Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

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

RUMBLE!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He suddenly burst out laughing.

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

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

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

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

SHUNK!

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

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

Whoosh!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes sir!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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