Sage Monarch (Sage Emperor)

The Second Devil General was no match for Yang Qi when it came to coming up with plans.

That was one reason why the Second Devil General was always coming out at a disadvantage in his dealings with Yang Qi. That said, the general was so incredibly powerful that he wasn’t worried about minor losses here and there.

Of course, Yang Qi wasn’t so naive as to truly lord it over the general. If he pushed things too far, the general could theoretically flip out and kill him.

So Yang Qi was turning up the heat, slowly but surely. As he did that, he continued growing stronger and stronger. Obviously, he was going to have to fight the Second Devil General eventually, and he wanted his fighting prowess to be as high as possible when that time came. For most people, reaching the peak Paramount God level involved achieving a psychic scale of one billion. But Yang Qi was different. When he achieved his breakthrough, he would be rising into the billions.

It could be two billion, or even three billion. At that point, he could probably hold out in a fight against the general, but wouldn’t be able to kill him. That said, his ultimate goal was to use the God Legion Seal to form his golden throne and fully subjugate him.

“Maybe I can figure out what type of nation this dragon kingdom is,” the Second Devil General said. “I wonder who leads it.”

A vertical eye opened on his forehead, glowing with dazzling light as he peered into the depths of the kingdom. It was his Paleo-Devil God-Eye, which was similar to the Lord's Eye that Yang Qi had.

Through Yang Qi’s psychic connection via the God Legion Seal, he could also see into the depths of the sea of blood. It was a complex mass of spatial dimensions, connected together to create numerous worlds.

Even a late Paramount God who tried to traverse a labyrinth like this would likely get lost and possibly die trying to escape.

“It seems like the destiny is all swirling in one direction,” the Second Devil General said. “There’s a dimension in the middle with a huge palace. It must be the imperial palace.” The palace he indicated pulsed with an imperial aura, and the buildings were all violet-gold. It was clearly the center of the entire kingdom.

There really wasn’t any way that Yang Qi and the Second Devil General could attack and conquer this place. It would have involved a deadly battle that would result in incredible death and destruction. In fact, the place would be mostly destroyed in the process.

Sometimes, the best way to conquer a nation was to get rid of its leader first.

Given Yang Qi’s level, there was no way he could do that on his own right now. This place’s leader surely had a cultivation base no weaker than Duke Nine Cauldrons or the priestess from the Palace of Destiny. Even just spying on a person like that would be difficult for Yang Qi.

But the Second Devil General’s cultivation level was much higher, allowing him to get a clear view.

In the depths of the palace, the destiny of the kingdom converged on a man with piercing eyes that seemed to roil with endless lightning, sitting on a throne as he held court.

He was stately, but at the same time, pulsed with a destructive aura. And although he was sitting still, Yang Qi sensed that he could instantly unleash explosive power that could shake chiliocosms of worlds.

‘Fuck,’ Yang Qi thought. ‘This dragon is so strong I couldn't fight him one on one. He must have a godhood rating and psychic scale of at least two or three billion. Not only does he command the destiny in this kingdom, but he's connected to the Myriad Dragons Lair as well. Forget subjugating him. If I catch his attention, it would be hard for me to escape. So how exactly am I going to conquer this kingdom?’ He was starting to think he might need to give up, yet couldn't quite bring himself to make that decision.

Although the kingdom in general wasn’t united, and the dragons within it were constantly fighting each other, there was still plenty of destiny here. If he could get it, and put it into order, he would have destiny equivalent to that of thirty lands, or possibly even forty.

That would make him as powerful as a viceroy with a hundred or even a thousand lands. After all, a viceroy of a hundred lands had to give most of their destiny to the sect, and was only able to keep a small percentage.

“They’re holding court,” Yang Qi said. “Make sure not to tip them off about our presence. We need to figure out what they’re talking about. Look, there are non-Dragonfolk present. It looks like those people are royal emissaries of some sort.”

“Quit jabbering, you’re going to drain my eye technique. Let’s just infiltrate them right now. You’ve almost assimilated the Everlit Godlamp, plus you have that divine ability from the Lord of Radiance and Light, the Brilliant Radiance Latent Projection. With that, you can hide out in the open where light exists, and no one will be the wiser.”

“Fine. Let’s sneak in there and see what’s going on.”

He placed his palms together as if in prayer, and then transformed into a streak of light. At the same time, the Second Devil General turned into a devilish phantom that wouldn’t attract any attention. The two of them shot forward, and before long, they were in the royal palace.

This was possible because of the chaotic nature of the destiny here. The destiny of the House of the Invincible was so orderly, and the net of law so dense, that sneaking into it this way would be impossible.

The depths of the palace were lit with divine lamps, fueled by oil from various ancient godlings. Merely being in their presence would help improve one's wisdom, and would provoke a very profound feeling.

Yang Qi decided to use one of those lamps as his cover, becoming the flame that burned within it.

“Your Majesty Buddha Shockheaven, we of the Central Dynasty have come here in good faith. We sincerely hope that you’ll consider joining our dynasty.”

The mere voice was so powerful it caused Yang Qi’s ears to ring. Obviously the person who had spoken was no weaker than the emperor himself.

‘Buddha Shockheaven?’ he thought. ‘I can’t believe it! This is the leader of the Dragonswarm Society! One of the main reasons I fled and ended up joining the House of the Invincible was because I was worried about him causing problems for me. This place must be the kingdom of the Dragonswarm Society. That just makes me more convinced than ever that I have to take it, no matter how difficult. The Central Dynasty is run by the Proud Clan, and they’re here right now. I can’t let them get away. I have to subjugate them and drag out everything they know about King Immortal-Slayer and Proud Heaven.’

Heart pounding, he projected a message to the Second Devil General. “Second Devil General, these are emissaries from the Central Dynasty. We can't let them get away from here. I will take them. And you're going to help me.”

“Why are you always asking for my help, boy?” the Second Devil General said.

“It relates to the Great Necropolis. You see, King Immortal-Slayer is imprisoned there, and people from the Central Dynasty are trying to break in and assimilate both him and the necropolis. They want access to profound secrets beyond anything the Sovereign Lord was privy to.” Yang Qi was fairly certain that the only thing which could possibly entice the Second Devil General was the Great Necropolis.

“You're talking about something of immense importance,” said the Second Devil General. Not even he dared to take the Great Necropolis lightly. “It relates to the survival of the god world itself, and by extension, our very lives.”

Furthermore, he knew that if Yang Qi could capture some people from the Central Dynasty, he might finally be able to get some answers about what was going on.

With that, they focused on observing what was happening in the palace.

Buddha Shockheaven sat on his throne, flanked left and right by important ministers, over a hundred of them late Paramount Gods, as well as a few that were in the peak level. There were also numerous mid Paramount Gods, minor officials who had psychic scales between ten million and ninety million.

And in the middle of the hall was the delegation from the Central Dynasty.