it had been years, the House of God Bastards had once directly fought the Executors of the Ancient Road.

Snorting coldly, Houselord God Bastard said, “I heard the plan is to directly bless the new league-lord with power. I approve of this plan, but I have to point out that you people from the Woodfern Couple Palace and the Genesis Sanctum won’t possibly be able to provide as much power as us. That said, with all of us working together, we can definitely create a powerful expert!”

There now seemed little doubt that Yang Qi was going to be the league-lord. He had just killed Bastard Seacliff and even stood up to Houselord God Bastard, so who present could possibly compete with him? There was no way that anyone in the early Terrifying level could possibly fight someone as strong as the mid Terrifying level.

It seemed the competition was over.

Yang Qi stood there on the fighting platform, his face completely expressionless as he looked around and said, “Does anyone else want to challenge me? If not, I guess I'm the league-lord.”

The first people to speak up were those whose disciples had just been killed by Bastard Seacliff.

“Nobody’s going to challenge you.”

“That’s right, Yang Qi. You’re the league-lord, there’s no question about it. Even in the early Terrifying level, you managed to stand up to someone in the mid Terrifying level, which means you’re invincible.”

The fact that Yang Qi had taken revenge for them had earned him their full support. In fact, they were convinced that if he became the league-lord, given his strength and personality, he probably wouldn't be a puppet for long. For one thing, he was obviously a clever schemer. And considering how strong he was, it seemed less likely that there would be three factions controlling him. Instead, there would be four factions contending with each other.

That wasn’t to mention the fact that Yang Qi would likely reach the mid Terrifying level soon.

“What do the rest of you think?” Houselord God Bastard said, his eyes flashing coldly. “Nobody wants to challenge the boy, which seems to indicate he's the new league-lord. If the decision’s been made, we should bless him immediately.”

“I have no objections,” Huangfu Genesis said. He had already come to greatly respect Houselord God Bastard. The man’s top disciple had just been killed, and yet he didn’t seem to care at all. It went to indicate that he was definitely planning something treacherous. Huangfu Genesis immediately decided to be on guard against him at all times.

Earlier, he had assumed that he had everything under control, only to have Yang Qi suddenly disrupt the proceedings and become the league-lord. And now the House of God Bastards was involved. Everything had been thrown into chaos, which meant that his future plans needed to be rethought.

That said, the blessing of the new league-lord had to proceed as planned.

“I have no objection either,” Mu Renwang said. “Let him be the league-lord.”

“Yang Qi is now the league-lord of the superpower sects from the Ancient Road to the Gods,” Su Xin added.

Thus, the decision was made.

A stream of destiny flowed into Yang Qi, pouring into the depths of his Wheel of Fate and causing a host of magical symbols to glow on its surface.

Whooooooosh!

The will of gods appeared within that river of fate, causing new transformations to occur to his Strength of the Hell-Crushing Godmammoth. As the process continued, his psychic scale climbed to ninety-eight, ninety-nine, and finally a hundred!

That said, his rise didn’t involve reaching the mid Terrifying level. For him, that wouldn’t happen until his psychic scale climbed to two or three hundred.