Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

‘I found favor in the eyes of someone very important this time,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘Now I need to come up with a way to keep this momentum going. It’s not going to be easy. And my current progress isn’t fast enough. I'm never going to subjugate the leaders of the sect at this rate. Unfortunately, I haven't performed any services that warrant a big advancement. The Second Devil General could be of help, but he’s obviously out for his own interests, not mine. It would be too easy for him to cause problems. But maybe I could manipulate him somehow....’

In dealing with Marquis Three Realms, the Second Devil General had provided help in name only.

In fact, he had even attempted to get Yang Qi hurt or killed, and it was only thanks to the God Legion Seal that Yang Qi had come out unscathed.

Going forward, Yang Qi knew he had to be very careful and thoughtful in dealing with the general.

“Call over the Second Devil General,” he said.

The Second Devil General was a viceroy of one land, whereas Yang Qi already controlled two. That said, he wanted his friends and family to start becoming part of the House of the Invincible’s system of government. So he would send one of them over to the Land of Triplicity to run things, and have a share in the destiny. That way, he didn’t need to take action personally.

Taking out the book kingdom Duke Nine Cauldrons had given him, Yang Qi scanned it with divine will and saw that it was a bustling place. Unfortunately, it only had enough resources to sustain itself for a few months.

After that, the kingdom would wither and die.

Kingdoms of this size obviously had to have abundant resources to be sustainable. And that was especially true of kingdoms sealed inside magical treasures like this one. Such kingdoms were entirely in the hands of their owners and would generally be a big drain of resources.

That was one of the big downsides of these things.

Of course, of all the things Yang Qi lacked, resources were not one of them. He had business interests that brought in a lot of profit, and could also harvest heavenly caliber godstones directly from the halls of heaven.

With a thought, he sent sage monarch magistrates into the new kingdom to establish order and distribute resources. At the same time, he used the Life-Death Void-Destruction Lightning to create an illusion that would fool Duke Nine Cauldrons and ensure he had no idea of what was really happening.

Then he sent the kingdom into the Cruiser of Civilization.

The Sage Monarch Empire was only growing more and more impressive.

Thanks to the constant rise in destiny, Yang Qi’s cultivation base was stirring, and he knew he was inching toward another breakthrough. For him, reaching the peak Paramount God level would be much harder than it was for ordinary people. But of course, he would be so strong that he would be able to slaughter countless people in the same level as himself.

At the moment, there were three possible ways for him to achieve his breakthrough.

The first was to find another piece of the Mahātmā Jade.

The second was to grow the destiny of his empire, funnel it into himself, and use it for an explosive burst that propelled him into the peak Paramount God level.

The third was to find various other treasures that would fuel the transformation.

WHOOSH!

A devilish blur entered his presence. The Second Devil General was now standing in front of him, having entered in a very mysterious fashion. He was stronger than before; clearly, the destiny he was getting from the House of the Invincible had aided in his recovery. Right now, his devilishness seemed more immense than ever.

“I heard about how you got summoned to talk to some of the leaders in the sect, boy,” the Second Devil General said. “So what exactly do you want to talk to me about? I've been in secluded cultivation recently, so I haven’t had time to screw around with you. If you want my help subjugating the leadership, then let’s split that reward of yours fifty-fifty. I need more destiny for my cultivation.”

“That’s not going to happen,” Yang Qi replied bluntly. “And I don’t need your help subjugating them. The last thing I want to do is work with you right now. You haven’t proven to be the type of person who keeps your word. Furthermore, we need to settle accounts regarding what happened when I subjugated Marquis Three Realms, and you refused to help. By the way, did you know that the first patriarch of the House of the Invincible was the Invincible Dugu, and that he’s my Master? You did know, didn’t you? Why didn’t you say something?” [1]

The Second Devil General gave a cold harrumph. “The incident with Marquis Three Realms was just a little test. Besides, do you really think I'm your thug or something? Don’t get carried away with wishful thinking. As for the Invincible Dugu, he might as well not exist. He’s sleeping, or something along those lines. I personally witnessed the Sovereign Lord strike him down, destroying his aura completely. There’s no Invincible Dugu in this world, so whatever Master you had in the impure lands was a projection at best. And that projection has long since run out of power to run it. So I advise you to not try pulling tricks on me. Think about it. Remember what it took for you to rise from the impure lands to the god world? And a lot of it had to do with chance. That Master of yours wasn't even close to being your equal. Do you really think he’s actually someone so important in the god world?”

“You’re full of crap, but I'm honestly not interested in quibbling with you. Here’s the deal. I want to reach a higher level, so I'm going to the Myriad Dragons Lair. Conquering a Dragonfolk kingdom will give me the boost in destiny that I need. So let’s work together. And once it’s in my Cruiser of Civilization, I can turn the thing into something like the Myriad Worlds Monarch Chart. And didn’t you say you wanted that Dragon Compendium?”

“What? You’re willing to go to the Myriad Dragons Lair with me?” The Second Devil General seemed delighted. “Alright. Great idea. You’re doing well in terms of destiny, but if you want a breakthrough, you’ll need much, much more. The Dragonfolk kingdoms in the Myriad Dragons Lair could be just what you need. Dragons can provide huge destiny. After all, that’s why emperors in the impure lands are called True Dragon Sons of Heaven, and rely on dragon meridians to rule their empires.” [2]

“In that case, let’s get going.”

“No problem at all!”

Of course, Yang Qi would remain fully on guard. He knew that if the Second Devil General wanted this Dragon Compendium, acquiring it wouldn’t be an easy task . And there might be some other reason entirely for his desire to go to the Myriad Dragons Lair.

Regardless, Yang Qi was prepared to make a move at a critical moment. Hopefully, he could somehow trick the Second Devil General in a way that would end with him completely under the control of the God Legion Seal.

With that, they left the House of the Invincible.

Yang Qi unfurled his Tribulation Wings and pierced through the cosmos on his way to the Myriad Dragons Lair. After killing Buddha Thunderjolt and taking his memories, he knew the best route to take to get there.

Truth be told, he had been eying the Myriad Dragons Lair like a tiger eying its prey.

The place was made of many dragon kingdoms, most of which were constantly at war with each other. Last time, he had subjugated Buddha First-King, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. After all, what did Buddha First-King count for? He couldn't even create his own kingdom in the Myriad Dragons Lair. His kingdom had existed on the outside.

One needed immense destiny to found a kingdom in the lair, as they were equivalent to multiple lands in the House of the Invincible.

Obviously, taking places like that into his Cruiser of Civilization would provide immense benefits.

One problem was that he wasn’t certain if the Cruiser of Civilization could carry so many kingdoms in it. Eventually, the drain on resources would be too great, and he would need to bring his empire out into the open.

Soon, Yang Qi and the Second Devil General were passing through the greyspace of the Myriad Dragons Lair, which was a mass of wriggling flesh and blood, the same as before. The Second Devil General seemed very anxious.

“Hurry up! This is going to take a lot of searching. In ancient times, the King of Godmammoths sealed the Dragon Compendium shut tight. Ah, dragons and mammoths. Dragons are the number one race in the god world, and mammoths are number two. But then the King of Godmammoths came along and vanquished the Dragonfolk, making megamammoths supreme in all creation. That’s why I need that Dragon Compendium. And of course, I need your help. With the God Legion Seal, you can undo the sealing marks left behind by the King of Godmammoths. He used his own blood to seal that book, you know. In other words, unsealing it will give you access to some of his power. What do you think? This is all going to work out great for you.”

“Is that so...” Yang Qi said. Drawing on the God Legion Seal, he cast his senses out and realized that there were godmammoth fluctuations here. And that godmammoth energy was suppressing some sort of fiend-devil that was no weaker than the Second Devil General.

‘Wait, I know what's going on here,’ Yang Qi thought, having been struck with sudden inspiration.

Now he realized why the Second Devil General wanted to come here looking for the Dragon Compendium. It was entirely likely that the King of Godmammoths had sealed another devil general here!

Years ago, the Second Devil General had ranked first in strength among the True Devil’s subordinates. And legend had it that the Third Devil General was a devil-dragon! The founders of the Dragonfolk had been considered both devils and demons. After all, there was little difference between the two.

1. I’m leaving out a line of wordplay that doesn’t translate well into English. There’s a Chinese expression that literally means “eating words to become fat” and figuratively means “not live up to one’s promises”. Yang Qi says “don't tell me the two of us have been getting fat lately, and that's why you’re eating words to become fat (not living up to your promises)”.

2. In real life, the term “True Dragon (and) Son of Heaven)” is applied to the emperor of China.